Episode Report Card M. Giant: A- | 141 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT All About the Melons
By M. Giant | Season 20 | Episode 3 | Aired on 2012.03.04
Across town is a small, dome-roofed auditorium. Elliot and Andrew, being the first team to have selected "Strung Out" as their choice of Detour, are the first to show up. But Bopper and Mark aren't far behind and Nary and Jamie aren't far behind them. Inside, a whole harp orchestra is plucking away at a jaunty tune. But there are also unstrung harps, with the strings attached at the bottom end and tangled in knots above. The racers will have to disentangle the strings before they can start threading them to the top of the harp. Elliot, the twin who is in a rock band, figures this won't be a problem. "If it's anything like stringing a guitar, I think I'll be all right." And if he's not, he might be screwed. I mean, the tuner heads look similar, but I've also strung guitars and yet I've never had to use the long narrow rod this task seems to require. And if I did, I'd be spending a lot more time driving back and forth to the guitar shop. Kerri and Stacy show up surprisingly quickly, saying, "This could be a game-changer." Somehow, despite being among the first to leave the watermelon task, Other Rachel and Dave get there after everyone else. They take one look at all the teams already there and decide to use the Express Pass, although now it's just to stay in the race rather to win the leg. Scary how quickly that happened. They swap it for the clue and soon they're off to Plaza de la Democracia, "Currently in 2nd place." Dave is all "I told you so," saying they should have used it right away. But this way they saw so much more of the city!
Brendon and Rachel arrive at the auditorium and she thinks they made the right choice. "How can you feel stressed when this music is so beautiful?" she asks Brendon. He agrees that it's not nearly as stressful. This is the most functional I've ever seen them.
Meanwhile, Joey "Fitness" and Danny are schlepping melons, while congratulating themselves on having a Detour that uses their strength. Meanwhile, Ralph and Vanessa suffer a minor collapse of one corner when they're on their fourth tier. Not a good sign.
At the auditorium, racers are discovering their talent for stringing harps. Kerri tells us she and Stacy both played the flute in school and Rachel tells Brendon she's good at this. "I believe you!" Brendon says defensively. Bopper compares it to fixing a gas throttle and, what with getting the hang of it and the air-conditioning, he tells Mark they should have done this a long time ago. Then we get to hear Bopper loudly sing a whole verse of "Folsom Prison Blues" while he works. Did they get clearance for that? Is there a harp arrangement? Elliot and Andrew, however, are bickering and sniping at each other. Turns out guitar-stringing experience is useless, if not actively detrimental, to figuring out how to string a harp. Not that we ever get a decent close-up that illustrates exactly what's involved here.