Episode Report Card Miss Alli: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The agony of non-defeat
By Miss Alli | Season 8 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.21.2005
Unsurprisingly, the non-rude, non-crude Weavers screech and holler out the window at the Gadzookskis as they pass while the pinks are still trying to turn around. The Linzes, who went even farther than the Weavers and are now behind them, also pass the Godlewskis, wondering what the hell they're doing.
Over in the Bransen car, newsboy Beth explains that there's clearly "tension" between the Weavers on one side and the Linzes and Godlewskis on the other side, and her family is pretty much trying to stay out of it, hoping that the nonsense between the other teams will distract them and benefit the Bransens. Wally declares his team "neutral...kind of like Switzerland." I bet they wouldn't be if they knew that the Weavers had already declared them not "nice." Furthermore, I'm not sure neutrality between good and evil is anything to congratulate yourself about.
The Weavers, because of a combination of being able to piggyback on seeing another team turn around and then being willing to drive off the road, wind up in first place at John Ford's Point. It's kind of ironic how they keep getting ahead through spying and lawbreaking when they're the only decent, respectful people here, isn't it? It's God's funniest joke ever. The Linzes decide as they pull into John Ford's Point in second place that they're going to do their turning around before they park so that they can just leave when they're ready to leave, but Sharon simply stops the pinks and they hop out. The Weavers pull the first number at the clue box, and the clue tells them that two team members will be riding a helicopter to the top of Elephant Butte to get another clue. The helicopter can only take two teams at a time. The Linzes get ahead of the pinks running to the clue box, but they don't see the numbers and the pinks do, so it's going to be pinks and Weavers on the first helicopter, and the Linzes will have to wait for the next one. The first two teams are helicoptered up and get themselves clues, and then they turn to head back. Back at the base, Tricia and Sharon chat with the Linzes, and there is more anti-Weaver talk, including a discussion of the possibility of an impending Yield. Sharon and Nick appear to reach a deal that they'll Yield the Weavers if they hit the Yield first. Not like either of them wouldn't have done that anyway, but this way, they can be petty and make it feel like teamwork.
The helicopter returns, so the Weavers and pinks have their clue, which tells them to go to Moab, Utah to find Gemini Bridges. Phil explains that this is a 180-mile trip, and that Gemini Bridges is a rock formation, despite the fact that I think it would be a lovely name for, say, Jeff Bridges's granddaughter. The Weavers get on the road just ahead of the Goodlookskis. Meanwhile, Nick and Alex ride the helicopter up to the top of Elephant Butte. Tommy calls the ride "sweet" from the ground while Nick calls it "sweet" in the air, meaning that I think Beavis and Butte-head have been breathing a little too much of the same air. They get their clue and return to the rest of their team at John Ford's Point, where the Bransens haven't even arrived yet. The Linzes read the Moab clue and leave. Tommy is so enthusiastic in the car that Alex suggests it may be time for "a helmet," and I am suddenly thinking about Tommy in a harness, strapped to a jungle gym like Mike Myers. It kind of works.