Episode Report Card Miss Alli: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Antebellum? I hardly even know 'em!
By Miss Alli | Season 8 | Episode 2 | Aired on 10.03.2005
At last, the Gaghans reach the correct reflecting pool. They are followed by the Bransens. Billy and Tammy get the briefcase from the limo guy, and they head for the Tidal Basin. The Bransens get their briefcase.
Then, finally, Team Rogers arrives at the clue box. They get their briefcase and leave.
Finally, Team Paolo, still yelling at each other the entire time, pulls in and buys some gas. Well, there goes my hope that they would peter out by the side of the road and argue until they were arrested for disturbing the peace. Mama gripes while they're at the gas station about whether DJ even understands that they need to put gas in the car periodically. Delightful! DJ continues driving them on and on toward their doom.
Nick is still looking for a spy. The Gaghans pull the Roadblock, and Tammy takes it. Nick then finally gets the clue and comes back, and Tammy gets hers as well. So Nick and Tammy return to their teams at just about the same time, meaning that those teams had some seriously different luck. Gaghans and Linzes leave in sixth and seventh place. Both teams claim to be looking for 50 West.
Bransens get the Roadblock, and Wally takes it, which kind of makes no sense, since he's been visibly tired. The girls seem to immediately know they shouldn't have gone along with this, but it's apparently too late now.
The Rogers family, still cursed from earlier, is seeking directions to the Tidal Basin. The Paolos are lost trying to get out of Washington, so DJ is predictably whining about how none of the rest of the people on his team can read a map. I am so tired of him, seriously. It normally takes me more than two episodes to get all the way to "SHUT UP!" from the bottom of my heart, but here we are. "Blame the three of you, because none of you evah, evah, EVAH listen to me!" his mother hollers. DJ grabs the map and looks for himself, and -- surprise! -- he continues whining.
Godlewskis and Weavers approach Middleburg. Remember them? They're out in front. Other folks, meanwhile, run into a traffic jam on Interstate 66, heading west. The Linzes spot themselves an exit that they think can get them around the traffic jam, so they get off the highway. Which is a good choice, compared to staying on the interstate, but what's interesting is that if you figure out where they got off 66, Mapquest would have told them to never have gone that far on 66 anyway. All these teams, if they all stayed on 66 for that long, arguably took an inefficient route, and the Linzes just took one that was less inefficient than staying on the path would have been. Look at this here map. The Linzes hopped off I-66 way down by Manassas. As you'll see from the purple line, they could have just gotten on 50 much sooner. So while the Linzes left talking about 50 West, they apparently decided not to take it, but to stay on 66 instead and then cut north on 15. I am officially a map dork.