Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Two Men, a Bad Plan, A Canal, Panama
By M. Giant | Season 19 | Episode 11 | Aired on 12.04.2011
Andy and Tommy finish making their sandals, and the cobbler takes a look and hands over their clue. "Pancho likey!" Tommy says, erasing the cultural sensitivity points they earned the night before. Their clue is telling them to go to Cathedral Square, where a traditional dance will tell them the location of the next Pit Stop.
Those women in the fancy dresses we saw earlier will be the ones doing the dance, and one of them has the words "Panama Viejo" hidden in the floral pattern on her skirt. They're all wearing crescent-shaped metal necklaces with a picture of the old mission stamped on them. So that's two ways for them to figure out where to go, both of them fairly subtle. And as Andy reads from the clue, the last team to check in will be eliminated. Andy and Tommy are off, knowing exactly where to go. Sandy, struggling with her laces, says, "This is going really difficultly, and Tommy and Andy have already left. Shocker." The snowboarders will be going on foot, at least.
Amani and Marcus are loaded down with gross, slimy squid now, which they have to deliver. Going back for an additional needed pound, Amani says carrying all that seafood is making her hungry. She's got a healthier appetite than I would under the circumstances. Or maybe not, given that they've been living on airplane food for three weeks now.
Team Control and Team Pre-Owned are racing to wrap up their customers' laces, if you'll pardon the expression, and getting a little tense about it. Meanwhile, Marcus and Amani are proceeding quickly, as Marcus interviews that being the only team there was to their advantage, allowing them to move quickly without having to work around other teams. All right, all right, you made the right decision. Shut up.
Ernie and Cindy trim off some excess lace and ask for a check from the cobbler, who shakes his head no. Ernie realizes one of the laces is twisted, so they need to fix that. Jeremy and Sandy also get a no. And Amani and Marcus, after offloading a bunch of shrimp into a vendor's scale, are finished with the Detour in second place. Yup, they were right and I was wrong. Back to their cab, and Amani says, "It's going to be a fishy ride." Marcus is pleased with how well they banged that out, and rightly so, but Amani points out that they're clueless as to their present ranking. Well, you can't have everything.
Andy and Tommy reach Cathedral square, where the dance is already in progress. They have no idea what they're actually looking for, even when an Amazing Editor freeze-frames and highlights one of the dancers' skirts as she spreads it out to re-reveal the words "Panama Viejo," in case we forgot. The snowboarders start examining the dancers closely. "You're gonna get smacked, dude," Tommy warns Andy. Andy sees "Balboa" on a bunch of the jewelry, so they figure that's where they're going. And their taxi driver knows where Balboa is, which they think is good news when it really, really isn't. Apparently Balboa is the local currency. They repeat that they just want to make the finals, as though to avoid jinxing themselves. Not that jinxes are their problem right now.