Episode Report Card Miss Alli: B+ | 1 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Buoy Oh Buoy
By Miss Alli | Season 10 | Episode 4 | Aired on 10.07.2006
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Still in Vietnam, the teams try out one of those tricky ascender Roadblocks, where Karlyn proves that she's learned a little about climbing since the Great Wall, Sarah proves that she doesn't know how to pick Roadblocks, and Peter proves that he's still a jackass. At the Detour, rowing proves to be a problem for a lot of teams, including Rob and Kimberly, who almost come to blows before finally finishing in first place. Peter wants to quit, and he doesn't want Sarah to be encouraging when he's trying to work. Hello, irony. In the end, it all comes down to Tom and Terry dragging their boat through the water and Dustin and Kandice trying to read their clue, and Dustin and Kandice manage to pull out the victory. While the boat-dragging was certainly ambitious, it appears that Tom and Terry are merely the latest victims of their own odd decision-making, and it's another elimination actually affected by skill and decision-making rather than luck. It's remarkable how much more satisfying the show is when all the eliminations are thoroughly earned. Also: Peter is about to get dumped. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously on Pack That Coal!: Vietnam brought flower-selling, navigation issues, the surprising emergence of money management as an important factor, and serious problems for Duke and Lauren. In it, then out of it. Then in it, then out of it. Ultimately, even though Tom and Terry suffered a 30-minute penalty for blatantly ignoring the directions, Duke and Lauren weren't able to make up the time they lost wandering around looking for the Detour, and they were Philiminated. Goodbye, Duke and Lauren. Eight teams left. Who will be eliminated...tonight? I mean..."next"?
Credits. If you're not singing along with the theme music by now, you're just missing all the best things in life.
We are in Hanoi, where an orange-shirted Phil explains that the big rice paddy he is currently trampling into economic irrelevance was the third pit stop in a race-around-the-world. It turns out that at the end of the most recent leg, Pointy Rob collapsed and had to be treated for heat exhaustion, because being Intense⢠is exhausting. Apparently, the treatment involved soaking his feet, pouring water over him, and taking his pulse. Spa day! Eventually, he was "deemed fit enough to continue." Mary still has a sprained ankle, and there is no word on Sarah and the leak that has developed in the WonderLeg 3000.
10:55 PM. The *wins. When they tear the clue, it tells them to take a taxi to Hanoi. Phil explains that this is about a 20-mile trek, and they're looking for the Ly Thai To Garden, where they will, as Phil says, "listen for their next clue." "Listen"? Hmm, sounds interesting -- no pun intended. The teams get 588,000 Vietnamese dong. This is, if you're curious, about $36.50. They'll be collecting their money from a man sitting at a table, much as you respectfully do in any foreign country in the middle of the night, or in Vegas. Erwin now talks to us about how being Asian-American on the race is "a big responsibility," just as they count their money. He says that they want to show themselves to be great competitors and show off their personalities, including their senses of humor. (This is the part where my Music Stylist commented, "We're just here to prove that two incredibly buff men with post-graduate degrees can succeed in life." And I lowered the level of the debate by adding, "Even if they're Asian-American!" We're going to hell together.) In this case, their senses of humor consist of saying, "We're going to Disneyland!" If you feel the need, call your friends and tell them that Asian-Americans, too, can use jokes from five years ago.