Episode Report Card Miss Alli: B+ | 498 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT I'm a Guay? No, Uruguay!
By Miss Alli | Season 5 | Episode 1 | Aired on 2004.07.06
The Detour is called Zips or Chips. (Oh, by the way, a Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. And it's introduced by the Exposition Hands. Yay!) In Zips, you go to the top of a high-rise, and you work your way along a horizontal zip line 210 feet in the air. Then you ride a second zip line down into the pool, which is an eighteen-story drop. In Chips, you go into the casino and get 20 chips with which to play roulette. If you win, you get your clue. If you lose your chips, you have to go and do the Zips anyway. All three of the lead teams choose Zips, which is a good sign generally. It's kind of a good Detour idea -- it's Reckless/Chicken, but with the gambling element, which is a clever complication. I think if they had made the gambling odds a little less favorable (they're really quite good, the way it was set up), it would have worked better, but overall, a good thought.
The first to go out on the zip line is Karen. Linda explains that she was busy clucking to herself, so she made Karen go first in order to see that it wasn't too horrifying. Which will work really well, unless Karen splats on the ground like a ripe watermelon, which might negate the element of reassurance. Karen rides the zip like a pro, fortunately. There are actually two lines, so two teams can go at a time, and Alison and Donny get going next.
When Kami/Karli get to the hotel, they, too, struggle with the concept of "across the street." Rather than take the clue at its word, they go straight to the flag at the hotel. They go into the casino and up to the roulette table, where the...is it a dealer when it's roulette? Anyway, the roulette lady explains that they can bet on up to five numbers at a time. If they win, they'll get the clue. Yeah, they're not supposed to be doing this yet, so if you're confused, you're right.
Linda is a bit tentative on the zip line. She does okay, though, and she and Alison are just about tied as they land at the end of the ride. Bob and Joyce kick the zip line's ass also, which is good to see. As Joyce cheers him on, Bob interviews that he "can't imagine anybody having a better teammate" than he does. Well, that's good. Warm fuzzies! In spite of Alison!
As the lead teams take in the zip down to the pool, Donny's comment is, "Dude, this is not short." He's the first to take the ride down, and while it is not short, it is mercifully uneventful. He softly splashes into the pool, and Alison follows him, screaming all the way down. She claims to have been scared, but says that she loves Donny so much that she doesn't want to make him lose. Oh, true love is so inspiring. When she reaches the bottom, she grabs their clue, which tells them to go ten miles by taxi to the town of Punta Ballena and find Casa Pueblo, where the pit stop is located. It looks like a house made of marshmallow fluff, kind of. And look, look, the mat! Alison and Donny seek a taxi.