Episode Report Card Miss Alli: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Finland, Finland, Finland
By Miss Alli | Season 10 | Episode 9 | Aired on 11.11.2006
3:14 AM. Rob tells us that every night, he and Kimberly go over plans, thinking about how they can get ahead in the next leg. Hey, it worked for Millie! Maybe they can wind up dead on their feet, driving comatose through the jungle until they arrive, dirty and disoriented, Philiminated but as much in love as ever. Rob also says that they have a bond with the A(AM!)s that they're hoping to continue. And it comes from a loving place. He makes clear that the BQs, on the other hand, are not part of the team. See how hard it is for them? Rob, too, is most unimpressed with the flight not leaving until 9:40 at night. Among other things, I have to think boredom is setting in now, and finding new ways to pass 18 hours in the airport would not be on my list of top recreational activities, either. That's a hell of a lot of Sudoku.
3:24 AM. The *wins. They get $265 for the leg, which means there must be upcoming trains or boats or something, because that's a lot of scratch. They don't throw that kind of cash at you for being good-looking. The *wins say they want to run the leg "in memory of" Dave and Mary," who apparently died on the mat at the end of the last leg. The *wins actually acknowledge this oddity in their own remark with a chuckle, which I appreciate. The least you can do if you're in the middle of taking something insanely too seriously is admit it. And laugh. I think I just folded the universe.
The BQs are at the Air Madagascar counter. They pick up their tickets, which Kandice confidently announces are taking them to "Helinski [sic], Finland." I'm sorry, but as much as I've been known to flub words now and then, it seems to me that knowing that there is a city called "Helsinki" and not one called "Helinski" is routine cultural literacy. I mean, come on, lady. The people who like the term "scholarship competition" are counting on you not to blow the PR. The BQs ask about earlier flights, and Dustin is waving around that damn atlas again, and I really dislike that. Your partner may not be familiar with Helsinki, Dustin, but I think the lady behind the counter can probably figure out where it is. I hate the way she approaches people with this patronizingly patient attitude, like she presumptively expects everyone to be stupid. That is, contrary to what I think she believes, not polite. When you're eternally ten seconds from announcing that people who don't give you the answer you want are "not the brightest bulbs," they can usually tell. Tyler and James show up next, also looking for better tickets. Tyler interviews that they and the BQs are sort of using each other, and it's not clear "who's going to stab who first." Wow, stabbing. That will up the ante considerably. That would be quite a non-elimination penalty, come to think of it. The Pointies arrive at the airport next. The teams spot a flight leaving for Johannesburg, and they're interested in getting on it, because it seems like flights don't leave this airport all that often at all. The flight to Johannesburg is leaving at 5:00 AM, and they all want to know whether there's a faster way if they get out now. As the *wins pull up outside and run in, the other teams learn that by connecting through Frankfurt, they can indeed get to Finland quicker, arriving there at 10:20 AM. So, these three teams already at the counter all want on the flight. They note that in all likelihood, the *lyns will not be making this flight.