Episode Report Card M. Giant: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Shazam!
By M. Giant | Season 13 | Episode 3 | Aired on 10.12.2008
Kelly finishes her match, and the Divorcees finally get their clue, firmly in last place. In the taxi, Kelly frets, "We are fixing to go home." Christy tells her, "Be positive." Kelly just rolls her eyes instead of making the obvious riposte, "I'm positive we're going home." So, points for that. Terence and Sarah's cab appears to be passing the Geeks' in traffic. Just what Mark and Bill need. Oh, and by the way, Toni and Dallas are team number two. Impressive comeback.
The Belles' taxi passes the Siblings' and then the Frat Boys'. Starr wonders why the leading cab appears to be going a different way, and her driver assures her that he's taking a better route. Or at least that's what she hopes he's saying. The Frat Boys get passed again, although it's not entirely clear by whom. It's tough to tell when one team's camera guy is shooting another team's cab. And in the Team Divorce cab far behind, Christy informs Kelly, "Starr asked Aja to U-Turn us." Even Kelly can't quite believe it at first, but then decides to confront Starr when she gets the chance. "We have to not be eliminated," Christy reminds her.
Terence and Sarah's cab somehow gets ahead of the Belles' on the way to the park, and they end up sprinting toward the mat in third place, with the Belles actually running behind them. Phil glances above himself and then over at his greeter, as if to say, "Seriously?" Phil tells Terence and Sarah they're team number three, and then invites the Belles loitering behind them to "come on in." They're thrilled to be in fourth place. As well they should be. I certainly never expected this, and I am on record saying so.
Mark and Bill are just now realizing that they screwed up by taking that cab to the tree-cycles. "When we check in we're going to get hit with a time delay," Mark says, with eerie calmness.
Team Divorced, the beneficiaries of that delay, are saying, "Let's wish bad things on Nick and Starr and good things on us." Both seem to come true, because the Siblings end up in a footrace to the mat against Team Long Distance, and lose. Aja and Ty are team number five, and Nick and Starr are team number six.
That leaves three teams still en route to the Pit Stop. Mark philosophizes, "That's how this game is. One mistake, and it's all over." Yes, one mistake, plus a total lack of coordination, plus a time-consuming episode of respiratory distress. Hardly seems fair, does it? Kelly is in denial: "I still want to see the freakin' world." Andrew and Dan, who have gotten early starts and haven't really screwed up, still end up in seventh place. "Still in the race," Andrew murmurs, looking for the bright side. As Mark and Bill approach in their cab, one of them is regretting not U-Turning anyone when they had the chance. Finally they arrive in eighth place, arm in arm. Phil tells them their ranking. "However," he adds, his eyes crinkling in disappointment, "you took a taxi from the Detour decision point to the bike option of the Detour. For the time gained and for misreading the clue, you have incurred a thirty-minute penalty." They sink down on a nearby park bench as a clock on the screen begins counting down from 30:00.