Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Look Back in Angkor. Wat?
By M. Giant | Season 13 | Episode 5 | Aired on 10.26.2008
Ever wonder if Starr's tendency to worry too much about stuff is ever going to screw something up for her and Nick? Well, it's about to happen, even if it's only temporary. For some reason, she thinks they're going the wrong way, and wants to stop and ask for directions. Which would be one thing if they were in a cab that they'd hired themselves off the street, but keep in mind that their driver, local or not, is somebody hired by The Amazing Race for the sole task of driving them to the harbor. And yet Starr is suspicious, probably because it's taking so long or because they don't seem to be going downhill or because she doesn't yet see the lake rising up over the horizon, as lakes are well known to do. "Senor, stop," she tells the driver, and hops out onto the dirt road to run back to a car that's pulled over on the shoulder. In an interview, she tries to explain that she was just being vigilant. Next to her, Nick is nodding supportively instead of rolling his eyes as she says, "Everything can change in an instant." And we see exactly how, because as she's going up to some random guy, other teams' trucks are closing in behind them. "Starr, get in here! There's other teams coming!" Nick bellows. Starr abandons the van driver she was quizzing and runs back to their truck, which is barely in gear before Terence and Sarah pass them, Sarah shouting at her driver in Khmer or whatever the whole way. Ken and Tina pass them next, and then Dallas and Toni, before Nick and Starr's truck can even get up to speed. Of course they're encouraging the driver to hurry, but if that heap can go 0 to 60 in under a minute, it's only because the 60 is measured in kilometers. "Well, that sucks," Nick says. "Sorry," Starr says. "Now we're fourth." But at least we got to see some nice helicopter shots of the road as everyone blew by them.
The lead teams arrive at Siem Reap Harbor, and quickly find the sampan-style motorboats with the Amazing Flags on them. Terence and Sarah hold on to their lead as the propeller on their boat chews up deep gouges in the opaque brown water. On Ken and Tina's boat, she tells him to go astern and tell their pilot to hurry. He prefers to have a seat and relax, saying they're already going. Somehow Nick and Starr get out of the dock ahead of Toni and Dallas, stealing back their third-place slot. And once they're underway, they pass Ken and Tina as well, Starr tossing out a jaunty, "Hi, Mom and Dad!" "Gosh dang them," says Tina. "Turkeylips. Our kids can't do that, Ken. They're bad children." Ken just adjusts his floppy bush hat and ignores her. Their marriage is far enough into Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf territory as it is without having imaginary children to deal with. Oh, and one other thing: "Turkeylips?" Besides, they've got more immediate concerns; the next thing you know, Toni and Dallas's boat is passing them like they're standing still. "Kenny!" Tina snaps, and he just spreads his hands helplessly; he forgot to have Sarah teach him Khmer on the plane. "Who passed us?" she asks. "Everybody," he says. Well, not counting the three teams who haven't reached the harbor yet.