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Things get off to a slow start when none of the locals in Shanghai know what the "Garden Bridge" is, at least by its English name. Dan and Jordan are so stumped they even hang back to glom onto the Detectives, despite the latter team's two-hour lag and the fact that they turn out to be no help at all. Brent and Caite take an early lead, at least until Caite takes a counting Road Block to prove how we've all underestimated her mental abilities (which we didn't), and Jet passes her up. Then it's a motorcycle ride to the Detour, where the two lead teams contend with a needle/haystack task, and Brent whinges about having to pee. Despite a Speed Bump that's barely a wrinkle, Louie and Michael fall behind the brothers. And despite the limitations of Caite's counting abilities and Brent's bladder, they manage to win their first leg ever, although Brent feels dwarfed by the world's tallest man serving as the greeter. Jet and Cord come in a close second, with Dan and Jordan rounding out the final three. Yes, the Detectives are finally off the case.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!We're about to learn something about Shanghai, which is what this is: "Centuries ago, it was among the first Chinese cities open to Western trade. And today, with its towering skyscrapers, and contemporary lifestyle, it is the most cosmopolitan city in China." And by what index does one measure cosmopolisionositiness? If you go by how much a city spent on its Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai wins in a walk, having dropped more than half a billion dollars on it. Let's hope being used as the tenth Pit Stop in a race around the world helped defray some of those costs.
Jet and Cord are leaving at 8:02 PM, in first place. "Make your way to the Garden Bridge," the opening clue reads, apparently in its entirety. Phil says this is across town and known to the locals by its Chinese name, Waibaidu Qiao. And yes, I know there are supposed to be diacritical marks over about half of those letters, but I've got my own life to lead. As they take off, we see some solo interview footage of Cord with a horse corral behind him, so maybe this was before he left home. He says Jet is the best partner in the race, as demonstrated by a story from 2004 that Cord tells: "I caught a hoof in the side of my head. Actually crushed my skull." Ouch! I bet he lost his hat, too. I probably shouldn't joke about this because apparently his very survival was uncertain for a time, during which Jet never left his side. In his own solo interview, Jet says that was one of the most difficult times of his life as well. "Cord's the toughest guy I know." With the bona fides of their relationship established more completely than we could have expected, they start wandering the expansive grounds around the museum, looking for someone who a) speaks English and b) knows where the Garden Bridge is. The second person they find in subset a) asks another person in the local language for the Park Bridge, and the other local points just over yonder. This marks one of the first times a subtitle has been accompanied by a fail noise. "That was easy," Cord says obliviously as they head over thataway.
Brent and Caite are leaving in second place, at 8:36 AM. Caite also solo-interviews about how it's been three years since she "messed up my final question on national television." So that's what she calls it. She says she still gets "negative comments" every day, but making it into the final three will prove "I can accomplish everything I put my mind to." Does she really want to bring up the subject of her mind? They find a bunch of people to ask about Garden Bridge, but none of them know what it is. The nerve of these people, having their own non-English name for something in their city.
Caite makes a another guess, 522, which is still wrong even when she holds up the number of fingers for each digit one at a time. Brent mildly tells us that they need to get out of there and hold onto their lead. He's awfully mellow today. Did he smoke something before this leg, or is he just getting a contact high from all the incense? Meanwhile, the Cowboys have finally reached the Metro station. "Saddle up," Cord says, which I take it is Cowboy for "Mind the gap."
The laggard alliance has come across a group of youths who also don't know where the Garden Bridge is, but they're still making progress; Michael asks if he can have one of them with a cell phone call the translation service so he can talk to the operator. Louie explains to us in an interview that this is a number posted in taxicabs so people can overcome language difficulties with their drivers. Michael holds out the borrowed cell phone to a cabbie in a green taxi. Behind them, Dan and Jordan are telling the driver of a blue cab that they want to follow the green one. Before getting in, Dan vaguely asks for assurances that they won't get left behind, and Michael makes them, but even more vaguely. Both teams are soon on their way. Except that the brothers' cabbie doesn't seem to fully grasp the concept of "follow that green car," or even the concept of "follow" itself. Soon the Detectives' cab is far ahead, in different lanes, with cars between them. Up ahead, the Detectives are hoping not to be last, which right now they aren't. And when their cab gets through a traffic light that the brothers' driver misses, Dan loses it. Louie says, "It's nice that the boys are with us and not in front of us any more." Looking back, Michael says, "Well, they're not with us any more." They don't seem too devastated by this development. Dan, by contrast, is having a complete meltdown, telling Jordan to get out of the car so he can hit the driver. I've gotten this far into the second recap of an episode set in Shanghai without having commented on the invasive Plexiglas barriers between the front and back seats in what looks like every cab in that city, but I think I just figured out why they're there.
Caite is taking another crack at the counting. "Maybe the third time's the charm. I hope so," Brent says, still sitting on the sidelines. The reason this is amusing is that it's actually her fourth try (no, not really). Maybe she'll have more success if she takes her hand out of her sweatshirt cuff so she can see where she's pointing. "Interesting," she muses after one intensive counting fit. She interviews about how they all started to run together after a while. Her guess is 524. "I don't know what she's doing wrong," Brent says. That's okay, neither does she. But at least Brent isn't hollering at her. That's probably not encouraged in Buddhist temples.
Jet and Cord arrive shortly thereafter. Across the river, the sun is low over the spectacular downtown skyline, so this has clearly not been a brief leg. After getting the good "news" that they'll be in the final three, Cord says they have a good shot at winning the million. I don't see how anyone could argue that. "Do we get buckles?" Jet wonders. Cord hopes so: "If not, I'm gonna get one made. I'm not even kidding." Well, who wouldn't? Besides people who don't wear their greatest achievements on the fronts of their pants, that is.
Dan and Jordan are just now finding the clue box for the Detour. They quickly agree on Pork Chops, quickly find the shop, and just as quickly, Jordan is calling out, "Hey, bro, are we finding a needle in a haystack right now?" And we know how Jordan feels about luck-based tasks versus skill-based ones. Dan insists, "We're doing this, let's just do it." The Detectives get dropped off outside just before Dan finds the one with Louie's name. When the Detectives arrive in the shop, the brothers lie that they haven't seen theirs. Michael interviews that despite the 20 minute lead the brothers have, this is suddenly a race again. Jordan is still complaining, but Dan insists he doesn't want to hear it. We'd much rather watch some more commercials.
Both teams' searches continue after the commercial. Louie compares it to a executing a search warrant, except for how everyone's been making an effort not to just ransack the joint. Dan finds his "NAD" stamp, so the brothers are half done. "This is literally leaving no stone unturned," Louie cracks. Michael is using his penlight to try to look through the shelves at the undersides without having to pick them up, and Louie is knocking some down, quickly righting them and apologizing to someone we can't see. The brothers are apparently double-and triple-checking now. This goes on roughly forever, until Dan finally finds "NADROJ." By the time they're done and reading their Pit Stop clue outside, it's getting dark out. The cops continue searching. Outside, the brothers draft a young local woman to take them to the taxis, which she reluctantly agrees to do. Michael finds one with EIUOL carved on it, which is either Louie's name backwards of the name of a European petroleum company owned by dyslexics. Outside, with the help of their local, the brothers have found a cabbie who knows where they're going. "This is for you," Dan says, holding up some cash. "Okay!" the man says happily in that way that often indicates it's the only word of English the speaker knows. Off they go. "If we get last, we're out, simple as that," Dan says in the cab.