Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | 129 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT Istanbul, Not Constantinople
By M. Giant | Season 21 | Episode 6 | Aired on 2012.11.04
James and Abba are the first to reach the ferry terminal amid long, early-morning shadows, and they pull a clue from the box waiting outside. "Welcome to Europe. Now make your way back to Asia," Abba reads. Over a map of the city, Phil explains, "Istanbul is the only metropolis in the world that stands in two different continents. Teams must now take a ferry across the Bosporus Strait to the Asian side of Turkey, and search the Uskadar Terminal for their next clue." Team Metal gets on the ferry and rides it across, all on their own. "It's like we chartered the thing," James says. "Just like being back on tour." They traveled by ferry a lot? That must have been a long, slow tour.
The twins get dropped off at the first ferry terminal and tell their driver, "Thank you, boss." Abbie and Ryan just barely beat them to the clue box. "Make your way back to Asia?" one of the twins reads in horror, like this means they're going to have to go all the way back to Bangladesh. Trey & Lexi show up in fourth place, then Josh & Brent. They're all shown reading the clue on camera, so the writers are clearly proud of that one. And all four of these teams make it onto the same ferry, while the Chippendales and the monster truckers are still on the train. So I think it's probably safe to say that the Metro is not currently the fastest mode of transport. Indeed, Jaymes and James are hearing from a fellow passenger about how a taxi is the faster way to get to the ferry terminal at this time of day, as Jaymes belatedly looks out the train window at the empty roads. In the next car up, Rob and Kelley are having a similar conversation with someone else, who assures them, "Well, we make lots of stops but it goes fast." For some reason that convinces them. The Chippendales, however, are second-guessing their decision, and they hop off the train at the next stop. "This oughta throw monster truck for a loop when they see us scatter off that train," Jaymes says. Indeed, Rob and Kelley wonder briefly if the Chippendales know something they don't but quickly dismiss the idea out of hand as Jaymes & James get into a cab. Rob confidently tells us that the Chippendales think they need to meet up with the others, "because they're followers. We're not followers. We're gonna go our own way." You know how commercial breaks usually hit when a team realizes they're screwed? Well, here's one of those rarer, more enjoyable ones that comes when a team is screwed but doesn't know it yet.