Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 181 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Too Much of a Good Thing
By M. Giant | Season 22 | Episode 1 | Aired on 2013.02.17
Back to the three teams still left at the sandcastle task. Daniel says they've been there for over three hours and it's still hot. "Odds are getting slimmer and slimmer," he adds in a nod to the fact that there are only three clues left under a number of sandcastles that's holding steady at 400. Caroline observes to Jennifer that this must be like Hell: "You have to just rebuild sandcastles on a hot beach forever." Jennifer, Katie and Daniel are still at it going into the last break. But when we come back, Max is feeling bad enough for Katie that he suggests taking the penalty rather than continuing. In a classic Boston Rob move, she wonders if maybe they can get the other two teams to do it as well. The country singers -- long since over this task -- pipe up that they're fine with that. Daniel interviews that during this discussion, he knew that he and Matt would be able to win the boat race to the Pit Stop, since they canoe back home all the time. Not sure how word got back to them that that's what was ahead, but the three of them agree on the spot to take the penalty. Now, as Phil said on Twitter later, this was an irrevocable decision; the loser of the leg, whoever it may be, can't go back and try to dig up the third-to-last clue in less than four hours and still come in tenth. So they're committed. All three teams collect their clues and run in the late-afternoon sun to race through the construction of their canoes. Matt & Daniel are the first to launch theirs, with Max and Katie right behind them and the country singers in last place. "If we get eliminated first, we sure tried," one of the blondes says. As for Matt & Daniel, the expert canoeists flip over almost immediately while Max & Katie -- and then Caroline & Jennifer -- get underway. It's soon a three-way race across the water, but with most of the footage coming from boat-cams and other close-up shots, it's tough to tell who's in the lead and who's gaining and who's falling behind. What we need is one of those tactical overhead shots with captions next to each boat. But I guess that would be moot, because the firefighters flip again, so clearly they're in last place. As for who's going to clinch ninth place, that'll have to remain the usual nail-biter for now. Daniel interviews that while they were swamped in the middle of the lagoon, it was a sickening feeling to see the other teams getting smaller and smaller, along with their chances of continuing to race. Apparently mastering an aluminum Coleman back home is quite different from balancing a bamboo hull that's narrower than one's shoulders, outrigger or no.