Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | 119 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT So Near and Yet Safari
By M. Giant | Season 22 | Episode 7 | Aired on 2013.03.31
Pam & Winnie arrive at the Brains Detour and mount up with matching pith helmets, hoping this will go fast. Up ahead, Wynona has her little song that she's using to memorize "Zebra, buffalo, kudu, giraffe...groundhog." She leaves the next five to Chuck, who is wisely content to let her go on thinking that's actually a groundhog if it'll help her remember.
Joey says he feels like Pocahontas (James Bond: "Oh, come on!") as he gets the boat beached and delivers the goats. Max & Katie see them coming back, and Katie says they can beat them if Max just concentrates. Soon he's dropping off the goats at the pen, and they're back on their way, Katie telling Max they can catch Team You Tube. "Don't get to ballsy, bear," she adds as he nearly careens into some weeds. "I'm so nervous." At least he's less likely to get a speeding ticket doing this.
The country singers and the derby moms are leading their respective donkey teams down the path when Caroline and Jennifer's sleigh gets stuck on a tree. Caroline has to free it up, and while she's doing that, Mona & Beth pass them up. Again.
Chuck & Wynona spot a snake cutout, then a cheetah, as Chuck interviews that he's always wanted to come to Africa and get something exotic to kill and stuff and put in his house. Alas, I think he needs to leave the cutouts in place for the other teams. Behind them, Pam & Winnie are up to the meerkat. Wynona's groundhog, in other words.
Joey & Meghan actually do beat Max & Katie back to the starting point of the canoe Roadblock, and get their clue in sixth place with what Joey figures is a five-minute lead. In their last-place water taxi, Katie says, "Either we beat Meghan and Joey or we're out. We just gotta kill them in the Detour and make it to the Pit Stop first. If not, we're done." Wait, is killing other teams not against the rules? It seems like that would earn them a six-hour penalty, minimum.
The derby moms and the country singers arrive at the safari camp where their firewood is to be delivered at about the same time, but the hard part isn't over; they still have to unload the sleighs and the donkeys, once moving, don't seem inclined to stop. The derby moms' team tries to dash off into the trees, so Mona has to try to stop them while Beth rushes to unload the wood. Caroline & Jennifer have even more trouble, as one of their lead donkeys turns around and goes between the others, tangling up the rigging. They'd be totally screwed if they weren't already where they need to be. Mona & Beth get it done first, and receive their clue reading "Make your way on foot to the next Pit Stop: Where the river bends!" officially in second place.