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
Caroline & Jennifer get their clue in third almost immediately thereafter. Both teams go running through a wall of trees, but Mona & Beth reach the mat first, making them team number two. They jump up and down happily, and Phil points to the approaching country singers, saying, "Another strong team coming in right now." This leg, yes. Caroline & Jennifer join them on the mat for high-fives all around, and are checked in as team number three amid cries of "Girl power!" So I guess the divisions from the U-Turn episode have been forgotten in the euphoria of not-quite-near-victory.
Chuck and Wynona spot a cutout of an ostrich and one of a hippo with a bird roosting on its head, then get to the end of the trail. Wynona quickly lays out the tiles for her first five animals, but Chuck ruins into a wrinkle :"There's no hippo tile." Instead, Chuck goes with the tile of the bird. A weathered safari guide makes a big show of examining the tiles seriously, then gives them their clue, so they're soon running for the mat and officially team number four. Chuck kisses Wynona. "Look at that," Phil says approvingly. Chuck says they're a long way from home but good to go. "Don't count us out, now." Ah, there it is: the obligatory admonition from the redneck team to not be counted out.
The fake safari is not going as well for Pam & Winnie, who have just ridden past the ostrich cutout without noticing it. And then, knowing they were supposed to find ten animals, they spot the hippo with the bird perching on its head and figure that counts as two, so they must be done. During all this, the soundtrack is all but bleating, "Uh-oh." Right here is when it first occurred to me that they might actually be in trouble.
Joey & Meghan get their Detour clue and decide on Brawn just as Max & Katie arriving right behind them and make the same choice.