Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 53 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Opposites Repel
By M. Giant | Season 24 | Episode 2 | Aired on 03.02.2014
Mark & Mallory are just now returning, and Mark's backpack is still sitting there on the pavement where they left it, because China. He hops out before the car is fully stopped, retrieves his backpack, then tries to help Mallory direct the driver to their next stop. Only to get a literal elbow from her for his trouble. Again, Mark interviews, "My opinion mattered nothing to her." Yes, we see that.
At the Detour, here come five teams all in a clump: Team Big Brother, the country singers, the Afghanimals, the cowboys, and the Globetrotters. They're all inside by the time Team Kentucky arrives at the edge of the park, and Mark tells Mallory to slow down, because this running is what's screwing them up. Mallory snaps, "You say one more thing to me, Mark-- we went back and we got the backpack." Mark points out that this blind running is why they left the backpack in the first place. This is not something they are recovering from quickly.
Among the teams who have been doing this Detour for a bit, Margie & Luke drop their featherball wile going for the fifth kick. We know this because each team gets a little graphic in the lower left corner of the screen showing us what number they're up to. Dave & Connor get up to three, the country singers six, the Afghanimals five, Brendon & Rachel two, and Jet & Cord three. It's all pretty random at this stage, in other words, as they all try to figure out how to play.
Mallory is all but dragging Mark across some pedestrian bridge through the park, and now it's almost like he's trying to piss her off even more, deliberately moving slowly and pausing for a drink from his water bottle, telling her that she's getting upset for no reason. I'm not saying she doesn't have a reason to be upset, I'm just saying that it shouldn't just be directed at Mark. Who tweaks, "People from Kentucky don't act this way." Mallory finally gets quiet, saying she can't believe he just sold her out like that. "Things on my back don't matter," she lectures as they get running again. Not even that target he pasted on there? Finally they reach the part of the park where the Featherball is happening, and they join the rest of the struggling teams. Mallory tries to get them to focus, and Mark says he's ready. Margie & Luke are getting close, dropping the ball on the tenth kick, but they're not done quite yet.
Team YouTube and then Team JJ get their cars to the Cultural Center and both decide on Featherball. "I think a lot of people are going to do Featherball," says Jessica in the cab on their way to the Detour that literally ever other team is either already at or en route to. Even Flight Time and Big Easy are having trouble kicking around this particular ball, while the two parent-child teams are slowly closing in on the ten-count they need to finish. In fact, it's Dave & Connor who are the first to get to ten, as Margie stops everything to tell Luke to quit yelling at her. I hadn't noticed him doing that. Dave & Connor open the clue sending them to the Pit Stop, which is the Shamian Island Promenade. Looks like another gigantic Chinese park to me. "This city escape was once owned by the French and British during the colonial European era," Phil shares. "The last team to check in here," he says from behind a bronze sculpture of a family that separates him from the map, "may be eliminated." Even if they're not, I'll be satisfied if they just rack themselves on one of those statues.