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
Both Margie & Luke and Caroline & Jennifer are approaching ten on their latest volley, but it is in fact the country singers who finish this task in second place, just seconds ahead of Team ASL. That Express Pass really did make a difference, didn't it? Soon all three of these teams are out of the park and in search of taxis.
The teams left behind are not doing quite as well, but they're getting better. Cord does a sliding gainer across the stones to make a spectacular save on the ninth tap, and when it sails back to the circle, another teammate passes it to Cord, who scores the tenth and final hit. Only hits by the actual racers count towards the score, it turns out. The cowboys are in fourth, just ahead of Brendon & Rachel, who have just finished. And then the Globetrotters finish in sixth, and celebrate appropriately. As opposed to the Afghanimals, who as usual celebrate inappropriately by each picking up a teammate and spinning her around. In short, seven teams have just finished the Detour, and we see all of them looking sweaty in their taxis to the Pit Stop. But there's one team that's still doing it: Mark & Mallory, and it's not going well for them. Then Joey & Meghan show up, and Mallory starts getting distracted and panicked by them as they begin the Detour. Yikes, without her dad along to ground her, she's a total flake. Jessica & John are the last team to show up, and John is back on his "let's have fun" attitude that served him so well last time around. But whereas a minute ago this Detour only had one freaked-out team that was sucking wind and seeing their frustration rising faster than their scores, now there are three.
They're all still at it after the final ad break, and Jessica is figuring out a kind of strategy, which to let John field more of them. He does a little trick where he lets it slide down his front and then kicks it with his foot when it falls, which would have been impressive had it worked. Meghan, meanwhile, falls on her ass. Mallory asks Mark what they should do, as if they have a choice. Mark says as much, and Mallory suggests switching Detours, which is a terrible idea, and Mark tells her so. Her current plan of standing there with her mouth open is one I hadn't considered, though.
At the Pit Stop on Shamian Island, Dave & Connor are the first to arrive in their taxi, meaning they might actually get to win a leg without one of them on crutches for the first time ever. Except this is a large park, like all of them seem to be, and a shot of a signpost bristling with arrows pointing to different sections indicates that this search for Phil could take a while. The country singers pay their taxi driver, and as Team Big Brother arrives elsewhere, Rachel claims she can see a sign pointing to the Promenade. "You can read Chinese?" Brendon asks doubtfully. "No," says Rachel, "but it's going to be in pictures." Wow, reading Chinese is easier than I thought. The cowboys, the Globetrotters, and the Afghanimals arrive, as Rachel points out an illustrated map to Brendon in a way that suggests she might actually know what she's on about. Now Margie & Luke are here too, joining Team Big Brother in a footrace for the mat that's so close that both teams' cameramen have almost the same angle. Rachel calls to Brendon that it's okay and they're not running for last. "I know, but what if it's first?" he shoots back. They just barely edge out Margie & Luke to the mat, where a greeter who's dressed a lot like last week's greeter, in medieval Chinese armor, welcomes both teams to Guangzhou, China. Phil uses speech and ASL simultaneously to tell Brendon and Rachel that they're team number one, and Rachel lets out a scream that could be heard in Taiwan. "That's the first time we've ever one a leg ever!" she pageant-sobs. Margie & Luke are almost as excited to be team number two, but obviously much quieter about it. Then Jennifer and Caroline come running up, and they're team number three. Phil asks them about the Express Pass, and Caroline says they needed it bad. "Assembling a car is a guy thing." I used to like Caroline a lot. After the leg, she gives Jennifer credit for being a strategic player, the way she worked Cord for the Express Pass. Yeah, that's one way to put it.