The Amazing Race 16: Eps 9 to 12
May. 31st, 2010 11:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsIn which we come home to San Francisco, by way of Singapore and Shanghai.
Ep 9:
1. Next stop, Singapore, by bus (to Kuala Lumpur) and then by train, and BTW, there'll be a U-Turn. We see Brent/Caite saying they'll U-Turn the (beep) out of Carol/Brandy, and Dan/Jordan thinking it's a bad idea (since the three teams mentioned have not won a single leg yet). We also see Jet/Cord noticing that their bus driver has a cap that says "Race" on it (HEH), before bunching up with everyone else on the sleeper to Singapore. After that, they go to some theater to look for Allan "TAR Asia host" Wu. Apparently, the show's not that well-known, since we see a team asking a ticket window and getting "Who's Allan Wu?" in response :-D He turns out to be sitting in front of the theater rather than inside, and he has plenty of time to kill, since it's been two years since the last race (though they opened applications this past March for a new season).
2. We have the Fast Forward at a bigFerris observation wheel, which calls for climbing between two capsules, and a Detour that calls for selling ice cream on bread at a street stall (we have that kind of ice cream here too), or drumming. Everyone's drumming, and it's turning out to be a bit hard to say the least. We see Louie/Michael considering the FF after trying drumming, but since D/J already decided on the FF when they got the clue, they're doing the ice cream instead. After we see D/J climb across the capsules, Jordan's glad that he didn't pee on himself :-D
3. Following the Detour is the U-Turn, where we see B/C U-Turn C/B (say that 3 times fast!), and C/B are none too pleased to see that. We see them mention Caite's YouTube infamy, and also point out once again that they've never won a leg, and B/C are doing it only because they're feuding against them. The only footage TAR has to back this up is C/B mocking B/C for racing with a tiara, from way back at LAX, so yeah. Meanwhile, the editors insert the same shot of a taxi with a Daikin logo zooming down a street a couple times :-\
4. Next stop, some port where teams count the links on a chain as a Roadblock. Conveniently, the detectives have a counter, which they use to their advantage. No one screws up the counting task, incredibly enough :-) (although the detectives forgot to pick up their clipboard at first) The real hard part (for detectives at least) is getting a cab to the next stop, a Sentosa zipline, and after getting one, the detectives say "Drive it like you stole it" (we'll be hearing it again later).
5. Sentosa zipline. Everyone zips across a stream to a small island, and after the detectives do their zipping, we see the editors add some sparkle to the clue lady's teeth as they think she's cute. Well, yeah, but what's with the sparkle? Pitstop is at the Singapore Marina, and D/J get motorbikes for finishing 1st, and they're all "Our mom would kill us" :-) The cowboys are in 3rd, and comment that the only musical instrument they play is the radio :-D Bringing up the rear and getting eliminated are C/B, who basically comment on how stupid it was for B/C to U-Turn them, and they leave off with "I'll gladly translate that to 1st grade terms for Caite" :-)
Ep 10:
1. After a one-week hiatus, next stop is Shanghai, and a taxi ride to some canal-filled town, and then to the Roadblock: making a kilo of noodles. The world's shortest man, He Pingping, is on hand to give teams their next clue once they're finished. Louie/Michael have made pasta before, so they're decent on this task. D/J, not so much.
2. Next stop, a fashion task back in Shanghai. Sounds like the kind of task Stella (Winx Club) would love :-) Look at picture, find matching clothes, dress them on to model. L/M spend quite some time searching for the fashion house, which is quite a feat since the clue box is right next to it (they're all "What kind of detectives are we?") And of course, we hear (from the detectives) about how this task was so approprate for Jordan, prompting L/M to wonder why there isn't a shooting task or kicking down doors task :-)
3. Next stop, a football stadium. Incredibly, it's ANOTHER Roadblock, in which the guy who sat out the first one gets to put together a big puzzle for a crowd to flip over and reveal the location of a clue. Cord leaves his stuff (and his whole body at one point) on the pieces, which is quite prudent, since the wind is making pieces flying everywhere. Yow.
4. D/J make up for the noodle incident (tm Bill Watterson) by beating the detectives at the puzzle. In fact, it takes so long for the detectives to finish, it's well into the night by the time they hit the pitstop at some science museum. Cowboys get a trip to Alaska (and it turns out that they're already spoken for), detectives are out... in the cold, that is. In other words, this is an NEL, and Phil says, "Don't make me eliminate you." We finish with a brief "In memoriam" to He Pingping.
Ep 11:
1. We're staying in Shanghai, and the first stop is the Garden Bridge. Now, once again I missed the first 15 minutes, but apparently, everyone had trouble because that's not its local name. Except for Brent/Caite, that is, since they apparently found an English speaker who knew what it meant. Apparently, we also find out that Cord was once kicked in the head by a horse (kinda like the grandma in leg 2).
2. Now this is where I came in: Roadblock, count all the golden statues. The most common mistake was only counting the Buddhas and forgetting to counting the two big statues in the room. The detectives have a very trivial Speed Bump: Throw a coin into a small opening in an incense burner. Yes, it's as easy as it sounds, though the detectives still take a bit of time to get it in.
3. After counting statues, everyone gets to ride sidecar bikes to their next stop. We see the detectives once again saying "Drive it like you stole it" and we see Dan having Jordan ride b!tch in the sidecar (their words, not mine), and looking at random women.
4. Next stop is the Detour, between serving pork dumplings, and finding a small stamp called a "chop" with a pig (pork chop, geddit? :-)) and their name on it. As it turns out, everyone goes for the stamps, prompting Dan to complain that it's a needle in a haystack task. We see Caite complaining about the people trying to sell her stuff while heading to the Detour, and Brent having to go pee, a la the sisters in TAR14 (though with less consequences).
5. After meeting the really short guy last week, teams meet a really tall guy, Zhang Juncai, at the pitstop, where B/C finally claim a win, pipping the cowboys, and getting a trip to Spain. The other team in the finals: Dan/Jordan, after finding their chops before the detectives.
Finale:
1. Final stop, San Francisco. At the airport, we see D/J cutting in line by putting their bags in front of the sleeping cowboys, and they're not too pleased to find this out (many fans didn't like it either, but eh, they still all get on the same plane). Later, we see D/J moving over to 1st class before arrival in SF. This is pretty important. And yes, they do point out that SF is a gay friendly city.
2. First clue in SF is a riddle that basically sends them to the Coit Tower (made famous by an ice cream sundae, at least over here). D/J get the answer from a bicyclist, and we see them say, "People who ride bicycles are smart. It's a general rule." Meanwhile, B/C fall behind real fast because their cabbie takes a lot of time getting to the tower, such that Caite wonders if he even speaks English :-)
3. We have a Roadblock at the Coit Tower: Climbing the tower. Somewhat uneventful, so we'll skip to the next stop, Lucasfilm's Yoda fountain and ILM, with another task: Basically, one guy guides the other (in a motion capture outfit) through a virtual sci-fi maze without bumping into any virtual walls. We see the cowboys, as payback, trying to screw with D/J with fake directions like "Sashay" and "hop and skip" :-) We also see the cowboys waiting for D/J to stop spinning around before going on. Turns out the spinning was so that they could read the clue, and, despite having actually seen the spinning up close, it takes the cowboys such a long time to realize this, such that Brent and Caite are on the challenge before they've finished. Challenge comes complete with Stormtrooper escorts and CG likenesses of the racers, right down to CG Jet wearing his hat :-)
4. It basically comes down to the cowboys and D/J after B/C have to head back to ILM to pick up their money and goodies. The next stop is the Tonga tiki bar, where we see the other teams pick up a box and take it to the Great American Music Hall, before putting posters of the eliminated teams (and NELs) in order. Yes, it's a memory task, and not a particularly difficult one at that, especially since D/J and the cowboys, in anticipation for such a task, have noted them down (!) We even see Jordan claim he's watched the show for the past 15 seasons, and know that a memory task is the norm for the final challenge. Now that's dedicated fandom right there :-)
5. Finish line: Candlestick Park. We see D/J brag about having the best cabbie in the world (just like in Penang), and the cowboys quipping about having a rodeo at Candlestick. Not surprisingly, D/J take the prize, and we see the cowboys saying that they're proud to finish with their character and integrity intact. We also get to see Carol/Brandy b!tch about Caite U-Turning them. And for some reason, we get to see L/M have a brief interview at the finish line, and Jordan/Jeff swearing off reality TV. :-)
Incidentally, I'll be doing a bit of travel myself later this week: I'll be visiting the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal for some personal business.
Ep 9:
1. Next stop, Singapore, by bus (to Kuala Lumpur) and then by train, and BTW, there'll be a U-Turn. We see Brent/Caite saying they'll U-Turn the (beep) out of Carol/Brandy, and Dan/Jordan thinking it's a bad idea (since the three teams mentioned have not won a single leg yet). We also see Jet/Cord noticing that their bus driver has a cap that says "Race" on it (HEH), before bunching up with everyone else on the sleeper to Singapore. After that, they go to some theater to look for Allan "TAR Asia host" Wu. Apparently, the show's not that well-known, since we see a team asking a ticket window and getting "Who's Allan Wu?" in response :-D He turns out to be sitting in front of the theater rather than inside, and he has plenty of time to kill, since it's been two years since the last race (though they opened applications this past March for a new season).
2. We have the Fast Forward at a big
3. Following the Detour is the U-Turn, where we see B/C U-Turn C/B (say that 3 times fast!), and C/B are none too pleased to see that. We see them mention Caite's YouTube infamy, and also point out once again that they've never won a leg, and B/C are doing it only because they're feuding against them. The only footage TAR has to back this up is C/B mocking B/C for racing with a tiara, from way back at LAX, so yeah. Meanwhile, the editors insert the same shot of a taxi with a Daikin logo zooming down a street a couple times :-\
4. Next stop, some port where teams count the links on a chain as a Roadblock. Conveniently, the detectives have a counter, which they use to their advantage. No one screws up the counting task, incredibly enough :-) (although the detectives forgot to pick up their clipboard at first) The real hard part (for detectives at least) is getting a cab to the next stop, a Sentosa zipline, and after getting one, the detectives say "Drive it like you stole it" (we'll be hearing it again later).
5. Sentosa zipline. Everyone zips across a stream to a small island, and after the detectives do their zipping, we see the editors add some sparkle to the clue lady's teeth as they think she's cute. Well, yeah, but what's with the sparkle? Pitstop is at the Singapore Marina, and D/J get motorbikes for finishing 1st, and they're all "Our mom would kill us" :-) The cowboys are in 3rd, and comment that the only musical instrument they play is the radio :-D Bringing up the rear and getting eliminated are C/B, who basically comment on how stupid it was for B/C to U-Turn them, and they leave off with "I'll gladly translate that to 1st grade terms for Caite" :-)
Ep 10:
1. After a one-week hiatus, next stop is Shanghai, and a taxi ride to some canal-filled town, and then to the Roadblock: making a kilo of noodles. The world's shortest man, He Pingping, is on hand to give teams their next clue once they're finished. Louie/Michael have made pasta before, so they're decent on this task. D/J, not so much.
2. Next stop, a fashion task back in Shanghai. Sounds like the kind of task Stella (Winx Club) would love :-) Look at picture, find matching clothes, dress them on to model. L/M spend quite some time searching for the fashion house, which is quite a feat since the clue box is right next to it (they're all "What kind of detectives are we?") And of course, we hear (from the detectives) about how this task was so approprate for Jordan, prompting L/M to wonder why there isn't a shooting task or kicking down doors task :-)
3. Next stop, a football stadium. Incredibly, it's ANOTHER Roadblock, in which the guy who sat out the first one gets to put together a big puzzle for a crowd to flip over and reveal the location of a clue. Cord leaves his stuff (and his whole body at one point) on the pieces, which is quite prudent, since the wind is making pieces flying everywhere. Yow.
4. D/J make up for the noodle incident (tm Bill Watterson) by beating the detectives at the puzzle. In fact, it takes so long for the detectives to finish, it's well into the night by the time they hit the pitstop at some science museum. Cowboys get a trip to Alaska (and it turns out that they're already spoken for), detectives are out... in the cold, that is. In other words, this is an NEL, and Phil says, "Don't make me eliminate you." We finish with a brief "In memoriam" to He Pingping.
Ep 11:
1. We're staying in Shanghai, and the first stop is the Garden Bridge. Now, once again I missed the first 15 minutes, but apparently, everyone had trouble because that's not its local name. Except for Brent/Caite, that is, since they apparently found an English speaker who knew what it meant. Apparently, we also find out that Cord was once kicked in the head by a horse (kinda like the grandma in leg 2).
2. Now this is where I came in: Roadblock, count all the golden statues. The most common mistake was only counting the Buddhas and forgetting to counting the two big statues in the room. The detectives have a very trivial Speed Bump: Throw a coin into a small opening in an incense burner. Yes, it's as easy as it sounds, though the detectives still take a bit of time to get it in.
3. After counting statues, everyone gets to ride sidecar bikes to their next stop. We see the detectives once again saying "Drive it like you stole it" and we see Dan having Jordan ride b!tch in the sidecar (their words, not mine), and looking at random women.
4. Next stop is the Detour, between serving pork dumplings, and finding a small stamp called a "chop" with a pig (pork chop, geddit? :-)) and their name on it. As it turns out, everyone goes for the stamps, prompting Dan to complain that it's a needle in a haystack task. We see Caite complaining about the people trying to sell her stuff while heading to the Detour, and Brent having to go pee, a la the sisters in TAR14 (though with less consequences).
5. After meeting the really short guy last week, teams meet a really tall guy, Zhang Juncai, at the pitstop, where B/C finally claim a win, pipping the cowboys, and getting a trip to Spain. The other team in the finals: Dan/Jordan, after finding their chops before the detectives.
Finale:
1. Final stop, San Francisco. At the airport, we see D/J cutting in line by putting their bags in front of the sleeping cowboys, and they're not too pleased to find this out (many fans didn't like it either, but eh, they still all get on the same plane). Later, we see D/J moving over to 1st class before arrival in SF. This is pretty important. And yes, they do point out that SF is a gay friendly city.
2. First clue in SF is a riddle that basically sends them to the Coit Tower (made famous by an ice cream sundae, at least over here). D/J get the answer from a bicyclist, and we see them say, "People who ride bicycles are smart. It's a general rule." Meanwhile, B/C fall behind real fast because their cabbie takes a lot of time getting to the tower, such that Caite wonders if he even speaks English :-)
3. We have a Roadblock at the Coit Tower: Climbing the tower. Somewhat uneventful, so we'll skip to the next stop, Lucasfilm's Yoda fountain and ILM, with another task: Basically, one guy guides the other (in a motion capture outfit) through a virtual sci-fi maze without bumping into any virtual walls. We see the cowboys, as payback, trying to screw with D/J with fake directions like "Sashay" and "hop and skip" :-) We also see the cowboys waiting for D/J to stop spinning around before going on. Turns out the spinning was so that they could read the clue, and, despite having actually seen the spinning up close, it takes the cowboys such a long time to realize this, such that Brent and Caite are on the challenge before they've finished. Challenge comes complete with Stormtrooper escorts and CG likenesses of the racers, right down to CG Jet wearing his hat :-)
4. It basically comes down to the cowboys and D/J after B/C have to head back to ILM to pick up their money and goodies. The next stop is the Tonga tiki bar, where we see the other teams pick up a box and take it to the Great American Music Hall, before putting posters of the eliminated teams (and NELs) in order. Yes, it's a memory task, and not a particularly difficult one at that, especially since D/J and the cowboys, in anticipation for such a task, have noted them down (!) We even see Jordan claim he's watched the show for the past 15 seasons, and know that a memory task is the norm for the final challenge. Now that's dedicated fandom right there :-)
5. Finish line: Candlestick Park. We see D/J brag about having the best cabbie in the world (just like in Penang), and the cowboys quipping about having a rodeo at Candlestick. Not surprisingly, D/J take the prize, and we see the cowboys saying that they're proud to finish with their character and integrity intact. We also get to see Carol/Brandy b!tch about Caite U-Turning them. And for some reason, we get to see L/M have a brief interview at the finish line, and Jordan/Jeff swearing off reality TV. :-)
Incidentally, I'll be doing a bit of travel myself later this week: I'll be visiting the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal for some personal business.
