Saturday, February 28, 2009

Amazing Race 14, Episode 2: Your Target is your Partner’s Face (Germany)

Playing a bit of catch up here, since the next episode is tomorrow night. Hey G2, they'll be heading to Romania tomorrow, land of your ancestors...

After a Pit Stop in the Swiss town of Schteckelberg (only guessing on that spelling), the teams are instructed to fly to Munich, Germany. First to leave are Margie and Luke, at 2:56 am. I sense an equalizer on the horizon, wish I were wrong, and we’ll see. Once there, they will drive themselves to the village of Ruhpolding, and take a tram to the top of a nearby mountain. Cool beans!

The smart teams think to call the airlines and make reservations while they are en route to the airport. Even though Steve and Linda continue to be portrayed as hicks that have just left the Virginia mountains for the very first time, they do think of this, too. However, they hope for a beer challenge in Germany…one step back. And yep, here comes the equalizer. I hate equalizers! Looks like everyone will be on the 7:10 Swiss Air flight…except our blonde flight attendants? How strange. On the 8:45 are Jodi and Christie, and Mike and Michael, the stuntman brothers.

There will be quite a shake out here, depending on who can get along, and who can follow directions. Tammy and Victor work out their sibling differences and snag the first trolley up the hill. Kisha and Jen’s sibling rivalries only worsen, however, along with their sense of direction.

Once at the top, they discover a Roadblock, where one partner must make a tandem paraglide off the mountain. The other partner takes the gondola back down the hill. Unfortunately, the wind kicks up, and now they may choose to walk down the hill, or wait for better conditions. All the teams decide to walk down, except for Mel and Mike, because Mel injured his groin in yesterdays cheese debacle. Mel figures his leg will not handle the walk down the hill, and are fearing elimination during the interminable wait for the wind to die down. Mel works on psyching other contestants into staying on top of the mountain with him…he’s sure he’s lost the race for his team.

They must follow the arrows as they run down the hill. Unfortunately Linda misses a key arrow and takes a wrong turn. Instead of arriving back at the start, she ends up on the side of a highway, engulfed in sobs, and worrying about what Steve may say or do if she has lost the race for them. In a late breaking wind change, Mel gets to take off on the paraglider. Wow. What a gas! He says he would lose the race for this, and I’m with him.

The runners are coming in, and receive their next clue, they are to drive themselves to Schonau am Konigsee to find their next clue. Much burying of heads in maps to figure this one out.

Right now I’m really feeling for the camera persons that must run down the hill with each competitor. Yow! Mel lands…and they are in fifth place.

And it’s a Detour. Teams must choose between two tasks…Balancing Dolly or Austrian Folly. In BD, they must ride a segue vehicle on an obstacle course. In AF, the teams must go into a party tent, and throw pies at each other until they find a pie with cherry filling. I would not have been amused with the pie throwing, I gotta admit. Me for the obstacle course.

Margie and Luke choose pie throwing, and apparently they have terrible luck, throwing umpteen pies until they finally get lucky. They lose a considerable amount of ground. Once the teams have completed their tasks, they get their next clue, which directs them to find the tyrolean woodcutters, which will cut them a disk of wood. Once they have their wood it will be stamped with their next clue. Is this getting convoluted enough yet?

The teams must then drive to Salzburg in Austria, and find Schloss Hellebrunn, which is a castle. This is where the next Pit Stop is. As Victor and Tammy power on toward the Pit Stop, Linda is thumbing a ride on the highway, still in tears. If it weren’t so clear that this will put them in last place, they would incur a penalty for catching this ride…

Tammy and Victor are the winners of this leg, and each win a hybrid go-cart. As Phil points out, they look pretty ridiculous in their cream pie attire. Most of the teams come in dressed like this. Mel and Mike mastered the Segway course with ease, Margie and Luke are still throwing the pies. Kisha and Jen have gone the wrong way, again.

When they reach the castle, Mel and Mike spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to get the gate open. They can see the pit stop mat and Phil, and just can’t figure it out. Phil gives us a highly arched eyebrow of amusement. Along comes a couple of people, who just…pull the door open. I would really laugh about this, if I didn’t do this exact thing myself quite regularly.

The blondes finish pie throwing and it is now dark. They begin to search for the wood…but haven’t completely read their clue for content. They end up in a horse pen, looking for any piece of wood, anywhere. They show up with a piece of 2x4…pretty funny. Eventually they do find the right place, and head for the finish. Steve and Linda appear to still be in it at this point. Kisha and Jen are still driving the countryside, but eventually end up in seventh. Mark and Michael are #8. Once at the castle, the blondes and Steve and Linda appear to be in a dead heat for the finish. Steve and Linda, however, do come in last, and they are eliminated from the race. Steve bucks up and says some nice things about Linda…

One thing I really like about Amazing Race 14 is that they are spending much less time photographing airports, and much more on the incredible scenery. Thanks, guys!

G2, what do you think, shall we apply? Heh heh. None of this pie stuff for us, we want the Segway challenge, right?

S2

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