Amber BransonReality Rundown: Week of 11/15
(What schedule? I made no promises!)
Welcome back to "On Reel"'s Reality Rundown. As before, spoilers abound. This week, once again featuring "The Amazing Race," "Top Chef," and "Survivor".
The Amazing Race - Season 15, episode 8 - Air Date: 11/15
The teams head to Tallinn, Estonia. Reading the clue, the first of many pronunciation errors appear. Is it "ta-leen"? They don't know.
Mass transit: The Great Equalizer. And how cool is it to take a 16-hour ferry? It's like a miniature cruise.
The Speed Bump for father and son team Gary and Matt happens right before the Road Block. They have to strip down and take a 5-minute sauna. Relaxing! But of course, this will put them five minutes and travel time behind the other teams. Travel time could be a lot, since they aren't even sure what a "sauna bus" is. Or a "sah-oona" bus, as they say in Northern Minnesota. Once they find it, Gary rambles like he's drunk, while Matt tries desperately not to look down the towel of the beautiful blonde sitting beside him.
For the Road Block, the candelabra leads the racers to a specific room, where they must use the classic invisible-ink trick of holding a seemingly blank piece of paper over a candle to let the heat reveal a message. They have to figure this out themselves, though. Flight Time's idea for revealing the message is to color it with a crayon. Sound in theory, but not right for this task.
The table full of medieval-clad laugh at Matt's "candle uh bra" confusion. When he realizes it sounds like candle, though, he's on top of the task in an instant. Then the crayon is on top of his paper, too. Oops. Misreading the clue sends them to the Pikk Herman Tower, rather than the Pikk Herman Tower Garden. Double oops.
Detour! Mud volleyball, or slingshot the moose target?
The first four teams choose the volleyball, while Gary and Matt take the slingshot task. Only two teams can play volleyball at a time though, so with Megan and Cheyne already at the Pitstop, and Sam and Dan and the Globetrotters playing in the mud, the married couple are left to shoot the moose target. Despite being distracted by the attractive men covered in mud, the brothers finish the task at the same time as the Globetrotters, and the two teams race through the bog practically on top of each other. There is shoving, and Flight Time goes down.
Big Easy: It's on now.
Brian and Ericka finish the task before Gary and Matt even get to the detour, so the oldest remaining contestant and his neon-haired son are last to the pitstop and reflect that they regret nothing. (Except the candelabra. Matt states he never wants to see another in his life.)
Next time: Operatic Globetrotters and taxi theft! I love the brothers, but they are not making friends with their competitors.
Top Chef - Season 6, Episode 13 - Airdate 11/18
(Unfortunately, I was unable to see this episode properly, so I can't review it.)
You can see a recap here: Top Chef Recap
Next week... Chefs on a train!
Survivor - Season 19, Episode 10 - Airdate 11/19
Scramble!
There's another immunity idol in the game, and after Russell's game-flipping, everyone wants it. Richard Hatch Jr. himself is riding high and has regained his arrogance. His allies are elated, his enemies distressed.
But as arrogant as he is, Russ doesn't sit by and let the game flow like the water around him: He's up in the morning before anyone else, searching high and low for the new idol.
Shambo works to get another vote to oust Laura if the opportunity arises--she's the Samoa individual immunity queen, the same way Russell is the hidden immunity king.
Reward time: A team challenge. Swing for the flags, win a trip and a phone. Russell wants to win for the idol clue--"If I find it, it's over." Unfortunately, he's on a team with Laura. On the other team, Shambo is taking a vocal leadership role. Watching this, does anyone else want her team to win so she can get the clue to Russell and Laura won't have access?
It is not to be, though. Russ's team wins, he's going on reward with Laura. It is the first reward trip for him and for Natalie, however, so I can't feel too bad about it.
Myspace photos on the plane to the reward, and Laura doesn't know how to smile. She grimaces instead.
Back at camp, the Foa Foa refugees work on getting the sixth vote necessary to make the vote go their way without an idol in the pocket.
As soon as the winners return from the reward, the search is on. There was a video clue on the phone and Russell leads Dave on a merry chase through the jungle.. then doubles back and retrieves the hidden idol for the third time.
And they are off to struggle for immunity. Laura is one of six to not make it to the second half of the challenge, and it is Mick who walks off with the necklace.
Shambo makes another attempt to pull in a sixth vote against Laura from the old Galu. Trying to save Laura, three of the Galu decide to plant a seed with Foa Foa that John is the one to be voted out. John is, as Dave says, flighty and nervous--and he feels his old tribe is composed of idiots.
Russell decides to take it a step further: They need to tell John Monica is trying to throw him under the bus. Brett beats him to the punch, and John is not pleased.
In the jury, Eric's reactions to the discussion are some of the most entertaining visual moments in the episode.
And really, who can't even spell "Laura"?
Of course it's a tie. If it wasn't they would have cut out all those minutes discussing the mechanics of a tie. The suspenseful moment arrives: Will John flip to ensure his own continued existence in the game, or will he take his chances with the random draw?
Laura: 5
Natalie: 4
Laura is shocked, Eric and Shambo are delighted, and Dave sums it up for all the Galu sans John: "Wow..."
Next week: Shambo takes the lead, Russell frees a chicken.
Welcome back to "On Reel"'s Reality Rundown. As before, spoilers abound. This week, once again featuring "The Amazing Race," "Top Chef," and "Survivor".
The Amazing Race - Season 15, episode 8 - Air Date: 11/15
The teams head to Tallinn, Estonia. Reading the clue, the first of many pronunciation errors appear. Is it "ta-leen"? They don't know.
Mass transit: The Great Equalizer. And how cool is it to take a 16-hour ferry? It's like a miniature cruise.
The Speed Bump for father and son team Gary and Matt happens right before the Road Block. They have to strip down and take a 5-minute sauna. Relaxing! But of course, this will put them five minutes and travel time behind the other teams. Travel time could be a lot, since they aren't even sure what a "sauna bus" is. Or a "sah-oona" bus, as they say in Northern Minnesota. Once they find it, Gary rambles like he's drunk, while Matt tries desperately not to look down the towel of the beautiful blonde sitting beside him.
For the Road Block, the candelabra leads the racers to a specific room, where they must use the classic invisible-ink trick of holding a seemingly blank piece of paper over a candle to let the heat reveal a message. They have to figure this out themselves, though. Flight Time's idea for revealing the message is to color it with a crayon. Sound in theory, but not right for this task.
The table full of medieval-clad laugh at Matt's "candle uh bra" confusion. When he realizes it sounds like candle, though, he's on top of the task in an instant. Then the crayon is on top of his paper, too. Oops. Misreading the clue sends them to the Pikk Herman Tower, rather than the Pikk Herman Tower Garden. Double oops.
Detour! Mud volleyball, or slingshot the moose target?
The first four teams choose the volleyball, while Gary and Matt take the slingshot task. Only two teams can play volleyball at a time though, so with Megan and Cheyne already at the Pitstop, and Sam and Dan and the Globetrotters playing in the mud, the married couple are left to shoot the moose target. Despite being distracted by the attractive men covered in mud, the brothers finish the task at the same time as the Globetrotters, and the two teams race through the bog practically on top of each other. There is shoving, and Flight Time goes down.
Big Easy: It's on now.
Brian and Ericka finish the task before Gary and Matt even get to the detour, so the oldest remaining contestant and his neon-haired son are last to the pitstop and reflect that they regret nothing. (Except the candelabra. Matt states he never wants to see another in his life.)
Next time: Operatic Globetrotters and taxi theft! I love the brothers, but they are not making friends with their competitors.
Top Chef - Season 6, Episode 13 - Airdate 11/18
(Unfortunately, I was unable to see this episode properly, so I can't review it.)
You can see a recap here: Top Chef Recap
Next week... Chefs on a train!
Survivor - Season 19, Episode 10 - Airdate 11/19
Scramble!
There's another immunity idol in the game, and after Russell's game-flipping, everyone wants it. Richard Hatch Jr. himself is riding high and has regained his arrogance. His allies are elated, his enemies distressed.
But as arrogant as he is, Russ doesn't sit by and let the game flow like the water around him: He's up in the morning before anyone else, searching high and low for the new idol.
Shambo works to get another vote to oust Laura if the opportunity arises--she's the Samoa individual immunity queen, the same way Russell is the hidden immunity king.
Reward time: A team challenge. Swing for the flags, win a trip and a phone. Russell wants to win for the idol clue--"If I find it, it's over." Unfortunately, he's on a team with Laura. On the other team, Shambo is taking a vocal leadership role. Watching this, does anyone else want her team to win so she can get the clue to Russell and Laura won't have access?
It is not to be, though. Russ's team wins, he's going on reward with Laura. It is the first reward trip for him and for Natalie, however, so I can't feel too bad about it.
Myspace photos on the plane to the reward, and Laura doesn't know how to smile. She grimaces instead.
Back at camp, the Foa Foa refugees work on getting the sixth vote necessary to make the vote go their way without an idol in the pocket.
As soon as the winners return from the reward, the search is on. There was a video clue on the phone and Russell leads Dave on a merry chase through the jungle.. then doubles back and retrieves the hidden idol for the third time.
And they are off to struggle for immunity. Laura is one of six to not make it to the second half of the challenge, and it is Mick who walks off with the necklace.
Shambo makes another attempt to pull in a sixth vote against Laura from the old Galu. Trying to save Laura, three of the Galu decide to plant a seed with Foa Foa that John is the one to be voted out. John is, as Dave says, flighty and nervous--and he feels his old tribe is composed of idiots.
Russell decides to take it a step further: They need to tell John Monica is trying to throw him under the bus. Brett beats him to the punch, and John is not pleased.
In the jury, Eric's reactions to the discussion are some of the most entertaining visual moments in the episode.
And really, who can't even spell "Laura"?
Of course it's a tie. If it wasn't they would have cut out all those minutes discussing the mechanics of a tie. The suspenseful moment arrives: Will John flip to ensure his own continued existence in the game, or will he take his chances with the random draw?
Laura: 5
Natalie: 4
Laura is shocked, Eric and Shambo are delighted, and Dave sums it up for all the Galu sans John: "Wow..."
Next week: Shambo takes the lead, Russell frees a chicken.
