The Babies arrive first at Kishiwada Castle and start running around the grounds looking for the clue box. They find it pretty quickly out behind the castle across a little lake. The clue tells them to take a taxi to JR Kanjosan Noda Station and find a cleaning man who will give them the next clue. They run back around to the street just as Moronald and Christina arrive and The Babies are happy that they were fast enough to prevent Moronald and Christina from seeing which direction they were coming from. Nick and Grandpa are in their taxi wondering if Moronald and Christina know Japanese. Grandpa says he wouldn't be surprised if Christina does because "She's at some big 'falutin' college and everything like that." That is hilarious! Such a grandfatherly thing to say. Nick goes, "'Falutin' college?" And Grandpa confirms that Christina goes to Princeton. High falutin' indeed. The Princeton lady herself is just now getting frustrated because she and Moronald are wandering through the castle museum instead of the castle grounds - duh. But then she gets the bright idea to step out onto a balcony and scan the grounds for the clue, which she quickly spots. She and Moronald run down and grab the clue then head back to their taxi. Nick and Grandpa also look from the balcony and spot the clue. Poor Grandpa huffs and puffs behind Nick as he sprints across the grounds to fetch the clue. In the cab Grandpa announces that he needs water. This is making me nervous.
The new face of dehydration.
As The Babies make their way to the Noda Station Jen remarks that there are no street signs in English and Nate goes, "That's why we're not drivin' babe." Then Moronald and Christina discuss how complicated the roads are and notice that their driver is relying completely on GPS. Christina says, "I'm never driving in Japan." More foreshadowing? The Babies find their cleaning man vacuuming a map (cleanliness - you would never see this in India... or America) and he hands them their clue, which is a Road Block.
"No dust! No dust!"
The clue says, "Who's the backseat driver?" Jen decides that she is and then we get a visit from Phil!
"I'll be YOUR backseat driver."
Phil explains that in this Road Block one of the team members will find out firsthand just what it takes to navigate the congested streets of Osaka by becoming a taxi driver. The team member performing the challenge must don a hat and white gloves like local cabbies (how cute!) and drive a Japanese couple five miles to the center of the labyrinth that is Osaka without inviting a local to lead them or join them in the cab to help or getting help from the couple. When they drop the couple off at their destination the couple will hand them the next clue, but then they have to navigate alone back to their partners at the Noda Station before opening the clue. Whew!
Jen puts on her hat and gloves and gets into her taxi. She takes a moment to check herself out in the rearview mirror to see how she looks in her "uniform." The woman of Jen's Japanese couple totally rolls her eyes watching Jen preen.
Exactly, Japanese lady.
Moronald and Christina get the clue and Christina decides to do the Road Block since she speaks Japanese, but then she reads what she has to do and you can tell she is not pleased. I think she even says f***, but we can only see her mouth move as that word is not appropriate for network television. Or for TVgasm (ha ha ha ha ha). Or for my parents to read. Moronald says that Christina is a bad driver because she has no sense of direction. Well, at least she knows how to stay calm in a crisis, Moronald. I feel bad for Nate for the first time ever because he has to hang out with Moronald while the girls do the challenge. Actually, maybe I don't feel so bad. Nate deserves this.
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Comments (12)
Good job HG!!! My favorite line - "Can you riz-ead my ciz-ard?" Something about Nick reminds me of Jon Heder...they both look so sinusy all the time.
My favorite visualization - Phil being my backseat driver...mmm...
1 of 12 | Posted by wintersux | Posted on January 10, 2008 4:03 AM
OK, maybe not my backseat driver...just in my backseat...but only after he gets over that nasty case of beriberi.
2 of 12 | Posted by wintersux | Posted on January 10, 2008 4:19 AM
Uh, HG, a "direct" flight means that you do not change aircraft, but it can indeed make one or more stops on the way to your final destination. Hate to make Moronald right, but that's the case.
3 of 12 | Posted by talma63 | Posted on January 10, 2008 5:52 AM
Great recap HG - I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard reading a recap! I kept thinking the same thing when Christina was saying how her father hadn't flipped out once the whole leg...he most definitely flipped out when they go to the airport. Thought it was hilarious when Moronald and Grandpa were sharing cookies waiting during the cab driving mission. I wish they would've given us more info on TK and Rachel...like timing of their flights. And "the electric car" was a little weird...usually theres huge product placement in those prizes and this was so vague...I would've been pissed if I won that! It's funny bc I think last time those two came in first they won a catamaran and now an electric car?!
4 of 12 | Posted by yankeesfan | Posted on January 10, 2008 7:00 AM
Another fine recap!
The hippies MAY be eliminated (due to trusting the wrong guy) but they are definitely winners in a much larger sense.
A million dollars would be wasted on the babies, but for the first time in memory, I like three out of four remaining teams.
Maybe they should do a show using only "nice" teams from past races?
5 of 12 | Posted by fire@will | Posted on January 10, 2008 10:19 AM
fire@will, I'm with you about the nice teams race. That'd be great. It'll never happen because TV producers love "conflict," which you get in spades with annoying teams *cough, Babies, cough*
I really want TK and Rachel to avoid elimination next episode. I want them to be in my life a little longer, since they're totally pleasant people. Nick and Don, they're great, too. Christina makes up for Ronald... mostly. I guess what I'm saying is I would love to see the Babies eliminated next, but you have to admit they've improved as RACERS. But they suck as humans.
6 of 12 | Posted by MidwestNomad | Posted on January 10, 2008 10:30 AM
Maybe they should do a show using only "nice" teams from past races?
Well, who would want to watch that?
The babies aren't THAT bad. I'm sure they're fine human beings whenever they're not around each other.
I like Nick and Grandpa, Cristina and Moron and TK and Rachel. I've got my fingers crossed.
7 of 12 | Posted by weasel dearest | Posted on January 10, 2008 12:33 PM
Thanks for the recap HG! I agree, Moronald was testy more than once, but I did like her hushing, and him saying ok--like sticking a pacifier in a crying baby dolls face!
I liked Jen more this time, and I felt bad for her when she was regaling the cheater with her tale of taxi woes, and he shut her down . . . that bites, and I know exactly how she felt!!! Perhaps he is more of the cause of the discontent--Jen needs someone more attentive, and maybe she'd deserve it. She looked great in the taxi cam too!
I'm still rooting for the dehydrated team--despite their leader, who at least can be a bitch! He does make for a great slo-mo, WTF before the commercial break--I'm usually completely convinced they're toast--I was also surprised it was only 10 minutes later . . . . thanks editors.
Rachael is also looking more attractive suddenly . . . what's happening . . . great to see a sweett and nice team almost at top three--we can hope can't we!?
Robots were cool!!!
8 of 12 | Posted by juddfan | Posted on January 10, 2008 1:58 PM
I liked Jen more this time
Totally, she was positively giddy during this leg of the race. She was definitely different, surprised that HG didn't notice.
9 of 12 | Posted by trickydick | Posted on January 10, 2008 5:43 PM
trickydick,
I also noticed how giddy Jen seemed when they left the pit stop...my first thought was that she and Nate must have had gotten a little "one on one" time during their pit stop.
Great recap, HG!
10 of 12 | Posted by hardlyworking | Posted on January 11, 2008 7:14 AM
Of course Jennifer was giddy -- because things were going well for her and Nathan, for once! But had things gotten really bad, she would've gone right back to screaming again. And she actually did with the taxi debacle, so how about that?
11 of 12 | Posted by Dale | Posted on January 15, 2008 12:40 PM
Did anyone else notice that the music in the background of the taxi driving challenge was "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors? I'm a 80's chick and recognized the tune right away...
HG - your recaps are the best! Thanks for the great job!
12 of 12 | Posted by lijjy | Posted on January 15, 2008 12:46 PM