Thursday 24 July 2014

Preview of Episode 4 "They're Harshing Our Mellow" Amazing Race Canada 2

The title quote, "They're harshing our mellow" just has to be from Mickey or Pete - and my guess its Mickey. I figure its either them or Pauley Shore. Who is causing them grief? Circumstances point to Pierre and Michel after the lying incident in Hong Kong, and the twins hiding in the doorway to avoid Ryan, Rob and the Dudes.
Yes there are spoilers here...

The teams will be in for a hot time in Macau. So hot in fact that Mickey looks like he's wearing some sort of crazy onesie, but its just a long sleeveless T over very short shorts. Maybe his underwear, if he's not going commando that is. Definitely eye candy for girls who prefer the hot and sweaty, practically in their underwear look in their guys.

They will take a ferry from Hong Kong to Macau on mainland China. Teams must sign up for 2 ferries...first come, first serve. This is just to break up the pack a bit. Their first task is a simple Route Info...light a very large, very loud rack of firecrackers. No biggie.

Apparently Macau is now considered the New Gambling Capital of the world. The preview shows Ryan saying "Its Las Vegas on steroids". I thought Las Vegas WAS Las Vegas on steroids. Someone better tell Las Vegas about this. This entire leg occurs at night to showcase the lights of the gambling district. Anyway, they are playing some sort of table game (don't ask me what it is) that for some reason the teams can't figure out or get the hang of. They will probably be required to figure out the game then win a round. Sukhi and Jinder try to ask both Rex & Bob and Ryan & Rob for help, but they refuse. This tells me this group of teams are all running in last place and think one of them are going to be eliminated. The guys are willing to sacrifice Sukhi and Jinder to the Amazing Race gods to stay in the game.

Next up is a traditional Portuguese dance in costume. Natalie and Meaghan might be incredible on skates, but I don't think dancing is their forte. Will their winning streak end? We know that they chose to do use their Express Pass in Hong Kong rather than do the Kung Fu task, so I think they believe they can't handle anything involving dance or learned steps. A few other teams find this task difficult as well. Remember the Roadblock in Calgary last year and the problems everyone had with it? I think this will be similar. I am looking forward to who wears the female costumes vs. who wears the male costumes. We should see a lot of fun with Ryan in a twirly dress (he has a drag persona in his comic sketch) - he should shine in this and I hope we will get to know this team a little better.

There is another Roadblock - a tethered bungee jump off the Macau Tower. According to Wikipedia, it is the 2nd highest bungee jump in the world at 233 m. A special sneak peak shows Cormac stepping out onto the platform, while on the ground a concerned Nicole , saying "It better not be one of those moments he gets light-headed and has to back out." Makes me wonder if he does that often. Just kidding. But Cormac owes Mom one for making that big jump in Victoria. I am also hoping Meaghan does this one and not Natalie. We all know what happened the last time Natalie was that high up.

I am pretty sure we are due for our first of three Non-elimination legs, or NELs for short. I can't tell you who will be saved by the NEL, but my guess is Sukhi & Jinder or Alain & Audrey. Sukhi and Jinder looked to be in a tough spot at the casino. I only mention Alain and Audrey because they were spotted during filming in Macau with perhaps the worst state of panic on their faces that I have ever seen. Even then I thought "Oh, oh. That team is in trouble." The promo is putting a huge emphasis on Sukhi and Jinder being in trouble, but I know they continue on in the race. On the off chance it's not an NEL, the two teams on the bubble are Rex & Bob and Cormac & Nicole. These two teams will stay "on the bubble" (see note below) through to the next leg, when I will have to add a couple of other teams to that list. Who wins this leg? Well, they are promoting this episode with the tag "who's luck will run out?" The first inclination is to think who gets eliminated, but I think it refers to Natalie and Meaghan's winning streak. I think it's going to break. Strong contenders for first place are Cormac & Nicole (presuming this is an NEL), Pete & Mickey, Pierre & Michel and Ryan & Rob - and probably in that order. If anyone wants to bet on it, I don't give odds.

And just one more big clue to those who are still complaining about the show "going international"...the teams will be returning to Canada after this cluster of legs in Asia. They are not circumnavigating the globe. This is Air Canada and flights must either originate or terminate in Canada. They can't fly from one international airport - say Macau, directly to another - say Paris. International travel on this show will always be "hub" destinations - flying to one area and then using local travel or charter flights between legs. Unless of course they attract other airlines as sponsors in future seasons. I fully expect people to complain about this return to Canada as well. Geesh. I am complaining about the complaining.

Note about "on the bubble": teams that I have placed on this list were not seen by anyone after this point in the race. This does not necessarily mean they were eliminated here. What it does mean is that they will soon be eliminated because other teams have been seen and accounted for in the latter stages of the race.