New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

As spiteful story time continues, you can tell that Jordan and Dan are uncomfortable participants and the brothers correctly and quickly surmise that this tactic was purely motivated by emotions over smart game play. They pinpoint that the cowboys should have been the U-Turn target and given how these guys can pull a first place finish from dead last, Jordan is 100 percent correct when he says, “We are all going to look back on it and question that decision.”

As expected, all four are on the same flight and have a footrace to the Shanghai taxi stand. Michael says that someone on the plane told them that about a third of the people in Shanghai speak English but they and the brothers seem to draw the short straw with their non-English speaking cabbies, who don’t have a clue where to go. South Carolina and the cowboys are much luckier and end up in the town of Zhujiajiao quickly.

Now it’s time for Social Studies and Vocabulary lessons from The Amazing Race teams. First, check out the big brain on Brent again, as Mr. Anonymous shows off his geographic prowess while they float down the streets of the town by saying, “I feel like I’m in, like, Sicily.” He really is the embodiment of Derek Zoolander. Jet describes the boat ride as tranquil, which causes his brother to try to bust on him with a “What’s that?” for using a word that is not typically in a cowboy’s vocab. Unphased, Jet correctly explains to Cord that “tranquil” means peaceful and calm. Cord seems impressed that Jet has got him some good book-learnin’.

Brent and Caite show at the clue box first for the Roadblock and Phil gives us a brief history of noodle making in China. It is as pointless as it sounds like it would be. The teams have to make 1000 grams of noodles by hand. After they are done, they will get their next clue from Pingping, who at 2 ft. 5 in. is the world’s shortest man. The presence of Pingping at the challenge seems so random and will undoubtedly result in several un-PC comments.

Caite dons the cook gear and starts her noodle making after declaring that Pingping is “so adorable” and “freakin’ awesome” and asking if she can take him home. This just reminds me that Caite is only 20 years old and not far removed from teenager-dom. Jet jumps into the challenge and provides this leftfield comparison for Pingping that I still don’t quite understand. “If he jumped out of your trash can, it would scare you to death.” That statement may be the epitome of a non sequitur. Cord offers his two cents with, “I don’t know where that guy does his shopping, but he wears a small.” They are not letting me down in my expectations of un-PC remarks.

After reaching the wrong destination, Super Fuzz and the brothers finally get a break with a local who speaks English and sets them on the right path. As they arrive at the Roadblock, Jet has once again picked up on the technique needed for the task and is separating from the competition. Apparently distracted by her desire to put Pingping in her purse, Caite is still sitting with no noodles made.

Continued:       1       2       3       4