The Amazing Race: A Slice of SicilianOne thing I like to do is note the starting times of the various teams to see how honest the show was the week before. In this case the Hippies start at 2:29 AM and the Frat Boys at 4:11 or so, so it's pretty obvious the Hippies had a big lead. Either those statues took a lot longer to put together last week than we were led to believe or there's no way the Frat Boys arrived at the amphitheatre just as the Hippies were stepping onto the mat last week.
Speaking of amphitheatres, the next stop is at yet another in Catania. What, the whole island of Sicily to play with and two of the locations have to be amphitheatres? Catania's a big city, so there's an opening time of 8:30, which means that the Hippies and the Frat Boys get bunched together. BJ and Tyler try a cute little trick of putting up a sign-in sheet which says "teams will enter the amphitheatre in the order they arrived" but Eric & Jeremy realize it's a fraud. The two teams enter the amphitheatre together, but the Frat Boys get the clue first.
It's a very simple task, count the decorative heads on the fence surrounding the site. The answer is 41, disappointing all the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans. Nobody really seems to have trouble with the counting part, although Lake initially gets it wrong, but Michelle corrects him.
The next task is a Detour: Big Fish or Little Fish. In Big Fish, teams must carry two swordfish from a fish peddler 1/3rd mile to a fish market. In Little Fish, they go directly to the market and try to sell four kilos of a sardine-like fish. All teams except the older couple decide that Big Fish sounds easier. The selling part looks pretty dull, but Big Fish delivers good gross-out factor from the smell of the fish and their tendency to bleed all over the contestants. Still, all teams seem to leave here in roughly the same order they arrived.
Next it's on to Siracusa (aka Syracuse). The Hippies and the Frat boys agree to travel there together, but when BJ and Tyler take a little too long, Eric and Jeremy bolt. It's a fairly long drive, and when teams arrive it's the Roadblock. One of the players must play in a kayak polo game and score a goal for their team. The game itself looks fairly cool, but they allow players to just throw the ball into the net rather than having to bat it with their paddles. There's some "I can't believe how long this is taking" stuff, but it really doesn't seem like a long time. Amazingly, Michelle decides to do the kayak polo, apparently on the assumption that it will not involve anything nude other than the ball.
From there it's a run/walk to the mat. The Frat Boys retain their lead over the Hippies and win something or other. Joseph and Monica finish third, while the older couple, Fran and Barry take fourth. Then come Lake & Michelle, and Ray and Yolander (as Phil calls her). David & Lori, the dating couple from Kansas, are Phil-liminated.
Viking Pundit is off this week,
drinking French beer.
Next Week: Greek athletics, which should suit BJ & Tyler and Eric & Jeremy.
Others:
Ransackery does a nice rundown of the episodes
focusing on the individual teams instead of the show as a whole.
