:waves:It's that time again: what do we know and what do we not know
First, I'm pretty sure that this is another elimination leg and certainly not another TBC nor the first NEL. At first we thought we might have our first FF, but I think that and the first NEL will come next week which will be leg 5 (episode 6 but only leg 5 since leg 3 was a double episode) which has been the traditional leg when we find our first FF and first NEL (of course, TPTB have been shaking things up so we may have to wait for leg 6) But here goes a lot of nothing:
1. The teams all start off at the Pit Stop in Munich, Germany. The first three teams arrived before sunset which was at 4:45PM, so they will be leaving before 4:45AM in the following order: The Beach Boys, The Hippies, and Lake/Michelle. They most likely will receive the clue to drive to the Munich Airport (MUC) and proceed to find a flight to Palermo, Italy (PMO). If they don't get lost, they may make the first Alitalia flight departing at 6:35AM and via Rome arrive at 10:15AM
2. Next to leave would be our friendly Old Folk at Home, who arrived at the pit stop just after sunset or a little after 5:00PM. Now they would have to hurry to make the Alitalia flight, but I do not think they will make it since we have them arriving at the first clue stop in Palermo in early afternoon and not the morning. The last teams to leave are the Nerds, Mo/Jo, Raylanda, and the Double Dees in that order. They all will not leave until the 9:35 Lufthansa flight 3856 arriving via Rome at 1:25PM or 2:00PM depending upon what connection they can make in Rome.
3. Unless something has been completely hidden from us, the teams get into taxi-vans at the airport and drive to the Piazza Verde and locate the Teatro Massimo. We have a shot of two vans approaching Piazza Verde and since the sun is partially obscurred by the buildings, it looks like they are arriving around 2:00PM. The only shot we have of an actual team on the ground is that of Fran and Barry who run across the front of the Teatro and seem to be heading to a clue box to their left. The time for this scene has been estimated to be 2:50PM.
4. Again, there may be some place to go first, but it looks like the next order of business is the DETOUR. Two tasks with their own pros and cons. In the first task, you have to locate a certain neighborhood street, bestowed with laundry hanging between buildings. The task is to find a certain article of clothing with a particular label inside (perhaps MADE IN THE USofA!) The task is not physical but could take a long time to complete. We have called this task WRING (like wring around your collar). The second task is to locate a certain foundry or metal workshop and pick up a large cast-iron bell and first carry it down the narrow hilly streets to the harbor embankment where you have to load the bell upon a famous Sicilian donkey cart and then transport it along the harbor embankment road (via Della Cala) to the church of Santa Maria della Catena. This is not a difficult task but it is physical and may take more strength than you think We call this task RING (as in Ring-a-ding-ding).
5. We have spotted The Hippies (who seem to find the clue very quickly), The Beach Boys, The Nerds, The Double Dees, and finally Lake and Michelle doing the laundry task. Now this seems to bring up a question: why are Lake and Michelle now together with teams that left almost three hours after them from Munich? One possibility is that they went to try the RING task first, got lost, couldn't find the right shop, or found the bell too heavy to carry and then had to go back and try to find the correct street with the laundry. All we know is that something happened, but we do not know what. Or, they may have missed the flight after getting lost in Munich, or had some penalty leveled on them which we are not aware of.
6. The teams of MO/JP and Raylanda have been spotted working with the bells and not seeming to have much trouble with them and probably will finish rather quickly (ahead of the laundry searchers except for BJ/Tyler and Eric/Jeremy who once again have established a two or three hour lead over the competition.
7. The clue at the end of the Laundry or Bell task seems to be located at the Church of Santa Maria della Catena. We have David and Lori running along Via Della Cala as darkness falls and the lights around the harbor come on. They may have tried the Bell first but changed their minds and ran back to the laundry bit as they pass Barry and Fran who seem to have finished the job.
The clue has them pick up new Fiat coupes and drive themselves to the ancient Temple and Amphitheatre at Segesta. A distance of about 74 kilometers. The fastest way is to drive along the motorway A29 along the shore rather than the "seemingly shorter" route over the mountains on S113 (shades of Ma Weaver's disasterous choice in Utah). The only shot of someone driving is that of Lake who seems to be out in the country as the sun is setting since we see no sun nor shadows. Have they take S113? Did they not watch TAR8 and see what happened to the Weasels??
8. At Segesta, they must park their cars in the parking lot at the foot of the mountain, and then climb up the path/roadway to the Greek Theatre. This is the path to the LEFT from the parking lot. It is about .82 miles up to the Theatre. Here they face the ROADBLOCK. The task is to assemble a statue from the parts all lying in a pile. They only have a model to go by but no other instructions (in fact, they may have no model nor instructions for that matter). It seems that BJ and Tyler arrive first around 12:45PM (the last place teams, by the way, haven't yet arrived in Palermo!) Second to arrive is probably The Beach Boys. When we see them on the path near the entrance of the Theatre it is now around 2:00PM and BJ/Tyler may pass them as they arrive and the Hippies are leaving. When we see Eric working on the statue, we can see one completed statue off to the left nearer the entrance. The clue upon completing the statue is to travel the 1.2 miles by foot to the ancient Temple located below the Theatre. This is pit stop for this leg of the race. The last team to arrive here may be eliminated.
9. It looks like BJ/Tyler and the Beach Boys finish one - two once again (do they have a deal to alternate the winning legs??)
10. The next team who we see working on the statue is MO of MO/JO fame. She seems to be right in the middle of the hemisphere shaped theater. The sun is now nearing its setting time of 4:54, but there is still time to go since we can see some sun shining on the hills in the background, and on JO as he waits on the entrance-way wall (one completed statue - BJ's - can be seen behind him (at least the head of the statue can be seen). So our guess is that MO/JO finishes third.
11. We do not see any other team except David and Lori working on the statues. But when we see them working, it is now just turning dark since the sky and silhouette of the hills can still be seen. And we know they were still down in Palermo at the harbor as the sun was setting. Nothing on Barry and Fran, nor Ray and Yolanda, nor Lake and Michelle, nor the Double Dees. So we can only guess what happens. But when we see David and Lori, it seems that at least four other statues have been completed perhaps even as many as six. So is it down to David and Lori and Lake and Michelle.
12. We have a hint that one team walked up the path to the right directly to the Ancient Temple and found Phil at the welcome mat. But they were not welcome and were told that they would have to go back to the parking lot and take the correct path up to the Theatre. Maybe they also received a 30 minute penalty for not following directions correctly. So it must have been a very frustrating day for Lake and Michelle. So are they the ones who are Philiminated this week? Or is CeeBeeEss really showing us that the Nerds are in deep doodoo? That is not the usual pattern of misinformation they like to heap upon us. My guess, Lake and Michelle do not pass Palermo, they do not collect one miliion dollars. The other possibility is the Double Dees who usually without the help of the Beach Boys couldn't find their way out of a cardboard box.
This is open to everyone's own ideas. Probably a lot of little things like places to visit, etc. etc. which we have utterly no clue about at all. But we do seem to have a more or less correct time table of major events. At least I hope so.
