LEG 8 (Sicily, Italy --> Malta) EPISODE ANALYSISBETTER TITLE QUOTE: "Where Do They Come Up With These Sports?" - Brooke
Dreams actually do come true: an official new country being visited!
Right off the bat, the teams had to carry a heavy burden, a set of wine coups and a bottle of rum, to a medieval table filled with knights. Sweetening the deal, teams got to experience the hard-hitting truth of the race instead of fragile checklist activities. In the end, I found the episode very intriguing from the beginning to the credits.
ROADBLOCK: (Who's feeling craggy?)
Team members had to rappel down the jagged Malta coast into Blue Grotto where they had to search for their next clue. The ultra-blue waters of the grotto are brighter than the Floridian side of the Gulf of Mexico. The aquamarine hue made me fall in love with the Roadblock immediately despite the generic great heights task.
ROADBLOCK SCORE: 8.9/10
SPEED BUMP: (Tim & Te Jay: Paint Maltese Cross)
Tim & Te Jay had to paint a Maltese cross on a shield. Nothing too boring or non-befitting, but the extra task could have at least been a bit more entertaining than watching a team paint a symbol.
SPEED BUMP SCORE: 8/10DETOUR: (Flag or Shine)
First thing I have to address, I LOVE the new "Blind Detour" twist of having no descriptions presented in the clue! Very refreshing, and much more difficult for teams to decide whether to do the former or the latter, and should they switch option if their initial Detour choice clears the fog and finds the task too tricky to finish. In Flag, teams had to sprint up a slanted pole to grab a yellow flag and a further red flag. This task was INSANE, and I believe this has been the most challenging task any HD season (not only season 25) has aired thus far! Excellent work, route creators. You guys nailed it with this one! Much love! Not only did the task seem simple, it became very daunting that Adam & Bethany had to use their Express Pass (kind of), forced Kym & Alli to switch Detours, sent Brooke & Robbie fluctuating, overwhelmed Amy about her injured foot, and made Tim & Te Jay flamboyantly upset about wasting their time on this very task. Well played!
As for the Shine option, I didn't really enjoy the task because I couldn't actually tell who was ahead and who wasn't. Completion was all based on the judges' perception. What made up and did more for the armor task is the amount of vacillation with this Leg's Detour choices. Again, I highly praise the Flag Detour.
DETOUR SCORE: 10/10 OTHER SCORES:
TEAM DEVELOPMENT: 10/10 (Teams beginning to find Kym & Alli isolated from everyone else was not fonding, but interesting; Brooke & Robbie's taxi fiasco happens again twice; the Detour )
TEAM DRAMA: 8.5/10 (Can't stand the anti-antisocial team squad, but savored every bit of the drama that happened dealing with the Detour.)
EDITING: 8/10 (Pretty decent although it felt rushed at some parts of the episode)
SOUNDTRACK: 8.8/10 (Felt like the good ol' pre-HD editing of TAR with a TAR Asia infusion.)
PIT STOP CONFIGURATION: 5/10 (Even with SIX teams, the editors still can't seem to fit in Phil saying the 2nd and 3rd team placements. Seriously?!)
TIM & TE JAY's DETOUR NEGATIVITY: 8/10 (Although annoying, I believe they were given the star scenes of this Leg next to Brooke & Robbie with their slowly aggravated attitudes.)
BETHANY BEATING EVERYONE ON THE RAPPEL: 10/10 (That was simply awesome!
)
OVERALL SCORE: 9.2/10
Best episode of this season!
