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Amazing Race: The Naughty School Girl And We Get Punk'd
Episode 8 Commentary by Jessi K.
November 18, 2008
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After a mandatory rest period in Delhi, teams received their next clue to fly 1,000 miles to Almaty, Kazakhstan. Freshly showered after their previous colorful roadblock, teams dashed to their next destination no doubt leaving some interesting towels behind at their hotel.
Nick and Starr were first to leave with Toni and Dallas not far behind. When they met up at the travel agent, Nick and Toni gathered information about the flight to Almaty while Dallas and Starr were busy gathering other information. The cameras zoomed in on the two sitting close in the back of the agency and as harps were strummed Dallas asked, “Did you ever get in trouble when you were in school?” or rather, “Were you a naughty school girl?” Kudos to him on his phrasing as this is a family show after all.
At the airport, Nick and Starr, Toni and Dallas, and Ken and Tina were able to score seats on the first flight leaving Delhi for Almaty. Starr was disappointed to see Ken and Tina and when she expressed this, Toni in turn got snide with her, “Good for them that they figured it out. Now come on.” Which I translated to, “You will never be good enough for my Dally!”
Terence and Sarah managed to get on the second flight leaving Delhi but Dan and Andrew weren’t able to get seats on their flight even though Dan told the ticket agents it was “an emergency.” He uttered those two words with as much feeling as a flatlining heart monitor—which is coincidentally exactly how my own heart feels whenever him and Andrew are on screen.
Once in Kazakhstan, teams made their way to a chicken factory and discovered it didn’t open until 7:30 a.m. which meant that all teams were caught up. This is always disappointing. We’re shown the begging and pleading at ticket counters at airports and even close-ups of plane tickets being printed as a reminder that every second counts only to learn that it was all for naught. Every episode when teams are equalized, I feel the producers saying to me, “You’ve been punk’d!”
When the gate was opened at 7:30 a.m., the teams ran for the clue box and learned that they’d have to search inside the chicken factory amongst a multitude of chickens for one of seven golden eggs. But as they decided amongst them who would perform the roadblock, a fast forward was revealed. Phil then appeared amongst gyrating girls to explain that teams wanting to win the fast forward would have to make their way from the chickens to the chicks and eat a local delicacy of which consisted of the fat from the rear end of the sheep. I shook my head as this was happening. And not just because the other rear ends in question, those of the Kazakhstani women at the restaurant were being shaken at Phil.
I can’t say I am personally entertained by watching Racers force food down their throats. The previous fast forward from the season in which Ken and Tina had to scale Auckland’s highest building required them to haul ass instead of eat it. And in previous seasons, Racers had to go as far as shave their heads or get a tattoo. But to simply have to consume something unpleasant seems much too easy. And also, for me, The Amazing Race brilliantly highlights the varying cultures in the world and presents them in a way to show how different we all live our lives—and that those differences aren’t wrong, they’re just different. But when teams are made to eat something we as Americans deem “disgusting,” it seems to showcase a culture differently. It screams, “Just look at what gross things they eat here!” I am sure if there was a Kazakhstan version of The Amazing Race and their racers came to America, their Kazakhstani Keoghan would have to introduce the fast forward of eating a plateful of chili cheese fries with ranch dressing and those Racers, too, would recoil.
Nick and Starr as well as Terence and Sarah went for the fast forward while everyone else stayed behind to search for golden eggs at the chicken farm, a task in which putting on the hazmat-like suits required was more difficult than the actual roadblock. After finding the golden eggs, Toni and Dallas, Ken and Tina, and Dan and Andrew had to find crane trucks that would take them to the Koktobe Arch. It was unclear to me as to why crane trucks were taking the teams to the next task but much in this episode remained unclear to me. There was a real opportunity here for America to learn about Kazakhstan other than the fact that it’s home to the character of Borat but unfortunately, the only other piece of knowledge gained about the country is that its people enjoy sheep’s butt. Thanks CBS.
Back at the fast forward, Starr’s body was working against having to eat such a dish while Terence’s principles were doing the same. “It’s frickin’ meat,” he said, when seeing the plate set before him. After having been a vegetarian for 15 years, he struggled to eat any of it at all.
Curiously enough his shirt during this episode read.....
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Jessi K. is a freelance writer from Iowa who has a penchant for reality TV, carbonated beverages, and boybands. She can be reached at Jessi@RealityTVCalendar.com.
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