Month: October 2008

Prison Break Season 4 Episode 7

During their efforts to copy card number 4 in Prison Break Season 4 Episode 6, Mahone got himself busted after he hit a cop. After debating over whether to let him rot in jail, they finally decided to break him free. T-Bag, meanwhile, got busted at work, but as he fled, Gretchen was waiting for him so she could knock him out.

T-Bag’s coming to. Gretchen has his bird book and a desire to torture him for information. He tells her that they need him because the bird book’s useless otherwise. After she slices his arm up, he agrees to cooperate with her on Scylla.

The gang decides to go to Vegas to pursue the fifth card.

After having left Mahone for dead, Self wants advice, one agent to another. He suggests that he push Wyatt on it and bring the fight to him. The general, meanwhile, wants to see some death, accidentally, of course.

Brad gets a call from the receptionist where T-Bag works. She’s ready to deal. Half the team will be staying behind to deal with him, while the others go to Vegas.

When Bellick, Mahone, and Scofield arrive, they’re greeted by a gun toting T-Bag. As he’s forcing them into a van, Mahone manages to escape.

T-Bag wants some answers about the bird book. Boring Scofield to death doesn’t work, so he begins punching him and threatens to start shooting.

Roland plans to party in Vegas, but Lincoln wants to get gone as quickly as he can.

Michael’s not exactly what you would call afraid of T-Bag. So T-Bag takes a different approach to get through: he threatens to shoot the receptionist, and he’s just crazy enough to do it. Michael tells him that the pages of the bird book fit together into a blueprint. Then T-Bag’s called away by Gretchen, who warns him they’re wearing government issued ankle monitors and the Feds could be there any minute.

Lincoln’s worried that Michael’s nosebleeds are symptomatic of the same thing that killed their mom, who died at age 31, the same age as Michael.

Mahone shows up to find an empty room, but he does have one clue, a crumpled piece of paper that says Gate.

T-Bag believes it’s all about money.

Wyatt goes looking for Self, who’s cleared out. The general doubts he could have gotten very far. He’s right about that. He’s there to pay the general a visit. Self has brought the general a present, a bunch of files about his corrupt past. He wants to blackmail him into leaving him alone.

Susan’s decided to kidnap the co-worker who was giving T-Bag such a hard time and take care of that loose end.

Sara tries flirting with the fifth cardholder. He’s not interested. The bartender suggests he may have a different type. Looks like it’s Sucre’s turn.

T-Bag takes Michael to his office, where they go into what T-Bag believed is a closet. After some digging, they find a dark hole that leads underground. Should be good fun.

When they get to the tunnel, Michael tells T-Bag he’s going to be arrested and taken back to Fox River. Since T-Bag has the gun, he’s confused how that’s going to happen, until Mahone shows up. They lock him up, and Self’s on his way.

The cardholder invites Sucre up to his room, which allows them to begin copying the card that he’d left up there earlier. It turns out the guy was injured in the war, and he’s just looking for a young stud to please his wife.

The real reason for Roland’s invention has come out. He’s there to rig the slot machines. It’s not long before he’s recognized, and his device is confiscated. They’ve got the other card on a laptop, but that doesn’t help them when it comes to obtaining the sixth card.

Gretchen left a phone outside the building so she could call them and give them a message. Unless she sees T-Bag, she’s not going to give them the rest of the pages.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Prison Break season 4 episode 8 The Price, which airs Monday at 9/8c on Fox.

The Amazing Race 13 Episode 2

The Amazing Race returned for its 13th season last week. In The Amazing Race 13 Episode 1, there were a few teams toward the bottom of the barrel, but it ultimately came down the beekeepers Anita & Arthur being eliminated. Toward the top of the ladder we had allies Nick & Starr and Ken & Tina, along with soon to destruct dating couple Terence & Sarah, who appear to have already decided the two team alliance are their enemies.

60 Minutes is running over, something we’ll probably have to get used to. A live blog will begin when the show starts, around 8:30.

At the pitstop, Terence & Sarah continue their meltdown. He gets jealous when she talks to… anybody with a pulse.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Nick & Starr – 4:07AM
Second: Ken & Tina – 4:13AM
Third: Terence & Sarah – 4:18AM
Fourth: Mark & Bill – 4:24AM
Fifth: Kelly & Christy – 4:44AM
Sixth: Toni & Dallas – 4:57AM
Seventh: Andrew & Dan – 5:03AM
Eighth: Aja & Ty – 5:05AM
Ninth: Anthony & Stephanie – 5:11AM
Tenth: Marisa & Brooke – 5:13AM

As they depart, Terence & Sarah continue to argue, and she just hopes for some way to reduce the drama. It’s becoming apparent that we’re going to hear every 5 minutes about how Kelly & Christy both got divorced but are over it now (oh really?).

Teams will fly 640 miles to Fortaleza, Brazil. There appear to be two flights: 6:45 and 11:30. The best they can hope for on 6:45 is standby, but they eventually switch to a larger plane and free up some seats. Tina takes credit for getting the bigger plane, which all teams manage to get on, but nobody’s impressed by her. Tina moving up to the front row of seats rubs Terence the wrong way, but Ken kisses Terence and makes up.

When they arrive, teams will go to the seaside town of Combuco, where they’ll start off with a dunebuggy ride to the detour. The detour is a choice between beach it or docket. In beach it, teams must choose a traditional Brazilian boat and drag them using logs 100 yards across the sand. In docket, teams will search for a container by finding the code on their clue in a database.

Beach it: Terence & Sarah, Kelly & Christy, Toni & Dallas, Nick & Starr, Ken & Tina, Andrew & Dan, Aja & Ty, Marisa & Brooke (after trying docket, but not really), Anthony & Stephanie
Docket: Mark & Bill

At the challenge, Kelly & Christy want Sarah to smack Terence upside the head for bossing her around.

The next stop is Parque de Vaquejada, but the first trick is to find a taxi (paying attention to the arrow to taxi parking may help). Mark & Bill decided to play to their strength of computers, and finding the needle in the haystack proved to be not too difficult, putting them in first place. Terence & Sarah finished ahead of them but got lost finding a taxi. Nick & Starr, however, rushed through their task and are on the right track. Kelly & Christy are looking for a container, the container from the other detour. Multiple teams pass them as they go on their wild moose chase, digging in the sand for something that’s not really there.

Multiple other teams drive right by Terence & Sarah because they couldn’t care less they were stupid. Toni & Dallas, however, stop and tell them where to get a cab. When they get back, they’re very close to last. Would have been smarter to let them get eliminated because, despite all their problems, Terence & Sarah are one of the strongest teams.

After being passed by almost all the teams, Kelly & Christy finally decide to stop searching for the container that doesn’t exist.

The road block is searching for a clue hidden in plain sight (somewhere on a 600 foot wall). Bill (I think it’s Bill anyway) has a way to solve this mystery: just write down every single thing on the wall and keep saying names until the painter finally gives him the clue. Tina observes him doing this and takes the same path, which proves to be quite a good idea. Proving that they haven’t learned their lesson from before, Kelly & Christy fail to read their clue and don’t bother to tell their taxi to stay, not realizing that the producers instructed him to stay anyway. One of the blondes is worried she doesn’t know Spanish… it’s a good thing the entire wall is in Portuguese. Nick tells Andrew he swears he’ll help him out if he gets the answer… then gets the right answer and just leaves.

Cidade da Crianca, built as an oasis for the city’s children, is the pit stop for this leg of the race.

First: Ken & Tina (win offroad vehicles)
Second: Mark & Bill
Third: Terence & Sarah
Fourth: Aja & Ty
Fifth: Toni & Dallas
Sixth: Nick & Starr
Seventh: Kelly & Christy
Eighth: Andrew & Dan
Ninth: Marisa & Brooke
Eliminated: Anthony & Stephanie

I didn’t see anything that Anthony & Stephanie could have done better that would have saved them in the race, but they have been eliminated. In the end, though, their brief stay on the race put things into perspective, and let them know they have a lot to be thankful for.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 13 Episode 3 Did You Push My Sports Bra off the Ledge?, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Amazing Race Asia 3 Episode 4

Natalie proved to be one of the poorest casting choices ever in The Amazing Race Asia 3 Episode 3. After whining nonstop and apparently sabotaging their stay on the show on purpose, she was finally put out of her misery and was eliminated alongside her actually useful partner Pailin. Natalie’s efforts (or lack thereof) once again allowed Niroo & Kapil to hang on by the skin of their teeth. On the opposite end of things, Henry & Bernie managed to win another leg.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Henry & Bernie – 2:04AM
Second: Vince & Sam – 2:05AM
Third: Ida & Tania – 2:08AM
Fourth: AD & Fuzzie – 2:10AM
Fifth: Geoff & Tisha – 2:14AM
Sixth: Mai & Oliver – 2:19AM
Seventh: Niroo & Kapil – 3:00AM

Kapil tells us that people are now reacting to their position (that would be last) because they’ve seen how they can impact the others.

They will be flying to Taipei, Taiwan. Nobody has the hometown advantage, but Vince & Sam have the language barrier under control. They’ll have to kill 6 hours at the airport first. Ida & Tania opt to return to the hotel instead, which proves wise since there’s just one flight, and they’re rested and well fed. The journey of only around 3000km will take all day.

The detour is a choice between shoot it or shape it. In shoot it, teams must find their clue in the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan and photograph it. The museum contains countless lifelike miniature displays. In shape it, teams must make their way to a night market and create shapes out of an ancient Chinese puzzle called tangrams. The two-sided game is also called 7 boards of cunning. Neither option sounds particularly appealing. Either search for something, which could take hours, or try to solve a puzzle, which could take hours.

Shoot it (in order of arrival): Mai & Oliver (with the assistance of a local), Geoff & Tisha, Vince & Sam, Henry & Bernie, Niroo & Kapil
Shape it: AD & Fuzzie (switched from shoot it after having been told the museum’s closed)

Mai & Oliver have clearly seen a season or two of The Amazing Race. After getting a taxi to drive so they could follow him, they kidnap a local off the street to give them directions.

Henry & Bernie have difficulty with the traffic nightmare of being unable to make a simple left turn and are pulled over by a cop in the process. For their part, Niroo & Kapil have a nervous breakdown over, well, I’m not quite clear. Their keys get stuck in the ignition. Just leave it there and ask for a replacement. It’s not like it’s their car.

When they arrive at the museum, Mai suggests they all team up and work together and show each other when they find “it,” whatever “it” may be. As they all struggle to find their clue, AD & Fuzzie fly through the puzzle, which I’d have passed by as the more difficult detour. Having proposed working together, Mai & Oliver are the first to finish the camera detour, after which they pretend they can’t do it and are changing tasks. After some convincing, the others believe they have’t found it, but they’re still not happy with them because it looks like they quit for no apparent reason. Oliver says he doesn’t want to help Geoff anyway. The next person to find the clue is Sam, who inadvertently yells out “Ah!” and gives away the location, which allows Ida & Tania, Geoff & Tisha, and Henry & Bernie to complete the task.

While all this is going on, Niroo & Kapil say they quit and want to go back home. Huh? Kapil finally talks some sense into his father and tells him that they can just leave the car where it is, which is entirely true, as even if it does get stolen, it’s still not like it’s their car. Because of their delay, though, they don’t have anyone else’s assistance at the detour, and they’re on their own.

The next stop is the Institute for the Blind, where they must read a clue in Braille. One person is blindfolded and doing the reading, while the other person assists with the letters and writing. They can only communicate verbally, which Tisha has to keep a leash on Geoff about. Henry says he thinks Mai & Oliver already got the clue. Sam & Vince receive the clue that lets them present a check for $20,000 to the owers of the institute. Most teams blow right through this task, but Bernie struggles.

On this leg, there’s an awful lot of the paying a taxi to lead them going on. Most teams are picking up on the difficulty of driving around Taipei. Ironically, it backfires on Mai & Oliver on their way to the next clue, though, as their cab driver gets lost, which causes Oliver to lose it, but Mai remains calm.

The Braille clue tells them to go to Shenken, a small town in Taipei that’s popular for its enormous variety of food and drinks. Yeah, this pretty well sounds like bad news. It’s a gross eating challenge. In this road block, one person must eat one large bowl of stinky tofu, which contains duck blood, fermented tofu, spices, and vegetables. Let the vomiting and crying begin. This challenge seems particularly difficult for the women since not only is the food difficult to eat, but the amount of food is pretty substantial.

Road block (in order of arrival): Ida, Oliver, Vince, AD, Henry, Tisha, Kapil

Their earlier quitting looked to be for show, but this is a much larger gesture they can’t handle the race. Kapil takes one look at the bowl and doesn’t even make an effort, instead opting for the 4 hour penalty.

The pitstop for this leg of the race is City Hall Square in Taipei. Tania gets a police escort to take them there.

First: Ida & Tania (win N96 Nokia phones)
Second: Vince & Sam
Third: Mai & Oliver
Fourth: Henry & Bernie
Fifth: AD & Fuzzie
Sixth: Geoff & Tisha
Eliminated: Niroo & Kapil

With everybody else arriving around 2 in the morning, when Niroo & Kapil show up when the sun comes up, it becomes obvious just how far behind they’ve managed to get. That’s a moot point, though, as they have been eliminated. This is the second week in a row where the team already checked out of the race before they were ever eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race Asia 3 episode 5, and don’t forget the live blogs of The Amazing Race 13.

Survivor: Gabon Episode 3

Last week was a special two hour premiere event. In Survivor: Gabon Episode 1, the tribes started off with a school yard pick ’em. Kota led by Bob did not bad. Gillian, meanwhile, started Fang off on the wrong foot and ended up with one of the worst tribes ever. Following her complete inability to do anything useful at a challenge, her less than bright tribe voted out their physically fittest woman and kept Gillian around instead. Then in Survivor: Gabon Episode 2, they continued to get beat down in the challenges, and voted out Gillian a week too late.

Randy says his tribe sucks and that they’re complete idiots. Sadly, he’s pretty much right.

Fang is running out of rice. The tribe is willing to cut back to two meals a day, but GC isn’t interested in cooperating. He and Randy pretty well hate each other at this point, which is entirely intentional on Randy’s end.

Charlie hopes to get Bob as a fifth. Sugar and Ace appear to be working on a showmance.

At the reward challenge, one member of each tribe will be stationed at a post. Two members of the other tribe will take them from the post and drag them to try to score a point. Players can swap each round. They’re playing for blankets, a hammock, pillows, and a mat. Fang will sit out Ken. Kota will sit out Corinne, Jacquie, and Kelly. Dan is first on the post for Fang to be attacked by Charlie and Marcus; Ace is on the post for Kota to be attacked by GC and Matty. Dan is yanked off the post, but Ace ain’t budging. Kota scores a point, as Fang didn’t even get anywhere. Susie is on the post for Fang to be attacked by Bob and Sugar; Paloma is on the post for Kota to be attacked by Randy and Crystal. Paloma has no prayer here and is manhandled to tie the game. It’s back to the original matchup, except Marcus and Bob will attack for Kota, while Crystal and Matty attack for Fang. By some miracle, Fang wins the challenge. They send Sugar to Exile. She says they picked her because they think she’s dumb.

Kota’s not even waiting for the immunity results here. They’re already crossing Paloma’s name off the tribe.

Sugar opts for the clue instead of comfort. At least she gets a lot closer than Dan did, though. She grabs a clue, then uses it to find another clue, then uses it to find another clue, then uses it to find another clue (yeah, this could go on for a while)… eventually, she does end up finding the idol. Oh bloody hell. How easy is this thing to find anyway that the second person gets it? Just so we can see it used half a dozen times (to be immediately replaced).

Bob’s concerned that Ace is going to protect Sugar. Corinne offers Bob a deal: join them to make 5, and get rid of Paloma and Sugar, in whichever order.

The immunity challenge is for 6 people to slide down a slide, grab a puzzle piece, and bring it back. The remaining tribe member will solve the puzzle. Paloma and Sugar sit out for Kota. Bob and Ken will be solving the puzzle. Because of her height advantage, Crystal pulls ahead of Kelly to give Fang the lead. Corinne manages to pass Susie on the next go, though, giving Kota the lead. Charlie and GC go next, and Charlie extends the lead. Jacquie and Charlie are next, with Kota still dominating. Ace and Dan go fifth, with no change. For the final leg, it’s Marcus and Matty, with Kota a good half a leg ahead. It all comes down the puzzle, and the game geek beats out the physics teacher on this math puzzle. Fang wins immunity. Pretty unimpressive physical performance as usual, but at least they’ve got one team member with a brain.

Sugar, who may or may not be an actress, pretends she didn’t find it, but she tells Ace, who decides “This is ours.”

Everybody seems onboard with the Paloma boot. Paloma wants Corinne on her side, and just mentioning that she doesn’t trust Ace is enough to get her going.

At tribal council, Paloma doesn’t hold back, letting it be known Ace is not her hero and that she basically hates his guts and liver.

Votes
Paloma
Ace
Ace
Paloma
Paloma
Paloma
Paloma

Would have made a lot more sense to vote Sugar first, Paloma next to ensure the numbers, but the Paloma boot is hardly surprising.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Gabon episode 4 It Was Like This Christmas Morning, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

America’s Got Talent 3 Winner

America’s Got Talent season 3 has been an eventful one, and now it’s been narrowed down to the top 5, all of whom have stood out from the beginning: violinists Nuttin But Stringz, singer Queen Emily, opera singer Neal E Boyd, singer Donald Braswell, and singer/pianist Eli Mattson. Tonight we will find out live who the 2008 America’s Got Talent 3 winner is.

Jerry Springer tells us that millions of people have voted and that this is the closest vote ever.

Now that 35 minutes of filler is done, it’s time to start unveiling the results.

In 5th place is Queen Emily.

Fourth place goes to Donald Braswell.

Finishing in third place is Nuttin But Stringz. That brings us down to just Eli Mattson and Neal E. Boyd. There was less than 0.5% between the two.

And the America’s Got Talent 3 winner is… Neal E Boyd. Following his performance of Nessun Dorma, which many thought was a lot better than Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts, this is the result I was expecting. With this victory, he will get his own show in Vegas and is America’s newest millionaire. He gets congratulations from Placido Domingo, who’s happy to see that America embraced an opera singer.

America’s Got Talent 4 will be coming back in summer 2009 for another season, following this year’s success as one of the top shows of the summer.