"Why Did You Have to Take Your Pants Off?!"

TWO HOUR EPISODE! Actually, it's two episodes in one package, so strap yourselves in - it's going to be a long entry....

The teams start at the last pit stop - the Chalet Arnika in Grindelwald Switzerland. The Twins start first - the teams must go to the gletscherschlucht - a 260' deep glacier gorge. They have to figure out how to find a key at the bottom of the gorge to open a mercedes to get the next clue. The Twins pair up with Flo & Zach and decide to back to the chalet to rest during the 4 hours they have until the gorge opens. John Vito & Jill get to the lodge at the gorge first and are surprised that they beat everyone. At 9am, all of the teams take off down the gorge. The keys are on a pole next to a river that everyone passes up. Zach realizes they just past them and they go back, grab the keys, run back to the lodge's parking lot and open the car. The clue is on the windshield - drive 36 miles through the swiss countryside (absolutely gorgeous) to the town of Kandersteg, load the cars onto a car train, and train across the alps to a place called the Sports & Adventure Park in Niouc (Val d'anniviers) in the Valais next to this little tiny red bridge over a huge gorge for the next clue. John Vito & Jill - the only team that hasn't used a Fast Forward - decide to go for it. They have to drive themselves to a traditional cheese making cabin in the Swiss countryside. They'll find a large wheel of cheese that has been slices into cubes with toothpicks in the cubes. They'll have to eat as many cubes as it takes to completely uncover the Fast Forward reward hidden underneath. Jill worries that the cheese may smell bad - like feet! John Vito worries that the cheese is too big and that he can't eat it all. The teams reach the car train, and after asking around, they find out the red bridge is bungy jumping. Ian is in a nasty mood and decides to go over to Flo to make sure she knows that the red bridge is bungy jumping (so that she can worry about it!) Back at the farm, John Vito & Jill finally eat the first piece of cheese that uncovers part of the Fast Forward. They eventually eat the cheese and uncover it, and made their way to this leg's Pit Stop - drive 54 miles to Montreux, find a pedal boat and paddle it to the steamship Savoie floating on Lake Geneva, the largest lake in western Europe. The other teams load their cars onto the train. Flo hopped-in The Twins' car to flirt during the ride, leaving Zach alone. (I had no idea that you ride in your car on the car train). The train pulls in, and the teams try to find the bridge. Teri & Ian look like they get lost. The teams find the clue box and find out it's a Detour - "Extreme Swiss" or "Very Swiss". in "Extreme Swiss", the team must go out onto that little red bridge and take the longest bungy jump in Europe - 620 feet, but it's a quick drive to the next destination. In "Very Swiss", teams drive another 8 miles into the Alps to a farm, to search for a key hidden in a traditional Swiss bell around the necks of 75 goats to open a box to get the next clue. The Twins decide to do the bungy jump, everyone else decides to do goats. The goats are definitely harder - it's not like they're going to cooperate when you run after them to see if their bell has a key in it. Ken gets a key first and runs to the boxes. Each team has their own specific box, and when they open it, they find a clue and a cell phone. Zach is next with a key. The clue says to drive to the banks of Lake Geneva and find the route marker at the Château de Chillon and "as you walk to your car use this T-Mobile phone to call your loved ones at home." They must complete the call before getting into the car and driving to their next destination - the longer on the phone, the later they leave. Gerard calls his wife Jennifer - Ken & Gerard's parents are there, too. Zach calls his sister Ariel, and Flo's best friend Lindsey is there. The Twins do their jump, though Drew was a little skittish about it (oh, lot's of bumper stickers for www.bungy.ch around). They get a phone, too, and call Rebecca, Derek's wife (he's a newlywed of just a couple of months) and their mom. Teri & Ian are still going after the goats, and Teri finally gets a key. They call Teri's sister Phyllis and their sons Brandon and Seth. John Vito & Jill get to the peddle boats on Lake Geneva and paddle out to the steamship, and arrive as Team Number 1. They win a 7 night Caribbean vacation on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. ("and you can enjoy that after the race.") Hey, did John Vito & Jill get to make a phone call? Oh Brother (Ken & Gerard) get to the Château de Chillon to find that the clue is a Roadblock. The task is to assemble a Swiss Army bicycle from a pile of parts. There's an identical bike to use as reference. An expert has to inspect it and make sure it's assembled correctly, then teams will ride their bikes to the next destination. The Twins are second at the Roadblock, With Drew assembling. The inspector is strict, making sure things are safe. The teams then ride the two bikes 3 miles to the Bassett Marina, where they pickup the peddle boats to go out to the steamship. Ken & Gerard take off, Flo & Zack just get there with Zach doing the assembly. Teri & Ian finally get there, and Ian assembles (though he seems put out by having to do it). The Twins take off. Ken & Gerard make it to the marina. Flo looks very upset. Oh Brother is hysterical with Phil, chiding him to finally tell them they're Team Number 2. Ian gets his bike completed and he and Teri leave, leaving Zach to build his bike. The Twins make it to the steamboat as team #3. Finally Zach is done, they get the clue, but Zach decides to take time to unzip his pants legs to make them into shorts. Flo is furious as they are now not going to catch Teri & Ian. However, Teri falls off her bike. Teri says the bike is broken, Ian chides her with "oh, Teri", to which she says "I fell off on purpose". Ian fixes it and they continue on. Flo, realizing they are last, doesn't want to exert much energy. She's crying. Teri & Ian are peddling out to the boat, and Flo just wants to walk to the boast since they're losing anyway. She doesn't want to get exhausted and she's humiliated being beat "by two retired people". Teri & Ian make it in as Team Number 4. Flo is mad at Zach for taking his pants off (the title of the show), and they get to the mat. Phil tells them that they are the last team to arrive - "The good news is that this is not an elimination. this is the second of three predetermined non-elimination points and you're still in the race". Apparently, no one is paying attention to the clues to see if they say that the last team is eliminated. So now the teams rest at the Pit Stop until we get to the second part of the episode.

Teams now travel over 50 miles to geneva to the base of the Jet d'Eau the largest fountain in Europe at 450 feet. The clue box is on a stone pathway in the fountain. The clue tell the teams to to go to the Petronas Towers, "in the country of represented by the enclosed flag - which means a 7000 mile flight the tallest buildings in Asia located in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. On the way to the fountain, The Twins remember that it's their birthday! The airport appears closed. Flo & Zach are the only team that knows where the Petronas Towers are - everyone else has to ask anybody standing around. In any case, the airport finally starts to open up - but there's not a lot of flights to Kuala Lumpur. Teri & Ian leave at 7:50am on a Swissair flight that goes Geneva-Zurich-Vienna-Kuala Lumpur. The Twins get 4 seats (including Flo & Zach of course) because they don't want to see Flo cry. So all four of the other teams fly Air France at 9;00am Geneva-Paris-Kuala Lumpur. Teri & Ian are in front of the towers at 7:30am. The clue there is to get a local to take their picture using, yes, a Kodak EasyShare digital camera in front of the buildings. They then have to walk a mile to the Ampang Park Shopping Center to develop their pictures (huh?) at a Kodak Picture Maker kiosk to get their next clue. There's no timestamp so there's no way to tell when the rest of the horde gets to the towers from the airport (via train, BTW). Teri & Ian, though in the lead, can't find the shopping center and get side tracked to a train station. They can't find too many people to help them. Somehow, the stumble into the shopping center and the Quick Photo shop. They read the instructions to get a print from their digital card. When they print the photo , the back of the print has the clue printed on it. They have to take a train 200 miles to the Singapore National Orchid Garden and find Margaret Thatcher (an orchid). John Vito & Jill get to the Quick Photo second, followed by Flo & Zach, and then The Twins. They're all in the store and find out that Teri & Ian are actually ahead of them. Flo can't believe it - the entire group was making fun of Teri & Ian on the train trip from the airport. Teri & Ian get to the train station and get tickets for the 11:15 train. The rest of the teams catch up and they are all on the same train. When they get to Singapore, they find out that the Orchid Gardens doesn't open until 8:39 the next day, so the teams have to crash for the night. Teri & Ian get a recommendation from a European couple. Though Zach wants to stay at the YMCA, Flo doesn't want to stay there. They and The Twins find a hotel to split a single room for the four of them. John Vito & Jill find a boarding house. The next morning everyone hits the gardens. Though they are all waiting outside, no one is talking to one another. The Gardens open, and teams are running everywhere, since the Margaret Thatcher orchid isn't on any maps of the facility. Zach finds the clue box first, only to find out that its a Detour. The choices "Dry" or "Wet". In "Dry", teams choose a car to drive to an apartment complex known as Choa Chu Kang Central to find Block 229 at the housing development and apartment 10-137, where Singapore television's biggest star, Phua Chu Kang, would hand them their next clue. There's a hitch, though: all of the roads in this zone of the city are named Choa Chu Kang (they're looking for Choa Chu Kang Way). Once the teams find the correct building, they'll find out that the elevators don't stop on consecutive floors, and apartment numbers flop around from wing to wing. In "Wet" teams still chose a car but go to the Singapore Zoological Gardens to search for mermaids - which are actually manatees. They'll have to don wetsuits and goggles to swim across the manatee enclosure to get the next clue. Flo & Zach are following Ken & Gerard to the apartment complex. The Twins are going to the zoo, along with Teri & Ian. Oh Brother and Flo & Zach find building 229, take the elevator to the 10th floor, but it stops on 11. The Twins make it to the manatees ahead of Teri & Ian. Back at the apartments, the teams are still trying to figure them out, John Vito & Jill are lost and haven't found the complex yet. The teams stumble onto the apartment (gee - the door is decorated and sort of stands out) they get their clue from the very odd looking gentleman. The clue says to "get one step closer to great wealth by finding a clue at the Fountain of Wealth" - driving to Suntec City in downtown Singapore and find the fountain whose waters - locals believe - bring good luck and fortune. The clues are actually inside the fountain. Meanwhile, The Twins are starting to swim across the manatees while Teri is still struggling to get her wetsuit on. There's a flight over a map as Zach doesn't want to give up a map to Ken so they can get to the fountain together. Flo, of course, won't stand for this, grabs the map, and Flo & Zach follow Oh Brother to the fountain. The Twins get directions as they drip all over the people helping them. Flo & Zach are in a big argument as it's obvious that the team is fracturing. John Vito & Jill finally get to the apartment (they don't show them struggling to find the apartment). The Twins hit the fountain first to grab a clue - a route info: "perhaps this ritual will bring you wealth at the end of the race. Now drive yourselves to the next pit stop on top of Mount Faber" - a peak overlooks the city. Flo & Zach hit the fountain next followed by Oh Brother. John Vito & Jill are having problems with directions. Teri & Ian get to the fountain, followed by John Vito & Jill. The Twins hit the Pit Stop as Team Number 1 - they win a a 7 night cruise in Europe (haven't they seen enough of it?) on Royal Caribbean Splendor of the Seas "which you can enjoy after the race". Ken & Gerard are team 2 and Flo & Zach are team 3. Teri & Ian are team 4, John Vito & Jill are team 5 - the last team and are eliminated from the race.

Next week - Vietnam, rain, and Zach may want to quit.