"In Flight Service" -
November 9
"We're going to Hong
Kong!" With that, Branson takes HIS apprentices on his
next adventure a la Willy Wonka. First, the teams are
separated by gender (giving the women an advantage of
one) and given the task of choosing a team leader. The
women choose Sara while the men choose Jermaine. But in
a classic *makes twist finger gesture - peace sign
flipped into a particularly offensive gesture to
Britons* twist, Sara is chosen to lead the men, while
Jermaine will take the ladies. Can you say "powder keg?"
And now, Richard throws the
gauntlet. Standing up to the might of the American fleet
of air carriers has required him to take a few lessons
in meticulousness. The next task will require that same
attention to detail.
The challenge: each team
will have $500 and 24 hours to spend in Hong Kong on
ways to improve the in-flight amenities of Virgin
Atlantic's upper suite section. The team that best
achieves this will move on to the next round. The team
leader and one teammate of his or her choosing will be
forced to battle it out in an elimination challenge.
Sara's team thinks of
fortune cookies and a mushi pillow. Jermaine and his
team think about Candida's list of 50 items.... Jermaine
thinks about something else.
We have ideas. Now to
execution. Sara's team hits the markets for a mirror, a
pillow, and fortune cookies. One problem with that... as
any trivia buff will tell you, fortune cookies were
invented by Chinese immigrants in America. So they are
around, but you would have to look for "genuine American
fortune cookies." In a former colony of the crown...
good luck.
Jermaine's team likes the
idea of a wake-up amenity kit with a little bit of tea,
a handbook, some spray, and some steamrolling courtesy
of Erica. Candida realizes that her ideas will not be
acknowledged.
The market jaunt is a bust
for Sara's team as they return to the hotel empty handed
with a note from Branson inviting the teams to take in
the culture while they're here. Among the sights, the
famous big Buddha on Lantau island. Sara's team decides
business first, while Jermaine's team estimates three
hours on a junk to see the Buddha. "It's important to
understand the culture," Jermaine notes. Candida
objects, but ends up on the boat anyway.
Sara's team wakes up the
next day and finds exactly what they're looking for in
exactly the right shade of red. How coincidental is
that?
Jermaine's team arrives at
Lantau Island, convinced that this was the right
decision, at precisely the same time that Shawn, fluent
in Mandarin Chinese, haggles to bring down the price of
the pillows, forty-five of them. Jermaine's town then
heads into town for their mad shopping blitz. Only
problem, Erica, Candida, Heather, and Jennifer can't
stand each other, sending Jermaine and his mini-squad
hustling. "The game is getting really really ugly,"
Jennifer says, noting beef between Candida and Jermaine/Erica.
No time for that. It's time
to get back to England. First up: the girls (and
Jermaine) think as long as they're excited about their
make-up kit, they'll be good. Jermaine was making the
presentation citing the team mantra: "The morning after:
was it as good for you as it was for us?" The rest is
just.... really soothing... *falls asleep, rest of the
team wakes him up* Oh, wait. There's something missing.
You have all of these things to gussy up... but you
don't have a mirror. Jermaine thought it was
outstanding. Good thing one of us, did.
Sara's team tells Richard
that they didn't have time to see the Buddha, but did
bring back mirrors (for the TV), fortune cookies ("It's
not the size of your carry on that counts, it's how it
fits into your bin." Cute). And they also managed to get
the Virgin label on one of the pillows, so that's
Richard's. No touchie. Because the other team went to
the Buddha, they didn't have time to think about the
mirror or putting a little more substance into the
thought, and as a result Sara's team wins. And I want
one of those pillows.
So Jermaine must now elect
one person to play with him in the elimination
challenge. After having it out with Candida about having
the team gel, Jermaine decides to put her on the block
with him. Which is a shame, really, because if she just
stopped talking, then maybe she would've been safe.
And now... the challenge:
because the team failed in flight, they're now ON
flight. Jermaine and Candida will be seated in a biplane
each. Then they must climb out of the cockpit and onto
the wing, where they will have another seat. Then they
have two chances to pass a baton to each other as one of
them will be upside down. If they don't get the baton
passed, both will be eliminated. If they do, then the
choice will be Richard's.
But beforehand, Jennifer
has a heart-to-heart with her mom. She is worried that a
harder challenge will come her way, as she thinks about
the first episode and how that put her life in danger.
Meanwhile, at challenge
time, Jermaine, too heavy to do the wing-walk, chooses
Erica as his surrogate. With wind speed at 111 miles an
hour, or a strong Cat-2 hurricane, the first attempt...
fails. The second attempt... success. So once again, the
choice is up to Richard.
Oh, and did we say that
this plane was the Morning Glory? Well, today, we're
using Queen of the Skies. The time has come. The plane
is fueled. A decision must be made. Jermaine has
leadership and culpability for failure, while Candida
has drama and good ideas. So who has the ticket of doom?
Answer: Neither of them.
Remember that phone call that Jennifer made? That was
basically her throwing in the towel. "I'm not going to
put my life in jeopardy. I'm not going to do anything
that I don't feel comfortable with." In that, Candida
and Jermaine get a second chance. But Richard will be
keeping a close eye on both of them.
So that's it for Jen. She
will be missed. Next stop: Africa. |