Episode 49: Crouching Courtney, Hidden Owen
Premise: The contestants participate in a kung fu movie challenge. Owen stirs up the drama, Harold and Duncan interact more with each other, and Courtney tries to form an alliance with Beth.
Challenge: Kung-fu training; robot battle; winners: retrieve bonsai tree; losers: kitchen duty (making kung fu noodle soup using the 7 deadliest fish known to man)
Winner(s): Harold
Eliminated: None
Reward: Banquet
My Favorite Part: Chef introducing the 7 deadliest fish known to man (rabid pirahna, poisonous blowfish, electric eel, toxic jellyfish, lethal swordfish, man-eating shark, killer octopus)
Honestly, I don't have strong feelings for this episode one way or the other. I didn't mind watching it, but I can't exactly call it a great episode. It had some funny moments, like Chef introducing the recipe for kung fu noodle soup, Courtney getting attacked by the fish while Beth is talking to Brady, and Beth and Courtney waxing Chef, which was a good wink to The Karate Kid. I also liked seeing Owen's "gnarly" skate-boarding skills, the scene when he gets his clothes ripped off by the kung-fu master, and I really liked Owen's geisha costume and Chef's samurai outfit. And during the training when Duncan tries to tell Harold to "flow like a butterfly, sting like a bee" by unintentionally getting bees to swarm all over him. And I also liked the challenge took place at Camp Wawanakwa. Despite those moments though, this episode is pretty dull. It wasn't very investing and it was kind of forgettable. I guess my only nitpicks about this episode were Leshawna Jr., which was really creepy and not that relevant to the plot (aside from getting Harold to hook-punch Duncan), and Chris mixing up Chinese culture with Japanese culture (come on, get it right!). Duncan and Harold getting along was decent, but it's kind of obvious that Owen was trying to mess up their friendship (though he didn't want to). It's also pretty obvious that Beth and Courtney's alliance isn't going to last very long (especially given their interactions in past episodes). It's not a terrible episode. But not great. Just meh.