Melanie pities the fool

Melanie becomes the latest Taskmaster contestant to struggle to open an unlocked briefcase, and to ask whether that’s the task.

In the studio, when Greg asks her whether she normally has someone to open suitcases for her, she explains that she had been nervous.

As she begins her attempt at what she believes to be the task (having not read the back of the task brief), she notes that she should probably remove all of her rings. When Alex comments on how many rings she is wearing, she notes that she’s like Mr. T.

Melanie carefully dons multiple pairs of surgical gloves on top of one another in the conventional way, but starts having trouble getting them on after a few pairs. When she notes that she doesn’t know “where these gloves have been”, Alex responds with “No, we don’t”.

When Alex asks her to hold the two cocktail glasses full of sand, she cracks up. She holds one of them in her more functional right hand, and tries to balance the other on her less functional left hand, but drops the whole thing before getting anywhere near the wall.

Mel uses her foot to pivot the wood on which the printed hand is mounted and reveal the actual task brief behind it.

She continues to hold both glasses with one arm against her body as she removes the gloves from the other hand using her mouth, switching to the other hand halfway through the process.

As she collects all of her rings from the table and leaves the room, she says “I pity the fool” (a Mr. T catchphrase). The camera then reveals that she has left one of the surgical gloves on the floor of the lab.

In the studio, Greg notes that Mel had gone “route one” by putting the gloves on her hands, prompting her to admit that the thought had never entered her mind that she could wear them anywhere else. Greg assures her that he appreciates simplicity, before adding “I’m sorry you were so rubbish at the task”.

Alex reveals that Mel’s total time, including penalties for spilling sand, was 10 minutes and 6 seconds. Greg decides to be kind and award her a single point for her attempt, despite leaving one of the gloves on the floor.

(Written by Karl Craven and proofread by M3 / Andres Sanchez)

(Illustrations collected by Jenny R and adjusted by Karl Craven)