Episode six of Taskmaster NZ season seven began like any other, with a wacky prize task that saw the contestants bring in \u201cthe best spiky thing\u201d. So far, so Taskmaster, but things then took a turn when Williams bought out the biggest task we\u2019ve ever seen \u2013 a giant piece of folded paper that the contestants had to read from afar using binoculars. \u201cPaul! That\u2019s comically large!\u201d Matafeo shouted from the balcony. \u201cYou look like Mike Teavee!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything is fine (Screengrab: TVNZ)<\/p>\n
Like all great Taskmaster tasks, there was a trick to it. While the contestants read the task instructions and scoured the property in search of \u201cthe correct red flag\u201d, they\u2019d overlooked the small print \u2013 \u2018red\u2019 was actually written as \u2018bread\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All the contestants had to do was wave the baguette and toast flag next to them, and the task would be over in seconds. But Matafeo didn\u2019t do that. Instead, she committed to the cause, risking her life to find the correct red flag. She found red flags on the grass, by the trees, down the drive, and waved them all. She even tried waving two flags at once, but every time, Williams gave her the bad news. \u201cI\u2019ve not stopped the clock,\u201d he said, over and over again. \u201cShit,\u201d Matafeo replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not the correct flag (Screengrab: TVNZ)<\/p>\n
Then, Matafeo saw that fateful red flag on the other side of the lake. It stood against a bucolic backdrop of water, bush and blue sky, with no hint of the horrors that lay ahead. Williams offered to accompany Matafeo, just in case \u201cone of the sheep chases you\u201d. He knew. \u201cBe alert of sheep,\u201d he warned again, as Matafeo climbed a fence and began to walk through the grass. \u201cI can\u2019t stress that enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do sheep like red? Do sheep like bread? Would they, could they, eat the Taskmaster\u2019s head? Perhaps they were lured towards Matafeo by the scent of the two sauce bottles<\/a> she brought to every task, or maybe sheep just really like flags. Either way, those fluffy little feckers were on the prowl. \u201cThey\u2019ve seen us, Rose,\u201d Williams shouted, as Matafeo began to run towards the red flag. At least five sheep began their chase. She must have felt their breath. I\u2019m sure I heard them laugh.<\/p>\n But even that red flag still wasn\u2019t the correct flag, and the sheep knew it. They continued their maniacal pursuit, not giving a single woolly shit about what Williams was up to, their rectangular pupils transfixed only on Matafeo. They gained so much ground that Matafeo ditched the flag in terror and made a sprint for it. \u201cThey\u2019re running after you,\u201d Williams said helpfully. Moments later, Matafeo reached the safety of the road, that famous no-sheep-allowed zone. \u201cI was fighting for my life,\u201d she cried.\u00a0<\/p>\nHere they come (Screengrab: TVNZ)<\/p>\n