Episode 15.11 – It Starts With an ‘F’, That’s All I’m Saying Miss the episode or want to watch it again? Download the episode now on
THE LEG The penultimate leg of season 15 of The Amazing Race begins. Meghan & Cheyne leave the Pit Stop first, again, at 9:46pm and get their clue telling them to head to the Spanish Synagogue in Prague for their next clue. They head over there, find the cluebox (and the Speed Bump) and open their next clue telling them to go to the Ekotechnické Museum.
Meghan & Cheyne get to the museum just as Sam & Dan and Flight Time & Big Easy leave the Pit Stop. It’s the Road Block. In this Road Block, teams will enter “a convoluted, bureaucratic world that many people refer to as Kafkaesque.” Referring to existential author Franz Kafka, teams will enter an enormous warehouse filled with empty desks and telephones and proceed to find the five phones with someone on the other end of the line. Those five people will each give the teams a letter, which they will unscramble to spell FRANZ. They must fill the letters in on a special form and if correct, will be handed their next clue by the supervisor.
Meghan heads in to do the Road Block. She decides to say the words out loud and associate them with animals to remember the letters. When she gets all five letters, she goes to the supervisor who hands her a form asking for her name and various other information before allowing them to fill in the boxes at the bottom. Meghan has no idea what word to spell on first try but gets it on the second. She is handed the clue and reads it with Cheyne outside. Teams will now make their way to Kryocentrum for the next clue.
Sam & Dan arrive and Meghan & Cheyne plan to take their taxi, but the brothers tell the driver not to go with them. Cheyne yells to the boys to tell the driver it’s okay for them to take it, but no luck. Dan heads into the Road Block. Meghan & Cheyne wait for a taxi as Brian & Ericka finally leave the Pit Stop.
The Globetrotters arrive and Big Easy heads inside just as Dan finishes and fills out his form, but his guess is wrong. Meanwhile, Meghan & Cheyne get to the Kryocentrum and must now strip to their underwear and enter a cryothearpy room which is kept at -180°C where they must stay for 2 minutes. After experience therapy used by Czech athletes, teams will get their next clue. They strip, put on some gloves, socks, an ear warmer, and a sanitary mask and head down into the ice.
Brian & Ericka get to the Speed Bump. They must find the M1 Lounge and complete a complicated three-step process to prepare absinthe, a drink known for its high alcohol content. They’ll drink one shot and proceed with the Race. They find the pub and there’s hot girls everywhere, even some dancing on the bar. They mix their drinks and take the shot. WOW is their reaction, the girls applaud and cheer and they are back on the Race.
Back at the Road Block, Dan is having trouble unscrambling the letters, allowing Big Easy to catch up. Now both of them are filling out forms and both eventually agree to work together. They make their guesses until Dan finally guesses correctly. Big Easy asks what he tried, but Dan says “It starts with an ‘F'” and that’s all he’s going to say. Big Easy has a “Are you serious?” look on his face and Dan leaves. Big Easy continues to try and figure it out but Brian & Ericka arrive and Brian gets started on the Road Block.
Meghan & Cheyne finish their two minutes and head to their next clue at the Charles Bridge where they find the Detour, Legend or Lager. In Legend, teams will build a golem by cover a wooden golem skeleton with wet clay. Then they must transport the figure across town to the Old New Synagogue, the golem’s ancient home. If the Rabbi is satisfied, he’ll hand them their next clue. In Lager, teams will deliver 30 glasses of beer from a brewery to a bar filled with soccer hooligans. After delivering all the beers, the bartender will hand them their next clue. Meghan & Cheyne decide on Legend.
As Sam & Dan get frozen, back at the Road Block, Brian has collected all his letters and starts the forms as Big Easy continues to struggle. After a few tries, Brian spells out FRANZ and he and Ericka are off leaving the Globetrotters in last. They decide to take the four hour penalty so they sit and wait it out.
Meghan & Cheyne finish mudding the golem and Cheyne tries to roll it on his own but it is too heavy. Both he and Meghan have to do it together and they make their way to the Synagogue just as Sam & Dan arrive and choose to do Legend as well. They start plopping on the mud and when Sam leaves to get some mud, Dan inadvertently pushes it over. The golem’s arm breaks, but Sam says it’s fine though Dan is already thinking about quitting.
Brian & Ericka finish up at the Kryocentrum and head to the Charles Bridge. They choose Lager and ask some blurry-faced guy on the street where to go but he tells them he’s lost too (and drunk, Ericka adds) so they run off and find a taxi who points them in the right direction.
Sam & Dan are arguing about leaving the golem in the middle of the street and going to find the synagogue first and then drag the golem there instead of getting lost and having to lug it around. They find a taxi and get pointed in the right direction.
Brian & Ericka get to the brewery and get try with a couple of glasses each. They walk outside and a bunch of drunken soccer hooligans start messing with them.
Meanwhile, Meghan & Cheyne finish the Detour and head to the Pit Stop, Střelecký Ostrov, a small island next to the Charles Bridge, where they check in first,,, AGAIN! And are officially the first of the final three teams racing for the million. Not only that, they’ve each won a 52″ LCD.
Sam & Dan stop again as Dan can’t handle holding up the golem. Sam’s fine with it until Dan starts yelling which then prompts him to start yelling at Dan. Flight Time & Big Easy continue to wait out their four hours with still a little under 3 hours to go.
And Brian & Ericka are walking the dark streets of Prague each holding a tray of beer. They decide to rest a little bit, but Brian drops a glass or two as he is setting his tray down which then somehow makes Ericka drop every single one of hers. She is not willing to make this Detour work and wants to do the other one instead. Brian tells her to finish it, not to give up on this one. He gives her two glasses and they continue on but the drunks are everywhere and some are even trying to grab some of their beer! But neither of them’ll have it.
The Globetrotters are waiting around as Sam & Dan continue bickering all the way to the Pit Stop. They are officially the 2nd team in the final leg.
The sun rises and the Globetrotters penalty is over and they make their way to the Kryocentrum. Brian & Ericka are finally on their last trip and the drunks are all gone and the bartender is sleeping outside the bar. They hand over the beer and they get their clue telling them to go to the Pit Stop. Phil gives them the good news, they are the 3rd and final team racing for the million.
The Globetrotters get to the Kryocentrum and get that dubious Pit Stop clue in the middle of the leg and they are officially the last eliminated team of TAR15.
Overall Lots of great stuff this leg.
First off, it’s been a while since there’s been an all-night leg and I’d love to see more! It is always fun seeing teams running around in the middle of the night and it looks like TAR really planned this leg for the darkness.
And I guess the tasks this leg were best at night, the Kafka Road Block and then the drunks! Thank goodness I studied Franz Kafka in high school and college. The dark warehouse full of ringing telephones would probably be something Kafka would’ve employed in his torture techniques. I wish the whole thing could’ve been more trippy and eerie than it was, but it was great.
The Lager side of the Detour seems so simple, yet I don’t know if TAR had expected all the drunks to be thinking the teams were roaming bartenders. “That was insane” as Ericka said. That was fun, but that fun could’ve been employed on the Legend side of the Detour too. Have some drunk hooligans harassing two people struggling to hold up a huge golem? Should’ve been hilarious! Especially with Sam & Dan already providing some laughs with their brotherly bickering.
Overall a great great leg, but more importantly, we have our final 3. A good final three I think. Definitely the two dominant teams and the underdog. Should be exciting next week!
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