Episode 16.05 – I Think We’re Fighting the Germans, Right?
The Leg
  
At the Pit Stop, teams boarded a bus that will take them a mystery destination.
On the bus, Joe ices his knee and says the other teams won’t hinder him at all. Louie & Michael are offended and think confident guys should be out of the Race. (Well, where does that leave them then?)
They leave the new Pit Stop first and get the clue telling them to drive themselves to the town of Sainte-Menehould and find the Boulangerie Defontaine where they will buy a fresh baguette which contains their next clue.
The detectives get to the bakery and find the clue baked inside the bread, which tells them to drive to La Main de Massiges where they’ll find their next clue. The other teams get to the bakery and enjoy their breakfast as the detectives get to the cluebox where they find the Detour.
In this Detour, teams will experience the historic World War I battle at the strategic hill coveted by the Germans and defended by the French. For both Detours, teams will first dress as American soldiers.
In In the Trenches, teams will head into the trenches and at one of the communication stations, must listen to a message being transmitted by Morse code and translate it.
In Under Fire teams will crawl 100 yards under barbed wire to a French soldier in a foxhole who will hand them a message. They will then crawl back where they came from.For both Detours, teams will attach the message to a homing pigeon who will send the message back to headquarters telling them the War is over. It is then when they will receive their next clue.
  
Guns are fired, bombs are dropped, fighter planes fly right above their heads as teams start the crawl. Meanwhile, Jeff & Jordan just leave the Pit Stop and have trouble getting out of town. They’re confused.
The detectives finish the Detour, meeting Steve & Allie and Joe & Heidi on their way back. The pigeon flies away with the message and they get their next clue telling them to head south on the road. They head down the road using Michael’s watch compass that worked so well for them in Argentina [/sarcasm] and they find the U-Turn. They debate over whether to use the U-Turn on Steve & Allie or Joe & Heidi, but decide to use it on the married parents because of Joe’s overconfident statement on the bus. They get the next clue telling them to head into town to find the Church of Massiges.
  
Back on the battlefield, Jet & Cord pass Carol & Brandy who are not having any of this, on the way to the Detour. Brothers Dan & Jordan have some brotherly joshing.
Steve & Allie and Joe & Heidi finish and they walk together to the next clue and discover the U-Turn. The father & daughter continue while Joe & Heidi have to return to do the other side of the Detour. They listen to the transmission and believe it is the same message as the other Detour “The war is over. Vive la liberté” but it is incorrect.
The U-turners get their next clue though which tells them to wear traditional biking gear and in honor of the 1903 inaugural Tour de France, will cycle their way 4mi to the next Pit Stop. A marching band and dancing Phil greets them as they check in first again. A 55″ flat screen and they howl. Wonderful.
  
The other teams check in one by one. Steve & Allie in 2nd, Jet & Cord in 3rd, Dan & Jordan in 4th, and Carol & Brandy in 5th.
Brent & Caite use Brent’s watch to guide them south, but they don’t pass the U-Turn and cluebox instead hitting the Church Route Marker instead. They proceed to the bikes and then the Pit Stop where Phil informs them of their mistake. They head back, find the clue and pedal back to the Mat where they still check in 6th.
Jeff & Jordan finally arrive at the field and find their Speed Bump. For their Speed Bump they’ll have to go into the trenches and reinforce a wall by using branches weaving in and out of posts. Once the engineer approves, they’ll get their next clue.
They finish and move on to the Detour as Joe & Heidi struggle with the Morse code, repeatedly getting the wrong answer when they go and check it out. Eventually, Jeff & Jordan get through the Detour and make their way to the Pit Stop to officially check in Team #7.
Joe & Heidi are dejected as they hole up in the trenches, waiting for Phil to come out and give them the bad news and the correct answer, “We will prevail. Vive la France.”
 
Episode Thoughts
I really loved this episode. The scenes at the battlefield were just amazing and so exciting. I would love to be in the middle of that, seems like fun. But also reminds you there’s some brave men and women around the world who are in that environment every day.
But for The Amazing Race, it was definitely an incredible Detour. Definitely on par with TAR8’s Civil War Detour that also had teams in the middle of a battle. Remember little Billy and Carissa Gaghan helping to transport wounded soldiers in Pennsylvania? Who says TAR8 was horrible when you’ve got moments like that!
Still, this leg was kind makes you appreciate equalizers because the design of the leg offered no opportunity for any team to move ahead or fall behind unless you were on the short end of the U-Turn. Doesn’t make for an exciting Race in that respect.
So a great Detour, but it would’ve been nice to see some teams really fighting it out. Also pretty funny having the idea of the Blind U-Turn negated by being used by the first team on the team right behind them.
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Adrian
