Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Three Strikes and You're out (And It's About Time Somebody Was)
By M. Giant | Season 19 | Episode 10 | Aired on 11.27.2011
Andy and Tommy find the pigeon trainer next, watch him release another flock, and get their own address, Stoofstrat 52, also in Beersel. Some people just happen to be walking by, and they tell the snowboarders that Beersel is near Brussels. That was easy.
Bill and Cathi are getting on the E40, distracted by a hot air balloon up in the distance. Marcus spots a sign pointing to Muur, and they get out of their car right there. There's an Amazing Flag on a column on a nearby hill, which they climb up to, but there's nothing else up there. Sandy's shortcut must have worked, because Jeremy and Sandy arrive just as Team NFL is coming down, and the latter team is the first to spot the rack of clues. "We walked right past it," Sandy says while Jeremy huffs in annoyance. "Idiots." Both teams read the clue, and Amani and Marcus's flock takes off seconds before Jeremy and Sandy's does. Let's hope they don't get mixed up, especially as both teams compare notes back at the cars and learn that Sandy and Jeremy are going to Stoofstraat 52 (where the snowboarders are going) and Amani and Marcus are going to Steenweg op Ukkel 75 (which is also Team Control's destination). Jeremy confirms that Sandy has a fix on where they're going with her map, and peels out with good luck wishes to Team NFL. Amani and Marcus pass some pigeons on the road, which they hope aren't theirs.
Ernie and Cindy have stopped at a convenience store, where Cindy deploys some high-school French to get directions to Beersel. They seem very nervous about these directions once they're back in the car. Andy and Tommy, meanwhile, have already found their correct address. Seeing the pigeon cages sitting in the driveway of the house like a short, dim beacon, they run around back, where a pigeon-keeper retrieves a bird from one of his cages and holds its leg out for Andy to retrieve. I guess we'll just have to take the show's word for it that these are the same pigeons that were released from Mirror van Gobbledygook and not birds that have actually never left the premises. It's not like an Amazing Red Line ever tracked the flock's progress. Anyway, the message is the tiniest little Amazing Yellow Envelope ever, totally adorable, too small to hold a message of more than 140 characters. There should be some kind of bird-related term for a message that length. Go ahead and brainstorm on that. The clue is actually not words but a miniature photo of a giant metal hexagonal structure that looks like a tremendous atom. From there we cut to the real thing, a collection of shiny metal spheres and tubes towering over Brussels which Phil tells us is the "Atomium, a model of the atomic structure of iron, blown up 165 million times." Okay, sure, that's not random at all. Then I look and find out it was built for the 1958 World's Fair and it all makes sense. Phil says it's the Pit Stop, and announces, "The last team to check in here will be eliminated." Hey, let's not talk crazy now!