Episode Report Card M. Giant: N/A | 92 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Big Blue Balls
By M. Giant | Season 22 | Episode 11 | Aired on 2013.05.05
The teams head from Edinburgh to Belfast, Northern Ireland via train and ferry, and soon find themselves struggling with driving directions. At Peatlands Park, a Roadblock requires Anthony, Katie, Mona, and Jennifer to don wetsuits and go bog-snorkeling. Mona freaks out, but at least she makes it on the first try. Unlike Jennifer, who tries to quit in the middle of her second attempt.
After the bog, teams head back to town to look for something called "a thing with a ring," a sculpture where they find the clue to the Detour. That turns out to be a choice between either serving historically accurate meals at the dry dock where the Titanic was built, or finishing a graffiti project at an indoor skate/bike park. Most of the teams go for the former, which proves challenging in a) the distance racers have to schlep the food, b) figuring out what to bring to whom and in what order, and, surprisingly, c) knowing what "chartreuse" means. Max & Katie win their third leg in a row when they become the first ones to check in at the last Pit Stop, Ulster Hall, just seconds ahead of Bates & Anthony.
However, Mona & Beth prove completely lost at the serving Detour, insistently missing the first step, while Caroline & Jennifer get lost just looking for the painting Detour. Eventually both teams find their way, and it's supposedly a close race for the last slot in the final three. Which ends up going to Mona & Beth, as much as they can't believe it. So Bates & Anthony are going to have to race to the Finish Line without their girlfriends.
When the final leg starts, it requires racers to travel by ferry over the rough Irish Sea to Liverpool and then by train to London, where they have to order a pint before they can learn their final destination city: Washington, D.C. Everyone spends the night together at Heathrow before flying across the pond en masse. They then race to the Lincoln Memorial to stand on the spot where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. From there, it's off to 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, which the clue says is where they'll meet Secret Service agents for a photo op with President Obama. Mona & Beth get so excited they head to 1600 Pennsylvania instead, thinking they get to visit the White House. Instead, Max & Katie are in the lead as they reach the correct address, which is a cheesy gift shop where they'll pose for a fake post card. Bates & Anthony are in second place en route to a cloak-and-dagger Switchback Roadblock at the Tidal Basin. Here, the racers have to use spy code phrases to check through a small army of costumed secret agents to claim a briefcase that's just for them. The combo for each briefcase ends up being each team's rank in New Zealand, Indonesia, and Vietnam respectively. Bates finishes first, while Beth also catches up to a completely flummoxed Max.
At Nationals Park, Bates dresses up as a giant baseball to try to catch a baseball dropped by Anthony, who is gliding overhead on a zip line. Beth also passes Max at the Tidal Basin, but Team Newlywed hijacks the derby moms' cab and steals second place back. The hockey brothers complete their game of catch and head to Hains Point, after which Max repeatedly drops the ball while Mona & Beth wander the stadium aimlessly in search of the clue.
Thus the hockey brothers are the first team to reach the final challenge, which includes a giant ball pit filled with inflatable globes the size of beach balls. The goal there is to locate globes where the countries they've visited are highlighted, and put them on stands in the correct order to get their last clue. The hockey brothers finish first and head to the Finish Line at Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.
After 17 attempts at the baseball task, Mona joins Max in the giant ball pit for the final challenge while Bates & Anthony stress out over whether they're going to right place. Katie & Max switch jobs, and finish the globe challenge in second. The derby moms also switch, just before Bates & Anthony coast to an easy first-place finish, which will certainly improve their dating prospects with Caroline & Jennifer. Max & Katie finish their honeymoon in second place, and Mona & Beth are team number three. Also, in medical news, Dave has his surgery stitches out and plans to be off his crutches in a week. Not the most exciting finish ever, but at least there are fireworks. Even if they're only the literal kind.