The Amazing Race - Season 22 Episode 9 - "The Ultimate Fun House" - Recap

This week on The Amazing Race, the remaining five teams travel from Switzerland to Dresden, Germany! When they arrive, they'll go to the Ministry of Finance and find their clue at a car.

On the train, Bates' bag gets stolen while he's asleep, so he loses his clothing and other possessions. Jennifer offers him some of her own underwear.

At their car in Dresden, they need to answer three Race-inspired questions before they can move on.

Which U.S. president said "Tear down that wall!," the car's disembodied voice asks them. Not JFK, Max… even though Reagan was his favorite president. "Is that the Great Wall of China?" Jennifer ponders. "Could it have been Bill Clinton?" Meghan questions.

Which world leader did Reagan direct a hit for? Gorbachev.

Where did Reagan say that? Berlin.

Very good! They then drive to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

The hockey players and the country singers team up to find directions to Brandenburg Gate, but after the girls start to follow the boys, a red light cuts the girls off and they're separated.

They make their way to the Park Inn Hotel, the tallest building in sight, where they have to base jump off the roof! It's basically just a giant belly flop into the air, where fortunately, they don't splat on the ground.

Max and Katie manage to not pee their pants and finish the task first, followed by Joey and Meghan and the rest of the group

Detour: Train trials or Font follies?

Train trials: Teams travel to a train museum, where they have to assemble a toy train track and have a toy train run successfully around the track once. This task seems like something I would have enjoyed in maybe third grade or so.

Font follies: Teams have to carry gigantic blinking glass letters to the Buchtaben Museum without shattering them.

Max and Katie choose "b" and "o" in Font Follies, being strategic about which letters would be easiest to carry. They opts for ones with holes inside so they can stick their heads through them. Now that I wrote a sentence highlighting the holey-ness of the letter O, I can't help but find all of the holes in the letters that I am typing at this very second. WhOa.

Mona and Beth, Caroline and Jennifer, and Bates and Anthony choose the letters task as well, while Joey and Meghan are the only ones to piece train tracks together.

Uh oh, but Anthony's "v" breaks as he leaves it alone to ask for directions! It somehow just tips over. They decide to switch detours rather than go back and get another letter.

Joey is having a blast building the train tracks, comparing the experience to Christmas. They get to set up miniature fake trees as well. He prays to the train gods, and they finally succeed on their seventh trial.

At the train museum, it's also hilarious to watch Bates and Anthony encouragingly cheer on their trains with "chugga chugga!"s. Bates and Anthony finally get their train across after nine attempts. They said that they needed a miracle to not get eliminated… cutting to Beth in the front seat of her car who says she has "never been this hopefully lost in my life."

The teams go to Salon Zur Wilden Renate, a nightclub, to get their next clue.

Roadblock

Teams go to a nightclub, and Phil starts to talk about the roaring nightlife in Berlin, except they're not going to this club to party the night away.

A team member must find his or her way through a creepy labyrinth. Okay, this is awesome but terrifying. Lights are flashing and there are creepy dolls and things everywhere. Oh my god, this is like a haunted house maze. It's like a nightmare. They even have to climb up ladders and crawl through holes. Katie is the first one to embark on the roadblock, and after freaking out throughout the duration of the maze, she finds a door that leads to the room with all of the clues!

Joey reads the initial Roadblock clue, which asks "Who wants to go trippin'?" "Is one of us going to get high or something?" Joey asks innocently. Or maybe not so innocently, if he's thinking about getting high.

When he's inside, he thinks it's a giant funhouse. "It's the top Roadblock of Amazing Race history," he says. Meanwhile, I can't stop laughing while Joey narrates his trip. He thinks it's the coolest thing ever. Okay, though I would have been terrified if I had done this Roadblock, he definitely would have been a fun partner to go through that labyrinth with. I also definitely wouldn't consider that the top Roadblock in Amazing Race history, but I does seem like it would have been cool.

"It's probably what it feels like to do drugs, even though I've never done drugs," Jennifer says.

The hockey brothers get to the club not soon after the roller derby moms! Oooh, it's a race through the labyrinth.

"Kids, this is what drugs are like, I think," Beth says. "Don't do drugs."

Anthony and Beth started to work together, but she's nervous because they're down to the wire.

Bates and Anthony's strategy is to follow the roller derby moms and then beat them out in a footrace.

Pit stop

Teams go to the Kurfurstendamm for the pit stop! Max and Katie are in first place. They each win a 2013 Ford Fusion. Joey and Meghan finish in second, with Caroline and Jennifer in third. In the footrace… Bates and Anthony barely win out. Mona and Beth get there a couple seconds after. But it's a non-elimination leg! I'm not surprised. During the next leg of the race, Mona and Beth need to complete a Speed Bump to get ahead. Finally, a non-elimination helps out a team that I actually like! I'm glad Mona and Beth are still in it. Here's the final order of finish:

1. Max and Katie
2. Joey and Meghan
3. Caroline and Jennifer
4. Bates and Anthony
5. Mona and Beth

Next week, teams go to Scotland! There's a double U-Turn as well. What did you all think of this episode? Was the labyrinth task actually the Best. Roadblock. Ever?