A mom and her college-bound twins, three pastors and identical triplets use a mummy, an ark and assorted antiquities to traverse a flooded basement.
Tropes
- Always Identical Twins: Triplets, actually, in the case of Alex, Sean and Mitchell Virzi's team. The only way to tell them apart is by their hair (Alex's is swept to the side, Sean's is receding and Mitchell's is swept up in a quiff), which is Lamp Shaded by Mitchell in their intro.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Played for Laughs by Shadi in her team's intro. Memorable moments include her revealing her twin children Talia and Bryce's nicknames (Talia-Ghul and Brycey-Bear) and her caveat for allowing them to split and spend the prize money however they please requires them needing to add her as a friend on all their social media platforms so she can keep track of them while they're away at college.
- Badass Preacher: Like their namesake, the Pastors consist of 3 youth pastors from Northern California.
- Benevolent Boss: In the Pastors' intro, Danny revealed he signed up Jonny and Katy to join him without their knowledge. Katy jokingly remarks if Danny weren't this, she and Jonny would have refused to come along.
- Blatant Lies: When Katy is stuck on the pyramid she remarks 'this is relaxing and fun.'
- Epic Fail: Mitchell manages to get right above the second step of the sinking stairs by hanging onto the cargo hold net, but fails to stick the landing and falls into the lava where the other teams survived with only one step left. To rub it in, it's replayed multiple times along with Alex's Big "NO!" to the beat of classical music.
- Face Plant: Jonny does this when he leaps onto the Ark of the Covenant.
- Half-Identical Twins: Talia and Bryce from the first team. It's most notable in their childhood photos.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Talia pushes herself off the pyramid and into the lava so she can knock down the obelisk, allowing Bryce to get closer to the exit.
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In Memoriam: A pre-credit scene dedicates this episode to executive producer Tim Sullivan, who passed away due to bile duct cancer. - Literal Metaphor: One of the obstacles in the room is an elephant-shaped structure made of shipping crates. It's a literal elephant in the room.
- MacGuffin: Besides the slowly sinking stairs, there's a painting of a bridge that players can use to bridge a gap between certain obstacles, as well as a staff attached to one of the walls that allows the lid of the Ark to be unlocked and slid open, making it easier to reach the cargo hold net providing a path to the exit. All three teams also used said staff in an attempt to push down the obelisk, with 2 out of 3 succeeding (Shadi & the Twins were unsuccessful, hence Talia's Heroic Sacrifice).
- Museum Level: The Basement is filled with obstacles resembling museum artefacts and furniture, including insect display frames, shipping crates, giant Easter Island heads, an Egyptian pyramid and obelisk, and the Ark of the Covenant.
- Mythology Gag: One of the obstacles that can be released and used as a stepping stone is an alien in a sarcophagus wrapped in bandages like a mummy, a Call-Back to conspiracy theories about the pyramids being built by aliens.
- Plucky Comic Relief: The Virzi Triplets seem to be this for the teams overall, with their wisecracks and quips towards each other. Doesn't keep them immune from losing, though.
- Race Against the Clock: Invoked between Shadi & the Twins and the Pastors when both teams manage to get two of their players to the exit; the former wins due to Shadi and Bryce escaping quicker than Jonny and Danny.
- Sole Survivor: Alex is this for the Virzi Triplets after Sean and Mitchell fall into the lava. Unfortunately, it doesn't keep their team from being eliminated since the team before them (Shadi & the Twins) got two players out of the room.
- Take My Hand!: Mitchell attempts this with Sean who's stuck on the pyramid, but the latter refuses. It comes back to bite him when he falls off later.
- Team Spirit: The easiest way to escape the Basement involves hanging onto a cargo hold net that can be pulleyed to the exit, but requires another player to work a wheel or crank in order for it to move back and forth.
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That One Level: That One Pyramid, to be precise. Due to its slanted surfaces and lack of traction, players who end up on it can only rely on a steady grip at the top to keep them safe. It's worth mentioning that each team loses a player because of it (Talia for Shadi & the Twins, Sean for the Virzi Triplets, and Katy for the Pastors). - Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Shadi is visibly unnerved having to scale a wall decorated with bugs on display.
