The Amazing Race Canada - Is That A Peacock?

 

Discussing Ep. 8.10 - It's down to the champion of champions now. All the teams that are left, with the notable exception of Beveron, have all finished in first place at one point or another. Who among them will be eliminated this week?

Flying to Pearson via Air Canada?!? I'd have laughed if they got bumped off of their flight and then were left waiting at Pearson for hours on end, given what I've heard about both the airline and the airport!

CoBren make a good point. There are five teams but only one episode left where it's down to the final three. So even though it was not explicitly stated, it could be that there will be a double elimination. The stakes just got even higher!

I'm envious! I've always wanted to do a driving school like this where you have to go around obstacles and be able to stop on a dime! And driving one of those sports cars looks like real fun too!

And it looks like some of the racers are envious too as it's Marika, Brendan, Craig, Franca and Veronica specifically who have to do this challenge! Is it because the other team members got to do the last road block? I can't remember.

Wait...these cars are automatic transmission? Sigh!

I suppose it makes sense since hardly anyone drives standard anymore. Still, I think it would have been an interesting challenge having each of them learn to drive stick and then get through the race track.

CoBren might have gotten their mojo back. They leave in first place. I said that their near defeat in the last leg might very well motivate them to recapture their former glory!

These guys were seriously crowing at a wild peacock? 😂

So Franca was quick enough but she didn't stop in the box. So now they have to go to the back of the line. That may cost them in the end.

And Franca ALMOST screwed it up again! She had to make it in under 2:30 and she makes it by one second! I'd have laughed if she had to do it over again.

"Because Team Franella failed the challenge, I'm pretty sure we're going to be on the second plane." - Catherine

"Sorry, not sorry." - Craig

😆

I love how Craig is still harbouring ill will towards Franella for them destroying the Froadali Alliance. Maybe it's Catherine's good nature that she seems to want to see Franella succeed but Craig is clearly over the whole thing and couldn't care less about them. I love it!

"Every second counts, especially in this leg of the race." - Franella

And yet...AND YET...what is that beside Franca? 

It looks like Franella went through a Tim Horton's drive-thru to pick up coffee and an ice cap! 

THEY WENT THROUGH A DRIVE-THRU TO GET COFFEE!!! 

THEY...ARE IN...A RACE!!! 

Even though they are in last place, what the hell are they doing getting stuff from Tim Horton's?!? And then they have the gall to preach that 'every second counts?' 

I'll forgive them if they got the camera guy something too.

I love the fact that Beveron and Franella now have to share a flight together. I hope drama ensues!

I should hope all the racers know how to swim because if they don't.....this challenge will sink them!

So the Face Off is a modified game of snooker. I'm already dreading this as the preview from last week had JeM just having a mental breakdown over this game. Thing is, not everybody knows how to play pool/snooker.

 I love the awkward interaction between Franella and Broadway. Like I said, Catherine, at least, seems somewhat willing to engage with them. On a side note, the fact that Franella are not good swimmers may hurt them further. However, if either of them are good snooker players, they can possibly make it up again.

"I can't tell if Beverly is yelling...I can't tell if Nella is yelling. All the voices are starting to sound the same and I'm hearing multiple numbers." - Franca

I wouldn't think that Beverly and Nella sound the same but perhaps they do from a distance. At least she didn't say they all sounded like Craig!

I'm tellin' ya...they got their mojo back!

Sounds like the spiel that I got at work in terms of qualities we want to see in a workplace culture. It's all well and good but at the end of they day, they're all just buzzwords and are there for show. At least at my workplace, it's like that.

Oh, this is no good! They lost to CoBren and now they're seemingly losing to Broadway. And to make matters worse, Catherine has never played before! This does not look good! And Jesse keeps screwing up the last shot.

So if they get one wrong, they have to do the obstacle course all over again to be told what the values are. I like CoBren's strategy of having one memorize 3 and the other one memorize 4 because that's just a lot of work if they get it wrong each and every time.

You've got to be kidding me!!! They lost to CoBren, Broadway and now they're losing to Beveron?!? What is this curse that has fallen upon JeM? At least Jesse is keeping his cool in this. If they lose to Franella....then all hope is truly lost!

I love Beveron's face when the guy asked them what values they learned and Veronica realizes that all those words the soldiers were shouting wasn't simply to 'encourage' them! 😂

And they got their mojo back!

Beveron attempting this challenge 3 times may be what dooms them. Both Franella and JeM surpassed them as a result of them having to do the obstacle course 3 times already.

Okay...that was close! Wow! So it's CoBren, Broadway and JeM that make it to the final 3! 

Whew! That was intense!

THAT IS COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLS&*T!!!

SO IT'S NO LONGER THE FINAL 3 BUT NOW IT'S THE FINAL 4?!?

SO FRANELLA GETS TO ADVANCE AND COMPETE WITH THE OTHER TEAMS?!?

WHY?!? BECAUSE THEY CRIED?!? 

WHY CAN'T THIS STUPID SHOW STICK WITH THE ESTABLISHED FORMAT?!? WHY CAN'T THIS STUPID SHOW STOP WITH THE SWERVES AND THE SECOND AND THIRD AND FOURTH AND FIFTH AND SIXTH AND SEVENTH CHANCES?!?

FRANELLA DIDN'T DESERVE TO ADVANCE... THEY LOST. 

THEY LOST!!! FAIR AND SQUARE!!!

THEY LOST!!!

THEY WENT TO GO GET A COFFEE!!!!

I AM SO DAMN PISSED!!!

I mean, in some ways, I feel bad for Beveron. Why not let them advance too since this stupid show is being so gracious? Even though they didn't deserve to advance either, why not just throw all the rules out and let them compete in the finale as well? Why have them compete at all if this show is just going to allow all the teams to advance regardless of what position they end up at? 

Overall, this was a nail-biter of a show. That snooker thing almost did JeM in, while CoBren got their magic back. 

But this 4th place inclusion in the final 3 just ruined this episode for me. Franella did not deserve to advance. They just didn't. 

The Amazing Race Canada - I Love You. I Know

 

Discussing Ep. 8.9 - So now....NOW...I'm hoping it's all do or die with the competition, as supposedly there are only 3 episodes left. So no last minutes saves. No coming back from the dead. If you're in last place...you're out! Let's see how this goes.

Three wins! I'm hoping that their declaration of that isn't the kiss of death for them in this leg.

"This is so exciting. I've never been further than Ottawa!" - Ali

Yeah, I know the feeling! 😁

Again, I don't get what the 'advantage' was of JeM departing for New Brunswick before everyone else when they ALL got to the first challenge...AT THE SAME TIME!!! What advantage is there to the winner of the last leg being able to depart before everyone else when they all have to arrive at the first challenge all together anyway!

That's the challenge? They have to load up a pick up truck? That's it?!? That's the challenge?!? 

Man, this show is really running out of ideas here. What's next...asking them all to properly fold and store fitted bed sheets?

"First place would feel so good, and we really think we deserve it..." - Beverly.

It's not a matter of "deserve!" You either win it or you don't. This is a performance-based competition, not a beauty pageant! 

CoBren finish first! Are they getting their mojo back? Will they dominate this leg like the good ol' days?

Okay, now THIS is a challenge! They have to learn how to dance like that? My jig skills would be invaluable in a challenge like this!

I am surprised as all hell that Beveron didn't ask one of the other teams for help. I think of all the teams, Broadway might have been more willing to help. Beyond that, I think Beveron have realized that they've used up their good will with everyone at this point.

Holy ?&!* indeed! I thought they'd have someone at least show them step by step...not like this where they had to observe the girls dancing and then replicate it from memory! They're going to be there all day!

CoBren and JeM working together! I love the pair up. If they can maintain some kind of alliance, these two teams can make it to the end together!

Damn! So Catherine got a piece of her brain taken out (presumably the piece that had the tumor) and as a result, she no longer has access to short term memory. I do think her tap-dancing skills will serve her well in this challenge but it'll be intriguing to see how big a factor the memory loss will be.

I feel sorry for the band! LOL! To start and stop so frequently because none of the racers can get through it on the first try. Has to be rather annoying.

Catherine nailed it! For once, I'll praise Broadway for dancing on the show because Catherine's dancing skills got them this win big time!

So the girl has to come out and dance along so that they're both dancing in sync! I feel bad for her too now since she starts going and the racers all get out of sync pretty quick and she has to stop!

YEAH!!!

Personally, I think Jesse was a bit off but the lady is obviously being lenient with them all so I'm happy about that. And he did it on the first try! They can finally move on from this horrid challenge!

Okay, now I'm convinced that this lady is just letting them all mess up and giving them the clue anyway. Franca was sure she messed up and she still won. Beverly was actually booed by the crowd but the lady still gave her the clue. I'm assuming this lady is looking out for her girls and wants them all to go home and is just like "Oh, to hell with it, if they get even 50% right, I'll give it to them! I just want to go home!" LOL!

And I guess I was wrong about CoBren. They arrived first and are now in last place. Maybe they didn't get their mojo back. But all is not lost. Beveron came in last and left in fourth so there is still hope for CoBren. Then again, they still have a Speed Bump to do so that may slow them down a lot.

So the first detour option is oyster shucking. I have a feeling that at least one of the racers is going to have experience shucking oysters. But then they have to go all Master Chef and replicate perfectly the look of one of these platters. 

Or they have to clean and organize one of these pod rooms. I was almost right....about the fitted sheet comment. Personally, I think the room cleaning would be easier. Plus, I'm sure it's giving a break to the hotel staff who usually have to do it on that day.

Were Beveron heckling Franella? What the hell was that? These two are like the only teams there right now so I'm intrigued if either of them get in each other's way.

Damn it! I was half expecting Beveron to knock over Franella's water! Now THAT would have been an Amazing Race Canada moment for all time!

If CoBren can pull this off and avoid being eliminated, I think they may have a good chance to win it all. They are going to be EXHAUSTED after doing that jig dance, chopping wood and then carrying all those buckets of water!

"We're not up for chit-chat. We need to focus and get out of here." - Broadway

AHA HA HA HA HA!!! They are essentially turning the tables on Franella by ignoring them and focusing on their own thing. I love it!

And there she is! The one racer who actually has experience with shucking oysters. I knew that one of the racers was going to have something in their past that would help them in this challenge!

Oh, great! One seemingly innocuous little detail that they missed might spoil it all for them! I hate it when it's like that because then you start questioning the whole room and redo everything and end up making it worse!

"I'm going to see Joooooooonnnn!!!" - Broadway

Sigh!

Of course, they had to get one in there. Them and their damn singing!

Impressive! I really do think it was Catherine's tap dancing that gave them the edge. So now they join CoBren and JeM as repeat winners. And thankfully this time, they get to return next week as opposed to being taken off because of COVID! And really thanks to Franella's attitude, it seems like Broadway have also done away with the Alliance and are racing for themselves now. We'll see if that backfires on them in any way.

It's that lack of attention to detail that might do it for CoBren! Like with the jig dance, I suppose it depends on how lenient the judge is on how close their plate looks to the example.

Are they allowed to speed? If they get pulled over by the cops, what happens? If not, then I'd be GUNNING it! This is down to the wire for both CoBren and Cali!

They had me worried! I thought that stupid bath robe was going to be the end of them! I'm glad they kept their cool (or at least Jesse did) and were able to pull it off! And how bizarre that they were the only ones who did that pod thing. I'm sure the lady there was somewhat disappointed as well!

CoBren is taking a different route...a potential shortcut! 'Potential' being the operative word. I don't know if I should applaud them for taking this rather risky move but we'll see if it pays off for them. 

And it does!!!

CoBren come from behind and avoid elimination! I have to say, that was an impressive performance. And if there is any team that is a real threat and has a real chance to win this, it's them. I think this will only fuel their confidence and get them back onto the winning track that they had been on for most of the race.

And with that, Cali get eliminated from the race. It's actually not that much of a surprise given that they hadn't really performed all that well during the race. They were always near the bottom three so it seems rather fitting, to be honest. But they showed a lot of heart and they did well in terms of being part of the Froadali Alliance. 

By far, this appeared to be one of the more physically demanding episodes. That jig challenge was perhaps the more difficult one that they all have done. And the weather didn't add much to this leg as it was rainy and dreary. I'm sure that added some degree of fatigue to them all.

So it's the final five who have all finished in the Top 3 and all are 1st place winners except for Beveron, who I thought had won at least one time but I guess I was wrong. 

Perhaps they will rectify that in the next leg?