Swimming with the fishes on The Amazing Race Canada

I’m consistently fascinated by the odd times Amazing Race contestants depart for a new Leg. In Tuesday’s newest journey, for instance, Jillian and Emmett departed Jasper, AB, at 12:56 a.m. Why not round it up to 1 a.m.? Why set it that late anyway? Can anyone answer that question for me? I really, honestly, want to know.

But back to the contest itself. Following a dramatic Leg, The Amazing Race Canada upped the ante in Week 2 with a pair of Express Passes—ways of skipping challenges without incurring a penalty—up for grabs. Out of the gate, Jillian and Emmett and Steph and Kristen have proved themselves to by not only physically strong teams but savvy ones too. So it was no surprise they emerged from the first bus into Calgary—following another rappel test—and decided to team up in a hunt for the Express Passes. (Can I just say it was a little disappointing to follow up last week’s height test with another one in Calgary?) They were thick as thieves … until Jillian and Emmett discussed and decided it was more important to finish Legs of the Race in first place than it was to score the passes.

With that, they left the girls to hunt through hundreds (thousands?) of vinyl records at Canada Boy Vinyl on their own while they headed off to the “Swim” Detour, corralling thousands of hatchery trout into one area and scooping them into cages. Steph and Kristen’s gamble paid off after an hour of work—scoring them an Express Pass and one to hand to another team—but costing them precious time. Luckily, they were fast and physical, outgunning other teams at the hatchery to land a respectable fifth place for their troubles. Jillian and Emmett, meanwhile, never gave up their lead after that, cruising into first place again. When they’re not bickering, Jillian and Emmett are simply unstoppable.

Meanwhile, there was a log jam in the hatchery, as every other team save for Joel and Ashley chose to scoop up fish. Instead, the father and daughter opted for the “Sim” side of the Detour, involving using a crane simulator to move a concrete weight through an intricate obstacle course in under six minutes combined. (Steph and Kristen, Kelly and Kate and Rita and Yvette took one look and swapped challenges.) After much practicing, the pair completed the task in their first try and hit the mat in a very respectable fourth place.

Things never improved for Kelly and Kate and Rita and Yvette, who entered Calgary in the last bus and never made up ground. In a footrace to the mat. Rita and Yvette edged out Kate and Kelly for the last spot. I could right away by Jon Montgomery’s tone that it was a non-elimination Leg, meaning the two friends have a Speed Bump to contend with in Vietnam. My take? Amazing Race Canada introduced a non-elimination way too early and should have waited until next week.

Here’s how the teams finished the Leg:

  1. Jillian and Emmett (trip for two to Paris)
  2. Stéphane and Antoine
  3. Frankie and Amy
  4. Joel and Ashley
  5. Anne and Tanya
  6. Steph and Kristen
  7. Julie and Lowell
  8. Rita and Yvette
  9. Kelly and Kate (non-elimination Leg)

What did you think of this Leg of the Race?  Comment below or via @tv_eh on Twitter.

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

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11 thoughts on “Swimming with the fishes on The Amazing Race Canada”

  1. I thought Amazing Race did introduce that Elimination way too soon as well, especially since Kelly and Kate had already come dead last on the previous episode. I felt that if it were any other team and not Kelly and Kate there would’ve been an elimination. The Race definitely favors certain people, I’ve seen it over and over. Not sure how much longer the girls will last as they are pretty tiny and weak, as evidenced by watching them do tasks.

    1. I don’t think the producers suddenly decide on a whim when a non-Elimination Leg will take place. I’m sure it’s all well planned out in advance. Having it so early in the competition feels like a waste, since they only usually have two non-elimination legs in a season.

      1. I think that this leg was a non-elimination because of the Express passes…

  2. The time the team leaves is based on the time of arrival. You can’t just round them to the nearest hour due the possibility of teams being close together in pit stop times. I think the system was (might still be) 12 or 24 hours after their pit stop time. Either way, they have to maintain consistency between arrival times for it to be legit

    Also Ashley used her knowledge of Calgary to find the Wonderland statue quickly as opposed to having to ask around.

    1. Thanks for the reminder about Ashley, and for the explanation regarding departure times. I had totally forgotten it was based on their arrival times!

  3. There’s something fitting about a bus pulling away just as you run up to it, even on television.

    They seem to be trying to inject a bit of a strategic game in our Race, usually the Express Passes are given for winning a leg and the Fast Forward takes you out of the way-but you’ll probably get first that episode with the FF. In typical Canadian politeness two teams agree to work together…but in no real shock the team from Big Brother breaks the deal. Though when they aren’t yelling at each other they seem like a strong team.

    Although with the other Pass having to be given away either in Episode 3 or 4, I don’t see how much strategy could really go into it. They’re e 8 teams left so it can’t cause too much of an upset. The Face Off twist from last year was kind of a bust too. In terms of being strategic better just leave that to the U-Turn boards.

    Having been to Calgary last year I was deeply amused how the twins kept searching around the wrong building, which you can *see* from the Tower but it clearly wrong.Thought two repelling roadblocks in a row? Meh.

    I know their going for a positive edit but damn if Lowell’s big grin going down the Tower and fish puns with Julie wasn’t sweet as hell.

    That Sim Detour must have been harder then it looked. It seemed just like a video game but 3 teams GTFO almost instantly.

    Oh wow! An actual footrace between the last two teams! This is so tense and exciting!…Way t undercut the tension there. I know non-elimination legs are planned in advance but this seems a bit early. (And aren’t we short at least 1 team this year to begin with?)

    Going international next week Yay!

    1. Hey, you’re right. Last season there were 12 teams. It did feel a little lighter this time around, but I never caught on until you mentioned it. I don’t mind the Express Pass play, but you are right in that it comes so early it doesn’t really make that much of a difference game-play wise. The U-Turn remains the best-ever momentum shift in The Amazing Race franchise.

      1. Yeah in Season 2 (and the US version) they had 11 teams! For Season 1 they only had 9 pairs but they really expanded since then. I wonder what the reduction was for. I think they lost Petro Canada and Air Canada but the show still does excellent in ratings so you’d think budget wouldn’t be an issue.

        1. I think they reduced the number of teams because all the prizes were pretty expensive.. I’m a little sad that we can’t vote for our favorite team and give them free gas for a year, though

          1. They’ll probably still do the Favorite Racers towards the end of the season I hope.

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