It’s been a little hard for me to connect with the teams during this season of The Amazing Race Canada. I’m not sure what it is. No one is particularly annoying or deserves my scorn. Everyone seems to get along not only within their own duos but with each other too. Perhaps that’s it; I’m used to villains and heroes distinguishing themselves by now and it hasn’t happened. These folks are just so nice.

And while I haven’t been outright cheering for a pair yet, I was sad to see Zed and Shabbir eliminated. The father-son duo have a great story—Shabbir battled cancer and won, and Zed looks like José Bautista—and they’ve been strong performers so far both physically and in the mental game. Unfortunately, they stumbled in Bangkok, Thailand.

Sam and Paul, who began the Leg in first place, made a costly blunder at the top of the hour, dropping their instructions and train tickets to Shanghai in the street as they walked away. Incredibly, no one had sauntered along and picked them up and the boys reclaimed the ducats when they retraced their steps. And credit to the pair for keeping cool heads and looking for the tickets rather than wasting time blaming each other. They did, however, lose their clue instructions. But even then, Adam and Andrea gave them help without a blink of the eye. Yes, they want help in return, but this being a competition, I’m still surprised everyone is willing to help.

A quick stop at a Montreal-themed restaurant in Shanghai for some Sinorama product placement and teams were on a plane to Bangkok and a cat café in search of their next clue. It also introduced the first Fast Forward of the season, a special challenge that would score the first team to complete it a straight shot to the Pit Stop. The catch is always that you could waste time going there when another team had already completed the task, and many teams choose to skip it altogether. Ivana and Korey and Adam and Andrea both picked the Hoop Takraw. (The others all elected to stick with the Route Info and took a river cruise to their next clue.) I’m not sure how long it took them—and it appeared to be a total fluke—but Adam’s kick landed the ball in that small net, vaulting them to a temple Pit Stop in top spot and a return trip to Bangkok. Ivana and Korey were forced to return to the Route Info.

An intricate, word-free puppet show was the test for everyone but Adam and Andrea, a mixture of body movement, puppet coordination and silence that all members struggled with. Shabbir kept talking, resulting in failure. Sam and Paul and community theatre actors Bert and Karen nailed the performance on their first try and zipped off to the Detour: Bling It involved decorating a tuk tuk in a specific way while Shred It tested the ability to surf and snag flags for a clue. After eight tries, Zed and Shabbir re-read the clue and realized they were supposed to be silent during the puppet show. By the time they did, they were in last place.

After a few practice tries surfing, Sam and Paul nabbed a flag each and quickly departed for the Pit Stop. Andrea and Ebonie completed the surfing next, followed by Kenneth and Ryan. Clearly, the surfing was the easiest of the two Detours, but how could you know until you were there? Still, Shabbir had troubles surfing and after a particularly bad fall, they decided to switch challenges. That put them far behind everyone else and the only thing that could save them from being sent home was if this Leg was a non-elimination. It wasn’t.

Here’s how the teams placed at the end of this Leg:

1. Adam and Andrea (won trip to Bangkok)
2. Andrea and Ebonie
3. Sam and Paul
4. Kenneth and Ryan
5. Karen and Bert
6. Korey and Ivana
7. Zed and Shabbir (eliminated)

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

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

Regular reader DanAmazing said he expected last week’s Leg of The Amazing Race Canada to be a non-elimination. So was I. The timing was right for it, and it would have given Megan and Courtney the opportunity to leave the country for at least one Leg.

So, was Beijing, China, the location where the final team would be spared and able to keep Racing? With all three Express Passes being used—or in the case of Megan and Courtney, eliminated along with them—the teams were evenly matched once again. (If you want some great behind-the-scenes insight into what challenges Insight Productions faced filming in China, read Bill Brioux and Jim Slotek’s columns.)

Zed and Shabbir were the first out of the gate and headed to the Great Wall of China. The father and son team have proved to be shrewd and cunning with brain games and able to duke it out with others in the physical challenges too. That makes for a very strong duo. Teams didn’t simply hop a flight from Kootenay, B.C., to Vancouver for another jet to China, however. First, they needed to find Sinorama Travel. No one got lost or delayed during the side trip, though the gift of panda key chains gave Korey and Ivana the opportunity to reveal they called themselves Team Panda, and hoped this was a good luck charm. It didn’t start out well for Team Panda. Korey and Ivana were plagued by the first slow cab of this season and worried they’d be the last team to arrive at the Great Wall. They swapped rides and got back into the groove … in last place.

Meanwhile, at the Wall itself, first-place arrivals Andrea and Adam were confounded by their first challenge: to memorize a walking tour and deliver it to a group of tourists in English, French and Mandarin. The siblings were a step ahead of most teams because they know French. Mandarin? Not so much. Ebonie’s television presenter background meant she could memorize a script well; others, like Bert and Karen, tried rap as a way to keep the language beats organized and Sam and Paul sang. Andrea and Ebonie were the first team to complete the task—on their first try, no less—and were off to the next test. They were quickly followed by Zed and Shabbir, Sam and Paul, Adam and Andrea, Kenneth and Ryan and Karen and Bert. Ivana and Korey departed in last place.

The next test took place at the Canadian embassy, where teams were to interrupt a game of road hockey and advance. It was a short visit, but enough to inject a little Canada into the Leg.

This week’s Detour, “In Sync” or “In Line,” was tough. Squads either stripped down to do synchronized dives in “In Sync,” or dressed up to perform a dance routine. (I would have chosen the dance.) Zed and Shabbir opted to just go for it rather than practice and that decision paid off; they departed the dive in first. Ebonie and Andrea, meanwhile, go worse the more they practiced and switched to dancing. Karen and Bert were the first to nail the dancing—and looked fab doing it—and were off. Ivana’s tweaky back meant she and Korey had to abandon the diving in favour of the dance.

The Road Block delved into China’s history of medicine, challenging a team member to fill a prescription using herbal medicines written out in Chinese. Sam’s attention to detail and studying to become a doctor came into play and he leapt past Shabbir and Kenneth to give he and Paul the lead. Zed and Shabbir were close behind,

This week’s Pit Stop was located at Beijing’s drum tower, where Sam and Paul scored their first first-place finish this season; the dating couple landed a trip back to China. Zed and Shabbir were right there, in second place.

Korey and Ivana, who had been playing catch-up all Leg long, vaulted past Ebonie and Andrea to take the last spot on the mat. Luckily for them, and as I suspected, this was a non-eliminaton Leg, so the business partners are around for at least one more jaunt.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:

1. Sam and Paul (trip to China)
2. Zed and Shabbir
3. Adam and Andrea
4. Kenneth and Ryan
5. Karen and Bert
6. Ivana and Korey
7. Andrea and Ebonie (non-elimination Leg)

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

Images courtesy of Bell Media.