During last week’s teaser for Tuesday’s episode of The Amazing Race Canada, the double One Way was teased. How would this latest wrinkle affect the teams? We found out in Edmonton, the location for the latest Leg.
Aarthy and Thinesh departed Revelstoke, B.C., first, aiming to land one of two spots on the first airplane to Edmonton; the rest would follow two and a half hours later. That was the biggest advantage of this season so far. Close to three hours head start can give a struggling team the cushion they need to succeed. The double One Way, new in Season 7, enabled two teams to anonymously decide the Detours two other teams must complete. The advantage? It forces a team to complete a Detour they might not be good at. The possible backfire? Giving a team a Detour they master quickly.
Dave and Irina had bullseyes on their backs and were determined to get to the One Way board before anyone could target them. Anthony and James, meanwhile, were excited to return to their home turf, hoping it would give them an advantage. (Kudos to TARC‘s producers for letting the couple acknowledge they were wearing skirts to honour the missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.) Dave and Irina were on the board for Flight No. 1, as were Aarthy and Thinesh. Everyone else had to settle for Flight No. 2 and the possibility of being One Way victims.
I had totally forgotten Dave and Irina had an Express Pass to give until they offered it to Anthony and James who had inadvertently helped them during the tree planting in B.C. The first location in Edmonton was to The Source, which I totally forgot even existed. There, they would get their next clue and put on a (sponsor alert!) Samsung fitness tracker; the team with the lowest number of steps for the Leg pocketed a $5,000 gift card for The Source. That turned out to be Lauren and Joanne.
The next location? The high level bridge streetcar, to find their next clue … and dole out some One Way pain. Aarthy and Thinesh aimed to be the team with the last steps taken and allowed Dave and Irina to pass them on the way to the streetcar. Who cares if you win $5,000 if you’ve been eliminated?
This week’s Detour choices were Celebrate (performing with a youth choir at the Royal Alberta Museum) or Elevate (climbing aboard the funicular and completing two puzzles of the city skyline). Dave and Irina chose Elevate and did not One Way any other team. “We’ll let the peasants fight for last place,” Dave joked. Aarthy and Thinesh chose the same Detour and didn’t One Way anyone either, but didn’t mention anything about peasants. The two puzzles contained pieces from each, meaning teams had to use the funicular several times to complete the images. Dave and Irina completed the puzzles first and left for the Old Strathcona Antique Mall.
The second flight arrived, and third to show up at the streetcar were Anthony and James who opted not to punish anyone. Lauren and Joanne became the first team to utilize the One Way and targetted Trish and Amy for Celebrate. Sarah and Sam, who picked Elevate, One Way-ed Sean and Gilles for Celebrate too. Meaghan and Marie opted for Celebrate, meaning three teams were set to sing and dance. Amy was worried her hearing impairment was going to be a problem and asked their instructor to speak up. Meaghan and Marie needed just two attempts to master the dance and song and left for the antique mall, followed by Trish and Amy.
At the antique mall, Racers were tasked with finding a Jon Montgomery bobblehead somewhere in the 27,000 square foot building. Dave and Irina found Jon’s bobblehead first, amid wrestling figures, and departed for the Kurimoto Japanese Garden to locate the Ozawa Pavillion. Sam spotted Jon in seconds; he and Sarah leapfrogged others into third place as they headed to the pavilion. Anthony and James and Lauren and Joanne were close behind. Trish and Amy located Jon, but it was a picture in an Olympic magazine.
The Leg’s Road Block challenged one team member to master an Ichiban flower arrangement by watching a silent demonstration and replicating it. Irina took it on, as did Thinesh. Irina seems to get stressed out at the littlest things and threatened to shake her confidence. But, right after the commercial break, she realized her mistake—the flowers were touching—and corrected it. Anthony, Sarah and  Lauren all arrived at the same time and Sarah was left alone after the others were done first because her flowers were touching. Things were even worse for Amy, who didn’t see that one leaf hiding behind the pot and keeping her from leaving the pavilion. The same mess was messing with Gilles.
This Leg’s Pit Stop was the Agha Khan Garden, where the real Jon waited. With 20 minutes of the episode still to go, Dave and Irina landed in first place and a trip to Casablanca, Morocco. Aarthy and Thinesh completed the Leg in second place and were feeling confident. Amy and Gilles’ massive delays with their flower arrangements meant they were the bottom of the pack. And, sadly for Gilles and Sean, it meant an elimination.
Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:
- Dave and Irina
- Aarthy and Thinesh
- Anthony and James
- Lauren and Joanne
- Sarah and Sam
- Meaghan and Marie
- Trish and Amy
- Sean and Gilles (eliminated)
The Amazing Race Canada
 airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.
Images courtesy of Bell Media.
I actually like the concept of the One Way and am glad they didn’t render it useless by having this be a non-elimination episode.
The picture of John Lennon, John Cena figure and the picture of Jon were funny.
A that little leaf! Amy shouldn’t have said that out loud though I knew they could probably win a foot race against Sean and Gilles.
Dave and Irina really soaking up the villain role.
Dave and Irina are are stupid cheaters so sad there still I hope you get out YOU SUCK