A man and woman peel potatoes.

Mon dieu! Amazing Race Canada heads to Quebec

With just five teams left, The Amazing Race Canada headed to La Belle Province for its latest Leg. Would language play a major factor with the teams? At first blush, it seemed Dave would have the upper hand, him being from Quebec and all.

Trains carried the remaining teams to the Charlevoix region, a spot where English-speaking folks are rare. Dave was predicting another winning Leg for he and Irina. An over 1,000 km ride ended in La Malbaie, with a stop for poutine at Chez Chantal … and their next clue. Sam and Sarah were the first to arrive and got peeling 25 potatoes to be used in the gooey, cheesy delicacy.

In the Road Block, teams were instructed to hit the road for Le Manoir Richelieu, site of the 2018 G7 summit. Once there, one team member memorized a statement given at the conference and then answered three questions about it from the media. The statements were delivered in English and French and questions were in Japanese, German and Italian. Instead of Dave taking on the test, Irina did it. Of course, that was because they didn’t know what the challenge would actually be. And, as it turned out, Irina knew French too. Anthony and James were the first to arrive … Aarthy and Thinesh were last.

A woman stands at a podium, speaking.While Sarah scarfed down poutine, Sam worked on the speech, confident he could do it. At the other end of the scale were James and Irina; the latter because she is afraid of public speaking. James started off strong and confident, until the French part. With shattered nerves stacking up and almost 15 minutes of broadcast already done, it looked like this was going to be a long and agonizing challenge. Thinesh wowed not just for the way he looked in a suit but also for his bilingual delivery. Even Dave was impressed. With a “Vote Thinesh for Prime Minister!” he completed the task and departed with Aarthy in first place. Joanne performed an upset, vaulting she and Lauren into second place. And, after a long time, Sam finally got it. Say what you want about Dave and Irina, but seeing him tear up as she tackled her biggest fear was pretty frigging adorable. And, after nine tries, James and Anthony moved on.

This week’s Detour was blind, meaning teams didn’t know what they had to do. Aarthy and Thinesh picked “That,” as did Sarah and Sam and Dave and Irina. “That” turned out to be a game involving an orange piece of wood being hit by a broom handle to score points. Thinesh quickly started to accumulate points while Aarthy swung at the air. They were done the challenge before any other teams had arrived. As the fog rolled in, so did dark thoughts. Dave and Irina got lost and she started to lose it on him. Sarah and Sam, meanwhile, asked for directions.

Dave was swinging for the fences but wasn’t connecting with the piece of wood. The result? He got mighty angry. Irina stepped up, calmly, and hit it. Dave picked up on her routine and they were off to the races.

A group of people sit in chairs.Lauren and Joanne chose “This,” which involved painting emu eggs to look like two samples and then delivering them to one of the two shops featured on the eggs. “This” was a time-consuming and fiddly Detour and Anthony and James opted to do it too, putting their chances of continuing on the Race in jeopardy. Joanne and Lauren had left for the shops before the married couple arrived.

Next, teams drove to the Musée Maritime de Charlevoix for the Pit Stop. A drive to the wrong musée delayed Aarthy and Thinesh for a bit, but they still completed the Leg first, scoring a trip for two to Santiago, Chile. Lauren and Joanne placed second. Dave and Irina landed in third place, and they weren’t happy about it.

The final sprint to the mat was closer than anyone imagined, as Anthony and James were in a footrace with Sarah and Sam for the final spot. That went to the athletes, and it looked like Anthony and James had been eliminated.

But in a twist that the producers kept from viewers through the magic of editing, the Leg wasn’t done. Clues were handed out and everyone kept racing, with the Royal Ontario Museum in their sights.

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

  1. Aarthy and Thinesh
  2. Lauren and Joanne
  3. Irina and Dave
  4. Sarah and Sam
  5. Anthony and James

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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3 thoughts on “Mon dieu! Amazing Race Canada heads to Quebec”

  1. Yeah I liked the questions in other languages so it wasn’t a total advantage for speaking French, though Irina needed time to overcome her fear kinda offset her multilingual skills. Dave just trying to Hulk-smash the Detour was funny too.

    A flaw in Anthony and James’ skill set, French.

    Find someone that looks at you, the way Sam and Aarthy look at Thinesh in that suit.

    Aarthy started strong but the last few episodes she’s flamed out letting him do all the work.

    Blind Detour concept was interesting though “That” was clearly easier.

    Ontario-Quebec-Ontario again, on top of 3 BC legs. Flawed race course design at best. (Though I give them a bit of slack if the rumors of Waterloo and Revelstoke being replacement legs for Turkey and The Philippines are true).

    Last week, what was the point of blacking out the bus when it was just another Canadian city?

  2. Did not understand why the windows on the bus were blacked out to Kitchener-Waterloo either but besides that, I really liked the last two episodes. They included tasks that challenged the mind instead of just testing physical ability allowing different teams or members of a team to take the lead and thrive. Gulp, the math challenge would have done me in, been too long since high school and do not use the term square root in adult life. Seeing the teams calculate the distance like that (snap!) was awesome.

    I do not mind Dave & Irina as a team on TARC actually. I do not agree with every decision they’ve made when it comes to their strategy or calling their fellow racers peasants but they are a team who support each other in their goal to win. Plus the way Dave cherishes his wife!

    Initially I thought Aarthy was a spunky competitor but with each episode (is it just the editing??) she cannot control her temper, either hates or loves the race, appears to be a bit spoiled, and just brings negative energy. Yup, her outbursts make for good TV but I do feel bad for her partner and not just in the race. The phrase “that’s disrespectful” keeps coming to mind each time she loses her cool at him.

    Seeing how these teams would fare in a different country would be interesting!

    Nice to see Team SK almost come in first and win a leg. They are trying so hard. Cute how big sister fed little sister.

  3. This was a good episode in terms of challenges. Not just physical but also mental and “other” skills, such as public speaking.

    Aarthy is beyond irritating. She does very few challenges yet mocks Irina for letting Dave pick up the slack. She is CONSTANTLY whining and complaining and nagging at Thinesh. It is to the point that you have to be impressed at his level of patience at her non-stop bullying.

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