After 48,500 km, Season 3 of The Amazing Race Canada crowned its winners as Gino and Jesse Montani captured a year of travel for two in business class anywhere Air Canada flies, two Chevy Colorados, gas for life from Petro Canada, $250,000 and winners of The Amazing Race Canada.

“Here’s to you, Canada. Cheers!” was an orgy of Canadiana in Vancouver, from riding a bike along a metal beam on BCE Place to visiting the Squamish Lil’Wat Cultural Centre for a map challenge and a ski matching test in Whistler.

And it was anything but and easy Leg for the final three teams. I honestly thought Brent and Sean’s luck had finally run out when Brent took 20 tries to wobble his way across the beam in downtown Vancouver. Jesse and Matt conquered the Road Block in their first tries, giving their squads an early lead. Those leads were cut down thanks to Brent and Sean’s tenacity … and a major blunder by Jesse and Gino. The brothers from Hamilton were so stressed out the wrestlers successfully finished the map challenge ahead of them they neglected to completely eras their whiteboard … Brent and Sean merely had to write the final answer on their board and they’d completed the task. Racing tip: worry about what you’re doing and not the other teams.

A somewhat simple task at the Bearfoot Bistro—removing the tops from champagne bottles using a sabre and champagne flute—was nonetheless a symbolic one: these teams had battled hard through 12 Legs and were celebrating ever-so-briefly with a quaff of bubbly.

The editing made it look as though Jesse and Gino were mere minutes arriving on the mat in front of Jon Montgomery ahead of Matt and Nick on the 12th hole at the Nicklaus North Golf Course. Either way, the siblings were first and the wrestlers, who had placed in the Top 3 during nine Legs had to settle for second place.

“We never doubted each other,” Jesse told Montgomery. “This is the most beautiful country in the world. You don’t need to travel anywhere else.”

Overall, I’ve been impressed with Season 3 of The Amazing Race. A series of incredibly hard challenges forced some teams to sit out and take time penalties but for the most part they gamely soldiered on. I’ve never been a fan of the Race leaving Canada, but I’m OK they keep the continent jumping to a minimum and begin and end in the greatest country on the planet.

Here’s how the final three finished:

1. Jesse and Gino (winners)
2. Matt and Nick
3. Brent and Sean

Notes and quotes

• “Brent and I are from the east coast and prefer our mussels with garlic butter.” — Sean
• How great was that callback to Monty’s gold medal Winter Olympics win by handing him a pitcher of beer?

What have you thought of this season of The Amazing Race Canada? Will you audition for Season 4?

After a week away from The Amazing Race Canada—I was off on my own adventures in Parry Sound and Sudbury, Ont.—I checked back in just in time as the final three teams were set up for next week’s season finale. (As an aside, I was disappointed Dujean and Leilani became bitter with each other last week and were eliminated while airing their dirty laundry.)

So, after a gruelling Leg in Edmonton jam-packed with drama and stolen cabs, Brent and Sean, Matt and Nick and Gino and Jesse will battle it out for the trucks, money and title in next Wednesday’s last episode. Eliminated on the mat at the Muttart Conservatory were Simi and Ope, who never gave up hope despite the fact they suffered from having two cabs stolen from under them.

I get that it’s a race, but I wasn’t impressed that Gino and Jesse stole that first cab from Nick and Matt at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre. That move forced the wrestlers to play dirty pool and grabbed Simi and Ope’s ride, something they clearly didn’t feel good about doing. Gino and Jesse made it a twofer when they then absconded with Simi and Ope’s cab after the curling Face Off. Again, I understand The Amazing Race Canada is a competition and calls for desperate times, but I was disappointed. I guess I’m just a sucker for fair play and the world just isn’t a fair place sometimes.

Still, kudos to the father-daughter team for ending the Race with their heads up and thanks to Ope for the inspirational words about this country.

“It’s amazin’!” he said tearfully in front of Jon Montgomery.

Speaking of amazin’, how about Brent and Sean? The brothers have emerged as perhaps the most unlikely of frontrunners after beating out their more physical competitors to land in first place for the week. They conquered garbage, curling, shopping for snacks and acting to emerge as bona fide contenders for the title. They also showed sportsmanship; after taking someone’s cab at Fort Edmonton Park they ordered a replacement.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg:

1. Brent and Sean
2. Nick and Matt
3. Gino and Jesse
4. Simi and Ope (eliminated)

Notes and quotes

• That newlywed couple were in on the joke, right? They knew their big day would be interrupted by finalists, I’m sure.
• “Shopping. I mean, this is our task.” — Sean
• Nick and Matt may be tough guys, but jumper cables are NOT a snack.

The Amazing Race Canada season finale airs next Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV followed by After the Race.

Never give up, because you don’t know what will happen. It’s a mantra that’s repeated during The Amazing Race and it continues to be true. Look no further than Simi and Ope and Brent and Sean; the former team managed an impressive fourth place finish while the latter were saved from exiting the Race because it was a non-elimination Leg.

Fans knew there was one more non-elimination in the cards and I’d hoped it was this week in Delhi, especially after the east coast brothers fell into last place and stayed there all episode long. “Take Your Clue and Gooooo!” saw the remaining five pairs jet to Delhi and immediately traumatized as they transported live catfish from one end of the fish market to the other. (Can you imagine how everyone smelled by the end of that challenge? Woo.) Nick and Matt, determined to place first this week, got off to a “hot start” and whizzed through the fish and on to Turban Twist. Matt struggled a bit turning out three different turban styles on a trio of very patient men, followed in succession by Gino, Ope, Dujean and, eventually, Sean.

As for the Detour? It was a no-brainer, as Nick and Matt selected Slam It’s wrestling moves as the test for them. The editing made it look like the pro wrestlers got done a bare few minutes before Gino and Jesse, but that may not have been the case. What I do know is that Gino and Jesse’s tenaciousness went a long way to pushing Matt and Nick to a level that has eluded them to this point. They became so frustrated with having the Hamilton, Ont., siblings constantly within reach they shifted into another gear and finished the Leg in first place. Ope’s bad back, meanwhile, meant he and Simi had to drop out of Slam It and opt for Spice It, competing with Sean and Brent to grind 100 grams of hot peppers in the least amount of time.

We know what happened next.

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

1. Nick and Matt
2. Gino and Jesse
3. Simi and Ope
4. Dujean and Leilani
5. Brent and Sean (non-elimination)

Notes and quotes

• Eighteen million people call Delhi home. That’s just staggering.
• I’m not sure who I felt more badly for, the competitors of those catfish.
• I’m not sure who I felt more badly for, Sean for throwing up down the side of the tuck-tuk or the driver who had to clean the barf off the side of his tuk-tuk.
• CTV needs to put together a photo gallery of Matt’s “bar shirts” STAT.
• I’m always appreciative of the cultural information The Amazing Race provides. Learning Humayun’s Tomb was the inspiration for the design of the Taj Mahal was fascinating.

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

Mission Interrupted indeed. I’m going to miss Brian’s pithy quips, his eye-rolling and, mostly recently, his attempt at Jedi mind-tricking Kolkata’s sculpture vendor. The police officers were the latest team to be eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada on Wednesday night.

During the last few weeks, tough challenges hampered the teams; this week it was the intense heat and crowded streets of Kolkata, India, that challenged everyone perhaps more mentally than physically. Gino and Jesse bitched at each other, Ope became frustrated with Simi and Brian was downright surly to Cynthia; all were the result of humidity and frayed nerves in packed neighbourhoods.

Brothers Sean and Brent—who enjoyed a season-best first-place finish and business-class seats to India—literally crashed back down to earth during the Roll Detour involving yoga. Poor Brent went head-first into the stone paving, injuring himself and bringing tears. This is the lowest we’ve seen the spunky pair, and admit I felt badly for them. Luckily, they turned things around and live to Race another day. Gino and Jesse tumbled down the standings thanks to having a hard time finding the shops to visit during the Tuck Detour and lost precious moments. I’m so used to seeing the pride of Hamilton in first or second it was a shock for them to be so close to elimination.

The Leg’s bright spot? Dujean and Leilani, who used their dance background to full effect during the yoga challenge and landed in front of Jon Montgomery on top of the world.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg:

1. Dujean and Leilani
2. Nick and Matt
3. Brent and Sean
4. Simi and Ope
5. Gino and Jesse
6. Brian and Cynthia (eliminated)

Notes and quotes

• Those business class seats sure looked comfy.
• “Paramount Drinks and Syrups.”
• “Can you airborne shuffle it?”
• Sulking never won a Leg of the Race, Brian.

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

Almost every week of this season, I’ve remarked at how difficult The Amazing Race Canada challenges have been. It’s made for some pretty compelling footage, but after this week and last I have to wonder: did the producers make things too hard?

For the second week in a row—this time in Saskatoon—more than one team chose to take penalties rather than stick with the challenge at hand. And in the case of Neil and Kristin, it meant they were eliminated. I may make a similar decision in the heat of the moment—after frustration or thirst has set in—but from the safety of my couch I’d rather keep going rather than rely on other teams to stumble along the way.

One need only look as far as Ope and Simi for proof of that. Rather than team up with the other pairs at the airport to work out the 25-hour flight formula, they figured it out themselves. Rather than get frustrated with each other, they played cheerleader. The result? They came in second-to-last place and continue, proving to the other Racers that they’re a team to contend with.

Meanwhile, birthday boy Brent and his brother Sean celebrated the big day with a first-place spot. The siblings smartly played their Express Pass to skip the flight-time challenge and dry-heaved their way to the mat in front of Jon Montgomery. This was Brent and Sean’s first-ever top spot, though not for lack of trying. They gamely soldier on, scoring consistent Top 5 finishes.

As for Gino and Jesse, the Race‘s strongest duo to date blew through this Leg’s tests with flying colours and placed second to Brent and Sean.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg:

1. Brent and Sean (used the Express Pass)
2. Gino and Jesse
3. Dujean and Leilani (penalty)
4. Brian and Cynthia
5. Nick and Matt
6. Simi and Ope
7. Neil and Kristin (penalty, eliminated)

Notes and quotes

• “I gotta take off my shoes to count past 10.” — Brian
• I wanted to hear more of Ope’s story about wanting to be a pilot.
• Cynthia and Brian’s plan to have more fun sure backfired, didn’t it?

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