After 10 legs, thousands of miles and a pile of product placement, Steph and Kristen emerged as the winners of Season 4 of The Amazing Race Canada, landing in front of host Jon Montgomery on Mont Royal, the first-ever all-female team to take the title.

The couple nabbed cars, a trip around the world, $250,000 and the Season 4 title.

Arriving in second place were Emmett and Jillian, with Joel and Ashley in third. It was truly a nail-biter of a finish with all three pairs swapping first-place positions all Leg long, and I credit the show’s producers for making that way. By mixing physical tests (the Cirque do Soleil and the Biodome) with mental ones (delivering bagels and remembering key points from the season), no one squad was given an unfair advantage. The result? A truly dramatic ending in Montreal.

Cab drivers leaving with $50 extra in their pockets, mixed up directions and nonsense words were just part of the wildness in the season-ender and, really, anyone could have won. This has easily been the most-evenly matched seasons of The Amazing Race Canada I’ve seen.

Kristen and Steph’s win wasn’t an easy one, but by the time they’d left the Moment Factory—and successfully remembering key phrases from the Legs—the only thing that could have stopped them was a lost cab. It almost happened, but they’d built enough of a lead that Jillian and Emmett couldn’t catch them.

Kudos to the former Big Brother Canada competitors for not giving up. It would have been so easy for Jillian to just shut down after she got her bakery directions mixed up and dropped bagels on the sidewalk, but she didn’t. And credit to Emmett for not freaking out because he certainly could have.

Congratulations to the “First Nations Sensations,” Joel and Ashley, for running a great final Leg as well. If not for the Memory Moments challenge, they very well could have taken the title.

Here’s how the teams finished the final Leg:

1. Steph and Kristen (winners)
2. Jillian and Emmett
3. Joel and Ashley

What did you think of this season of The Amazing Race Canada? Comment below or on Twitter @tv_eh.

This episode could easily have been called, “Meltdown in the Maritimes,” as all four teams were on the brink of emotional breakdowns at least once during Tuesday’s Leg of The Amazing Race Canada. It makes sense, though. It’s been a long Race full of drama and frayed nerves, and to be so close to the finale must be stressful.

Once again, the devil was in the details for teams, especially Jillian and Emmett and Frankie and Amy, who failed to understand they needed to learn just the English names of 15 plants at Kingsbrae Garden and not the Latin too. I certainly don’t blame Ashley for convincing Frankie they needed to know both; it’s the Leg before the last one and all bets are off. Still, I felt badly watching the mother-daughter team slouch back to the garden as Joel completed the task in his 10th try. That Road Block was a very interesting one and revealed something Lowell lives with every day. Being blindfolded caused every team member with their eyes covered to freak out, realizing they’d have to trust their senses of touch and smell to guide them to victory. I wonder if Lowell would have aced that challenge if he’d made it that far and chosen to try it?

I’ve only ever driven through New Brunswick on my way to and from Prince Edward Island, but thanks to The Amazing Race Canada, I’d love to visit. Touring the Moosehead Brewery and dropping by Crosby Molasses would be two items on my To Do list, as well as chowing down on some seafood. Speaking of molasses, I was convinced Frankie and Amy’s miscue of dumping four cups of vinegar instead of four tablespoons into their taffy would ruin the recipe. It threw off the cooking time but the pair weren’t far behind the other teams. And, despite losing the golf challenge, they were still in it when they arrived at the garden Road Block.

Steph and Kristen landed at the Pit Stop in first place, scoring a spot in the Final Four and a trip for two to Australia in the process. The girls have battled Jillian and Emmett for tops almost every week and have shown a lot of love and respect for each other. They’re the ones to beat. Joel and Ashley placed second and might be the dark horse of the competition. Joel is sneaky good at several things and, paired with a certain amount of luck and cool-headedness, he and his daughter could certainly run away with the title.

Jillian and Emmett, who completed the plant challenge ahead of Frankie and Amy, could certainly win too, thanks to smart racing and physical skills. As long as Jillian keeps a cool head, they could pocket the grand prize.

Alas, this Leg was the last for Frankie and Amy, and I felt awful when Amy was frustrated and trying her best, knowing it was the end of the road. Still, they made it a lot further than I expected and proved to be worthy adversaries. If it hadn’t been for Ashley’s head games, they might very well be in the finale rather than Jillian and Emmett.

Who do you think will win Season 4 of The Amazing Race Canada in Montreal? Comment below or @tv_eh.

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

1. Steph and Kristen (trip for two to Sydney)
2. Joel and Ashley
3. Jillian and Emmett
4. Frankie and Amy (eliminated)

The Amazing Race Canada season finale airs next Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on CTV.

It’s ironic that a beautiful section of Canada like Cape Breton was the most physically demanding on the remaining teams. And yet that’s what happened during Tuesday’s new episode of The Amazing Race Canada as Steph and Kristen battled Jillian and Emmett at the front of the pack while Joel and Ashley fought Rita and Yvette at the bottom.

The odd team out, and that may play to their advantage, were Frankie and Amy. As Emmett said just before he U-Turned Rita and Yvette, he viewed the mother-daughter team as physically weak and therefore the ones to keep in the Race. And while I do agree with him to a point, Frankie and Amy surprised me with their physicality during the Leg and have the smarts to outwit in a mental challenge.

In what’s become a usual sight in Season 4, Steph and Kristen were neck-in-neck with Jillian and Emmett, swapping between first and second-place pulling mannequins from the water during the Canadian Coast Guard College challenge, the brutal Feel the Burn Detour involving the caber toss, farmer’s walk and stone’s throw, and final challenge, to push six heavy barrels through Fort Louisbourg to the cannon. It was a cool bit of history to watch as a viewer, so I’m glad Emmett—despite Jill’s protests—took the time to drink it all in.

With the Double U-Turn hanging over all, Steph and Kristen chose Joel and Ashley as the team to complete both Detours, putting them in direct competition with fellow U-Turned team Rita and Yvette, who’d already faced a setback in the Speed Bump after placing last in Cuba. The sisters stamped Christmas Island on letters quickly—if a little messily—and had a good laugh over the situation. The laughs turned to gritted teeth once they were U-Turned.

Jill and Emmett made it to the Pit Stop—the Louisbourg Lighthouse—mere steps in front of the girls, landing a trip for two to Mexico and making the east coast proud. I can’t wait to see how Jill replaces the shoe she lost; I’m pretty sure she didn’t pack and extra pair.

Rita and Yvette made a game of it and battled back from the Speed Bump, but weren’t able overcome the setback and were eliminated.

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

1. Jillian and Emmett (trip for two to Mexico City)
2. Steph and Kristen
3. Frankie and Amy
4. Joel and Ashley
5. Rita and Yvette (eliminated)

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

Image courtesy of Bell Media.