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.

Haida Gwaii has become a hot spot to film Canadian television shows. First it was the Season 2 premiere of Jonny Harris’ Still Standing that visited the community; on Tuesday, The Amazing Race Canada teams blew through the area, soaking up culture and striving to arrive on the mat in first place. (Eagle-eyed fans of Still Standing recognized Desi Collinson and Ben Davidson in the episode.)

Perhaps it was the mysticism of the place that caused several teams to do the unthinkable: they helped each other out. The first Road Block challenge—to listen to the stories of six totem poles, then identify them and the artist to carved them—saw Ashley tell Amy and Kate the correct pole order and then Jillian, Julie, Rita and Amy all work together. (Learning the stories of the totems, though edited down for TV, was still fascinating and I wish there had been more time devoted to it.) Steph and Kristen had already shot ahead to the puzzle test in the forest, where once again Jillian and Emmett took a few extra minutes to aid their competitors instructing them in how the pieces fit together. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the team play, especially at this later stage in the game. I’d expect a little sharing off the top, but not so much as the end winds into sight.

This Leg of the Race was all Steph and Kristen, who vowed they’d land on the mat in front of Jon Montgomery. They made good on their word, never relinquishing the lead and only seeing other teams when they were leaving for the next stage. I admit I was cheering for them all along; they’re strong physically and mentally and are nothing but supportive of each other. (As an aside, those shots from and of the sea plane gliding over the water and land were some of the show’s most stunning ever.)

As for the rest of the teams? They were in a figurative—and literal—log jam for the bulk of the Leg, with just Kelly and Kate the last team leaving the puzzle challenge in dead last. But The Amazing Race Canada has a way of equalizing things, and that happened during the second Road Block where the team member that didn’t complete the totem pole task had to operate a small tug boat and move rafts of marked logs—Beachcombers-style—to a dispatcher. That meant Lowell and his limited sight was behind the wheel of one boat while Kelly and her fear of operating machinery controlled the other.

Unfortunately, Kelly and Kate couldn’t recreate their luck last week and arrived on the mat last, where they were eliminated. Buy hey, they came in first place during one Leg and scored a trip for two to Los Angeles.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg:

1. Steph and Kristen (won trip for two to New York City)
2. Jillian and Emmett
3. Frankie and Amy
4. Joel and Ashley
5. Rita and Yvette
6. Julie and Lowell
7. Kelly and Kate (eliminated)

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

Images courtesy of CTV

The latest Leg of The Amazing Race Canada contained two things I dread: eating wiggly bugs and performing karaoke. And, to be honest, it’s the karaoke that scares me the most out of the two. So I watched much of Tuesday’s episode with an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach because I knew both challenges were happening on the same night.

The Leg, through the hot and sweaty streets of Ho Chi Minh City, was a wild one where teams that were in middle and bottom of the pack jumped to the front while previously strong ones like Ashley and Joel and Jillian and Ashley were humbled as they dropped in the standings.

“Expect the unexpected,” Ashley said when Steph and Kristen revealed they’d gotten the Express Passes and handed them over to Frankie and Amy. Ashley was dead on. What seemed to be a relatively easy “Flip Flop” Detour—tossing around bottles of booze Cocktail-style—threw Ashley and her dad and Emmett and Jillian for a major loop, allowing other teams to roll in, complete the task and depart, while they struggled dozens of times to get in sync. The result? Joel and Ashley finished in fifth while the former Big Brother competitors were battling with Anne and Tanya for the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop.

Alas, it was the end of the road for longtime friends Anne and Tanya, who started the Leg in last place and never recovered. It was fun to watch them race this week; with no pressure to perform head-to-head with another team, they just soaked the experience in.

Meanwhile, Kelly and Kate had what they described as “Best. Day. Ever,” completing the scooter challenge in second place and devouring the bugs, bat and pulsating coconut worms with aplomb. Their Asian heritage served the girls well both with the insects—they both revealed they eat stuff like that all the time—and especially with the V-Pop Detour: they converted the karaoke lyrics to Chinese to help learn Vietnamese and charged through the challenge on their first try. It was a stunning Leg for the two friends, who landed in front of Jon Montgomery in first place.

The success of Kate and Kelly, Rita and Yvette, Julie and Lowell and mother-daughter team Frankie and Amy proved this may be one of the most equally-matched casts The Amazing Race Canada has ever put together and—as usual—appearances can be deceiving. Franke and Amy placed fourth for the Leg and scored the other Express Pass from Steph and Kristen, immediately giving them an advantage in the coming weeks.

What did you think of this Leg of the Race? Comment below or via @tv_eh.

Here’s how the teams finished up this Leg:

1. Kelly and Kate (won trip for two to Los Angeles)
2. Steph and Kristen
3. Rita and Yvette
4. Frankie and Amy (receive Express Pass)
5. Joel and Ashley
6. Julie and Lowell
7. Jillian and Emmett
8. Anne and Tanya (eliminated)

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