They may have been in the city of love, but Tuesday’s installment of The Amazing Race Canada saw a dog fight between vindictive Racers armed with the almighty double U-Turn. Yet despite having to perform a Detour, get through a U-Turn, and survive a Speed Bump, Rob and Ryan pulled off the impossible in Paris, scraping past the originally second-place Michel and Pierre to the finish line and leaving the Québec duo in the dust.

The serious turn of events in the Race standings can be blamed on one thing: the world’s most tedious Road Block. But before they could get to there, the teams were scrambling to make it to the double U-Turn mark. Continuing their hot streak were Natalie and Meaghan as the first duo to soar past the Plat Du Jour Detour challenge, something I perceived to be the easier of the two options. I mean, as Canadians you have to have at least an ounce of proper French food pronunciation in you somewhere, right? However, instead of making enemies, the duo decided to take the diplomatic approach and forgo throwing the first name up for the double U-Turn.

Also breezing past the Detour Du Jour were Pierre and Michel, whose pronunciation of the French food they had to serve was like Parisian music to my ears. But in an entertaining twist of events, the duo decided to separate from their fellow Quebecers, throwing Audrey and Alain under the U-Turn bus. It was bold, gutsy, but most of all hilarious to see Audrey and Alain’s distain, especially since the couple had already lost time switching to the difficult Haute Couture Detour challenge and struggled to recreate a couture dress.

Speaking of lost time, the always chill Mickey and Pete completely salted their game thanks to a miscommunication between their cab driver and the pronunciation of Place Du Canada versus Places Des Canada. Like last week, I was scared my favourite Racers had screwed themselves for time, but luckily their likeability saw them avoid getting U-Turned, saving them in the end. Instead, the other U-Turn honour was bestowed upon Rob and Ryan thanks to Jinder and Sukhi, throwing salt in the boys’ already sore wounds knowing they had a Speed Bump to get through as well. But by some miracle the boys made it through the challenges and learned the world’s worst rendition of “Au Claire De La Lune” on the accordion, keeping them from a sealed fate as losers.

No matter what place the Racers were in, it all really came down to the Road Block of recreating a French piece of art with coloured Mentos, a task that proved to be so tedious it completely halted the Race. Originally it seemed like it paid being in the lead, with Natalie and Meaghan arriving first and being the first to assemble their art. But as teams continued arriving, and as the originally second-place Michel continued to stumble with figuring out what he was replicating wrong, one by one teams managed to get their Mentos aligned and approved before heading off to the Love Locks Bridge to meet Jon Montgomery.

I was in near cardiac arrest as Rob and Ryan even caught up to Pierre and Michel, who had fallen to the back of the pack. Not even Alain’s proposal to Audrey–prompting a change from “dating” to “engaged” in their relationship bio line–really fazed me much thanks to my disbelief over how tight the Race had become. To my utmost shock, it was Rob and Ryan that figured the Mentos art out first. And after more than a six-hour struggle with the Road Block, Pierre and Michel were forced to bid the show au revoir. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Here’s how the teams finished:

• Natalie and Meaghan
• Suhki and Jinder
• Mickey and Pete
• Alain and Audrey
• Rob and Ryan

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

What did you think of the episode? Comment below!

Tuesday’s episode of The Amazing Race Canada was notable for three reasons. From a purely competition standpoint, Olympians Natalie and Meaghan reclaimed their top spots during the Leg after blasting through the Detour and never looking back.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Rob were plagued by the disorientation bug. Sure, they were able to complete challenges in a fast manner, but they spent tons of time lost and unable to find the locations of the challenges. Luckily for them it was a non-elimination Leg and the two friends are still racing.

But the most notable part of Tuesday’s instalment was the backdrop of Normandy, France, and what show producers did to recognize the 100th anniversary of the First World War, the role Canada had on Juno Beach during D-Day in the Second World War and the role our soldiers have played ever since. Sure there were challenges involving the alcohol content of Calvados, braiding horse manes and reconstructing segments of the Bayeaux Tapestry, but those all took a back seat to stops in Bèny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery and the Juno Beach Centre.

In the first, all teams stopped by the pristine cemetery where 2,000 Canadian soldiers are interred. The Amazing Race Canada was forgotten as everyone paused to remember. Natalie and Meaghan and Pierre and Michel and Sukhi and Jinder were all shown breaking down in tears as the past was put into perspective.

“People look at Olympic athletes and they think we’re heroes, but what we do doesn’t even come close to what Canadian soldiers have done for us and continue to do for us,” Meaghan said.

The Pit Stop for the Leg found host Jon Montgomery accompanied by Jim Parks, a former Canadian soldier who stormed Juno Beach. (In a must-see extra posted on The Amazing Race Canada website, Parks recalls swallowing water as he jumped into the ocean alongside his comrades on D-Day and Race executive producer John Brunton explains the thought that went behind Tuesday’s Leg.)

Rather than run across the sand to the mat, every team made their way slowly, realizing what they were doing paled in comparison to what Canadian soldiers have done in conflicts around the world.

Here’s how the teams finished:

• Natalie and Meaghan
• Pierre and Michel
• Mickey and Pete
• Sukhi and Jinder
• Alain and Audrey
• Ryan and Rob (non-elimination Leg)

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

What did you think of the episode? Comment below!

Darn it! My second favourite Amazing Race Canada team has been eliminated. Yup, former ballet superstar Rex Harrington and partner Bob Hope were jettisoned from Tuesday’s Leg after they arrived last in front of Jon Montgomery in Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

The two admitted to being shocked at their final placing–they somehow believed they might have been in third place because they saw just two other teams at the dreaded Roadblock, where one had to dress up like a rock star and belt out a tune none of them (or myself) had ever heard. I was a little surprised show producers didn’t select a tune by the Guess Who for everyone to perform–you can’t get more Canadian or Winnipeg-focused than that–but maybe licensing issues put the kibosh on it.

As for my favourite pair, Meaghan and Natalie, they’re still in the thick of it. Barely. They were the first team to arrive at the Detour box after matching world coins to their corresponding flags at the Royal Canadian Mint (I had no clue that A) the Mint made coins for other countries, and B) the Mint was located in Winnipeg.), but made a stupid–and arrogant–move by bypassing the Fast Forward. Yup, instead of finding missing words in antique painted advertising on the sides of downtown buildings and skipping forward to the Pit Stop, they opted for the Detour challenging them to shoot hockey pucks through five different targets on a goal net. I understand them wanting to show off the prowess that won them Olympic gold medals, but they should have been thinking of the Race. Rubbing their hands with glee, Meaghan and Natalie plowed through the first four targets before getting stuck hitting the target between the goalie’s legs. They could only look on in shock as brothers Pierre and Michel, siblings Sukhi and Jinder and buddies Mickey and Pete completed the challenge and departed ahead of the hockey champs.

Alain and Audrey, meanwhile, had their game faces on. Realizing the Fast Forward was still up for grabs, the went for it. The test proved to be more challenging than they initially thought, but they still placed a respectable second behind brothers Michel and Pierre, who used the Express Pass to skip the singing on the way to a first-place finish.

Next week the teams fly to the Normandy coast of France, where they take some time out to remember the Canadians lost during world wars. I’m really enjoying the producers’ decision to use Canada as the main focus of Season 2 while spending time in other countries too. It’s brought a nice mix to the season so far and I wouldn’t be surprised if CBS tried something similar to keep their own version of the Race fresh.

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

What did you think of this latest Leg of the Race? Will you miss Rex and Bob? Comment below to let me know! Follow Greg on Twitter!