Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 5, Episode 6 – “I’m so Canadian!”


Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 5, Episode 6 – “We Just Saw Johnny Mustard”

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The teams thankfully return home to Canada and the nation’s capital Ottawa. They have one loonie on their BMO CashBack Mastercard and a warning of a Double U-Turn ahead.

At the Bangkok Airport, Adam & Andrea, Andrea & Ebonie and Sam & Paul form an alliance to U-Turn one of the other three teams.

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All teams on the same flights via Hong Kong and Toronto to Ontario. Once in Ontario, teams must find the mayor who will give them the next clue. Korey & Ivana are in first and open the clue telling them to head to Hog’s Back Falls to find a fleet of brand new Chevy Equinoxeses. There, teams will need to choose five cars to park using the SurroundVision technology to form a letter spelling out “CANADA”.

All the teams get to the Equinoxes, but Kenneth & Ryan just edge Ebonie & Andrea in finishing first. They open the next clue revealing the Road Block: Who’s ready to let it ride?

For this Road Block, teams must groom and dress a horse of the RCMP Musical Ride.

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Ryan and Andrea arrive at the stables first and begin with their horses. Korey and Adam are next. Karen and Sam arrive last.

Ryan gets the thumbs up first, but Andrea is close behind. They then hop on one of the horses for a little bit before getting the next clue.

The next clue reveals the Detour: Titptoe Through the Tulips or Get the Picture.
In Tiptoe Through the Tulips, teams must construct a flower cart and fill it with 12 different bouquets they will find around Commissioners Park to receive the next clue.
In Get the Picture, teams will head to the Canada Council Art Bank to search for the location of 20 art pieces stored here and listed in their chosen binder. Once they’ve taken photos of each art piece, they will receive the next clue.

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Both Kenneth & Ryan and Kenneth & Ryan choose tulips as do Adam & Andrea and Korey & Ivana as well as Karen & Bert and Sam & Paul who are last.

None of the teams know how to get to the park. Except for Sam & Paul who have gone from last to first as they arrive for the Detour. Andrea & Ebonie and Karen & Bert arrive next, followed by Kenneth & Ryan and Adam & Andrea. Korey & Ivana’s directional challenges put them back in last.

Karen & Bert finish the Detour first and can now head to the ByWard Market and find the U-Turn board outside of BeaverTails. They decide not to U-Turn anyone.

Teams must now drive themselves to the Canadian Museum of History.

Sam & Paul arrive at the U-Turn next and decide to U-Turn Kenneth & Ryan. They get to the museum first and open the next clue telling them to take the Canadian Citizenship Test, the 150 Challenge for this Leg. Once teams score 15/20 on the test, they will be given the next clue.

Back at the U-Turn, Adam & Andrea arrive and are surprised Andrea & Ebonie (who finished the Detour long before them, but are now lost) did not follow through with their alliance agreement and U-Turn another team. Adam & Andrea decide they won’t U-Turn either then.

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Korey & Ivana are the next team to arrive at the board and decide they have to U-Turn Andrea & Ebonie, the strongest team. Kenneth & Ryan arrive just after them and Ryan is ecstatic to see his brother (who lives in Ottawa) pop up to cheer him on.

Back at the Citizenship Test, Paul fails the test twice while Bert fails one. Adam & Andrea, however, pass the test on their first attempts. They can now make their way on foot to the museum’s upper terrace for the Pit Stop. They also don’t need their bags to check in at the Pit Stop.

Adam & Andrea step on the Mat and officially check in as Team #1. They win a 5-city cross-Canada trip. And! They also get to reaffirm their Canadian citizenship.

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Kenneth & Ryan get to the art side of the Detour and begin with hopes of catching up. They finish it just as Andrea & Ebonie arrive.

Paul is on his 8th attempt and he finally passes. He and Sam run to the Mat to check in as Team #2.

Korey (after his 4th) and Ivana (after her 6th) pass the test and they head to the Mat as Team #3. Bert finally passes after his 14th attempt and he and Karen check in as Team #4.

Andrea & Ebonie arrive at the museum as Ryan retakes his test. He passes this time and heads to the Mat as Team #5.

The sun has set as Andrea & Ebonie step on the Mat in last, but this is a Non-Elimination Leg.

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Episode Thoughts

Well, anything after fun Asian Legs are going to be a little less exciting. But this was still a nice, full Leg. The self-driving definitely helped to add to the excitement since these teams definitely do not have good navigation skills. Lol

First, the Chevy parking task was alright. It wasn’t as chaotic as the TARAu2 (and TAR China) car maze task, but it was a simple, straightforward task that helps keep Chevy happy.

The Road Block was kinda meh. But it helped to fill out the Leg. The Detour too was also very straightforward and simple, but a good one for a U-Turn.

Also, I’ve been thinking TAR should stop warning teams of a U-Turn so it really becomes a spontaneous decision. It can add more drama that way.

Very awkward seeing Ryan see his brother though. Like, that’s not fun or cute. And not only because it was Kenneth & Ryan, but when you’re on the Race, teams really shouldn’t have any contact with people they know. Even if it has no effect on their Race. But Racing in your home country like this definitely opens up the possibility for that to happen a lot more.

And finally, the citizenship test was actually one of the least xenophobic things the show has done since it basically showed (and it’s not exclusive to Canada) that legal immigrants who become naturalized citizens probably know a couple more facts than natural born citizens. Like, you can tweet #Canada150 all you want, but do you really know about the country you’re so proud of?

So, I don’t want to get political or anything. But the Citizenship Test task was a great way to show just how difficult it is for legal immigrants to become naturalized citizens. Whether it’s Canada or the United States, becoming a citizen of a country you’ve immigrated to is such a huge accomplishment and dream for so many. And these days, I think that lengthy, difficult and sometimes expensive process is completely disregarded, diminished or even forgotten when people discuss immigration. And it goes to both sides of the immigration debate, conveniently (or ignorantly) leaving out the specific and very real details of the entire immigration and naturalization process.

I am pretty confident that most natural born American citizens, of whatever race, ethnicity or background, could probably not immediately pass a Citizenship Test. Maybe a student fresh out of AP Government in high school or something. But the general population? Probably not. And that’s speaks volumes about what it means being a citizen of a country, whether it’s the United States or Canada or whatever other free country you may want to become an official part of. When a legal immigrant has made that long, expensive journey to the country and then gone through the long, expensive process of naturalization, taking that oath means so much more. It’s a meaningful accomplishment that not many people ever get the chance or need to do.

Anyway, it was a little obvious early on that this would be a Non-Elimination Leg. So no surprise there.

But the stand-up comedy Road Block for next week looks horrific. WTF. lol

My Subjective Team Rankings

Korey & Ivana just know how to step it up and overcome any missteps. That bodes well moving forward. They’re certainly lucky at times, but they get things done when needed to at task. I’ve moved Karen & Bert up here mainly because of the other teams’ alliance to U-Turn. If you follow my TAR recaps, you know how I feel about alliances. lol But Karen & Bert are continuing to do consistently well.

Andrea & Ebonie survive another Leg. They were really all over the place this Leg too. They started out strong and then just fell apart later on. Adam & Andrea have won two Legs, but they’re certainly not the dominant kind of team you’d expect. They’ve Raced well though and are stepping it up at the right time. Sam & Paul were alright this Leg. Paul, of course, struggled at the test. But they’re a little more safe than other teams I think moving forward.

Kenneth & Ryan had a couple of cringey moments this ep, but nothing too egregious like previous Legs. Again, spotting the mustard (?) brother was just weird.

Episode Thoughts

Andrea: ‘Honestly, I didn’t mind it.”

Karen: “A bum is a bum, whether you’re a horse or a human.”

Karen: “Oh, I think it farted! Like actually air came out.”

Ryan: “Frick the girls dude, they can screw off.”

Andrea: “I’m so Canadian!”

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