Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 9, Episode 3 – “Once they find their balls…”

Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 9, Episode 3 – Bribery Always Works

The third Leg of the Race begins with teams learning that they must fly to Vancouver. At the airport, Ty & Kat and Tyler & Kayleen agree that they want Ben & Anwar with them in the Final Leg.

Upon arrival in Vancouver, teams must sign-up at the Guru board at Queen. Elizabeth Park for one of two buses to Whistler. On the first bus are Shayla & Joel, Gracie & Lily, Derek & Jaspal and Tyler & Kayleen. Everyone else must settle for the 2nd bus.

The overnight bus gets teams into Whistler next morning. The first clue reveals the Detour: Woods or Water. In Woods, teams must make their way to the Squamish and Lil’wat Cultural Center and head into the forest to find plaques. They will use them to memorize the Squamish and Lil’wat words for ten different plants or fruits and then correctly match them with the English words back the Center to receive the next clue. In Water, teams must head to Whistler Scandinave Spa. They will choose a letter tile with a desginated color and then hop into the ice cold pool and steaming hot pool to find the matching tiles. Teams will use all three tiles to decode a spa related word which they can exchange for the clue.

Shayla & Joel choose Woods, wanting to share indigenous languages with the country. Ben & Anwar and Deven & Amanda also choose the language Detour.

The others choose Water and that ends up being the faster choice. Derek & Jaspal only go to the cold pool and take a guess first, but it is wrong. Gracie & Lily correctly guess the word followed by Derek & Jaspal, Jermaine & Justin, Ty & Kat and Tyler & Kayleen.

The next clue reveals the Road Block: Who’s well-read? For this Road Block, teams will bungee at Whistler Bungee and must spot the secret phrase: “Will you marry me?” Racers will be given a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 and use the Director’s View feature to use both the front and back cameras to record themselves and the message.

Lily does the Road Block first and easily spots the message. Derek is next to jump and he does as well. Both teams can now head to the Riverlands Equestrian Facility in Pemberton. The next clue tells teams to direct their partner using only verbal communication to correctly set up a 130-piece wedding table setting according to exact specifications.

Meanwhile, Shayla & Joel are the first to finish the language Detour followed by Ben & Anwar. Deven & Amanda are now in last place after having some trouble.

At the Road Block, Justin gets to the edge of the platform at the bungee, but he begins to hesitate. Ty & Kat and Tyler & Kayleen, Shayla & Joel, Ben & Anwar come running up to get in line. Justin tries to step on the edge again, but tells Jermaine that he cannot do this. He was able to rappel in Calgary, but he feels very out of control here. So Jermaine & Justin decide to take the penalty and continue on to the next Route Marker.

Ty jumps and before he and Kat leave, they give Ben & Anwar the Express Pass. Kayleen and Joel are next. Deven comes up behind Ben, but Ben does not see the message which allows Deven to pass him.

Meanwhile, Gracie & Lily get the thumbs up on their table and can now head to the Big Sky Golf and Country Club. They must search amongst 600 golf balls to find the only two that have their names. When they’ve found them, they can find the Mat at the 17th Hole. Teams can also use the Desjardins Assist to help by only having to find one ball.

Derek & Jaspal leave the tables second while Ty & Kat are able to pass Jermaine & Justin. All the other teams arrive at the table settings. Tyler & Kayleen are next to finish followed by Shayla & Joel.

Justin tells Jermaine that he is over it and is done. They decide to quit this task as well.

Over at the golf course, Gracie & Lily find their balls and head to the Mat to check-in as Team #1. They win a trip to Oslo, Norway. Derek & Jaspal arrive at the golf course in 2nd, but Ty & Kat are able to find their balls before them. The dating couple check-in as Team #2 while DerPal take 3rd for the third straight time. Tyler & Kayleen find their balls and finish as Team #4.

Jermaine & Justin use their Desjardins Assist and are able to find one ball, allowing them to head to the Mat before Shayla & Joel. But they have a total six-hour penalty for their two quits.

Shayla & Joel get their balls and officially check-in as Team #5.

Back at the tables, Deven & Amanda get the thumbs up next with Ben & Anwar in last. But both teams are able to find their two balls and check-in at the Mat as Teams 6 and 7 before Jermaine & Justin’s penalty time is over.

That means Jermaine & Justin are officially last. But this is a Non-Elimination Leg so they are still in the Race. Jon asks a favor of them: “You don’t get to be on The Amazing Race Canada without having first earned it. Do me a favor, no more penalties.”

Episode Thoughts

How refreshing to see Jon not tolerating the quitting when just two seasons ago, he was basically cheering teams on for it. We love to see it!

Of course, quitting is nothing new for TAR Canada. Unfortunately. And somehow Justin’s quitting, twice(!), this Leg was exactly as infuriating as TAR7’s infamous quitting spree. If not more so. The fact that Justin didn’t even seem remorseful in the slightest for quitting was really the kicker. Sorry to Jermaine, but they should’ve just been eliminated this Leg. Scared of heights? Fine, whatever. But to just be “over it” over a setting a table in the 3rd Leg? Come on now. This is really one of the most absurd instances of quitting on any TAR I’ve seen. And I’ve watched TAR Canada 7 and TAR Australia 5 and 6! They probably would’ve quit the golf balls too had they not had a Desjardins Assist to hand over.

Well, whatever. I hope Jermaine & Justin are eliminated next after this horrible performance. How sucky for the other teams who actually do want to Race. They need a good talking down to by TARPH’s Derek Ramsay:

Anyway, let’s talk about this Leg first. I thought it was okay. A typical rural TARC Leg.

First up though, the Detour was one of the most unbalanced I’ve ever seen. Memorizing two unfamiliar languages vs. jumping into two pools? Come on now. Doesn’t matter if this is a Non-Elimination Leg. Come up with a more balanced Detour.

The Road Block was fine. And an okay spot for a Samsung promo. Very TARPHDME of them lolol.

It was very interesting to have two Active Route Info tasks to close out the Leg. The table setting can be boring. But it’s a good tedious task for the location. I did wonder though, Jon mentioned specifically “verbal communication.” So why were some teams using their hands to describe stuff. They should’ve been penalized too.

Finally, the golf balls were just to potentially add some drama at the end of the Non-Elimination Leg. It didn’t. So it’s kind of a fail, but something to fill out the Leg I guess.

Recounting this Leg now though, it felt very short. Very TARUS-like with the way they probably ran this Leg in a few hours at most. It was an okay rural Leg. Can’t expect too much from TARC of course. But the quitting just soured the entire hour.

As for the teams, a good Leg for Gracie & Lilly. They may prove to be contenders yet. Ty & Kat certainly have already. And Derek & Jaspal and Tyler & Kayleen are setting themselves up well too.

I’d like to see Shayla & Joel move up a bit moving forward. Ben & Anwar have been trailing most of the Race so far and I think they can break out soon. Deven & Amanda, at this point, either go very far or will end up out of the Race sooner rather than later.

And I’ve already said what I think of Jermaine & Justin. They looked like they could be fun. But this episode was just a huge TAR no-no.