Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 9, Episode 5 – “My leg is falling off.”

Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 9, Episode 5 – This Is Just Not a Hot Girl Moment

The 5th Leg of the Race begins with teams having to sign-up at the Guru board for one of two buses arriving 15 minutes apart in Ucluelet. Gracie & Lily are able to sneak past Derek & Jaspal to the sign-up board. But Derpal propose an alliance with the girls until the end of the 6th Leg to watch out for each other against the Express Pass trio. Tyler & Kayleen and Ty & Kat are also on the first bus with everyone else on the 2nd.

Upon arrival in Ucluelet, teams must drive a Chevy Silverado ZR2 to Hotel Zed in Tofino where they must get a tarot card reading from a psychic. But the psychic is out for the day and will return tomorrow at 7am. Later in the evening, teams get a message from Jon on their Samsung Galaxy Watch inviting them to a bonfire on the beach to celebrate the halfway point of the Race. The teams enjoy hot dogs as they talk about emotional things.

Next morning, teams get their tarot card readings and the next clue directing them to drive to Ukee Ice Manufacturing Company back in Ucluelet. They must load between 75 and 80 pounds of crushed ice and deliver it to one of four local businesses.

Tyler & Kayleen and Ty & Kat maintain their lead, followed by Derak & Jaspal and Gracie & Lily. They exchange their delivery receipts for their next clue which is inside an ice block. That clue tells teams to dive into the Pacific Ocean to finds three flags representing ingredients found in different flavors of Guru drinks. They will exchange the flags for the next clue and a fresh can of Guru.

Kayleen goes into the water first and is right at home since she is a professional diver. Kat is a bit nervous as is Gracie. But Derek helps Gracie by handing her a flag he spots. Ben and Deven are also certified divers while Justin tries to catch up in last.

Kayleen stays in first and exchanges her flags for the next clue. Derek & Jaspal and Ty & Kat are right behind. Ben & Anwar are able to move into 4th as Gracie gets over her fears to have her and Lily leave in 5th. Deven & Amanda are next, leaving Justin struggling in the water not sure what he’s supposed to be looking for.

Jermaine is frustrated and says they will not accept another penalty like two Legs ago. Jermaine feels he is carrying the team at this point. After he lets out his tears, Jermaine tells Justin they will swap out so he can take care of this task himself.

Teams must now drive back to Tofino and find Tacofino where they will encounter a Blind Double Pass.

Tyler & Kayleen decide not to Pass anyone and open the next clue revealing the Detour: By Sand or By Sea. In By Sand, teams will head to South Chesterman Beach and search over 300 sandcastles for a marked sand dollar which they can exchange for their clue. They will have to rebuild any empty sandcastle as they look. In By Sea, teams must travel 20 minutes each way to Clayoquot Sound and harvest 20kg of fresh kelp. They will then exchange the kelp for their next clue at Naas Foods.

Tyler & Kayleen choose the kelp. Meanwhile, Derek & Jaspal arrive and do not hesitate to Pass Ty & Kat who must now wait for the next team to arrive.

Gracie & Lily miss the turn into the taco truck, allowing Ben & Anwar to arrive next. They decide to Pass Gracie & Lily and leave. And that allows Ty & Kat to leave right after as well.

Derpal choose the sandcastles while Ben & Anwar and Ty & Kat choose the kelp. As do Deven & Amanda arrive next. Gracie & Lily finally get back to the taco truck just as Deven & Amanda are leaving, now realizing they are going to be last. As soon as Jermaine & Justin arrive, Gracie & Lily use the friends’ slow nature to motivate them to hustle and survive this Leg.

After the Detour, teams will head to the Road Block: Who’s ready to knock on wood? For this Road Block, teams must head to North Chesterman Beach where they will perform an aerial dance with a partner from Aeriosa Dance Society consisting of nine poses while hanging between tall Sitka spruce trees. Teams have the option of using the Desjardins Assist to do only five poses.

Tyler decides to do the Road Block and begins to learn the poses. Anwar arrives next and is excited to do the dancing. But having a bit of trouble, Tyler and Kayleen agree to use the Desjardins Assist.

Back at the Detour, after an hour, Derek & Jaspal decide to switch when they are unable to find the sand dollar. But when they read the kelp Detour details, they decide to go back and find the sand dollar in the first sandcastle they try. Later,it doesn’t take too long for Jermaine & Justin to find the sand dollar while Gracie & Lily finish harvesting kelp and are heading back to shore.

Back at the Road Block, Tyler gets his five poses and he and Kayleen can head to the Pit Stop at Long Beach where they officially check-in as Team #1 and win an Expedia trip to New Orleans.

Kat is able to pass Derek and she and Ty head to the Mat as Team #2. They are happy to be able to pass Derek & Jaspal after Derpal Passed them earlier. Derek & Jaspal settle for 3rd. Amanda teaches traditional dance to youths and that helps her and Deven head to the Pit Stop in 4th. Ben & Anwar are next and officially check-in as Team #5.

It’s down to Jermaine & Justin and Gracie & Lily. Gracie & Lily decide to use the Desjardin Assist. But Jermaine gets the thumbs up before the girls even arrive.

Despite trying to make it seem like Jermaine & Justin not being able to find their key will actually affect the ending, the drag queens finish as Team #6, meaning Gracie & Lily are last and eliminated as they rip their pants off.

Episode Thoughts

Welp, horrible ending aside, this was actually a pretty good episode. And maybe the most solid Leg of the season so far.

First of all, lol at the overnight bonfire. Why not just start the Leg in the early morning to avoid the Hours of Operation? I’m sure they’re getting some Canadian dollars for featuring the hotel and all. But starting the Legs like this every week is kind of annoying. I think it’s different than just staggering start times because the rushing to the Guru board and driving to the Route Marker is all fake excitement and tension since it ends up not mattering anyway. Just shuffle teams to the next location during the Pit Stop then, you know? I think we’re past having to keep up the charade of keeping all movement within the Leg. It’s also kind of a waste of time lol

Having teams drive back and forth between Tofino and Ucluelet numerous times was also funny.

But anyway, it was good to have a lot of tasks this Leg.

The ice task was good. It could’ve been one side of the Detour instead, actually. Maybe make it more difficult by having two delivery locations. Or have teams crush the ice themselves. Then have the sandcastles be the Active Route Info task so everyone would do it.

It was funny to hear Jon describe the sandcastles as an “iconic Amazing Race challenge.” It certainly is. All TARs around the world must have done this task in one form or another, many times. lol

I know the locations aren’t going to work out to have the ice and the kelp be the two sides of the Detour. But I just think the ice would’ve been a better Detour. The kelp Detour was good as well. Nice manual labor challenge that is suited to the location.

The diving should’ve been a Road Block though. Why avoid the drama in not allowing teams to switch? It probably would’ve resulted in another quitting moment. But just like the paddleboard last Leg, it should’ve just been a Road Block. No need to be afraid of having too many Road Blocks. Especially when the task already looks like a Road Block anyway.

The actual Road Block was actually quite great. Definitely one of the more unique tasks TARC has done. Very refreshing to see something like it on the Race. Would’ve been good to have maybe two set-ups to allow more than one team to attempt at the same time since it made the end too linear. But it’s alright. The task itself was great.

NOW! Last year I thought the Pass was dumb and not fully fleshed out. One question I had was what if the Passed team was last? Who do they wait for? And unlike the Yield and even the U-Turn, the Pass almost ensures any trailing team will get eliminated. Just like Gracie & Lily here. Having to be at the mercy of a team who doesn’t take things seriously and just slow walks to everything. I can’t say it’s totally unfair since it’s part of the Race. But it certainly is annoying to see a team like Gracie & Lily get done in by a poorly thought out twist.

And TARC had one year to fine tune the Pass too. Yet did not. It still doesn’t make sense when a Pass could be as short as a few seconds to as long as a few hours. So absurd. It’s like the Intersection on steroids without the novelty of seeing teams be forced to work together.

Anyway, the best episode and Leg this season so far. Despite the Pass and the end result.

Team Thoughts

We were almost done with Jermaine & Justin if not for the Pass! I commend Jermaine for being able to carry the team on his own shoulders. But Justin unfortunately just brings the team and the mood down. Their sassy fierce personalities are not enough to redeem their sloppy, frustrating Racing. Especially compared to other teams who give their 100% every minute of each Leg.

I still don’t have a favorite team. All the others are fine. Ben & Anwar are probably the ones that come closest just because they feel like the underdog so far. I still feel Deven & Amanda are probably not making it too far in the Race. And that leaves the leading teams who sometimes can feel too interchangeable.

At least Gracie & Lily were different. And while they weren’t a favorite of mine, they were obviously one of the top contenders. Too bad.