Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 9, Episode 7 – “The garbagery is real.”

Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 9, Episode 7 – I’m Sick of Wearing Neon

Derek & Jaspal get the thumbs up at the wine and hurry to the Pit Stop, leaving Jermaine & Justin in last. But at the Mat, Jon tells Tyler & Kayleen, Deven & Amanda and Derek & Jaspal to wait off to the side. Once Jermaine & Justin arrive, he tells them all that they will Keep on Racing.

Ty & Kat and Ben & Anwar have already secured tickets on the first train. And there is only one spot left. To decide who gets it, the four teams will have a little quiz. Tyler & Kayleen end up winning after two questions, leaving the other three teams to take a train that will arrive at their destination ten minutes later.

And that destination is Windsor, Ontario. On the train, the teams receive a message from Jon on their Samsung Galaxy Watch 5s telling them that the team who finishes the next task first will win $5000 from Samsung.

Upon arrival in Windsor, teams will drive brand-new 2023 Chevy Equinox RSses to Adventure Bay Water Park where they must hop into the slides and pools to find three different colored rubber duckies to exchange for the next clue.

Tyler & Kayleen end up winning the money and open the next clue revealing the Limited Stations Detour: Sculpt or Swing. In Sculpt, teams will head to the Windsor Sculpture Park and put together a 12-piece puzzle to form abstract art. In Swing, teams will head to Willistead Manor where they will learn how to and correctly perform a two-minute swing dance routine.

Ty & Kat, Ben & Anwar and Tyler & Kayleen all choose the puzzle.

With both of them tied for last, Derek & Jaspal decide to point Jermaine & Justin to their last duck for some reason.

Meanwhile, Deven really does not want to dance in public. But all the stations are full when he and Amanda get to the sculpture park. He reluctantly agrees to go to the Swing Detour which Amanda had initially suggested anyway.

Derek & Jaspal also go to the park, but decide to switch instead of wait. Jermaine & Justin had chosen Swing immediately.

The puzzle teams don’t seem to know what they’re doing even though the pieces only fit one way by use of magnets. Tyler & Kayleen get the puzzle right first while Ben & Anwar and Ty & Kat work together, at one point suggesting they just complete one puzzle between them. (Uh oh!)

On the other side of the Detour, Jermaine & Justin pass the dance on their 2nd attempt and Deven & Amanda get it on their 5th attempt. Derek & Jaspal are exhausted with the Race and pass on their 3rd attempt after struggling with a specific move.

After the Detour is the Face Off where teams must play Texas Hold ‘Em and win by winning the most chips in ten hands or less. While the first two teams are playing poker, Ben & Anwar ponder when is the best time to break away from the them.

For the Face Off, Ty & Kat beat Tyler & Kayleen who beat Ben & Anwar who beat Jermaine & Justin who lose to Deven & Amanda. Deven decides to help Jermaine & Justin by telling them to go for straights and pairs. That advice seems to help them beat Derek & Jaspal. Derek & Jaspal regret helping Jermaine & Justin at the waterpark.

Teams must now drive to the Kruger Energy Wind Turbine Farm in Port Alma. Here, teams must use a formula to figure out how many homes a single turbine can power in a 24-hour period. To do this, they must first figure out how many revolutions the turbine completes in one minute (12). They will multiply that by 91 to determine the amount of energy the turbine outputs (1092). Then one team member must climb up into the turbine and use a conversion chart to find out how many kilowatts the turbine outputs (900). They will multiply that by .8 and get the answer of 720 homes.

Ty & Kat arrive first, but Tyler & Kayleen think this is their opportunity to move ahead. They are wrong. Ty & Kat give their answer and head to Point Pelee National Park, the southernmost point of mainland Canada. And the Pit Stop for this Leg of the Race. Ty & Kat officially win the Leg and a trip to Rio.

Ben & Anwar decide to work with Tyler & Kayleen who are frustrated that they cannot get the answer. Ben gives Tyler the answer to 900 x .8 and both teams hurry to the Pit Stop.

On the way out of the field, Deven & Amanda ask Ben & Anwar for the answer. But Ben & Anwar just tell them about the 12 revolutions.

Deven & Amanda and Jermaine & Justin decide to work together to avoid elimination.

Ultimately, Tyler & Kayleen and Ben & Anwar finish as Teams 2 and 3, respectively. Deven & Amanda and Jermaine & Justin step on the Mat together to claim 4th. That means Derek & Jaspal are last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

Am I watching The Amazing Race 32 or The Amazing Race Australia 5 and 6? lol

So the alliance-y shenanigans aren’t as bad as those three atrocities. But it was still annoying to see the teams come ever so close here. Anyway, I’ll talk more about that later when I talk about the teams.

This Leg was alright. But the tasks seemed quite simple and the forced editing made that much more obvious.

First up, I’m surprised the quiz wasn’t sponsored. Should’ve used Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultras again to write down answers. Lol But really, the quiz was absurd and looked to be a last minute thing. It’s actually unfair to the 3rd place team if this is a real KOR Leg. And definitely gives more opportunity to underserving bottomfeeders to get past more deserving teams, if you know what I mean.

Especially since the ten minute difference between the trains ended up deciding the rest of the Leg. The ten minute advantage, though seemingly small, determined which Detour you’d do. Obviously the puzzle is easier than the dancing. And depending on the editing, it seemed like a team could’ve finished the puzzle after a wait before finishing the swing Detour.

TARC Face Offs will always be horribly placed and uninspired. And that was certainly the case here.

But the task at the wind turbines. What was so hard about simple multiplication? Not only that, what was so difficult about looking at a conversion chart that literally tells you the number you need. The task seemed like it would take at most five minutes to complete. The part that probably took the longest was putting on the safety harness to go inside. Teams even started counting revolutions before they even arrived. Weird task.

Overall, a meh Leg. Not horrible. But certainly nothing amazing. Though that’s par for the course for TARC.

Team Thoughts

Every week I hope is the week Jermaine & Justin are finally eliminated. What got me this episode was Justin saying “We said we were never going to give up.” Coupled with their mocking of Derek & Jaspal as they left the wind turbines, it’s quite a joke indeed that they’re still in the Race. Especially being saved by the two Non-Eliminations. Well, just one. Since they didn’t have to do a Speed Bump with this KOR Leg.

Anyway, I had no problem with Derek & Jaspal. We’ve definitely had bigger and more annoying camwhores than them. But by their own admission and seeing how they Raced these last two Legs, it seemed like they were over it already. Not to the point that they would become quitters like Jermaine & Justin (or just Justin), but no sense of urgency or a drive to fight. Oh well then!

So about the “alliance” work. It’s interesting because we saw both sides of the coin. Or really, the more volatile nature of feeding other teams answers. Derek & Jaspal are right in saying you should just be selfish lest you get burned in the end when you expect too much from others. Focus on yourself and you wouldn’t have to hope another team gives you answers.

But Ben & Anwar seem to be using the other teams to help carry them to the end. They do their part, sure. But it’s an interesting strategy. And I think TARC’s overly friendly nature offers an interesting twist to this kind of gameplay. We’ll see how it goes.

I would be surprised to see Deven & Amanda make it to the finale, to be honest. Merely because Ty & Kat and Tyler & Kayleen are seeming locks for two of the spots. And Ben & Anwar’s strategy will likely pay off too. But you never know. Can we get Jermaine & Justin and Deven & Amanda to tie for last so we can get this season over with already? lol