Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 9, Episode 11 – “Couldn’t be more proud to be a Canadian!” + Season Wrap-up

Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 9, Episode 11 – It’s Zebra Time

Teams begin the Final Leg by flying to Halifax, Nova Scotia armed with $1400. Upon arrival, teams must head to Fisherman’s Cove where they will get the next clue revealing the Road Block: Who’s bad with directions?

For this Road Block, teams will head to CFB Shearwater where they will board a RCAF CH-148 helicopter and then direct their pilot to lower a sling load onto a marked target within a set time limit.

Tyler, Kat and Ben decide to do the Road Block. Tyler gets the target on his second attempt, Kat gets it on her first attempt and Ben completes the task at 2 minutes and 29 seconds.

Next, teams must find the Halifax Staples and find the next clue at a Bell kiosk where they will pick up a Samsung Galaxy ZFlip 4 which will have a photo of their next Route Marker: Dartmouth Alderny Ferry Terminal.

All teams hurry onto the ferry to grab the next clue on the deck. That clue points teams to the Woozles Bookstore. Here, teams will listen to and memorize three children’s books as told by nice local children. They must then arrange the picture pages in correct order outside to get the next clue.

Ben & Anwar arrive at the bookstore first and begin listening to the story. Ty & Kat and Tyler & Kayleen go to their stations and organize the pictures first before going in to listen to the stories.

Ty & Kat get the thumbs up first on their first attempt and can now head to the Grand Parade downtown. Tyler & Kayleen are second with Ben & Anwar now in last.

At the Grand Parade, teams must join an Amazing Race version of the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. Here, teams must learn and perform three dances: an indigenous shawl dance, a Highland dance and a Punjabi banghra. One team member each will do the shawl and Highland dance while both team members will perform the banghra.

Tyler & Kayleen are the first to attempt and pass the solo dances, but fail the banghra. Ty & Kat also fail their first attempt, but pass on their second. Tyler & Kayleen get it on their third. Ben & Anwar are still in last.

Teams can now head to the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk. The waiting clue reveals the Road Block: Who wants to ride the waves? For this Road Block, teams must drive a jet ski through a slalom course off of Georges Island and rescue Stripey the Floating Zebra within 115 seconds.

Ty & Kat leave their bags with Eddie the taxi driver. But turns out they need ID to be able to take out a jet ski. Them having to look for Eddie allows Tyler & Kayleen to move ahead. For now.

Kayleen fails her first attempt. That gives Ty a chance to get back into first and he does pass on his initial attempt. Kayleen is able to complete the task right behind him.

After the Road Block, teams can now head to the Queen’s Marque. Ben & Anwar arrive just as Tyler & Kayleen leave.

At Queen’s Marque, teams will encounter the final task. Teams must complete a crossword puzzle based on their time on the Race.

It’s between Ty & Kat and Tyler & Kayleen. Ty & Kat ask for a check, but they get one clue wrong. Tyler & Kayleen ask for a check, but they also get one wrong.

Ty & Kat correct their mistake and get the thumbs up. They can now head to the Finish Line at Bonaventure Anchor in Point Pleasant Park. Tyler & Kayleen appear to be right behind them.

But it is Ty & Kat who cross the Finish Line first to win The Amazing Race Canada 9. Tyler & Kayleen have to settle for 2nd with Ben & Anwar in 3rd.

Episode Thoughts

“The most competitive and strategic teams” ever? Okay Jon. Lol

Anyway, this finale was alright? It wasn’t amazing. It wasn’t horrible. It was kinda just there. Which is perfectly representative of the season. But we’ll talk about the season in a little bit.

First about this Leg, I’ll get the nitpicking out of the way first. I think having a performance task on the Final Leg is just odd. Sure, it’s like a memorization task or something like that. But it still also feels like a judged task. And a judged task on the Final Leg just doesn’t feel right.

Now for the rest of the Leg, it didn’t really feel finale-like. But it was actually a solid Leg in general.

The most interesting was definitely the use of the Samsung Galaxy ZFlip 4 to receive the photo clues. I can’t hate it because I think TARPHDME has done the same a few times before lolol And it’s honestly no different than putting in a printed picture in the clue envelope instead of a typed out clue. So if Samsung and Staples can boost the show’s budget some more, then welcome!

The way the middle part of the Leg played out was creative, I think. Definitely a different feel with the use of the Samsung. Even though it’s basically just teams heading to three different Route Markers with two different tasks.

As for the middle tasks themselves, the children’s book memorizing was okay. Again, not a finale-ish task. But I would’ve made it more difficult. Because it seemed like teams could just figure out the order without even listening to the nice kids reading the book to them.

And like I said, having these dancing tasks on the Final Leg feels weird. Yes, the show highlighted a local cultural event. But maybe they could’ve found another way to do that without the performance. I dunno.

The two Road Blocks were okay. The helicopter task at the start of the Leg was placed in the only spot it should be placed at. Though teams were maybe a few minutes apart, it seems, anyway.

The second Road Block was also a first come, first served task. So the show really should avoid such tasks on the Final Leg. Though the task itself was okay. Also made me realize that it was the second timed task this Leg.

Finally, the crossword memory task was good. Definitely a creative new final task. And I think you could even expand it in creative ways as well. (*takes notes for TARPHDME lol*)

Overall, it was just an okay Final Leg. Not a surprising outcome. But I just had to laugh at Ben & Anwar’s last-minute nationalism. Definitely a TAR Canada finale staple to have someone providing the perfect finale quote lol

Season Thoughts

So like I said earlier, this season overall just feels kind of “there.” Like, it exists. And that’s alright. It wasn’t amazing or even memorable. But it also wasn’t annoying or horrible. And there have been some annoying and horrible seasons of TARC. (Last year included lol)

The only memorable thing about this season was the absurdity with Jermaine & Justin. And that’s something we would like to forget, I think. Having to quit everything and still survive is just insane.

Otherwise, the (other) teams were alright. The destinations very familiar and typical for TARC. And no super memorable tasks or even moments to really make this season stand out.

Or maybe it stands out because it doesn’t stand out. If that makes sense. Lol. A perfectly middling season of TARC. And because I don’t rewatche TARC like I do TARUS or even TAR Asia and the first three seasons of TARAu, it’s really hard for me to rank the Canadian seasons. But I just know it’s not a favorite nor one of the seasons I would rather forget.

With the teams, I don’t really have one team I ever even rooted for. I was rooting against Jermaine and moreso Justin because of their quitting shenanigans. But otherwise, all the teams were fine.

I think anyone would’ve assumed Ty & Kat and Tyler & Kayleen would be the top contenders in the finale.

With the focus on strategy (which maybe worked 50/50 since it got them to the finale, but did not bring them the win) and even Jon bringing up them having momentum in the recap, I really thought the show was setting up a Ben & Anwar win. I guess not lol

But overall, The Amazing Race Canada in the last few years has been complacent and content with what it is. They just do the bare minimum and the viewers still tune in every week. So there’s really no reason for TARC to do anything different. Even though it would be nice for a visit out of the country. Or try brand new locations and tasks in Canada. But we’ll see. The milestone 10th season is confirmed. So hopefully they can try to get out of the box next year.