Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 10, Episode 1 – “Fix that hair if you’re going to touch my head”

Recap: The Amazing Race Canada 10, Episode 1 – Back Where It All Started

The milestone 10th anniversary of The Amazing Race Canada begins where it all… began. The eleven teams are on boats heading towards Niagara Falls. The eleven teams this time include best friends and pro baseball players Michael & Tyson, Kevin & Gurleen, newly dating reality stars who met on The Traitors, best friends Eve & Trystenne, father and son Michael & Amari, freestyle wrestlers Taylor & Katie, married couple Dorothy & Olus, best buds Colin & Matt, NHL champion father Brad and daughter Sam, twins Lauren & Nicole, married couple Julia & Olivia and best friends Connor & John.

Jon welcomes them to the Starting Line at the Oakes Garden Theatre and announces they will be racing for the first ever 2024 Chevy Equinox EV RS, an Expedia trip around the world and $250,000.

Jon flags them off and the teams run to their bags to open the first clue, containing $500 and immediately revealing a Road Block: Who’s down to go first. Teams will rappel down Niagara Falls and grab the clue along the way.

While the other teams run to the Road Block location, Kevin & Gurleen, Connor & John and Taylor & Katie hop on a bus and arrive first. While running, Michael & Tyson find that they have dropped their cash somewhere.

Runners Michael & Amari arrive after the three bus teams, grabbing the last of the four rappel lines. Taylor and Amari are the first to reach the bottom and they open the next clue revealing a Detour: Game Time or Show Time.

In Game Time, teams will head to Clifton Hill and find the Great Canadian Midway where they must play Race-flagged games to win 400 tickets in order to get the next clue. In Show Time, teams must memorize facts about Niagara falls, particularly 77 words. When they can perform and recite the facts to tourists using corresponding props, they’ll get the next clue.

Taylor & Katie choose Show Time while Michael & Amari and Kevin & Gurleen choose Game Time.

Meanwhile, Dorothy & Olus are in last and while on the way to the Road Block, Dorothy is struggling with feeling something wrong with her legs.

Julia & Olivia, Michael & Tyson are next to leave the falls. Connor & John finish next followed by Lauren & Nicole. Michael & Tyson head back to the Starting Line to see if they can find their money, but they do not.

Taylor & Katie arrive at Show Time and get started while Julia & Olivia choose Game Time. They choose a game next to Kevin & Gurleen. But Kevin has taken the balls from the neighboring game so he has extra balls to knock the stuff over while the other game has none. Julia & Olivia have to leave and choose something else.

Over at the tourist recital, other teams catch up to Taylor & Katie who repeatedly fail their attempts when Taylor keep saying “fry” instead of “cooked” an omelette.

Kevin & Gurleen and Michael & Amari finish the Detour first and must now head to Nightmares Fear Factory. Here, teams must head through the haunted house and then memorize a color combination which they will take with them to Illumination Tower to light up Niagara Falls. Hidden in one of the clues, The Assist by Desjardin will be randomly found and can be used on this task.

Julia & Olivia, Brad & Sam and Connor & John finish Game Time next while Colin & Matt finish Show Time. Eva & Trystenne decide to switch to Game Time.

Taylor & Katie finally realize their mistake and finally get the clue. Leaving in 9th place.

At Nightmares Fear Factory, Connor & John end up finding The Assist by Desjardins so they don’t have to memorize anything.

At Illumination Tower, Kevin & Gurleen light up the falls and can now head to The Tunnel at the Niagara Parks Power Station. They must learn some facts while in the elevator and run to through the Tunnel to the Pit Stop at the observation platform where they will randomly choose a question to answer before being checked in.

Though Amari gets his colors correct, Michael switches two of his colors. Lauren & Nicole move ahead of them. Michael & Amari go back in for a 2nd try and they get it. Colin & Matt light the falls up in 4th.

Kevin & Gurleen arrive at The Tunnel. They step on the Mat and Jon asks them to reach in for a random question: When did the contruction on this tunnel begin? They correctly answer 1901 and Jon checks them in as Team #1. They win an Expedia trip to India. Along with $10,000

Lauren & Nicole get their question correct and can check-in as Team #2. Colin & Matt step on the Mat, but get the answer wrong so they have to go back up.
Michael & Amari arrive on the Mat and get the answer right. So they are officially Team #3. Julie & Olivia take 4th. Colin & Matt settle for 5th.

Michael & Tyson get the wrong answer. Brad & Sam arrive with Taylor & Katie. Brad & Sam get the answer right so they finish 6th. Tayler & Katie get it wrong and must head back up. That allows Connor & Jon to check in as Team #7.

Michael & Tyson decide to go back the elevator a 2nd time just to make sure they have all the facts correct before going back to the Mat and save time.

Taylor & Katie finish as Team #8. Michael & Tyson take 9th. Dorothy & Olus are 10th. That means Eva & Trystenne are last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

A TAR episode that’s only 46 minutes long? How refreshing!

I actually enjoyed this premiere. Because it was a normal length, they filled it with enough tasks and the teams provided enough drama to really make it a very packed episode. But not rushed, which is also an important distinction.

For a 10th anniversary start, I think rapelling down Niagara Falls is a fitting challenge. It’s fun that TARC commemorates its milestone by returning to the first Starting Line. TARPHDME actually celebrated its 10th anniversary by having the Finish Line at the very first Starting Line lololololol

Anyway, it was a great start to the Leg and this season. Let’s hope the good vibes continue all the way through! Lol

Next, the Detour is very typical TARC. Some local fun which is fine. And it definitely helps that the arcade and the familiar memorization task was part of a full Leg. Neither side was easy so that’s also good. It kept teams on their toes.

NOW! Isn’t tampering with task materials and items against the rules? So why is it okay for Kevin to take balls? That’s cheating at the arcade game. And I would think that’s cheating on TAR as well. Hmmm…

The haunted house is an alright extra task. And it’s better than just having teams stare at a board of colored circles at least. The lighting up of the Niagara Falls though was amazing! I had no idea that was done. (I would’ve included it on TARPHDME23 lolololol)

And the final challenge with needing to answer the random question was pretty crazy! Imagine getting eliminated on the first Leg by answering the question wrong! That would be painful! Lol

Great Pit Stop location though. And again, the more tasks, the better.

Overall, a pretty nice premiere episode! After the pretty bad TARC seasons in the last few years, this was very refreshing and enjoyable to watch. Again, hoping the rest of the season follows suit.

Team Thougths

Needless to say I am not a fan of Kevin & Gurleen. They seemed alright at first, but if their Detour shenanigans are anything to go by (and the fact that they are reality TV alums), then I am going to be very weary of them moving forward.

Everyone else seems pretty great so far. A very diverse group of people in many ways. Certainly a lot of relatively known and famous people. But that’s to be expected.

I think the standout moment from a team standpoint was Dorothy doing the Road Block after she struggled with her legs just minutes after the Starting Line. Lol I was like, Wait a minute?! But then seeing her push through it and then for her and Olus to survive in the end was great to watch. I’m rooting for them.