Another great episode as the teams leave the "Land of the Living Skies" on their sixth leg across Canada. It's getting to be a habit but the Bicep Bros are once again first out of starting block and on their way to Quebec City, where they must find Levis Forts to get their next clue. Here's where the producers give out this week's history lesson about Canada; Levis Forts where built during the 1800s to protect Quebec from an American invasion. Either the fort served its purpose wonderfully or the Americans really didn't want Quebec. But I digress . . . Tim and Tim, having come in second on the last leg after not so cooly removing TeamBodyBreak from the race, are right behind Jet & Dave and it's during this part of the episode where we get a little background on Tim Jr. The kid's married. Who knew? Uh oh, if my buddy Wayne was right last week about background info being a portent of elimination this could be a tough leg for TeamTims. Keep an eye out for any potential mistakes they make on this leg. Their race rivals, Vanessa & Celina, are off next followed by Jody & Cory who have taken French Immersion since grade eight so this leg should be a great test of their language skills. That leaves Brett & Holly starting in last place but they should have an advantage during this leg as they are from Montreal and both speak fluent French. Despite initially having a three and a five hour lead on the remaining teams, Jet & Dave arrive at Levis Forts only to find that it closed hours before they got there and won't reopen until 10:00am. So much for their lead. Personally I hate when the producers do this but if they didn't there'd be no tension left as to who was going to win the leg. Problem is, as a racer you have no idea when they're going to do it so you always have to be on the go . . . but then again it is a race. The last two teams managed to catch connecting flights that got all four teams in around the same time but that still gave the Bicep Bros enough time to goof off and set up a false clue that Jody & Cory fall for as soon as they arrive and go racing off into the darkness. Jet & Dave go after them to tell them it was a joke but Jody & Cory take things way to seriously and just don't get it. Funnily enough, no one else falls for it. No surprise that as soon as the Fort opens, Jet & Dave find their clue and they're off to find the ferry that will take them to the base of Chateau Frontenac where they need to search for the statue of Samuel de Champlain. Jody & Cory find their clue next as do Brett & Holly followed closely by Vanessa & Celina. TeamTims took awhile to finally find their clue but eventually they did and then they too were off to find the ferry. As is usually the case ferries run on schedule and Jet & Dave are on the first ferry. The surprise here is that Vanessa & Celina also managed to get on that ferry without getting lost on their way to it. The other three teams weren't quite so lucky and find themselves 30 minutes behind. This did allow TeamTims to catch up again so they're still in the race. Jet & Dave have decided that they like the girls because "they're great girls but not great competitors". I guess that's as good a reason as any, but we've all seen that trump up teams before. They ride the funicular up to the Chateau together in search of their next clue which leads them to . . . a Detour. Sculpt It or Spot It. In "Sculpt It" teams need to carve a design out of a chunk of ice using only a chisel and gloves. The design is preset for them so it's pretty easy, either a Star, a House, or a Boat and after they've carved it correctly the Ice Master will give them their next clue. In "Spot It" teams need to find the replica image of a local historic mural, and then race to find the original and note all the missing items, then race back to place the nameplates for those missing items in the correct location on their replica. Not too difficult for those with a good memory except that the nameplates are all in French. Again, after completing the task the artist will give them the next clue. Jet & Dave obviously choose to Sculpt It and with biceps like those why wouldn't they. Wayne and I would probably have made the same choice. Even though I'd have no problem doing the Spot It task I'd probably find myself lost in examining the details of the original and wondering what brushes they used, at which point Wayne would have smacked me with the chunk of ice so I may as well carve the ice. Vanessa & Celina decide to try Spot It, but as they raced by the boys they said it was "easy" so the girls decided to switch and do Sculpt It. Maybe Vanessa missed the fact that Jet's biceps are as thick as her waist and that's why it was easy. The girls spent the rest of the task wondering why they switched. Once again Jet & Dave are done in a flash, get their next clue and are off in search of the Place de Universitie de Quebec (or something like that) to find their next clue. This leaves the girls behind to be joined by TeamTim on the Sculpt It Detour while Brett & Holly and Jody & Cory both decide to do Spot It. Jody & Cory decide to start with the original mural before going to the replica, while TeamPed goes to the replica first to discover all the nameplates in French. You would think this would have been easy for them but apparently there were words they had trouble recognizing. Though Jody & Cory found their French Immersion lacking they were able to get some help from a passing French girl to translate the nameplates. With their lead firmly intact Jet & Dave arrive at the Roadblock where one team member gets to master the art of the perfect crepe, however they get to do so en Francaise. Dave likes to cook so he steps up for the Roadblock which has him take the order from one of the tables of customers to make two sweet and two savoury crepes, he must then translate the ingredients, make the crepes properly (after watching a professional crepe chef demonstrate how), and take them back to the customer before he can get the next clue. As Jet says, it's no surprise that Dave picks the table with the two young women but he has a lot of trouble taking their order. It's funny watching Jody & Cory continually passing Brett & Holly as they race back and forth between the original mural and the replica while Vanessa & Celina finally finish their carving to get their clue. Brett & Holly are just slightly ahead of Jody & Cory in completing the Spot It task and moving on, but this leaves Tim & Tim still carving away and it's not looking good for TeamTims. Dave finally thinks he's translated the girls' orders and pours his first crepe, only to realize that the first rule of making crepes is to turn on the grill. It took him twenty minutes to get his first crepe made and then the other teams started to arrive which put the pressure on for first place. Cory, on the other hand, thinks he has his crepes right but something is missing as he keeps getting a thumbs down on his presentation. When Dave glances over at Vanessa's crepe attempt it becomes pretty obvious she's not going to retire to be a crepe chef, comparing her concoction to "crepes in a blender". Holly's attempt also fails and it's back to the grill for everyone. But wait, where exactly are Tim & Tim? I was sure they were pretty close behind everyone after carving their ice house. Apparently they misinterpreted when they heard Brett say that the next task wasn't far as they spent over an hour trying to find it. During that hour Dave finally nailed his crepes and he and Jet were back in first place. It's off to the Plains of Abraham to join a lacrosse practice, Canada's official summer sport, where team members need to make a successful pass to each other and each member needs to score a goal to get their next clue. It looks easy but trying to manipulate those sticks is hard. last time I tried it I got a lacrosse ball in the chin. Good thing my beard covered the bruise. As TeamTims finally arrives at the Roadblock we get another reveal from Tim Jr that he makes crepes at home all the time with his wife. These reveals can't be good. Holly manages to get her crepes done and served properly and she and Brett are off in search of the Plains of Abraham. Jet & Dave made quick work of the lacrosse task and their next clue leads them to the sixth Pit Stop at the edge of Battlefield Park, where France lost first Quebec City and then the rest of Canada in 1759 to the English. That makes it a hat trick for the Bicep Bros and this time they are rewarded with two tickets to any European location that Air Canada flies to. Cory finally figures out his error is in how he serves the crepes and completes the Roadblock just as Tim Jr translates an ingredient for Vanessa which allows the girls to complete the task thirty minutes ahead of TeamTims. Things are not looking good here for TeamTims. What the heck was he thinking? I'd have told her it was anything else. It didn't help that he kept serving his crepes without the icing sugar which added to his delay. Crepes without icing sugar is like french onion soup without cheese. On the Plains of Abraham Holly returns to her non-athletic form and keeps blowing the lacrosse pass, but she and Brett finish second just ahead of Jody & Cory . . . and then tie them for second place on the mat. Vanessa & Celina finish the lacrosse task and leave just before TeamTims complete the task and its another race to the mat, but Vanessa & Celina end up in third place and unfortunately Tim and Tim are in last place. On the upside this has been a non-elimination leg. and despite the background reveals TeamTims will live to race again. At least until next week when the teams are off to Nunavut to pull sleds, build igloos, and choke on a local delicacy (well, Celina does). Mmmm, whale blubber. That's bound to be good for you. Apparently an epic climb to the end of the earth could change the entire race . . . or not. I suppose that will depend on whether they look over the edge to see we're riding on the back of a giant turtle floating through space. Until that time, see you all next week. |
Gordon L GaleGordon L Gale is a Freelance Illustrator, a Graphic Designer, a Dad and (according to his children) an Ogre. Archives
September 2016
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