Jody and Cory were the first to leave but it was pretty much a given that all teams were going to end up at the airport together and they did. I mean, really, how many flights do you think leave Nunavut in a day for Halifax, Nova Scotia with a stopover in Ottawa. Once they get to Halifax they are to locate a Chevy Sonic at the airport to begin their next leg and avoid the dreaded U-turn ahead.
There's a little piece here were we listen to Tim Sr mention how he was a stay-at-home dad and that when Tim Jr was very little he would cry more for his dad than his mom. That's sweet but it's also generally a bad sign when the episode starts with background cuddliness of a team. Hopefully TeamTims will maintain their lucky streak and not be out this leg. Jet and Dave leave third and they know that TeamTims are ahead of them and have used the U-turn before so they're a little concerned. As Jet says, "if they're smart, they'll U-turn us."
Vanessa and Celina are in last place and it was really funny watching the confused look on the girls' faces when they discover the Chevy Sonic has a manual transmission. They mention how they've both driven manual before, one time, with very little success. Don't you think that should have been something they worked on when they were chosen for the race? It's not like it's a surprise that they'd have to drive one eventually. Hilarity shall ensue.
While in Ottawa the girls realize that it would be a good strategic move to align with Jet and Dave to make it into the final three. They know they're the weakest team left and they present that fact as a good thing to the boys because they'd be little competition to the final mat. Dave's not opposed to the idea but he doesn't agree to it either.
During their stopover in Ottawa Jody decides he can move a lot faster without all the weight of his bag so, being from Ottawa, he checks it in at the counter to retrieve after the race. Obviously the lighter you are the faster you move so this could be a big game changer. I'm not entirely sure if this is going to prove to be a big mistake or not for the Mitic brothers because I always thought teams needed to have their bags with them or in view of the mat when they check in. This could prove interesting. My theory is "if it doesn't fit in the vest it shouldn't be going with you", but it does make for a bulky vest.
When Dave realizes the girls are a little concerned about the car he tells them that Halifax is all hills (all uphill as Jet interjects) and you need to give it a lot of gas to get moving (but not too fast or the wheels will fall off). The boys look so serious while they're saying this and it's hilarious to watch the girls responses. Jet's sure they'll be fine but now the girls are all paranoid about the car.
With all teams in Halifax they must locate their Chevrolet Sonic on the roof of the airport parking garage to get their next clue via a USB key that will show on their in-dash video screen. Cory races out of the parking lot without the clue but his brother slows him down long enough to watch the video. All teams are now off to the National Historic Site of Pier 21 for a little bit of Canadian history, if they can manage to make it out of the parking garage without running into each other. This definitely applies to the girls as they stop and start continuously in an attempt to make it out of the garage.
While Celina tries to get the car going the other teams are racing through the night apparently without a clue as they all make one mistake after another. Not hard to do in a new area at night but I'm pretty sure Wayne and I would have already located Pier 21 while everyone else was still in the garage. Even Tim Sr is having trouble with the "new" stick of the Chevy Sonic, which is funny because according to their promos it's supposed to shift gears swiftly and smoothly. I guess these guys all missed the memo. Celina finally makes it out of the garage and into traffic only to stall out again with traffic bearing down on her. Is that a semi about to crush the little Sonic? I hope not. Eventually she gets the car going again and off they go. Good job Celina.
The first three teams all arrive at Pier 21 almost at the same time and race in to find that, surprise, surprise, it doesn't open until 6:00 am. What a great opportunity for the teams to all gather together and even out the playing field. Seriously? Jet starts babbling away, which irritates Cory to no end as he calls it "verbal diarrhea", but it does give the teams a little more downtime to chat. Do they really need that much downtime? I thought this was a race not a travelogue. Perhaps I'm mistaken.
Apparently it's both. Pier 21 is like our version of Ellis Island. This is the location where between 1928 and 1971 over a million immigrants entered Canada. Today, 1 in 5 Canadians have a connection to this place including some of the teams in the final four. Jody and Cory find the ship that brought their family to Canada and it's all very touching and everything but . . . let's move on. Here come the immigration officials so that each team can receive a passport that they will need to fill with 7 stamps from kiosks throughout the museum. This is a pretty quick and painless task, even for the girls, but it's pretty much just this episodes history lesson.
Everyone is now off to Mahone Bay, to find their next clue across the street from St. Jame's Anglican Church. Surprisingly Jet and Dave actually know that this is where the Bluenose was built and that should come in handy shortly as they're the first team to leave the museum. Tim Jr has managed to lose the map so Tim Sr just follows Jody and Cory which irritates them and they try to lose them. These guys need to chill out and relax and start to have fun again or they're going to end up lost in Nova Scotia. Meanwhile the girls continue to show their excellent ability with a manual transmission. That poor little Sonic.
Roadblock . . . one team member must locate a scarecrow to match the clue on their Blacberry Q10, take it with them to the gazebo and then recreate the scarecrow to make its twin using the items in the mountain of clothes. Even though Jet has arrived first for the Roadblock he manages to head off in the wrong direction for the scarecrows but he gets turned around quick enough to maintain their lead. Jet builds the dancing girl (big surprise) and Tim Jr decides to recreate the Pink Shawl lady. Cory gets the easiest with the fisherman while the girls are still driving around looking for the bay.
So much for Jet's lead as Cory completes his scarecrow and he and Jody are now off to Lunenburg, NS to locate the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic where they will find their next clue andmaybe even the dreaded Double U-Turn.
Jet seems to be taking this task a little less seriously than he should be when he decides he can pull a fast one on the scarecrow judge by not filling his twin's boobs or giving her arms. Apparently the judge was on to his ruse and as Jet went back to continue he notices the "Jon" scarecrow and says, "I'd rather be building Jon." Hmm, something you wanna tell us buddy? The girls have arrived and they're back in the race which is making Tim Sr a little edgy when he sees Tim Jr taking his time to dress his scarecrow. Tim Jr just maintains his calm and carries on, ignoring his dad and says "Dad, you're not helping." That is so funny because my daughter says that to me all the time.
Tim Jr makes his twin and TeamTims are off to find the Fisheries Museum behind Jody and Cory who have arrived at the museum to find this leg's Detour. Surf, where teams get to board a boat out to sea to haul in six lobster traps, remove the lobster, band both claws and then return to harbor and take the six lobsters to the chef at the Grand Banker bar and grill to receive their next clue . . . or Turf, which is based on Lunenburg's German heritage and requires teams to make their way up to the Boscawen Inn to find the sausage vendor, sample and study 12 different sausages (yummy) and then memorize their German names before heading back down to the wharf to correctly identify all 12 types to get their next clue.
Jody and Cory have decided to become Lobster men while Jet is onto his second hour of building his scarecrow twin alongside Vanessa who is building "Mr. Luigi". Dave is starting to get a little angry with his teammate's nonchalance attitude on this one as it's definitely taking a lot longer than it should. It should really be that hard when you have the original right there to work from but apparently these teams are not very detail oriented. The Tims decide to take the other Detour and go in search of the sausage vendor.
The first lobster that Jody and Cory pull up refuses to let go of the cage which makes it a little difficult to band that claw but they eventually make it. Quick cut back to Jet and his less than hopeful presentation to the judge of his twin but apparently she's taken a liking to him because he's done and even though they've lost their lead, they're ahead of the girls. As they say, "together they are strong, divided . . . they fall." This is often true of every team in Amazing Race history. There's a reason they call it a Roadblock.
With TeamTims realizing this is a memory task they get a little disheartened but they carry on. Jet and Dave decide to start with Surf and Dave asks what Jet means but he explains that he figures they'll be U-Turned and have to do both sides. This has not been the best leg for the boys but at least they have a good attitude about it. Jody and Cory are off in search of their last their lobster as Jet and Dave start looking for theirs but Vanessa is just completing her twin so all the boys should be safe.
Screaming like little girls Jet and Dave are pretty squeamish about handling the lobsters but they get over it pretty quickly and move on to the next trap. Jody and Cory have found number six but TeamTims has some memory issues identifying all 12 sausages and it's Tim Sr who has the lapse not Jr. for a change.
Jody and Cory are now off to St. John's Anglican Church where they will find the Double U-Turn along with their next clue. TeamTims completes the memory task and sees Jody and Cory drive away so they're pretty happy to be that close to the lead. While the first two teams try to locate the church, Jody and Cory stop to ask for directions while TeamTims locate the parish hall and race around trying to find the clue. Wrong location Tims. Pay attention and "Read the clue". Oh wait, that's back in the car . . . which allowed the Mitics to arrive first and they decide to run a "clean race" and not U-Turn anyone.
Their next clue is a small box containing a Canadian dime that takes them in search of the Bluenose II, the pride of Nova Scotia, and the eighth pit stop for the race. Still a little worried about that checked bag. They remember seeing the boat near the fisheries Museum so they backtrack in that direction as TeamTims locates the church. They also decide not to U-Turn anyone, which goes against what everyone assumed they would do, but they realize that the last two teams are already struggling and decide to keep their hands blood free since they didn't feel any real threat from anyone.
The Tims receive the boxed clue and looking at the image of the boat on the dime Tim Jr says, "is that a big deal here?" "One would guess," says his dad. I think they've kinda missed the point of the clue.
Jody and Cory, who have been having a really good leg this episode, are the first team to arrive and awarded two tickets to anywhere Air Canada flies in South America, but Jon regrets to inform them that he cannot give them a break as "the race is still on" and he hands them their next clue . . . find the ferry to St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador. Apparently the missing bag wasn't an issue but it could still be on the next leg as there was no actual Pit Stop. Hopefully this won't be a problem.
TeamTims finally stop for directions and ask the locals if the dime means anything. "You mean the Bluenose?" Duh! Down the road to the harbour go the Tims while Jet and Dave are off in search of the church and Vanessa and Celina need to go back and try again. When Jet and Dave get to the U-Turn they're surprised that nobody has been U-Turned yet. They feel good about it, but slightly confused. As Jet says, "these people are foolish, but nice Canadians." They also decide not to use the U-Turn on the girls who have yet to complete their sausage Detour (don't go there) and head for the Bluenose II.
So Jet and Dave are third to the temporary Pit Stop and off again just as quickly, almost taking Jon and the Nova Scotian greeter with them. Vanessa and Celina are still in the race having completed their task, even though they're in last place. Like their nemesis TeamTims, they just don't get the dime clue but at least they asked someone and made it to the mat, surprised not to be eliminated. So surprised they just stood there staring blankly at Jon who actually had to spell it out for them. Jon just shakes his head as they run off after the other teams.
Next week the teams are off to Newfoundland/Labrador where they get to "kiss the cod", Vanessa and Celina get into a wordy argument and another team goes to the dogs while delivering milk. Looks like an all out battle on the streets of St. John's as teams try their hand at busking their way to the final three. See you in St. John's.