Teams leave Jakarta and are told to fly into Toronto via Tokyo where they'll find some Chevys which will have their next clue. Seems like it's a extra long commercial for the main and longtime sponsor of TARC. They have to find the factory that makes this model of Chevy. If you know anything about Ontario's economy, you know there are a good number of factories making cars. And Chevy has four of them. The one the teams want to get to is in Ingersoll. Three teams head there, arrive late at night for another 9 am sign up sheet while four teams head the wrong way to Oshawa. But it's no big deal cause of the aforementioned sign up sheet. It was a neat trick in the clue but it's too bad that it didn't really cause much trouble except have teams drive a bit longer and get into the factory a few minutes later. It would be nice if a mistake like this would make a team or two pay a bigger price.
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of sponsor task, but this one is pretty good. They have to assemble a front door based on a silent demonstration and list of tasks that need to be done. It's a detailed thing that can mess you up if you're not paying attention, and Martina and Phil seem to have it right. So do the Coaches. Other teams like the Mounties, the First Responders struggle by doing the classic doing it wrong over and over again hoping something will change. I really like the female judge in this one, looking disdainfully at the camera and shaking her head. Sign her up for next year, man.
So the Coaches get done first, told to head to Stratford and find the famous theatre. But they get lost on the way and arrive fourth. Martina and Phil get there first. It's a Roadblock and Ack!, it's another choreography task. Sure, it's stage fighting with swords but no matter who you spin it, it's choreography. Teams have to learn steps, do them in the correct order in order to move on. I'm really tired of these kinds of tasks. Too much reliance on them in TAR Canada. One, maybe two such tasks per season is fine, but we're already on our third, with two in consecutive legs. Unfortunately it seems this is not the last such choreography task for the season. In the preview for next week, we have another choreography task, the fourth for the season and the third in a row. I wish I had a desk so I can bang my head against it. Enough with the dancing type tasks, please.
So like we've seen before with these kinds of tasks, teams practice, teams try and fail, they practice, they get the steps right and move on. Though one of the Cheerleaders, who also has had stage fight training took a bit too much time trying to get it right. From the top, she kept saying in rehearsal when she pretty much had it down about five minutes in. That kind of perfection can cost you.
After the now seemingly ubiquitous TARC Choreo task, it's a Detour, Package or Pedal. In Package, teams had to find a candy factory and correctly assemble 20 (10 chocolate, 10 mints) packages to exacting specifications. Yum chocolate. However, I think Gord and I would take Pedal, which was pedal a paddle boat around a lake looking for pieces for a Rebus-type puzzle that once figured out, tells you the next location. Gord's good at puzzles and probably would have solved it quickly. I can pedal and steer a boat. Unlike the Coaches who crash into one of the puzzle holders.
Next location is the Queen of the Square which is Stratford City Hall. The Mounties arrive first, sans backpacks, surprised to see Jon. So out they run cause the rules say you gotta have your backpack with you, or at least in sight of the mat before he can check you in. And they are first. Or rather, they are the "first team to arrive", says Jon. Which tells superfans that either they have received a penalty, which doesn't happen, or it's a Keep on Racing extended leg. Of course, they don't show us that part, hoping to surprise, but we superfans know. And yes, in the end, it is an extended leg. As Team Navy shows, up, just after the Cheerleaders, in last place again, Jon gives them the next clue to head off to Toronto. I should also note the Coaches are lucky, lucky, running around lost in Stratford, no idea where to go, when strangers on the street just tell where other teams went. Oh well, luck is part of the race.
On Twitter, I noted that it was obvious that it was going to be an Extended Leg because of Jon's phrasing at the mat. Showrunner Mark L. responded that he would have to change that for next year which I, mostly in jest, retweeted that he had inadvertently confirmed Season 7 and I managed to snag a scoop. As noted, I was mostly joking on Twitter but no doubt, Mark and the rest of the Insight gang are probably planning for that possibility. So when Season 7 is announced, remember, you heard it hear first from the fan favs, Gord and Wayne. Well mostly Wayne cause Gord is working too much this summer.
Keep an eye out for our upcoming video recap where will discuss this Season 7 news, as well as this leg and the leg.