So by the time the first teams were at the pitstop at the end of the Edmonton leg, I was like "Huh, that's it?" And I wasn't the only one. I was on vacation with my family and relatives from Iran. Even though they couldn't speak English, the Iranian relatives were not impressed. They thought Edmonton had been shortchanged. Only good parts of the episode were this: 1. Anthony and James wearing the ribbon skirts to honour and bring attention to the thousands of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. I keep loving this guys. 2. The appearance of Kokpelli Choir. Great local choir. 3. Edmonton poet laureate Ahmed Knowmadic handing out clues. Ahmed is a great representative and champion of Edmonton's literary community and it was great seeing him there. If he comes to your town for a poetry slam, or a talk, go see. He's great.
After Edmonton, the race headed to Yellowknife. And finally, after two and almost a half season of ho-hum TARC, we get a solid leg. Great location, great tasks and really good team drama. This is what TARC can be if they decide to remain in Canada for future seasons. And the key to this was the tasks. They weren't easy and most importantly, they reflective of the area of Canada they were in. For the most part, tasks in the race this season and a large part of previous two seasons have had only a minor connection to the places they were in. To more represent Canada, I think it's key that the tasks have more than just a minor connection but rather showcase the location to the viewers. From ice fishing, the diving in the lake to the diamonds to lack of cabs to the actual cost of cabs, I felt like this really showcased a large part of Yellowknife and makes me want to go back there. I really haven't felt that in other legs this year, or from most legs in the past two or so years. Even the recent Edmonton leg and I live here.
The team drama was also solid with Dave and Irina assuming the cocky villain roles and stealing cabs left and right. And despite what I've read on other social media, I'm fine with this. It's about time TARC had a team that played a hard, cocky game, willing to win at any and all costs. It's not always fair to represent Canadians as constantly nice. We are a polite people but we can also be highly competitive, willing to win things at all costs. I also am still enjoying Anthony and James's laid back sense of humour and their greeting to their Dene relatives. Aarthy and Thinesh are also a great team to watch, sweet, funny but tough. Definitely not the team one expects to win legs on a regular basis. The moms are sort of coming into their own but I don't seem them lasting too long. The Twins and the Saskatchewan Sisters are too similar for me, and unfortunately, Sarah and Sam are getting a very lackluster edit, even with the events of Yellowknife. Every time they make an appearance, I always say "Oh yeah, those guys. I forgot they were part of the race." Probably not a good sign for them.
I wasn't completely surprised by the Non-elimination cause TARC usually puts one on Leg 4. Especially if it's a leg with difficult tasks. And I've noticed there is a lot of positive reaction, some of it almost gushy about this leg, but for me, it was just a solid leg. I think what's happening here with TARC is that for the past two seasons (and part of this one), we've become so accustomed to being underwhelmed; that we've been so acclimatized to ho-hum legs with ho-hum tasks and mostly ho-hum racers, that when a pretty decent one comes along with hard task, villainy and drama, it seems like something amazing. But in the grand scheme of things, especially when compared to the recent US season, the Yellowknife leg was just slightly above average in quality. Just barely. Like I said, a solid leg, fun to watch but not even close to some of the best legs I've seen.
But I was happy with the Yellowknife episode and hope they continue this way for the rest of the Season. I want to be positive so that's what I'm going to stick with.