A few weeks ago, I started blogging about the penultimate season for Canada's Worst Driver, called Canada's Worst Driver, Ever. I did a few blogs but then I stopped. The last show of the season, and hopefully of the series, aired on December 16th. And I'll write about two things.
First off, why did I stop blogging? Well, when it became clear that some of the egregious drivers had other issues, the show lost me. It pretty much happened in one episode. We found out that Sly, the dude from Red Deer who seemed to have cognitive issues, had a major accident as a kid. He was riding his bike, was struck by (or struck) a car and hit a window with his head. No helmet. No doubt that was a serious head injury that he probably didn't get treatment or counselling for. Then we slowly started to realize that Dale, the 65-year-old woman who seemed to lose focus when she was driving, would lose bits of time in her memory. And she would forget instructions right after she heard them. I'm no expert but this looked like a sign of something worse, like Alzheimer's or early dementia (I sincerely hope not). She later left the show in the second to last episode without telling the producers. They found her coming out of a hospital after she sliced a tendon in a finger after trying to smash a window in her home. Her house keys were attached to her car keys which she had given to Andrew at the start of the season. But the worst bit was Angelina. At first, she has the look of an indifferent and uncaring person who's mostly interested in herself and getting drunk than being a good driver. But during that one episode, we were told that she has a lot of anxiety and depression. And she is usually on meds to control those difficulties but she's unable to get any due to long waiting lists to see a professional. So she self-medicates with booze. And the pressure of the driving tasks were making things more difficult. In the end, the producers convinced her to go to a 30-60 program to help her and get the meds she needs, pretty much getting her to voluntary commit herself. They even had a bit of a plug for the Canadian Mental Health Society. But that was already too late for my taste. Many reality shows, like Amazing Race Canada and TAR, have their contestants undergo psychological evaluations before they get on the show. That's to prevent someone with serious mental health issues, like Angelina (or cognitive issues like Sly and Dale), getting on and having those issues aggravated by the challenges of the show. But it seems the Canada's Worst Driver, Ever didn't do those tests. Or if they did, they missed something. Or didn't care. And they allowed three contestants with serious mental and/or brain issues to become entertainment. Not just in this season but in the past ones. If I had known that going in, I would not have blogged about the show. If you want to know who's Canada's Worst Driver, Ever is, it's Kevin, the one-eyed guy from BC. They got him to burn his license on TV and to promise never to drive again, but it's easy to replace a license. So season is over and I hope it's the end of that show. If it comes back, I won't watch it. And I'm sorry if any comments about the drivers who I discovered had other underlying issues, offended anyone. Finally, after so many weeks, we're at the final episode of TAR: The Original Series. It's been fun, a lot better than the previous season, and possibly heading into an All-Star one. (Note: I write these things as I watch the show so I have no idea what happens or if there are any special announcements). But we have two legs to go so let's get started.
Jason and Amy won last week and are pretty much my favourites to win, not the team I'd want to win, but my pick. I'd like to see Leo and Jamal win, despite their sometimes idiotic antics and inability to read clues clearly. But Jason and Amy are my second favs. Overall nice folks; I wonder if he'll propose at the end. As for the rest, don't care, although weirdly, I'd like Tim and Marie to win before Travis and Nicole. I liked the Docs in the beginning but then they started putting in bits about their self-righteous attitude. I'm guessing that attitude was there all along, just that the producers started to put it in. And I'm the kind of the guy that prefers people to be honest about how they play the game, like the Exes, instead of the hypocrisy of the Docs. The Daters leave at 1:25 am for Tokyo, Japan where they have to find the Gotokuji Temple filled with ceramic cat statues. So while they wait for Travis and Nicole, they look for flights, doing all the work while the Docs get the benefit. Tim and Marie leave an hour later, thinking they are the strongest team but since they get lost all the time, I don't think so. The Docs leave a minute later and they discuss how things come easy for Travis and how he's not patient when Nicole doesn't get things fast enough. Which means he's a bit of a jerk, who now looks like Urkel. The Afghanimals are last, giggling like a bunch of silly Afghani boys and with a Speed Bump ahead. That could slow them down, and believe the other teams will gang up on them to get them eliminated. Which is quite true since that's what the Exes and the Docs plan to do. Nicole seems to be trying to run things but not sure what Tim and Marie think. Marie's really not the take orders kind of gal. So everybody's seems to be on the same flight although Leo and Jamal are doing research. And they find a flight that might come in earlier but with an extra connection. So while the teams are hanging out in the Bangkok(?) airport, the boys are trying to book through Hong Kong and Singapore? I'm not sure, I missed it and then got a call. It's my birthday so I've been getting a lot of calls. So the boys get an earlier flight, arriving 15 minutes earlier while all the other teams are thinking it's all a ruse to get them worried. Nope. And it's a prime example of not running your own race, letting someone else on another team dictate what you do. Should never allow that to happen, especially in the final legs. So the boys do get there earlier, grab and taxi. The other teams arrive five minutes later although there are only two cabs and three teams. Marie researched where they were going, got the address. And since she said the other teams were ready to leave them behind, she's not sharing. Ha. Told ya someone wasn't playing along. So the Docs and Exes leave but the taxis says they have to wait for the third. More funny stuff. And again, run your own race. Don't rely on others. So the boys arrive, see the cats and get the clue. A Detour: Knock it Down or Call it Up. In Knock, team must become a human bowling ball and in Call, they have to make a phone call in the giant fish tank. I love the weirdness when they go to Japan. The boys pick Knock it Down while Travis and Nicole are annoyed that someone not doing what they expect has changed their plan. The other teams arrive at the same time. Everyone except the Docs pick Knock it Down. Interesting how Travis picked the task seemingly without consulting with Nicole. And they are all stuck with bad cabs; three in a row. And they don't want to separate so these teams are having their Detour chosen for them. Not sure if this is an actual gamshow but it looks fun. Leo's a bit distracted by the outfits but they get dressed very quickly. And they must tube down a slide and get a strike to pass. I think Gord would be great at this cause he's frickin' tall so he could reach out and knock the pins pretty good. I'm a decent bowler but with real balls and pins. Jamal's first and misses. Leo as well. The other teams arrive at the park but it's not the Detour Jason and Amy, and Tim and Marie wanted. But the Daters go for it anyway. And since only two teams can do it at once, then they and the Docs pretend it's not around so as to fool Tim and Marie. But the Exes get directions to the Media Centre so they can do their own thing. Good plan to be on their own but now they're behind. When the other teams see the phone booths filled with water and fish, they are surprised. Phil says these phone booths are art installations (cool public art, man.) And one teammate much climb in the water, make a call and then tell the other teammate what they heard. When they get it right, they move on. Back to the bowling alley, the boys are still working on it, and finally figure out that they should go right down the middle. And it works. So the boys have to find the fountain in Shinjuku Chuo Koen. Apparantly, Jamal knows where it is so they head off but before they do, they fold their clothes back into the pile in order to fool the other teams into thinking no one's arrived yet. Smart. Nice to see the speedos, although Amy's fit better than Travis's. Although she didn't take a big enough breath. And when she gets it and climbs out, she falls. She's okay but probably embarrassed. Almost crushed the camera operater. Regardless, she's got it. and their off to the fountain. So do the Docs. Easy task, although it probably took time to change, dry off, etc. The bowling seemed to take longer and that could hurt the Exes, especially with the changing and dealing with the host. They also see the Afghanimals' clothes so assume they missed their flight or something. Tim pushes Marie too hard and almost flips her. Probably some residual hard feelings for her breaking his heart, and to continue to use and abuse him. They miss a couple of times and then Marie decides that it's best to push the larger Tim hard and have him wave about and hit as many pins as possible. It works. They're done pretty fast and go look for the fountain. The boys get to the fountain and find their Speed Bump. They have to do an actual zookeeper drill and capture a couple of dudes in a rhino outfit. Wow, that's a real drill? Not really realistic if you ask me, although I've only seen rhinos in zoos. They look meaner and faster than two dudes in a suit. They start working just as the Docs arrived, shocked to see the boys ahead of them. And it's a Roadblock, which is to build a robot copy, made out of a bunch of plastic or paper tubes. Totally Gord task, man cause he's an artist and he's tall. But the girls decide to work together. Leo and Jamal work on their Speed Bump, having a bit of fun climbing on top and then move on to catch up with the other teams. Leo then starts the task on the robot, cause he's a puzzle guy, Jamal says. He's working alone while it seems Amy's working on Nicole's. Wasn't sure which on they were doing first. Wonder if the Docs will hang around, if they get their's done first. Then Marie arrives and starts the task. All four teams working together, first one done will probably win the leg, while last one done will be out. Fun. But Marie hasn't read the clue, again, or can't figure where the model is. She asks Nicole and Amy. Nicole says no. As she should. Unfortunately, she asks Leo and he tells her. As he shouldn't. Jason and Travis play the macho thing and figured they'd be done and gone. Yeah right. They probably would have broke it. Marie seems to be moving fast, Jason's getting frustrated and yells at Amy, and Nicole is getting bossy. Seems like anybody could finish first. Leo thinks it's him, but nope. The girls think they have their's done, but also nope. Marie's robot starts to fall apart. Leo tries again but wrong. Same for the girls. So Nicole says they should get hers done first correctly and then work on Amy's. Let's see how that works out. But no. And it's Marie done first. And good for her cause she did it all on her own, starting after everyone else. Even Jamal is impressed. So they move on. They must find the Roaming Vending Machine among the insanity of the same busy crossing they always hit while in Tokyo. Still, only in Japan would you have a task like this. Meanwhile, Travis starts calling his wife weak, talking her down. What a dick. No matter what you do, you never talk about your wife in that way, especially on TV when there are cameras and mics all around. He's gonna pay for that. Even if they won, he's gonna pay for that, and rightly so. Again, they get it wrong. So Amy decides to look at the model to see what's wrong. Duh. Should have done that before then. So she gets bossy. And the start taking it all apart. Leo's wrong again. So he goes to the model. Amy gets it right. And stays behind to help. Which frustrates Jason cause he wants to find the vending machine. Which Tim and Marie find very quickly, get their clue telling them to race on foot to the pitstop at Konno Hachimangu Shrine. As Phil says, the last team will, not may but will be eliminated. Back at the robots, Leo is wrong again. And Amy leaves the Docs. Jason isn't pleased because it was 10 minutes they could have used. It's nice to be nice but not this late in the game. Tim and Marie arrive at the pitstop and are Team #1. They ran a good leg and win a trip to Aruba. The Daters arrive at the intersection and find the machine. They are on their way to another second place while the Afghanimals and the Docs are still working on the robot. Jamal's being supportive of his cousin while Travis is hassling his wife, saying the only person he can rely on is himself. Where's Brett when you need him? And she gets it. Which frustrates Leo. And Travis is still on his wife in the cab, complaining, making her cry. Where's the Christian charity and goodness you kept talking about? But Leo finally gets it and they head out. Not sure how long after but at least Jamal is kind and supportive. Jason and Amy are Team #2 and headed into the final. The Docs find the machine, well, Nicole finds the machine. And not long after so do the boys. So they are both looking for the shrine, asking folks. It's a race, and it doesn't seem that close. It's the Docs as Team #3. Sorry to see the Afghanimals go. Although I hear they get another chance in the All Star Season 24. In the final leg, Tim and Marie leave at 6:08 am, heading to their final destination, Juneau, Alaska. When they get there, the must go to the harbour, take a marked boat to Grizzly Bar, some glacier it seems, and get the next clue. And then we see that Tim is a bit of an idiot because he signed a contract stating that any thing they win, she gets 60 and he gets 40. Good god, how much abuse can this guy take and still hang around. SHE'S USING YOU, TIM! Jason and Amy leave at 6:10, only two minutes behind and they are now the team I'm rooting for. They can be too nice, especially when it comes to the Docs but hopefully they'll realize it's every team for themselves and do their own thing. And it seems that Amy's helping of Nicole was some strategizing (or maybe she's rationalizing). Cause now they don't have their help, the Docs just might fall back. If she's been playing that game the whole time, she's one of the best players around. But I think she's just nice. The Docs leave at 6:22 and I'm expecting everyone will be on the same flight. And they do. And they all run out with no free cabs in sight. The Daters get the hired cab to call one. But the Docs find one in the distance and grab it. The Daters' cab arrives but Marie tries to get it but no. The Exes are left behind at the airport. The Docs grab the first boat just ahead of the Daters. Amy falls but gets up quickly. Tim and Marie must have gotten a cab pretty fast cause they are right behind. The boats race done the bay, the river, whatever it is. Looks like a hoot. The Docs arrive first, head for the clue box and you can see helicopters as well. Always with the helicopters in Alaska. And it's a Roadblock. They must make a supply drop. While flying at 60 mph, 150 feet above the ground, they have to drop a bag a flour on a target. Easier than it looks. Nicole takes it so Travis can bitch about her. And it's an all girl task as Marie and Amy also jump aboard the planes. And yes, Travis is on his wife, telling her it was redemption time. Yes, time for you to redeem yourself Travis because of the crappy way you've treated and talked about your wife. Nicole is first and misses but barely. Travis looks pissed. Amy misses by a mile, while Marie just barely misses. On the second run, Nicole misses, Amy nails it, almost a bullseye. Now teams have to get on the helicopters to a glacier (missed the name) and then go on an Ice Expedition. They have to pick a guide, hike and climb a bit, then find the clue in the ice. Once they chip it out, they're done. Marie misses her drop. On the third run and fourth, Nicole and Marie miss. And the Daters arrive at the glacier. Jason rappels down a wide crevasse, crosses an ice ladder, then makes his way up the other side. Amy's a bit slower, but should be all right. Back at the air drop, the girls are on their 12 try and misses. Marie gets it though, leaving Travis behind, PO'd. Nicole's onto her 15th, her 16th with no end in sight. Meanwhile, Jason's being supportive, helping Amy figure out the ice ladder walk and then the climb. She gets done just as the other helicopter with the Exes, lands. Tim starts his rappel while the Daters go to the ice tunnel. Jason's pumped about it and understandably so. That would be the coolest. Finally, on her 21st attempt, Nicole is done. Travis says nothing on the ride. Only gives her a look of disappointment. Man, I hate to be one of his kids. In the ice tunnel, Jason is supporting his girlfriend and the shot looks great. Never been in such a thing. The Docs arrive just as the Marie is trying to climb but she's having a bit of trouble. Even so, she gets done. And the Daters are at the wall. And it's not as easy as it looks. Though Jason digs fast enough, not all the clues in the ice are real ones. So they hit a bunch of fakes just as the Exes hit the ice tunnel and Travis is on the ladder. Jason keeps digging until after a long bit, enough time for the Exes to get through the tunnel and arrive, they find the correct clue. Teams must now hike down to the shore and paddle a tandem kayak to the marked island for their next clue. Looks like the producers are going all out on the physical stuff to tire the teams out on the last leg. And it's taking its tool on Nicole. She gets down, gets across but slips going up, losing one of her ice picks. Gonna be hard to get up. She stumbles again. But pulls herself up, with one pick. And finally, Travis seems to realize that his wife is tougher than he's given her credit for. By this time, Tim and Marie are done and heading to the kayaks. Just as the Daters head out into the lake and the Docs get through the tunnel. It's not really a race at the moment but maybe there's a memory task at the end. But when they get to the island clue box, they get to take another helicopter flight, back to Juneau and make their way to Blueberry Hills Trailhead. Since they probably paid for the day for the helicopters, might as well use them. So back to Juneau. The Docs are at the ice wall and get some fake clues. The Exes arrive at the island and jump on the helicopter. So the Daters get to Juneau, ask the cabbie if he speaks English (come on it's Alaska, not North Korea) and go to the park. More ice digging and finally the Docs get their clue. The Exes arrive in Juneau and jump in a cab. Some nice quick editing going on, making the game seem fast and exciting. So when the Daters arrive at the clue box, they must build a wall of totem poles by spelling out the name of the currency from each of the countries they visited. Tough, cause there were no real clues about this. Hopefully they remember. Or better yet, they have some still left with them. Jason and Amy start building. Amy says she wrote a ton of notes but nothing on the currency. Tim and Marie arrive and are stunned for a moment. The Docs are on their helicopter. The other two teams are struggling, although Tim and Marie seem to be in better control. Although Marie crushes Tim's thumb. Let's see what the Docs do. They arrive and get started. But they are a bit slow, working out a system. Might work but there's not much time. More moving, move shifting and finally, Jason and Amy get it done. They get back to their cab to head to the End of North Douglas Hwy for the final mat. Not long after, the Exes get done, while Travis complains about his wife not helping. He keeps on her about the last four roadblocks. No wonder she doesn't want to help him. Back at the end, the editing looks like the Daters and the Exes arrive really close but in the end it's Jason and Amy winning. Good for them. And there seems to be enough time to talk so Tim and Marie weren't that close. No proposal. But Tim and Marie arrive in second place, with Tim carrying her bag, but only getting 40% of her proceeds. In the end, she gives his props. Time for him to say goodbye, though. He'll never move on unless he does. In third, are the Docs. I liked them in the beginning but he slowly became a dick, picking on his wife, not supporting her. I feel sorry for their kids and how they saw their dad act this way on TV. Although they've probably seen it and experienced it firsthand themselves. And he claims to be a good Christian. Anyway, good for Jason and Amy. A decent season. Not as good as Season one of Amazing Race Canada but a good season. I heard there was a quick preview of Season 24 but I didn't see it. Did anyone else? Anyway, it's a few months till then so I won't be blogging much about anything new until the teams are announced. So thanks for tuning in, for this season and Season 1 of Amazing Race Canada. I'm always stunned at the number of people who read our blog. We do it just for fun and glad people pay attention to it. See you around and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Whoa, TAR finale week and I've got three posts this weeks about TAR. But I was trolling the interweibe and found this great interview with Mark “Abba” Abbattista, one of the metalheads from Season 21. Lots of info on their run, how they lost their passports (I mean stolen) and how he actually broke both his legs during the race and kept running. Obviously, he didn't know he broke his legs, kind of like Bobby Baun, but found out when he got home.
Also, some nice insights on the behind-the-scenes, info on how producers "recruit" teams along with those who apply, sleep deprivation, etc. Here's the link to the story. And with this story running just today, I'm wondering if it's a promo plant to get people interested in the supposedly upcoming All-Star Season and that the metal heads are actually in that season. That would be cool. With the finale of Season 23 of TAR just days away, the interweibe has been abuzz with rumours of teams for Season 24. Already, most people believe that it will be an all-star season, featuring teams from other seasons. And according to some sites, since the actual racing part has begun (or has finished), teams have been seen at various airports and a list of who's competing has pretty much be confirmed. Although, teams aren't really confirmed until it's officially announced by CBS. But here are the teams people claimed to have spotted so far.
Brendon and Rachel from Season 20. He had a PhD and she cried a lot. They were engaged but now are married. They were also on Big Brother. She kind of annoyed me with her crying and he annoyed me when he made her cry. But I'm okay with them. Caroline and Jennifer, the country singers from Season 22. The typical blonde barbie who were one of the blandest teams in one of blandest TAR seasons. Sigh. Dave and Connor (Season 22) – Father/Son cancer survivors. They were the only light in Season 22 and when they quit due to Dave's torn achilles tendon, it all went downhill. Love these guys although the producers kept bringing up the cancer thing ad nauseum. Hope they don't do that again, and not just the cancer but the torn achilles thing. Amazing Race Canada producers were much better this kind of thing, they were more subtle about Jody's injuries from Afghanistan and Tim Sr's. Parkinson. Flight Time and Big Easy, the Globetrotters who've had two chances — Seasons 15 and 18 – and now a third chance. Lucky dudes. But they are fun. No real complaints. Jessica and John, the annoying couple (well, he was mostly the annoying one) who didn't use their Express Pass and were eliminated. Ack. Hope they are gone soon and then he can rationalize that he meant to be eliminated then. Jet and Cord, the Cowboys who are also getting a third chance. Of course, they are the most popular TAR team ever, so might as well bring them back. Joey and Meghan. Oh God, these You tubers were one of the most annoying and yet bland teams ever. There are many more interesting annoying teams that they could have brought back, like Tim and Marie. Or anybody else. Don't understand why they have so many Youtube followers. Please eliminate early. Leo and Jamal. Guess the Afghanimals don't win Season 23. These guys are fun, I like watching them and how they enjoy themselves in the race. However, they sometimes forget the race and focus too much on the fun. They also have trouble reading clues. And based on this, and the fact that Tim and Marie were also rumoured to be on Season 24 but aren't, it looks like Jason and Amy or Travis and Nicole win Season 23. Interesting to seek how that works out. Mallory and Mark. Mallory was part of team with her dad, Gary on Seasons 17 and 18. And Mark was half of another very popular team (one of my favs) with his buddy Bopper from Season 20. It seems that Mark and Bopper were supposed to be on Season 24 but Bopper couldn't make it. So Mallory, who is also from Kentucky, stepped in. Or something. No info on this. Margie and Luke, the mom and her hearing impaired son from Seasons 14 and 18. They were okay, I guess. Good people but there are other teams I would like to give a second chance to than give these guys (and other teams like the Globetrotters and the Cowboys) a third. Natalie and Nadiya, the Twinnies from Season 21. Gonna annoy the shit out of Gord. Although like many, I liked this team in the first stages, they were fun, loud, annoying and used that to their advantage, annoying other teams while doing task. But when they took the mony from the Metalheads, they crossed a line. U-turning, annoying teams, playing the game strategically is one thing, but stealing money from another team is another. And why not also the Metalheads? Although one may be on tour and can't make it. Many fans know the selection of teams may not just be the teams people want or the producers want. No doubt they have a list, but the teams they want also have to be able to do it, not have anything else going on, like touring, or other gigs. So availability also plays a role in which teams are selected. Okay that's the most recent confirmed rumours based on what people have seen in airports around the world. But I'll guess we'll all have to wait until CBS officially releases the info. Welcome back to regular scheduled programming. Well, sort of. We started this blog for Amazing Race Canada, then it morphed into TAR: The Original Series, then Gord does Survivor, I started Canada's Worst Driver Ever and got bored, and then I did a bit on CanadaReads 2014. So now we're back to our second choice: TAR: The Original Series.
So the remaining four teams are in Bangdun, Indonesia and I'm guessing that since there are three legs left (including this one), there is still a non-elimination leg left. And it may be the one. I've been wrong pretty much on this kind of stuff, so I'll just leave it at that. So leaving first are the Afghanimals, Leo and Jamal, at 7:25 am. The teams must make their way to King Cobra House and eat grilled cobra. Yumm. Probably very little fat on those and I've seen Michael Palin eat snake during his Around the World in 80 Days show. So if Dennis the Peasant can eat a snake, so can I. Or Gord. Actually Gord can eat anything. Unfortunately, they don't show Phil eating it. On the Canadian version, Jon did a bunch of the tasks so I'm thinking he'd take a bite during his description. Tim and Marie head out a minute after. Tough Marie, as Tim calls her, has food issues. If you watched all the previous issues, you've noticed she's also got anger issues, direction issues, abuse issues, blame issues, truth issues, and the list goes on. And she's worried that it might be some kind of meat. Oh yeah, it is some kind of meat. Anybody wanna make a cannibal joke since Marie is a bit of lowdown snake in the race. Anyone? Beuller? Anyone? Okay, just me then. The Daters leave next, noting they are the only team that haven't won a leg. But they've been consistent. And maybe this is a foreshadowing of them finally winning. They also mention Marie's food issues. Afterwards, the "good" Doctors head out. And yikes, we get a bit of a background on them. She was a med student and he was her supervisor, which is why he talks down to her. Such a good example. But isn't there an ethical issue about dating the person you supervise, especially in an educational setting? Nicole does not seem happy about how he treats her. Just before the Arghanimals arrive to the task, Leo wonders if the food will be snake, but Jamal says "They don't eat snake here." Surprise! And the boys are surprised, especially since they have to eat them in front of a cage of cobras. While Jamal gags just at the sight, Leo's chowing down. Let's have a poll who says the "taste like chicken" line first. Bets down. Tim and Marie are pleased as punch to have found the location for the first time ever, and think they are ahead of the boys since they don't see them. "Unless we're not in the right spot." Nope, cause they are supposed to be at the North Entrance, which is where Jason and Amy arrive to eat. True to form, the Afghanimals pretend that Tim and Marie ate it all and left. But they say they aren't really lying but joking. And I get it cause that's the way Gord and I operate. We each can get a good story going for a long time, just cause it's fun, not because we want to cause harm. The Docs show up and join the party, not freaked out by animal parts, say Travis. Just freaked out by portion sizes. He's an odd man. Tim and Marie are again just walking around, confused and lost. Tim says they aren't but Marie insists they are. She's right. I've said it before and I'll say it now, no matter what you think about Marie, she has a terrible partner. But the Afghanimals are done their breakfast and get their clue: head to the Kawah Domas Crater. Jason and Amy get done and Jason's gagging cause he ate a bone. Boohoo. And it's up to Travis to pull out the "taste like chicken" line. Who voted for Travis in the poll? Not me. So you got three teams done, heading towards the crater while Tim and Marie are still lost. The boys arrive at the crater and it's a roadblock. A team member must first collect a bunch of eggs, then take a ride up to the crater on a local cab and then find a volcanic spring. Then must hard boil a dozen eggs in same volcanic spring. Cool. Especially since you have to bring them back and get judged by the Egg Man. Gord can do this and I'll be The Walrus. The other two teams arrive and everyone heads out up the volcano on scooters. More fun. On the trip up, Jason's taxi makes an excellent move in the inside and passes Jamal. But in the end it makes little difference as teams have to run to the crater and it looks close. While this little race is going on, Tim and Marie are now back in their cab, looking for some cobra takeout. Still haven't found it. So everyone loads their basket of eggs into the volcano spring, wondering how long it will take. I would err on the side of caution and keep it in much longer than I'd think because if you don't do it right, you'll have to do the whole thing again. That might give Tim and Marie time enough to catch up. At this point in the race, it's best not to try to win but just not to finish last. At the bottom of the volcano, Amy asked how long it took Tim and Marie to get the eggs done because they are nowhere to be found. It's plainly obvious that the boys lied and finally they get it. Nicole smirks but I'm not sure if she's smirking at the fact Leo lied again or that Amy fell for it. Jason and Travis discuss boiling strategy (see above for the basic gist). And talking about Jamal in the third person, even though he's right next to them. Finally, Tim and Marie make it to the snake, despite Marie's desire for veggies. She's a bit freaked out and there's a cutaway as Amy notes that Marie can't eat weird stuff, only lettuce. So no rush folks, win if you can, don't lose is a better strategy. The look on her face is priceless, although she starts sucking it back with water. Back the top of the volcano, as they talk about Marie not eating snake, Jason realizes that Jamal lied to them. "Just messing with you guys," he says. And good for them. Chances are, if the boys make it further on, it will happen again. And so Exes get done pretty easily, more contrived drama. And Jason and Travis also think they are done boiling, but Jamal stays behind, not wanted to risk it. That's a tough call, don't want to wait too long but don't want to rush. This causes the others to second guess but then they decide to continue on. Race your own race, boys. But Jamal doesn't stay too long, only a minute or so, but that could be enough. Jason is down first but his eggs is too soft. He's got to go back. Doesn't look good for Travis either. He's got to do all of them (time for Nicole to talk down him him!) As for Jamal... he's got to go back as well.When the get back to the spring, Travis apologizes to Jason, who should have raced his own race. And when Jamal comes back, they suggest he tell Marie it only takes 8-10 minutes. And wisely, the boys see that while Travis doesn't lie himself, he's not against someone else lying to help him. Hypocrites is correct, Leo. This kind of stuff continues when the Exes finally arrive. Nicole says her "legs are tired" so they drop down so they aren't seen. Leo waves his arms, but only as a joke. And it's really funny when the Exes arrive and see them in plain sight. "You guys been here long?" Tim asks to total silence. Again, Travis and Jason leave at the same time, but Jamal stays behind again. On the way out, Jason meets up with Marie, high fives her and says it's quick. He says it's not really a lie and he'll rely on Jamal to do his dirty work for him. Obviously, Marie knows something's up because they were way behind and now they're caught up. At the Egg Man (woooooo), Jason gets his eggs checked as Tim is saying Marie lacks patience and is 100% sure she'll come back with soft-boiled eggs. And Jason is done. Next is a Detour: Paint Your Partner or Turn over a New Leaf. Paint Your Partner is self-explanatory, although you have to make up your partner as a traditional Javanese brides (time to ask Amy to marry you Jason!). In Turn Over a New Leaf, teams must dress as local tea workers and then search a tea field for a pair of clippers. Not sure which one Gord and I would do; he's got the artistic skills to do my make up but I don't think I could do his. The Daters take Paint and Amy suggests they should wait for Travis and Nicole. Time to cut the cord, kids, leave the two Docs behind. Travis does get done and they choose Paint, following right behind them. Travis is pleased because he thinks Amy's make up skills will help them. Jamal is done and they choose Leaf. Amy doesn't know anything about boiling eggs and has no watch so she just holds the eggs above the water. And down at the bottom, Tim is predicting exactly what she she will do. Wow. How can anyone over the age of 20 not know how to boil eggs. Or boil anything. Sorry Tim if I said you were a bad partner. Okay maybe not. You are a bad partner but this is ridiculous. Boil means to cook in hot water. Steam is when you hold it over the steam. After the commercial, Marie says she "feels like it should be in the water." And she sticks it into the water. Jason's worried about putting make up, I mean, on someone else. But thankfully, Amy has so much make-up on, he says, she's almost done. I'm always confused by those folks who have perfect faces on the race. How much time and effort and backpack space does it take to do that. I know I'm old and male but you're travelling, it's a race, why so much? Nevermind. Jason and Travis realize that they have to shave to get the look they need so there's time lost there. So they do and is it me or does Travis now look like a grown-up version of Urkel? Yeah, that's who he probably was growing up; some version of Urkel. Nicole makes a drag queen remark and you know that hits Travis. Marie is still at the spring and Tim is pretty pleased that she's taking so long. Although they don't show how long she had them in the water. And he comments on how she overcooks everything so this might work in her favour. Ohh, she's gonna nail him for that when she sees it on TV. So she rushes out and we finally get a shot of the Arghanimals in the tea field. They dress up and head into the massive field. Looks tough, one of those needle in the haystack thing. Jamal finds a white flag and thinks he's found what they need to find. Somebody either didn't read the clue or forgot what the clue said. Back at the Volcano, Amy is down. And despite Tim's pessimism, she's done. Still, the holding them over the spring was funny. And they pick up makeup because Tim is a metrosexual, he'll be fine on this. Jason and Travis are wishing they did the other task because it looks tough. And Travis is too sweaty so the bands don't stick to his skin. The shot of the judge, mouth open in, what was that expression, Horror? Disgust? Stupefaction?, that was great. The boys offer the stick to the tea lady, she ignores them and they try to figure out what to do. Clue boys, clue. Man, these guys have huge clue reading difficulties but they still manage to keep going. Tim and Marie finally get there and start doing make up. Marie doesn't wear make up so it's kind of out of her element. And the Afghanimals are still roaming, discuss switching but realize if they switch, they are last. But they do switch, only to arrive at the place where the makeup happens. But once they realize they have to shave, they switch again. Oddly enough, they feel confident they can find the shears and get done to win the leg. Maybe that's why they are still there, confidence. But Jason and Amy are done. They are told to must make their way and then descend 500 steps to the bottom of Cimahi Waterfall, the pitstop. So the Afghanimals are back at the tea field with more confidence. And they are realizing that the clue said to look in the bushes. Leo doesn't think the shears will be in on the top (yes they are cause you just walked by them) and Jamal mutters to himself, saying his cousin is doing it completely wrong. Also doing it wrong, is Travis and Nicole. He does look terrible. And it's not acceptable. Neither are Tim and Marie. Both teams make minor adjustments but again, no chancy. So the foreshadowing about Jason and Amy finally coming first is true. They are Team #1. And they get a nice trip to Cancun; hey I'm going there in February. Can't wait cause it supposed to blizzard tonight in Edmonton, after a bout of freezing rain. Back at the make up, The Docs still aren't good enough. Travis think it's Nicole but as we're all thinking "It's not me, it's you." Maybe she's trying to insult him but that's her makeup skills at work. So she got herself with that one. Then the Exes figure out that while they are doing makeup and putting stuff on, they are getting smudges on each other's faces. So they clean up their hands, finish up and they're correct; they're done and off to the pitstop. Back at the tea field, the boys are in Hour 3. And they've found a snake. Yikes. And Leo pretends to find the shears, annoying his cousin. Meanwhile Travis looks terrible. But they notice how smudged their faces are. So they clean up and get done. Jamal decides to do a row that Leo missed and lo and behold, he finds the shears that he missed. And he's pissed. Very pissed. They are off to pitstop. It's a race and the Docs pass the Exes. And it seems the Exes cab is some kind of mellow monk. So no matter how much Marie yells at him, he's not going faster. And they're stuck behind a farm truck. The Docs pull way ahead. Back with the Afghanimals, Jamal is still giving Leo crap for his stupid mistake. He believes they'll be eliminated because of it. Was only a matter of time fellas with all the small mistakes you've made. But who knows, maybe you are close, maybe Tim and Marie's cab will go slower. Maybe it's non-elimination, which I think it is. But I've been wrong. Traffic hits and the Docs are slowed down enough to allow the Exes to catch up and pass. Obviously the Afghanimals aren't that close, and the pass by the Exes didn't get them that much time because Tim and Marie arrive the same times as the Docs. And they race down the stairs. Also, obvious that TAR: The Original Series, doesn't have the same rule as Amazing Race Canada about backpacks. In Amazing Race Canada, you have to have your pack within site of the pitstop. But both these teams are running down the stairs without their packs. Although the male teammates arrive at the same time, it's a race between the women. And Marie wins it. Although no worries because the Afghanimals are nowhere in sight. Until later. They arrive at the mat. And it's obvious that it's non-elimination because Phil tells they are the last team but instead of eliminating them, he asks them a question. The boys are lucky this time, too many small mistakes can hurt. And though Leo says first place is guaranteed in his final statement, it's obvious from the look on Jamal's face, that he's still pissed and not confident his cousin is pulling his weight. So next week, it's the two hour finale. And the first leg is one of my fav TAR locations, mostly because for a long time, they never went there for tasks. Yes, it's Japan and that is always crazy. Then off to Alaska for the final destination. I might be late with my recap cause it's also my birthday. But I'm old so it's probably gonna be a quiet weekend. |
Wayne ArthursonWayne Arthurson is a huge Amazing Race fan, having watched all the US, Asian, Australian and Canadian versions of the show. He's also a dad, the author of the bestselling Leo Desroches crime series and other books available here, as well as a freelance and ghost writer. Plus, he's played drums in various bands. Archives
November 2019
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