To be sure, when TAR Canada goes international, we see what the show can be. We've seen glimpses of that from Season 2-4 (though the first season was pretty solid) with teams and tasks but for the show to truly fulfill its potential, it would be great to have, if not a completely international season like other versions, but at least one where international legs outnumber Canadian ones. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening with grants stipulations that might say they must shoot in Canada X Number of episodes. I haven't confirmed this but since I've also be recipient of grants and sat on grant juries in Canada, I get a sense this is part of their grant. And there's the budget. I don't know for sure how much CTV gives Insight to produce TARC but I'm pretty sure it's a lot less than what other networks, especially CBS, budget.
Anyway, teams leave Vancouver Island and head to Jakarta via the route I outlined above. They have to sign up to witness some morning dance which is just one way to get teams to get a night's sleep after the flight. Then it's off to a port to load a pile of spiky Durian fruit in a box on a boat. Classic fill the box task, a bit hard due to the heat, the spiky fruit and the need to cross wooden gangway. The real difficulty though is the classic cab driver who can't speak English and may not know where he's going but he's not going to tell cause: 1. He doesn't speak English; 2. He's not going to lose this fare of tourists. So the Coaches and Edmonchuks (Todd and Anna's new nickname from me) are lost. They get to the port while many of the teams are leaving or already left.
Off to a bird market where there is a Double U-Turn. And to protect our heroes identity, it's a blind one, a first for TARC. No doubt so heroes can do bad stuff and not lose face to other teams. Nancy is giddy beyond belief about this prospect but I get the sense she's U-Turn people regardless. She's a tough competitor, keen to win and I like that in a racer. But for some reason, they U-Turn Martina and Phil. And while I think they're a great team, I wouldn't put them up with one of the strongest. I'd pick another one, like Todd and Anna, which are U-Turned by Team Navy.
They have to do both Detours, one involving sewing (a style to task we've seen before) and another involving cleaning a snake and then undergoing a traditional treatment. The snake cleaning is basic, I've held snakes before and so has Gord. We'd probably pick this one. But the treatment, which teams are unaware of until they get there, is for each team member to have a leech, well, leech blood from your arm for five minutes. Ack, I hate leeches. I have a memory of getting one of my leg from a lake as a kid. And then my dad puffing on his cigarette to get it really hot and then holding it close to my leg to get the leech off. Ahhhh, trauma. But that's how they did it in the army.
This was a solid task but it's a classic Detour where one side, save for the leeches, seems a bit easier than the others. Which is why all the teams, except the ones U-Turned, chose it instead of sewing. Gord can sew too to that side would be no problem for me.
After the Detour, teams head to a teatre where it's a Roadblock. The clue is cryptic, something about being handy but it's actually a hand dance. It looks like a neat dance but really, the second choreography task and we're only in the 4th episode? TARC relies way too much on choreography tasks, please try something a bit more original. As expected some racers do better than others, including those with choreography experience (cheerleaders, Mounties? and Phil who spent a lot of his childhood break dancing. Wonder if he can beat box?) Phil really came into his own this leg, showing that he's not just Martina's straight man. Though there's nothing wrong with a straight man.
In the end, Team Conflict of Int-, I mean the Argo Cheerleaders, win the leg. Team Edmonchuk, Todd and Anna are unable to bounce back from the U-Turn, struggle with the hand dance and come in last. Eliminated. Sad to see them go cause they were strong but solid move by Team Navy to U-Turn them.
Next week, back to Canada. Sigh. I mean I love my country but it would be nice for the race to stay out another leg before coming home. Off to Stratford, another trip to southern Ontario for TARC (again, sigh) and what looks to be another choreography task. Sorry, I've run out of sighs. But I hope not. It would really suck to already have three such tasks and we're not even halfway through the season. Whether Gord and I do a video this week is up in the air. He's super frickin' busy. If we do one, you'll know. If not, oh well