PRIZE: A car each, a trip for two around the world, $250,000, and the title of TARC!
START LOCATION: Vancouver, British Columbia.
END LOCATION: Fort McMurray, Alberta.
THREE Express Passes were up for grabs this leg and I thought it was really fun how one team found them all! C’mon other teams, try harder! This weeks episode really focussed on the devastating fire that hit Fort McMurray in Alberta last year. And I know some people have complained about the locations, but I personally have loved seeing the different spots the teams get to travel to. With the “Canada 150” theme, Canadian viewers can resonate more and be proud of their country. It certainly beats Australia in many ways! On to the teams this week…
Team #1 – Megan & Courtney
DETOUR: Pump It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Courtney
Last Finished: 9/10
OMG the lovable goofballs did it!! Megan and Courtney were right, this was their leg. Making the biggest move this week, the Girls from the Bay jumped from last to first place! From the early lead at the ropes course, to putting out the fires (team work with Andrea and Ebonie) and then absolutely crushing it at the Phoenix Heli-Flight.
Both girls pulled their weight in the challenges, with Courtney flying through the ropes and Megan showing off her brainiac skills calculating fuel weight. I really loved this challenge as we don’t get to see too many math problems on the Race and being able to use a different cross-section of skills should be a part of it and not all about the physical challenges! And it didn’t even matter that Courtney had no idea what was happening, you only need one nerd in the team! Go girls!! After last week I had my doubts, but these girls proved me wrong and I really hope they can keep it up. If only there were more nerdy challenges on the Race! 😉
Team #2 – Andrea & Ebonie
DETOUR: Pump It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Andrea
Last Finished: 7/10
Okay, wow! Andrea and Ebonie have proved to us they are strong and have learned from their penalty mistake. They flew through all the challenges and only came unstuck on the fuel weight calculation test. The girls seem like a lot of fun and have a positive energy which can only help them on the Race. So, I was proved wrong from last week, but I still don’t know how many more legs these ladies can survive. They definitely have the mental chops, so if they keep it up they could be underdogs to win this thing!
Team #3 – Sam & Paul
DETOUR: Pump It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Paul
Last Finished: 4/10
My fave boys of the Race again showed us they are right up there with the leaders of the pack, but not seen as too huge a threat, yet! Their screen time has been minimal so far, but there are some big characters this season overshadowing them; this doesn’t mean they won’t go far! I still have high hopes for these guys and maybe they’ll be able to reach first place soon. Also, Sam being a finance guy has got me liking this team more. Stay within reach of the top, boys!
Team #4 – Karen & Bert
DETOUR: Pump It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Karen
Last Finished: 6/10
Middle of the pack Karen and Bert are starting to ramp it up on the Race. Another team I didn’t really give a chance last week, they’ve been able to work together well, albeit the screaming at the Pump It Detour. So Karen was a little slow on the Rope Course, but she ain’t no spring chicken! I still think Bert may be a ticking time bomb and their game will implode sometime soon. But we shall have to wait and see if I’m right or wrong. It might come later than I thought as they now have an Express Pass!
Team #5 – Kenneth & Ryan
DETOUR: Pump It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Kenneth
Last Finished: 1/10
KENNETH AND RYAN YOU’RE TEAM NUMBER… five. Woah, these guys started the leg strong and fell into a slump. The Ropes Course looked a whole lot of fun, especially for Kenneth who was on a winning streak (and he says he’s not usually a lucky guy) finding all three Express Passes! The only thing that irked me was Kenneth yelling out loud about finding it, like dude, seriously quieten down!! But, that’s not how Kenneth rolls. It’s a little hard to figure out if he was genuinely excited and needed to scream it out, or if he was being totally obnoxious about it. Either way, the Roadblock referee let everyone know that all the EPs were taken anyway so it didn’t make too much a difference.
Team Giver’s downfall is definitely math, and it showed. They struggled with the calculations and I was surprised they didn’t trade an EP earlier. Choosing Karen and Bert was perfect as they aren’t seen too much of a threat for them. And they still have one more EP to leverage with other teams. Fun stuff! I don’t think this slip in placings will hurt Team Giver too much and they will bounce back again in the next leg.
Team #6 – Zed & Shabbir
DETOUR: Pull It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Shabbir
Last Finished: 5/10
The cute father and son duo only dropped one place this week, I just hope they don’t slip further down the field. But with Zeb’s physical abilities and Shabbir’s smarts fearless approach to every challenge, I think this team will be just fine. My favourite part for them this week was when they did the shooting Detour. Shabbir thinking Zeb had never shot a gun before…
They just seem to love life and each other so much, more Zeb and Shabbir please!!
Team #7 – Adam & Andrea
DETOUR: Pull It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Andrea
Last Finished: 3/10
OMG guys, what happened!? I still stand by my thoughts from last week and think this team are tops. Their failure to navigate themselves to the Roadblock was a huge learning curve as I don’t think they’ll rely on other teams in future like that. They lost so much time by not taking the time to finding out where they actually needed to be. Nevertheless none of the following challenges seemed to phase them that much and they got through them pretty easy. And can I just point out how bad-ass Andrea was at the Detour, girl shoots better than her bro 😉 These guys will be back near the top soon, just wait!
Team #8 – Korey & Ivana
DETOUR: Pull It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Korey
Last Finished: 2/10
Aww man, another team who killed it in the first leg then hit a wall this week. One of the last teams at the Rope Course, it was evident all the close clues had been taken and Korey probably had to rip through the course to find his own. Because of the slow start their Detour and Calculation challenges were also pushed back, but with their competition being Dan and Riya I honestly didn’t think they’d come last (sorry Dan and Riya)! Ivana also had two personal montages, her backstory moving to the USA from her war-torn home country and also being a teacher, so this makes me think the PTs still have some Race legs in them. I expect more to come from them in coming weeks. I still think they’re a force!
Team #9 – Dan & Riya
DETOUR: Pull It
ROADBLOCK: Ropes Course – Riya
Last Finished: 8/10
The team I was most right about last week, Dan and Riya were eliminated this week. Stunt casting normally doesn’t impress me, so personally I don’t see them leaving as a huge loss. They were at the back of the pack to begin with, along with the above two teams, and unfortunately always fell a a step behind in every challenge. As Dan said, he and Riya are best friends (which is awesome) and will have more content for their YouTube pages now so I hope it works out well for them!
Blog by Lynda Olson.
ALL IMAGES USED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE COPYRIGHT CTV TELEVISION NETWORK. THIS IS A PERSONAL BLOG AND ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN.
