‘The Amazing Race Canada 2’ episode 3 review: A detour debacle
Choosing the right detour is extremely important on any version of “The Amazing Race”; just one wrong move can get you far behind, and sometimes it may even be with you doing a pretty good job figuring the challenge out.
That’s why we are coming into this review for “The Amazing Race Canada” with mixed emotions. It was the first time that the show has ventured outside of Canada, and we did appreciate how the show tried to connect Hong Kong back by incorporating facts about the foreign population in the city and also bringing in Alvin Leung of “MasterChef Canada” fame. However, this challenge built around bringing food back to Leung was so difficult that even a team who did it perfectly was going to still be behind almost everyone who chose the kung fu detour.
We put this much of the blame on production, since ideally the goal of a detour is to have two tasks that, when done absolutely perfectly, are at least close to taking the same amount of time. This does only occasionally happen, but usually you at least do not have challenges where you can struggle at kung fu and still finish before someone who does a pretty good job collecting ingredients.
With that being said, we still put a little bit of blame on Sukhi & Jinder and Laura & Jackie for picking this detour over the kung fu, given that there is a basic “Amazing Race” rule you should follow: Always avoid, if possible, tasks where you have to rely on either other people or animals for help. It’s always better from our vantage point to be the author of your own fate. (Wow, did we really just quote Brandon Hantz in this?) You don’t want to go home because your “ox is broken,” or you can’t find someone who speaks English.
There were also a few other questionable things in this episode, starting with Natalie & Meghan strangely using their Express Pass when they were in the top three, and not in any danger at all of going home. Maybe they just wanted to win another prize, or burn it so that they’re not cursed by it later. Either way, we feel like they would’ve probably been in first without it in the end and it was a waste for them to give it up now. They may have needed it somewhere down the line.
Also, can we just pretend that the posing in front of the Bruce Lee thing never happened? If we were in Hong Kong watch that touristy debacle, we’d shake our head and run the other direction.
While most of this sounds negative and Jon Montgomery’s casual banter still needs a little work, we’re still loving this season. The teams are great, with the hockey players, Mickey & Pete, and the trainwreck that is Rex & Bob (who managed to blunder their way into seventh despite leaving Hong Kong’s airport in first place) being our current favorites. Also, watching people do a gross food challenge like eating snake soup is always fun for us. We also appreciate the generally-positive tone of the show, how everyone is featured in the editing, and the overall sense of Canadian pride that the American version doesn’t always give us about its own country. Grade: B.
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Photo: CTV