‘The Amazing Race Canada’ episode 7 review: An emotional trek through Normandy
The previews for Tuesday night’s “The Amazing Race Canada” episode made it abundantly clear from the get-go that we were looking at one of the most emotional ones that we’ve ever seen. After watching it, this is more clear than ever. In between going to Normandy and visiting the cemetery where many of those who fought in the battle now rest, this was an hour bursting at the seams with Canadian pride.
The most interesting thing is that somehow, they managed to combine this history with the competitive race without making anything feel exploitative or unnatural. Everything in the episode worked, and we credit the cast for some of that. They could have easily been jerks and not treated the final part of this leg with the care it deserves, but they didn’t.
Away from the emotional part of the hour, there still was a whole lot that was done right in here. The challenges were mostly entertaining and had to do with the region, from drink-making to horse-braining to even studying up on history. There were also some interesting strategic moves made along the way. For example, Ryan & Rob had a terribly day, but what is they hadn’t helped out Mickey & Pete at the Roadblock? Could they have had a larger cushion? The “long hair, don’t care” of this season (a reference to James & Abba) ended up surging to third place, while Ryan & Rob got so lost the entire leg that it didn’t even matter how physically capable they are.
That is one of the most interesting things about this season: Being athletic really has been secondary to teamwork and working hard. It was Natalie & Meghan’s determination and smarts that led to them getting back in first place much more than any athletic ability that they had.
In the end, though, we were hoping to a non-elimination leg to close this off, given that it would have felt very wrong to have a heartbreaking end to what was already a somber episode. Lucky, Ryan & Rob were safe thanks to this, and they may be able to recover from this. Grade: A-.
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Photo: CTV