‘The Amazing Race Canada 2’ episode 8 review: Don’t call it karma…
We’re a little late on this “The Amazing Race Canada 2” review (blame some wonky scheduling for TV shows this week for that), but in this case, we really feel like it was worth the wait.
What an embarrassment of riches we have this summer with the franchise! While the recent episode of “The Amazing Race: Australia vs. New Zealand” created one of the finest hours in Africa that we’ve ever seen for the franchise, this journey through Paris was almost its equal. You had a surprise finish, a marriage proposal that felt genuine, and some other great character moments.
Before we say too much else, though, let’s stop it with all the “karma” claims that Pierre & Michel got what they deserved after U-Turning Alain & Audrey. There’s no such thing as karma in a competition to win a million bucks. Did we think that it was a dumb move for them to use the U-Turn in this instance? Sure. They were pretty far ahead of the pack at the time, and our feeling is that you only want to use it on a team if you are either in danger of going home at the time, or if you are sure that they won’t come back to haunt you. Thanks to the fact that nobody else had been U-Turned at the time, we wouldn’t have done it since someone else U-Turned later would likely be on the same playing field as them.
Sure, this would have looked like a smart move if Alain & Audrey struggled making a work of art out of Mentos, but they didn’t. This episode was proof that a Roadblock can really change everything, and we imagine that Pierre & Michel probably just had a single piece wrong that they couldn’t find. These two, most likely, will never eat Mentos again. They cannot blame anyone other than themselves; thanks to the way that they did the race, nobody was willing to help them, and that may have otherwise changed the game. That, coupled with bad art skills, is the reason for their exit.
Elsewhere, it is great that Sukhi & Jinder still have to face off against Ryan & Rob despite their attempts to stop them with the U-Turn. We at least understand this decision more; they were not as far ahead at the time, and they probably thought that this, coupled with a Speed Bump, could get a physically strong team out of the race.
The real beneficiary of all this was Mickey & Pete, who got so lost that nobody paid any attention to them at all. How these two continually make big mistakes and still finish third is kind of hilarious, kind of like how obvious it seems right now that Natalie & Meghan are going to win. For those wondering if they are shattering any records, our recollection is that Rachel & Dave from season 20 of the American version are the most successful team that we’ve ever seen with eight first-place finishes (including the finale). This is at least from the three versions of the show that we’ve watched. (We haven’t see the “Asia” version, or the ones in other languages.)
In the end, Alain & Audrey are engaged, two teams so far have survived Speed Bumps, and we also have plenty of rivalries remaining still on the show. Not bad for a great episode of the show. This has to be one of the most exciting hours that we’ve ever seen of the Canadian show, and we can only hope that they keep it up. Grade: A.
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Photo: CTV