‘The Amazing Race Canada 4’ episode 5 review: Three cheers for Lowell
There were many interesting things that happened when it comes to Tuesday night’s new episode of “The Amazing Race Canada,” especially when it comes to the placement of teams. We had one team go from first to last, and then another go from last to (almost) first. Also, we had a man with extremely low vision being a total badass on the Roadblock.
Let’s be real: We don’t think Julie & Lowell have much of a tangible shot at winning the race. They’re always near the back of the pack. Yet, they seem like totally sweet people, and we live for Lowell’s facial expressions. He seems like he tells really good dad jokes for one, and we admit that as someone with very poor vision ourselves, we feel a sort of kindred spirit with him. Seeing him using what little eyesight he had in Prince Rupert to complete the log-moving task was pretty darn inspiring, especially since he never got angry or discouraged, or questioning the producers for including something like this. The Race never accommodates for anyone, so it’s nice to see him take the bull by the horns and stay alive, even if he and his wife end up getting eliminated soon.
The team who did go home this week was Kelly & Kate, who showed this season that they are great at racing everyone other than in their home country. They finished in last place on two out of the three Canada legs, and averaged 2nd on the two legs in Vietnam. This was a prime example that sometimes, one task can do you in. They struggled so much with the puzzle in Haidi Gwaii that they couldn’t catch up, and we’re really not sure how close it really was with them and Julie & Lowell.
On the flip side, let’s talk winners. Steph & Kristen won their first leg this season after getting off to a great start, and they continue to show the sort of qualities you’d want in a winner of this show. We’re not sure that they are as hyper-intense as Jillian & Emmett, and while that may be an disadvantage about 10% of the time, the other 90% it may be an edge since being able to relax can be essential to going far on this show. We’re still worried that lying over the Express Pass will come back to bite them, but at the same time they’re so good at racing that they’d be a U-Turn threat regardless.
As a whole, this was a very strong episode even without a Detour attached. There were still some challenges, and we got a chance to see a very different part of Canada that we’ve never seen explored on TV before. Like with Yellowknife, though, we’d almost prefer that they spent the entire leg in Haida Gwaii just so that we could continue to see a little more of the beautiful area. We also have some very strong racers on this season; while Steph & Kristen and Jillian & Emmett are both strong contenders to win, we are not completely ruling out people like Joel & Ashley, who have won a leg and have showed that they can do a wide variety of tasks.
Oh, and we still love Julie & Lowell. Episode Grade: A-.
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