Two men read a card.

The Amazing Race Canada: Squishing in Saskatoon

First, my apologies to those of you expected an Amazing Race Canada review last week. I took a week-long holiday and was, literally, off the grid. And second, after finally watching it, what’s with so many teams opting to take time penalties? To me, taking the penalty is a last-ditch decision, not gameplay.

Irina and Dave, Trish and Amy and Meaghan and Marie all skipped “Clamageddon,” which was a real shame. The fun of The Amazing Race Canada is watching teams compete … not sit on the sidelines. (Meanwhile, Aarthy and Thinesh and Anthony and James are showing what teamwork can do.) With Sarah and Sam landing in first place last week—and Meaghan and Marie eliminated—the remaining teams headed to Saskatoon.

It was nice to see a different team in the lead heading into this Leg and the athletes were hoping their “brave” mantra wound serve them well; Lauren and Joanne hoped their hometown would give them an advantage. Meanwhile, Dave and Irina continue to have targets on their backs and called a quick meeting at the Nanaimo airport for everyone to talk. It did not go well, however, and teams left even more fractured than before.

A woman and a man walk.Teams headed to the Canadian Light Source with Anthony and James in the top spot. Once there, they were instructed to journey to the Nutrien Cory Potash Mine. At the mine, teams went a kilometre below the surface to hang and seal ventilation curtains. Anthony and James have had recent experience hanging plastic thanks to some home renovations, so they worked fairly quickly and completed the task first, followed by hometown girls Lauren and Joanne and Sarah and Sam. Aarthy and Thinesh, who had an Express Pass to use, were struggling.

Next up: a trip to the local Shell station to fill up and get those ever-important tear-inducing messages and clues from home. Then, teams travelled to Champêtre County Vacation Ranch for the Detour. Here, squads could either Dance in a Square (calling square dance moves and dancing) or Walk in Circles (find ornamental corn hidden in a massive barn board maze). Anthony and James entered maze (I would have chosen that too), as did Lauren and Joanne, Sarah and Sam and everyone else. Dave and Irina chose Dance in a Square … and then, rightly, switched to do the maze instead. Trish and Amy chose to dance/call too and stuck with it.

Anthony and James whipped through the maze fairly quickly—I wonder if Anthony’s height was an advantage?—and they moved on in first place.

Two women read words on a card.At Victoria Park, teams participated in lacrosse with the Saskatchewan Rush, first passing the ball to each other and then hitting two of four targets. Again, Anthony and James completed the task quickly and departed while everyone else was still back at the ranch. Sam and Sarah exited in second place to look for Jon, with Dave and Irina in hot pursuit.

The Leg’s Pit Stop was located at the Remai Modern Art Museum, and with over 15 minutes of broadcast left, that meant teams were going to really struggle. That was proven correct by Lauren and Joanne, who kept heading back towards the entrance rather than finding the exit. Aarthy and Thinesh did the same thing, which kept them towards the back of the pack.

Anthony and James completed the Leg in pole position, scoring a trip to Costa Rica and free gas for a year. They were followed by Sarah and Sam and Irina and Dave. It came down to a footrace between Aarthy and Thinesh and Trish and Amy, with the former arriving just ahead of the latter, giving the moms … yet another chance because it a non-elimination Leg. The pair will have to complete an additional challenge next week.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:

  1. Anthony and James
  2. Sarah and Sam
  3. Irina and Dave
  4. Lauren and Joanne
  5. Aarthy and Thinesh
  6. Trish and Amy (non-elimination Leg)

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.


2 thoughts on “The Amazing Race Canada: Squishing in Saskatoon”

  1. Seeing as TAR Canada cannot really do culture-clash language barrier struggles with the lack of international legs, and they typically cast for “inspirational” stories (Anthony and James were pretty much pleased asked to audition by production) that avoid the inter-team drama (Dave & Irina an obvious exception this year), that leaves task drama so the perception is the tasks are very difficult which creates the penalty as a strategy angle. Had the time came in then the task would have become literally impossible; and if I remember correctly, it took A & J, T & A over 4 hours so over double the penalty time anyway. And apparently if it wasn’t for the local advantage knowing Goats on Roof the Roadblock would have slowed them down even more.

    This leg was a bit weaker then the last few. So-so tasks and the maze while it looked like a cool Survivor challenge, was much quicker then the dance just from the description of the Detour.

    Knew it was probably a non-elim with only 6 teams left and only midway through the episodes.

  2. How about your prizes are trips or holidays or excursions to places in Canada?
    Do you need some suggestions?

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