The Amazing Race Canada Recap of Episode 4 "Grab a Nug"

Gee, was I right or what?

The teams set off from Horse Thief Canyon in Alberta
Hal and Joanne 2:10 a.m.
Darren and Kristen 2:38 a.m.
Jet and Dave 3:23 a.m.
Vanessa and Celina 3:50 a.m.
Holly and Brett 4:30 a.m.
Jody and Cory (their start time is not shown)
Tim and Tim 4:37 a.m.

They must make their way to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The first flight out is not until 6 a.m. which allows all the teams to catch up with first place team Hal and Joanne, even though 2 1/2 hours separated them at the start. For some ridiculous reason, Vanessa and Celina  get it in their heads they have to cut to the front of the line. Perhaps they don't understand what an Express Pass is. Why? What I mean is...WHY? What did it gain them to do this? Not a thing. Sure, you can argue it's part of the race. BUT the girls didn't just cut in front of other teams. I guess they didn't consider the other dozen or so regular people who had to get up in the wee hours of the morning to catch their flight. Bad, bad form. Sure they asked the first people in line if they could sneak in. Doesn't matter. What about the others? Must have been the presence of the camera.

In Yellowknife, they must make their way to the Bush Pilots' Monument. The Route Marker here instructs them to go to the Government dock on Great Slave Lake. Everyone gets lost...they go north instead of south. How this is possible is beyond me. It's as if they were all looking at their maps upside down. From there, they must make their way 1/2 km along a path on the ice to the Roadblock, "Who wants to do a whole lot of shaking?" It's a Polar Bear Dip into a whole cut into the ice. And, there are a whole lot of rowdy onlookers sitting around the hole to cheer the dippers on.  They must jump in and get the clue at the other end, about 10 feet away.

Holly - Brett insists that she does this. Wrong, Brett...it's your turn. Holly did the line dancing in Calgary. He says to her, "You knew this was coming, Holl, you knew this was coming." So I am kind of thinking they pre-planned certain challenges, and maybe practised. Whatever. Well, at least he says she looks hot in her one piece swimsuit. Holly jumps in and swims to the other end to get the next clue.
Cory - he jumps in right to the other end, then he's out in record time. Forget something Cory? Like the clue? He has to do it again.
Hal - Jumps in, gets the clue, no problem.
Dave - does it easily
Tim Jr - Tim Sr tells him to push his way in....in front of Dave, who was there first. Maybe Dave shouldn't have dawdled so much. Anyway, the rowdies start booing. Where were these people back at the Calgary airport to boo Vanessa and Celina. Tim backs off and lets Dave have his turn.
Celina - goes for a swim with only a bit of hesitation.
Darren - he volunteered instead of Kristen, even though it was her turn for a Roadblock.

They must make their way back to the airport where they have to sign up for one of three chartered flights to Carcross in the Yukon. The flights are 20 minutes apart. The sign up board is right beside the tall red and yellow race flag in front of the hangar. Kind of easy to spot. The Docs and Jet & Dave are on the first flight. Jet says "Are we working with Brett and Holly now?" Dave answers with a thumbs down. The Tims sign in for the second flight. When Jody and Cory get there, Cory signs in for the third flight, not seeing the second space for the 2nd flight. Hal and Joanne run inside the Hangar to ask Cory and Jody where the board is. Cory directs them to it. Hal and Joanne sign in on that empty space for flight 2. Would have done the same thing. This leads to the awkward moment for Episode 4. Cory asks Hal if they can make it right, pointing out the fact that Hal and Joanne would have run around the hangar looking for the board had he not helped them. (don't know about that, it was right outside the door). All Hal can say is "it's part of the game". Joanne lets us know that "If it was me, I wouldn't expect another team to correct my mistake". It is interesting that there is an erased blur mark under Jody and Cory's name on the board. Obviously, Hal and Joanne signed in under the guys, saw the mistake, and signed in for flight 2 correctly. So if they could see the mistake, then why not Jody and Cory? A lot of the teams are making dumb mistakes. Vanessa & Celina run past the board and go into the office. Everyone just needs to friggin calm down. The girls and Darren & Kristen are on the 3rd flight with Jody & Cory. The guys realize their predicament...these other 2 teams have Express Passes.

Carcross is one of the sites of the Yukon Gold Rush in 1896. They must make their way to the next Route Marker - at an historical steam engine named The Duchess. This task is a Detour: "Yukon Supply Run" OR "Klondike Gold Rush". The Yukon Supply Run consists of making a raft out out oil drums, wood and rope. They must then load it with crates and paddle out on Lake Bennett to retrieve their clue, go back to shore and unload the supplies. "Klondike Gold Rush" involves 3 tasks: cross saw a large log; hit a target on a log with a hatchet; and retrieve 5 gold nuggets from an obstacle course - but with a catch. One team member must sit in a wheelbarrow while their partner, blindfolded, must shout out directions.

Holly and Brett - do the raft. They explain, once again, that they intend to do "mental" challenges rather than physical ones. Yeah, that strategy almost got them eliminated in Drumheller. One word....bones. Brett always seems to do these challenges a bit awkward. This time he decides to lay down to paddle. It looked kind of painful along with all the awkward. I don't think these guys get out much. Well, they are doctors.  Did they mention that? I forget.

Jet and Dave decide to do the 3 event Gold Rush thing. They let us know that they grab nugs all the time, so this

The Nug Grab. Probably not real gold. Just FYI.

challenge is perfect for them. No comment. Oh and one more thing. Jet lets us know he is some kind of body-building model, and we get shots of him all tanned and oiled up in a wee little Speedo. I am not sure how this ties into the nug grab, but,...oh wait. Forget it. They breeze through the challenges, with a touch of comedy of course.

Meanwhile....the Tims must pay the piper for their last place in the previous leg with a Speed Bump. They have to memorize and recite the first 4 verses (or the first 2 stanzas, as I said) of Robert W. Service's The Shooting of Dan McGrew. You know that poem..."A bunch of the boys were whooping it up at the Malamute Saloon...?".Yeah that poem. There are 3 characters sitting at a table drinking: Robert Service, and whom I presume are Dan McGrew and The Stranger from the poem. But no Lou. Seems to be a pretty easy task. They get it after 3 tries. But I think they should have made it a little harder. Maybe Dan McGrew and the Stranger could have fired their guns every once in a while. Just didn't look like anyone was "whooping it up".

Hal & Joanne and the Tims, now caught up, do the Gold Rush portion of the Detour. The last 3 teams arrive. Vanessa and Celina decide its Express Pass time. Smart move, but now they have nothing to fall back on. Jody and Cory do the Gold Rush task too, but then there's Darren and Kristen. They get it in their heads to do the raft challenge and not use the Express Pass, seemingly for the sole reason that paddling is what they do. That would have been fine IF you didn't give that damn second pass to Vanessa and Celina. So it's basically going to be a race to see who can finish their tasks first - Jody & Cory or Darren & Kristen.

They have to take ATVs and drive out into the Carcross Desert (aka sand dune), then take a rather long run to the mat. Jon is waiting there with a woman dressed as a saloon dancer. Wait, there she is...is that supposed to be Lou? Here's the finish:

Jet and Dave - 1st. They win an all expense trip to Cancun, Mexico.
Holly and Brett - 2nd. They didn't even have to cheat this time.
Hal and Joanne - 3rd.
Vanessa and Celina - 4th. They drop their backpacks before the last dune. Jon can't check them in without the backpacks and makes the girls go back and retrieve them. But, here comes their rivals, the Tims. Somehow the girls get the backpacks and beat the Tims to the mat.
Tim and Tim - 5th. They hug the girls. Have they stopped the bickering? Probably not. Maybe the Tims were just happy to learn that the girls used that Express Pass.
Jody and Cory - 6th. Jody has a very hard time running in the sand, but once again he hangs in there.
Darren and Kristen - 7th. Eliminated. I just don't understand why they didn't use that pass. Almost as if they just gave up. They walk away...Kristen says, "Let's just stay here", and Darren answers, "Just find some hippies with a campground"

***Look on my home page on Friday, for a preview, with spoilers, of Episode 5 in Regina. There will be another unexpected elimination next week.***