Second, these teams are trying to make it to the final 3, for a chance to win about $1 million dollars in cash and prizes. Nobody is going to get to there by being polite all the time. At some point in the race, the claws are going to come out. What a lot of people don't understand is that by this time, they have been filming for over 3 weeks. That is 3 weeks of very intensive filming.
Here is a short recap of the events:
- Brent and Sean finish the Detour at the Waste Management Centre first. Their cab waited for them.
- Gino and Jesse finish the Detour at the Waste Management Centre second after Sean and Brent. Nick & Matt and Simi and Ope are right behind.
- Gino and Jesse jump in the only cab that is there. They verbally acknowledge they know it is Nick and Matt's cab. Nick and Matt try to stop the cab. Gino offers the cabbie $40.
- Simi and Ope run inside and ask the attendant to call a cab and reserve it under the name "Simi." They leave before the attendant puts the call through.
- Nick and Matt run inside. (we do not see a call placed)
- Nick & Matt and Simi & Ope start walking towards the main road. A cab arrives. Nick and Matt jump in first. This cab driver does not have a reserved name.
- Another cab arrives and Simi and Ope jump in. This cab driver has a reserved name under Nick.
- Gino and Jesse defeat Simi and Ope in the Face Off for last place. Simi and Ope must serve a time penalty. Gino and Jesse take Simi and Ope's cab (verbally acknowledging it is Simi and Ope's cab).
- Brent and Sean finish the Roadblock at Kelly's Saloon first. There is only one cab sitting there and it is not their cab. They are not sure whose it is but have the cabbie call in for a replacement.
- From what I have read on Twitter last night and this morning, the locals who spoke up say this is normal behaviour for Edmonton taxis. There were even some who used these incidents as a pro-Uber platform.
- Can anyone expect a cabbie to "wait" for some unknown amount of time?
- In case you wonder why teams can't "share a cab"....each cab must carry a team plus two crew members. Yes, some people were wondering.
- It's not stealing. It's not cheating. And no, they don't "deserve a penalty" because there was no race rule broken. Sure, it's not nice to take someone else's cab...if Joe Schmo takes your cab when you are trying to get to work in rush hour. But then again, neither Joe Schmo nor you are in a contest to win a half million dollars.
- Why wasn't this a self-driving leg using a Chevy Silverado or similar sponsor car?
- Gino and Jesse knowingly "took" another team's cab...twice. And tipped the first cab 40 bucks.
- Nick and Matt got to the cab that had no reserve name on it first. They were aggressive enough to claim it.
- Perhaps Simi and Ope should have been more aggressive and just jumped right in the cab while Nick and Matt were putting their backpacks in the trunk.
- Brent and Sean also knowingly took another team's cab. I am not convinced that calling in for a replacement makes things right, especially when the next stop is the Pitstop. The next team could have easily finished the Kelly Saloon task before another cab showed up. They took the only cab that was sitting there for one reason, and one reason alone - to win the leg. What I am saying is don't vilify Gino, Jesse, Nick and Matt then praise Sean & Brent. They did the same thing.
- This is the penultimate episode. It's all or nothing. Even Sean and Brent said, "Go big or go home." There is no room for politeness, not even in Canada. No one is going to risk elimination by saying, "Go ahead and take this cab, we'll take the next one."
