Recap of Episode 3 "Snakes and Liars" Amazing Race Canada 2

Snakes and Liars. Where's the snake and who is this liar? There are actually lots of snakes with 2 liars in a doorway.

The teams set out from Tofino full of excitement as they open their first clue to find out they

Jinder is overstimulated. Again.

are on their way to Hong Kong. Jinder - who seems to have just got over his excitement of being on the Amazing Race Canada, now has to deal with the fact they are on their way to China. He's so excited he has to stop to tell the cameraman. I would tell him he needs to calm down, but he is way too fun to watch. They must make their way to the Tian Tan Buddha perched high atop a peak on Lantau Island and are given $440 spending money for this leg on their Scotia Bank card.

Recap of Amazing Race Canada 2 Premiere Episode "What's It Take To Get A Cup Of Tea?"

I expected Jon to be a lumberjack too. No dress, just tea.

These teams are beasts! BEASTS I say!

What a great premiere for season 2. Of course, I pretty much knew everything that was going down, but spoilers can only give you the basics and can't tell you all the details. I suspected this was going to be a fast moving episode and wondered how they were going to fit it all in. All things considered, this really should have been a 90 minute episode. Cramming it all into the one hour format does nothing for us getting to know these teams. That's my only complaint.

I am not going to give a blow by blow recap for this or the next couple of episodes. The show just jumps back and forth too much in between tasks with the teams, so the result would just be gibberish. There are just so many times I can say "meanwhile back at the ___". I am just going to tell you how teams placed after each task, then point out team strengths and weaknesses, and who impressed me/who didn't.

The Amazing Race Canada Preview of Episode 5 'Death by Lentils' + Spoilers

Six teams now remain. Will there be another elimination this week, and if so, who will it be? Continue reading to find out.

The teams fly from Whitehorse, Yukon to Regina, Saskatchewan. Quite a long trip, with 2 connecting flights. Once in Regina, they will be in for a very tough leg. They must make their way to Saskcan, a grain plant just outside of Regina. Teams must dig through bins of lentils to find a Route Marker clue. Sounds easy enough, right? Holly has a meltdown after banging her head on the bin's crossbar. Something about her not being able to take this shit anymore. Well, it was some sort of psychological episode - I don't know about that kind of stuff. You would have to ask a doctor. Oh wait. Ask Holly and Brett! Did you know they are doctors?

Jet: "Ready for my inspection, sir!"

The clue they find here gets them runnin' back to...Regina. Sorry Saskatoon. It directs them to a Roadblock at the R.C.M.P. Heritage Centre. One person from each team must attend an R.C.M.P. Boot Camp. The inspector puts them through their paces. He's a formidable looking man, dressed to perfection in that incredible red uniform and carrying a horse whip. They must dress in cadet uniforms, and are then given inspections. There is a quick shot of their lockers getting rifled through...clothes and belongings getting the heave-ho. Jet seems to take it in stride - probably because he is a cop, and he's been there, done that. It should be easy for him, as long as he keeps it together and doesn't have too much fun with it. Besides, how can anyone intimidate a guy with muscles like that? I mean really. Hopefully Jody will do this one....he would have the discipline for it that's for sure. Brett will probably do this one, but I can see him trying to pawn it off again on Holly. I expect to see Joanne doing this, just because it's her turn for a Road Block. Tim Sr. seems a bit put off when he gets chewed out. Celina is reduced to tears or at least reduced to wet eye. Why? Maybe she broke a nail or didn't have hospital corners on her bedsheets or something, who knows. The inspector tells Celina, "In the Mounted Police, we don't cry". Ouch.

There's a Detour at the Saskatchewan Roughriders' Mosaic Stadium. It's a choice between learning a cheerleading
routine OR a series of football training exercises: kicking a field goal; tire obstacles; blah, blah blah.  Hmmn, that's easy, right? Ah...nope. It's going to be a son of a bitch. Jody and Cory do very well at the football portion. That's pretty much a given if you've ever seen their audition video. You can bet on Vanessa and Celina getting overly excited about the cheerleading, just because it sounds easier. It won't be. Jet and Dave could probably do either task, seeing as how Dave is a champion cheerleader. Hal & Joanne and the Tims also do football. As for Holly and Brett, there is no getting around their strategy of picking mental challenges before physical ones here - so they pick football. I suspect some teams will whine, some will cry, and there will be a lot of "Holl...Holl...Holl" and "Go, go, go" from Brett.

Double U-Turn: It's how you spell 'revenge'

Another thing to expect here is a 'Double U-Turn'. What, you ask, is that? Well a U-Turn occurs after teams finish one portion of a Detour. The first team to finish their Detour task is given an opportunity to force one of the other teams to go back and complete the other task in the Detour. If they don't U-Turn another team, it can be offered to the next team, and so on. 'Double" simply means that there are two U-Turns being offered. If a team is U-Turned, their picture is displayed on the board, along with a picture of the team that screwed them over. So basically, you have to really hate another team, consider them a huge threat, or feel like you may be eliminated. Unless it's a Double Secret U-Turn (not to be confused with a double secret probation like in Animal House). The secrecy part of it means you can just screw over any team you want. The U-Turn Board is located in the upper level of the stadium.

I think it's safe to say that at least one team will get U-Turned here, if not two. There has been enough resentment and dirty tricks for several of the teams to have big targets on their backs. It will be a test to see just how polite Canadians really are - will any of them say they're sorry? There was a nice shot in the preview at the end of last week's episode of Hal & Joanne trying to beat Holly & Brett up to the U-Turn board. Looks like it's going to get a bit dirty.

There is another task in front of Regina City Hall involving Ukrainian dancers. Probably another Roadblock with teams having to learn a few dance moves.

The Pit Stop for this leg is at Wascana Lake in the middle of Regina. There better be a frigging Mountie standing next to Jon on that mat. How Canadian would that be? If for no other reason than me being able to call them 'Monty and the Mountie'. And one thing is for sure, Monty needs to have that pitcher of beer, these teams are going to need it at the end of this leg.

As for the eliminated team, ...are you ready for this? You may want to sit down.

Yep, I am afraid that it's the end of the road for fan favs Hal and Joanne. They had a pretty damn good run. I am sure a lot of people are going to be calling it karma for taking advantage of Cory's mistake at the charter sign up in the last episode. Or for daring to say unkind things about Vanessa and Celina's eyelashes. Nope! Despite all those years of BodyBreakin', I'm sad to say the Detour will do them in. They may have even been U-Turned. And you know what their last words to Jon will be, don't you? Keep fit and have fun!

Amazing Race Canada Preview and Spoilers for Episode 4 'Grab a Nug'

This looks like its going to be another good episode, with a lot going on. Hold on to your seats - I think we're in for a bumpy ride! There are spoilers here, including who gets eliminated. You have been warned.

The teams will fly from Calgary to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Remember the finish order from the last leg:

Hal and Joanne
Darren and Kristen
Jet and Dave
Vanessa and Celina
Jody and Cory
Holly and Brett
Tim Sr and Tim Jr

Well, apparently Vanessa and Celina must have decided to step up their dirty game, or they think an Express Pass is for priority seating. At the airport, they cut right to the front of the line. Not just ahead of the other teams, mind you, but ahead of regular passengers. Jet and Dave are at the back of the line. Now I don't know about you, but if that was me standing in line, I would have raised holy hell. Canadians take a lot of joking about being so polite, but no Canadian would let that one go. Surely at least one of the dozen or so people in line had to speak up. There are three things that get us Cannucks riled up: getting your car dinged by some A-hole; someone having more than 8 items in the express lane at the grocery store; and someone cutting in front of you in a service line. Perhaps it was the cameras that kept them from yelling "Hey what the hell do you think you're friggin' doing???" - maybe they realized it was Amazing Race and didn't want to look bad on camera or something.... I don't know. See, it's things like this that makes me wonder if there wasn't perhaps just a bit of producer-driven manipulation here. Just saying.

The first Roadblock is a polar bear dip into a hole cut through the ice on Great Slave Lake. Keep in mind this was filmed just before mid-May. The air temperature was 7.5 C. Double it and add 32...it's about 47 F, for all you Americans out there (you're welcome). God only knows what temperature the water was. No dive suits. It's bathing suits and a life jacket - with a safety line thrown in for good measure. Looks like Celina, Dave, Hal and Tim Jr are doing this challenge. I don't know which members of the Mitics, the Docs or the Hippies do the dip.

Looks like there was at least a Route Marker at the Pilots' Monument, which is located at the top of a hill. It was built to honour the bush pilots of the Canadian North. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know - just like in Ice Pilots NWT. The monument is a fitting stop, because the teams must next fly to Carcross, Yukon via charter plane. There are 3 flights, and the teams had to sign in on a first come first serve basis. Here's the order that can be seen in the Inside the Race preview:

Flight 1: Holly and Brett
            Hal and Joanne

Flight 2: Tim and Tim
            Jet and Dave

Flight 3: Jody and Cory
             (Vanessa and Celina & Darren and Kristen had not yet arrived)

Sooo...it looks like Holly and Brett have recovered from the Great Badlands Bone Fiasco and make up a lot of time! Definitely a team to beat. Not to mention the karma for Vanessa and Celina! Looks like they got bumped to the back of the line after all. Apparently Jody and Cory actually got to the hangar before either the Tims or (probably Jet and Dave), but Cory accidentally signed in for the third flight. Poor Cory feels really bad about it, he just signed the first space he saw. The Inside the Race hosts make it seem like this will lead to their undoing. Not at all. They'll be fine. What is interesting, is that there seems to be an almost complete flip in positioning since the start of the leg, so I am wondering if there was a Fast Forward or maybe a Yield.

In the Yukon, they go to Carcross Desert. Although it's called the smallest desert in the world, it's not really a desert - there's too much humidity. Basically, it's a sand dune.

It's here that the Tims must complete their Speed Bump. And it's a doozey. Looks like they must memorize and recite at least a portion of The Shooting of Dan McGrew by Robert W. Service. Well, after all, they are in the Klondike. There are 3 judges, in 1890's period dress who look very formidable. I am thinking one of them is supposed to be Robert Service, and the other two Dangerous Dan McGrew and 'the Stranger'. It's a pretty cool set up. By the way...so far I am loving the judges they are using in the series. Tim Jr. has a hard time with his portion of the poem, and I can't blame him, it's tough. Here is the second stanza he is reciting:

"When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the din and the glare,
There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and loaded for bear.
He looked like a man with a foot in the grave and scarcely the strength of a louse,
Yet he tilted a poke of dust on the bar, and he called for drinks for the house.
There was one could place the stranger's face, though we searched ourselves for a clue;
But we drank his health, and the last to drink was Dangerous Dan McGrew."

****Pretty Cool Side Note: Here is a recording from 1923, held by the U.S. Library of Congress, complete with old-timey piano to set the mood: Click here for link

But...don't worry all you Tims fans out there, they persevere and do not get eliminated this week.

Part of the Detour, also in the desert, involves an obstacle course. One team member is blind-folded and must push a wheelbarrow. The other team member sits in the wheelbarrow guiding their partner, and they must collect (gold) nuggets. Here's the description from Jet and Dave, and its from this that the episode title is taken:

"The final event of this Detour is a blind-folded, wheelbarrow, nugget grab. To grab nuggets. We don't have a lot of experience driving wheelbarrows blind-folded. But we do have experience grabbing nuggets. We grab a nug all the time. Nug here...nug there."

Do they know what a nug is? Really? Interesting that they say "the final event of this Detour" - it sounds like one part of the Detour is actually a series of tasks, and this blind-folded wheelbarrow thing is just one of those tasks.

***Spoiler Stuff***

So who gets eliminated this week?
This is going to come as a big surprise, but the eliminated team this week is Darren and Kristen. Hold on to your seats! I don't know what tripped up their game, but I am thinking it must have been something big while in Yellowknife - they would be on the third charter flight to the Yukon with Jody & Cory and Vanessa & Celina. I have to wonder why they didn't use the Express Pass.

Just one more thing. I promised I would divulge where I think the finale's finish line is.

Clue # 1: It's in Toronto (that's pretty much a given) and we have actually seen a glimpse of it in Episodes 2 and 3. We will probably see it again in Episode 4. If you think you know, you can leave a comment below, or use the link, (found to the right) to my Facebook page.

The Amazing Race Canada RECAP of Episode 1

Ogopogo or butterflies. Which is scarier? You decide.

Holy crap, was that one fast moving episode or what? I had to watch it a second time just to get everything down. It was pretty crazy for me. Trying to take notes while watching it was pretty much impossible. Paper was flying and I had to keep asking my husband stuff like "What was that?" His reply was usually something like "I don't know". Great. Thanks for the help. On top of that, I was trying to live tweet one liners under the Twitter name @montysbeer. Got a couple in. Next week I think I will just try to watch and tweet, then leave the notes for a second viewing.

"THIS....is Niagara Falls, Ontario. One of the most beautiful places in the world". Oh I think a little shiver just went up my spine, Monty. Then, blah, blah, blah, Horseshoe Falls and useless facts about water volume. I agree though. It truly is one of the most beautiful places around...I've spent some of the best moments in my life there. And it really made for a great start line. Cut to the whirlpool jet boats and the team introductions. Nothing new there. Monty explains the rules, the grand prize and that the winner of the first leg will also get 2 Express Passes. These  allow the holders to skip a challenge. They must be used before the 7th leg, and the winner must give the second pass to any other team, if they choose to that is, before the third leg.

Monty yells "GO!". The first Route Marker is at the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory. Nine plexiglass containers hold TWO clues (one for each team member). The containers' inhabitants range in danger from pretty butterflies to snakes, rats and scorpions, oh my. The higher the danger, the better flight they will get on. The clue at the Route Marker outside specifically says they must both take a clue from inside the box. Apparently Holly doesn't like butterflies. Perhaps it's all that fluttering. Eeeek. She probably doesn't like bunnies, kittens or puppies either. This makes me wonder what murals she has on her Paediatrician office walls. 

Butterflies from first Route Marker. Way scarier than rats or scorpions.

Meanwhile, Jet and Dave realize they just made their first mistake by getting the envelopes from the buttterfly container..."We screwed up. Probably if we'd reached into a den of lions, we'd have got a better flight". Love these guys already. I must have blinked and missed the plexiglass container of lions. Of course, the inevitable happens - two teams, Tim & Tim, and Treena & Tennille DON'T retrieve both envelopes. This despite the twins reading that portion of the clue out loud and looking back at the container and seeing that there are two clues. Will wonders never cease?

The teams must make their way to Kelowna, British Columbia and find a "yellow bus" (aka the Interac Flash bus from the commercial) under the Blue Bear near city hall. They all meet up at Pearson and are able to introduce themselves to each other for the first time. Jet and Dave are completely star-struck over Hal and Joanne. Jet says his cousin has "been you" (Hal, or maybe he means Joanne, I'm not sure) for Halloween year after year. He also says "I would probably be...malnourished,...hippy,...closer to Darren [they show a shot of Darren], had I not had their (BodyBreak) guidance for last 25 years". I think this may be the start of a beautiful friendship. Or at least a temporary alliance. Hal seems a bit weird with Jet's gushing, and Joanne believes their fame is a target on their back.

Kristen & Darren, Hal & Joanne, Vanessa & Celina, and Holly & Brett are on the first flight to Vancouver. The rest are on the next flight, 90 minutes later. This pretty much places their standing for the rest of the race. The Route Marker at the Blue Bear directs them to the Waterfront Sports Kiosk on Lake Okanagan. Here they must take a number to get a jet ski. It's night, the Kiosk is closed, and they spend the night in houseboats. The four teams who were on the first flight make a pact that if one of them finish first and get the Express Pass, they will give the 2nd pass to the team who finishes 2nd among them. Kristen wholeheartedly agrees. I'm getting the distinct impression we need to remember this for next week. They rarely show conversations like this outside of the race. Just wondering if this pact is going to get broken.

Obviously the cute Ogopogo. Who's be afraid of this?

The next day, they get their jet skis, a rudimentary map with an "X marks the spot" and a Roadblock clue: "Who's not afraid of the deep?" The "X" is a dive platform where one team member must put on a diving helmet, be lowered by a dive cage and search for their next clue at a sunken Ogopogo statue.   Everyone that is, except for Treena & Tennille and Jamie & Pierre who don't understand the clue and just start traversing Lake Okanagan looking for Ogopogo. They even stop and ask a cottage-owner. Meanwhile, friction develops between Vanessa and Tim Jr. Vanessa panics underwater: "My air is going crazy". Yeah Vanessa, the air is crazy. Crazy air. I hate when that happens. This allows Tim Jr to slip past her and get the clue, leaving an over-acting Vanessa to contemplate giving up the challenge. Oh well. I guess that's what happens when you decide to showcase your acting abilities in the middle of a Roadblock.

This clue sends them to a second roadblock at the Bellevue Trestle in Myra Canyon. Teams must climb over the side of the trestle, down a ladder, walk out to the end of a 12 inch wide platform/beam, retrieve a clue then "jump" down to the canyon floor. They are attached to some kind of safety rigging...don't worry. Of course, when it's Joanne's turn, she sits down at the end of the beam and says.....oh you know...that line they said at the end of each episode of BodyBreak. Wait. What was it? Um. Oh yeah. "Until next time, keep fit and have fun". I knew they had to work that in there somewhere. When it's Celina's turn, there's more panic attacks. She yells down to a cheering Vanessa, "You gotta stop. I need to focus". Actually, it's more of this whiny, complaining thing. then she sits down at the end of the beam and starts to do another whiny complaining thing. This wasn't pretty. Then she jumps and does the whiny, complaining thing all the way down. E gads. Let's just say this is not may favorite team.

This clue directs them to the pit stop at Quail's Gate Winery. Meanwhile, Treena, Tennille, Jamie and Pierre are still looking for Ogopogo.

Here's how the teams finish:

First: Darren and Kristen are the first to jump on the mat at the pit stop. They win the two Express Passes and a trip for two to Sydney, Australia. Jon serves them a glass of wine. Not beer. I am only forgiving him because they are at a winery and not a brewery.
Second: Holly and Brett
Third: Hal and Joanne
Fourth: Jet and Dave
Fifth: Vanessa and Celina. Tim and Tim beat them to the mat but are penalized 30 minutes for not retrieving both clues way back at the Niagara Butterfly conservatory. The girls are ecstatic and call Tim and Tim "suckers". They seem to like that phrase. Tim Jr says "Time will tell, baby" under his breath. Hmnnn. Drama.
Sixth: Tim and Tim
Seventh: Jody and Cory

Treena, Tennille, Jamie and Pierre eventually get the last roadblock done, and it's a footrace to the finish. Treena and Tennille get there first. Just when the cowboys think they're going to be eliminated, Jon announces that the girls have a 30 minute penalty.

Eighth: Jamie and Pierre
Ninth: Treena and Tennille. They are eliminated.

Love Jon Montgomery as host.
My three favorite teams are Jet and Dave; Tim and Tim; and Jody and Cory.
My least favorite team: Do you have to ask? Vanessa and Celina. And it's not just because I'm jealous they are so pretty or some crap like that.

Next week: You're not going to believe who gets eliminated. I am hoping it will be a bit slower-paced. A preview with spoilers will come later in the week.