The good news about The Amazing Race Canada is that the teams are starting to show their competitive streaks. The bad new is that nothing and no one has been able to dislodge the Olympians from the top of the heap.
That included a dance challenge on Tuesday’s episode that made it look like maybe, just maybe, there was something that Natalie Spooner and Meaghan Mikkelson can’t do.
Oops, never mind. They got through that on three tries, one fewer than Rex and Bob, and Rex is a freakin’ ex-National Ballet of Canada principal dancer, for crying out loud.
Since it seems all but inevitable that Natalie and Meaghan will continue to win legs right up until they win the season, the biggest suspense now is who they’ll give their spare express pass to. Expect some drama on that score next episode.
Twins Pierre and Michel started campaigning for it on the grounds that they are fellow athletes (Pierre and Michel were both competitive skiers). But beware Natalie and Meaghan, the meat packers are playing for keeps.
“If Meaghan and Natalie doesn’t give us the express pass by the end of this leg tomorrow they will be U-turned,” Pierre declared.
Meanwhile, now that fiancés Rex and Bob have their heads back in the game, the designation of most hapless team in the Race has fallen to siblings Sukhi and Jinder.
But while Rex and Bob moved up in the rankings, they’ll have to step it up if they want to wrest the title of funniest team from Muskoka buds Mickey and Pete.
While talking about Sukhi and Jinder, who attacked the entire leg like Energizer bunnies crossbred with hyperactive puppies, Mickey said, “They’re like a tornado of chaos. They’re definitely harshing our mellow a little bit out there.”
Do these guys really talk like this or have their stoner personas been carefully cultivated for TV viewing? Inquiring minds want to know.
Back to Sukhi and Jinder. After ending up dead last in the leg, the siblings turned up at the Pit Stop sweaty and dejected, but host Jon Montgomery had good news: this was a non-elimination leg so all eight teams will continue on to the Yukon for the next leg.
On Tuesday, everyone was still in Hong Kong, China, and had to catch a turbo jet ferry to Macau and find the A-Ma Temple, built in 1488. There they had to perform a Buddhist ceremony to ward off evil spirits, which involved setting off really loud firecrackers. Doing so would bring peace, good luck and the next clue.
Natalie and Meaghan managed to talk their way to the front of a line and into the first cab on landing in Macau (of course they did) and Pierre and Michel tried to steal mother and son Nicole and Cormac’s taxi until the “mama bear” shouted them out of it.
“Don’t underestimate me ’cause the claws will come out,” said Nicole.
From the temple, it was off to the Macau Tower for instructions to the Road Block. One member of each team had to leap from the world’s highest commercial bungee jump, a 764-foot platform, reaching speeds of more than 100 km/h.
Despite protestations of fear (and admittedly Jinder and Cormac did look terrified) everyone got through the jump.
And then there was Mickey. “I get there and it’s like empty all your pockets. Right away I whip my pants off ’cause, you know, that’s the fastest way to empty your pocket,” he said, dropping his drawers to reveal red leopard print bikini underwear.
Audrey did the jump last because she and Alain couldn’t find a cab and ran 45 minutes from the temple to the tower.
The next clue was to be found in Happiness St. in a shop selling almond biscuits.
The twins and the Olympians worked together to find the clue box.
If not for the fact that Sukhi and Jinder teamed up with Mickey and Pete, they might have still been out there looking because they kept walking right past it. If I didn’t know any better I’d think they’d been coached. It was a fairly tall post painted red and yellow with a box on top. How could they have missed it at least twice?
The clue sent the teams on a Detour: Stamp It or Stomp It.
To stamp, they had to locate the Ruins of St. Paul’s, get a blank scroll, then search the twisty streets for six shrines, getting a stamp for the scroll at every one. To stomp, they had to go to Senado Square and perform a Macanese folk dance.
Nearly everyone went for the dance. Rex and Bob were particularly confident. “Rex’s whole career has been built up on partnering. He’s the best partner any ballerina has ever danced with,” said Bob.
We all remember how well that “I’m a dancer, I can do this” rationale worked out with surfing, right? Luckily, it went a titch better here. They were through after four tries.
Natalie and Meaghan were having some trouble, bickering because Meaghan wanted to watch the local dancers to pick up the steps and Natalie wanted to charge right in and learn by doing. But the other teams got their hopes up for nothing, because after three tries the hockey players got their clue.
Co-workers Ryan and Rob also got it on three tries, perhaps because of all Ryan’s experience dressing as a girl in his sketch comedy act; Pierre and Michel, who looked particularly fetching as a girl, took six; Cormac and Nicole also needed six.
Mickey and Pete, Sukhi and Jinder, and daters Alain and Audrey abandoned stomping for stamping and, despite some frustrations navigating the narrow streets, made it through the task.
Natalie and Meaghan, and Pierre and Michel had moved on to the casino at the Grand Lapa Hotel where they had to watch the game of Fan-Tan being played and figure out how to deal one round.
It looked pretty hard to me. The dealer sorted buttons to determine winning numbers on a board and there were red, yellow and green chips that stood for wins, ties and bets.
Natalie and Meaghan? They figured it out on their second try.
The other teams all ended up at the casino together, where Sukhi and Jinder resorted to asking everyone else for help.
“I’m not gonna help Sukhi and Jinder ever,” said Bob.
Rob tried to help, but Sukhi didn’t understand his clue. “She was just, like, desperate, like we have the last water on earth,” said Ryan.
Meanwhile, Natalie and Meaghan were racing to the Pit Stop at a traffic circle outside the Grand Lisboa Hotel. The teams had to use underground paths to find a hidden entrance.
Natalie and Meaghan got a bit lost and with Rob and Ryan hot on their heels there was momentary hope that someone else would come first, but it was in vain.
The Olympians won the leg, an Air Canada flight to Tokyo and $3,000 on their gold Amex. With the number of trips they’ve won, it’ll be a wonder if they ever get back to playing hockey.
Ryan and Rob were second; Rex and Bob third; Cormac and Nicole fourth; Pierre and Michel fifth; Mickey and Pete (who, it should be noted, dealt Fan-Tan correctly on their first try) were sixth; Alain and Audrey seventh; Sukhi and Jinder last.
Though they avoided elimination they’ll have to complete a Speed Bump on the next leg.
“We’re coming like lions and we’re gonna take people out one by one,” said Jinder. I’ll believe it when I see it.
The next leg takes everyone back to Canada and the Yukon, where the challenges involve dog sledding, shooting and biking in what Montgomery called “a relentless Road Block.”
“Who decides these torture tests? Satan?” asked Rex.
It airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. on CTV.