Aw, Shucks! Racers Head East on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA as Frustration Boils Over and Another Team Taps Out

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede There were rhythm reviews and “glamping” blues on tonight’s new episode of CTV’s THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, but ultimately some clever map manipulation led to a case of “highway robbery.” SPOILER ALERT: Details of what happened follow. The six remaining teams ventured to New Brunswick, where they were faced with an Acadian-style dance challenge. Catherine (partnered with Craig) overcame her health complications to dance her way through, in inspiring fashion. But both Court (partnered with Ali) and Connor (partnered with Brendan) really struggled to find the right steps. With Court not completing the dance routine until his 13th attempt, and Connor not doing so until his 17th attempt, those two teams were playing catch-up throughout the rest of the episode, which included oyster shucking and a memory challenge at a “glamping” site. The latter left Marika (partnered with Jesse) so frustrated that she broke down in tears. But at the end, it was Court and Ali, and Connor and Brendan, in a dead heat in separate vehicles, determined to find host Jon Montgomery at the next Pit Stop. Court and Ali were stunned when they saw Connor and Brendan veer off and head in a different direction. Why did they do that? Well, Connor and Brendan had taken a big gamble and risked everything on a supposed shortcut. And it worked. Dating couple Court “Songbird” Larabee and Ali “Bear” Clark from Whistler, B.C., were disappointed to hear from Montgomery that they were the last to arrive on the mat, and therefore were eliminated. Here’s what Court and Ali had to say about their experience: Q: How are you feeling generally, now that you’ve had a bit of time to think? COURT: “I’m really proud of how we both did in the Race. And I’m really appreciative for the exposure not only for ourselves, but for the nonprofit Indigenous life support academy that we both are so passionate about. One of the main reasons we did this show is not only for ourselves and for our family, but primarily for all the youth that we can help with the exposure that we can receive.” ALI: “It really was a special experience to get to travel across the country with THE AMAZING RACE CANADA family. It was just such a unique and unforgettable adventure.” Q: We’re actually lucky to have such a big and diverse country that we can pull it off. ALI: “I couldn’t agree more. I think Canada is probably the only country that can make that possible.” COURT: “Honestly, we could pull it off by simply doing all the diverse Indigenous cultures across our beautiful nation. We have so much diversity right in our Indigenous populations that we have an opportunity to showcase all the original peoples, and have a full show, plus them.” Q: Hey, I’m thinking spinoff! As for your own Race, what was it that did you in? ALI: “Oh, man, being performers! That is not us. Dancing and performing is a weakness. But it’s a big, big part of the show.” COURT: “I can’t say that tap dancing was ever a part of my pre-show preparation.” Q: So what were you thinking when Connor and Brendan veered off? COURT: “We were questioning whether they were going in the right direction. We just stuck on the road that we knew already. And unbeknownst to us, there was a little bit of a faster way. It was a surprise to find out that Connor had played hockey in New Brunswick for several years, so he had a leg up that we were unaware of.” ALI: “There’s always doubt. I knew for a fact they had a map, so I was quite concerned. They had kind of been chasing us for most of the episode, so we discussed pulling over and chasing them. But we didn’t. We kept going the way we knew we were going to go. And they’re good, fast drivers.” Q: At the Pit Stop, did you think you had beaten them there? ALI: “When we got to the mat, we didn’t see their vehicle. So for a moment, I thought we had beat them, for sure. I came up kind of feeling inflated, like, holy cow, we beat them here. And then hearing those words was really like a deflating balloon. But we were humbled to have the experience. To go out with the Atlantic Ocean right there, it was just kind of cool that we got to go from one side of the country to the other, even though that’s where our Race finished.” COURT: “It was a familiar feeling of coming in last. But I believe that every time we came up to the mat, and we were in last place, we handled the loss with great grace, and with a smile still on our faces. I’m really proud of my partner, and how we both handled it. We overcame a lot. From almost the beginning of leg four, when we were dealing with COVID, it seemed like we lost a lot of our momentum in the Race, and the effects of COVID were still apparent in our team after we came back. It was too bad that we got eliminated just when we seemed to finally be getting back on track.” Season 8 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA continues to barrel toward its conclusion with another new episode next Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv