Not Everything That Goes Around Comes Around on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, With Dire Consequences For One Shocked Team

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede There’s an old expression about “getting your ducks in a row” that seemed particularly relevant in a new episode of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA that debuted tonight on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. Facing everything from finding rubber duckies at a waterpark, to knowing when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em, the half-dozen remaining teams in Season 9 were pushed to the limits of their physical and mental energy. But it was an unsolicited act of kindness that ultimately wasn’t reciprocated that permanently sapped the power of one doomed duo. SPOILER ALERT: Details about what happened follow. At a waterpark in Windsor, Ont., the teams were tasked with finding three rubber duckies on the premises. Derek and Jaspal, and Jermaine and Justin, had started the episode battling to avoid last place, and even though Derek and Jaspal had pulled slightly ahead, they made the choice to help Jermaine and Justin find one of the wayward duckies. Then late in the episode, when Jermaine and Justin had the upper hand following a poker Face Off, they had an opportunity to return the favour by offering some aid to the trailing Derek and Jaspal. Alas, what goes around did not come around in this case, as Jermaine and Justin drove on past a shocked Derek and Jaspal, leaving them to their inevitable fate. Here’s how the neon-wearing best pals and YouTubers Derek and Jaspal – nicknamed “Der-Pal” – from Richmond, B.C., analyzed their time, and their exit, on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA:   Q: Looking back now, what’s your overall impression? JASPAL: “I’d say after watching the episodes so far, it’s very interesting seeing other people’s experiences during the race, and what the other teams were going through. Sometimes we were a lot closer, and doing a lot better, than we knew at the time.” DEREK: “There were a number of occasions where we would go to a certain Detour, and nobody else went to that Detour. So there would be a portion of the leg when we had no idea how the other teams were performing, or where they were in the race. So now, being able to watch back, it’s definitely weird to see, but also bittersweet. Because sometimes we were doing quite well, but in the moment, we were just panicking the entire time, like, ‘we’re in last place, we’re going to lose, let’s pack our bags, let’s start calling home.’ It was rough. Sometimes you only get a few minutes in an airport to talk to the other teams, and after that, these people are just your enemies. All I really know about them is that they’re standing in my way of $250,000, two new cars, and a trip around the world.”   Q: So what was up with your signature attire of neon yellow and orange? JASPAL: “It probably didn’t really help that Derek and I dressed up in the most obnoxious colours. If other teams were looking at us, they were probably thinking, ‘these guys are either the most serious racers ever and they mean business, or they’re complete idiots.’ ” DEREK: “Yeah, we were the easy target. Everybody was like, ‘oh, I don’t know who I should start talking smack about … well, there are those guys over there dressed like highlighters.’ For our YouTube™ videos, we’ve always wanted to have eyes on us. Our job for a long time was just thinking, ‘how do we get people looking at us?’ And also, it’s fun to wear dumb outfits, and have people not take you seriously, and then prove them wrong. But we didn’t (laughs). One thing I will say about everybody at THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is they encourage nothing but just being who you are. They made it so easy for us to have our personalities shown, and to be 100% genuine, even to the point of us saying that we were literally in this race for the money. And they were like,’ that’s awesome, yeah, go with that.’ So it was great.”   Q: What are your thoughts about Jermaine and Justin’s refusal to help you, after you had helped them? JASPAL: “I mean, we thought it was hilarious. Because we love entertainment, right? So it’s kind of poetic. If we were going to get knocked out, I think that’s the perfect way. It’s pretty funny, and we understand that.” DEREK: “It was definitely Jaspal’s first initiative to be like, ‘oh, let’s maybe help Justin and Jermaine with this duck challenge.’ But at the end of the day, I also agreed to do it, so it’s on both of our backs, for sure. Who knows how long they would have been looking for that duck if we didn’t help them?”   Q: You mentioned in the episode that Canada is going to be sad to see you go. So what are your plans to heal a disheartened nation? JASPAL: “Well we hope to be back for All Stars, if they make an All Stars season!” DEREK: “We’re also going to heal the wound by going full reversal mode, and now we’re Ty and Kat’s No. 1 fans. Now we just want to cheer for our rivals. And we want all the Dar-Palians, or Dar-Palites, to cheer for Ty and Kat, even though they didn’t give us the Express Pass.”   Q: So this is like a political convention, where you’re now encouraging your delegates to support Ty and Kat? JASPAL: “Exactly. Ty and Kat made it fun. If we’re being honest, other than Gracie and Lily, Ty and Kat were the only other team that we were really competing against, in our heads. We were like, ‘if we beat Ty and Kat in a leg, that’s fine with us. If we come second, that’s a win for us if Ty and Kat come third.’ That was our mentality. And the fact that they felt the same way with us, that was the fun part, the competitiveness.” DEREK: “It’s always so much more fun when you have somebody that you’re competing against, you know what I mean? You need somebody to be driving that egotistical part of you, somebody you want to beat. And in this last leg, we never really saw Ty and Kat, because they were ahead of us, and just gone. So not having them, it felt like we were just competing against ourselves. It was fun, for sure, but there are a lot of things I would change. Everyone who gets eliminated always says, ‘no regrets, I wouldn’t change anything.’ No, screw that! That rubber duckie …I would never tell Jermaine and Justin, I would steal it and hide it.”   Season 9 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA continues next Tuesday, Aug. 29 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv