Remaining Racers Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk, and Master the Market, Setting Up an Epic Finale on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede “MIM-SEE-SAW BEE DEE JUB JUB GLOCKI ZAK NUM.” Those alien words will make perfect sense to fans of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, which wrapped up its Season 9 semi-finals with a new episode that debuted last night on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. All four remaining teams struggled with a challenge in which they had to memorize and recite lines in an alien language. Frustration boiled over, and the racers who got through it quickest were the ones who remained grounded, so to speak. Then it was on to the crowded, steamy streets of downtown Toronto, where it was determined which teams had the right ingredients, both literally and figuratively. Three teams advanced to next week’s final, while one team was left hungry in more ways than one. SPOILER ALERT: Details of what happened follow. Ben and Anwar completed the extremely difficult alien-language challenge first, on their 10th attempt, followed by Ty and Kat (seventh attempt), Tyler and Kayleen (14th attempt), and Deven and Amanda (sixth attempt). The teams then hurried to Kensington Market in Toronto, where they were tasked with finding five ingredients at five different locations, with only general directions, and no specific store names. Alliances went out the window, as some racers chose to be selective with information, rather than helping their rivals. Ultimately, Tyler and Kayleen arrived first at Sunnyside Beach to clinch a berth in next week’s final, followed by Ben and Anwar, and Ty and Kat. That left Deven and Amanda, a couple from Gesgapegiag, Que., who were racing for their daughters and Indigenous youth across the country, as the last team to arrive. Having officially finished fourth in Season 9 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, here’s how Deven and Amanda broke it all down: Q: How many alien languages have you learned since you were eliminated? AMANDA: “I’m telling you, I thought we were getting a language challenge, but not an alien language challenge. So it was definitely a good curveball on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, because man, that was difficult.” DEVEN: “I definitely wasn’t expecting MURPLE BURPLE. I was totally thrown off-guard.”   Q: But you probably both remember it all now, right? AMANDA: “Well, it’s post-traumatic (laughs hard, as does Deven). I’m traumatized by MURPLE BURPLE.”   Q: In addition to the alien language, running around busy Toronto looking for ingredients looked incredibly stressful as well. AMANDA: “Not as stressful as the alien challenge, honestly. Running around Toronto, we mapped it out so quickly, we knew where we were going. So that was actually pretty quick for us. And we had a great cab driver. It was just the details of the alien challenge, the tongue-twisters, that kept getting us.”   Q: Looking back, could you have done anything differently? DEVEN: “In retrospect, I wouldn’t change too much, because we left it all out on the field. The other teams beat us fair and square, and I give them props for that. There were no roadblocks, none of that funny business, and they were the better teams on that day, so I don’t dwell on it too much. We got to see some of the most beautiful places in Canada, with such a good group of people, and my beautiful partner and best friend. To finish fourth is a big deal. We just got off the couch and said, ‘let’s go for it.’ And we spend all our time together anyway. We travel together all the time. I know the race can be hard on friends who don’t necessarily spend all their time together, or brothers and sisters. But we’re so used to spending time together, like all the time, it was just natural.” AMANDA: “I would say, at the alien challenge, we didn’t go in with a strategy. And we had too much pride to take a penalty. By taking the penalty, we still would have had a chance for Top 3, I think, because it was just taking so long for us to memorize it. But we had so much pride in running our race with integrity. We thought it would jeopardize that if we took a penalty, so we didn’t, and we just powered through. But beyond that, we still could have strategized better in that challenge, because the two of us learn things in very different ways. I think we could have strategized a bit better there, and got through it quicker.”   Q: How has it been watching the episodes? AMANDA: “The surprise moments, for me, have been seeing the teams working together. Deven and I suspected teams were working together, and some of them were playing both sides, working with teams at the front of the bus and the back of the bus. We suspected some of it, but it’s very interesting to actually see it. You know, it’s a race, and everyone has their own strategies. And Deven and I did really amazing.”   Q: Your team actually got stronger as the competition progressed, as opposed to the other way around, which is what often happens. DEVEN: “Absolutely. Like you just mentioned, you can see teams break, and you can see the souls come out of them. I feed on that type of energy, because I’m a full-blast kind of guy, and Amanda has to reel me in once in a while. But I can sense that energy, and it just fueled us more. I would keep encouraging Amanda, saying, ‘okay, these teams are breaking, we need to step on the gas just a bit more and send them home.’ It’s not personal, it’s just a game.”   Q: So what advice would you give friends of yours who were applying for THE AMAZING RACE CANADA? AMANDA: “Call a cab (laughs). Don’t mess around, get a cab.”   Q: So they should be arranging for cabs all across the country now? AMANDA: “Get those phone numbers and memorize them!”   The Season 9 finale of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, featuring the remaining Top 3 teams: Tyler and Kayleen, Ben and Anwar, and Ty and Kat, airs next Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv