The Amazing Race Canada Episode 1-3 Review – Calgary Leg

Reviews, Shows

This week on The Amazing Race: Canada, teams left Vancouver and went to Calgary, Alberta. My sister and a close friend both live in Calgary, but I have yet to visit. In some ways, it’s like “The South” of Canada – not geographically, just in that *people there have made money on oil and they’re really into cowboy hats and bull riding.

*HUGE generalization.

I’ll admit it, the doctors are growing on me. Hiding all the Alberta maps in the airport was a cunning move. I like it.

Roadblock: Get In Line

Line dancing! Line dancing reminds me of the remake of Footloose, which I love. However, I don’t know how good I’d be at this – I usually take a little while to pick up choreography.

Joanne from “Bodybreak” did pretty well on her first attempt, but she didn’t get it. Jody’s first attempt was much worse – the poor guy uses prosthetics, which couldn’t have been easy – and most didn’t fare much better. Joanne ended up being the first to be successful. Later, ex-cheerleader Dave Schram (one half of Team Bro Meathead) nailed it on his first try.

Jody was the second last guy to get it, and I really felt for the people who struggled. Tim Sr. just couldn’t get it right.

Lump by Lump vs. Bone by Bone

The Detour choice in Drumheller was a choice between loading a train car with mined coal (sounds exhausting) or assembling a dinosaur model from memory.

* I put together an Amazing Race style charity event once, and assembling a wooden dinosaur model was one of the challenges! This show should have hired me as a consultant.

This was a pretty basic brains vs. brawn detour, so each team should have gone with what their strength is. Team Bodybreak and Team Hipster went for the coal, and they arrived at the pit stop in first and second place. I’m so impressed with Team Bodybreak! Jet and Dave finished in third place.

Vanessa and Celina in fourth, and Jody and Cory came fifth.

All teams went for the coal except the docs. They went for the dinosaur, and it seemed much more difficult than I expected. They didn’t have very good chemistry working together either, I hope these kids don’t end up in an OR together.

The editing made it look like the docs finished the dinosaur model just after Tim x2 finished the coal challenge. But the father and son team went in the wrong direction, so the docs squeaked through by the skin of their teeth.

Tim and Tim had a terrible leg, and I felt for the guys. They sucked at the dancing and got lost on the way to the pit stop. BUT, it was a non-elimination leg. They seem like a strong team otherwise, so they might come back from this.

What did you guys think of the episode? The teams are going to Yellowknife next week – exciting!

You can follow Jill at her blog, couchtimewithjill.com, or on Twitter @jillemader Jill has been an avid fan of TV since the age of two, when she was so obsessed with Zoobilee Zoo that her mother lied and told her it had been canceled. Despite that setback, she grew up to be a television aficionado and pop culture addict.