Episode 4 Recap: "Grab a Nug"

From the pit stop mat at Horsethief Canyon in Drumheller… we’re off to Yellowknife, NT. Once there, drive to the Bush Pilot Monument. Hal/Joanne is first to leave at 2:10 am. Good luck to Jet/Dave as they didn’t pack any warm clothing. Sisters cut in front of a long lineup at the airport, ahead of some of the other teams, and they just painted a rather target on their backs. All 7 teams are on the same flight at 6:00 am, going from Calgary to Edmonton to Yellowknife.

I like how they’re able to keep teams in the dark during the pit stop rest period (presumably 12 hours as is usual on the US version of TAR) as all of the other teams were surprised to see the Timmies still in the race, thinking they had been eliminated the previous leg.

Clue at Bush Pilot’s Monument: Make your way to the Government Dock and walk onto the ice on the Great Slave Lake. Many teams got lost, despite the dock being across the street from the monument.

Roadblock: “Polar Bear Dip” in the frozen Great Slave Lake! Holly, Cory, Hal, Dave, Tim Jr., Celina and Darren are the ones doing the jump into the lake. Cory jumps in and gets out so quickly, forgetting he has to pick up the clue along the way, so he repeats the jump, but not before he’s cut in line by Tim Jr. and there’s a tiny little brouhaha going on as we cut to commercial.

After we come back, the crowd is booing at the line-cutting and Tim Jr. immediately backs off and lets Cory take his turn.

After the ice jump, the clue tells them to find the Duchess at Carcross – teams are to take a short flight on three bush planes to find a cabin in Carcross, Yukon Territory. Cory makes the boneheaded move of signing up for Flight 3 when there was an open spot on Flight 2, and Hal/Joanne says thanks for the shortcut.

In the time-honoured tradition of TAR, both Vanessa and Celina run right past the signup sheet for the flights. How are these two still alive in this race after being lost so many times and half-assing their way through some challenges without much whining?

After a while, Jody and Cory go up to Hal/Joanne and say they benefitted from the brothers’ mistake and would they consider switching? Ironically, Hal and Joanne had gotten lost and wondered where the signup sheet was, and Cory pointed it out to them so he felt Hal/Joanne owed them something for that. (Meanwhile, I’m screaming, NO! Cory made the mistake and he should have to pay for it.) Cut to commercial...

After we come back, Hal said no it’s part of the game and that’s the way it is. Good call. Potentially huge move as the other two teams on the third flight with Jody/Cory both have express passes.

The Duchess turns out to be a steam locomotive. Detour: Klondike supply rush (build a raft and navigate a river to get the clue) or Yukon gold rush (do three traditional pioneer activities: long-sawing a log, hitting a target by throwing an axe {sproing!}, ride a wheelbarrow and pick up gold nuggets while being pushed by a blindfolded partner). I didn’t know that pushing a wheelbarrow while blindfolded was ‘traditional’.

Speed Bump for the Timmies – find an old typewriter with a poem by Robert Service called “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and memorize it to recite to the locals (who are quickly getting hammered on the local brew) including a man pretending to be the old poet himself. Took a few tries but the Timmies managed to get the whole poem recited.

Next clue is to ride ATVs to Carcross Desert (they really should have named it ‘Carcass Desert’) for the pit stop.

Sisters decide to use the express pass to skip the final task.

Jody, the one-time sniper, takes a long time to succeed with the axe-throwing.

Darren/Kristen are on the raft and now muttering they should have used their express pass.

Jody/Cory now have their clue while Darren/Kristen are not far behind them. The prostheses could really come into play here as there’s a little run to the pit stop.

At the pit stop:
1. Jet/Dave – win a trip for two to Cancun, Mexico.
2. Holly/Brett
3. Hal/Joanne
4. Vanessa/Celina – fourth team to arrive, but don’t have their bags with them. Gotta go back and get them. Made it back to still finish in fourth, barely ahead of ...
5. The Timmies
6. Jody/Cory – the goof of booking the wrong flight almost cost them in a big way.
7. Kristen/Darren – the goof of not using their express pass cost them dearly here. I hope they can find a nice frame for it on the wall at home.

Next week... we’re in Regina, SK. Get buried by lentils in a bin and get drilled by the RCMP.