Topic: TARCAN 10 Episode 5 "I Smell Like Carcass" July 30, 2024

[Maanca]

Saved

[Maanca]

TAR Canada is doing its first official Switchback - the lentil digging from Season 1 in Regina (maybe it's one side of the Detour, and Mosaic Stadium is the other).

Despite being domestic, I remember that whole leg being one of the toughest TAR legs ever (racers confirmed there was even an unaired Fast Forward that nobody could get). Bringing back any task from it is a good choice.

Also, the portion in Russell includes an appearance by Jon's mother. Like that time when Phil Keoghan's father was a greeter in New Zealand.

[NumfarPTB]

Rather enjoyed this leg.
Another double RB leg. Was worried by the number of equalizers, but it was rather exciting. Surprised by how much some teams struggled at the puzzle, which was what allowed entire flight 2 to catch-up, to the point that most of the final podium were from the 2nd flight.
Seems like a long leg, considering how much race time was involved.
1/3 Eps is out of play. A 2nd one was close to be used. Wonder what's the final deadline for them to be used.

Excited for the 2nd half of the race starting in two weeks.

[Maanca]

What a pleasant surprise that the top 3 teams were all FF. You rarely see that in TAR!

[NumfarPTB]

BTW was going to ask but forgot. Can someone from Canada or that know football, explain the watermellon peel helmet the teamate left on the cherring squad were wearing? What were those about? 

[Maanca]

BTW was going to ask but forgot. Can someone from Canada or that know football, explain the watermellon peel helmet the teamate left on the cherring squad were wearing? What were those about?

I don't know the history, it's just a thing that the passionate Roughriders fans do. Like the Green Bay Packers and their cheese hats.

With the eating challenge, the bull testicles being a local delicacy would have made more sense if Jon mentioned that people in Saskatchewan call them "prairie oysters". Not so sure about the pig brains.

[Linda BC2]

BTW was going to ask but forgot. Can someone from Canada or that know football, explain the watermellon peel helmet the teamate left on the cherring squad were wearing? What were those about?

I was told fans would infuse a watermelon with alcohol and bring it into the stadium as "food". Then eat the drunken watermelon and when it was done they'd make a helmet. Don't know if this is true.   

[Bookworm]

BTW was going to ask but forgot. Can someone from Canada or that know football, explain the watermellon peel helmet the teamate left on the cherring squad were wearing? What were those about?

I don't know the history, it's just a thing that the passionate Roughriders fans do. Like the Green Bay Packers and their cheese hats.

With the eating challenge, the bull testicles being a local delicacy would have made more sense if Jon mentioned that people in Saskatchewan call them "prairie oysters". Not so sure about the pig brains.

I also wish that Jon mentioned this. It's been a while since we saw a good eating task, and the context for why these items would be served in Saskatchewan was kinda needed; without it, it seemed like testicles for the sake of a shock factor.
Even as a vegetarian, I think teams should've had to eat both plates. TARCan offers a lot of tasks, but many of them are on the shorter/quicker side.

[Xoruz]

I'm more so wondering if they'll lean into the anniversary aspect. Could we get Switchbacks?

That was one my first thoughts when filming started, and my hopes skyrocketed when they went to Regina. The original Regina leg is one of my all time favorites and an obvious choice to pull from. Even though there was one official Switchback, much of that leg was still referenced. Apparently oats are just as difficult as lentils though the show did disincentivize quitting with the breakfast board. The breakfast task felt more at home on Fear Factor even if one dish is technically a regional dish. The CFL task worked for incorporating physicality, memory, and a bit of luck in the call more so that last week's second Roadblock. Even the sponsored task caused some difficulty for the teams. The Ukrainian dance felt more like a task time than just keeping up with the dancers in the original. The fact that the episode visited multiple provinces also felt like a throwback. Also a top three FF finish was nice to see. This leg was always unlikely to surpass the original, but it honored that leg well.

One more thought, really liked Joan.

[G.B.]

"We're heading into the 5th leg"

Oh, so the portion in Vancouver was its own leg.

"We [Michael & Tyson] won the last two legs"

Oh...so the portion in Vancouver was NOT its own leg.

...

They have no idea what they're doing. Why is this so difficult?

[Bookworm]

Thinking back to this episode, I have to applaud the humor behind the Assist. Even though it's still a flawed execution, the bowl of fruit gag was the best substitute task yet!

Moreover, I think the leg suffered from trying to cram in a visit to Jon's hometown. The three tasks in Regina were the best of the leg; having the full leg in Saskatchewan could have also allowed the oats task to actually affect teams' standing. Teams could have arrived to the Hotel Saskatchewan and sign up for slots, then eat breakfast to start the leg.

While the Russell portion was barebones, I think it could have hosted an entire leg, keeping the puzzle and Ukrainian dancing intact, but adding tasks in the Asessippi Provincial Park, or maybe just enhancing the Jon Montgomery biography It's a shame that the oats Switchback hardly mattered, and even more of a shame that three tasks in Regina amounted to very little.

[Maanca]

Yes, they crammed a lot into 43 minutes.

This was the only time in all the visits to Manitoba that they've ever gone outside Winnipeg. Too bad it was only for half a leg.