10 competitive duos had big dreams and high hopes, but only nine remain following an episode that was deliciously, and appropriately, titled, “I Hate Pancakes.” It wasn’t a food challenge that really made the difference, though, but rather confusion over a clue that essentially determined who is still racing, and who was left pacing.
SPOILER ALERT: Details of what happened follow.
The race began in Winnipeg with an artwork identification challenge, before the teams quickly flew to Calgary. They were sent to a library, where they could choose between searching for Express Passes hidden in the thousands of books, or rappelling down the side of the building with the goal of finding three specific words.
Teammates Gail Kim and Gisele Shaw, who became friends through the pro wrestling circuit, arrived at the library in great shape, but because a few other teams were already searching for the Express Passes, they decided to be the first team to go directly to the rappelling challenge. Gisele did the rappelling, and physically mastered it easily, but Gisele and Gail missed a nuance in the clue, and they didn’t understand where to find the three words.
Gisele had to repeat the challenge three times before finally catching on, and by then the damage was largely done. Following a cooking and memory challenge at the traditional Calgary Stampede pancake breakfast, where they came close to passing Allie and Eddie but didn’t quite manage it, Gail and Gisele arrived at the finish line in 10th place among the 10 teams, and were given the bad news.
Here’s what Gail Kim had to say about the experience:
Q: So that was quite a whirlwind.
GAIL KIM: “Yeah, a little too fast for my liking (laughs). It’s everyone’s biggest fear going into this.”
Q: Is it hard to believe it ended so quickly?
GAIL KIM: “You prepare for so long. I took this preparation as seriously as I would in my wrestling career, in terms of getting ready for a match. And you have this mindset of winning. So it’s the last thing you expect.”
Q: It’s hard to imagine how you could have prepared differently, though.
GAIL KIM: “Obviously we were physically ready to go. But I think the race is such a combination of so many things, and it can be about your ability to make clear, decisive decisions in the flash of a moment. Every team that gets eliminated looks back and says, ‘what if this happened, or what if that happened?’ For us, if a cab hadn’t been stolen from us, we probably would have been the second cab to get to the library, and we would have gone for the Express Passes – that could have changed the whole outcome. But because the cab was stolen, we changed our whole game plan. We said, okay, there are too many teams already looking for the Express Passes, so we’re going to go straight to the challenge. And Gisele really wanted to do things, extreme heights or whatever, she was really gung-ho and ready to do it. But she was so focused on getting down that wall, to say, ‘I can do this physically,’ we weren’t able to find the words. And then we found out after talking to the other teams that some of them were helping each other. So, you know, what if Gisele had been coming down the wall at the same time as another team? Could they have helped each other? It’s so easy to go from first to last. Everything can change in the snap of a moment.”
Q: Of course, with THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, everything is designed to throw you off, right?
GAIL KIM: “Yes, it totally is. At times you’re almost over-analyzing everything, looking for more than there is in a clue, but it’s actually just saying what it’s saying. And at other times it’s the opposite, it’s not straightforward, and you have to over-analyze. You just never know which way to go.”
Q: Well, you gave it a shot and made your mark, so you should be proud of that.
GAIL KIM: “Gracie (who is teamed with Lily) tried to make us feel better. She said, ‘Gail, it’s either you got to win it, or you got to go out first. Either way, it’s iconic.’ I said, ‘okay, Gracie, I’m not sure I believe that, but thank you for being so positive and giving us that little bit of support.’ I truly believe everything happens for a reason, we had such a great experience. Maybe too quick, but I loved all the people that we met, the other teams. It’s such a bonding experience. Even though they’re kind of spread all over the country, I’ve made friends that I think will probably last a lifetime.”
Source:
https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/its-tough-to-find-the-right-words-literally-to-describe-the-exciting-return-of-the-amazing-race-canada/
