Yes, very weird that only one two teams got to check-in before the end of the episode, with not outcome for the other teams.
Oddly I find myself a bit annoyed with myself for really liking and probably rooting for Ty & Kat at this point, as they are in some ways a very traditional, kinda balnd but mostly very compentent co-ed team.
The departure times were really interesting. Leg 5 was such Tyler and Kayleen leg that they were at least 1-hour ahead of all the other teams. The last departing team was a bit over 2-hours behind. Do make me wonder how far behind were the girls.
Loved that this leg was packed full of challengers, and it did require a lot of navigation and self-driving, with people getting lost and teams getting stuck behind real roadblocks. Wonder how the placements would have been if this was not the deadline for both EPs and APs. Two of the EPs usage were related to teams with traffic issues, and using it to jump ahead, while the other was really annoying, with the non-active racer on RB basically making an executive decision. Tyler should've definitely tried to call Kayleen over and discussed it before just pulling the EP, the result might not have changed, but really bothered me as, Kayleen mostly carried the team the previous leg that they just won.
The AP was curious thing introduced in this season of TAR Canada. It is another brand placement opportunity, but not sure about its effectiveness in the game design, as this pass can only be used in one specific task per leg. It does seem more fair that all teams had access to it.
So now, all game powers are gone, it will be fun if there are detours or more double-passes in upcoming legs, without teams having those as safety clutches.
First ARI - Glad they included this one, with teams visiting the museum / monument.
1st RB - Very simple, still amazed by basically all teams that perfomed it, got stuck by not realing their clue properly the first attempt.
Blind Detour - Locations were far apart, so it does discourage switching, meaning you really have to commit to the chosen side. Not sure what I prefer, especially in a Blind Detour, closer together, which might allow for switching, or more in this style, where switching is very risky. Nobody switched, and both tasks were quite feasable, but the 20 minute reset time for the rowing challenge was definitely a hassle. Ty and Kat were really lucky with their EP.
No drinks ad placement this leg, but Samsung is back in one of the sides of detours. Still surprised how many ways they try to fit them in tasks.
2nd RB- Nobody was able to complete the challenge in one go that was cool.
Final ARI - wonder if there were actually 6 available stations, we never had more than 3 teams at the challenge at the same time, but considering the final Route info was a travel by foot one, it would've been very exciting if had all teams at this spot at the same time.
