Cousin Watch: The Boys Survive, But We Say Goodbye to the Sisters
Well, Cousin Watch lives to see another week.
But this one is a little bittersweet.
This week's Amazing Race Canada took us along the shores of Lake Huron, from Grand Bend to Sarnia, and while Sacha and Sébastien Régnier are still racing, we had to say goodbye to Chayla and Chyana.
That made me sad.
First, the Cousins
After weeks of watching Sacha and Sébastien race near the front of the pack, including two first-place finishes, this wasn't necessarily their flashiest leg. But here's the thing I've come to appreciate about these two: they are remarkably steady.
Things go wrong. They make mistakes. They get frustrated.
And then they just... keep going. No spectacular implosions. No turning on each other. No wasting precious time assigning blame. Perhaps that's the secret to a good sibling relationship.
Or perhaps my family has just been doing it wrong all these years. Either way, the Régnier brothers survived another leg, which means my completely unsupported claim of kinship remains alive and well. At this point, I've invested seven weeks in these cousins. They're not getting rid of me now.
A Leg Full of... Interesting Choices
This week's race included metal detectors, worms, fish, cricket and an oil-rig-building challenge. In other words, a perfectly normal Tuesday night in Canada.
The metal-detecting challenge was particularly brutal because finding the right object involved a healthy dose of luck. Some teams sailed through it. Others spent an uncomfortable amount of time wandering around a beach waving metal detectors at the sand.
There was also another Face-Off. And unfortunately, that became the story of the night for Chayla and Chyana.
Goodbye to the Sisters
I've been cheering for Chayla and Chyana from the beginning.
They came into the race as Cree and Métis sisters, and along with Sacha and Sébastien, gave us something pretty special this season: two Indigenous teams racing at the same time.
We've watched the four of them compete against one another, help one another and, at one memorable point, work together.
But the sisters had some terrible luck with Face-Offs. Last week they struggled in one. This week they faced another. And this time, there wasn't enough race left afterward for them to recover. They finished last and were eliminated.
I know it's a race and somebody has to go home, but I'm disappointed that this is where their journey ends.
They brought determination, humour and a whole lot of personality to the season. More importantly, they brought themselves; two strong Indigenous women who weren't there as historical figures or cultural symbols, but simply as contemporary Indigenous women doing something big, difficult and occasionally ridiculous on national television.
I've loved watching them.
So while Cousin Watch continues, Sister Watch officially ends here.
Chayla and Chyana, you did us proud.
Meanwhile, We Have Winners!
Ameen and Surria had a fantastic leg and arrived at the mat first, becoming the first mother-and-son team to win a leg of The Amazing Race Canada.
They certainly earned it. They're one of those teams that is very easy to root for.
Which creates a problem.
Because I already have cousins.
I can't keep adopting people.
There are limits.
Probably.
And Now Things Get Serious
We're getting frighteningly close to the end. Sacha and Sébastien are still in it. They've already won two legs. They've shown they can handle pressure, recover from mistakes and compete with the strongest teams in the race. And next week?
Double elimination.
Excuse me? Apparently eliminating one team at a time is no longer sufficiently stressful.
So next Tuesday I will be watching with considerably more anxiety than is reasonable for two men I have never met and to whom I have assigned myself as a relative based primarily on a shared surname.
But we've come too far to stop now. Six teams remain. Two are going home next week.
And my cousins had better not be among them. No pressure, boys.
But seriously.
NO PRESSURE.