With just five teams left, The Amazing Race Canada headed to La Belle Province for its latest Leg. Would language play a major factor with the teams? At first blush, it seemed Dave would have the upper hand, him being from Quebec and all.

Trains carried the remaining teams to the Charlevoix region, a spot where English-speaking folks are rare. Dave was predicting another winning Leg for he and Irina. An over 1,000 km ride ended in La Malbaie, with a stop for poutine at Chez Chantal … and their next clue. Sam and Sarah were the first to arrive and got peeling 25 potatoes to be used in the gooey, cheesy delicacy.

In the Road Block, teams were instructed to hit the road for Le Manoir Richelieu, site of the 2018 G7 summit. Once there, one team member memorized a statement given at the conference and then answered three questions about it from the media. The statements were delivered in English and French and questions were in Japanese, German and Italian. Instead of Dave taking on the test, Irina did it. Of course, that was because they didn’t know what the challenge would actually be. And, as it turned out, Irina knew French too. Anthony and James were the first to arrive … Aarthy and Thinesh were last.

While Sarah scarfed down poutine, Sam worked on the speech, confident he could do it. At the other end of the scale were James and Irina; the latter because she is afraid of public speaking. James started off strong and confident, until the French part. With shattered nerves stacking up and almost 15 minutes of broadcast already done, it looked like this was going to be a long and agonizing challenge. Thinesh wowed not just for the way he looked in a suit but also for his bilingual delivery. Even Dave was impressed. With a “Vote Thinesh for Prime Minister!” he completed the task and departed with Aarthy in first place. Joanne performed an upset, vaulting she and Lauren into second place. And, after a long time, Sam finally got it. Say what you want about Dave and Irina, but seeing him tear up as she tackled her biggest fear was pretty frigging adorable. And, after nine tries, James and Anthony moved on.

This week’s Detour was blind, meaning teams didn’t know what they had to do. Aarthy and Thinesh picked “That,” as did Sarah and Sam and Dave and Irina. “That” turned out to be a game involving an orange piece of wood being hit by a broom handle to score points. Thinesh quickly started to accumulate points while Aarthy swung at the air. They were done the challenge before any other teams had arrived. As the fog rolled in, so did dark thoughts. Dave and Irina got lost and she started to lose it on him. Sarah and Sam, meanwhile, asked for directions.

Dave was swinging for the fences but wasn’t connecting with the piece of wood. The result? He got mighty angry. Irina stepped up, calmly, and hit it. Dave picked up on her routine and they were off to the races.

Lauren and Joanne chose “This,” which involved painting emu eggs to look like two samples and then delivering them to one of the two shops featured on the eggs. “This” was a time-consuming and fiddly Detour and Anthony and James opted to do it too, putting their chances of continuing on the Race in jeopardy. Joanne and Lauren had left for the shops before the married couple arrived.

Next, teams drove to the Musée Maritime de Charlevoix for the Pit Stop. A drive to the wrong musée delayed Aarthy and Thinesh for a bit, but they still completed the Leg first, scoring a trip for two to Santiago, Chile. Lauren and Joanne placed second. Dave and Irina landed in third place, and they weren’t happy about it.

The final sprint to the mat was closer than anyone imagined, as Anthony and James were in a footrace with Sarah and Sam for the final spot. That went to the athletes, and it looked like Anthony and James had been eliminated.

But in a twist that the producers kept from viewers through the magic of editing, the Leg wasn’t done. Clues were handed out and everyone kept racing, with the Royal Ontario Museum in their sights.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:

1. Aarthy and Thinesh
2. Lauren and Joanne
3. Irina and Dave
4. Sarah and Sam
5. Anthony and James

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.