Episode 4 Recap - Banff to Churchill

Episode 4 featured our four remaining teams traveling from Banff to Churchill, an isolated area that seemed instantly destined for a very tight finish. Equally the start was artificially compressed as leaving checkpoint 3 could only be done in daylight due to the danger of bears.

With this squashed lead, and bottleneck finish (unless you wanted to try and beat the train yourself), it was a slightly underwhelming episode, with it's biggest effects more on the budget then the teams race standing.

All the teams traveled a similar sort of journey, aiming for the same train, and sometimes by the same bus.

Monique and Ladi took a sightseeing detour, with Monique keen to treat her dad to some kayaking on Waskesiu lake. Although there was potential for some problems while they had to wait for a bear warning(!) they made the Churchill train fine, and grew together more as a team.

I'm not sure the same can be said for Claudia & Kevin, who's relationship remains as rocky as some of the mountains. They did some gardening to earn a bit of money, but Kevin's apparent addiction to taxi travel came up again, causing conflict with Claudia and increasingly dire problems for their budget. They ended the episode with about 29% left - a poor position for long term survival in the 4th of 8 episodes!

Tricia & Cathie also used a taxi, although their budget was healthier at the start of the episode. Unfortunately for Episode 5 predictions the show has yet to reveal their remaining budget, or that of Zainib & Mobeen, but it seems likely they'll be closer to Monique & Ladi's 49% budget then Kevin & Claudias 29%.

Zainib & Mobeen took a journey most notable for its location names. Moose Jaw? Medicine Hat? My laughs at that were as deafening as the silence was when they started discussing their religion with the Christian cowboys.

Still it was nice watching them meet new people, and great seeing the teams having a chance to bond on the Churchill train. The unavoidable crunch however, with everyone naturally hitting the same (only) transport, means the finish was exceptionally tight with only 7 mins between the teams. Once again meaning next week is really anyones race, and a chance for some unexpected predictions.

Episode 4 - Leaderboard

1st - Claudia & Kevin (29% Budget)

2nd - Zainib & Mobeen +2 minutes (Budget unstated)

3rd - Tricia & Cathie +6 minutes (Budget unstated)

4th - Monique & Ladi +7 minutes (49% Budget)