Canada's Worst Driver - General Discussion

[The Crazed Spruce]

Can't find any info on this episode, but in a nutshell....

 

Eight new contestants!  Including the first Newfoundlander in the show's history! And a guy who watches TV while driving!  Seriously!

 

Plus, Andrew being snarky!  Cam Wooly being quietly awesome!  Lots of cardboard boxes and Styrofoam people being demolished!  And the introduction of a brand-new car that will be battered beyond recognition within eight episodes!  Woo!

[Taeolas]

It's back! Woohoo! 

 

It's back! Oh My God!

 

The Distracted Driving Challenge better be early on; all those Cellphone users are scary. Cam made a great point; Distracted driving is more dangerous than Impaired driving now.

 

The first Newfie and the first Taxi.

 

Siham or the Pilot or the blind guy might be the early graduates I think. The Road Rager and Texters are probably in for a long haul, but George might see the light in the middle. 

 

And that poor Caddy. Still, as for the focus cars go, I'm not as sad to see this one get dinged as some of the others through the years.

 

I'm shocked Andrew stands so close to them while they are driving. He's got balls of snark to stay in there so long after all these years. "You've never seen 550 horse power move so slowly." 

 

If you hear scrapping... STAHP!!!!

 

10 Dead foam figures.

 

And I'm already sick of "SELFIE!" 

Edited October 28, 2014 by Taeolas

[OlfinBedwere]

It's actually pretty hard calling a potential worst out of this group; aside from possibly George and Siham, they all seem as bad as each other. Maybe Sly Mk. II (aka Jason) and Mariah have the edge over the others, but their problems seem like things that can be addressed.

[Pepper the Cat]

Looks like a good season with a lot of bad, scary drivers, and a lot of swearing.

The best was " shit, shit, PERSON!" ( hope I can say that!)

[BBG]

I do find it amusing how the censorship works; basically everything except fuck is okay?

[The Crazed Spruce]

I do find it amusing how the censorship works; basically everything except fuck is okay?

Yep.  Gotta love Canadian basic cable. :)

[The Crazed Spruce]

Eye of the needle!  Watch the Styrofoam fly!

[OlfinBedwere]

Mariah - Actually looked somewhat capable at certain points this episode, much better than the trainwreck she appeared to be last week. She still needs a lot of improvement, not least to her attitude, but I don't think she'll be the worst.

 

George - Definitely the most skilled of the group, but his attitude's a serious problem. Even so, he'll probably graduate either next episode, or the one after.

 

Tyler - Not jaw-droppingly awful, but not really very good either. I think he's going to be here for the long haul, probably the second-last or third-last episode of the season.

 

Jason - Dear god, this guy sucks. Unless getting glasses massively improves his driving, or the blindness turns out to be a symptom of some medical problem that gets him kicked out of rehab, I think he's going to be the worst by quite some distance.

 

Siham - Some occasional signs of skill, but her nerves are still clearly shot to hell. I think she's going to be this year's version of Aaron, gradually improving in confidence through the season, and finally confronting her demons with the final drive.

 

Santana - Brilliant performance in the second challenge, and I actually thought she was going to be the first graduate, but she blew it spectacularly in the Eye of the Needle.

 

Chanie - So far, she looks like the only person who might seriously challenge Jason for this year's title. Terrible performances so far, and doesn't seem to be taking rehab all that seriously.

 

Ian - I'm a little dubious as to the reason why he graduated, especially after that fiasco of a reversing test (for which, if nothing else, I'd have either graduated George or not graduated anyone), but it was obvious that he wasn't going to be the worst, and he at least deserves some kudos for recognizing that his working as a cab driver was probably a bad idea.

[SherriAnt]

I totally agree about Santana, she seemed so thrilled when she succeeded! I think Siham will just quit driving, I don't think rehab is really what she needs, more like behavioural therapy for her nerves. Maybe Shamala can help with that. I don't think anyone should have graduated.

[Ciarrai]

I totally disagree with Ian graduating; I don't think he learned enough at all. I hope he never drove around anyone I know in Kingston.

[Taeolas]

Pretty much agree with all of the above. Not sure about graduating Ian, but it might be a case of letting a moderately bad driver go early so they can focus on the worse drivers. He seems to have picked up a few things, but not really the lessons they wanted to teach. STill if he stops being a professional driver, maybe there's some hope. 

 

Next week we get the distracted driving challenge; hopefully that will knock some sense into a bunch of these cell-drivers. I doube it, but I can hope right? 

 

While George is a Rager, he's also a Cell-driver, so they probably kept him till next week specifically for that challenge. I almost wish they had just moved the challenge up to run them all through it; but eye of the Needle is an important challenge to get done early too. 

[The Crazed Spruce]

The distracted driving challenge! A lesson that I predict will be completely lost on at least half of the drivers.

[Pepper the Cat]

I think the distracted driving challenge should be part of driving school. Stop this foolish habit before it starts!

[OlfinBedwere]

Mariah - Still doing quite well in the challenges, but it looks like she's a real mess of emotions underneath her exterior. If not for that I'd expect her to graduate within the next episode or two, but she's looking more and more of a long-term project.

 

George - Even if he'd passed the shoulder check challenge I don't think he'd have graduated; the judges probably aren't going to let him go until he improves his attitude, and he hasn't done that so far.

 

Tyler - No improvement over last week. Now starting to look more like a possible candidate for the worst.

 

Jason - The big surprise of the episode, looking halfway competent in the shoulder check challenge, and doing better than several of the other drivers in the reversing challenge. It'll take more time to prove that this wasn't just a fluke, but he at least didn't look overwhelmingly the worst like he did last week.

 

Siham - Really starting to question her motives in being on the show now; it's almost like she WANTS to be named the worst so that she'll have an excuse to quit driving. They were right not to expel her for now, as Shyamala probably needs a little more time to get through to her, but if she really does show no interest in learning then they should send her home.

 

Chanie - Taking rehab a little more seriously now; the distracted driving challenge was a big wake-up call. Still pretty awful in the challenges however, she'll probably be here until the end.

 

Santana - The star pupil of the season (so far), and absolutely 100% deserved to graduate. In fact, I'm amazed that they even bothered with a discussion at all! I could sort of understand it if there was a discussion about expelling Siham or graduating Santana, but the one they ended up having was simply ridiculous.

[Starchild]

George - Even if he'd passed the shoulder check challenge I don't think he'd have graduated; the judges probably aren't going to let him go until he improves his attitude, and he hasn't done that so far.

Andrew isn't helping by playing into the whole frat boy thing. George wears the punches as badges of honour.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Couldn't find a description of the episode, but I predict Styrofoam will fly, cardboard will be demolished, Andrew will snark, and several cars will lose a good deal of their resale value.

[Taeolas]

Well the bumper was lost on the Water tank challenge, as usual. :)

 

Andrew also lost 25L on the water tank challenge; I think that's a new record for him. Usually he gets through it pretty dry, but either they overfilled the tank or the course was more difficult than usual. Loved that acknowledged that he was getting both flustered AND distracted (by his running dialogue) during the rims section, so he stopped himself to calm down.

 

He also had a very close call with the guess your speed challenge; I think the filming of this episode might've woken Andrew up a bit from getting too relaxed in this role. Still, I love that he still does the challenges first no matter what, just to prove they are possible.

 

George was hands down the right graduate this time. And the double whammy of getting his son on there to learn to drive with Phillipe was extra icing on the cake. I suspect George will relapse occasionally, but at least his son has a good foundation now, and hopefully between his son and his friend, they can keep him in line. 

 

Jason, in order to see, you need to wear your glasses. Unless they duct tape the glasses over his eyes, he's probably going to be in for the long haul now.

 

Siham is our standard "OK driver, if she would just ignore the backseat drivers". Sometimes I wonder why the shows insist on keeping the problem in the car with these drivers, but I think I understand. Off the show, they are going to be driving with the backseaters, so they need to learn to focus on their own skills first. Still, a few solo challenges (or challenges with other passengers) earlier on might do wonders to their self confidence when driving with the backseat.

 

Not much more to say about this.

 

Of course, next week we get the E-Brake spin, in the forward and backward direction. And watching the preview, seeing that cherrypicker set up at the end of the reverse course (and a few hundred metres beyond the end of said course), all I could think was "That's a dangerous place for it."  Then again, that would assume the drivers cna back up in a straight line. :)

[OlfinBedwere]

Mariah reminds me of Ashley from S4 - when she can focus she's actually a pretty competent driver, but when things go wrong she's awful beyond belief.

 

I'm increasingly getting the feeling that Tyler's going to be this year's worst. Most of the others seem to have some clear cause for their bad driving - Jason is still adjusting to his glasses; Siham's confidence is shot to shreds, and compounded by her husband constantly trying to help her; Chanie and Mariah don't give driving their full focus and attention - but Tyler simply seems to have no driving skill whatsoever.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Man, it is really hard to find episode information on this show....

 

My guess: Someone gets eliminated, Styrofoam flies, cars get trashed, and all kinds of good stuff.

[Ciarrai]

Channie driving with one foot up is insane. How is that even comfortable?

[Taeolas]

On long car trips, my mom would sometimes do something similar. But she's mostly stopped that habit now (and only does it if she's a passenger now. )

 

PS: The OP's guess was wrong. No one graduated this time. Middle of the pack, that's to be expected; that's usually when we get the no-pass episode.

 

Siham does seem to finally be getting her back bone now. She still needs a lot of confidence building, but she probably won't be the worst now.

 

I was watching late last night (it doesn't start till 11 my time), so I'm blanking a bit; was it Mariah they were also considering for graduation? Considering her performance, she does seem to be improving. If they didn't have a non-elimination round this week, I'd probably have been fine with her graduation.

 

Jason seems to be getting better with his glasses. He's still bad, but considering how he's working to undo years of blind driving experience, it is improving. I doubt he'll be the worst at this point, but he's in for a long haul.

 

Tyler seems to be swapping places with Sihan, complete with the back seat driver. Unless he does a drastic turnaround, he's in till the end with Channi and probably either Jason or Sihan.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Hey, there's an actual description this time!

 

The drivers tackle a series of challenges in hopes of getting their keys back.

 

....Yeah, thanks.  That helped....

[Taeolas]

LOL. Ironically your usual description of "Foam Flying" would have fit better. The slalom course certainly sent it flying.

 

Toss up between Siham and Mariah, and both are surprising choices. But both have improved a lot over the series so far. Siham's confidence is building fast it seems, so she should be clear to be released next week. And Mariah certainly seems to have taken a lot of the lessons to heart. She actually got the no-drinking tattoo too (though I'm not sure if it was 'upside down' or not. Depends on your POV I guess).

 

Final three are going to be Tyler, Jason and Chanie unless Siham really screws up next time. And as is, the final two are going to be Chanie and Tyler. Jason's adjusting well to his glasses and just improving his skills so he doesn't feel like the worst. Tyler on the other hand, hasn't shown any signs of improvement that I've noticed. 

[MrWhyt]

I think admitted drunk drivers should be held in rehab until the final challenge just on principle, but other than that I was ok with Mariah going this time. Definitely agree with Taeolas on the makeup of the final three and the 2 worst.

[OlfinBedwere]

The only way I can see Siham not graduating next week is if she pulls an Aaron and insists on sticking around for the city drive in the final episode. It's hard to call out any of the remaining drivers as being overwhelmingly better or worse than the other two, though it'll be interesting to see whether Jason's new glasses make a significant difference in the road test.

[Taeolas]

Yeah and I don't see Siham wanting to stick around for the city drive. She was ready to leave this week, and the panel was ready to let her go. Mariah just had a slightly better week than her, so she got the nod, but really it was a coin flip.

 

I *could* see Jason going before her if she really pushed it, but really there isn't a need for it.  Of the other three, he's the best of the worst right now; and short of causing a 20 car pile up on the 401, I don't see him getting the trophy this year. 

[The Crazed Spruce]

The icy turn challenge! An epic reversing course! Dings, dents, and demolition! Oh, my!

[MrWhyt]

All these people suck, no one deserved to graduate.

[OlfinBedwere]

I'm guessing that they would have had a 4-person finale if the time and budget allowed, but it just wasn't feasible. Wouldn't surprise me if they just assumed that Siham would cruise to graduation this episode, and booked the crew, equipment and car for the last episode on that basis, leaving them unable to alter their plans when everyone did badly.

 

So yeah, looks like Siham's going to be this year's version of Aaron after all, finally getting her confidence back in the city drive. Jason will probably pull a Sly, have a halfway competent drive and avoid being the worst. Which, of course, will leave Chanie to take the trophy.

[Taeolas]

I agree with what's been said. Siham probably had a bit of a confidence blow from not graduating last time, but she should recover in the live test.

 

I'm really surprised out of the three challenges they only had 1 pass (1.5 if you count clipping the boxes coming out of the ice challenge). All 4 of them need drilled into them that fast means "As fast as your skills allow". Not "Jam the gas pedal and keep going". 

 

Killing the Car in Episode 6. Relatively impressive. I think other groups have killed their car this early, but most of the time it makes it to Ep 7 or 8. 

 

Honestly, it really should have been a Final 4 Grand challenge. Timing and budget must be limiting them I guess. 

[The Crazed Spruce]

Season finale! The mega-challenge! The public driving challenge! And someone! Will be named! Canada's! Worst! Driver!!

[OlfinBedwere]

I'm iffy on Jason being given the final graduation over Siham, as she was definitely better for most of the season, and aside from those two really bad mistakes her final drive was better than his.

 

As for the worst, however, Chanie absolutely, 100% deserved the title. Hell, she was lucky they didn't find out about that whole medication thing sooner, or else she'd have likely been kicked out of rehab.

[Taeolas]

Overall I agree with the results. Siham and Jason were improving; I wouldn't say they were good drivers, but with a bit more practice and away from the lights and strain of the show, I'm sure they'll do better.

 

Chanie said she's been off her meds for a few weeks right? Which means that for part of the show she was on them. I don't think they made much of a difference, which is scary in itself. She deserved the cake this year easily.

 

But I agree, Siham deserved to get the graduation before Jason if only because Jason somehow couldn't find a donut shop in Hamilton near a medical building to use the washroom. Couldn't find a donut shop in Hamilton, home of Tims. (Hell they blurred out at least 1 Tims in the background during the drive, and probably blurred out more if I was paying attention to it). I think they need to recheck his eyes. :P 

 

Then again, Jason was the only one to finish any of the challenges. (Though at 47 seconds, Chanie did come close) so that seemed to weigh higher in the considerations. 

 

As for the drive overall, this one felt like one of Andrew's more stressful drives. All 3 of them cut the exit off and did other heinous driving crimes. Siham's red light U-Turn especially was a WTF. How Andrew resisted the urge to grab the wheel (which you should never do of course), I'll never know. 

 

At least Jason's from Sudbury, so we can excuse him a little because he's from a smaller community. Siham and Chanie are both from Calgary; they have to go home and drive in a much bigger city. That's even scarier. 

Edited December 16, 2014 by Taeolas

[OlfinBedwere]

If memory serves the season is filmed over the course of 2-3 weeks, so Chanie was likely off her medication for a significant portion of the season. Regardless, it was an incredibly dumb move to keep quiet about it until after the final drive. Shyamala would probably have been able to help her a lot better if she knew that Chanie's problems went beyond just being a common-variety ditz. Heck, even Angelina was able to talk openly about her own medication situation (though granted, that was WAY more obvious than Chanie's).

 

As for the final graduation, I suppose it depends whether they were looking at it in terms of the most improved overall, or the most skilled. Siham was obviously pretty skilled as far back as the first episode, her major problem was that her nerves were shredded. Jason on the other hand was a complete trainwreck for the first few episodes, but got a lot better as he got glasses and learned new stuff.

[slushie31]

This is interesting: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152924540342497&set=o.101017959990480&type=1&theater -- Siham apparently wasn't very happy about the editing of the show.

[Pepper the Cat]

This is interesting: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152924540342497&set=o.101017959990480&type=1&theater -- Siham apparently wasn't very happy about the editing of the show.

Oh my. Thats quite the language! I think someone just made the naughty list!

 

Frankly, all three finalists scared the crap outta me! None of them should be on the road! I don't drive because of vision problems - my eye doctor says she can't officially say no driving because its not that bad, but she highly recommended I don't. So I don't. You can live without driving. Yes, its a little inconvient at times, but I manage. These people could too. 

[satrunrose]

Ouch! I know reality tv isn't real reality but no swearing at my Andrew, Siham! I would love to have him and Phillipe teach me a reverse 180 and then go for a few beers and some snarking (with a cab or dd home, of course). Seriously, though, I wish there was some way for Canada's not so bad drivers to try these challenges. I would love to see how I would do. 

 

Back to Siham, unless the producers forced her to do a u-turn against a red light, then I'm not really buying that she's a poorly portrayed good driver. Plus only passing 48% of the challenges, no matter where that places you in the ranking, does not mean you're a good driver.

Edited December 17, 2014 by satrunrose

[Taeolas]

So Season 11 has started... and the car has already lost its bumper. *sob* that poor poor Charger. :(

 

I'm still feeling out the contestants a bit. Initial impressions after the first night: The brothers are somewhat of a joke. They'll either get booted or they'll sober up. I'm betting on the former.

 

I'm surprised they let a contestant drive drunk, but I guess she was under the limit? Still, that's a bit scary. 

 

Anyways, bring on the Challenges! 

[MrWhyt]

So Season 11 has started... and the car has already lost its bumper. *sob* that poor poor Charger. :(

 

yup that car isn't going to be making it to the final road test. As for the drunk driving, they said she had a vodka cooler and a beer, I doubt she was over the legal limit.

[OlfinBedwere]

It wasn't the drive to rehab where she was drinking, but the drive around their hometown that they do as part of the auditions process. It probably fell just short of being over the limit, but it wouldn't surprise me if it caused her other daughter to say "hell no!" on accompanying her to rehab.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Didn't even realize the new season had started 'til you posted this thread.

(BTW, my TV guide is showing the episode title as "Ready, Set, Go", so I'm gonna go ahead and change the thread title.)

[The Crazed Spruce]

Contestants tackle a series of driving challenges, including the Head-To-Head Reverse, the Ride the Rails and checking blind spots.

[Taeolas]

Hmm... I'm a little torn on the decision, but I suspect both Alex and Tina will be fine. Tina seemed to have the better skills due to her cycling skills, so I almost rather she would have been the first one alone.

 

Alex, I almost wish had lasted to the distracted driving challenge. 

 

The Newfie is probably the better driver of all 3, but she needs more practice on heavy driving. Not sure if she'll get it at the Rehab, but I'm pretty sure she'll go next week. 

[MrWhyt]

Well i guess with the taking of the brothers they had to do a double elimination at some point. I too wish Alex had made it to the distracted driving challenge. But these two were the typical offenders who just needed a metaphorical slap upside the head to straighten them out so I'm ok with them both going.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Couldn't find a description of the episode, but I'm willing to bet there'll be some destruction of obstacles, some surface damage to at least two vehicles, and more than a little snark from Andrew.

[The Crazed Spruce]

The Eye of the Needle! Let the styrofoam fly!

[Pepper the Cat]

Yay Shmul!!

The remaining 5 are all very scary. Scary to think that they were actually out there on oublic streets before this.

[Taeolas]

Two and a half people finishing (or almost finishing) the eye of the needle. Wow.

 

Shmul was the clear graduate this time around. 

 

Jill would have been my second pick; she's close but her attitude is still an issue. It's improving and I think she'll be graduating next week regardless. 

 

The rest; I'm not sure who will be worse. It's going to be a tough call I think.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Couldn't find a description, but I'm predicting a good deal of slipping, and a fair bit of crashing.

[OlfinBedwere]

Right now, Sholom's looking such a lock to be the worst that I'm wondering whether he's going to pull a Sly and dodge out of being named the worst via a good performance in the road test.

 

Of the remainder, Jillian looks like she's close to making the breakthrough that'll let her graduate, and Renee and Jordan still have some work to do but definitely aren't looking like the worst. Polly's probably the only person other than Sholom that I can see being named the worst, as I can see her falling to pieces in her road test without Jeff being around to hold her hand.