'I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win' Deep betrayal, epic battle as the race tightens in Saskatoon

Welcome to Saskatoon, the land of the living skies. But for one team, this will be their last stop.

What went down on Episode 4 of Canada's Ultimate Challenge, Season 3

First, an update. "Now, it's our time to shine," said Team Green's Steph, back and ready for action after her collapse in Episode 3.

The remaining three teams gathered at the Traffic Bridge in Saskatoon, where Brandon revealed the next challenge, The Ultimate Bridge Mindbender.

Two members from each team had to climb the 30-foot bridge and navigate a ring through 300 metres of tangled rope. Once the ring was navigated along both arches, a member on the ground had to untie another 50 twisted knots before ringing the buzzer. 

The teams got to pick which members climbed to the top and which stayed on the ground. When Team Green captain Gabe told her she was going up, Veronica was not feeling it. "I never climb bridges," she said. "Gabriel's a firefighter, okay? So this is perfect for him. Like this is his opportunity to shine."

When the horn rang, Keenan and Mark from Team Red secured a huge lead over the others. Moving that ring along the rope was harder than it looked and climbers had to communicate with their team on the ground!

Team Yellow's Steve and Kelly struggled at first, with Green and Blue fighting for 3rd and 4th place.

After navigating one arch, it was time to hand the ring off. Mark and Keenan (Team Red) passed it onto Santina and Mariam, while Steve and Kelly (Team Yellow) handed their ring over to Eddie and Ene. 

Meanwhile, things got a little chaotic for Team Green as Veronica struggled to untangle the ropes and seemed paralyzed by the challenge. "Are you (bleep)ing kidding me? My brain is not computing what's happening right now," said Veronica as she struggled at the top of the bridge. "At this moment, I knew I made a mistake," Gabriel recalls thinking, "there's no chance that we can win this."

Eddie and Ene chipped away at Team Red's lead in a stunning upset and placed first. Yellow was now in the power position: Who would go up against Team Green in the elimination challenge? It was a stressful evening for Teams Blue and Red as both tried to convince Yellow to save them (more on this below).

The next day Eddie, captain of Team Yellow, revealed a shocking decision. They would put former allies, Team Red, into the elimination round. That's when Keenan made a threat: "We're going to dominate this challenge. I'm going to win out the next region and we're going to send your ass packing." 

Game ON.

At Saskatoon's Goodale Farm, teams got a chance to size up the challenge. Two players from each team had to hang off a huge tractor to pull up 30 heavy bales of hay. The two ground members had to transport those bales through water and mud to create a colossal hay staircase. The first team up the stairs to ring the bell won.

Both teams choose female members on the tractor, leaving the men to start hauling hay bales through the mud. "This is do or die. If we don't pull out the W today, we're going home," said Veronica.

Team Green got off to a shaky start when Steph fell off the tractor, which meant another trip around the track before they could grab more bales. 

But with sheer grit and determination, Green battled it out in a neck-and-neck race to the bitter end. Teams Yellow and Blue cheered them from the sidelines. "If Team Red wins, there's no doubt that they're gonna want revenge against Team Yellow," said Kelly. "So I do want Green to win this." Double-crossing Team Red noticed that nobody was cheering for them as they eked out a victory that sent Green packing. 

Moment that changed the game

Team Red's Keenan had been playing fast and loose with his deal-making, brokering alliances with Teams Yellow, Orange and Blue. The double-dealing was bound to come out sooner or later (Gracia spilled the beans!).

In Saskatchewan, Keenan's treachery finally came back to haunt the team. Eddie asked, "Do you guys have any alliances with anyone else?" And Keenan told a bald-faced lie: "As far as aligning with people and saying, 'hey, we want to go to the end with you,' we never said that with anybody."

Surprising no one, Team Yellow put Red into the elimination challenge. "We all want Red to go. It's their punishment for lying to us and if you have a chance to get rid of one of the top teams, you're gonna do it," said Eddie.

It was a good strategy, except it didn't work. 

Best line of the episode

A threat (and perhaps an award for surfacing one of the most classic reality show chestnuts): "Going forward, I have my own back. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to win a (bleep)ing competition." 

Santina said this when it became obvious that Team Red had no friends left in the game as the other teams cheered for Team Green during the elimination challenge. 

Do these four powerhouse players have what it takes to bring a victory home on their own?

MVP(s) of Episode 4: Eddie (and Ene) from Team Yellow

On the bridge, Eddie and Ene were facing Team Red who already had a substantial lead on them. But Eddie was determined to win the region: "Growing up, me and my friends were little hooligans. So, I've done a lot of things on bridges."

Calm under pressure, watching Eddie and Ene work together was a master class in communication. "I'm not going to let Team Red beat us in another race," said Ene. Neck-and-neck with Team Red, it was an all-out battle that Team Yellow won. 

Most caption-worthy photo

Where to watch Canada's Ultimate Challenge

Catch all the action on Canada's Ultimate Challenge, now streaming free on CBC Gem.

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