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Last Sunday was the day the music died with Team Glee of Connor & Jonathan coming in last place. To quote Phil, “Who will be eliminated next?”

As the teams on sitting on top of the world on the border of Norway and Sweden, they begin their departures.

• 6 a.m. – Doctors Nat & Kat are the first to leave. Surprisingly, last week’s edit was deceptive because at…
  
  
• 6:04 a.m. – Daddy/daughter Gary & Mallory leave only a few minutes later than the leaders. Little Miss Sunshine Mallory expresses her extreme delight in running this race with her dad, who is a huge fan of the show.
  
  
• 6:05 a.m. – Team HSN Brook and Claire virtually tied at the Pitstop with Gary & Mallory. Brook explains their team dynamic: she is a "crazy animal" and Claire is a "calm storm" so if they come together they would be a perfect creature. I am not sure but I think she meant to call Claire the "calm BEFORE the storm" because a "calm storm" is definitely an oxymoron.
  
  
• 6:30 a.m. – Father/son Michael & Kevin head out in fourth place after a solid showing last leg. Kevin shares that this is the last time for him to "live" with his dad because of college. Michael cracks himself up by saying this is the last time for them to “sleep together, eat together, travel together and pee together.” Sorry, Kev but you can’t escape parental embarrassment, even on another continent.
  
  
• 6:48 a.m. – Dating Jill & Thomas leave and repeat their common refrain about how Thomas went to Notre Dame and Jill went to cosmetology school. But he then adds that he thought he would end up with someone else that went to college. Yes, it was as cold as it seems and that snippet will have undoubtedly been a topic of conversation at their house during the episode viewing (provided they are still together and don’t implode after the race).
  
  
  
  

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• 7:11 a.m. – Vegas Ink Nick & Vicki leave in sixth and demonstrate that the even the word "gondola" is hard to pronounce for them.
  
  
• 8:12 a.m. – The other dating couple Chad & Stephanie are in second-to-last. I think that I may be reversing my gut reactions about these guys and Jill & Thomas because Chad seems to be more calm and apologetic when needed, whereas "unhappy" is about the only way I can describe Jill & Thomas on the race and in their relationship.
  
  
• 8:34 a.m. – Pro volleyball players Katie and Rachel have been successfully dwelling in the basement and proving me wrong that they could win it all. Maybe this will be their turning point. Rachel (or was it Katie?) focuses in on the fact they are there to race and not make friends – “It’s Amazing Race, not Amazing Friends.”

So there’s the lineup and the teams are crossing into Norway one-by-one to head to the Narvik Gondola where the clue sits atop the mountain. Predictably, the doctors get to the gondola first and Nat, the diabetic one, tries to curry sympathy from Kat, who knows of Nat’s near-crippling fear of heights. But with them making their way up and with tears welling up in Nat’s eyes, Kat ignorantly observes, “This has to be highest one.” I would hate to see her bedside manner for strangers.

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