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In last week’s season premiere, sisters Misa & Maiya foolishly overlooked an awaiting Phil and were mercifully eliminated, thus saving me from a season-long chore of trying to remember which was which.

How about a look at my power rankings heading into episode two, which will be equal parts first impressions and how they fared/looked during the first episode.

Rachel & Dave: The combat pilot and his wife (or Army of Two) performed pretty well on the first leg and captured first place, thus earning the Express Pass. I hoped they would work well together and seemed solid but the previews show an unflattering/outburst side of Blonde Rachel (as opposed to Bad Rachel from Team Big Brother). They still get the benefit of my doubt until I see if the preview is misleading or accurate.

(tie) dating divorcees Vanessa & Ralph and twins Elliot & Andrew: First, I think that the fifth and sixth place finishes for these teams respectively don’t reflect what they can do on the race. Both teams have years of history and therefore, should be adept at reading one another. In particular, the twins played well together despite admitted distinct personality differences. The sibling angle is a strong bond and it should keep them cohesive enough for a top three finish.

Art & JJ: Initially, I believed their banter and "disharmony" would be an issue to put it mildly but the guys surprised me with how well they race and they started out strong. It’s because of that I now give them the edge over fellow law enforcement agents…

Nary & Jamie: While I would have loved to place them higher, their approximately two and a half minutes of total screen time didn’t give me enough to prove my earlier, glowing first impression. Given more face time on the race, they should be a likable team worth rooting for. Unlike…

Brendon & Rachel: Team Big Brother really wants to further their annoying reign of terror on the nation. I went into this season already hating Rachel but ignorant Brendon has quickly secured rightful place beside Bad Rachel. I pray they don’t make even this far into the race but I suspect they will.

Kerri & Stacy: Our Southern cousins were mediocre racers on the first leg, so I feel obligated to bump them down a few pegs. I still would like for them to stick around much longer than Team Big Brother.

Bopper & Mark: Wow! If this was my first introduction to citizens of Kentucky, then…WOW! Their hearts are in the right place but man, oh man, I don’t think I can handle an entire season of these guys. Bopper, in particular, looks/sounds like Ryan Stiles doing a horrible improv outtake of a Kentuckian from Who’s Line Is It Anyway? Even though they seem to work well together, I feel they just may be too "fish out of water," similar to…

Joey ‘Fitness’ & Danny: The Garden State guidos (their characterization…not mine) narrowly escaped my first-to-be-eliminated prediction thanks to the boneheadedness of Misa & Maiya. That will probably be the way it will roll for these meatheads for a couple legs. They will do just enough to outperform a weaker team, like…

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