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Here’s a recap for you…five episodes in and The Amazing Race 22 has left me uninspired, which makes assessing and ranking their Race "skills" even more difficult. After last week’s disappointing turn of events with David & Connor succumbing to dear old dad’s foot injury, this difficulty continues to rise.

In a field full of teams that aren’t exactly blazing a trail to The Amazing Race Hall of Fame, here’s how I think these remaining teams rank heading into the sixth episode:

1. Bates & Anthony: The hockey brothers of Team Slapshot deftly deflected attention from themselves when the possibility of a U-Turn popped up. For whatever reason, the other teams have been blind to the physical presence that Bates & Anthony have, plus the all-around impressive showing at the end of most legs. In my eyes, the fact that they are essentially flying under the radar is highly commendable but also highlights how Race-ignorant their competitors are. Add in that they are good-natured and likable and you have the team that I think still has the best shot at winning it all. (Side note: It finally occurred to me last week that Bates & Anthony’s parents were such big fans of Alfred Hitchcock and the movie “Psycho” that they named their boys after the main character and the actor playing him. Just a theory.)

2. Max & Katie: Oh, Team Cape Fear, I wanted you to flame out because of your early wannabe villainous shenanigans and bickering but here you are sitting near the top at the Pit Stop and in my rankings. Why? Simply because the last two legs you have demonstrated none of that grating bickering that I assumed was a constant for you. Their transition of moving from competing with one another about being right to focusing that competitiveness to the actual Race has served them well. This ranking is probably the biggest gamble for me because as nicely as they seemed to have changed for the better, it could just as easily revert to the toxic ways from the beginning. Just remember…you are on the same team (in the Race and as newlyweds), so work together and not against each other.

3. Mona & Beth: Team Sock’er Moms have rolled up to third place last week and did so by cruising past other teams between challenges. The challenge performance of our roller derby mothers hasn’t been one for the record books, especially last week with the bungled human chess Detour and being one of the last teams out of the Vietnam Communism celebration Roadblock. All that considered, they seem have some super mojo that allows them to avoid any issue getting from point A to point B. Aside from Bates & Anthony, I think they are the only other ones that I actually like. The biggest obstacle for them: the one-time alliance with John & Jessica. The fact that the other teams focused their U-Turn on Joey & Meghan (the OTHER part of said alliance) hints that the mothers are viewed as less of a target for whatever reason.

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