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Welcome back to The Amazing Race. Based upon the way this season has shaped up, this show is on the verge of being false advertising by labeling it “Amazing” but “The Lackluster Race” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Eighty percent of teams remaining have been mediocre to middling so far but this may be the leg where they dazzle us.

Let’s leave the snowy peaks of Switzerland for streets of Deutschland. That’s right. The teams will be heading to the land that adores Hasselhoff.

It’s 2:50 a.m. and Bates & Anthony rip into their clue first, just as they have done the previous two legs. They are heading to Dresden, Germany, via train. Once there, they must jaunt on over to the Ministry of Finance and pick up a marked car that’s waiting for them.

The guys’ lead was not as significant as the editing implied last week because second place Sock ‘er Moms Mona & Beth leave less than ten minutes later at 2:57 a.m. And they join the hockey brothers at a nearby cab stand to wait for a ride to the train station.

For the first time yet this season, someone finally acknowledges Team Slapshot’s dominating presence. The roller derby mothers point out that Caroline & Jennifer are insistent upon keeping around these “Supermen” and they don’t understand this since Bates & Anthony are the strongest competition. The answer is simple - the country songbirds are letting the Race double as a dating show. They apparently think it should be called The Amazing Courtship. This revelation by the moms makes me a bit nervous for our frontrunner brothers. I fear that this is the editor’s way of telegraphing a fall from grace for Bates & Anthony.

A few minutes later Max & Katie leave the mat. Max explains that while their expectation to win most of legs on the Race hasn’t even come close to being a reality, they are still confident that they can win the whole thing. I give them credit for self-confidence but that’s about all I will give them credit for because they haven’t done anything to deserve more credit than that.

The newlyweds join the first two teams as they wait for a cab but all have decided to just hoof it to the train station rather than just do nothing by waiting.

Nearly 40 minutes after the brothers officially kicked off this leg, the other part of their flirtatious alliance leaves the mat. The girls happily profess that they want to go to the final three with Bates & Anthony and even call them their “Race boyfriends.” If these relationships extend beyond the Race, then Phil is already a better matchmaker than Chris Harrison and the folks over at The Bachelor/Bachelorette.

As the Amazing walkers get to the train station first, they are expectedly put off by the fact that the next train leaves at 5:26 a.m., which means all the teams will be traveling together. It’s like these people have never seen the show. Hey, Future Amazing Race teams: If you are starting a leg or reach your destination in the wee hours of the morning and/or are at an airport or train station, the playing field will be leveled almost every time as you wait for said place to open or for the first plane/train to leave the next morning. It’s just part of the Race…expect it.

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