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Last week, what appeared to be a single episode melt down by Team Beardo is exactly a fair conclusion. Did they fall from first to last (thus, eliminated)? Yes, but the U-Turn was the real culprit and I respect that the guys didn't get all sanctimonious about the "fairness" of U-Turning. Did they also shoot themselves in the foot by switching Detour tasks too quickly? Yes, but...okay, maybe it was a pretty bad fall from grace after all.

Let's delve into this week's rankings. I have to preface my rankings to say that I am really enjoying this season, but there is a strong air of predictability of how teams are performing. Nothing truly surprising so far.

1. Travis & Nicole: Mr. & Mrs. Dr.. I haven't made a secret of rooting for this team and I am glad that for once my initial impression of a team seems to be accurate. I liked them in their introduction interviews and they have maintained that root-for-worthiness over the last five legs. What keeps them at the top for me is that they consistently perform well as a team. Little to no bickering. Actual encouragement. And results: they have been in one of the top four spots every time Phil has popped up. Now you add in the newly-acquired Express Pass and WHAM!...they have another advantage over other teams. The successful wrangling of the Pass from the exes was beautiful and only partly because it took the semblance of power Marie was wielding away. My fingers are crossed and prayers said that Travis & Nicole keep on rolling to the end, especially if they maintain the alliance with another likable team...

2. Jason & Amy: Daring New Englanders. Since they aligned with the doctors and seem to be modeling their approach to the Race similarly, how could I not put these guys second? Why not first, you may ask? (Please ask.) Aside from the aforementioned and highly coveted Express Pass hidden in the docs' scrubs, this younger couple has a slightly greater chance of letting a disagreement derail them. Only slight because even the one instance where they lost out on first place because they couldn't agree where to direct their cab, Jason accepted the blame and Amy didn't go after him for it. A lesser team...you know who I am looking at...wouldn't have let the opportunity pass to belittle a team mate. Keep that going on the Race and I think they will keep going to the end.

3. Tim & Marie: Bitter, Bitter Exes.. Speaking of who I am looking at, here we have the bane of my Amazing Race viewing existence. Marie proved to have much less bite than bark on the last leg. She has been vocal about being in control of the Express Passes the entire time, even telling Phil as much when they were securely in second-to-last place in Portugal. Yet in scenic Poland, she let Tim make the decision to give the pass to Travis & Nicole for the location name, which wasn't even a Pitstop. I also maintain that instead of relenting to the doctors' ultimatum, they could've just FOLLOWED them. Obviously, they were trying to get to the same place as Tim & Marie. Then at the Detour, the exes succumbed to the reality of being insufferable pricks (mainly, Marie) to the others (mainly, everyone else, including Tim) and used their own Pass to hopefully avoid being U-Turned. So why am I putting then so high? Because there is always one team I loathe that sticks around longer than I would like and possibly spoils the finale for me and that seems to be Tim & Marie.

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