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Previously on the Amazing Race, the elimination was telegraphed within the first ten minutes, thus sucking all drama from the episode. The viewers knew the outcome. The teams knew the outcome. Margie & Luke knew the outcome. It made the leg more fun for teams (save for the mother/son team) and entertaining to watch but not particularly compelling TV for a competition show.

With the next leg appearing to remain in Sri Lanka, this leg should at least, have some actual racing to avoid last place.

First, here are the power rankings for this week:

1. David & Connor: Father/Son (Team Murphy's Law).


2. Jet & Cord: Cowboys/The Lone Rangers.


3. Flight Time & Big Easy: Globetrotters
.

4. Leo & Jamal: Afghanimals.


5. Brendon & Rachel: Big Brother (Team Fetch).


6. Jennifer & Caroline: Country singers.


7. John & Jessica: Newly engaged couple.

The Colombo Rowing Club is the scene of departure in the middle of the night and David & Connor leave first. The teams will be heading to the Dutch Museum and get their clue in the headstone room. Since it’s the middle of the night, I smell a clumping of teams coming.

Proud papa David gushes about how he believes that Connor is the strongest physical competitor in the Race. While he demurely says his dad is biased, I have no familial allegiance to Connor and wouldn't really debate against daddy's assessment. Connor may not be not the strongest, but he’s definitely in the top three.





Behind them and higher than ever before are Jennifer & Caroline. The singers ran a smooth leg last time and it turned out well for them. But like I surmised in my rankings, they just aren't consistent enough to keep logging front of the pack finishes.

Next out are the cowboys and the Afghanimals, who are particularly interested in getting in front of Team Murphy’s Law and the brothers. They rationalize that they are the also one of the stronger teams this season and I don’t really want to admit it, but the cousins seem to be correct. Third best, though, just to be clear. But like last season, Leo & Jamal appear to be more focused on beating those top two teams on the legs and getting first and not playing the long-game.

Before the others even leave the mat, the reality of the clumping sets in as David & Connor see that the museum doesn’t open until 5:30 a.m. Pull up some pavement, fellows, you got a few hours to waste… er… I mean wait.

We are spared any socializing between teams in this down time and fast forward to dawn. The doors open and the teams flood the museum like the CGI waters in a Darren Aronofsky biblical film. Scrambling and falling all the way, every team has their clue and is now heading to the railway station to catch a train to the town of Alawwa. In the span of five minutes, we have our second instance of “rush, rush, rush… and never mind, we’re all together again.”

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