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Last week was “Happy Trails” to Jet & Cord as the younger, fair-haired cowboy literally rode off into the sunset in Seville, Spain. Sad to see them go but in a season with what seems like weekly neck-and-neck Pitstop finishes, it only takes one navigation slip-up (in car or on foot) to doom you. This All-Stars season has been a highly competitive one with a one glaring exception – Jennifer & Caroline.

The alliance co-dependent singers continue to hang on but look at my rankings for this week to see what I really think of their chances. For the Cliff’s Notes version, here they are:

1. David & Connor, Team Murphy's Law/father and son


2. Leo & Jamal, cousins/Afghanimals


3. Brendon & Rachel, Team Fetch/Big Brother


4. Jennifer & Caroline, singers

Let’s return to Spain and begin where we just ended. It's a bit after 11 a.m. and David & Connor leave in the pole position for this leg. Despite his assertion otherwise, David is not hindered by his age at all on this Race. He may try to play that card to garner sympathy or an edge but the results don't lie. Pop and son are the team to beat. The clue informs the teams that they are leaving Spain by train and then plane for Great Britain. That's quite the rhyme.

After landing in London, the teams will venture to Liverpool for what must be a Beatles-themed task, right? I mean it's the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four hitting the US. Well, it is but the teams are actually heading to the stadium home of Liverpool FC. See...because the rest of the world loves soccer way more than Americans do.





Team Murphy’s Law heads for the train station and in short order (meaning less than 30 minutes) the other three teams have left the mat as well. No travel drama or jockeying for better arrangements necessary because they are all on the same train and then plane. Clearly, the producers didn’t want to gamble on an airport snafu to suck the drama from the penultimate leg of its All-Star season.

Brendon & Rachel take this opportunity to acknowledge that they haven’t been putting their best Race foot forward the last couple of legs but Rachel is proud of her ability to control meltdowns this season. I commend her for keeping it in check but the previews for this episode paint a picture that it’s been a fleeting change.

All abroad the crazy train because with everyone together this should be a tight leg through England.

Upon landing in Heathrow, the teams scramble to find the parking lot for their marked cars. Driving on the left side of the road and car might prove problematic for the teams. In surely what was a "blonde" edit, Caroline is the only one shown trying to get in the wrong side for the driver’s seat.

Side note: As I am already experiencing some mid-90s temperatures down here in the south, it was a refreshing sight to spy Christmas trees decorating Heathrow. I suspect that the producers usually avoid showing images that point to when the season was filmed but O Tannenbaum snuck in there this time.

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