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Like ripping off a bandage, last week’s premiere went by really quickly and wasn’t as painful as we expected. A few of teams (dentists Misti & Jim, wrestlers Brooke & Robbie and daters Tim & Te Jay) that I pegged as having a high-annoyance factor came across pretty well in my eyes.

And making it even sweeter was the elimination of the one team that I was guaranteed to hate – blonde sisters Lisa & Michelle.

Before the remaining teams depart from the U.S. Virgin Islands, here are my power rankings summarized:

1) Misti & Jim (Married): Team DDS

2) Tim & Te Jay (Dating): TNT

3) Kym & Alli (Friends). Psycho Cyclists

4) Brooke & Robbie (Dating/Wrestlers): Tag Team

5) Adam & Bethany (Married): Hang Ten or Soul Surfers (as we are being instructed to call me by the producers.)

6) Amy & Maya (Friends/PhD Students): Team Candy Crush

7) Dennis & Isabelle (Dating).

8) Shelley & Nici (Mother/Daughter).

9) Michael & Scott (Friends/Fire Fighters): Team Office Fire

10) Keith & Whitney (Engaged): Team Survivor(?)

A lead of a couple of hours over the non-first place finishing teams means nothing in the world of the Amazing Race, but Misti & Jim don’t care about that because they are still floating high with the Save in their pocket. Given how they raced the first leg, I suspect they will be holding onto it for quite a while.

The clue points them to the airport, where they will be on one of two flights to jolly ol’ England. London awaits with an hour and 20 minute difference in arrival times, which might seem like a decent padding, if you have never watched the Race before and aren’t aware that most of these tasks can take hours to complete. But if you haven’t watched the Race before, you probably aren’t reading this recap, so we’ll move on.

The flights will divide the teams into six and four. With the last two teams of the firefighters and the Survivor alumni getting dinged with the four hour penalty from the first leg, the only real question is which of the other teams will be on the second flight.

One by one the teams get in line and joining the dentists are Tim & Te Jay, the wrestlers, the cyclists, the scientists and the surfers. Showing that decency has a place in the Amazing Race and undoubtedly making her mama proud is Candy Crush’s Amy. Apparently at some point on the first leg, Bethany lost a shoe and is now sporting only flip-flops. Finding out that she wears the same size shoe, Amy generously gives the surfer the pair. This scores major karma points but that doesn’t always have much currency on the Race. It’s nice to see humanity outshine competitiveness.

So the teams for that flight are set, meaning that on the second flight and bringing up the rear will be Shelley & Nici (who have proclaim extreme fan status), Keith & Whitney, Dennis & Isabelle and firefighters Michael & Scott.

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