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The last episode was a soggy one. Whitney took a couple of spills into the river while a-punting. Tears flowed freely by two teams of self-described "super fans," both on the cusp of elimination. One racer, Nici, answered the call of nature mid-task off the side of a boat, in the middle of a river, in front of unsuspecting boaters.

That last moment even prompted the episode title of “When you gotta go, you gotta go.” Fortunately for her and her mom, that "gotta go" didn’t also translate into elimination for them. The honor of being the second team nixed from the Race belongs to dating racers Dennis & Isabelle, who, frankly, had a fairly unmemorable run.

The episode did reintroduce the powerful Express Pass to one team and showed that the dentists are infallible, despite their claims otherwise.

Wring out your socks of river water and wade through this week’s power rankings:

1) Misti & Jim (Married). Team DDS sets the expectations high for themselves and in the premiere they delivered on those claims. This week…not so much. But that all-powerful Save in their backpack is a huge advantage that they get to sit on through the ninth leg. Last week, I surmised that Jim’s meticulous Roadblock skills meant this team wouldn’t find folly in silly errors. Well, I was a little off. During the punting task, they were only one of the two teams shown that failed to follow the instructions on who stood where. Even with that error and need for a do-over, they took second place on the leg. That’s why I think Mist & Jim are still in the power ranking pole position. They messed up and still lead the pack, plus they aren’t eliminate-able for at least one leg.

2) Adam & Bethany (Married). The newlyweds of Team Hang Ten or Soul Surfers seem to find a comfortable groove this past leg. Highlights: They stayed calm during the Detour, only needing one attempt, which was faster than any of the other teams (who, incidentally needed multiple tries). They sailed through the punting task without breaking a sweat. AND most important, they snagged the aforementioned Express Pass and still claimed the first spot, because they were that far ahead of the other teams. A great day’s work and now, as Bethany admitted, the Pass gives them leeway if they encounter a task too difficult for her to do because of only having one arm. If this is the beginning of what they can do, then Adam & Bethany may surpass Team DDS in my rankings.

3) Kym & Alli (Friends). In case you were thinking, “So, who was the other team that had to redo the punting task?” Here’s your answer. The Psycho Cyclists with their “No sleep ‘til,” “Brooklyn” shirts raced hard and didn’t let the bristly drill sergeant’s rejection and criticism diminish their fun-loving demeanor. Just like the dentists, the punting was a bit of a hiccup for them but they still had no problem staying in the front of the pack, despite excessive bowler-tipping for the final clue. Honestly, picking the top three teams for me this week was easy because these three seem head and shoulders more Race-capable than the others. But if one team might crack the top three rankings, it is…

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