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Last time around on the Amazing Race, former wallflower team Pam & Winnie were eliminated and it couldn’t have happened at a better time…the longer they stayed on the Race, the more unlikeable they became. So now they are gone before they fully evolved from annoying to insufferable.

Trading in the sweltering desert of Botswana for the snowy peaks of Switzerland, only six teams are left in the hunt for the million dollars but really only one team has demonstrated any aptitude at Racing. Please step forward hockey brothers Bates & Anthony and receive your acknowledgment. And just to not confuse matters, all you other five teams should take about three giant steps backward. We don’t want your inadequacy rubbing off on Team Slapshot.

Since the flight prospects from Botswana to Zurich, Switzerland, are as rare as you would expect, all the teams are bunched on the same flight. I like how one of the ladies describes it as “back at square one.” Or as it should be more aptly named “the go-to move by producers to not let one team dominate and run roughshod over the others.”

Now that all the teams are clumped together, let’s see what the land of fine chocolate and cough drops has in store for them. First off, they have to find a “conductor” lady in the airport upon landing in Zurich to get their first clue, which instructs them to take a train to the town of Grindelwald and more specifically, the church in the town.

Without incident, all six teams get on the first train but the connection at the next station was too tight for Team YouTube and Sock ‘er Moms. They are both now left standing on the platform literally watching the other teams speed away. Ever the class act, Max salutes them with a couple of blurred-out middle fingers (of course, he did so in a cowardly way so they couldn't see them. I mean, if you're gonna be a douchebag, then BE a douchebag). This shows that there is still some of the anti-Jessica & John sentiment being directed at their former alliance.

Could it possibly be that so early into the leg, it's going to come down to one of these two being eliminated? Doubtful, because the producers wouldn’t make it that easy for the others and more importantly, the sky high probability of one of the other teams to screw up royally always looms.

Even though they are about an hour behind them, my first suspicion is accurate. The first teams arrive at the church to discover that their clue won’t be delivered until 8:45 the next morning. So ten minutes into this episode, we have traveled thousands of miles across two continents and ridden in a plane and trains; yet, nothing of consequence has happened. Basically, it’s all old news…the hockey brothers are still flirting with Caroline & Jennifer and Joey & Meghan and Mona & Beth are the outsiders. They could’ve started the episode at this point and no one would’ve cared.

The shepherd delivers the clue to the waiting teams and they are instructed to go the train station (the same one they arrived at yesterday, I assume, which seems silly to me). Take a train to Kleine and pick up a rescue dog at the Bellevue hotel. The teams sprint ever so gingerly across the snowy, icy streets of Grindelwald to the train. Once again, Wynona is the slowest one and this time her speed has set off her usually more patient husband Chuck. Maybe he's just mad because the cold weather is giving him a bad hair day. Nevermind, the dude sports a mullet, so everyday would be bad. For the viewer (i.e. me), the episode gets worse because the train doesn’t leave for 45 minutes and still all the teams are right together. This is getting kind of old and boring, if I do say so.

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