Rabbit-hopping: My new favorite sport.

By Kerri Fleming

After 19 seasons, some might say the key to success in the Amazing Race is intelligence about world travel, athleticism, or having a good attitude. But this episode proved that what really keeps you in the game when you're having a bad day is the idea that someone else is biting the big one even worse than you. Exhibits A & B: Marcus and Amani and Jeremy and Sandy. Both teams made dumb decisions, fell way behind, and probably should have been eliminated. But when someone else bombs a road block, gets u-turned and then gets lost for two hours, all of a sudden, you're looking pretty sweet.

The teams departed from Malawi to Denmark, two countries often confused for one another by world travelers. The show already pre-booked a flight for the teams, but they were free to take a chance on other flights. The sailors took advantage right away, booking an earlier flight out of Malawi, but not before having one of the most awkward information-gathering/information-hiding conversations with Cindy ever.

The rest of the teams kept the first flight to Amsterdam but found earlier connecting flights to Copenhagen. All except Marcus and Amani, who spent the several-hours-long layover relaxing and watching the planes. Oh, Marcus and Amani, have you learned nothing? If you have time to "relax" and there are no other teams around, SOMETHING IS WRONG.

The sailors land first, but their lead is squandered when they find that Vol Frelsers Kirke doesn't open until the morning, allowing all of the other teams (sans Marcus and Amani) to catch up. Once there, they have to climb to the top of the church and find two clues - one on a flag and the other on the roof of a neighboring building. The sailors only notice the flag but somehow stumble to the right place (their last lucky break of the day), soon followed by the group. Except Jeremy and Sandy, who got lost on the way to Frederiksborg Slot. Foreshadowing!

In fact, Jeremy and Sandy fell so far behind that Marcus and Amani were able to catch up, making one team very very happy and the other very very sad in a split second. Once they figure it out, Jeremy and Sandy seemed to have learned the lesson and asked for directions, while Marcus professed a dislike of asking for directions. Ugh, men.

From there, a road block, where one team member has to dress up in renaissance garb (makeup included!) and perform three traditional dances. While Ernie, Zac and Cathi practice, Cindy and Bill bond over "how we met stories." To sum up, Bill and Cathi met in middle school and married the day they graduated college. AWWWWWW. Cindy and Ernie met over shots at the local bar. So there's that. (Side note: Cindy seems like an insane perfectionist, but I kind of love her relationship with Ernie. No yelling. No snipping. And their sense of humor during down times is so nerdy cute.)

Ernie and Cathi both finish pretty easily, while Zac looks like some weird robot. Laurence, for once, seems in good spirits and isn't overly critical of his son - "He's 19. It's not his forte." Has he turned over a new leaf? (Short answer: No.) Further making Zac look a fool is Andy, who blows in like he dances in renaissance fairs on his weekends. Eventually, the 16th time's the charm and Zac finishes too.

In the back of the pack, Sandy finishes ahead of Amani, although both seem to enjoy their time playing dressup, even though it made Sandy look like some Black Swan reject for the rest of the leg. Jeremy and Sandy proceeded to get completely lost on the way to the next clue - HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING - while Marcus powered his team forward by spurting as many football cliches as humanly possible in a 30-second clip.

Up next is a detour, where teams have to decide between churning six sticks' worth of butter or running a leashed rabbit through a steeplechase course. Most teams opt to avoid animals, which is always a good idea, except right now because those bunnies were awesome. Seriously, I want to get a bunny and start him on the racing circuit. Do you think Speckles is available to stud?

All of the teams except Marcus and Amani choose butter churning, and most make six of the most disgusting-looking butter before wising up on the process. Cindy and Ernie finish first, with Bill and Cathi hot on their trail. Still scarred by their last-second loss to the snowboarders last week, Cindy and Ernie opt to U-Turn the sweet "Ma and Pa." After they bonded over shotskis and sweaty butter! Heartless jerks!

Not to be deterred, Bill and Cathi blow through the bunny challenge before anyone else finishes the detour, but not before U-Turning the sailors to keep themselves safe. Kudos for going after this season's least likeable player (although I think Jeremy has potential).

Back in the butter hut, the snowboarders celebrate their finish with a butter fight. The sailors also finish, discover they've been U-Turned and sputter through some swears and bitterness. Nevermind they U-Turned someone for no reason last week. That was so long ago.

The sailors arrive to the bunny course to see Marcus jumping up and down, cheering on his rabbit like a high-stakes bettor at the racetrack. I half-expected him to sing "Eye of the Tiger" midway through the race.

As the sailors race their bunny (the same Speckles used earlier in the show by the grandparents), Jeremy and Sandy were churning their butter, and Cindy and Ernie were crossing the finish line. They were followed by the grandparents, the snowboarders and Marcus and Amani.

Both of the remaining teams got lost on the way back to the pitstop, and despite Laurence's "creative" driving in the breakdown lane, Jeremy and Sandy were able to get in ahead of the father and son, who were eliminated.

Fun Fact: Competitive rabbit hopping is apparently a thing in Denmark. Here's how you train your bunny.