Contestant Daniel Pious retrieves a clue by climbing a rope during 'The Amazing Race.' (CBS)

Caite Upton is headed in the right direction on “The Amazing Race.”

The former Miss Teen South Carolina, who infamously flubbed a 2007 pageant question involving maps, and her boyfriend, Brent Horne, are among the three remaining teams competing Sunday for the CBS reality series’ $1 million grand prize. The often bickering dating duo experienced a rough start on the around-the-world race but have managed to avoid elimination.

“I think one of the most exciting things is that Brent and Catie are still there in contention, against the odds,” said host Phil Keoghan. “Right from the very beginning, I don’t think the other teams saw them being at the end. Catie has really taken a leadership role and really driven this team. I think she’s really been the dominant factor for their team.”
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The rivalry between brothers Sam and Dan and Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy looks like it's heating up. (CBS)

It’s been building for weeks, and now the rivalry between the duo of Harlem Globetrotters and brothers Sam and Dan is set to boil over.

This season of The Amazing Race, Sam and Dan have made little secret about their disdain for Big Easy and Flight Time. There’s no real telling why or exactly when the team of gay brothers had their fallout with the Globies, only that it’s been going on for a while now.

Until this episode, however, it seems like the rivalry was one-sided. The Globies were competitive, but never seemed to be antagonized. However, the first signs of a full-blown battle were suddenly cropping up as Big Easy talked about his disgust for Dan yelling at Sam during the hay-bale challenge in Sweden.

Still, things were on simmer as the five remaining teams headed to the Baltic republic of Estonia. For the first 40 minutes of the episode, four of the teams were having minor issues at best.
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Sam and Dan -- doing it wrong until Dan figured out how to act. (CBS)

Longtime viewers of The Amazing Race know of one of the most difficult challenges in the show’s history: In season 6, competitors had to unroll more than 200 hay bales on a Swedish farm to find one of 20 clues.

In one case, a pair of racers were in that field for more than 8 hours before host Phil Keoghan finally fetched them.

They brought it back for season 15. And it’s no easier.

First of all, when I talk about hay bales, I’m not referring to the little rectangular bales you may remember. No, these are huge, circular bales.

So there’s a lot to hate about this challenge:

1. It’s heavy.

2. It’s playing havoc with allergies

3. It’s hay and it’s getting everywhere.

And you end up hearing this:

“Shut up, Dan! Shut up!”

“I can’t do this anymore!”
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Brian and Ericka show that they have what it takes to possibly win it all. (CBS)

For the second week in a row — and I believe this to be a first for The Amazing Race — a team decided to give up on a challenge.

At first, I was going to harp on Maria and Tiffany, the pro poker players, for quitting on the race just a week after Mika let fear get the better of her and also basically leave the race as well.

However, where I feel a little let down by our card-playin’ pair of ladies, I think instead I’ll be positive about how another team just may have proven to be the toughest of all, given the challenges they had to face.

I’m talking about Brian and Ericka — and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if these two finished in first place.
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I wish we could talk about the 'monkey challenge' -- which was a lot of fun -- instead of lost passports. (CBS)

On shows involving competition — whether it’s a game show or a reality show — there are certain rules that must be followed.

On Jeopardy!, you must always phrase your answers in the form of a question. On Survivor, never trust anyone fully. And on Rock of Love, drink as much as humanly possible so you increase the likelihood of embarrassing yourself.

There is one critical rule above all others on The Amazing Race: Never lose your passport.

While this has happened before in the 14 previous seasons of the CBS show — Dallas lost his to eliminate himself and his mom Toni in Season 13 — this might be the most heartbreaking example.
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Lance (right) begins working on his VCR alongside fellow competitor Canaan. It wouldn't be long before Lance pulled out the hammer and HULK SMASH!! (CBS)

For a show that can be quite tough with the rules, I thought The Amazing Race may have played a little loosely.

This week, with 10 teams in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, one of the two challenges was to break down two VCRs at a Vietnamese electronics recycling store.

From what I understood, the idea was to use all the tools given — hammer, pneumatic screwdriver and wire cutters (I think) — to take the VCRs apart and separate them into piles.

And then along comes Lance — aka half of Team Boston Rob II. Having already proven to be easily the race’s most annoying team with Lance and fiance Keri’s constant bickering, the duo heads to the VCR challenge, electing Lance to take part.
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Matt, a.k.a. Pinky, herds ducks like a champ on his way to a Round 2 win. (CBS)

The winners of a challenge in Vietnam were a classic-rock loving farmer and his son, a metal fan with pink hair and piercings.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for The Amazing Race once again.

The two-hour season opener had a huge twist right away.

After all of the teams are introduced (and I’ll give you a rundown of the remaining teams — and their new nicknames — in a little bit), host Phil Keoghan drops a bombshell: One of the teams isn’t even going to make it to the starting gate.
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