Amazing Race recap: Final Four

Last night, we got down to the final four teams on this season's "Amazing Race." And I am happy to report that the team with a Raleigh connection – hockey brothers Bates and Anthony Battaglia – are in it! 

This leg was a tough one. It all began with catching a flight from Berlin to Scotland. Max and Katie were the only team to go to the hotel's business center and look up flights. Every other team went to the airport hoping to catch the earliest flight, only to find that nothing was open yet. 

The decision helped Max and Katie book a flight that got them in at 10:45 a.m. 

Teams Roller Derby and YouTube thought they had an advantage by getting the last four tickets for a flight that got them in at 1 p.m., but Bates and Anthony and the Country Singers found out about the 10:45 a.m. flight and were able to get on that plane. 

The three teams had formed some type of alliance, so they all agreed to U-turn the other two teams. (I believe this was easily the worst decision each of these teams made. Why U-turn a team that is so far behind? Go after the strongest team, the one that could potentially beat you in the end!) 

Upon landing, they hit a road block that had one team member wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes. Max and Bates sailed through this while County Singer girl (I can't tell them apart) struggled terribly. 

Then, it was time to search a giant castle's fireplaces for a clue and then decide between a detour - transport some very heavy whiskey barrels to a local festival or make some rather disgusting looking pudding. 

Bates and Anthony did the barrel challenge, which seemed like just a nice workout for them. I am pretty sure they were the only team able to carry those barrels! They opted to stick with the plan and U-turn the YouTubers, even though they knew they were very far behind. 

Max and Katie did the pudding and even enjoyed tasting it. They stuck with the plan as well and U-turned the Roller Derby moms.

With the two teams in a dead heat, it all came down to parking. Anthony took a wrong turn costing them first place and the $20,000 prize money ($10,000 for each team member). 

County girls came in third and the roller derby team squeaked in before YouTube to stay alive another week. 

Next week, it is the two-hour finale! In the first hour, they will eliminate one more team. The second hour will be the final three teams battling it out! 

Get more commentary on this leg of the race from Richard Battaglia, Bates and Anthony's dad. He chatted with me on Monday about this most recent episode.