Sunday night blitz

(I'm two weeks behind on Boardwalk Empire, but having seen the second episode, I definitely am more interested than I was after watching just the pilot.)

The Amazing Race, 8pm on CBS
I was legitimately bummed out that Michael & Kevin, and Nat & Kat came in as the last two teams.  It can happen to anyone, but the doctors kept getting waylaid by bad taxi drivers or car trouble, and I got empathetically frustrated on their behalf.  Michael & Kevin are just so likable, which explains why they ended up not being eliminated, but I hope that after this round they learned the lesson that they should persevere more when they have the option of a non-physical challenge, as they would not have come in last had they been more determined with the word search challenge.  I really liked the challenges that were set at the school, even if the a capella nerds came in first.  Annoying.

Undercover Boss, 9pm on CBS
It says something about how much I've come to expect from do-gooder reality TV that when DirectTV CEO Mike White offered his employees a few thousand dollars' worth of services at the end of last night's episode, I was disappointed by his stinginess.  I will keep watching this show, hoping for each episode to be as heartwarming as the one about 7-11, but this one did not come close.

Dexter, 9pm on Showtime
I hope that Astor and Cody haven't been so neatly written out of this show, as I think their added drama will enrich this show, and Harrison is a pretty easy obstacle to write around.  It was good to have Dexter back in his element, goading and dominating serial killer Boyd Fowler (great job by guest star Shawn Hatosy), and the final scene introduction of Julia Stiles got me very excited about where this season is going.  Quinn & Deb, Angel & LaGuerta, and Masuka, are all in top form.  Desmond Harrington got really hot all of a sudden, and I think it's his new haircut.  Yum.  Incidentally, I miss Doakes.

Sister Wives, 10pm on TLC
I am officially creeped out.  While at the hospital awaiting the birth of his thirteenth child, Kody (urgh) asks his third wife's doctor about his first wife's infertility.  Gross.  When celebrating his 20th anniversary with first wife Meri, he tells her that his gift to her will be a costly round of IVF.  She's clearly sad about the fact that she's struggled with fertility for so long, but when she says "no thanks," Kody is kind of upset.  When Meri tries to talk honestly with her husband about her jealousy issues, she asks him how he would feel if her attentions were split between him and another man.  I believe his exact response is that "the vulgarity of that idea is so against God and nature" that he refuses to even think about it.  Why weren't they having this conversation 17 years ago when Kody was getting married to a second wife?  With the addition of third wife Christine's baby Truely, and the upcoming addition of Robyn's three children, the wives were throwing around a lot of language making it seem like the best upside of being a woman in a polygamist family is the abundance of nannies around.  Finally, Kody and Meri's daughter Mariah tells her father that she wants to go to Annapolis, and he has to break it to her that a) polygamist private school is not accredited, and b) she will probably not get a gubernatorial recommendation based on her parents' lifestyle.  The first of many disappointments for this poor girl.