The Biggest Loser Returns

With the Olympic flame extinguished, we got back to episodes of The Biggest Loser this week. The show started off where we left off, in the midst of the challenge between Cheryl and Darrell. In the end, Darrell lost and went home.

The contestants, including Darrell's daughter, Drea, didn't have much time to think about it though as they were faced with a temptation challenge that would yield control of the game for the winner. Drea and Michael were the only two contestants who volunteered to take part in the challenge that was a big game of memory. But each wrong guess meant having to consume calorie-laden foods like chocolate chip cookies, doughnuts and bagels with cream cheese. Though Drea's memory helped her make several matches, forcing Michael to end up consuming 2,310 calories, Michael ended up matching up the two golden tickets for the win. By winning, he was able to pick who would be on the new blue and black teams and who would have immunity this week.

As is typical, he made choices that made his fellow contestants angry. Right off the bat, he split up Sam and Koli. And Daris and Cheryl. He did give O'Neal the immunity, but he stacked the blue team with the contestants who typically lose more weight. The black team was made up mostly of women, many of them the smaller ones. Their only guy was Sam, but I had to smile when Sam painted his fingernails black just like all his female teammates.

When Bob and Jillian acted surprised at the choices Michael made, ones that clearly were for his own benefit, I had to think to myself, "Seriously?" Sometimes I think the surprise they exhibit is manufactured. While it might not be "fair" the way Michael split up the teams, he had it right when he challenged Bob and Jillian. He shot back that they were always telling him to think about himself. When he did that, they had to admit he had a point.

In a reward challenge, the teams had to lift their team's banner up a several-story hotel. The blue team, with more guys, won and were rewarded with letters from home.

Dr. Huizenga was back to check up with the contestants, to give them updates on how their work was paying off. Ashley had regained an amazing 8 years of her life for 7 weeks of work. And Sam's workouts, plus giving up smoking and drinking, lowered his real age from 51 to 46. Dr. Huizenga said that would improve even more if Sam stayed away from the alcohol and cigarettes for a year.

I am the first to admit I love an underdog story and tend to root for the underdog. And this week, the black team was the underdog and they knew it. And they worked so incredibly hard, determined to show Michael that they weren't going to be the automatic losers at the weigh-in, that Jillian was even impressed. And it paid off. They did, indeed, win the challenge, sending the blue team to the elimination room where Miggy was voted off. It was a close race though. The blue team lost 2.7% of their team's weight, while the black edged them with 2.82%.

This week's big losers at the weigh-in were Michael (15 pounds), Ashley and Koli (10 each), and Sam and Stephanie (8 each). Even O'Neal, who was immune, lost 9 pounds. He never slacks off even when he has immunity. That's someone who is serious about weight loss.

We got to check in with both Darrell and Miggy at the end of the show. Darrell is down to 293 pounds from his starting weight of 413 and can now fit into the jacket he wore 27 years ago when he met his wife. Miggy, who admitted that she was a very stressed person when she came to the ranch, has embraced meditation, which has helped her to lose weight. She's down to 179 from 240.

What were your thoughts about this week's episode? And do you think there will be any romances to come out of this season? I started thinking about that tonight when I saw that several of the younger, single people are still on the ranch.