TVSquad

(S03E04) Going in, Red has lost 198 lbs, and Blue has lost 240 lbs. Red had to say goodbye to Nelson after screwing themselves with a tie vote last time. Ties get broken by the rival team -- which means rule number one for Biggest Loser should be: make sure your team's votes don't end in a tie.

Red reacts to having lost Nelson by revolting against their trainer, Kim. Kai wants to work out alone. Kim acknowledges (in voice-over) she's losing control of the team, and the others just mope through a run, until Ken collapses in tears. They manage to get Kim crying too. It's nearly unbearable.

Next, The Temptation is to eat various foods -- some healthy some not -- and pile up the empty plates. The player whose plate is on top when a horn sounds wins a free immunity pass they can use later. Blue works as a team to make sure someone on their side will win a pass. That's how it's edited anyway -- but, as usual, Red wins after having appeared totally feckless.

Afterward, Kim gambles -- opening herself up, acknowledging that her team is made up of strong personalities and admitting that they "broke down her wall." Then there's something about being an army brat, and having her own body issues. Anyway, this seems to be exactly what Red needs to hear from her, and now it's tears of joy that are shed. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if they just gave Bob the week off. Rule number two of Biggest Loser: tears equal camera time.

The Challenge is an escalator race for the right to decide which enemy team member sits out the weigh-in. It's freakin' brutal. Not only do the players have to keep climbing steps, they have to go through the humiliation of declaring themselves "out" while the escalator carries them back down, exhausted and shaking. The final competitors are Marty for Blue and Pam for Red. Marty tries to psych Pam out. Doesn't work. Red wins yet another challenge, making them 4-0. Back at the ranch, Bob and the Blue Team have no choice but to laugh it off and push hard on one last workout before the weigh-in.

The Weigh-in. Blue comes in seemingly favored. Kai acknowledges that Red lost significant work-out time indulging in drama. Red uses their win at the challenge to sit Marty out, which they think is finally a good pick. Not so much. Marty lost 7 lbs. But the bad news for Red is that they could have chosen to sit out Brian -- who lost 9 lbs, even though he was not working out much because of an injury. Probably lost muscle mass, but it all counts on the scale.
His loss this week of 10 lbs puts the Read Team over the top with a combined 2.41% total weight-loss. All those empty tear-ducts didn't hurt.

It's anybody's guess why Blue is doing so poorly, but I would like to blame Bob's mullet. The mullet must go. So much screen time is spent on the Red team, that the Blue team are almost like extras -- background artists -- as Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) might say. Kim, happy to end such a rough weak on a high note, is dead-on when she refers to Red as "this dysfunctionally functional team."

The Elimination. No time is spent on how the Blue's decide their votes, but I was fairly confident they could get it together without screwing themselves over by committing a tie. Melinda is voted off while having praise lavished on her by her teammates. It's the Blue signature vote-off style -- they save their tears for their goodbyes. Now the Blue Team will go into week five with only one surviving female member: Amy.