This week on The Biggest Loser, Joe faces the first week without his brother Mike in the game, who was voted off last week. He appears shaken by the loss and starts to question if he'll be able to continue. The lack of dedication could hurt him this week as the two teams will square off individually to add up to the winning weight losses. The rules and ensuing contemplation within the teams were just as convoluted as my attempt to explain them so let's just move on.

Cassandra Wins by Eating Two Fortune Cookies

The two teams essentially just had to eat to win in their first temptation of the season. They were tempted with a massive spread of Chinese food and instructed to eat something, where the person who ate the most would gain a two pound bonus in this week's weigh-in and would be able to set the head-to-head matchups in this week's face-off. The surprising part is that no one on the red team eats anything, so Cassandra wins by default eating two measly fortune cookies.

This enables the red team to come out with an annoying pious stance for the second straight week. Last week they adamantly defended their absurd weight loss goal as admirable because they had so much more faith in their commitment than their opponent's. Now they are aghast that Cassandra would dare risk her dainty figure by consuming a whole 60 calories. Conda was particularly annoying in this exchange by first acting higher-than-thou and then talking trash to her week's opponent, Cassandra. It was enough fo me to actually take the time to learn that her name was "Conda."

Joe Quits and Gets a Talking-to from Bob.

Joe makes the abrupt decision to quit, citing the fact he missed his wife and kids. By the time Bob catches wind of the news, Joe's already back home in Albany, New York, so Bob is left to make a phone call hoping to guilt trip him back into the game. He makes a lot of legitimate points that Joe hasn't been around long enough to learn anything and how it's doubtful that any of his bad habits will change.

This is probably all true, but it's also probably true for the two people who've been voted off the show already and the ones who will soon follow them for reasons not necessarily about their commitment to weight loss in any way. It hearkens back to my initial gripe with this show when people can be voted off a show allegedly with the righteous intent of making people healthier through little or no fault of their own. Bob can choose to get sassy all he wants to Joe, but he should be making those same points to the producers of the show.

The Weigh-ins Commence

The black team enters with a two pound advantage, but it's largely negated by Joe's departure meaning that the red team gets a free win in the face-offs. Cassandra gives away both of her pounds to Megan and Gail, which Megan goes on to use and defeats Buddy. The black team racks up a string of wins before the red team gains back on them, so it ultimately comes down to the marquee match-up of Cassandra vs. the loathsome Conda. Cassandra more than doubles her opponent's weight loss and the nation rejoices.

Roy, aka Santa, had the highest percentage of weight loss and thus gained immunity. The voting for the red team was more splintered this week before ultimately sending Lauren home. There's not much to say about Lauren because she hasn't commanded much screen time one way or the other. She didn't perform all that well this week, but it's again irritating that the contestant who shot their mouth off the most didn't even receive a vote from the red team for the second week in a row (Conda this week, wrasslin' Kim last week). Lauren looked pretty impressive in her update feature, so that's nice I guess. Next week looks like it's going to be a rough one for Conda. I can't wait.

Casey Casteel
Contributing Writer

(Image courtesy of ABC)