(S03E03) The teams don't spend much time at the ranch. Last week the beach, and now a cruise, where they can learn to balance health and fitness goals in real -- well, semi-real circumstances. Unfortunately, they can already smell the decadent cruise-line food as soon as the board the ship. At the start of this week, so far the contestants have lost a total of 356 lbs.

It's the Red Team's turn to feel good about themselves for change, and maybe they are over the biggest hump of their mopiness now that they've made a good showing and avoided an elimination last time. Both team's have had a chance to adjust better to lifestyle changes -- so there's a lot less crying overall this week. I'm not crying so much either, as events move along at a livelier pace after two weeks of miserable marathon-length episodes.

The Workout: Veteran trainer Bob steps it up for his team again. Since this is supposed to simulate a vacation, he shows The Blues how to work out hard and fast -- a compressed time period leaving more time for fun -- in theory. And when they hit the buffet, Bob's proud that his team is aware of, and makes, the right food choices.

The Challenge: Teams have to deliver trays of food to guests on the ship. Without a map, the players have to find their way around in mass confusion, ala The Amazing Race or The Mole. The twist is that the players families are on board. What! It's only week three, and they're already offering family reunions as rewards? That's a week seven or eight reward. Haven't these producers ever seen Survivor? Way too soon.

Heather (Utah) of the Reds has a meltdown, barking "I need a signature and I am pissed!" at cruise staff, and hapless retirees. Once she finishes this gig, she'd fit right in on The Amazing Race. Where most people might say "excuse me," Heather says "Get out of my way! Sorry!" Imagine how she'd chew up European cab drivers. Nevertheless, all her screeching pays off. Red wins the challenge, third week in a row. Trainer Kim calls her Red Team the "best group ever," and no one is tactless enough to remind her it's her first team ever.

Temptation: There isn't one! Just as well, no one ever succumbs anyway.

The Product Placement: Remarkably restrained. A plug for Princess Cruise Lines, which hosted half the episode, that's it.

The Weigh in: Melinda has the biggest percentage weight loss for the Blue team, and has lost 25 lbs to date. Blue team's total: 53 lbs lost this week (3.07%), which is a blowout win. On the Red team, Heather admits to stopping workouts altogether once she was reunited with her husband on the cruise. Maybe the other Red's did too, their numbers are pretty puny. Ken, who lost 24 lbs last week racks up a 3 lbs loss this time. That surprised me, because he looks dramatically leaner in the face than he did even at the start of the episode. Could be that's because he's pulling his hair back at the weigh in.

The Elimination: It's always better when there's a split like this, with one team winning the reward challenge, and the other winning the weigh-in. That way neither team's completely humiliated. Still, losing the weigh-in is worse. But somebody has to go, as Bob told his team after their loss last week. Heather, wouldn't you know it, has immunity. I don't think she would have been out anyway, as the women of Red decide that it is time a woman wins The Biggest Loser. Both previous winners have been men.

Hm, I wonder if this strategy will come back to haunt them, as one of larger men, Ken Nelson ended up being eliminated [in the tie-breaker].

The show's still focused on the teams as a whole, with few stand-outs. I've never had the experience a watching a reality show as long as three weeks without having found any particular favorite (or most favorite-to-hated) players. Until now, that is. Though Heather's fairly annoying, it's just not the interesting with no Jillian, and no remarkable players I feel like rooting for yet.