In past seasons most do still lose large numbers the second week. i don't know that in any past season there has been a consistent low number from about everyone like this...has there?

The season before this, the women had low loses. Beside the one chick losing 20lbs, it seemed that they'd average 2-5#'s with an occasional 8# loss in there, iirc. On the Australia BL, those women always seemed to have bigger losses on the average. I'd sit there with my calculator converting kilos to pounds.

This is my opinion, don't hang me. I found most all of last night's episode extremely boring....the challenge was so short it was over before I hardly realised it had started....we virtually saw nothing of the pink, blue, or orange teams....way TOOOOOOOOOO much of Neill. He's been given a huge opportunity that so many wish they could have and he's just L-A-Z-Y, but watch...they'll turn him into the man of the hour. That already started some last night when he suddenly was the one counting push up reps for the group. I guess I just found the focus on him to be a little staged....the Hall of Shame was heart breaking..to see your soda consumption broke down to
100's of pounds of sugar had to be eye opening for many a viewer as well...I was so glad to see the brown team doing well at home...I wish they had lasted longer. I think they would have been a fun couple to watch..they were emerging as my favorite, but I still haven't been able to pick just one couple. I like the brothers, but I so want a woman involved in the win this time, I like the son, but the mom and her bringing up both weeks how she doesn't expect to do as well as the younger people is getting to me. No whining, get on the scale and let's see!!..Keep the talk coming..I love everyone's comments and take on the show!!

lovnmom--I am not finding this season as exciting either. It is enough to keep me exercising the entire 2 hours, but I just wasn't as thrilled last night as I was in previous seasons. I think for me it's all the teams. I take awhile to remember names, let alone all these teams and colors Just seems we don't really get to see as much of most of them...but as more get booted off this should change.

I was shocked Bette Sue got back up, but doing so made me think even more of her. Had that been Neil...forget it, he'd use it as an excuse to go lazy around some more. I really wanted the white team to go because he doesn't seem like he really wants to be there and she just looks so sad and upset all the time, walking around with a frown. I would like to tell her cheer up, look at the opportunity she has...don't let that fool of a husband ruin her experience!

Oh, and I also thought the blue team deserved the last set of cards because they pushed through and finished the seesaw even after the lost...the brown team as well and they got one, blue deserved it as well.

Chellez - I'm with you about the safety key on the treadmill. STUPID not to wear it. I wonder what company is handling their insurance . . .

As for the white team. The kid sounded fine. I wonder if their marriage will survive if she has another baby. Neill reminds me of my first husband. A total whiner. I could carry me, him and one kid. It was the 2nd kid that made me look at him and his contribution and see he was just dead weight dragging me down.

I love the pink team. I think the orange team is kicking ***. I think the guy from the yellow team got his just desserts after his comment to his wife last week about her giving up. He let her down and he knows it. Touche'. I like both the purple and blue teams, too. I think the purple team deserved the calling card over the white team. JMHO.

I just really want to see a team with a woman win. I'm SICK AND TIRED of TBL always being a very heavy man.

That did bug me too - they should be using the safety clips! Gotta love Bette-Sue though, getting right back at things. My boyfriend watched part of the episode with me and was like "damn that lady has SPUNK!" High praise from a boy who usually has no interest in BL at all!

As for the white team, I think it's easy for us to watch this show and judge them but we DON'T know them or their lives. We see a highly edited sliver of who they are and how they lead their lives. It's not like they've left their kid alone, either, it sounds like he's with close family members. He'll still be getting love, learning, laughter, etc., and this way he'll hopefully have a healthy mum and dad around to bond and teach and share joy with him for most of his lifetime.

So how old is the white team's baby? From the first show I thought he was an infant, then he looked older in the same video last night, and he definitely talked way better than an infant. I"m confused, he looks so small but didn't talk so small.

I looked at their profiles on the NBC site, and it sounds like he was born in the summer of 2005. I think they started filming this season a couple months ago, so he'd be 2-ish.

Diva: I was totally the same - I kept switching back and forth between watching BL and watching election coverage on my laptop, and I just didn't ever get that into this episode. I think most of the competitors this time around are kind of boring, and especially the guys (esp. white and yellow team) seem very clingy and dependent on their wives, and then just because of their male genes, they lose weight without putting in as much effort as their poor wives.

Did anyone else notice that the yellow team seems to be sharing a room with one bed?? They are a bit weird for a divorced couple, I think. I wonder which one of them had the idea to try out for the show, and if they're actually divorcees who are dating each other and thinking about getting back together.

Also, has the orange team been on at all other than in the weigh-ins and when they tsk at the seemingly-lazy contestants? I just don't get much of a sense of what they're like, though I second the creepy vibe Diva mentioned about the kid. He just seems a bit old to be such a mama's boy! But maybe he's in college and living at home or something.

Ditto on the creepy son...and mom is driving me nuts too. I watched their reasons for voting last week (NBC.com) and they were kind of mean talking about Jenn and Lynn.
Sorry to see the brown team go, and I was sad that the blue team didn't get to call home....finishing the challenge and all.
I too hope that Neil comes around. Good call for Jillian to challenge him on hiding behind his size...I think that was the ticket for him. At some point, you need to want to do it for yourself, without being "pushed" by someone else...Niel needs to get to that point.
Kudos to the contestants who didn't give into temptation...don't know if I could!!
And Yes....it would be nice to see a woman biggest loser for a change!! Go Bette Sue!!

The TV guide channel had an hour long show about this season's contestants. I only caught a little bit here and there, but I did catch the yellow team. She applied to be on it and got accepted. Since they were doing a couples season, they asked her who else in her life she thought could benefit. He was the one overweight person she thought of. He acted like he wouldn't mind getting back together, but she implied there was no way in H-E-double hockey sticks that would happen. It seems the breakup was mostly her decision.

That scenario makes me wonder about all of the other teams. One applied and the other one was recruited. So for all of the discussion on the white team, they probably didn't both anticipate being on campus when they applied. And the dad from the green team didn't seem as ready to be there. That could explain a lot of the dynamics of teams where one seems to want to be there more than the other.

Did anyone else notice that the yellow team seems to be sharing a room with one bed?? They are a bit weird for a divorced couple, I think. I wonder which one of them had the idea to try out for the show, and if they're actually divorcees who are dating each other and thinking about getting back together.

I thought so too at first, but then they showed the room from another angle and there were two beds.

Chelle-- I am mortified. I have been using my safety cord for ALL the wrong reasons.

Kaplods--

Bake--yes, I am a reluctant homeschooling mom.

I agree about this season's not being as exciting, but for me, I like the reduction in drama. I honestly hope all the teams do well, except for Neill who should shot in the butt with pea shooter. I understand Jillian's telling him that he is using his weight as an excuse and as a wall against having to try anything real in his life. And it was nice that he made more effort in the end. I don't think it will last--his commitment to weight loss or his marriage.

Each season I usually have someone that I root against (Nicole, Neil, Amy from last season...) I really hope have positive feelings toward all the teams this season.

Did we ever get an official word on why Kim is not there this season?

According to Wikipedia:

"For the Fifth Season, Michaels became the lone female trainer. According to Rene Lynch of the Los Angeles Times, Lyons stepped back from the program to finish personal projects that she had already started before signing on, including a video series. She is currently not sure whether she will be a part of the show in the future."

That is their story at least.