New format: It was a wash for me. Any change that gets us less time spent watching the "boop-boop-boop" faux suspense of the "weigh in" times 15 is great... except this one just resulted in more time "getting to know" the contestants, and I really just don't care that much about them.

Marathon: I hate that TBL has placed so much emphasis on marathons as the pinnacle of what everyone should aspire to. Everything else aside, running for hours on end is just plain DULL. Yes, it's impressive, but so is (for example) completing a triathlon, which seems like a safer and more diverse way to show off (which is what the event is for).

Editing: As soon as Allison said there was less than 1% between Sunny and Patrick, we knew that neither of them had won.

Jennifer: I didn't mind her winning the At-Home prize. Vinny had more than enough opportunity to kick her butt, and he fell short. I'm kinda glad he lost. I also loved that she beat Ramon. Ha! (I would have loved to see Becky win, but she wasn't in the running.)

Antoine: I think he lost more at home than John did, but John had such a huge lead from the ranch it just wasn't enough.

John: Did look drawn, but I think that's an artifact of his recent weight loss. Alton Brown and Drew Carey both looked gaunt after losing weight for a while, but eventually the skin seems to adjust, and their faces stopped looking so haunted. I bet John will look much better in 6-9 months, if he keeps the weight off.

Keeping the weight off: There has been a lot of speculation that John just doesn't have what it takes to do it, as if there's something "wrong" with him. However, history has showed us that very few contestants manage to stay at an ideal weight for more than a year or two. If he follows the trend, it won't be because he had the wrong emotional response on the scale or didn't give his all or whatever. It will be because he's more normal than Bob wants to admit.

Next season: Looks like a lot of fun! I love that they split up the couples, and I can handle another season of Dolvet. It would be nice to have a female trainer, but they've shown repeatedly that Jillian is a tough act to follow.

Thanks to tribephyl for the sigpic!