The Labor Day episode of America’s Toughest Jobs put our fearless contestants behind the wheels of loaded 18-wheelers. Their task was to guide their 80,000-pound vehicles up 500 miles of the most rugged terrain on earth above the Arctic Circle.

I have to admit that the second episode didn’t quite match the first in terms of drama and entertainment. That’s probably because most of the contestants were surprisingly capable big rig drivers — including Michaela and Eric, two of my favorites from last week.  Luckily for us viewers, there were a few exceptions:

1. Chris, the investment broker from Queens — Poor Chris had a lot of trouble with downshifting his truck.  I think the most terrifying part of this episode for me was learning that the brakes in big rigs are practically useless and proper downshifting technique is key to keeping the trucks under control. But Chris’ real problem wasn’t his driving.  It was his attitude.  How dumb do you have to be to mouth off to one of the judges on the task and call him an ass? Chris was not only asked to give up the driver’s seat twice, he was eventually kicked out of the truck and forced to ride the rest of the way with the producers. Nobody was surprised when Chris was voted one of the four worst performers. Despite a poor performance in the final elimination task, Chris got lucky and will go on to compete another day.

2. Bryce the personal trainer from WI and Rommel the karate teacher from NJ — These two both had some trouble behind the wheel, but managed to perform respectably on the elimination task.  I’m glad they’re staying for now — they’re both nice eye candy and seem likable enough, if not particularly entertaining so far.

3. Amy the Wall Street executive from Boston — Amy helped to bring a little drama to the show with a scary moment in the driver’s seat when her truck went out of gear and appeared to be hurtling out of control. But the real drama came when Amy’s driving partner Rie (the model from Portland) voted her buddy Amy as one of the worst drivers. Amy didn’t take that very well. Then, despite a promising start, she botched the final elimination task and was sent packing. We learned in the show post-script that Amy later quit her job on Wall Street and is contemplating her next career move (Amy — If you’re reading this, email me if you’d like to share your story of escaping from Corporate America).

So what do you think? Does America’s Toughest Jobs make you grateful for your warm and dry cubicle? Or does it make you long for more adventure?

Next week: gold digging.