LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Tonight is a very big night for The Biggest Loser! We’re down to a one hour episode again! *does happy dance* That means we’ll have fewer slow motion shots of everyone running around in spandex and, for that, I thank the producers. Later in the season, I’m sure I’ll feel much better about seeing the contestants in skimpy clothing but, for now, I think we should restrict the gratuitous shots of flesh to, well, Bob.
Last week, the Black Team experienced their first elimination and they said goodbye to Jim. It was especially tough for his twin, Bill. Jillian’s goal right now is to get her team refocused. Because the show is only an hour long, everyone is already talking about this week’s challenge and the trainers are trying to make sure their teams have the edge. Kim and Bob seem to be taking a page out of Jillian’s training manual. The Red Team is lugging giant tires back and forth, while the Blue Team is carrying logs around. Bob is especially fired up: he really wants his team to finally win a challenge this season.
The Big Frame-Up Yes, I’m fully aware of the lameness of that title
The teams meet Alison on the beach for this week’s challenge and I have a horrible flashback to last season’s sand pile debacle. Thus far, all of the challenges have been a race, either against the clock or against each other, Ali says. Long term weight loss is about perseverance and so is this challenge. Ali then directs everyone’s attention to three large metal frames on the beach. They’re kind of like giant picture frames. Each team member will carry the frame by themselves as far as they can. Basically, they’ll step inside the frame and then pick it up with straps attached to the sides of the frame. When they can’t go any further, the next team member will take over. The frames are weighted based on the weight of the person carrying it. The women will be lifting 60% of their body weight, while the men will be carrying 75% of their body weight. The winning team will receive videos from friends and family back home.
Nicole, Hollie and Amy start out for their teams. Amy quits first, at only 23 feet, followed by Nicole at 49 feet. Hollie makes it 150 feet before finally dropping her frame. The next group is Bryan, Jez and Kae. Jez drops his frame at 120 feet. Kae manages to carry her frame more than 100 feet and makes it to 180 feet. Bryan carries his frame less than 25 feet before he loses his grip and drops the frame.
Ryan, Bill and Phil are the last players for each team. Phil starts off far behind the other two teams, but quickly makes up the distance. Ryan drops his frame and, once again, the Blue Team loses a challenge. Bill and Phil battle it out, but Phil perseveres (see how I tied that in?) and the Red Team wins again. Bob is totally going to throw a hissy fit when he finds out his team lost again.
Isabeau or is it Julie (nope, still can’t tell them apart) informs us that the Red Team hasn’t won five challenges: PHIL has won five challenges. Meow.
Drama.com
That night, the Red Team watches their videos from home. We see Bryan’s family and his wife, Phil’s wife and daughter blowing kisses, Amy’s daughter saying “I love Mommy,” and David’s wife and four kids telling him they love and miss him. It’s all very sweet and my heart just isn’t black enough to mock any of it, so let’s move on.
The next morning, Jillian meets with the Black Team in the kitchen for this week’s blatant product placement segment and, really, she should leave this task to Bob or Kim. They’re much smoother with the scripted commercial stuff. This week, the “diet tip” is to chew gum while cooking. Jill can barely choke out the lines while pimping Wrigley’s Extra gum.
Last week, the previews for this week’s show promised a meltdown of epic proportions and yeah, it turned out to be pretty enjoyable. You know how I love a good hissy fit. We join the Red Team in mid-workout and it’s obvious that Kim is not happy with her team. Her victim today is David, who she feels is not at a high enough speed on the treadmill. David thinks he’s doing just fine, thankyouverymuch. He’s warming up and will increase his rate when he’s darn good and ready. Not good enough for Kimmie, who reaches over and increases the speed on David’s treadmill. David is less than happy about being told how to work out. He’ll just go work out outside, he threatens. Kim, who is clearly PMS-ing this week….hard…. tells David that he’ll work out where ever the *bleep* she tells him to. He finally steps off the treadmill and stomps off, leaving Kim to fume. Dang, pass the Midol.
The Serious Part
Meanwhile, the Black Team is obeying Mistress Jillian’s every command. Even Hollie is doing well. Just when everything is going great, Jillian gets news that Hollie’s mother has had a relapse of Leukemia. Jill takes her aside to break the news. We don’t get to hear what is said – it’s all sad music and slo-mo shots. Jillian tries to keep Hollie in the game by telling her that she’s doing something good for herself for the first time in her life. Hollie makes the decision to go home that night to see her mother, but will return as soon as she can. She feels bad about leaving her team, but she has to go.
We’re only 22 minutes into the show and it’s already time for the weigh-in. Man, that’s going to be one hell of an elimination ceremony. Alison tells everyone that Hollie will not be back for the weigh-in. Just a few hours earlier, Hollie’s mother passed away.
The Numbers
Before we get on with the results of the weigh-in, I have to weigh in with another little rant about this whole shirtless thing with the guys. At this point, about half of them need to be wearing manssieres….with underwires. Why the FCC hasn’t stepped in and fined NBC for all these man-breasts, I don’t know. At least Janet’s were perky….even with that big, scary nipple ring.
Blue Team
Nicole: 248 (4 lbs / 31 lbs total)
Neil: 355 (10 lbs / 66 lbs total)
Kae: 178 (6 lbs / 47 lbs total)
Ryan: 320 (11 lbs / 54 lbs total)
Bob gleefully tells us that everyone is afraid of his “little girl,” Kae. She’s lost the highest percentage of weight of all the contestants.
Blue Team totals: pounds lost: 31 / percentage of weight lost: 2.74
Red Team
Alison informs them that they must lose more than 34 pounds in order to beat the Blue Team and avoid elimination.
Amy: 265 (3 lbs / 32 lbs total)
David: 323 (5 lbs / 45 lbs total)
Bryan: 304 (4 lbs / 42 lbs total)
Phil: 342 (4 lbs / 61 lbs total)
Red Team totals: pounds lost: 16 / percentage of weight lost: 1.28
Kim admits she’s disappointed with her team’s numbers tonight. As if we couldn’t tell that by the look on her face: she looks like she just ate a bug.
Black Team
They have to lose more than 16 pounds to stay out of the elimination room. Ali informs everyone that, although Hollie is not present at the weigh-in, she was weighed earlier in the day. Hollie lost 3 pounds this week.
Isabeau: 259 (5 lbs / 39 lbs total)
Julie: 195 (4 lbs / 23 lbs total)
Jez: 295 (7 lbs / 50 lbs total)
Bill: 268 (11 lbs / 66 lbs total)
Black Team totals: pounds lost: 30 / percentage of weight lost: 2.36
The Blue Team wins the weigh-in and the Red Team loses. Because David is the biggest loser on the Red Team, he’s safe from elimination.
Shooting Yourself in the Foot - 101
Next day, the Red Team meets to discuss the elimination vote. Kim is clearly lobbying for the team to keep Phil. She reminds everyone that Phil is second only to Kae in his weight loss percentage. Kim then takes it a step further, telling the team that Phil and Bryan are carrying the team. Without them, the team will just go to elimination every week. Basically, she insinuates that Amy should go home. Amy doesn’t need any help figuring out what Kim’s up to. She immediately lashes out at Kim for trying to get the team to vote her out. Kim explains that she’s trying to think about the whole team and that it really will be difficult for them to avoid elimination without Phil. David seems to agree with Kim. Kim threatens her team: if the elimination vote is a tie and they let the Blue Team decide their fate, she will be furious.
It’s time for the elimination ceremony and HOO-boy, we’ve got 15 minutes left. I smell a tiebreak. Let’s jump right in with the votes!
David’s reason was…. rationale? As always, I’m recapping without a VCR, so I can’t rewind. It did sound like he said “rationale” and, if he did, David needs a thesaurus immediately. David thinks the team still needs a star player. He’s voting for a person he feels can do this at home and who needs to be with family: Amy.
Amy thought strategically when deciding who she was going to vote for this week. She hopes that by looking ahead, she doesn’t hurt the team now. She votes for Phil.
Phil says he voted for a person whose numbers just aren’t there on the scale: Amy.
Bryan knows that the person he voted for can continue to lose weight at home and be successful. He also believes there are other people on the team who need to be there more. He votes for Phil and, with that, we have a tie. I imagine Kim’s head spinning around when she hears the news.
The Blue Team will now decide the Red Team’s fate. They file into the elimination room and, really, they’re hiding their glee quite well, I must say. Neil places the covered dish containing their vote on the table. He tells everyone that this was not an easy decision for the Blue Team. They had to decide whether they were going to vote for a person who deserved to go home or for someone who is a threat. In the end, they decided they had to vote for the biggest threat, so they voted for Phil. Neil apologizes to Phil while Amy pretends to cry. Phil says he’s honored that the Blue Team considers him a threat. He cries and says he will miss all of them. If he had to be sent home, Phil says, he’s glad it’s the Blue Team that did it. I think that might be just a little slam against the Black Team there. There are hugs all around as everyone says goodbye to Phil.
Phil says that being on the Red Team as been a great experience. He isn’t scared about going home: it’s just a new challenge for him and he’s ready to start his new life. Now he’s committed to changing his life and he won’t fail.
When we catch up with Phil, he’s now down to 295 pounds. Since going home, Phil lost 46 pounds, bringing his weight loss total to 108 pounds. Phil and his family have all become more active: even his wife has lost some weight. Before the season started, I chose Phil as this season’s “hidden hottie.” Was I right? Well, I think I might have been. He looks pretty darn cute. He could be smokin’ by the finale
Next Week: Teams will be torn apart. Trust will be broken. Plus, it will be the most shocking weigh-in in Biggest Loser history. Ever.
Reply With Quote
