Watching Reality TV

It’s time for the finale! First, if you want to see what happened on last week’s show, check out this post right here.

9:00pm- Is it just me or is Allison REALLY excited about this finale? We are treated to a recap of the season and promises of some startling transformations awaiting us during the two hour episode. Between this and “Survivor:China”, I feel like I’m going to have carpal tunnel before the week it out. We can almost hear the recap voice-over over the din of cheering from the audience whenever one of their favorite contestants comes on screen. Oh, and it’s safe to say that everyone loves Jillian. WHY did they get rid of her last season? Anyone know? I can’t wait to see some of these people who were eliminated early on now. Gee, now I’m all excited too. I guess I can understand where Allison is at. We are then treated to a look at the eliminated players and it’s about as awesome as you’d expect it would be. God, everyone looks FANTASTIC. Well, maybe not Amber. Girl, you fell off the wagon, didn’t you? Anyhow, then Allison turns into a huge old tease and tells us we’ll see the rest of them later. BOO!

9:11pm- Later is now! We get to see the other half of the eliminated contestants and again… they look GOOD. Amy is just stunning. It’s a hottie contest between her and Kae. I’m just floored. A lot of these people look like they were never overweight. Allison asks them some questions about their experiences since being voted out and about controversies that came up during the show. You know, the predictable stuff. And then, of course, we get to see footage of each of the final four contestants arriving home. These homecoming videos are always awesome, especially when they arrive home as “champions” rather than “losers”. Though, everyone who was on this show was a champion, if they took proper advantage of it. Anyhow, it’s wonderful to watch. And Julie’s son is just adorable. Bill’s video gets huge applause, he has some serious audience out there. After the videos, we get the obligatory pimp for the next season. Which, can I just say, I’m so excited we’re getting another season again so soon (January!) and that it’s couples? PERFECT. I can’t wait.

9:28pm- We’re back and yet again, Allison is being drowned out by the crowd. We get to see the three trainers come out and I just love how they’re still showing their colors. Ha! I don’t know what I’d think if Kim wore blue. After much hugs, the contestants return to the scale in order of the elimination. Amber is up first and it wouldn’t appear that she lost much weight but she really has. She just didn’t lose it all. She started at 295 and she now weights 211 so she lost 84 pounds. That’s a 28.47% loss. Lezlye started out at 255 pounds and she now weighs 200 and she lost 55 pounds. That’s a 21.57% loss. Jerry hits the scale next and he started out at 297 and he now weighs 187 so he lost 110 pounds! That’s a 37.04% loss. Patty goes up (I miss Patty!) and she started out at 280 and she now weighs 216, that’s 64 pounds. And a 22.86% loss. Not too shabby!

9:39pm- The winner of the eliminated contestant weigh-off will win $100,000! Nice! Jim goes up and he’s an interesting story since his twin is in the final four. He started out at 361 pounds he now weighs 175 meaning he lost 186 pounds. HOLY $#!&! That’s a 51.52% loss. Phil goes up and he looks amazing. He started out at 403 pounds and he now weighs 258 pounds, so he lost 145 pounds. That’s a 35.98% loss. Jez goes up, enormous audience favorite, and he started out at 345 and he now weighs 195 and that’s a 150 pound loss! That equates to 43.48%. David is up and he started out at 368 and is now 228 and that’s a loss of 140. A 38.04% loss. Dang. These people have lost a LOT of weight. I’m still freaking out over Jim.

9:50pm- Wow, almost half over. I do wonder how we’ll fill up the last hour. Ryan hits the scales next and he started out weighing 374 and he now weighs 241 and he lost 133 pounds. That’s a 35.56% loss. Amy goes up and she started out weighing 297 and she now weighs 171 so she lost 126 pounds. That’s a 42.42% loss. Dang. Kae goes up and she blows my mind. She started out at 225 and now weighs 128 pounds for a total loss of 97 pounds. That is a 43.11% loss. Bryan hits the scales (B!) and he started out at 346 and he now weighs 224 so he lost 122 pounds. That is a 35.24% loss. Don’t you think he looks a lot like Wayne Brady now? I do.

10:02pm- Two more players left to weigh in! Jim is sitting pretty. Nicole goes up to the scale next and she started out at 279 and she now weighs 174 so she lost 105 pounds. That is a 37.64% loss. Last to go is Neil and he started out at 421 pounds and now weighs 210 pounds. That is a 211 loss and 50.12% loss. Jim NARROWLY beat him out, that’s an enormous amount of weight to lose! So he is the proud winner of the $100,000 prize! Go Jim!

Now we see Bill since he’s been home. He talks about his struggles since leaving campus and about working out with his brother. We also see Isabeau and she says it’s never “easy” to work out and lose weight. It’s like getting over an addiction. Looks like she’s working out HARD. Julie is working hard too. She’s having a hard time balancing being a mom and working out. Hollie talks about having to push herself every moment. She moved back to L.A. and worries about not being able to keep the weight off. She doesn’t want to lose focus. She worries she’ll disappoint people at the finale. Aww. She gets frustrated easily and she’s lonely. She wants it all. After the break? We’ll see the final four as they are today. Awesome!

10:14pm- We get some more footage of the final four working out. Isabeau loves Subway. Julie is learning how to cook healthy using products she learned about on the show. Jim is counting down the days on the calendar. Hollie is at the gym. They all worry about the other three contestants and that motivates them all to work harder. Bill is confident he’ll win. Julie wants it so bad. Isabeau wants to triumph. They’re all just short of killing themselves here. Allison promises we’ll see the final four when we come back from break. I’m starting to doubt her here.

10:20pm- I’m fading here. But we finally get to lay eyes on the final four. First up is Julie and she is adorable. Apparently she’s speaking in front of Congress next month about nutrition and that’s amazing. Next, we’ve got Hollie and she is STUNNING as I always knew she would be. Though I rather wish she’d left her hair long. Still, she looks awesome. Isabeau hits the stage next and I’m just flabbergasted. Look at the cleavage! LOL! She talks about how she has become a personal trainer. How cool! The last (and maybe least) is Bill and of course he is amazing. He and his brother, I tell ya. He is wearing a necklace and that’s just not right. He talks about a friend his age who died and he knew he had to get healthy, to make a change. He sure did! So there they are. Dayum.

10:32pm- The final four are in their “weigh-in outfits” and they chat with Allison a bit. We get to see the twins side by side and it’s hilarious. Julie is nervous about Bill, doesn’t know if she can beat him. Julie is just TINY. It’s nice to see that the four of them actually genuinely enjoy each other. Bill, since he was the last “Biggest Loser” on campus, he gets to decide the order they will weigh in. So he chose to go in age order, from youngest to oldest. He wants to go last, basically. Of course! We get a montage of the final four’s weigh ins and journey through the show. Aww. Isabeau hits the scale first and she started out weighing 298 pounds. Today, she weighs 185 pounds and has lost 113 pounds. That is a 37.92% loss. Good job, Isabeau!

10:41pm- Getting down to the wire. We get yet another sneak peek of the next “Biggest Loser”, staring January 1st. As if we could forget. I love that it’s couples. Have I said that already? Hollie goes up and I still think she looks fabulous. She started out at 255 and she now weighs 150 so she lost 105 pounds. Wow! That’s 41.18% and not bad at all. Julie is up next and after a brief montage, hits the scales. She started out weighing 218 pounds and she now weighs 121 pounds. She lost 97 pounds and that is an amazing 44.50% loss. Only Bill is next and which will win? Gee, let me guess.

10:53pm- We’re here!  The end!  Finite!  (Good thing, cuz I’m dying for sleep here)  At long last, Bill is up.  We see his montage and then he hits the scale.  He started out weighing 334 pounds now he weighs…  170 pounds!  He lost 164 pounds and he is the WINNER!  That is a 49.10% loss.  I doubt anyone is surprised.  I’m sure not.  WOW, that’s an incredible amount of weight lost.  Awesome.

So that’s it, people.  Join me back here January 1st to talk about the next season!

Curious about last week’s episode? Check out this post right here for the details.

Here we are folks.  The last week before the finale.  I have to admit, I’m pretty excited about it.  For now, the blue team is down to one measly member and Bob is feeling the heat.  I have to admit, Neil is looking good.  He’s lost a TON of weight.  Out in the desert, Jillian is beating up the black team.  She’s so proud of her team, coming up from being outcasts to really dominating the game.  She walks them through a lot of the same exercises they did when they first encountered Jillian, and it’s amazing, they have no trouble with it now.  This is all really very inspiring.  Bob is also taking Neil back to day one and how far he has come.

We don’t waste any time, we get right to the final challenge.  It involves each contestant burying their weight that they lost.  They have to pick out how much weight they need to bury and then be the first to bury it all.  Winner wins $10,000.  Neil is determined to win at least one challenge in this game, but everyone else is just as determined to win as he is.  It involves a LOT of pulling weight around and dumping it in a pit.  Isabeau is a tank and pulls her 73 pounds lengths ahead of anyone else.  It’s incredible.  She wins the challenge easily and celebrates, everyone else buries their own weight as well.

We go right into the last last chance workout and Bob is determined to keep Neil in the game.  Jillian is just as aware of the importance of this weigh in.  She pushes everyone, especially Isabeau, to the point of breaking.  Everyone is feeling stressed out, but so appreciative of their trainer’s efforts.  And this is it.  We go right to weigh in.  I’m not used to these short episodes!  I’m not ready!  Heh.  Everyone looks absolutely amazing.  It makes my eyes tear up to look at them all.

Neil goes to the scale first and this week he lost 10 pounds which he’s very happy with.  That’s a 3.47% loss.  Hollie is up next and she lost 5 pounds this week.  She looks hopeful.  That’s a 2.55% loss.  Bill hits it next and he lost 9 pounds which is incredible.  That is a 4.23% loss.  Julie goes up she lost 8 pounds and dissolves into tears right away.  That is a 4.76% loss.  Hollie is officially below the line.  Isabeau hits the scales last and lost 8 pounds as well.  She cries too.  That is a 3.56% loss.

Neil is below the yellow line with Hollie and his departure is pretty much guaranteed.  Bill reflects on how crazy it is that Neil lost 10 pounds and it still wasn’t enough to save him.  That’s just nuts.  He’s a great competitor, but I just do not see the black team voting out their own.  They just won’t.  And Neil knows it.  He breaks the news to Bob the next day.  Neil is pragmatic about it.  Bob is upset, but he pumps Neil up instead of bringing him down (take notes, Kim).  It’s a tearful, emotional goodbye.  I’m sad Bob has no representation in the finale, but I’ve had beef with Neil since his whole water retention shenanigans.  So I can’t say I’m too upset that it’s him that is leaving.

The elimination is merely a formality and everyone knows it.   Everyone mentions Neil as a threat and that they feel loyalty to their team mates.   It is a backhanded insult to Hollie, in a way, that everyone would rather compete against her than Neil.  I mean, I would too.  Isabeau adds that her vote is for Jez.  HA!  That’s awesome.  I’m just amazed by how the black dominated the game.  No red team.  No blue team.  Just the “losers”.  That’s awesome.  Today Neil has lost a total of 165 since going on the show and looks absolutely incredible.  I cannot wait to see everyone at the finale.

We see each black team member meet with Jillian individually to say goodbye.  It’s pretty touching.  Jillian is obviously bursting with pride but something about her demeanor tells me she didn’t expect this to end any other way.   We get to see everyone travel home to their families.  Next week?  The homecomings and the live weigh in.  Squee!

To catch up on what all happened last week, check out this post.

It’s really getting down to the wire here, we only have a matter of two weeks left until this baby is finished.  Freaky!  And the black team is kinda taking over campus, which I sort of love.  I’ve been rooting for them from the get go.

Tonight we get to see a compilation of the best “Biggest Loser” transformations so far.  Should be inspiring. :)  I love seeing the transformations, I don’t know about you.

The remaining players meet up and they’re all astounded at how far they’ve made it.  Plus, they’re waxing poetic about the red team being demolished.  No more Kim.  I don’t see that as a bad thing, however.   The next day starts early.  Jillian charges into the black dormitory and starts jumping on everyone in bed and hollering.  Bob does essentially the same thing but is far kinder about it.  He does get in bed and snuggle with Nicole.  He’s taking them to work.  As is Jillian.  Where is work?  Good question.  First: a workout.  Then, packing a lunch for work.  It’s all about real-word preparedness.  Ah, we see Kim.  She isn’t surprised to find the red dorm empty.  But she is sad.  There’s a taped message for Kim from Bryan there and she gets pretty choked up.  It’s sad, I’ll admit.  But if it had to happen to one of the trainers, I was glad it was her.  Does that sound harsh?  We see a montage of the red team over the weeks and it’s sad that the whole team is gone.

Bob helps his team pack their lunches and they make marinated chicken breasts for dinner (?).  Jillian gives her team tips on how to work out when having a small amount of time.  Bob works his team out with cardio, running around campus.  Workouts done, time to go to work.  Jillian helps her team pack lunch and gives them suggestions on healthy choices.  They’re wondering, meanwhile, where they’re going to work.  And?  It’s a pizza restaurant!  Of course, right?  And damn, the pizzas look good.  They all commence the agonizing pretty much right away.

And I will admit, the pizzas look really good.  They get put to work right away and it’s not fun work.  They wash dishes (Neil is not good at this, apparently), clean bathrooms (ACK, that’s my nightmare), take trash out, and do food prep (including making the pizzas).  They even serve to the customers a little, sweep floors… it’s not glamorous work but they get it done.  They dig out lunch (which actually is dinner so there you go) and have at it.  Worked up a good appetite.

Back at campus that night, they find their trainers and they are raring to go.  Everyone would like nothing better to do than kick up their feet, but it’s time to go to the gym.  None of the teams are happy about this but they buck up and get to work.  Bob trains his team on boxing, as does Jillian.  Must have something to do with the challenge.  Bill complains of knee troubles and doesn’t have hope for the challenge.  Allison presents the challenge to the teams and it indeed related to boxing.  And trampolines.  They have to jump up to hit the bag as many times as they can in each 3 minute round until there is a winner.  Oh, and the bags will get higher each round.  The prize is a one pound pass at the weigh in.

The men struggle, especially Bill.  The winner of the first round was Julie.  Nicole is out.  The bag is raised for round two.  The winner of round two is Isabeau and Neil is out.  The bag is raised again.  The winner of round three is Hollie and Bill is out.   The women are knocking them out.  Hollie wins the next round and wins the one pound pass.  It’s good, she fell below the yellow line last week so hopefully this will help.   Afterward, the black team tells Jillian about the challenge, what they had to do, and that Hollie won the pass.  I’m thinking maybe the trainers should have been focusing on jumping more than boxing, no?  Anyhow, time for the last chance workout!  Yay!

At the weigh-in, everyone is just looking AMAZING.  It makes me really look forward to the finale, to see how everyone looks again all at once.  Hollie goes up first and loses a fantastic 5 pounds (6 with the pass!).  With the pass, her percentage is 2.99% lost.  Julie goes up next and this week she lost 3 pounds.  Hopefully it’s enough.  That’s 1.75% lost.  Bill hits the scale and he lost 9 pounds this week.  Nice!  That’s an incredible 4.05% lost!  Neil goes up right after him and HE lost 10 pounds!  His percentage is 3.36% lost which is definitely decent.  Isabeau has her turn next and this week she lost 5 pounds.  That puts her percentage lost at 2.17% and pushes Julie below the yellow line.  Nicole goes up last and she lost 1 pound.  Everyone is shocked and speechless.  Nicole looks devastated.   That makes her percentage lost .47% and she is in last place below the yellow line with Julie.

And it’s pretty obvious that Nicole is going home this week.  The black team wouldn’t vote out one of their own if they had a choice, right?  They break the news to Bob and he looks pretty upset.  Because like I said, everyone pretty much knows.   It’s like the red team all over again.  Though honestly, it’s unlikely that Neil will fall below the yellow line.  Not this week, but I think next week a black team member will go home.  Meanwhile, Julie is having a hard time trusting that her team won’t vote her out.  Which, come on, wake up and smell the coffee.  Nicole is toast.

Bob cheers Nicole up by having her put on the clothes she wore at the first elimination.   She’s able to see just how much weight she has lost.  He really works on building her up, telling her how amazing she is and how proud he is and that’s really nice of him.  It’s about her, not him (a problem I always had with Kim).  Elimination is here and everyone files in, looking rather morose. All dramatic pausing aside (damn you, NBC), Nicole is the one eliminated as was expected.  And hopefully this will teach Julie a lesson about trust.  That she CAN trust her teammates.

We see Nicole’s tearful reunion back at home and that’s always fun to watch.  Then, we see her now.  She has lost, since starting the game, 91 pounds.  She looks absolutely amazing.  Totally different and SO much better.  I’m impressed.

If you wanna get caught up on all the action in last weeks ep, check out this post.

The intro song always makes me feel choked up.  Very inspirational stuff there.  Does that make me a schmuck?  Everyone is feeling the pressure.  Neil thinks he’s the biggest threat in the house and he’s made some BAD choices (we can all agree on that).  Allison greets everyone in the gym.  Apparently, this week the fate of everyone rests with America.  They voted on their favorite challenge from years past.  And they’re all pretty brutal challenges.  And they won’t find out for a few days which challenge America has chosen.  So the trainers, in turn, spend the next several days just beating their teams.  Kim stresses over only having Bryan while Bob is upset over only having Neil and Nicole.  Jillian is sitting pretty, meanwhile.  She’s got a decent team left, but it doesn’t stop her from working her people into the ground.

Bryan, apparently, has a problem with eating healthy.  He gags on anything he doesn’t like eating (which is pretty much anything healthy).  Kim finds him eating Cheetos for pity’s sake.   She grills him on what exactly he’s been eating because something is missing.  She finds out he marinades his meat in soy sauce.  She beats him over the head about the salt intake.  It’s causing him to retain water, of course, and he needs to lose the weight.  He looks sad to see the soy sauce go.

So they find out their challenge and it is: The Pool/Pole challenge.  They have to hang onto a big metal pole until they fall in the water.  Wee!  Andre Agassi has a recorded message for the contestants, urging them forward before they begin the challenge.   And he shows them this amazing resort that the winner can go visit.  Everyone takes their places and the challenge begins.  Isabeau is the first to fall in, apparently couldn’t get a good grip.  No sooner was she in the water then Neil followed.  Then Nicole was out while Bryan struggled to hold on and then fell in, closely followed by Hollie.  That leaves Bill and Julie.  They are steady as rocks.  Bill tries a little trash talk but Julie just ignores him.  Then those on the sidelines start heckling Bill.  He does a lot of readjusting.  Julie starts to slip a little though and falls off, so Bill wins.  Again.  Lol!  Hollie admits that she’s so over Bill winning everything.  Isabeau cracks about him not even being fat anymore, maybe got lost on the way to skinny camp.  After the challenge, everyone decides to take a celebratory dip in the pool.  Nicole doesn’t notice the “no diving” sign and chipped her tooth on the bottom of the pool.   Of course, then everyone makes goofy remarks about the extent of her tooth loss.  Poor gal.  I don’t like her but dang.

Bob comes to visit his people and grills Neil on what happened and he fills him in.  And Nicole is at the dentist.  Bob stresses out about her losing valuable workout time.  They both can’t really help laughing.  Ha!  Kim eavesdrops on Bryan’s breakfast because she totally doesn’t trust him anymore with food.  Nicole returns with temporary teeth.  All the contestants get some feedback from a doctor and former contestant about how well they’ve been doing.  Neil has apparently lost a buttload of fat.  Of course, they don’t phrase it like that.  Each contestant has done something amazing, which does wonders for their egos.  Plus, they find out they’ve made themselves SO much healthier in the process.  Great job, guys!

Time for the last chance workout!  Nicole assures Bob that she’s ready to get working.  Bob is just NOT willing to lose her this week.  Bob is convinced that she’s just beneath the radar, that she’s a threat that no one expects.  And it’s not just Nicole, he also pounds Neil into the ground too.  Kim took Bryan to an actual 24 Hour Fitness off campus for their last chance workout.  Nice for a change of pace, at least.  They finish up with a game of hoops.  And of course there’s Jillian and I think she’s focused on killing her team this week.  Hollie is apparently having trouble with her ankles and is worried she’s falling behind.  Julie is sad at the thought of losing Hollie, they’ve really bonded together.  They have a little inspirational group time and walk away feeling better.

The weigh in arrives and everyone has their game face is on.  Bryan goes first and only lost 4 pounds.  He’s worried.  That’s a 1.48% loss.  Isabeau goes next and she lost 4 pounds as well.  For her, that’s a 1.71% loss.  Bill hits the scale and this week he lost 6 pounds.  Good job!  That’s a 2.63% loss.  Nicole goes up next and this week she lost 6 pounds.  She’s thrilled.  She had a 2.75% loss.  Hollie goes up to the scale and lost only 3 pounds.  She’s definitely nervous.  That’s a 1.47% loss, the lowest so far.  Julie goes up to the scale and lost 5 pounds this week and she’s so happy. She had a 2.84% loss.  Neil goes up last and lost 5 pounds.  That puts him officially under 300 pounds!  And he has a 1.65% loss for the week.  This means that Bryan and Hollie are up for elimination.

It’s pretty easy to see how it’s going to go from here on out.  The black team has the numbers, plain and simple.  Kim is devastated to hear Bryan is below the yellow line.  The writing is pretty plainly on the wall.  So when elimination comes, it’s no one’s surprise when Bryan is voted out, once and for all.  Never before has an entire team been eliminated before the finale.  So that’s a blow, especially to Kim.  I didn’t have anything against Bryan, sad to see him go.  But I’m glad the black team remains intact.

Today, Bryan is doing GREAT.  He has lost 118 pounds since coming on “The Biggest Loser” and looks absolutely amazing.  Keep it up, B!

To catch up on what happened last week, read this post.

This week we have yet another two hour episode (yipee) and we’ll see how much weight the eliminated player has lost LIVE since being booted. Wee! Allison promises it’ll be good so I’ll take her word for it.

So remember last week’s cliffhanger (it’s okay, I forgot too)? We pick up where we left off, with Allison chatting up the remaining competitors. They’re getting a reward! Tomorrow. But tonight, she’s giving them a taste int he form of an envelope. Inside, is a photo of each of them before they went on the show. And yeah, the differences are alarming almost. These people have lost a LOT of weight. So that’s their only clue and as clues go, it sucks. So no one has a single clue. (Of course, then we as viewers are shown what is coming up and it’s Hollywood-style makeovers and surprise visits from loved ones. Okay. I believe Alison now. This is going to be good.

Jillian comes in the next day and tells Isabeau that she thinks voting out Amy was a mistake. She does worry she’ll regret what she did but at the same time, she knew Bryan was a better player and more deserving of being in the game. The rest of her team is a little sketchy about her now though. At the same time, he’s a better player and chances are, he’ll beat them above the yellow line. Bryan, meanwhile, surprises Kim by not being eliminated. It’s pretty cute. I don’t like Kim much, but I don’t want to see with out ANY team either. Jillian pushes her team in the gym and they try to get past what Isabeau did. Jillian is still smarting over it. She ignores Isabeau a bit during the training and Isabeau considers defecting to Bob. Oh geeze. NO. Oh and the reward! Hadn’t forgotten that, had we? The teams meet up with Alison at NBC studios. And they find her at the “Days of Our Lives” studios. HA! They get to eavesdrop on Alison rehearsing a scene with her co-star “Lucas”. So they are going to get their big time makeovers. They’re getting the head to toe treatments, followed by a professional photo shoot. And one of them will on the cover of “Prevention” magazine because of it.

They’re actually getting their makeovers done in the makeup department at “Days of Our Lives”, which is cool. They get to meet more stars of the show while they’re getting done up. I’m excited to see how everyone turns out. Everyone is looking just amazing. These are really some attractive people. Isabeau and Kae actually make me gasp. Bryan steps up to the mirror to see what he looks like in his new threads. He preens and we see his wife standing on the other side of the mirror. He has NO idea. It’s so fun! She is revealed at last and he is totally floored. Then he hugs her and it’s so so sweet. I love these reveals. I can’t wait to see more. We see Julie’s reveal next and her husband is completely astounded by his made-over wife. And of course, she starts crying. Don’t mess up the makeup! Aww! Jim’s loved one is his brother! Now, we know how much he lost ultimately and this is before then but he still looks good. Bill almost immediately starts crying. So does Jim. Aww, Jim! As I said, Isabeau looks fantastic. Her loved one is her boyfriend and again with the tears. It’s awesome. Hollie is looking fantastic, in her black dress and all doen up. She’s reunited with her best friend (who we saw last week) so I guess the surprise is not that big a deal. Neil comes to the mirror and is reunited with his wife who hasn’t seen him since he was over 400 pounds. Neil has done some crappy stuff, but it’s awesome seeing him with his girlfriend. And he has a cute, perky girlfriend, too! Nicole steps up to the mirror and she’s looking pretty good. She’s surprised by her mother and both of them just turn into puddles. Kae steps up last and she’s looking absolutely marvelous. Her husband waits for her and he’s so excited to see her. They both start crying the moment they see each other. Absolutely adorable. She remarks that this is the best day of her life. So sweet!

We return to the photoshoot and everyone hams it up in front of the camera. They all show off how much they’ve lost. Hollie is mentioned as being a “natural beauty” and I’d agree with that. They all got together for a group shot and for once they were united instead of against one another. After the shoot, they have a lovely lunch together (or is it dinner? What time is it??) and everyone gets to chat with their loved ones. Alison gets everyone’s attention to tell them dinner (dinner!) is over and it’s time to get back to work. Time to say goodbye!

Back at campus, everyone is back in their workout gear. They meet Alison for their challenge (oh yeah, one of those!). They have to literally stay above the yellow line. To do this, they need to climb ropes and the last person to stay above the line will win a $5000 shopping spree from “Prevention” magazine. That’ll be handy for purchasing a new and much needed wardrobe. It’s a tough challenge and a lot of people fall below the line early on. Kae and Bill fight for the win while everyone else falls out of the race. Ultimately, Kae wins! Finally, as Bill has been a challenge hog lately and she hasn’t won a challenge yet. She didn’t win just that, she also got her cover chosen by “Prevention” magazine and it’s on newsstands now.

Kim is desperate to keep Bryan above the yellow line. She doesn’t want to lose him (and her job) just yet. Bob (who we’ve barely seen this episode) pounds his team. He has Kae drag him across the floor (kid you not). Jillian is done ignoring Isabeau, so that’s good. We’ll see who falls by the wayside here. I hope the black team isn’t in trouble. If the red and blue teams are allied, they could be.

Neil is up at the scale first and this week he lost 8 pounds, a very decent loss. That’s a 2.57% loss. Isabeau is up next and Julie is worried for her. She lost 7 pounds and that’s a 2.90% loss. Bill hits the scale and he lost 6 pounds and has a total loss of 2.56%. Hollie goes up and after not losing anything last week, she lost 8 pounds which makes her very happy. That’s a 3.77% loss. Wow! Nicole is up next and she lost 4 pounds. Compared to everyone, that’s not fantastic. It’s a 1.80% loss. Julie also didn’t lose last week and is nervous. She lost 4 pounds as well, but she had less to lose so her percentage is 2.22%. Kae goes up next and she only lost 3 pounds. It’s not enough to keep her safe. It’s a 1.89% loss. She’s just above Nicole and unless Bryan lost precious little, Kae is in danger. Bryan goes up next and he’s worried because he didn’t lose much last week. This week he lost 6 pounds and that’s a 2.17% loss. More than enough to keep him safe. So it’s Nicole and Kae up for elimination. Everyone is surprised to see Kae below the yellow line.

Bob is devastated to learn two of his team members are up to be eliminated. He will lose someone, no matter what. The fates have been so kind to Kae tonight, her luck is bound to run out. Neil catches Jillian smirking and knows its because Kae will be gone and he’s PISSED about it. So he vows not to rest so he never has to see that smirk again. Good luck there!

Elimination is here and the teams are quiet as they gather in front of Alison. The votes go pretty much as expected and everyone but Neil votes out Kae. She was the obvious choice. Sad to see her go, she has been the “Biggest Loser” example this season. She goes out on a sad but positive note. Everyone wanted to make sure Kae knew she was respected and admired but seen as a threat and that’s why she was eliminated. Poor Kae.

We get to see her journey home after elimination, three months ago. Her family is so happy to see her, especially her mother. And it was wonderful to see her reunited with them all. They were all so obviously proud of her.

Now? We see her weigh in live. She looks AMAZING. I don’t think she could have lost any more weight. On or off the show. Alison is beside herself, gushing over her. Bob comes to meet her and he’s obviously ecstatic to see her. It’s so sweet. Geeze, and now I have tears in MY eyes. I just can’t get over her. She came in at 225 pounds and she is now 137. She lost 88 pounds which is is just AMAZING. That is more than 39% of her body weight. We’ll see her again in four weeks and see if she’s lost any MORE weight. Unbelievable.

If you need to catch up on last week’s goings-on, check out this post.

They’ve promised us some Neil-centered drama for the night so strap yourselves in guys.  We’re in for a bumpy ride.  Everyone is gathered in the elimination room talking to Allison.  They’re mixing up the teams YET AGAIN.  I’m getting a little tired of that.  Luckily, no more shuffling because it’s every man for themselves now and no more teams so that’s a good thing.  Drama or no, this is good news and a great way to start off the night.

Bob is sad to see Ryan has left.  But he expected it.  Still, he doesn’t understand why the other blues voted him out.  He pretty much beats Neil down for playing too many games (gee, I wonder why).  So I can say I didn’t enjoy that.  Jillian is THRILLED to see Isabeau is still there.  She is in high spirits and it’s infectious in the black team (or what used to be the black team).  Amy is still feeling like a red and is feeling out of place because of it.  So she goes to talk to Kim and gives her back the red shirt.  She also thanks her for everything she did.  Kim is sad to see the ties severed and wants to give her the red shirt back.  Kim says she and the red time (who, Bryan?) is very disappointed in her.  She feels insulted.  Aaaaand the drama continues!  Regardless, Amy returns to Jillian sporting a black shirt and she’s thrilled to see it.  Man, what happened to Jillian to get her in such a good mood?

Everyone can smell something really GOOD and turns out?  Donuts.  Lots and lots of donuts.  So many donuts that I’m a little nauseated, to be honest.  But I’m sure it smells good.  The temptation this week involves turning the donuts into dollars.  Inside one donut is a token that is worth $5,000.  Of course, they have to eat the donut to participate in the hunt.  Each round, another donut.  GAH.  No thanks.  And it sounds like they’ll keep going the rounds until they find it.   Only Kae backs out of the temptation and GOOD FOR HER.  Everyone else rips into the donuts.  This makes it look SO NOT appetizing.  No one finds the token in the first round.  One more donut for the next round so Nicole sits out and everyone else joins in again.  It’s gross, ya’ll.  And, in round two, no one finds the token.  Bleh.  No time limit in the third round, however.  Everyone who was going to stop, starts to rethink their decision.  Only Julie backs out.  Good girl.  That’s 300 calories a round.  GAH.  Bill finds it, at long last, making his 900 calories worth it to him.  Man, I’d go and puke if I were them.  That’s just nasty.

We arrive at the challenge and it’s a butt-load of spin bikes at 24-Hour Fitness.   It’s going to be a 24 kilometer indoor triathlon.  That’s just shy of 15 miles.  So we’ve got biking, running and swimming.  The first person to finish, will win.  What is the reward?  A 24 hour trip home.  That’s pretty nice.  Plus?  They’ll have immunity at the next elimination.  WOW.  Okay, that rivals the car for the best reward yet.  Kae, Bill, Hollie, Bryan and Neil move onto the treadmills and everyone else is out.  Kae, Bill and Hollie move on to the pool and everyone else is out.  It’s down to 1 km in the pool.  And as I predicted, Kae tired herself out previously and she’s not a strong swimmer.  Hollie, however, is a swim coach and she’s got it made in the shade.  So it’s no surprise that Hollie wins the triathlon.  The good news is she can pick someone else to have immunity at the weigh in and go home to visit THEIR family.  I wasn’t too surprised to see her select Julie, her fellow black team member.  Allison warns them that they will not have immunity if they have gained weight at the weigh in so they need to be on their best behavior.

So we are treated to some beautiful footage of the two women going home to visit family.  I can’t help but think that Hollie has already been home this season but this is under FAR different circumstances.  The stuff with Julie is the most touching.  Her kid literally cannot believe his eyes.  Very sweet.

Meanwhile, back at campus, it’s time for the last chance workout.  Amy is still just devastated that she wasn’t chosen.  I’m surprised that she thinks that she might have been chosen.  Jillian is concerned with how much Amy wants to go home because she’s afraid that could equal elimination.   Still, she is worried about the weigh in.  Jillian pounds her team while Kim focuses herself on Bryan.  Bob promises a brutal workout for his team and he delivers.  The weigh in arrives and Hollie and Julie are back on campus.  They weigh in first and didn’t lost a single pound.  The important thing is they didn’t gain any so they still have immunity.  Good thing!  They’re embarassed, and I can’t blame them.

Bill is up first and wants to hit the 100 pound mark.   This week he lost 8 pounds so he makes it!  And he’s so happy.  That’s a percentage of 3.31% lost. Nicole goes next and is concerned about being on her own.  She lost 7 pounds though, so nothing to worry about for her.  That’s 3.06% lost.  Neil hits the scales next and lost 10 pounds this week and that’s 3.12% lost.  Amy goes next and this week she lost 3 pounds which is not very much at all.  It is 1.22% lost and she’s definitely in danger.  Isabeau goes up and she lost 5 pounds this week for a total of 2.03% lost.  Bryan hits the scales next and only lost 2 pounds which devastates him.  That’s .72% lost this week.  Kae goes up last and this week she lost 4 pounds which she’s happy with.  She should be, as it’s enough to put her above the yellow line with 2.45% lost.  Amy and Bryan, however, are very much not safe and one of them will be eliminated.

Jillian talks up the blacks and she doesn’t see any reason why Amy will go home.  Isabeau seems like she may be a swing vote.  She isn’t sure whether to get rid of the threat (Bryan) or Amy (who wants to go home).  Bill says he’s undecided, though he seems to be leaning towards Bryan.  And he seems certain that Isabeau is voting out Amy.  Kim is very upset to hear Bryan is vulnerable.  The thing is… I almost have to agree with Isabeau.  There’s team loyalty and then there’s who deserves to stay.  Bryan works a lot harder than Amy does, with a fraction of the drama.  Neil campaigns for Bryan to stay and talks up Julie and the other black members.  He’s probably more of a threat than Amy, that’s true.  But I’d rather see him win the competition than Amy.

Elimination night has arrived and everyone gathers in the room with Allison.  The long and the short of it is: it comes down to a tie.  Half of everyone votes for Amy, while half vote for Bryan (black team members, of course).  Isabeau is the tie-breaker and she does what I expected her to do.  She voted Amy out.  I can’t say I’m too sad to see her go.  She wasn’t an original black team member and she was too immersed in drama.  So it’s a shame to see her go (as it is anyone) but necessary.

Allison surprises everyone by presenting to them a grand surprise.  But we don’t know what it is yet.

So how has Amy done since leaving the campus?  She has lost 100 pounds since the start of the show and with shorter hair?  Looks amazing.  That’s a great accomplishment.  It was great seeing her reunited with her family.

We’re getting down to the wire here.  If you want to see what happened last week, check out this post.

For some reason, we have a two hour episode tonight, but it looks like a big one.  Bryan is sad that David is gone.  Amy defected and now he feels like the only red left.  Neil ponders the giant target on his back.  Not like he put it there or anything.  Isabeau is so happy to be this far in the game.  It is far, isn’t it?  Everyone is starting to get that lean look.

Allison congratulates everyone for making it to week 9.  She also tells them this is “Green Week” and they have new green t-shirts to wear.  They’re also going to be doing some recycling.  Trios are going bye bye.  Duos are the new Trio.  And then she tempts them with a large meat pizza and soda.  Everyone is going to guess how many calories are that meal and the person who guesses the closest will get to choose their new teammate.  Then the new duo will pick the next duo, and so on and so forth.  Neil wants to control the game and I want to kick his face in.  We can’t always get what we want.   So who guessed the closest?  It’s Nicole!  Surprising no one, she picks Neil.  Bah.  They put Isabeau and Ryan together.  And then they put together Julie and Bill together (one purely black team!).  They decide on putting Hollie and Bryan together.  So the last duo is Amy is Kae and Kae is decidedly disappointed.  She hasn’t forgotten that Amy wanted her gone.

This week, working out on equipment that doesn’t use any electricity.  It’s Green Week, remember?  Wee!  They’re not too happy about it.  Kae decides to run off her angst about her new teammate.  She’s even more upset when she comes back from her run to see Amy taking a nap on the couch.  She doesn’t want someone to think she’ll carry her and she doesn’t want someone to pull her under the yellow line.  And honestly?  I think Kae needs to settle down a little.  I see her issues and it’s not that they’re not well-founded but shoot.  Just go with it and embrace the now.

Jillian comes and is so happy to see Hollie is there.  She envelopes her in a huge hug.  Bob is worried for Kae now that she’s with Amy.  Kim seems unhappy and could be because she only has one team member left to train.   Honestly, I think this reflects on Kim.  I haven’t ever really liked her and she’s obviously the weakest trainer of the three.  She tells him she’s frustrated with his nutrition.  It’s not that he’s eating too much, it’s that he’s not eating enough.  And if he doesn’t have those calories, he doesn’t have anything to burn.  I think it’s hitting home to him.

Bob talks to the remaining blues and again the focus is on Kae.  I love Kae, and have from the start.  But shouldn’t she be proactive instead of negative?  So what does Bob do?  He takes black tape and puts a big X on her bag to show that she knows she’s a target but she’s going to embrace it.  YES.  This is what I want her to do.  PROACTIVE.  Awesome.

Jillian talks up the black team (plus Amy) and she talks about organic food and how it can be so important.  She’s a big organic fan so that’s what she feeds her team.  She’s a big believer in how organic saves the planet as well.  Bob sends his team up the hill, to no on on the blue team’s surprise.  No gym equipment this week!  Except, that Kim shows Bryan how he can use the treadmill without turning it on.  Jillian has her team stand on balls, jump train, strength training, etc and so on.   Julie says, “It’s not easy being green.”  Especially not when you’re on Jillian’s team!

Jennie-O turkey is this weeks big time product placement and Bob shows his team how to make turkey burgers on the grill.  These segments are so goofy.

Time for the challenge!  And we see lots of recyclables.   And not just that but they’re examples of the unhealthy eating choices they’ve made in the last year.  And then these big ol’ dump trucks start pouring out about a bazillion empty soda cans, something that everyone there indulged in far too much of.  148,000 cans, to be exact.  Neil admits to the camera that all those cans could be his.  Today, they’re going to recycle a lifetime’s worth of cans in one hour.  Each duo will have to run up a ramp and deposit as many cans as they can into a bin that is on top of a scale.  The duo with the most cans in weight will win.  Wee!  The winners will get something totally awesome though.  It’s a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid (natch).  Hot damn!  And who wins?  Bill and Julie (easily!) and that’s awesome because Julie had to give up her car when she became a stay-at-home mom and she wanted this SO BAD.  So good for her.

Neil and Julie are chowing on their subway lunch (product placement! Jared would be proud) and discussing strategy.   Then Bryan talks about how nervous he is with Kim and why he is falling short on his calories.  Still, Kim seems a little too worried about herself where I think her focus should be 100% on Bryan.  She’s supporting him, yes.  But she’s trying to put herself in his same boat.  And she’s just not.

Bill and Julie took great pleasure in showing Jillian their prize.  She’s bitching about the challenge not having to do with the weigh in.  But they drag her outside with her eyes closed to show her the cars.  And she has to admit, “That’s a pretty good prize.”  She still wished they’d won immunity but it’s hard to argue with the cars.

And we’re at the last chance workout now.  We see the usual clips of each trainer working their teams into the ground.  Sans electricity!  It’s rather pathetic to just see Kim and Bryan alone.  But whatever works.  Jillian is psychotic and loves the last chance workout.  I’m amazed that the teams aren’t limping into the weigh in, but they all look strong.  And you know what?  They’re looking good.  Allison congratulates them on this too.

Kae goes first for her duo and this week she lost 5 pounds.  She tries not to be disappointed.  Amy goes next and she lost 9 pounds.  Very nice!  And Kae admits to having a changed perspective of her.  So that’s 14 pounds total for their duo and  3.32% lost.

Hollie goes for her duo and she lost 6 pounds and she feels good to have lost that.  Bryan goes and he’s very nervous.  He lost 11 pounds which is awesome!  It also saves his team from elimination.   That’s a total of 17 pounds and 3.35% lost.

Nicole goes next for her duo and she lost 6 pounds and she’s happy to be below 230 pounds.  Neil is up next and he lost an amazing 18 pounds.  Which makes him only the 5th contestant in history to lost 100 pounds on the show.  He’s just thrilled with that accomplishment.  That’s a total of 24 pounds and 4.18% lost and in first place.  Kae and Amy are sweating it.

Isabeau goes up for her duo and she lost 9 pounds which is su-weet.  She is happy not to let Ryan down.  Will Ryan lose more than 8 pounds?  Alas, this week he lost 6 pounds which means they definitely NOT safe but Kae and Amy are.  That’s a total of 15 pounds for this week and 2.66% lost.

Bill goes up for his duo and this week he lost 9 pounds which is very decent.  Julie needs to have lost more than 2 pounds and this week she lost 6 pounds so they’re good to go!  She’s just thrilled, of course but this is sad for Isabeau and Ryan.  That’s a total of 15 pounds for the duo and 3.43% lost and second place in the weigh in.

Right away, the talk is all about Ryan.  Isabeau doesn’t seem to have as big a target on her back as he does.  I’m not entirely sure why this is.  Bob is sad to hear that Ryan is on the block and is disappointed to hear he only lost 6 pounds.   It’s just not looking good.  Even if it goes to a tie, he would go home as he had the lower percentage of the duo of weight lost.  It’s just not likely that he’d get votes to stay from the black team.  Isabeau, however, is still very nervous.  She’s not sure who to trust.  I don’t think she has anything to worry about.  I can see how she’d worry, seeing what happened to Jez and all.

We get to elimination and it’s quick and painless.  It’s pretty much unanimous to send Ryan home and home he goes.  It’s sad to see him go because I’ve always liked him.  He’s the strong, silent type.  But of the two, I’m glad it was him.  It is what it is.

Since arriving at the Biggest Loser campus, Ryan has lost 109 pounds and he looks AMAZING.  Good for him.  I love seeing these transformations.

How could anyone forget the travesty that was last week’s episode?  You know, where Neil completely lost sight of the whole point of the show and chose to favor team dynamics instead of, oh, decent gameplay?  Good times.  My head still throbs when I think about it.

The teams are still understandably shaken by Neil’s betrayal.  He says not seeing this as a game is naive.  Whatever, dude.  Pretty much everyone else, though mostly the black team, is disgusted with him.  He insists that is wasn’t personal.  Julie doesn’t care, she’ll vote him out anyhow.  David apparently didn’t know Neil threw it until after the vote.  If he had known, he wouldn’t have voted for Jez. Kae is distraught, despite being on Neil’s team.  She doesn’t like this “game”, she is there to change her life.  Amen, sister.  At least someone on the blue team has a brain.  She wants to leave and packs up her stuff.

Bob comes to talk to the blue team and is surprised to see Neil there.  Kae reveals that she had second thoughts about leaving.  She decided, instead, to just focus on herself.  Bob believes the good will eventually outweigh the bad.  Neil is wanting to redeem himself.  Yeah, good luck with that one.  There is a meeting Neil tries to apologize to Isabeau, but she is pretty uninterested in forgiving him.   Kim is hoping the drama means that while the other teams are freaking out, that red team will be training.  Way to be on board, Kim.  Jillian coaches her beleaguered team.  She wants to get her team in the gym and get working.  Julie says the only way to defend themselves is to stay above the yellow line.  Function with integrity.  Meanwhile, Amy reveals to Jillian that last week the reason she didn’t gain any weight is because Neil pressured her.

So Amy wasn’t the only one to throw the weigh in.  Something about this doesn’t sound true to me, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.  Basically, though, there’s a red and blue alliance against the black team.  Jillian tells Amy to put the game aside and just focus on losing her weight.  Amen!  Gah, ya’ll.  Bob, meanwhile, is riding Neil very hard.  He’s still pretty pissed at him.  He wants to get Neil’s head back onto what it should be on, losing weight.  Not so much the game.  Hollie is worried for her safety in the game, she knows she’s a huge target as a member of the black team.  We arrive at the challenge, at a lake this time.  Allison greets the teams and tells them todays challenge is about endurance.  The team who hangs on the longest will win.  The winning team will receive the contents of a box, which she assures them is very valuable.   But it is something that will effect the game.  Jez lets go and he and Isabeau are out first.  Kae’s team is out next, so David and Hollie are out too.

Who is out last?  It’s Bill, Amy and Julie.  Dangit.  Bryan, Ryan and Nicole make it to the end.  So not right.  So what’s in the box?  A note saying that each person in the team gets a vote at elimination, instead of one vote for the team.  UGH.  To redeem it, they of course have to stay above the yellow line.  This just makes it seem like the production is TRYING to eliminate the black team.  Bob is very excited that his team has finally won a challenge.  Kim teaches David how to steam salmon and Bob tries to give Kae a pep talk.  She’s happy she has him, she trusts him.  And only him.

The last chance workout is intense.  Which is to be expected, considering the tensions running through the house.  At the weigh in, Allison waxes poetic about being gone from home and how much they’ve all lost so far.  Neil is up first for the weigh in and he lost (an almost predictable) 33 pounds.  No one is terribly happy, there is no clapping.  He acknowledges what he did and tries to apologize but again, it falls on deaf ears.  Isabeau goes up next and owing to an injured hip, didn’t lose anything that week.  Not like it matters.  And she knew it wouldn’t.  That’s a total of 33 pounds for the team and that’s a 5.26% of weight lost.  Yowzers.

Nicole is up next for her team and she lost 9 pounds, of which she is very proud.  I’m not digging her a whole lot, especially this week, but good for her anyhow.  Bryan goes next and he lost 8 pounds, very respectable.  Ryan goes last and he did gain a little last week (gee, I wonder why).  This week, he lost 13 pounds.  He gets some applause, but not a lot.  That’s a total of 30 pounds for the team and 3.48% lost.

Amy is up at the scale first, having not lost any weight last week.  This week she lost 11 pounds, which is very good and she does get some applause.   Bill goes next and he lost 10 pounds.  Another good number!  Julie goes up last and she lost 6 pounds and is very happy about it.  Her team is safe from elimination with a total of 27 pounds and 3.76% lost.  Nice!

Hollie goes first for her team and she lost 5 pounds which she hopes it’s enough.  Kae is up next and she lost 6 pounds.  She’s grateful but wishes it were more.  David goes last and all the pressure is on him.  He lost only 3 pounds.  Holy crapola.  That’s a total of 14 pounds for his team and 1.97% lost.  And his team is below the yellow line, on the chopping block.   And Bryan, Ryan and Nicole will each have a vote in the elimination.  Still, Kae has a greater percentage weight loss than anyone else on campus.  The team looks shaken.

Jillian isn’t surprised by the result of the weigh in, she’s very concerned for Hollie and wanting her to stay.  Amy thinks Kae should leave which I don’t agree with.  Better to earn the right to stay in the game than to manipulate your way to the end, right?  I guess that means the best choice here is David, though I don’t really want him to leave either.  Let’s face it, I only really want to see Neil, Nicole or maybe Ryan leave.  Boo.  At the elimination, all the teams looks sober and serious.   Neil repeats that what he did was wrong.  Mm.  His team’s vote is a result of neither of them wanting to vote out someone they have a bond with.  So it’s David.  Bill goes next for his team and explains that they regret also voting for David.  Not looking good for him.  Bryan votes next and explains that he voted alone and without outside influence.  He voted for Kae.  Makes sense.  Nicole voted for David and one is left to assume that Ryan voted for David as well, though it’s moot at that point.  So David is sent home.  Not a good outcome, but the best possible one, I suppose. David struggles not to cry as he says his goodbyes.

We get to see David come home for his son’s first birthday party and it’s quite the tearful homecoming.  David has lost 105 pounds since going on “Biggest Loser” and he’s looking a lot better.  Good for him.  I wish him the best of luck.

Last week, the red team imploded and did the unthinkable: they let the blue team chose who to eliminate so of course they eliminated Phil, the toughest guy on the campus. This week, we anticipate Kim’s reaction as it is sure to please. I’m also interested to see if Hollie is back.

We start with poker chips. Actually, not so much poker chips as it is tiny wheels of cheese, pieces of candy and cookies. YUM. Alison tells them that after that day, no more teams. Everyone will be divided into trios. So, pretty much like having NEW teams. Whoever wins the temptation gets to pick the teams. They’re playing high/low, but instead of money, it’s calories. And whatever they bet, they have to eat. In order to get power, they have to eat. Jae begs out because she doesn’t want to eat the food. Good girl. Everyone else pretty much stuff their faces. Oh, and Hollie is back. It comes down to Jez and Amy and it’s pretty much disgusting. Who has the highest card? Jez had an ace. So he wasn’t bluffing or just being a glutton. Oh, he was being a glutton alright, but he had the card to back it up. So he gets to choose the teams.

First team: Kae, David and Hollie.

Second team: Amy, Julie and Bill.

Third team: Bryan, Nicole and Ryan.

Fourth Team: Jez, Isabeau and Neil.

The trainers come in and get a look at the new teams. Jillian looks horrified. She’s immediately suspicious and they all hear how the teams were chosen. Amy busts out at Kim about wanting her to be booted last week. Amy doesn’t want to work with her, obviously and approaches Jillian instead. Kim wants to talk to Amy and work it out. They go off to talk and Kim gives Amy the riot act. She feels hurt. And Amy doesn’t? So much for working things out.

Jillian picks up Amy’s pieces. It’s sort of wearing on the other people training with Jillian (namely the black team). Everyone just seems to be feeling kind of pissy. With that, we go to the challenge. It involves, again, some heavy lifting (or rather pushing). They have to push a giant arm with two teammates sitting on top around in a circle 75 times. Hmm. It’s really down to Bill’s team and Bryan’s team and Amy ends up winning it for Bill and Julie and they have each won a Bowflex to take home and work out with. It was pretty inspiring.

Bob coaches Nicole on what to eat for breakfast. Today’s product placement is Quaker’s Weight Control oatmeal. Yummy! The product placement is hysterical. But oatmeal is a good choice for breakfast.

Last chance workout! We see Jillian pushing the hell out of Amy and remarking that she doesn’t think that Kim pushed her hard enough. And Kim thinks that Amy will regret leaving her. This is SO high school. Stay tuned for the most dramatic weigh in yet!

So the trios go to the weigh in, sans trainers. The trios confuse me, frankly, since everyone is still wearing their old team colors. The team with the lowest weigh in percentage will fall below the yellow line. And when that happens, the other teams will get to choose which of the losing trio goes home.

Bill goes first and he has lost 7 pounds, fairly decent. Amy goes next and she has lost ZERO pounds. Ouchies! Guess switching to Jillian wasn’t that great a move, is it? Julie goes last for her trio and she lost 3 pounds. Not great. It’s not looking great for this trio. That’s a total percentage of 1.37% weight lost.

Bryan goes next and he lost 7 pounds. Ryan goes after him and he GAINED a pound. More ouchies! What IS it this week? Everyone just up and lost their minds, I think. Nicole goes last, needing to lose 5 pounds to beat the previous trio and she lost 4. Close but no cigar. The trios total percentage lost is 1.15%.

Kae goes next for her trio and lost 4 pounds. And she’s grateful for every pound this week. Hollie goes after her and lost 2 pounds. And she is visibly relieved. David goes last for his trio and he lost 8 pounds and his trio is easily safe from elimination. Their total percentage lost is 1.93%.

Jez goes first for the last trio and he lost 6 pounds. Isabeau steps up and she lost 4 pounds. So far, so good. Neil goes last. And you know what? HE GAINED. And not just one pound like Ryan. He gained 17 pounds. SEVENTEEN. Everyone is stunned off their rockers. Even Neil looked surprised. Jez looks pissed. There is a total weight gain of .77% so they’re obviously up for elimination. Holy dang.

Julie says her gut tells her something wasn’t right. Isabeau agrees. Is there a plan here? David confronts Neil about it, he wants him to explain himself to everyone. He adamantly denies having thrown the weigh in. To the camera, he confesses it shouldn’t have been that obvious. Apparently, he had promised the blue team that he’d keep them safe. And this is how he did it. Suspicion abounds. The blue team meets, and Bob comes to talk to them. And Bob? Is PISSED. Ryan gained a pound and then… Neil. Bob is flabbergasted. He tells Bob that it was a strategic move. Bob considers it a slap in the face.

Even Jillian is mad to hear of Neil’s weight gain. Everyone is pretty sure he just chugged two gallons of water before the weigh in. And basically, they want to vote out black team members, probably Isabeau in particular. It’s disgusting is what it is. She throws a barb at Neil and he chuckles at her in return. What an ASS. Jez feels completely thrown and depressed and lost.

The elimination comes up and everyone is very upset in that room. Well, everyone except Neil. Assmunch. Julie, Bill and Amy vote for Neil. Ryan, Bryan and Nicole predictably vote for Jez. David, Kae and Hollie voted for… Jez. Damn it. That’s about as unfair as it ever gets. But as he says, he leaves with his character and integrity intact.

How much has he lost since leaving the campus? He’s lost 103 pounds! He looks awesome. He says he’s happier and healthier. I sure hope so. Poor Jez. He didn’t deserve that.

Last week the black team suffered their first loss.  And it was a rough one, with Jim being sent packing on the eve of his shared birthday with brother Bill.  Ouch!

We’re whittled down to one hour so that is making me definitely VERY happy.  Hopefully, that means less playing around and less toying with me.  I can hope.  We start out with the black team getting a good pounding from Jillian.  She’s pretty upset about their loss last week.  But Kim is also working her team hard.  Let’s not forget Bob either, because he wants to win one friggin’ challenge already.  And what is the challenge?  Well, it’s at a beach, for one.  All challenges so far have been a race but this one is more about perseverance.  I’m not going to go into details but it involves moving heavy stuff.  The winning team will receive videos from home.  Ultimately, red team won despite being severely behind in the first two heats.  Blue team came in last, which is a blow.  Black gave it a good go, but ultimately couldn’t keep up with that tank, Phil.  They watch their videos and everyone is pretty much reduced to a crying puddle, even the guys (especially Phil!).

Jillian meets with her team at lunch and teaches them a little trick about how to keep from snacking while cooking; chew some gum.  Kim comes in while David is on the treadmill and tries to push him and he gets pretty annoyed at her.  He tells her to leave him alone several times and things get kinda heated.  She swears at him and he gets really insulted and walks off.  I kinda have to side with him, but at the same time, it’s the trainer’s job to push you so you’re gonna have to expect and put up with a certain amount of that, you know?

Speaking of pushing, Jillian pushes her team really hard.  Then, Jillian gets word that Hollie’s mother is relapsing with leukemia.  And she has to break the news to her.  Despite the devastating news to Hollie, this shows such a softer side of Jillian.  What does this mean for Hollie?  She’s going to go home and see her mother and will hurry back as soon as she can.  I’m not sure what all that means and when she’ll be back but there you have it.

At the weigh in, Allison fills everyone in on what’s up with Hollie.  Her mother did pass away, shortly after Hollie got to her bedside.  How desperately sad.  So I think this means black team won’t be considered in the weigh in?

Blue team goes first and Nicole hits the scales first.  She has lost 4 pounds, a decent amount.  Neil is up next and he has lost 10 pounds.  Fantastic!  Kae is next and she has lost 6 pounds, also very decent.  She looks downright giddy.  Ryan goes last and he lost 11 pounds.  Wow!  That’s a total of 31 pounds with total percentage of 2.74% loss.  Sweet!

Red goes next and needs to lose more than 34 pounds.  Amy goes first and she has lost 3 pounds.  David hits the scales next and he lost 5 pounds.  These aren’t such hot numbers.  Bryan goes next and feels the pressure.  He lost 4 pounds.  Phil goes last and he has lost 4 pounds.  YIKES.  I can’t help but think this reflects badly on Kim.  That’s a total of 16 pounds with a 1.28% loss.  Ugh.

Black team goes last (so they’re getting weighed in after all).  Hollie weighed in earlier apparently, and lost 3 pounds.  Isabeau goes next and she lost 5 pounds, which was more than Jillian expected.  Julie is up next and she has lost 4 pounds.  Definitely decent.  Jez is up at the scale and he lost 7 pounds which has saved the blacks from elimination.  Bill goes last.  He needs more than 15 pounds to beat the blues, but I’m sure that doesn’t really matter (besides being unreasonable).  He lost 11 pounds, which is close and a really good number.  That brings the blacks total to 30 pounds with a 2.36% loss.

Blue won the weigh in, red team is going to be eliminated and the blacks are safe.  Kim is pretty ticked off about it.  David is the biggest loser on the red team, but anyone else is fair game.  *gulp*  Guess winning that challenge didn’t help them much.  Kim thinks Phil and Bryan are carrying the team and urges the team not to vote one of them off.  This of course made Amy mad and she accused Kim of throwing her under the bus.  I think Kim has a point, but GEEZ.  She threatens them not to come to a tie.  I think Kim is having a rough week (her and Carrie Ann both!).   We go to elimination and with only four teammates, it doesn’t take long.  David voted for Amy, Amy voted for Phil.  Phil voted for Amy and then Bryan voted for Phil.  Which means we have a tie.  The worst possible scenario.  This means the blue team will decide who goes home.  Not cool.  (Oh, is Kim ever going to be pissed.)  Who have they chosen to eliminate?  Neil speaks for the group, and says they’ve decided to vote out the threat.  Phil is going home.  DUDE.  That sucks.  Dumb red team.  I didn’t want Amy to go, but I don’t think Phil should have to leave.  He breaks down in saying his goodbyes and there isn’t a dry eye in the house (that includes the blue team).  Poor guy.

How much has he lost to date?  He is 295 pounds, he has lost a total of 46 pounds since leaving the campus and a total of 108 pounds since the show started.  Nice job, Phil!  I still think he could have gone the whole way.

Welcome to another installment of “The Biggest Loser”!  We’ve got your recaps right here:

• Buddy TV
• NBC.com
• Television without Pity

So we’re not a 2 hour show again, thank goodness.  But we are an hour and a half.  Sheesh.  Want to know what happened last week?  Check here.   We start off right away with another temptation.  It’s… cupcakes.  It’s for the trainers, not the contestants.  Very interesting.  One cupcake gives a 15 second advantage at the next challenge.  But which cupcake is the right one?  It’s apparently Trainer Week, and the trainers (besides being tempted) will be competing in the challenge as well.  Bob looks tempted.  His “thing”, apparently, is cupcakes.  Ultimately, he passes.  No easy way out, these guys are going to win by hard work alone.  Good job.

What are they doing now?  Eating at subway!  Wee!  Bob helps the blue team make the right choices at Subway and how they can eat good food and not bust their diets.  Smart!  Mmm, Subway.  All three teams hike to the top of a mountain where they meet Allison yet again.   The challenge? Running down the mountain and back up again.  They “bid” on how fast they think they can do it, trying to knock out another team by busting their “bid”.  Blue team challenges the black team to get the flag in 5:30 minutes, but red thinks they can do it in 5:29.  Black team says they can do 5:28 but then red says they can do it in 5:27.  They are DETERMINED.  Black says, 5:25.  It’s ON.  Red team tells them to go for it.  Hollie wiped out, but Jillian brushes her off and they’re back on the run.  They have three minutes to get back up the hill.  I’m doubting here.  They can’t do it.  They were SO close.  Hollie was just glad she finished, but I think she could have punched it more than she did.

Now it’s down to red and blue.  Blue challenges red to get it in 5:55.  They can do that, shoot, black almost had it at 5:25, they were seconds away.  But then, this is no black team.  But!  They do it.  Fourth challenge in a row that they’ve won.  Not too shabby.  I’m bummed the black team didn’t win. I’m sort of rooting for them.  The red team has won a major advantage at the weigh in, but they won’t find out until the weigh in.  Blue, meanwhile, feels bad they didn’t even try to win the challenge.

Bob takes the blue team to an actual 24 Hour Fitness gym.  Bob is very disappointed that they didn’t try the challenge.  Bob wanted to remove them from the campus and do a spin class with them.  He worked them HARD.  He’s wanting them to focus and they’re getting it done!  Patty breaks down as Bob tries to get her to tell him that she’s worth it.  It’s an awesome moment (among many; this show just rocks).   We see the blue and red teams back on campus fixing some lunch and making some healthy choices.  And they seem happy about it too.  Good!

Kim brings her team their “goal shirts”.  Jillian does the same.  The goals are awesome.  Makes me wonder what my goal would be.  The black team tries on some of their old clothes, or other people’s clothes.  It’s encouraging like nothing else.  Jillian is floored and very excited for her team.  Meanwhile, Bob is handing out his goal shirts.  It’s a cool segment all around.  Bob wants his team to focus on the weigh in, and not to forget that the red team has some sort of prize or advantage.

We’re at the last chance workout here and the teams are working HARD.  Watching this show from the comfort of my recliner always makes me feel pretty lazy and worthless, you know?  Here’s these people who are working harder than they ever have in their lives and I’m contemplating ice cream for desert  (or is it “dessert”?  I never know and spell check is no help).

So we’re down to the weigh in.  What did the red team win?  IMMUNITY.  Duuuuuude.  No one is going home, no matter what the weigh in says.  That’s a pretty sweet reward.  And it’s a good thing because their numbers were bad.  David and Amy lost only 1 pound each.  Bryan and Phil didn’t do so great either.  A total loss of 9 pounds for the team.  Definitely makes it feel like they’re “cheating” their way through the game, having immunity.  But, oh well.

On the black team, Hollie lost 3 pounds and was pretty upset.  Jez lost 8 pounds, which is pretty good considering everyone else’s numbers.  Jim lost 11 pounds for the second week in a row.  Go Jim!  Isabeau (love her name), lost 8 pounds, a number she actually had in her head before the weigh in.  Bill lost an amazing 13 pounds causing the rest of his team to gasp.  Julie lost 7 pounds (these women are kicking butt here).  The black team lost a total of 50 pounds.  That’s a 3% loss.  AWESOME.

The blue team had their work cut out for them.  Neil is first and he lost an awesome 11 pounds.  Kae goes up and has lost 6 pounds, a very good number.  Nicole goes up and has lost 4 pounds (which is starting to look like a small number).  Patty is next and she lost 5 pounds.  That puts a lot of responsibility on Ryan’s shoulders, who is up next.  He lost a mere 6 pounds.  Not enough to save the blue team from losing the weigh in, unfortunately.  that’s 32 pounds total.  They lost a lot more than the red team, but the red team was given a break.  BOO!  Hiss!  Bob is upset, as he should rightly be.  Kae is her team’s the biggest loser, so she’s immune from being eliminated.

The blue team debates who to vote out.  They want to let it go to a tie so the rest of the house can decide who goes and Bob tries to talk them out of that.  He doesn’t want them putting their fate in someone else’s hands.  Thing is, this is blue’s MO this week.  The easy way out, having other people do the work.  They need to step up.  So at elimination, who will it be?  Did they decide on anyone?  Kae votes Neil, Patty votes Nicole.  Neil votes for Patty and then Nicole votes for Patty as well and then Ryan votes for Patty.  Dang.  I’m sad to see Patty go, I think she had great potential in this show/game.  I’m interested to see her transformation since the show was filmed.

All of the sudden, the rest of the teams are brought into the room.  Allison tells them The Biggest Loser campus is going to be shut down for the next week.  What does this mean?  We don’t get to know.  TO BE CONTINUED.  Assholes.

And Patty?  Since the show, she lost 36 pounds (and counting).  She’s looking good.  She has a ways to go, and she plans to get there.  I’m glad for her.  I want her to keep it up.  She lost a total of 61 pounds (to date).  Go Patty!

What’s with all the two hour shows? Is this ever going to whittle down to one hour? Because this is seriously cutting in my “House” viewing schedule. Because of “Biggest Loser” and “Dancing with the Stars” I’m unable to watch the season premiere of “House” tonight and that makes me very sad indeed. Anyhow. Moving on…

Recaps!

• Buddy TV
• NBC.com
• Television without Pity

Lets see, where were we? We start off with a sort of recap of all the seasons so far, which is strange but okay. But yeah, as they recap this season so far to date, I find the tears come to my eyes (again) so it works. I just want to see all these people do well, you know? So the red team is down two teammates and that puts them at a pretty big disadvantage. Anyhow, Alison gets the teams started off with a hefty temptation. Downstairs is a ton of food. And not healthy food either. Each person has to spend 4 minutes alone in that room with the food. The person who eats the most of that food, wins a “3 pound pass” to use at the next weigh in. Oooh, that’s just evil. And no one needs to know how much they ate so no accountability either. Daaaang. Tough one. Be strong, people!

Overall, they did really good. A nibble here, a nibble there. But most everyone walked away from the food. Surprisingly, the pizza was a huge draw to people. Neil, however, took it seriously and he started chowing down and packing in the food left and right. But he wanted it known that he wanted to win those three pounds FOR THE TEAM. Not for him, of course. Gah. Oh crap, then Patty thinks she needs to eat it for the team. This is not well, people. Blue team, you totally suck. So of course, it ended up being Patty as the biggest eater and Neil looked flabbergasted. Jerry was pissed, because everyone on the blue team apparently knew that Neil was the only one who should eat. I don’t think ANYONE should have eaten, but that’s just me. So everyone on blue team is yelling at each other. I’m with Kae, who thinks its stupid why they wanted that dumb pass in the first place. AMEN, SISTER. Patty felt bad, as she should. Bob worked them over but GOOD, trying to work off those extra calories.

Cut to Jillian working over the black team, making them sprint with heavy weights in their hands. Kim is also making her team sprint (albeit sans weights). Even the blue team gets in on the sprinting (with teammates on their backs!) Though whose bright idea it was for Jerry to ride on someone’s back, I have no idea. He fell off and got hurt but good. They’re all getting ready for the challenge. Jerry, obviously, has to sit out for the blue team. Instead of the three teams racing, there’s a fourth team they’re going to race against. The yellow team. Who are the yellow team? Three kids, a kindergartener, third grader and fourth grader. They have to beat the kid in each head, the Kindergarten Heat, 3rd Grade Heat and 4th Grade Heat. The reward is a call home. The 4th grader smoked them handily. They couldn’t even touch her. Phil beat the 3rd grader. The kindergartener won the last heat so the red team won the call home. So that’s the third challenge that the red team has won. Hopefully they’ll perform at the weigh in as well.

On the black team, Bill freaked out and yelled rather harshly at Isabeau who cried, of course. He apologized, thank goodness. Bad day or no, that’s not okay. But still, it’s the last chance workout and it’s time to kick it into high gear. Jillian works them HARD. Red team does the last chance workout as well, with Kim in her trademark camo pants. All the teams are working hard and all the trainers are obsessed with winning the weigh in. I’d like to see the red team do well this week.

So it’s time for the weigh in. Is it just me or do you think they probably shouldn’t play this “elephant stomping” music as the teams walk into the weigh in? Might be poor taste. Anyhow we get the usual talk up from Alison. This show definitely does NOT need to be two hours long. This is just goofy. I’m sure it’s 2 hours simply because there’s so many people. But I’m hoping for just one hour next week. Anyhow. The black team does decent. The blue team does atrociously. Even with the three pound pass (see?? it wasn’t worth it!). It’s down to the red team and they not only beat out the blue team, but they beat the BLACK team and won the weigh in. You go, guys! The blue team lost and they need to send a member packing. Patty is the biggest loser and is safe, otherwise I think she’d be going home.

So the team gets talking and apparently are thinking Jerry should go.  Which is a little flawed logic if you ask me.  Kae is another name that comes up and that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me either.  She may be the smallest, but she’s lost a lot of weight so far and has a lot more to lose.  Anyhow, the elimination is extremely emotional and there’s a lot of tears.  Nicole gets one vote, Neil gets one vote, and Jerry gets three votes and goes home.  Poor Jerry.  Alison pretty much calls it like it is, saying Jerry is the team captain and has lost more weight than anyone else but he’s sent packing.  Jerry is disappointed and says he doesn’t think the Biggest Loser will be on the blue team.  Ouch.

So how does he do once he gets home?  Well, let’s just say WOW.  He looks BUFF.  He’s lost a total of 88 pounds and he looks great.  WOW.  You go, Jerry.  You show ‘em.

I’m not going to go into a big recap of “The Biggest Loser” from Tuesday night simply because my attention that night was held by “Big Brother” and while I did record the last half hour, I didn’t jot down any specific notes while I was watching.  I will say this: the red team has ISSUES.  Kim had better get those folks going is all I can say.  The blue team rocks and I kinda adore all of them.  They’ve been working hard and it shows.  And the black team.  What can you say about the black team?  Jillian scares me.  But I love how they came back and I love how they pretty much just smoked the other teams.  That was awesome.  I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead, to see what becomes of these people.  It’s fascinating to watch and definitely one of the better reality shows on television.  I agreed that Lezlye needed to go this week, perhaps more than Amy.  Certainly more than Phil.  What were they thinking?  I just have a feeling the red team is going to continue this downward spiral until they’re absorbed by the remaining teams.  At any rate, expect that I’ll be back to recapping this show in full style starting next week.

Onto other news: Did anyone catch “Kitchen Nightmares” last night?  Was it not FABULOUS?  Something that I always felt kept me from completely enjoying Gordon’s acerbity in “Hell’s Kitchen” was the fact that it often felt like his berating of the contestants was akin to leading lambs to slaughter.  However, in this new show, he’s more evenly matched among egos nearly as big as his.  BIGGER in some cases, like last night’s Peter.  That guy was a piece of work.  I actually thought Gordon went extremely easy on him and everyone else (but him especially).  It’s a fascinating show.  If you aren’t aware, basically Gordon is sent to these ailing restaurants to see what needs to be changed and to basically whip them back into shape.  I found it highly entertaining and will definitely be tuning in next week for more fun.

This is a great show, and it’s not about the money at the end of the day. The money is just part of it. This was an emotional show, for a premiere. I found myself caring about each and everyone’s stories and getting teared up at the drop of a hat. Sure, that could be because I’m pregnant and a little prone to weepiness. But I don’t think so. This was a great show.

First off, let me get you set up with some recaps, a la what I’ve done on this season of “Big Brother”:

• NBC.com’s recap w/photos
• Television without Pity

We started out with 18 contestants and they are introduced to the “new” host, Allison Sweeney from “Days of our Lives”. I’m happy to see her replacing Caroline Rhea because I never cared much for her. But time will tell if Allison is a good host or not. She tells the contestants they need to run down the hill to meet the two trainers Bob and Kim (who have just jumped out of a plane). The first two people there become the first leaders of each team, red and blue. And those are the only people who are guaranteed to stay because Allison tells them that six people will be going home. Better get moving!

The “old guy”, 62 year old Jerry and Phil the former football player make it to the trainers first. I’m not going to outline who was chosen and who was “eliminated” because at this point the names aren’t as important. That will become important as the weeks wear on, but right now, I can’t possibly keep them all straight. Suffice it to say, the six “castoffs” feel pretty bad. They watch the rest of the contestants board a bus to the Biggest Loser Campus, tearfully. But fear not! Because speeding up the road on a black motorcycle, all clad in black, is Jillian. Remember her from past seasons? The remaining contestants are extremely happy to see her. That is, until she starts cracking the whip. And boy, does she crack it hard! It’s her goal to make the blue and red teams RUE the day they tried to send these folks home. Because the newly formed “black team” will be rejoining the rest of the group in two weeks time, hopefully showing off their impressive progress.

If you’ve seen the show before, then you know how all this goes. We see the contestants strain under the sudden, grueling training schedule. We watch the trainers coach them on how to make the proper food choices and try to impress upon them how awful their former eating habits truly were. At one point, a woman on the red team named Amber actually asks to go home. This unnerves Kim the trainer and angers her team. The blues seem to be doing pretty well and Bob shows glee when contestant Patty is pushed to the point of puking, certain that this is an indication he is going in the right direction with this particular group. The reds win the “reward” (letters from home) by pulling an airplane (yes, an entire airplane) over the finish line first, but the blues smoke them handily in the final weigh in.

Most surprisingly, the trimmest woman in the game (who is on the blue team), lost the most weight of all the women and the oldest man in the game (remember Jerry?) lost the most weight that anyone has lost in a one week window in the history of the show. And he was, of course, also a blue. So yeah, the reds had no chance. And remember Amber wanting to go home during training? Her fellow teammates round on her about that and even Kim gets into the action with how her attitude really disappointed her. The rest of her team had a good point, if she wasn’t that committed, there were six other people who were “sent home” that would have been THRILLED to have been in her place. For shame, Amber. So, unsurprisingly, she’s sent packing.

As of the time of airing, Amber has lost 65 pounds from the initial weigh in, most of that while at home. She hopes to lose more by the time of the finale. She has a ways to go, and I hope for her sake that she gets there.  At least it seems her attitude has improved.  In the meantime, I’m really looking forward to next week’s show and the big reveal of the black team.  I hope they shock the heck out of the red and blue teams!

Truer words aren’t spoken: when it comes to reality TV, there generally isn’t a whole lot brewing under the surface.  When someone wins “Survivor” or “Big Brother” or even “The Amazing Race”, there is generally satisfaction for the audience and the winners but the audience is rarely inspired by the winning contestant.  Much less by the losing contestants!  But NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” is different.  Sure, there is a competition in place, but every contestant walks away a winner, with an arsenal of weight loss tips and having already loss a varying amount of weight.  And, perhaps, a new outlook on life.

MSNBC.com recently did a story about this, about how “The Biggest Loser” inspires and goes beyond mere competition.   The article talks about what makes this show work and what we can expect in the new season which starts tonight at 8pm.  Are you planning on tuning in?  Are you going to be one of the many audience members who tries to lose weight at home?