The Biggest Loser 8, Episode 6: Mommy Issues

This week’s episode begins with the immediate fallout from last week’s elimination. Inside the house, the Black team waits for the Blue team to return, and the wide-eyed looks of shock cannot be hidden as Tracey enters the room.

Everyone is naturally curious as to why Coach Mo is gone while Tracey, with all her scheming and duplicity, is somehow allowed to remain. Rudy tries to explain Mo’s logic in asking to leave (his injuries, plus the coach’s mentality of cutting the worst performer, which was him last week), but everyone is skeptical. Dina actually asks him to clarify that these were Mo’s sentiments, and not someone else’s. Tracey merely sits in the back of the room while this all unfolds, which is for the best. No one wants you there, so pretend you aren’t.

Amanda tries to get a hold of Tracey’s feelings, so Tracey turns on the crocodile tears and says that she was close to Mo, and that she saw the looks of surprise on everyone’s face when she came back. In private, Shay is praying that Tracey will just shut up and stop making everything about her. Shay wasn’t even paying attention to Tracey when she entered; she was just happy that Rebecca was still around.

As Tracey’s fake waterworks continue, Shay takes her leave while the rest of the Black team looks on with mild disgust. Amanda feels Blue made the wrong choice, but it’s one they have to live with. She’s just happy Tracey’s not on her team.

A new day dawns and Jillian has her Black team hard at work on the bikes in the gym. Danny feels the pressure more than the others to repeat last week’s strong performance. On the other side, Bob leads his team on the treadmills. Tracey tells us that the doctors have finally given her clearance to work out with the others, so she knows she has to shine. Her sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction at mounting a treadmill is so overblown you would think she scaled Mt. Everest.

That night, the teams gather with Alison at the beach for the latest Reward Challenge. Underneath mounds of sand scattered about the beach are four keys with each team’s colors. All four keys are needed to open the team’s treasure chest. The first team to do it wins, but Alison won’t reveal the prize, only that it will determine who goes home. As this is the first day of the week, and the first segment of the show, I think we can safely assume that by “going home,” Alison means the winning team will get to visit their loved ones back home.

Due to recurring injuries, Tracey and Abby will each sit the challenge out, and Black must sit out one additional member to make sure the teams are even. Amanda volunteers, as she is not a fan of sand, though she loves the beach somehow. She must frequent the multitude of beaches that don’t have sand. Just like I frequent the multitude of bars that don’t serve booze.

Everyone lines up at their own personal mound and they begin to dig. They are provided with shovels, which are lodged in the mound, but most people are just digging with their hands. Liz is actually kicking the sand.

Rudy is the first to find a box with a rope on it, at about the 10 minute mark. Allen isn’t far behind, same with Liz. After 20 minutes, Daniel mentions that he wishes he could help the others pull out their keys, prompting Alison to tell them that once someone finds their key, they are free to help the others.

Danny is the first to unearth his key and unlock his lock. He then heads to Daniel’s mound to make sure he finishes next. Allen is the first to finish for the Blue team, and he goes to help Rudy, who is also pretty far along. Rudy gets his key and Blue takes the lead.

After a half hour, Rudy digs up Daniel’s key. Daniel goes to help Shay while Danny goes to Dina. Meanwhile, both Rudy and Allen help Liz get her key. In the end, the Black team becomes stymied, and after 40 minutes, Rebecca’s key is out. The Blue team wins, much to Tracey’s loud delight. Their prize? Tickets home, just as I predicted. Naturally, both Rudy and Allen are psyched to see their families again.

Alison gives the Blue team a choice. They can go home if they choose, but they will not have access to the gym or the trainers of the ranch for the whole week, and they will be back for the Weigh-In. If they don’t want to take the risk, they can hand their prize over to the Black team. Either way, one team goes home for the week. Daniel is hoping that Blue’s desire to see family will outweigh any strategic mindset they might have.

The Blue team huddles and immediately Tracey suggests giving them up. Both Rudy and Liz make their desires to see family known, but then say they will go with whatever the majority decides. In the end, Allen announces that the Black team is going home. For Danny, there is the immediate joy of seeing his wife, followed instantly by the pang of not having Jillian for the week.

After recording brief greetings to their families to alert them of their imminent return, the Black team is on the plane and heading for home. We first stop in Raleigh, North Carolina, as Daniel makes his second trip back. Abby is off to Mabank, Texas. Dina’s home is Commerce, California. Shay trudges home to Newport Beach, California, Amanda goes to Butler, New Jersey, and Danny is stepping back to Tulsa, Oklahoma. They are all greeted with thunderous, tear-filled welcomes from family and friends.

Daniel’s mom Denise rushes to hug him. Noticeably absent is Daniel’s former Orange teammate, David. Daniel’s aunt Theresa is the most emotional, as she thought Daniel wouldn’t survive after seeing him before the ranch.

For Abby, who has lost much of her family, it is beyond therapeutic to be welcomed by her parents and neighbors. Her mother Billie notes a love for life that she hasn’t seen in Abby in a long time.