The Biggest Loser 8, Episode 7: No Good Thing Ever Dies

As always, this week’s show begins with the aftermath of last week’s elimination of Dina. When the Black team enters the living room, the Blue team notices Dina’s absence, and Rudy is not surprised. He asks what the determining factor was, and Amanda unwisely answers honestly. She says she has three good friends on the team (Abby, Daniel, and Shay), and since Danny had Immunity, there was only one other choice.

Liz is very skeptical, especially when they all say it was a tough decision. Liz thinks that’s bull, as Amanda just revealed the core alliance of the Black team. They all knew it was Dina before they left the gym; it wasn’t hard. A hard choice will be if they have to go back to the Elimination Room this week, with Danny once again Immune. Having to cut one of their “friends” will be hard.

On what can be assumed is the next day, the teams meet Alison outside, and she informs them that Week 7 is the halfway point of this season. Thank God, because last season’s 18-week marathon was an ordeal to say the least, and all I did was recap it.

Alison next reminds everyone that Rudy is within striking distance (13 pounds) of the 100-pound barrier. If he gets it this week, it will break Dane’s record from last season, which was eight weeks. Rudy admits it’s something of a goal for him.

The big news is that this week is Face-Off Week at the ranch. Just like they did last season, the Weigh-In will be five one-on-one matches between the teams. Whichever team wins the most matchups wins the week, even if they lose on percentages overall.

Of course, what remains to be seen is what the matchups will be, which is why they’re all gathered outside today. The right to choose who goes against who will be determined by today’s Pop Challenge, which is essentially a bob-and-weave limbo competition. The players will duck under a bar and hit a sensor for their team, then come back under the bar and hit a second sensor. The first team to do this 500 times wins.

There is one caveat to this challenge. Each team can only use each player once. They can switch out at any time, but once a player has been used, that’s it. Abby and Tracey have each been apparently cleared to compete, as they are the ones starting for their respective teams.

The competition begins, and Abby and Tracey get started. Abby gets Black off to a bit of a lead thanks to Tracey’s short stature. However, after about 20 reps, she has to step out, so Shay subs in. Black maintains their lead as Shay hits 100 before Tracey, then she taps out to Danny. Tracey subs out at 100, ceding to Allen.

Allen comes out guns blazing and eventually he overtakes the Black team, giving Blue a lead of 15 reps. At that point, Danny quits and Amanda takes over. The Black team is not even halfway done and they’re down to Amanda and Daniel. This is not looking good.

When Blue hits the halfway point, Allen calls it a day and Liz takes over. She starts out with a fairly decent pace, but Amanda isn’t far behind. At one point, Liz falls over, allowing Amanda to narrow the gap significantly. Liz decides to play it safe and hands the reigns over to Rudy, who also comes out with fire in his belly.

Rudy has some trouble with the limbo bar because of his height. He actually wishes he could jump over the bar; it would make his life easier. Amanda’s torrid pace closes the gap to within two reps, and at 350, she tags out, leaving Daniel to finish the competition.

Daniel is able to maintain pace with Rudy, keeping the deficit at two. When Blue hits 390, Rudy gets tired, and so it’s up to Rebecca to finish it off. At this point, all of the confessionals are about how Rebecca knows she’s going to win this, so I’m pretty sure it will be Blue that wins. Sure enough, Rebecca turns on the afterburners and Daniel slows down. Blue wins by three reps. In private, Rebecca brags about how great she is, while Daniel feels nothing but shame.

The Blue team has 10 minutes to make their decision, and the big sticking point seems to be who Rudy will face, either Daniel or Shay, to ensure a point. Within moments, the Blue team is inside the ranch’s boxing ring with their decision. Rebecca announces that she will face off against Amanda. In an unnecessarily choreographed boxing sequence, both toe the line. The other match-ups will be Tracey vs. Abby, Allen vs. Danny, Rudy vs. Shay, and Liz vs. Daniel.

The workouts begin with Bob taking the Blue team into the pool. A lot of kicking and screaming takes place, literally. Jillian puts the Black team through their paces in the gym. Much trash talking is encouraged by the trainers.

Amanda is the only one who’s having any real difficulties, earning a brow-beating from Jillian about how she must want to be a failure. Amanda breaks down in a few tears as she and Jillian argue between, “I can’t” and, “Don’t quit.” The situation turns into a complete meltdown as Amanda screams that she can’t handle the pressure of having cameras in her face all the time (uh, she not only signed up for this show, she begged the audience to put her on this show). Eventually, she walks out of the gym.

The teams gather at a local baseball field for a Reward Challenge, wearing uniforms with numbers equal to their losses to date. Danny finds his number, 73, very significant, as it was the same number he wore for high school football when his team won a state championship. He feels he is finally on the path to becoming a champion again.

The field is littered with baseballs and the base paths are lined with photos of the contestants when they first entered the ranch. The rules of the challenge are explained via the stadium’s scoreboard monitor, courtesy of special guest Derek Jeter, shortstop for the New York Yankees.