The Biggest Loser, Episode 8: Worth the Weight!

Gary tries working on Ryan too, appealing to a sort of men’s alliance. He believes that Lisa is a bigger threat than Mo is, but Ryan is afraid that this would be a real stab in the back. Ouch. Ryan is conflicted – really conflicted. While all this is going on, Jillian tries to pump Lisa up. At least Lisa isn’t crying. Jillian reminds her of how hard Lisa has worked and how far she has come. Jillian is convinced that if Lisa is eliminated, she will do just fine.

Now for the tears. Maurice starts crying, and this gets Lisa and Kelly crying too. They have all gotten so close. Kelly says that she loves Maurice and cries when she tells us that it is going to be real hard sending him home. But will he go home? We are about to find out.

The five finalists get set for the vote. Drums beat and everyone is very solemn. Caroline asks Ryan what he has learned about himself. He says that he now knows he can be a motivated person and “do it.” She talks to Maurice and wonders how he feels about being in last place despite how well he has been doing. He responds by saying that a game is a game, but that he is getting healthy. His cholesterol is down, his blood pressure has gone down, and he has more energy. “I feel like a new man,” he tells her.

Caroline asks Kelly how strong the bond is between her former team members. She says that, although there are no more teams, she is still supporting them. “Ladies and Gentleman, it’s time to cut the fat,” Caroline tells them. Won’t it be a hoot when either Kelly or Lisa is actually smaller than Caroline!

The air is thick with tension as Caroline asks Gary who he wants to eliminate. Before he casts his vote, he tells Lisa how much he appreciates her humor and praises Mo. “Unfortunately, this is a game,” he says as he casts his vote for Lisa, who starts to cry. Kelly can’t keep it together as she addresses Mo and Lisa. She says that she could never vote off Lisa, and casts her vote for Mo. What will Ryan do? He has the deciding vote. He starts out by saying that it just gets tougher and tougher. Ryan stuns the group and votes for Lisa. She immediately bursts into tears and vents on Ryan. He has no apologies and says that because Kelly says she would never vote against Lisa, he had to. Good strategy, at least for now. But this decision could come back to bite him in the butt. Kelly will certainly never trust him again.

In Lisa’s final clip, she tells us that she will take with her an “I can” attitude. She says that she will never again let anything cross her path and make her say “I can’t.” “Next time America sees me, I’m going to be thin,” she promises. And, in the “after” photo shown once she speaks these words, we see Kelly minus a total of 61 pounds. I say “Whoa” out load. She looks amazing. She has hired a trainer and is exercising in a Latin dance class.

Allow me a moment to vent here. Last week, an astute reader emailed me with some comments regarding the new criteria for determining each week's "smallest losers." I did some calculations of my own, and have to say that I agree with her. This new formula is totally unfair and will certainly work against certain individuals.

Consider this. In order to equal the percentage of weight lost by other contestants, Maurice would have to lose close to 90 pounds. Say he started out at 400 pounds. To equal Ryan's 22%, Maurice would have to lose 88 pounds. A person who started out at 300 pounds would equal Ryan by only losing 66 pounds. And, for the people who were at 200 pounds, in order to have a 22 percent loss, they would only have to lose 44 pounds, half of what Maurice would need.

She also pointed out that although Maurice lost the second highest amount of weight in the last weigh-in, he finished dead last. She wrote, "The system has basically taken Mo out of it, which is incredible to me. Maurice is too overweight to be in the running for the Biggest Loser? crazy..." I agree wholeheartedly.

Next time, the final four go home to their families to prepare for the live finale on January 11. Certainly there will be lots of tears as they leave the ranch and say goodbye. There will be a show next week at 8:00 p.m. I’ll certainly be watching!

Donna Reynolds is an Assistant Editor for the RealityNewsOnline family of websites and a freelance writer based in Syracuse, NY. She is also the creator of “That’s Entertainment,” a weblog on syracuse.com. Whether you agree or disagree, Donna welcomes your comments, and you can email her at foxydonna@earthlink.net.

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