The Biggest Loser: Special Edition, January 4 – Family vs. Family

There are sundaes nearby. Actually, two ten-foot planks are covered with a whole row of these cool and tasty delights. I think some competitors are hoping for a speed-eating task. But no, they have to carry the sundaes across the dessert while being chased by an ice-cream truck toward a finish line that surely looks like an oasis in the distance. The planks are fixed with handles; two near the front on opposite sides and one at the back. Both teams decide daddy should be at the back. As the teams are started, Shaun mutters, “This isn’t going to be easy.”

First the Muha Family stops, then the Samuels. Both change their set-ups, with the daughters going to the back. As the trek continues, both teams stop to rest and/or change configurations. With about fifty yards to go, Muha father Otto will not let his team stop again, and they cross the line ahead by a fairly substantial margin.

Caroline reminds everyone that the winner of the upcoming weigh-in will win a vacation. Everyone admits they have no desire for ice cream at this point. Mind you, it’s probably all melted.

Back in the gym, Jillian notes that Shaun is more focused on her daughter Erica than her own workout. Erica says as the last child at home, she is over-protected. Shaun eventually gets it that she has to let Erica do it for herself.

Jillian and Bob meet with their teams for The Dreaded Biggest Loser Pop Quiz. The winner gets a $25,000 shopping spree. Sample questions are, “How many strands of spaghetti in a serving?” and, “One pound of fat is how many calories?” They have the means to look up the answers and twenty minutes to complete seven questions.

I’m unclear how to recap the excitement of watching people look stuff up in a book and write it down, so I’ll just say that it happened and we’ll jump ahead to the answers. After six questions, they are tied at five correct. The answers to the ones above were, “32” and “3500.” The final question is, “What does your BMR tell you?” and the Muhas get it right (how many calories you burn at rest). They win!

The Samuels are disappointed they’ve lost twice, and the Muhas, especially Otto, are flushed with success and getting cocky. This guy is almost as driven as Biggest Loser 2 winner Matt.

But there’s little time to be depressed, it’s time for the last-chance workout before a weigh-in. Don feels the urge to talk smack to Jillian, so Otto challenges him to a treadmill challenge. Melony just wants Don to be quiet. It evolves into a footrace of what I’m guessing was a couple of hundred yards. Otto leads early, but Don pulls ahead and wins by about ten or twelve yards.

Don figures he’s inspired his team. With the weigh-in imminent, I’m not sure how much it will matter and it might have been better if the rest of them were running as well, instead of holding down the fence rails. But since that’s what all four ladies do, no harm there.

As they go to the weigh-in, Otto is still upset he lost the race. Lord, really? Don compares his family to Mohammed Ali, who was always an underdog in his earlier days (when he was known as Cassius Clay). And here’s how they did.

Red-team daughter Erica is up first. She’s lost 15 pounds, very nice. Shaun adds another 18, and Otto tops them all with a 25-pound loss! With a total of 58 pounds, that translates to an 8.01% loss.

Because they are all smaller, The Samuels will only need to lose more than 49 pounds to win. Daughter Ravee gets them off to a great start with a loss of 18 pounds. Mother Melony is second, and she’s lost 14 pounds herself. This means that Don needs to lose over 17 pounds for them to win. And his number is… 23! He quotes Ali and calls himself, “A ba-ad man!”

They end up with a loss of 55 pounds, or 8.91%. With that very impressive victory, the Samuels win the trip to Utah!

As the teams pack to go home, they’re all very focused. We see lots of smiling and sweating clips with the inspirational theme song (Heather Small’s, “Make Me Feel Proud”) pounding in the background.

Hmm, we’re 59 minutes into the show. I guess NBC is preparing to rerun this show as two single hours, because after an interminable number of commercials (including one for Weight Watchers), the next several minutes a recap the last hour. If you want to take this opportunity to scroll back to the top and reread all that I’ve already written, please feel free to do so, but perhaps a half-second reflective pause shall suffice. Ahh, yes… that did it for me!

OK, moving on… the families arrive at home. More previews of this hour to come. Within it, voiceover guy tells us they will be at home for “almost five months.”

As each team arrives home, they learn the show has provided them with exercise equipment and new kitchens, including appliances stocked with only healthy foods. Very nice! In addition, both trainers left inspirational messages for their teams.

Trainer Jillian hopes the Muhas have learned what they need to do it on their own, and Otto knows their team has to motivate themselves. Trainer Bob also hopes the Samuels can stay focused.

We get a lot of footage of the families working out in a determined fashion at home. They make video diary entries as well. Both teams are finding it harder to keep losing weight without a demanding/inspirational trainer hovering nearby.

Don knows that his work environment is part of his problem. He enlists his co-workers as his personal police force to keep him from cheating on his diet. They organize a walking club for lunchtimes.

It’s time for one of Melony’s regular follow-up appointments for a cancer check-up. Naturally, she’s nervous and it brings back bad memories. She gets a good report from the doctor – yay!