The Biggest Loser 3, Episode 11: Thin Contestants, Bloated Show

It’s time for another visit from Dr. Robert Huizenga, the show’s medical expert. He’s here to see Erik. Erik was “insulin-resistant” when he came to the ranch. Now, that is no longer true and although he still has diabetic tendencies, he is not currently considered a diabetic. That’s real good news!

The intensive “Last Chance Workouts” are next. Kim would like to see her group as the final four. Bob reminds us that Erik is fighting to keep both of them in the house. It’s all about the trainers this season.

It’s evening, and time for one last set of ranch-based big-fake-scale weigh-ins. Again this week, the two individuals with the worst results will fall below the dreaded “Yellow Line,” and those two will be up for elimination.

The chart that follows shows the results after the final competitor was weighed.

NAME	PREVIOUS	CURRENT	LOSS	PERCENT
Erik	295	283	12	4.07
Heather	174	167	7	4.02
Wylie	224	217	7	3.13
Jaron	223	217	6	2.69
Kai	189	185	4	2.12

So, up for the final elimination are Kai and Jaron. There are no clips of anything that happens before the Elimination Room scene this week, as the vote is very predictable. Sure enough, Wylie votes against the threat of Jaron, and Erik also votes against the new guy. Heather’s vote is not shown, but she would not be voting out her friend Kai.

This means the evil threat of the Gray Team is finally banished from the game! It was a smart vote, because he was winning the game so far. However, Erik is clearly the one with a lot of weight he can still lose and if they were trying to win the money, they’d have done to him what he did to Marty and the others and voted out the biggest threat.

Jaron had to know this was coming. He respects that the others voted him out because of loyalty to Kai.

For your perusal, here’s a chart showing where the finalists stand as they leave the ranch. For your information, Jaron’s numbers are 106 pounds lost, or 32.82 percent.

NAME	ORIG. WEIGHT	TOTAL LOSS	PERCENT
Erik	407	124	30.47
Kai	262	77	29.39
Wylie	307	90	29.32
Heather	223	56	25.11

Caroline Rhea congratulates the final four and tells them they’re going home for “several months” to work out on their own, then come back for the live finale. I think the timeframe is three or four months, but don’t quote me.

The final four say goodbye to the trainers. Kim’s four come out first, one at a time. Kai leads it off, wearing a top still not right for her. Faced with a cutout of her original self, she laughs long and loud. Next up is Wylie, who has an enormous hug for Kim. She tells him he smiles a lot more now. Heather taps the cutout of her old self and says, “Poor kid!” She appreciates the unexpected, positive emotional changes that have happened.

Kim says, “It feels really good to have three of my original team in the final four. Three out of the four? Not bad for the new girl!”

Erik and trainer Bob are up last. Bob calls Erik “new and improved.” When he sees his cutout, Erik is emotionally overcome. He reminds Bob, “You said you were going to save my life, and you did.” Asked what he sees looking at his old self, Erik says, “I see sadness in his eyes, because I was unhappy in my own skin. I hated being that big.” Bob says, “That man needed to be here at the ranch,” and adds that his 124-pound weight loss at the ranch is a record. I’m doubtful that number can be topped, but who knows?

Bob expresses how proud he is of Erik, but Erik gives Bob the credit. More man hugs follow. Erik says, “I’ll call you tomorrow, because I miss you already.”

As the show ends, our quartet is shown arriving in limos at their homes. Understandably, they are excited and nervous. I expect this is where the final episode will start off.

In The Mail: There was a little more feedback on my campaign to eliminate the gaining of weight on purpose. Instead of instant elimination, one reader suggested that any weight gained has to be lost before further weight loss is calculated. In other words, if you go from 210 to 213 to 205, the second loss would be calculated as a loss of five pounds, not eight. I think that has some merit.

In Conclusion: If you have any thoughts you’d like to share about this week’s episode (or pretty much any topic), let me know at the eAddress below. Otherwise, join me here next week for a recap of the finale, sprinkled as usual with my own observations and opinions.

Brian lives in Toronto where he can be reached at uncle_bto@rogers.com. He’d like to hear your opinions and promises to respond to all serious email.

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