The Biggest Loser 4, September 18: The Black Team Arrives

Welcome back to Season 4 of The Biggest Loser!. Last week, we met the new contestants. They were split into three teams, one of which is a ghost team trainer by returning trainer Jillian Michaels.

This week, we have another big two-hour show to enjoy. I know two-hour episodes are popular with the fans… with recappers, not so much. But let’s get on to the show!

The show begins with focus on the Black Team, seven days before they arrive at Biggest Loser Campus. It’s time for their non-elimination weigh-in. Here’s how the numbers worked out:

Since there’s no elimination, I chose to dispense with my usual percentages and team stats. As they get weighed, we see clips reminding us why they came to this show. For many, it’s to live longer and be with their families. Jillian helps them celebrate these loses by taking them off to work out. “Who wants a beating?” she inquires hopefully.

Back at the Campus, Kim meets with the Red Team and they discuss the elimination of last week. They seem down, naturally, but I don’t think they’re exactly devastated. In a cameo, Phil tells us his objective here is to lose enough weight that he can apply to become a fireman. Amy misses her kids, but she’s here for her health as well. Kim takes her team to the gym, and I must say they aren’t looking too motivated right now.

Meanwhile, Bob is reprising one of his favorite tasks for new teams, a hike up the nearest mountain. At times it seems like big Neil isn’t going to make it because of knee pain, but he refuses to quit. Everyone makes it, and they are rewarded with a great view. Bob tells his team, “Look at all the mountains that have to be climbed before you go back home.” I think he’s kidding?

It’s time to check in with the Black Team. Instead of a saunter up a hill, Jillian has them jogging while carrying heavy logs overhead… up a hill! Jillian tells us it’s 96 degrees, but, “The best warriors are forged in fire,” and, “When they get to the Campus, the air conditioned gym will be like a joke to them.” She also promises us her team will be “ready… for anything.”

Apparently Bryan is going to be a dietary challenge for Kim. For lunch he selects string cheese and Jello! Apparently he’s allergic to fish, so she sets him up with turkey tacos instead. Referring to her lectures of the previous week, she says, “Where did I go so wrong, that he didn’t get it?” An on-screen popup informs us that substituting turkey for beef twice a week saves 350 calories weekly, or five pounds a year.

It’s time to prepare for an upcoming challenge. Kim tells her squad that it’s about “wanting it bad enough.” Amy is reprimanded for holding onto the handrails as she uses a treadmill (or is it a stepper?) Her fear is that she will fall off. Myself, I know that holding on like that is bad for her back, but Kim’s response is, “You’re not going to fall off, unless you want to fall off.” It degenerates into an argument when Amy can’t work the machine controls. Kim goads Amy to quit, but she doesn’t.

Back on the beach with Jillian, it’s now five days until they return. Kim says, “My team isn’t thinking about competing in challenges. I’m challenge enough.” Julie says that for the first time in her life, she gets to be a rebel and she’s looking forward to it. I find this rather amusing; as she is so sweet that you know she can never, ever truly be a rebel! At one point Hollie is left crying in the sand part way through an exercise. Jillian inspires her to get back in there and finish, by asking her if not changing her life is an alternative to her, or not.

On the Blue side of the house, Bob tells his team all that the trainers know about the challenge is that stairs are involved. And soon enough, it’s time for the first challenge of the week.

Series host Alison Sweeney is on hand at a ten-story building where the lights are turned on in the top floors. This challenge is a relay where, one member at a time, they must mount the stairs to the lighted floors and hit a switch that turns the lights on that floor the same as their team color. They then have to return to ground level and tag in their next teammate. The team that first turns off all their lights and get the last member back to Alison first, wins. The prize is immunity, which catches all their attention.

Neil with his bad knee and Ryan, who had some questionable results from a recent blood test are both officially injured, so to even the numbers, Red Team captain Phil names Lezlye as the one to sit out. In a cameo, she says, “Basically, I didn’t want to do it.” I wonder how that concept would play out on Jillian’s team?

This is a pretty tough challenge for these big people, and no one’s running up too many of the stairs. Kae gets the Blue Team is off to an early lead, and they hold it until captains Phil and Jerry take the final turns. They turn out their lights at almost the same moment, meaning, the first one back wins for their team. “I wasn’t going to lose again to the old man,” vows Phil, and he turns out to have the moxie and hustle to pull out a very narrow victory.