The Biggest Loser 4, October 23: The Most Dramatic Weigh-In Ever?

Last week, the competitors went to the beach for a challenge that the Red Team (primarily, Phil) won. Later, in a questionable decision, they voted strategically (?) to send home team leader Phil. Tonight, we’ll see how that bolt of brilliance works out.

Tonight’s episode starts with voiceover guy telling us that so far, our competitors have lost 730 pounds. Way to go, gang!

Series host Alison Sweeney opens proceedings at a temptation challenge. Yes, I’m surprised too – after Kim threatened her Red Team with specific voting instructions that they pretty much ignored, why didn’t we start with her reaction to the last vote?

At any rate, it seems the hefty dozen will be playing the card game of “High Card.” Instead of chips, the players are issued cookies. In this challenge, whatever a player bets must be eaten by that player.

As if she didn’t have their attention already, Alison announces that after this challenge, the existing teams are no more, and teams of three will be formed instead. The winner of this challenge gets to reconfigure the teams!

I think the Red Team got really lucky here, by never having to face the prospect of trying to win a challenge without Phil. Payback, this time, you are denied!

Somewhere along the way we learn that the team who falls below the yellow line (i.e., the last-place finishers) at the weigh-in will be the three candidates for elimination. The other teams get one vote each at elimination, and the losing team does not vote.

Something that gets glossed over is the return of Hollie, who went home last week over the death of her mother. Welcome back, Hollie!

The first ante is 36 calories, but it keeps getting raised. Kae decides not to ante, determining that there are many more calories ahead and she doesn’t want any part of them. She’s the smart one! In the first round, bidding continues to escalate and fourth-up Neil folds. Isabeau pushes the bid to 522 calories, and Ryan and David fold. Isabeau has an ace, so she’s sticking around. Hollie raises it to the equivalent of 681 calories, and Julie folds.

There are now seven players left, and raises continue to over 1000 calories. Bill folds, but Amy goes all in, and it’s all she can do to get those cookies down. Isabeau, surprisingly, decides to pack in her ace, and Nicole and Hollie also decide that 1750 calories just to call is too much, but Jez stays in the game.

While Amy is still eating, we start what turns out to be the final round. Bryan folds, so only Amy and Jez are left. With no more chips to bet it’s time to show cards. Amy has a nine, but Jez has an ace and wins!

It looks like most everyone has eaten their way to an extra hour on the treadmill!

Jez has an hour to make up the teams. After the game, players come to Jez to try and influence his decision. Hollie suggests that he choose biggest contestants for his own team, people who might put up big numbers and if they don’t, they may be seen as bigger voting targets. Neil tells him to do what’s best for him and let the others, if I may borrow a phrase from Kid Nation, “deal with it.” Both those thoughts make a ton of sense to me.

Sure enough, Alison reassembles the teams in an hour for Jez’s announcement. Kae, David, and Hollie are announced as the first team; Amy, Julie, and Bill are team two; and Bryan, Nicole, and Ryan are team three. That means Neil and Isabeau are joining Jez in the final grouping. Jez explains that he tried to make the teams even.

Individuals can elect to use any trainer they choose. When the trainers show up and hear the news, they aren’t pleased. Amy and trainer Kim (who pushed her hard under a figurative bus last week) end up arguing, and Jillian quietly offers to train Amy. Sure enough, Amy chooses over Kim as her trainer.

As Amy walks away with Jillian and the others, Kim demands that Amy come talk to her to talk it out. Amid the ensuing sniping, it’s apparent concepts like “nurturing” and “compromise” seem to have been shelved for the duration by both parties. In a cameo, Kim likens Amy to a teenager rebelling against her “mother image.” Soon they decide not to continue the discussion any longer, and as they separate I’m not sure what, if anything, was accomplished. I’m fairly confident Amy didn’t want that meeting in the first place.

Isabeau says that having Amy (“my new step-sister”) and all the associated drama present is negatively impacting her own workout. Hollie expresses a similar sentiment. Ah, drama… so much more fun for the viewers than the participants!

It’s now time for a challenge. It’s a little hard to describe! In a huge concrete area, there are four heavy metal arms, each rotating on a fixed axis. Large cage baskets that will contain two team members are on the outward, unfixed end of the arms. The third member must push the arm, rotating the arm about the axis, which will scribe a circle. Got it?

Alison further explains that when the pusher gets tired, they can rotate positions. The first team to complete 75 revolutions of the arm is the winner. The prize is exercise equipment for home that can help them continue their efforts after they leave the ranch.

The challenge takes a while to run, almost an hour. As things start to wind down, Bryan’s team and Bill’s team are in the lead. For the last couple of laps, Amy gets supercharged and fairly runs the last two laps to lead the team of her, Julie, and Bill to victory. Julie points out to us that Bill was the workhorse who pushed most of the laps.

Bob shows Nicole some tips for eating breakfast. He shows her microwavable Quaker oatmeal with only 160 calories, plus fiber and protein. Bob calls breakfast, “one of the most important meals of the day,” but we knew that already… right?

At the last-chance workouts, Kim has just two charges to focus on, Bryan and David. Meanwhile, Jillian thinks Amy hasn’t hit her potential and that Kim hasn’t pushed her hard enough. Kim feels sure that Amy will “absolutely regret” what has gone on.

Comments from various players indicate that the original alliances are stronger in their minds than the new trios. I think that’s to be expected. As we go to the final commercial, voiceover guy once again promises us “the most dramatic weigh-in in Biggest Loser history!”