The Biggest Loser 4, November 20: “This Week Has Been My Best Week Ever!”

Third up is Bill. He’s being surprised by his brother, Jim… who has lost 93 pounds in his own right. When he left the show, we were told Jim had lost over 120 pounds, so between the time of this episode being shot and the time Episode 5 was packaged, Jim lost another 30 pounds.

Next is Isabeau. She looks in the mirror and says, “I’m actually a little bit little.” The dress is a bit busy, but her boyfriend John doesn’t seem to care. He’s impressed with how great she looks.

Hollie follows. She admits she isn’t loving the mirror, because she doesn’t feel she’s met her goals yet. Her surprise person is her girlfriend Antoinetta, who we also met last week.

Neil is greeted by his girlfriend Stephanie, who last saw him when Neil weighed 420 pounds. She can’t even imagine how he’s going to look. Neil says that for the first time, he can actually tell a difference in how he looks. When the mirror swings open, Stephanie says she has never seen him this thin. She can now get her arms around him!

This brings us to Nicole, who has also cleaned up very nicely. Her mom Diane is impressed how well she’s done.

Finally, it’s Kae’s turn. The purple dress may have come from Project Runway, or even Project Runway Canada, because there’s a lot going on in that pattern. Her husband Eric starts to tear up as soon as he hears her voice. She likes her girlish look, but soon melts into a puddle at the reveal, and he matches her tear for tear. Kae describes Eric’s reaction as, “the best moment in my life, even better than our wedding day.”

Next, everyone has a series of photos taken, potentially for the cover of Prevention Magazine. There are a few group shots taken, too. Bill likes the group shots best because, “Today was not a day to compete, today was a day to be together.”

The contestants get to share a meal with their guests. Jim jokingly regrets that he has no game advice for brother Bill, because his plans didn’t work for his own self. Neil’s girlfriend can’t believe how he didn’t use a ton of salt and didn’t even eat all his food.

Alison asks for everyone’s attention, but several seem otherwise engaged. Alison has the unenviable task of telling them that it’s time to say goodbye and get back to the Campus. I think everyone is inspired to do better than ever. Julie tells us, “I want a new me, so I can create a new us.” Nicely said.

Bob has a trainer tip. He says that when you take a phone call at work, get up and pace around. I have a tip, too. Always pretend a phone call lasts longer than it does, so you don’t have to go back to work. And if you sit near your boss, this extended period is the time to say things like, “That sounds great, everything’s working out!” so he can hear you. Then ask for tomorrow off.

I’m sure I have more workplace tips, but I’ll save those for my Celebrity Apprentice columns. On this show, Alison’s on screen to promote the live weigh-in again. Between the repeated self-promotional bits and the extended commercial breaks, I see how easy it was to pump the show up to two hours!

Back on Campus, Alison confirms with several of them that seeing their loved ones was inspirational. But it’s time for a challenge. After steering “B” to say the magic phrase, “stay above the yellow line,” Alison tells then to win this challenge they have to literally keep their bodies suspended above a yellow line.

This one’s not easy to describe, but let me give it a go. There is a long girder, supported from above. Eight ropes hang down, and each has a harness and a pulley system to raise oneself upwards. Affixed a couple of feet above the ground is a “yellow line” as long as and parallel to the girder. The first girder will be slowly dropped, lowering the ropes, and the contestants must climb their ropes to try and stay above the yellow line. This looks extremely tough, and I don’t think it will last very long.

The winner gets a $5,000 shopping spree, or “five stacks” as “B’ expresses it. That’s downright handy for someone who doesn’t own any clothes that fit anymore. Neil notes that he and Kae are the only ones who have yet to win a challenge.

Hollie and Isabeau never seem to get started, and Julie is also out early. Neil follows, then Nicole, and then “B”… so only Kae and Bill are left. Bill is doing okay, but Kae is way the heck up there. Sure enough, Bill fades and Kae wins! In a cameo, Bill calls Kae “a ninja” and says that even he was glad to see her win.

A glowing Kae tells us, “This week has been my best week ever!”

It’s time for the last-chance workouts. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but “B” is working hard so the Red Team will not become extinct. And Kae is working out like a demon possessed. It’s impressive.

In news that’s new, Bob is worried about everyone’s numbers because of the day lost over the makeovers. He has invented one nifty exercise where his team members drag him up and down a carpeted hallway.

Jillian is especially worried, because after Isabeau’s voting decision, the ladies on her team of lower-percentage losers (see chart at the top) are possibly at risk. She confirms that she never considered not training Isabeau as hard as possible, because she doesn’t have any more tricks up her sleeve.

Jillian? Out of tricks? Who’s buying that one?