The Biggest Loser 4, December 11: Four to the Finale

Last week, we saw the Blue Team reduced to a single member, as plucky Nicole was eliminated. We also saw a lot of filler. This week’s episode is only an hour-long (hooray!), so hopefully, we’re done with the product placement fillers and protracted weigh-ins, and we can just concentrate on the primary matters at hand.

As the show opens, voiceover guy tells us 1,098 pounds have been lost on Campus to date. Good work, people!

Trainer Bob, seemingly taking his cue from former fellow-trainer Kim, starts this episode out for real by bemoaning the fact that he only has one person left to train. However, Neil sees the Black Team strutting around and vows he will not rest until he has prevailed. He tells us he’s not just doing this for himself, and (gasp!) not just for his trainer, but also for all his teammates and the friends he’s made at the Campus.

Jillian is training her team back on the beach, just like on day one, and using their “not being chosen for the other teams” as motivation for her Black Team members. In a cameo, Hollie reveals that she’s as impressed by her mental transformation as by her physical changes. Isabeau can’t believe that after the low point of watching the bus leave without her on day one, she’s still in the game 14 weeks later.

In the gym, Bob has Neil walk on the treadmill at the pace he managed on day one, and it looks like he’s moving at maybe two mph. Neil looks appropriately sheepish. Then Bob has Neil run at his current pace of seven mph, so he can see the difference. It’s a big difference!

Oh boy, only five minutes into the show, series host Alison Sweeney is on hand with the final challenge of the season. It’s a variation of the traditional last challenge, except this time in that they will be dragging an amount of weight equal to the amount of weight they’ve lost on campus. Neil, currently oh-fer-thirteen in challenges, must handle 133 pounds and has an excellent chance of extending his string. Bill is in almost as much trouble, as he must pull 121 pounds. Early favorites must include Julie, much stronger than she once was yet handicapped “only” to the extent of 50 pounds.

Here are the specifics of the task. We are at the beach once again. Each player must drag a sled that looks like a big scale past 13 stops that are about ten yards apart. At every stop, they have to load weights onto their sled equal to the weight they lost in each of the corresponding 13 weeks of the series. Then, they turn and drag the fully loaded sled back to the start line. Once there, they must toss all the weights and the scale-sled into a big pit, then raise a nearby flag to indicate their success. Front-end loaders are perched over the pits, ready to dump a huge pile of dirt and sand over top of it, to both figuratively and symbolically “bury the weight.” The prize is a sweet $10,000!

Neil interviews how he needs to win this one and how he wants to “beat the old man.” Making a reference to Survivor: Exile Island, he’s playing the perfect “Aras” to Bill’s “Terry.”

As they start out, Hollie is left behind right away, and Neil is trailing all the rest. Neil’s favorite stop is probably the one where he gets to remove weight from his scale. Note to producers – should any gainers make it to the final challenge next season, they ought NOT to be allowed to reduce their load and further profit from their foolishness!

Bill and Isabeau lead at the turn, but Bill is laboring under his load and begins to drop back, even stopping to regroup at one point. Although Julie makes a bit of a surge, Isabeau wins by a wide margin. That’s $10,000 for a happy flag-waving Isabeau!

The dirt comes pouring down on Isabeau’s weights, which is no picnic for Bill and Julie – Bill is especially in the wrong place – as they are actually much closer to the pit at the time. Bill says, “I was literally eating her dust!” But it’s emotionally satisfying for everyone to bury their own scale and weight. In all, 436 pounds of weight is buried in the beach.

Politely, no one mentions that Neil has lost again, and like the 2007 Miami Dolphins, the imperfect season is intact.

Already it’s time for the last last-chance workout. Bob uses the motivation on Neil that he represents the whole Blue Team. Meanwhile, Jillian is stressed at Isabeau because too often she still uses the words “I can’t” when Jillian sets her a task. This time, Jillian wants to see a treadmill sprint of 13.5 mph, but Isabeau has her doubts. Sure enough, after some encouragement from Jillian (read: Jillian yells at her), Isabeau is able to maintain the desired speed for a full 20 seconds. Hugs result. Personally, I don’t think I could reach that speed unless I was falling down a mineshaft!

It’s weigh-in time already. Here’s how it plays out, in the sequence they weigh in.

So Hollie and Neil, despite his ten-pound loss, are the two who have fallen below the yellow line. Wow, these are some terrific numbers this week! But the obvious result is that Neil’s a dead man walking and he knows it.

Alison tells Neil that in 11 of the 14 weeks, he lost ten pounds or more, and he attained an amazing total loss of 143 pounds. Secondly, Julie tearfully announces to us that her results are her best week ever. Additionally, Alison tells us that Isabeau has set the new record for weight lost on Campus by a woman, at 88 pounds. Congratulations, all!