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

The next scene is Neil reconciling his fate with Bob. To his credit, Neil is taking a stoic view of his fate. Old video reminds us of the former Blue Team members that Bob thinks Neil must feel he has let down. Gosh, thanks, coach!

With no voting strategy sessions necessary this week, the next scene shows the troops already assembled in the elimination room. Hollie looks awfully stressed, given how voting surely will go. Sure enough, Bill and Isabeau cast their votes for Neil and he’s eliminated. As part of her speech Isabeau lectures, “You always forgive, but you rarely forget,” then says her vote is for others, “Especially Jez.”

I’ve been waiting to hear that speech for almost two months now. Dude, karma’s a beach! Neil does not seem disappointed that Julie won’t be giving a speech too.

Neil says is happy he had such a good run on the show and has no regrets. None? He says he’s ready to begin the next chapter of his life with a special girl at home. As he leaves, Neil reaches into Hollie’s food cooler, grabs a sundae, and places it down beside Bill while wishing him good luck. Alison laughs. There are some smiles but no hugs between the players, and in fact, no one even gets up.

Neil walks off. Now, Hollie smiles. Alison wishes them all good luck and sends them away.

In more current video, Neil tells us he’s down to 257 pounds, a total loss of 165 pounds. Literally, he looks ten years younger.

But there’s ten minutes left, and although the book is closed on Neil, we’re not done with Jillian and our finalists yet. Showing more restraint than I expected, Jillian expresses her pride that four of her charges are in the finals. However, it’s time to let them go. One at a time, the four come into the gym to say goodbye to her and confront a life-sized cutout of their original selves.

Julie gets the first goodbye. Jillian says Julie is totally different that she was when she came to the show. Julie says she is grateful to Jillian.

Next up, Bill. He looks at his cutout and is happy to say goodbye to “that guy.” He’s learned to like himself more and has taken control of his life to make sure “that guy” never comes back.

Isabeau thinks she came to the show as a child but has learned to be independent. She tells Jillian she started as her trainer, became her mentor, and is now a best friend. Isabeau is proud she finished the task she set for herself on Campus.

Last into the gym is Hollie. Jillian says Hollie was emotionally shut down when she started, but now will go on and affect other people’s lives. Jillian calls Hollie “a rock” and knows going home for her will be hard. Hollie is sure her mother would be proud of her.

The final voiceovers come from the contestants as they depart Campus for the last time. All admire the life-changing experience and are happy to be going home. The episode ends with all fours going through their front doors, and I expect that after innumerable flashbacks, that is pretty much where we’ll pick things up next week.

My Opinion: Well Neil, for a few weeks you’ve been loudly telling the others to come and get you. They did. Works for me!

Here’s how the final four stand as they go home:

Is Bill going to win? It seems inevitable, that twelve-point bulge ought to be insurmountable. I think the tighter competition will be over the $100,000 consolation prize that the eliminated contestants will vie for. Kae and Neil are sure to contend, but so will team captains Jerry and Phil. And don’t forget about Jez; this seems like the Black Team’s season. Or maybe a dark horse will surprise us all; that would be great, too.

My final thought? This week, things were crisp and tight and most weeks, one hour is all we need for a regular episode of this show. Those plodding and bloated two-hour episodes became painful as they mounted up, week after week.

Next Time: Fi-nal-e! Two hours of flashbacks, much mutual hugging, and plenty of weigh-ins, concluding with Bill’s coronation. Join me here for a recap of all the action sprinkled with my own reactions and opinions. And let me know what you think about it all at the eAddress below!

More at home with popcorn than push-ups, Brian 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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