Biggest Loser 5: Couples, Episode 1 – Twenty Vie For Coveted Title

Mom and son are next, and are pleased to get their preference, Bob. Next across the finish line are spouses Neill and Amanda, who opt for Jillian. At this point, Bette-Sue and daughter Ali have made it to the halfway point. Ali later expresses the opinion that her mom gave up too fast.

Meanwhile, the camp-worker girlfriends make it back and become the fifth and final team to choose Jillian. That means that the Exes, the father-daughter team, and eventually, Bette-Sue and Ali are assigned to Bob. Ali even has to pull a virtually immobile Bette-Sue down the hill! Bette-Sue is upset that her efforts affected her daughter’s results as well. I’m not seeing this duo as a threat in any of the challenges!

Bob wonders if the teams don’t figure he’s tough enough. Remember, at this time they did not know how dominant Jillian’s Black Team was in Season 4, as that hadn’t aired yet. The shape these guys are in, I’m confident Bob is going to be plenty tough enough!

Bob awards the strangers team his signature blue shirts, and Jillian assigns the challenge winners her trademark black jerseys. Others are assigned as per the chart at the top of this article. Bob thinks it’s going to be an odd season training people together who are actually competitors. It has always been that way, Bob – there is only one winner at the end of the season.

As Jillian ends her meeting with a rally cry, we get a wonderful picture of Dad Lynn (newly of the Green Team) snoring peacefully in his chair.

To recap, here’s how that all broke down. Trainer Jillian has:

• Black Team: brothers Mark and Jay
• Brown Team: spouses Curtis and Mallory
• White Team: spouses Neill and Amanda
• Purple Team: girlfriends Maggie and Jenn
• Brown Team: footballers Roger and Trent

And Bob is assigned:

• Blue Team: Strangers Brittany and Bernie
• Pink Team: Bette-Sue and daughter Ali
• Orange Team: Jackie and son Dan
• Green team: father Lynn and daughter Jenni
• Yellow Team: Formerly-married Paul and Kelly

Bob has an odd collection of players – the three generational teams, a team of strangers, and a team who wishes they were strangers!

Alison assembles the teams once more, this time in the weigh-in room. One notes that although the trainers gave out tee-shirts only, the women are wearing those God-awful sport bras. I feel sorry for Dan – no son should ever have to see his mom in one of those hideous devices. Mind you, the men are shirtless when on the scale and I’m seeing way more man-boobs that I really care to!

Alison reveals the new scale to be used this season. It’s a double scale, capable of weighing both contestants at once. Very nifty! Of course, we know the real weighing is done earlier in the day and this is just a fancy display device. Alison is anxious to put this new prop to work, and the initial weigh-in ensues. I’ll keep the actual numbers a secret until the end of this article.

Team Orange had good comments in later cameos. Dan is sure that their combined weight exceeds what his car weighs. However, mom Jackie probably says it best when she says, “The misconception I had of myself just blows me away: I. Am. Fat!” White Team wife Amanda doubts their bed was built to hold such a load as her and her husband. Yellow Team member Kelly starts to cry as Alison confirms that she’s the heaviest woman in the game. She later says, “I didn’t want to be known as the crier, but… heaviest girl in the house, sucks!”

The final team weighed is the former football teammates. Visually, there’s little doubt but they are the largest team present. Alison helpfully notes that Trent ties the record for largest man in the American version of the game. His partner Roger says, “We gotta lose at least a guard to get back into this thing!”

Jillian expresses the opinion that she doesn’t like this season’s format. It’s not just her and her charges this season, as everyone has brought their enablers with them. Jillian sees Amanda of the White Team as “fabulous” because she is a dedicated worker and did not quit or cry. Husband Neill, however, is getting yelled at a lot because he tends to quit right near the point of meeting his objective. We see him hitting the deck hard a couple of times. I bet he has the best bruises of any of them. Neill confesses to us that Amanda wanted Jillian as their trainer, but he wanted Bob. He says wistfully, “Would I have picked Bob over Jillian, knowing what I know now? I’m trying not to think about it.”

Jillian does a cameo where she expresses surprise that Bob was seen by so many teams as the kinder, gentler one. She says emphatically, “That’s a lie – he’s a monster!” Sure enough, in the next scene Bob is shown to be beating up his troops with relish and fervor. Blue Team’s Bernie is spitting up, dad Lynn can’t keep up, and Yellow Team’s Paul gets lightheaded and passes out completely.

Bob is amazed by Bette-Sue of the Pink mom and daughter team. She pushes herself hard and he wonders if she might just become a contender. Meanwhile, Bette-Sue says of Bob, “He does that taunting, and I just want to smack him,” and, “He’s just a mean little booger.” I think she’s happy she didn’t end up in Jillian’s camp!

In the kitchen, Jillian has some sponsored advice regarding liquids for Neill. She suggests he does not want to be drinking his calories – he should drink water to flush his system instead. It will detoxify his body and increases his metabolism.

Dr. Huizenga meets the competitors at a local hospital. After reviewing their medical tests, he and the rest of the medical team see a lot of disturbing items. Three-quarters of them have high blood pressure and half have severe obstructive sleep apnea and the rarer condition of fatty liver. So he has decided to show them where they will end up if they don’t make some changes. First stop – the morgue! Hey, is this the New Year’s Day version of the show or is it Halloween?