Biggest Loser 5: Couples, Episode 10 – Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah!

As you may remember from last week, Bernie was again the Biggest Loser of the Week. For that, he wins a prize. He takes the hike up the hill to see the traditional three choices, “Family, Luxury, Gameplay.”

Right now, Bernie’s family is screaming for him to get them a free California vacation, but no-oo, he chooses “Gameplay.” Unfortunately, he gets burned. He wins the right to assign immunity to another player, but can’t use it on himself. Ugh!

Bad luck. Mama ain’t happy, girlfriend ain’t happy… and in real time, Bernie isn’t frightfully thrilled, either!

In the next segment, Dr. Huizenga has the players pay a return visit to the hospital he took them to in Episode 1. He repeats the battery of tests they got before, to compare results. He’s assisted by our buddy Dr. Jen Kearns and other experts.

Bernie learns that his lung capacity is up and his body fat is way down. Kelly hears that her fertility possibilities have greatly increased. Roger hears his sleep apnea severity is only half what it was. Good news, all!

Dr, Huizenga gathers them all to have “someone” tell them about the hurdles of weight maintenance after they leave the ranch. It’s affable Dr. Jeff, from Season 2! His message is that the fight against obesity goes on for the rest of their lives.

We jump ahead to a challenge. They’ve made the competitors hike to a ravine where Alison awaits. It has to be a challenge. Bernie is disinterested in the ravine and would prefer to go back and cook a steak.

Alison says today’s challenge is about achieving goals. They must take a zip-line across what Alison describes is “a 500-foot canyon,” grabbing flags attached to the line as they go. There’s a five-minute time period to complete the trip. The prize for the winning team is to fly in the cockpit of fighter jets in mock combat. LOVING IT!

One of Dan’s brothers is a pilot, and he’s stoked about the prize. Conversely, Brittany feels, “I think the prize is awesome, but I just hate to lose. My main focus is always to beat those boys.”

The Black Team has to sit someone out. Kelly says she told her team ahead of time she wanted to compete this time out, even though she’s scared to death now. So, Maggie is going to sit this one out. I’m guessing Kelly spoke up because she’s sat out several times already and wants to have a hand in determining her own future. If so, I’m proud of Kelly for stepping up.

Roger and Bernie go first. As they zoom across the canyon, we soon learn a little more about how this will challenge will play out. The “zippers” lose momentum before they hit the first flag, and at that point it becomes an upper-arm exercise. Also, the players just detach the flags and let them drop, so there are no issues of having to keep the flags safe and not drop them into the canyon by accident. As time winds down, the upward angle is sharp and meaningful, and the amount of arm strength required to succeed is significant. Getting to the last flag is going to be especially difficult.

As round one ends, Bernie grabs the last flag with maybe one second left, while Roger ends up one flag short. I think Roger’s higher weight worked against him. So the score is 14-13, and the Black Team leads by one.

As we go to break, Kelly is gripped in fear and starting to cry. Meanwhile, Dan remembers how very reluctant Jay was to get on that ride in Las Vegas last week. Aha, now I know why the editors included that seemingly useless scene!

Indeed, Jay and Kelly are up next. Kelly is sure she will wet herself, but she wants to give it her all so she doesn’t appear to be the weak link to her teammates. Both slide out far more tentatively than their predecessors. With virtually zero time on the clock, Jay gets the last flag. He thinks he’s getting more confident. Dare I suggest that not being under the dominating shadow of brother Mark could be a factor? Kelly did all right too, getting 10 flags. However, her Black Team is now down by three flags.

Brittany and Dan go last, with Dan’s team up by three. Brittany does better on the initial coast, plus working like a demon so she’s soon two flags ahead. However, this is a muscle test and Dan is no slouch in the dedication department either. Dan catches up, pulls ahead, and gets all 14 flags, again with little time remaining. It was hard to tell, but I think a disconsolate Brittany just fell short on her last flag and ended up with perhaps 12 flags.

So the Blue Team gets to shout “Pride!” once again.

Jillian has a “Trainer Tip” for us next. There are actually a couple of these each week, but they are invariably just thinly disguised commercials which I refuse to recap. She tells us that pulling weight is a good back, bicep, and curl workout. She suggests pulling a weight plate across the floor ten times. I suggest putting a three-year-old in a wagon and pulling them around the block until they’ve had enough! Reap all the above benefits, plus more cardio than you can shake a stick at!

Post challenge, the teams are working out just for the fun of it. Bob thinks that Mark leaving was bad for the team, but good for Jay.

Dan is also up for some kudos. With a hearty weight overhead, he does some step-up/step-downs that even impress Bob. Bob says, “This has NEVER been done at the Biggest Loser house!” As Bob reminds Dan how far he’s come, positive emotion floods over Dan. Roger comes over for a slap on the back and Dan says, “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever felt!”

Over with the Black Team, the ladies (especially Brittany) want to know what Bernie’s prize is. He spills the tale. He thinks he might give the immunity to Brittany, but Kelly wants to take another look at the situation.

Kelly and Bernie have both had the idea of giving immunity to Jay on the other team. The idea is to assume that they will win the weigh-in, and then one of the big boys (Dan or preferably Roger) would have go home. That’s great thinking, but we don’t hear the final decision at this time.

Bernie’s in a tough spot. The safe and nice thing to do is to play defense and pass immunity to partner Brittany, who will never vote against him. However, the bold move of offering immunity to a member of the enemy and messing with their game is almost Hall Of Fame-worthy! I honestly don’t know which play I would make. Maybe I could talk The Hall into using a younger picture… ?

Alison (in a black turtleneck top with short sleeves) meets the teams in front of the big scale to announce the weigh-in results. But first, Alison announces that five one-pound passes that were won, and only Dan and Kelly are without. She also announces that Bernie has an immunity to assign. However, she has an announcement first… and we have a lengthy slew of commercials to suffer through first before finding what it is.