The Biggest Loser 2, Episode 2: Letters from Home

With the score 4-3, Dr. Jeff falls impressively and the score is essentially tied, but Nick scoots across much faster than Suzanne, and the men regain their lead. Only Dr. Jeff needs to cross for the men, and he starts at the same time as Jen. She makes it, he doesn’t, and now tense Dr. Jeff and diva Shannon (both now experienced bay swimmers) are on the beam together. They are really close together… until, just like the ducks in the foreground on the picture, Dr. Jeff goes nose-down into the water once again!

Shannon had been creeping slowly, carefully across, but she puts on a sudden burst of speed and it’s over. The women win again!

Then, the nicest moment of the night… both teams cheer Dr. Jeff as he attempts to complete the task anyway. Encouraged and relaxed, he gamely completes the crossing – a personal victory!

The ladies read the letters from home and there’s tears o’plenty. Wow, and this is only Week Two! When they relate the day’s events to Trainer Bob, he is very proud of them too. Meanwhile, the Red Team knows that everyone tried their best, and they are working out hard to make up for their weigh-in disadvantage.

Already it’s time for the men to weigh in. Here are the results:

• Seth was 270 pounds, now 262, he’s down a nice 8 pounds
• Nick went from 318 to 308, loss of 10
• Dr. Jeff, 352 to 344, loss of 8
• Pete, 379 to 371, loss of 8
• Matt, 311 to 304, loss of 7
• Mark 335 to 325, also a loss of 10

Matt took an inspirational letter from his sister with him onto the scale. Matt was feeling down after losing last week, but found strength in this letter. He reads it and says, “It’s not about me anymore, it’s about the people that didn’t give up believing in me. I’d given up on myself already, and it changed my whole perspective on things.” He vows he will bring the letter every week. Even Carolyn is weepy. This guy is a quote machine!

Suzy is surprised Nick is doing so well, since she knows he doesn’t work out like the others. She says, not seriously, “I’m going to jump on his plan, because he takes a lot of naps.”

Jillian had told the men to expect a small weight loss of 2-3 pounds this week, so they are very happy. At any rate, the men’s total loss this week is 51 pounds, or 2.6%. Next, the ladies get to pick who will be sitting out… and it’s Jen. We don’t know why. Carolyn informs them that have to lose more than 33 pounds to win this week. After last week’s numbers, that seems easy.

Jillian is rightly happy with the weight loss, and decides to reward the boys with some cardio training! After wearing them down with some nasty, sweat and grunt-inducing activities, Jillian announces that the next exercise is sprints, and she will race against them. She warns them that if she wins, they will have to do three more.

Jillian is not holding back one iota, she knows they need the work, but ex-athlete Matt, never one to accept second place when first is possible, guts it out and it looks almost like a tie to me. Unfortunately, the result is moot because Matt has fallen… hard. In fact, he hit the deck faster than a pregnant high jumper. Yelling loudly, he’s on some big nasty planet of pain. The area of concern seems to be his upper right leg, though it could be man-pain and he’s hiding it from Jillian, I can’t say. Mark rushes off for a medic, and Matt is taken out by ambulance.

Later that night we learn that Matt has a tear in his quad muscle, and he’s supposed to take it easy. Yeah, like THAT will happen, this guy is driven! Matt decides a tear is better than a pull. The team is very supportive; they’re really behind him. They know who their leader is!

It’s time for the women to weigh in, and they are confident they will win. Trainer Bob tells them that no matter what, he’s proud of them because they all worked hard. They have calculated that if they all lose six pounds, they win handily.

The men don’t think they have much of a chance. Me either.

Remember, Jen’s loss will not count. She went from 248 to 244, a loss of 4 pounds. Jen figures the team made the right choice, though if her teammates have assumed the biggest girl has lost the least weight so early in the process, that doesn’t bode well for her long-term chances of winning. At any rate, here’s how the rest of them did:

• Kathryn went from 202 pounds to 201, a loss of 1 pound
• Andrea, 209 to 204, a loss of 5 pounds
• Ryan, 207 to 205, a loss of 2 pounds
• Suzanne, 213 to 209, a loss of 4 pounds
• Shannon, 242 to 240, a loss of 2 pounds
• Suzy, 207 to 205, a loss of 2 pounds

That’s a loss of 16 pounds, just under half what they needed, but Carolyn doesn’t even need to do the math to announce that the Blue Team (men) have won. Good sports, several of the men congratulate the ladies on their efforts. Individually, Suzy is disappointed in their results. I note single-gal Suzy is our featured narrator many times tonight.