The Biggest Loser 2, Episode 6: Cheater, Cheater, Bacon-Eater

Welcome to week six of The Biggest Loser 2, the series that pits two teams of overweight contestants in a competitive struggle to lose weight and, in the process, regain control of their lives. Challenges and temptations bar their way to a nice prize.

Last week, the men won a trip to Universal Studios and the women won a trip to their Stairmasters. The women proved they knew their way around fridges and won nice videos from home. Come weigh-in time, the men won again and bride-to-be Suzanne was eliminated. So far, contestants have lost a total of 576 pounds. In case you can’t do the math… that is impressive!

The most significant event of last week was the way the women jelled into a functional, more cohesive unit. Although it makes for good reality TV, I am hoping that focus of this can be shifted from that nonsense!

As a reference, these are the contestants in this year’s show:

THE WOMEN (Blue Team, coach Bob):

• Andrea, the soccer mom
• Jen, the med student
• Shannon, the diva
• Suzy, the single girl

THE MEN (Red Team, coach Jillian):

• Jeff, the doctor
• Mark, the cop
• Matt, the ex-athlete leader
• Pete, the devoted husband
• Seth, the new dad

Eliminated, in order:

1. Reuben, the single guy
2. Kathryn, the loner attorney
3. Nick, the disruptive comedian
4. Ryan, the preacher’s daughter
5. Suzanne, the bride-to-be

Before we get rolling, we catch up with Gary from last season. He started there at 227 pounds, and now he’s a svelter 170, plus the man’s got some muscle. Seriously, he shows some guns and looks a generation younger. He says, “Go for the long term results, baby!” Yay, Gary!

This episode begins for real with trainer Bob trying to inspire his squad. It’s low-key. The team is lower-key… or is it depressed?

Ex-cop Mark has become a workout animal - he did five hours before Jillian even showed up! Has he a workout jones? Is he eating enough? All good questions. Even trainer Jillian thinks he needs to rest and takes him aside. She reminds us that a minimal, controlled, and effective amount of food is required for proper weight loss. She worries that if Mark is working out more that the rest, but he may not be taking in enough nourishment.

It’s now time for the weekly temptation. We see three boxes and a big cake in plain view. Basically, the challenge is to eat a big slice of cake to have a one in three chance to win $2,300. Freaky number, and it never comes up what that means. Pete worships, “Wow, that’s awesome,” and not a soul in the room disagrees.

The players try to bait each other, evaluating the calories and equating them to treadmill minutes. Cute, but no one is very interested. So… the bar is raised… or, lowered, when a note is slipped under the door. It says that the middle box can be revealed. It is - and it’s a glass of milk. Umm, how does that help? And as they go to commercial… Mark dips his finger into some chocolate icing!

And on return for commercial… Mark EATS that weeny bit of chocolate! But that doesn’t count, and no one takes the bait this week. Seth tells us, “Low-fat things are often higher in sugar.” Eating has never been so complicated.

As the players leave the Temptation area, they meet the two trainers. Trainer Bob tells them that a high-tech exercise bike was the prize for those who yielded. Attractive as that is, they made the right decision.

It’s late in the day (or is it early the next day?) and med student Jen and Mark are working out alone together. There’s some good-natured team-related banter, nothing nasty, and you understand that they are supporting each other’s extra-curricular efforts. What is really happening underneath here is cross-team bonding. It seems the other ladies don’t want to bond with the Blue Team. Holy acorns, is that nuts? In the next stage of the game, that’s going to matter oh-so-much!

Moving along. Dr. Jeff has always been concerned about his ankle, which was reconstructed years ago. Jillian is trying to convince him his ankle is fine. That’s a teaser; we’ll be revisiting that concept soon.

Trainer Bob tells the ladies that to prep for the next challenge, the ladies will climb a nearby hill. They do very nicely. Similarly, the boys are lead by Jillian on a “little hike.” Not so little. They are “off-roading” it. At times, Dr. Jeff needs Jillian’s help, though no one finds it easy. Jeff is very concerned about his foot, but Jillian pushes him on and with the kind of teamwork that we’ve grown to love, they reach the summit. Team Red celebrates, justifiably.

Kudos to Jillian, for recognizing that Dr. Jeff could make this climb and successfully pushing him to do so! Way off in the distance, Jillian points out the little hill they climbed in week one. Jillian says, “You guys did great!” Who could disagree? The symbolism is not lost on the fellas. Ex-athlete Matt says, “It’s going to be a constant battle uphill to continue to lose weight… you’re always climbing a mountain.”

Moving along again, series host Caroline Rhea has arrived to tell us about tonight’s challenge. It’s a little different in that only one person will represent each team. The winner gets $5,000 to share with their team. Also, the winning team will decide which Red Team member will not count in the next weigh-in. Caroline introduces the task ahead as, “The mother of all stairs.” The task is to go up and down a big escalator ten times. 2,280 steps. OK, not trivial, but up and down the CN Tower once is over 3,400 stairs, and that’s a “mother.” But I digress.

Caroline adds that the other team gets to pick which person will do the task. Caroline is sneaky, isn’t she? The choices seem obvious - diva Shannon or med student Jen, and Dr. Jeff or perhaps devoted husband Pete, right? We are playing to win, aren’t we? So the ladies pick… Mark? And the men pick… Andrea?? Huh???? This does prove that the strategy aspects of this game escape the competitors. I even wonder if “competitors” is too strong a word. Shall I say “process participants?”

The actual event is less exciting than the choices, despite the spicy music track, so I’ll just report that soccer mom Andrea wins, “in a walk.” Gosh, did Mark’s five extra hours a day workout weaken him for the challenge? Ask Bobby Jon of Survivor, who knows all about having no strength left when it actually matters…

Bob the trainer is proud of Andrea, so he shows the players how to make a fun dessert. Well, the hour wait for it to set is not fun, but 100 calories and 3 grams of fat is pretty decent.

Uh-oh! Night-cam has caught Matt sneaking a midnight snack! Is that bacon and cheese? Those are nasty foods - keep the stove on low so no one hears the sizzle! Now, Matt is a very focused man, but he gets very discouraged when things go awry. I like Matt, but the word “moderation” has never been in his dictionary.

Well, it’s almost scale time. Mark thinks he’s the one who will be excluded from the weigh-in because he worked so hard. Otherwise, the women must surely lose! Yeah, okay. At any rate, he’s wrong… the Blue Team opts to exclude new dad Seth.