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

So let’s get right to the weigh-in. This week, Caroline often refers to the contestants’ startup weight. Mostly, there’s no significant numbers. I’m just going to focus on this week, and here’s how they fared:

• Suzy is up first. She’s at 186, a loss of five (41 since the show started)
• Andrea is 193, a loss of two pounds
• Jen, now 221, a loss of three pounds (46 since the show started)

The team loss is 36 pounds, or 1.57%. That’s nothing to sneer at, but not a huge number in the context of this group. Myself, if I ever lost that percentage of weight in a month (never mind a week), I’d be giddy.

The women decide, surprisingly again, to sit out Seth. He gets weighed first and wow, good choice, ladies, he’s down ten pounds! Also, by looking at before/after pictures, he’s grown significant chest hair (no points for that).

Caroline informs us that, Seth excluded, the men begin the week with a combined weight of 1,224 pounds. They need to lose more than 19 pounds to win.

• Mark is now 287 pounds, a loss of four pounds

Mark doesn’t understand why doubling his workouts didn’t produce a better number.

• Matt, 279… no loss!

The women are afraid to look at Matt… so are the men... and the gods. Stewing, Matt walks out a convenient portal into the night and pauses for reflection. Luckily, it doesn’t appear that he can jump from any great height, nor find anything pointy. In an aside, Andrea says she feels bad for Matt. Matt strides back into the room in a most purposeful way. Caroline asks if he’s all right and his team comes to his support. No, not by hugging. They do this by blocking a brief crying jag from most (but not all) of the crack camera squad. I guess real men don’t… naw, I got nothing. Caroline tries to settle Matt down by reminding him that he has lost 60 pounds to date. It doesn’t help, but it gives her a way to segue to the person to next weigh-in.

Caroline reminds us that the last two men need to lose 19 pounds to win.

• Dr. Jeff is now 305 pounds, for a loss of 11 pounds. Matt smiles

So Pete needs to lose four pounds for the men to win. His weigh is 325, down an amazing 13 pounds (76 since the start of the show). Mercurial Matt is happy, and he races to hug Pete. I guess hugging is back on the menu.

The formal results are that Team Red lost 28 pounds, or 2.29%. Again, it really wasn’t very close. As the biggest loser on the losing team, Suzy is immune from eviction. Nonetheless, she cries out amongst tears of bewilderment and frustration, “We tried so hard!”

Suzy is annoyed that the other team is happy they won for the third week in a row. Suzy, suck it up, okay, both teams lose, and often. Have you noticed the teams are about the same size? Have you seen reality TV before? Does continuous whining and pouting usually pay off? Hint: Nope!

When he finds out they lost again, trainer Bob feels like he failed his girls. In the ensuing discussion, most of them are pretty weepy about it. Andrea is particularly upset as the team commiserates their loss.

Jillian confronts Matt about midnight binging. He fesses up and promises Jillian that he will toe the line in the future. In the weeks ahead we’ll keep an eye on this thread!

We see a last-minute conversation about the voting between Andrea and Suzy. It seems it’s going to come down to a choice between Andrea, who isn’t losing weight like the others, or Jen, who, after a couple of days in sync, may be losing focus.

The women file into the Elimination Room. This is the third week the women have had to face elimination… and, appropriately, they don’t look happy. Caroline chides them for it like they’ve chosen to keep losing. Andrea starts it off by voting for Jen. Jen returns the favor. Caroline warns them about the dangers of a tie, where, as we saw recently, the men get to make the decision. Gosh this is tense - let’s have a commercial!

We’re back. For those who have been in the john for the last seven minutes, Caroline recaps. Readers, if you were in the can, too, please reread the last paragraph - that’s all that happened. Otherwise, let’s press on.

Suzy says it comes down to “pounds or percentage” and what they’ve done in the past hasn’t worked. She also votes for Jen. Cop-out or wimp? Of course you’re not voting out your buddy Andrea! So Shannon has the deciding vote. She says she’s learned to like Andrea, the team has united, hearts and flowers, this is a hard vote for her… and she votes against Jen.

Okay, I’m more than a little surprised that the Blue Team’s most consistent biggest loser is evicted. None of them indicated they see a team reshuffle coming, and so what is their logic?

Jen’s final comments indicate that she connected as much with the men as with her own teammates. She hopes the women do go on to do well, but she’s saying it to Shannon and not the others. Girl, if you want to win on a reality TV show, you need to get into an alliance (like you did) and ride it as far as possible. No way should Suzy and Andrea have outlasted you!

Jen has a handshake for Andrea, a hug for Suzy, and a nice hug for “her diva buddy” Shannon, and she’s out of there. The remaining trio promises they will not be back to see Caroline for eviction next week.

As Jen’s funeral video plays, we learn she’s down to 195 pounds now (she was 267 in episode one), which is very, very good. She tells us, “It meant more to me to win my life.” The weight-loss journey continues, but there’s every reason to expect Jen will succeed.

Next week: The teams are gone as the remaining contestants are paired up. Lord knows what colors they will wear. They play at the beach. A tragedy affects someone, and it seems like it’s Matt. Also - the episode is 90 minutes long. TiVo accordingly!

My Own Thoughts: The ladies, if they expected the teams to continue, made the wrong move. On the other hand, if they expected a shuffle, they did the right thing. I’ll pretend it was the latter.

And who’s not lovin’ this show? I am!

Join me here each Wednesday for a recap of all the action, sprinkled with my own reactions and opinions. And let me know what you think, at the eAddress below!

Brian lives in Toronto where he can be reached at uncle_bto@rogers.com. He’d like to hear your opinions and promises to respond to all serious email.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find out more about this show at our The Biggest Loser page. And check out the rest of the site, like our Survivor: Guatemala page; and don't miss The Reality TV Hall of Shame. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about The Biggest Loser 2, be sure to check out SirLinksALot’s Biggest Loser 2 page!