The Biggest Loser 3, Episode 10: There's No 'I' in 'Team,' But There Is One in 'Erik'

Already it’s “Last Chance Workout” time. Tara is taking part as well, and she’s jogging at the front of the pack with Jillian and the gray-shirts. In the gym, Erik is working desperately, almost maniacally hard.

Kim alludes to the possibility that if Erik goes home, so does Bob.

Jaron must say goodbye to Tara before the weigh-in. She’s obviously very supportive and proud of Jaron.

Next up is a moderately lengthy video sequence of Erik and his journey at the ranch. It seems a little early for a funeral video, and since there won’t be any decent material left to show if he does go home, I think this means he’s not the one going home this week.

It’s evening, and time again for weigh-ins. Again this week, the two individuals with the worst results will fall below the dreaded “Yellow Line,” and those two will be up for elimination.

This week, there were several milestones met. Jaron hit the hundred-pound mark. Kai has now lost more pounds at the ranch than any previous female, and Erik’s numbers have never been topped. Well done, folks!

The chart that follows shows the results after the final competitor was weighed.

NAME	PREVIOUS	CURRENT	LOSS	PERCENT
Wylie	236	224	12	5.08
Kai	198	189	9	4.55
Erik	307	295	12	3.91
Jaron	231	223	8	3.46
Heather	179	174	5	2.79
Adrian	163	161	2	1.23

So, the pair up for elimination is Adrian and Heather. As he was getting weighed, in a cameo Erik relates that Adrian and Jaron told him that if he falls below the yellow line, they will vote him out.

When Adrian saw her comparatively low number of two pounds, she whined, “No way!” repeatedly. In a cameo, Wylie is sympathetic after seeing disappointing results the previous week. Adrian shakes her head and seems ready to cry, again. She explains that this is the level she’s gotten stuck at before; she’s never been able to get below 160 pounds.

A cameo shot later on catches her in the same discouraged, weepy mood, as she keeps repeating, “It doesn’t make sense.”

The next day, when the trainers come up to their charges to hear the numbers, Bob is nervous to hear what Erik’s number is. Needless to say, he’s pleasantly surprised. However, Kim soon spies the one person who isn’t happy, and speaks to Adrian alone.

In an aside for us, Kim says something I’ve been dying to hear all season long – “Relatively speaking, losing two pounds is awesome!” But she also knows it is a bit disappointing for Adrian this week.

Adrian starts to get weepy when she tells Kim, “I can’t beat the 160s.” Kim tells Adrian that she can, because she knows more about nutrition and exercise than ever before. Kim tells us privately her main message for Adrian is, “First of all, quit beating yourself up, quit thinking you’re a fat girl,” and, “She needs to quit the negative self-talk.”

Bob is giddy that Erik has lost 43 pounds in only three weeks. Bob says to us, “It’s moments like this that remind me why I come out here every single day. As much a great a moment as this is for Erik, it’s even better for me.”

All six players file into the Elimination Room. The first vote is from Kai, and it’s no surprise that it’s a vote against Adrian. Jaron is next, and also no surprise, he votes for Heather. Erik is up third and votes against someone who is not an original on the ranch, Adrian.

That’s all that matters, for even if Wylie votes for Heather, the tie-breaking factor is the numbers posted this week, and that favors Heather. We do not see Wylie’s vote.

So, it’s Adrian’s time to go home. Initially she seems stoic about a result she had to expect was coming. However, when Erik says he hopes his daughters turn out like her, she cries in his arms.

Maybe there’s some fancy editing at work here, but except for Jaron (who she calls, “Mr One-Hundred”), we don’t see any goodbye hugs for the other players.

It’s time for the funeral videos from Adrian. First up is the farewell video, in which she says, she had hoped to break the 160-pound barrier while at the ranch. She also says, “I love Kim. She helped me set some goals. She put some great thoughts in my head.” After a pause, she concludes, “I’m not a bad girl!” She says her next goal is to be “the biggest loser at home.”

More current video tells us Adrian is now at 166 pounds. She has become a gym rat and her friends find her very energetic. However, it seems the 160-pound barrier remains elusive for her.

NBC Press Release:

NBC issued a press release this week about Biggest Loser, and it’s all good news for fans of the show! The primary announcement was – the series has been renewed for a fourth season! Yay!

Secondly, there is also some news about the finale. It will be two hours long (8-10PM ET/PT) and be aired live on Wednesday, December 13th. The show begins with the 36 ghost contestants and a $50,00 prize for the biggest loser in that group. I’m not sure if Adrian and Jaron are eligible for that prize or not, but the press release specified “36 contestants,” so I must assume they can win.

The ten (or is it twelve?) kicked-off contestants next vie for $100,000, which again goes to the biggest loser within that group. Finally, the champion is crowned amongst the remaining four contestants.

In The Mail:

After the word “unfair” was bandied about so freely over the last couple of episodes, reader Mike wrote in with his comments about what is fair. He wrote, “I am getting sick of the ranchers talking about how unfair it is for Jaron and Adrian to come back now. Yes it IS unfair. It is unfair that fifty people showed up at the ranch and almost forty of them had to go home immediately. It is unfair that these two (as well as the others) had to actually work on their own while living their normal lives. I know Kai thinks that was a bonus for them but it SHOULD definitely work against you.” Well said, Mike.

Another reader (Tanana) pointed out a potential flaw in my idea of eliminating any player who gains weight. They cite the case of Matt from season one, who inexplicably gained weight in week two. Clearly, it wasn’t game play; it may have been that his muscle gain exceeded his fat loss. So, maybe we allow a pass in the first three weeks when such game play makes no sense, or else – maybe such players just suffer an unfair eviction. I don’t know, but gaining weight on purpose needs to be stopped somehow. Any further ideas, folks?

In Conclusion:

If you have any thoughts you’d like to share about this week’s episode (or pretty much any topic), let me know at the eAddress below. Otherwise, join me here next week for a recap of all the latest action, sprinkled as usual with my own observations and opinions.

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.

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