The Biggest Loser 4, October 2 – To Play or Not To Play?

Last week, the Blue Team mixed their messages in a Temptation Challenge, Bill took out his frustrations on an unsuspecting Isabeau, and a Yellow Team showed up to kick some adult butt. At the end, the Blue Team eschewed loyalty and sent Captain Jerry home.

In tonight’s episode, we jump right into a Temptation Challenge. Series host Alison Sweeney has assembled all fifteen competitors and their trainers in the kitchen. In front of the trainers are three trays of four cupcakes each, initially hidden from view. Alison says this challenge is for the trainers. In a cameo, Julie really wants to see her trainer Jillian eat a cupcake!

As a popup tells us Americans eat over half a billion cupcakes a year (equating to over 90 billion calories annually – ugh!), Alison provides more details. If a trainer can eat the right cupcake, they will earn their team a 15-second advantage in the next challenge. Alison tells them this amount may parlay into a big advantage in the final weigh-in. She further informs the folks that the trainers will also be participating in this week’s challenge.

Alison says that this is a chance for the highly-competitive trainers, who often talk about sacrifice and team spirit, to make a stand. She polls the teams for comment.

Blue Team’s Neil says he wants Bob to eat a cupcake, but Black Team’s Isabeau says no for Jillian. Red Team’s David also knows that the right answer is “No.” Bob is tempted, but says “the easy way out” is not the path to follow. And indeed, no trainers are tempted, and the reward goes unclaimed.

In a later cameo, Julie tells us that one should never see food as a reward, and that it was yielding to such temptations that got them to where they are today. I think this squad is receiving the message!

Bob takes his team on a field trip to the local Subway restaurant. He wants to show them that there are healthy choices out in the world if you know what to look for. Yes, it’s a bit of an in-show commercial, but the “Fresh Fit Meal” is worthy. He points out that using vinegar (not vinaigrette) eliminates oil and a lot of calories.

It’s time for the next challenge. Even the uphill hike to the start point concerns Ryan.

Hostess Alison is on hand once again to explain this challenge. Teams must guess how long it will take them to retrieve a distant flag and bring it back up the hill. After an opening bid, teams must in turn either bid a lower time, or challenge the last bidder to perform. Any team that cannot perform the task in the time they bid is eliminated.

The reward, Alison says, is really big, but she can’t reveal it until the weigh-in.

Four team members plus the trainer race for each team. To even up the numbers, the Blue Team sits out Neil, who has an injured foot. The Black Team elects to sit out Julie and Bill. Hollie expresses self-doubt, but some pep talk from Jillian convinces her to participate.

The Red Team kicks things off with an estimate of seven minutes. Black Team bids six, and bidding continues at a slower pace until Black jumps it down to 5:30. Blue Team challenges Black to “Get that flag.” However, bids continue between the other two teams until they hit 5:25 and the Red Team tells the Black Team, “Get that flag!”

Alison starts them on their way and led by Jillian and holding hands, they are off. Half-way down the hill, Hollie gets going too quickly and wipes out rather impressively. However, Jillian is right there and she helps her get up fairly quickly. With about three minutes left, they get the flag. But, now they have to get back! The flag is large and unwieldy, and Jillian takes charge of it herself. It comes down to the final seconds, and although Jillian and the flag are there in time and Jez is close, they fall just short. Probably another ten or fifteen seconds would have done the trick. However, they finish the challenge anyway. Hollie is glad to have finished and not cried, even tough she has a manly scrape on her leg the size of a softball.

So, after round one, the Black Team is eliminated, and bidding starts again with just the Red and Blue teams. After a few bids the Blue Team bails out and the Red Team has a target time of 5:55. Determined to win, trainer Kim and Phil work hard to get the flag and Amy back up the hill, and the other two are pushing themselves hard. Again time is tight, but with such a determined team effort, they make it with 18 seconds to spare! So the Red Team wins the hidden reward.

Red Team’s Amy is so happy she gives an emotional speech to all about how she’s learned not to quit. Good for you, Amy!

In a cameo, Bob is discouraged that his team chose not to attack the challenge. Later, Bob brings his team into the gym to discuss the challenge and his disappointment in how they approached the challenge.

He says, “Even if we’d won, we’d have won by default.” He pushes them hard. At one point he gets Patty to say something that’s very difficult for her… “I’m worth it.” That was a breakthrough for Patty!

The trainers meet with their team to deliver their “goal shirts.” The goal shirts all have long-term slogans on them, and serve as a reminder of what motivated them to make this change in their lives.

Kim’s group is first. Phil’s says, “To be a firefighter,” Bryan’s is, “Because it’s time for a change,” David’s says “,” and Amy’s is “To be a smokin’ hot bikini mama.”

For the Black Team, Julie’s slogan is “To finish what I’ve started, for once,” and Bill’s says “To be half the man so I can be twice the man.” Hollie’s goal is “To practice what I preach,” and Isabeau’s says, “To be a rock star.”

The Black Team decides to try on some of their old clothes and model them for Jillian. But there are twists. Isabeau is in a pair of Hollie’s old jeans, and Jez has a jacket he’s never worn before, because he could never button it up. Julie’s first-day pants are baggy on her now. Jillian is almost overcome and says, “I needed this today. I’m going to cry.” A surprised Julie says, “Oh my God!” and Jillian responds quickly, “No I’m not, shut up!”

It’s the Blue Team’s turn next. Ryan’s shirt slogan is “To give my wife the man she fell in love with,” and Nicole’s is “To fit into a hot pair of designer jeans.”

Post commercial, the scene shifts to the last-chance workouts. Every team comments on how hard they are being pushed. In a moment of fuzzy mental acuity, Isabeau tells Jillian she is crazy for thinking she (Isabeau) can run at a pace of ten mph. Jillian’s response is to pump it up to 10.5 and prove Isabeau wrong.

After Isabeau sprints at 10.5 for the prescribed time (five seconds), Jillian offers to pump it up to twelve if Isabeau still thinks her faith in Isabeau is crazy. When she does it anyway, Isabeau meets that challenge, too. Amazed at her own accomplishment, Isabeau is now firmly convinced of Jillian’s sanity. Isabeau later describes the experience as “liberating.”

It is time for the Elimination Weigh-In. Remember, it’s the team’s total percentage of loss that counts, not the raw pound amounts.

Alison tells the Red Team that the prize they won earlier is… TEAM IMMUNITY! Bryan says it was worth the wait to find out. She calls upon them first to be weighed. I’m wondering if Bob regrets not taking on a cupcake or two yet.

The Black Team is weighed second, and when their turn comes up, the Blue Team hears they need to lose more than 43 pounds to avoid elimination. Here are the numbers:

The Red Team is darn lucky they won immunity, because they got SMOKED in the weigh-in. But as it is, the Black Team wins the week, and the Blue Team must face Alison in the Elimination Room again. Alison informs Kae that she is the biggest loser on the losing team, and thus is exempt from eviction.

The next day, Bob meets with his discouraged team. They have been thinking what to do and have decided on a strategy of forcing a tie and let the other teams decide for them. Umm, no. Bob says, “You are not putting your fate in someone else’s hand… I forbid it.”

The Blue Team is now assembling in the Elimination Room. Hostess Alison asks immune Kae to vote first, and she votes for Neil. Patty votes for Nicole and Neil votes for Patty. There seems to be a lack of general consensus so far.

Nicole returns the earlier “insult,” and votes for Patty, and avoiding the situation that Bob forbade, Ryan also votes for Patty. So, Patty is eliminated. She’s sad to go, of course, but handles the emotional scene pretty well.

As Alison tells the team, “The game is about to change,” in file the remaining members of the other teams. She tells them the Campus is shut down for a week. No kitchen, no dorms, no gym. What does this mean? “To Be Continued…” we are told.

In her funeral video Patty says the last four weeks were a rare chance to concentrate on just herself. Current video shows us she is now a mere 219 pounds, having lost another 36 pounds (totaling 61). She enjoys playing outdoors with her kids for the first time in years. Good for you, Patty!

In Conclusion
What’s with this Blue Team? First they avoid participation in the challenge, and then they try to avoid making a decision on the vote. Folks, step up!

Next week, The Biggest Loser has another ninety-minute episode planned, again at 8:30. For a preview, drag your cursor across the following area between the square brackets below. Don't do that if you prefer to remain spoiler-free! [ They are taken somewhere exotic, perhaps Hawaii, but find out it’s all work and no fun. ]

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

Born and raised in Toronto, Brian 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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