The Biggest Loser 4, November 20: “This Week Has Been My Best Week Ever!”

Last week, the teams were broken up for good, and contestants now compete as individuals. Bill won $5,000 in a temptation that involved a mountain of donuts, then Amy had another showdown with her former trainer Kim. Two who might have been at risk won trips home and immunity, so Isabeau elected to keep “B” in the game over Amy, her “red-shirted step-sister.”

Since we’ve reached the individual part of the game, this week I’m including another table of statistical data. This one shows the progress the remaining contestants have made since day one:

Series host Alison Sweeney opens the show live, here to promote a live weigh-in of the eliminated contestant at the end of the show. This is something they’ve never done before… we’ll have to wait and see what that’s all about!

Got all that? Okay, all the preliminaries are over and it’s finally time to get into this week’s action!

Activity begins with a repeat of the end of the last show, when Alison distributed manila envelopes to everyone. As you may remember, the episode ended before we could see what they contained. Alison says she has a surprise for them tomorrow, and a little tease tonight. The tease is, each person’s envelope contains a picture of himself or herself taken on day one!

Everyone either says, “Oh my God!” or is shocked into silence by these rude reminders. “B” thinks he looks “immobile.” Bill realizes he didn’t like the guy he was very much, and Nicole thinks she looked “gross.” She intends to keep the picture as a reminder to never go back there again. Isabeau tells us she was unhappy as well and calls herself “the sad girl.”

As we go to commercial, they decide to tell us what’s ahead. Due to some trick mirrors, our players (looking sharp and sassy, by the way) will be surprised by someone from home.

The next day, it’s time for the trainers to arrive and find out what happened in the elimination. Isabeau wonders if Jillian will want to murder her. Jillian says, “I’m not going to murder you, but I think you made a massive mistake.” Jillian points out that there are now four Black Team members and four others, and Jillian says to Isabeau, “… and they’re stronger than you are.” Isabeau hopes her team can look past this vote and still trust her. Julie (in an aside) tells us the move jeopardized the whole team.

It’s true – the Black Team gave up their buffer. If you look at the chart near the top of this article, you can see that the three women of the Black Team are at the very bottom. Before, Amy was down there with them.

Jillian tells them, “If you want to win the game, this was the wrong move… ‘B’ will consistently beat you, that’s a place below the yellow line that you’ve now secured for yourself.” What, did Jillian go to Kim for motivational advice? There’s no excuse for that statement!

Meanwhile, Kim comes into the red dorm and all that’s there is Bryan’s manila envelope with his original picture in it. Psyche! He runs in and surprises her, tackling her onto the bed amidst a sea of mutual giggles.

Later, in the gym, Bill notes that Jillian is “a little upset.” Isabeau feels that Jillian is ignoring her. She tells Julie that if it continues for a couple of days, she’ll go and train with Bob. What, not Kim? Shocking!

It’s time for a field trip! The contestants are taken to NBC Studios and end up at the set of Days Of Our Lives, Alison’s “other” show. The ladies love it. Alison tells them that since she’s seen so much of them, she decided they ought to get to see her world. The players get a tour and chat with one of the co-stars.

Alison spills the news that they are going to be pampered and get a makeover. It will include a photo shoot, and one of them will be on the cover of Prevention Magazine.

As we go to commercial, the promo for the upcoming “trick mirror” reveal is run again. The suspense is starting to fade on that one.

Activity resumes with all the ladies in hair and makeup. Alison brings in more cast members, who are anxious to hear their stories. Julie tells Kae that she doesn’t even look like the same person. Julie and Isabeau are looking pretty sharp too, but all come out looking really nice. It’s going to be hard to pick just one person for the magazine cover!

“B” is the first one brought to the trick mirrors. On the other side stands his wife, Kenisha, who can barely contain herself while she is waiting. Suddenly (well, after yet another long series of commercials) the mirror swings open and they see each other. “Hell, no!” he shouts out, then follows up with a huge hug. I think this is one of those occasions when “Hell, no!” is a good thing. Kenisha thinks her Bryan looks great.

Next at the magic mirror is Julie. Looking at her reflection, she likes what she sees. But when her husband Mike is revealed, she’s a lot happier. We met Mike in the last episode, when Julie got to go home.

Third up is Bill. He’s being surprised by his brother, Jim… who has lost 93 pounds in his own right. When he left the show, we were told Jim had lost over 120 pounds, so between the time of this episode being shot and the time Episode 5 was packaged, Jim lost another 30 pounds.

Next is Isabeau. She looks in the mirror and says, “I’m actually a little bit little.” The dress is a bit busy, but her boyfriend John doesn’t seem to care. He’s impressed with how great she looks.

Hollie follows. She admits she isn’t loving the mirror, because she doesn’t feel she’s met her goals yet. Her surprise person is her girlfriend Antoinetta, who we also met last week.

Neil is greeted by his girlfriend Stephanie, who last saw him when Neil weighed 420 pounds. She can’t even imagine how he’s going to look. Neil says that for the first time, he can actually tell a difference in how he looks. When the mirror swings open, Stephanie says she has never seen him this thin. She can now get her arms around him!

This brings us to Nicole, who has also cleaned up very nicely. Her mom Diane is impressed how well she’s done.

Finally, it’s Kae’s turn. The purple dress may have come from Project Runway, or even Project Runway Canada, because there’s a lot going on in that pattern. Her husband Eric starts to tear up as soon as he hears her voice. She likes her girlish look, but soon melts into a puddle at the reveal, and he matches her tear for tear. Kae describes Eric’s reaction as, “the best moment in my life, even better than our wedding day.”

Next, everyone has a series of photos taken, potentially for the cover of Prevention Magazine. There are a few group shots taken, too. Bill likes the group shots best because, “Today was not a day to compete, today was a day to be together.”

The contestants get to share a meal with their guests. Jim jokingly regrets that he has no game advice for brother Bill, because his plans didn’t work for his own self. Neil’s girlfriend can’t believe how he didn’t use a ton of salt and didn’t even eat all his food.

Alison asks for everyone’s attention, but several seem otherwise engaged. Alison has the unenviable task of telling them that it’s time to say goodbye and get back to the Campus. I think everyone is inspired to do better than ever. Julie tells us, “I want a new me, so I can create a new us.” Nicely said.

Bob has a trainer tip. He says that when you take a phone call at work, get up and pace around. I have a tip, too. Always pretend a phone call lasts longer than it does, so you don’t have to go back to work. And if you sit near your boss, this extended period is the time to say things like, “That sounds great, everything’s working out!” so he can hear you. Then ask for tomorrow off.

I’m sure I have more workplace tips, but I’ll save those for my Celebrity Apprentice columns. On this show, Alison’s on screen to promote the live weigh-in again. Between the repeated self-promotional bits and the extended commercial breaks, I see how easy it was to pump the show up to two hours!

Back on Campus, Alison confirms with several of them that seeing their loved ones was inspirational. But it’s time for a challenge. After steering “B” to say the magic phrase, “stay above the yellow line,” Alison tells then to win this challenge they have to literally keep their bodies suspended above a yellow line.

This one’s not easy to describe, but let me give it a go. There is a long girder, supported from above. Eight ropes hang down, and each has a harness and a pulley system to raise oneself upwards. Affixed a couple of feet above the ground is a “yellow line” as long as and parallel to the girder. The first girder will be slowly dropped, lowering the ropes, and the contestants must climb their ropes to try and stay above the yellow line. This looks extremely tough, and I don’t think it will last very long.

The winner gets a $5,000 shopping spree, or “five stacks” as “B’ expresses it. That’s downright handy for someone who doesn’t own any clothes that fit anymore. Neil notes that he and Kae are the only ones who have yet to win a challenge.

Hollie and Isabeau never seem to get started, and Julie is also out early. Neil follows, then Nicole, and then “B”… so only Kae and Bill are left. Bill is doing okay, but Kae is way the heck up there. Sure enough, Bill fades and Kae wins! In a cameo, Bill calls Kae “a ninja” and says that even he was glad to see her win.

A glowing Kae tells us, “This week has been my best week ever!”

It’s time for the last-chance workouts. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but “B” is working hard so the Red Team will not become extinct. And Kae is working out like a demon possessed. It’s impressive.

In news that’s new, Bob is worried about everyone’s numbers because of the day lost over the makeovers. He has invented one nifty exercise where his team members drag him up and down a carpeted hallway.

Jillian is especially worried, because after Isabeau’s voting decision, the ladies on her team of lower-percentage losers (see chart at the top) are possibly at risk. She confirms that she never considered not training Isabeau as hard as possible, because she doesn’t have any more tricks up her sleeve.

Jillian? Out of tricks? Who’s buying that one?

At the weigh-in, Alison reminds us that the two below the yellow line are the ones up for elimination. Then she asks “B” about being the last Red Team member… again.

Below, contestants are listed in the order they were weighed in. Here are all the results:

Alison tells the Blue Team duo of Nicole and Kae that they are the ones up for elimination. “B” escapes by the skin of his teeth (one pound), because I don’t think he’s getting any more freebees from Isabeau or anyone else. There’s been some mighty odd voting this season, but it seems to me like Kae is burnt toast at this point.

The next day, when Bob hears the news that he has two people at risk, he’s discouraged.

Isabeau does a cameo next that makes me wonder. She is surprised Kae fell below the yellow line because all she had to do was lose a small amount of weight. Isabeau… do you understand the concept of “percentages?” It’s far harder for Kae to lose four pounds than it is for anyone else, because that’s a bigger percentage of her weight! She’s two-thirds of your size (at the time). Also, had she lost four pounds and not three, it would have shot her past two people – two!

Neil notes the Black Team is happy today, and Jillian is smirking. He’s very fired up. Neil tells us that smirk puts “fire under his ass,” and he vows to Bob that he will ensure that her smirk is not seen in the house again.

Neil then puts on his hypocrite hat when he talks to Bob about the importance of not being afraid to go up against the best. He doesn’t think it’s right that the biggest threats are getting sent home first… now that he’s a bigger threat. He also rants about sending people home “the right way.”

If you think my adjective “hypocrite” is out of place, I have one thing to say: “Up 33 pounds, bye Jez.” You got fat fast to get rid of a threat, so you are the pot calling the kettle black.

It’s now time to vote. In the elimination room, Alison calls on Bill to vote first, and it’s a respectful vote for Kae. “B?” Also voting Kae. In a tough spot, Neil says he wants to go against the best and therefore votes against Nicole. He essentially repeats his rant to Bob, anoints himself as the one perceived as the biggest threat, and challenges the others, “If you want me, come get me.”

Arrogant ass. If he gets a chance to vote out Bill, what do you think he’ll do? Me, too.

Back to the voting, Isabeau and Julie also vote for Kae, eliminating her. Julie takes the time to point out with a disdainful tone, “The biggest people are not always the biggest threat.” Hollie’s vote, surely also for Kae, remains a secret.

Kae weepily says she hoped to go to the end. She wishes the others well in a very inspirational manner. Alison tells her that her Campus total of a 30% weight loss (30.67%, actually) is the highest of any female to play The Biggest Loser. Alison adds that she embodied the spirit of the game every day . Alison modifies her normal dismissal message to say, “Technically speaking… you are not the biggest loser.”

In her funeral video, Kae says she’s sad to go and that she really wanted to complete the whole journey. However, she feels stronger and more confident now.

We see Kae arrive home and see her greeted by her family. She’s very happy to see her mom. Mom is immensely proud of her daughter and cries openly.

Back live, Alison brings out Kae to get weighed live. She’s so much smaller than before! Trainer Bob is also brought on stage, and he rushes to tells her how inspirational she is. Time is running out, so Alison rushes her to the big display-scale… which takes a full 20 seconds to finally deliver a number. Her current weight is 137 pounds, a loss of 88 pounds overall!

That’s almost 40% of her body weight, and she has another month to try and up those numbers. I think she’ll need to, because impressive as that is, based on last season’s results, that won’t get her a sniff of the $10,000 prize money available to the biggest loser amongst the eliminated contestants.

My Opinion: When the popular Kae said, “This week has been my best week ever!” and Alison kept talking about the special live weigh-in, I had a sad feeling it was going to end up this way.

That being said, without question they sent the right one home. As you can see from my chart at the top of this article, she’s one of two players who were far ahead of the pack. In all that time at home, maybe you can make up a lead of three percent or so, but Kae, Bill, and now Neil were lapping the field, so the others have to get them out of the game if they expect to win.

Next Time: Join me here next week 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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