Last week, it was Makeover Week, the week that is a godsend to the contestants and a bugaboo for the trainers, for it means less time to work with the contestants. In true fairy-tale fashion, Tim Gunn treated the remaining five contestants the royal treatment, and they all appeared to various family members decked out in stunning evening gowns or dashing suits or tuxedos. Later on, they had a challenge where by Irene and Olivia ended up winning brand new Mazdas, and their week ended on a happy note when, after the weigh-in, Tim’s video visage appeared and announced that no one would be eliminated this week. This was especially great news for Jay, who had an off week and was convinced he was leaving the Ranch for the second time. However, I can guarantee you that there will be no more free passes after this. Someone WILL be going home tonight, and the Final Four will be set.
It’s been over four months since the final five contestants started this thing, and with the finish line in site, all are determined to get there. In a moment of reflection, both Hannah and Olivia put the purple shirts that they arrived in over the ones they currently wear, marveling at how they’ve gone from an XXL to a small. They are also proud of the fact that they are the only of the original teams to still be intact. Both are remarkable achievements, to be sure. Their last hurdle is to make it to the Final Three together, but that’s a pretty tall order. Not only will they have to survive this week’s weigh-in but next week’s as well. Unless they are above the Yellow Line both times, they will be subject to someone’s vote, be it their competitors or America’s. Of course, given that the very closely-knit trio of Hannah, Olivia and Irene are now in the majority, two of them would have to be below the Yellow Line to guarantee one of them was voted off. If either Jay or Austin has a bad week, it’s curtains for them.
Alison enters the living room and asks Jay how he feels about still being there, and he is sincerely grateful about being given another chance (and by Tim Gunn, no less). But Alison never pays purely social calls, so let’s have it already. She then discloses that after 19 weeks, they should all be experts on health and wellness, and that new found knowledge will be put to the test, because it’s “final exam” week. They will all be given time to train and bone up with each of the trainers before their quizzes, which is cool. Even cooler is that whoever aces the quiz wins $10,000 for their efforts.
How it works is, the trainers pretend to be newbies and the contestants are graded on how knowledgeable they are about various fitness procedures. Irene is shown trying to school Bob on how to do a spin-bike, but while she’s great at the what she’s a little foggy on the why (as a result, Bob gives her 72/100 points). Olivia, on the other hand, could teach a master’s class in spinning, and she rocks the first lesson (and earns a perfect 100/100). Jay tries to get “creative” by removing the bike’s seat, which freaks Bob out a little (earning him 58/100). Austin also impresses to the tune of 95/100, and Hannah proves that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, scoring a perfect 100/100 as well.
Up next is Brett, who is shown in what looks like an anatomy lab classroom, complete with framed illustrations on the walls and a skeletal model. But honestly, the thick plastic eyeglasses, gray blazer and tie were probably an embellishment that weren’t needed to drive home the point. He looks like a complete dork, but he says he takes his job seriously because his father is a professor at Princeton U. Not a bad pedigree at all. Anyway, he gives the contestants some multiple choice questions about fitness and nutrition. Hannah struggles with some of the questions and earns 77/100. Irene improves a little with 80/100, Jay gets 88/100, Olivia 83/100 and Austin 82/100. So everyone at least passed.
Cara tells the contestants that her quiz will not about boxing but fighting the distinction being the inclusion of all inner and personal struggles. She starts by going literally nose-to-nose with Olivia, who doesn’t even flinch. Others have difficulty keeping a straight face, which breaks one of Cara’s cardinal rules. After some sparring, Cara doles out the grades: Irene 70/100, Olivia 100/100, Jay 95/100, Austin 95/100 and Hannah 92/100.
Before the contestants head to the gym for a sit-down with Jillian, she confirms once again that after eleven seasons, she will be leaving The Biggest Loser, and figures that the best way to leave the show after being such a huge source of motivation for millions is which one of the contestants have it in them to motivate her. This takes the shape of a little role-playing, where Jillian takes on the negative personality traits of the contestants when they first arrived. (She has a degree in psychology, you know.) Most of them do pretty well: Irene gets an 85/100, Jay 90/100, Austin 85/100, Olivia 89/100 and Hannah 90/100.
After the commercial break, the contestants walk into the gym to find it darkened and Alison present. But don’t worry, it’s not a surprise weigh-in. Instead of the scale, there are some TV monitors. Alison explains that the final part of their exams is that they will be playing the Biggest Loser video game for the Xbox 360. It’s rather surreal: they will be playing themselves, working out in the BL gym, while they actually ARE in the BL gym. It will be a four-part workout, and whoever best matches the movements required will get 100 points, second place 90, third place 80, and so on.
Now, going into this final event, the combined scores from the trainers’ quizzes have Olivia in first place, 13 ahead of Hannah and 15 ahead of Austin. (Jay and Irene are too far behind to have a shot at winning.) They all get a load of their video game avatars, who bear decent resemblances to them, and then the game begins. It’s really high-tech… if they match their avatars’ movements, they get points; if they drift off-form, Bob’s voice tells them what they’re doing wrong. After rounds of sumo jump-squats, virtual jump-rope, sidestep skating, and invisible mountain climbing, it becomes a neck-and-neck race between Olivia and Hannah. Hannah scores the 100 for this event, but Olivia gets 90, and that’s enough to take the overall score by a mere three points. So she wins the ten G’s, which should pay for some gas for the car she won last week.
Time for some workouts, and Jillian is determined to break through the shell of apathy that Jay has seemed to build around himself since his return. After pushing him to the brink of collapse, she elicits some genuine emotion from him. He states that he’s fighting for himself but also his family, because the lack of example he’s set has had a deleterious effect on everyone close to him. Austin, meanwhile, impressed Bob with his razor-sharp focus, a quality that has been steadily building for weeks. Austin confesses that for the first time in his life, he feels like a man instead of a shadow of one. That’s so important for someone as young as him.
Challenge. This one’s a doozy. In this challenge, the contestants are given 100 sandbags, and they must stack 25 of them high enough so that they can hoist the 25 more up to the second level of a multi-level structure. Then they use 25 more to get to the third level, and again on the fourth level. First one to the top wins a one-pound advantage at the weigh-in. The ladies are most concerned about Austin, not just because he still has weight to lose but because the girls don’t. It’s definitely a test of endurance and arm strength, which favors Austin because of his youth and muscular build. And win Austin does, just ahead of Olivia. Good for him.
Before the weigh-in, there is one more mini-challenge: Brett takes the gang to Subway for lunch, and treats them all to the new Sweet Onion Teriyaki Chicken sub. He then asks all of them to guess the calories present in a 6” sub, and Hannah guesses correctly with a number of 380 calories. She wins a $500 Subway gift card, and rejoices because this is the first thing she’s won since the game started.
After a protracted last-chance workout, it’s time for the weigh-in. However, Alison stirs the pot a little bit before it begins; she gives Olivia the option to trade her $10,000 for a one-pound advantage, and Austin a chance to do the reverse. After some soul searching, both of them decided to stick with the prizes that they earned. That could prove significant. Here’s how it went:
Jay - lost 9 pounds, -3.53%, now stands at 246 (-154 overall).
Irene - lost 5 pounds, -3.29%, now stands at 147 (-108 overall).
Olivia - lost 5 pounds, -3.16%, now stands at 153 (-108 overall).
Below the Yellow Line:
Hannah - lost 4 pounds, -2.60%, now stands at 150 (-98 overall).
Austin - lost 1 (+1) pound, -0.85%, now stands at 235 (-161 overall).
Wow. Everyone is shocked at Austin’s low number, most of all myself and Jillian. So not only is he below the Yellow Line, but he could have been $10,000 richer, because that pound he won didn’t help him at all.
Kudos. To Jay, for rebounding from his near-fatal numbers last week and keeping himself safe, and to all three ladies, who really should not be losing numbers this high this later in the season but somehow just keep on doing it. Has there ever been women this LIGHT to still be competing on The Ranch?
Elimination. Not surprisingly, Austin was unanimously voted by the others to go home. With his elimination, there are now no more contestants remaining in the game that initially chose to start the season with Cara and Brett and four weeks of immunity. Rather ironic, but maybe not that shocking.
Standings. Irene has now lost 42.35% and retains the lead. Olivia is up to 41.38%, followed by Hannah’s 39.52% and Jay’s 38.50%.
Update. Austin has dropped a further five pounds and now stands at 230. He continues to work out, ultimate-fighter style, and has even gotten his little brother Adam involved. He also spoke to his old elementary school’s fifth-grade class, which he considered important because that was the age when he began putting on weight. He teaches them about healthy snacking and even sings them a song he wrote about self-discovery. Folks, I am not worried about this kid. He’s going to be just fine.
Next week: the end approaches. The four remaining contestants leave the Ranch and begin the last phase of their journeys at home, where friends, family members and entire communities get to gawk at their incredible transformations.
