Last week, the ten contestants who opted for a full four weeks of immunity, a resort-style training facility and two brand-new trainers finally rejoined the rest of the fold at The Ranch. The nine remaining players who stuck with Bob and Jillian were given a chance to avoid elimination themselves by besting their aggregate weight loss from the previous week, and they did so with flying colors. Despite the fact that the ten Unknowns had a very good week, it was the Red Team that fell below the Yellow Line. And despite the fact that Q’s attitude and apparent laziness had made him the obvious target, it was Q’s wife Larialmy that ended up going home. Eighteen remain.
We join the contestants mere moments after Larialmy is sent home. Allison brings the nine Ranchers into the Elimination room, and tells them that for the time being, they will be changing in their "couples" colors for one of two colors. The Unknowns will continue to be trained by Cara and Brett, and will be the Red Team, and the Ranchers will continue to be trained by Bob and Jillian, and will be the Black Team (they had their choice between Black and Blue, and opted for Black.)
But no big change on this program ever comes without a twist, and it comes immediately in the form of a Temptation challenge. In keeping with the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday (which is funny, considering this must have been recorded months ago), all of the contestants are led into a room covered in various chocolates. Each player would be given the opportunity to eat as many chocolates as they wanted to, but the one player who consumed the most would have the power to seriously affect both teams: that person could opt to send two people over to the other side, and bring two of the opposing team’s members over to their side. Even more tantalizing, whoever wins the challenge can make the decision to swap team members out (or not to) while keeping their identity a secret.
So one by one, the contestants file in. Sarah sucks it up and passes on even the smallest choco-gasm. So does Jennifer and Hannah. Q chows down on four pieces. Rulon eats five. Marci surprises me by eating ten, citing that she really wants to keep her team intact. Moses uses his three minutes to full advantage, noshing down 21. But not surprisingly it’s Arthur who takes the bull by the horns, stuffing his face as fast as he can, consuming a hearty 35 pieces. We are not shown any other contestants, because it’s obviously Arthur who wins.
When Allison announces that team members will be swapped, Arthur does a bit of acting by using an expletive, to which I say… yeah, we’ll see how long this veil of innocence lasts. As it turns out, Arthur decided to send the former Green Team, Jay and Jennifer, over to the Red squad, and the Black squad will be joined by Deni and Sarah, the former Pink Team. This comes as a shock to everyone, who really wanted the teams to stand pat. However, before the group is dismissed, Arthur pipes up that it was he that made it happen. Arthur says in interview that he never trusted Jay and Jennifer, and wants them out of the game. He tells the group that he wants to protect the members of his team, but one look at the rest of “his” team, especially Courtney. Deni and Sarah are especially hurt, given that they are now nothing more than cannon fodder. And, I’m sorry Arthur, this was a really bad move to make… not necessarily the switching of teams, but admitting it just made you Public Enemy #1. The women of the Black squad do their best to console Deni and Sarah, explaining that Arthur’s game-playing strategy is not one that they share. Good to see.
The next morning, the four trainers are brought into the loop. Bob and Jillian are finally introduced to Deni and Sarah as the whole story is laid out. Bob looks visibly hurt, because it seems that the man whose cause he has championed since Day One has just put a bigger target on his back than the ones he imagined on Deni and Sarah’s. And under the withering glances of all present, Arthur seems to break down and realize what a mess he’s made.
Finally, it comes time for a workout, and for the first time, all the contestants are under one roof. It’s a big building, but eighteen contestants, four trainers and God knows how many crew members probably make the BL Gym seem a lot smaller. Brett and Cara make a point of showing everyone just how fit they are by smokin’ it on a couple of machines. And both teams really get an up-close look at just how different the styles of their trainers are. Several members of the Black Team become fed up with the decibel levels that the Red Team reach during their workouts, and I wonder if the BL Gym will become a powder keg.
This week’s team challenge features a very fight-worthy prize: videos from home. It is broken into five parts, testing disciplines of endurance, speed, agility, strength, and knowledge. Each team decided on which individuals would do which task, and none of them got what they expected. The whole thing was set up as a relay race of sorts, and the Black Team is able to get an early lead and never looked back. Arthur impressed by having to navigate a balance beam, but manages to overcome it. And it looks like Deni and Sarah have truly been welcomed by their teammates, which is awesome.
The Black Team invited Bob and Jillian to enjoy their videos with them, which was cool. Many tears were shed, as one might expect. We learn that Deni’s decision to have her and Sarah do the show caused her to miss the wedding of her other daughter, some of which we are shown through video footage. We also learn that Arthur’s got the most adorable kids ever.
We are not shown the “last-chance workout” this week, because, with eighteen contestants to weigh in, that’s going to eat up a lot of camera time. And here’s how it went:
Red Team
Jay - lost 14 pounds, now stands at 317 (-83 overall).
Jennifer - lost 14 pounds, now stands at 218 (-60 overall).
Austin - lost 10 pounds, now stands at 316 (-80 overall).
Ken - lost 14 pounds, now stands at 307 (-70 overall).
Q - lost 7 pounds, now stands at 377 (-59 overall).
Rulon - lost 12 pounds, now stands at 382 (-85 overall).
Justin - lost 10 pounds, now stands at 282 (-83 overall).
Kaylee - lost 5 pounds, now stands at 190 (-43 overall).
Moses - lost 11 pounds, now stands at 340 (-100 overall).
Team Total: 97 pounds, 3.43%
Black Team
Deni - lost 9 pounds, now stands at 201 (-55 overall).
Sarah - lost 10 pounds, now stands at 212 (-49 overall).
Arthur - lost 9 pounds, now stands at 435 (-72 overall).
Jesse - lost 11 pounds, now stands at 246 (-47 overall).
Courtney lost 10 pounds, now stands at 265 (-58 overall).
Marci - lost 13 pounds, now stands at 187 (-51 overall).
Olivia - lost 16 pounds, now stands at 208 (-53 overall).
Irene - lost 12 pounds), now stands at 204 (-53 overall).
Hannah - lost 9 pounds, now stands at 201 (-47 overall).
Team Total: 99 pounds, 4.35%
Kudos: to the former Green Team, Jay and Jennifer, for proving just why they may be the strongest players in the game; to Moses, for breaking the Biggest Loser record by losing 100 pounds in only six weeks; to Deni and Sarah for getting the shortest end of the stick and still having great weeks; to Marci and Olivia, for turning in monster weeks and leading the Black Team to victory. And not just victory: the team with seven women and two men actually dropped more pounds than the team with seven men and two women. That deserves a “Wow!”
Elimination. Since everyone but Jennifer, who was the Red Team’s highest percentage this week, was fair game, I figured the vote would be between newcomer Jay and Q, whose seven-pound weight loss didn’t satisfy the ultimatum given to him by his teammates the previous week. Q ends up voting for Jay, but pretty much everyone else decides that Q’s time on the Ranch is done.
Update. Q has made quite a bit of progress since rejoining his wife in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s dropped an additional 33 pounds since this week’s weigh-in, standing now at 345 pounds (a full 92 below his starting weight). He hopes to lose an additional 100 pounds before summertime hits so he can finally go shirtless at the beach without shame. Good luck, Q-meister!
Next week: is in seven days. Funny how that works. (Grin.)
