Biggest Loser: Episode 11

Barely able to catch my breath from Biggest Loser’s Episode 10, in which Bernie was eliminated, and the show’s producers sucker-punch us again. Personally, I’m exhausted from all the twists- I can’t imagine what it’s like for the contestants on the ranch. I’ll grant you, tonight’s episode was one of the best yet. Except for that one part. What was it again? Oh yeah- where they didn’t show the elimination! What the heck was that?

The show began with a weigh in and elimination, but failed to end with one. How’s that you say? The biggest shocker for one of the biggest firsts in Biggest Loser history. They brought back all 14 of the eliminated players. This segment was apparently taped the night after Bernie was eliminated, so I can’t imagine they took him too far from the ranch. The stage doors split open and there they all were, staring down those who had sent them home. The catch this time was that the men would weigh in and the women would weigh in- the highest percentage of weight loss would keep one of each. For some, like Jenni and Lynn who were sent home the first night, they had to work off each pound for themselves. Dan was not too pleased with the return. His reaction was “I’ve already beat out all these people. I gotta do it all over again?”

It was exciting to see Ali and Bette-Sue back on campus. And we’ll continue to see the Ali half of that team as she had the highest weight loss of any other woman. For the guys, only gone one week and Mark is back. Believe it or not, he cried and shared an emotional reunion with Jay. Like I said in the episode 9 post, it’s bittersweet for me with Mark. Of everyone eliminated, he’s the one person who has said he felt wrongly portrayed. I hope in addition to having a second chance at the Biggest Loser title, he appreciates the second chance to prove that he’s possibly a nice guy.

The final six quickly became the final eight tonight. While the team-formerly-known-as-blue anxiously welcomed Mark back into their huddled mass, former-black was a little nervous. Not only did they just lose Bernie the night before, who Jillian called the team’s “glue”, but they were now trying to wrap their brains around beating the fierce competitor that Ali will prove to be. Ali made it clear that she’s playing a bi-partisan game, at least for now. She’s continuing to sport her original pink shirt, not going out of her way to form alliances with the all-woman team and even bypassing the breakfast table with the girls to sit with the boys. It will certainly be interesting to see how things unfold with Ali.

The challenge was pretty intense. The calories they burned on stationary bicycles would immediately convert to electrical energy to power light bulbs. The person to light up a full strip of 10 bulbs would move to the next of four rounds. While Mark cleared his 10 lights first in each round, Dan pulled through as the winner, earning him a second vote at the elimination.

How does Dan use that vote? Sighhhh- tune in next week! Seriously, of all the sneaky things the producers have pulled, this one irked me! You can’t leave us hanging like that. It took a week for the Bernie knot to untie in my stomach, now I’ve got to anticipate Brittany or Maggie leaving. Probably not the same knot Maggie had leaving a zero-pounds-lost weigh in. I felt terrible for her and while I’m a constant Brittany fan, I hope that doesn’t factor in to people possibly voting for her.

Quote of the Week- honestly, another toss-up. First place goes to Maggie for “If you’re not gonna vote for me, I’ll tattoo my ass,” in reference to the Blue team’s “Pride” tattoos and band of brothers attitude.

Second Quote goes to Trainer Jillian and that sharp tongue that could make a sailor’s mother cry. “Have a heart! Leave the *** girl alone,” followed by “*&*&%%!!!!! &*&^*&^!!!!!” a good 10 seconds of beeping the expletives being shouted at Allison. It was a rare Biggest Loser moment in which Jillian stood up for the apparent picking-on of Brittany by Allison.

Cry of the Week: Realizing Brittany might go home.