The Biggest Loser Families - "Contestants Face Longest Challenge Ever - From Sun Up to Sundown" (Episode 605)

Poor Heba woke up in an empty bed after sending her hubby Ed home last week. She says she's wasn't prepared to be without him and sees an "exhausting week" ahead of her. The gang meet up with Allison and are immediately confronted by mountains of glazed doughnuts, cupcakes and bagels - among many bad-for-you (but damned tasty) baked goods and treats. Allison said that today's temptation challenge was all about control - and one person is about to win control that will change the game permanently. The winner chooses the new teams - blue versus black. The family pairs will be done tonight. The gang gets ten minutes alone with the treats and the person who consumes the most calories wins the team-picking duties (they also get to choose trainers.) Oh, and there's yet another twist. The players will all be completely in the dark (literally, not figuratively, as they were before they came on campus. Get it?) This. Is. Major.

Allison dons her noght vision goggles and everyone looks creepy (I'm expecting some Paris Hilton-esque food porn now.) The clock begins to count down and everyone stays put. Heba volunteers to eat a lone doughnut to keep the teams the way they are (because she, Brady and Vicky and Phil and red Amy all want to keep Bob as their trainer) and asks if anyone is planning on challenging her. Phil noted that Heba started yammering as soon as the lights went out, attempting to get control, which is something she's seemed to do since the beginning of the competiton. Heba insists she's not throwing herself a personal "pity party" because her husband just got kicked off, she just really wants to keep Bob as her trainer. Purple Amy doesn't want to agree with Heba's plan. Shellay speaks up and says that if the teams stay the way they are, Jillian's all-girl team is doomed to fail. Phil is listening to the gals squabble and decides he doesn't want anyone else deciding his destiny. He stealthily heads for the snacks and gobbles down a peanut butter cup. While Heba tried to hear purple Amy out, she managed to sneak a doughnut into her belly. There are some gamersin the house! Phil continued to sneak the peanut butter cups, failing to realize that unwrapping the candies came with a certain degree of noise. Bus-ted! Eagle-ears Heba heard Phil and asked him how many candies he ate. Phil's wife Amy lied and told her that Phil hadn't moved from his chair. Heba asked Phil directly and sadly, the combo of chocolate and (more importantly) peanut butter left old Phil unable to answer her without selling himself out. Purple Amy was becoming increasingly more frustrated and, not wanting Heba to rule the roost, ate a brownie. Heba countered with another doughnut and Phil again reached for the candy. Who knew eating fun snacks could be so stressful?

Side note: "Kath and Kim" sucked more than I could possibly imagine. The lights came back on and Brady noted that Heba, Phil and purple Amy were all licking their fingers, trying to get every last drop of deliciousness (and calories) into their bodies. Phil hoped the two peanut butter cups he ate would be enough for victory. Purple Amy hoped her lone brownie would guarantee the same thing. Allison announced the results. Phil's two candies were 210 calories. Amy's brownie was 340 calories. Heba's two doughnuts were 400 calories - she won yet another challenge. Red Amy (now to be known as Amy P. since the teams are changing) was worried because she thought Heba would now seek revenge against Phil. Heba gets 30 minutes to determine the new teams and trainers. Now it's Phil's turn to be frustrated. Heba was disapponited that Phil snuck around behind her back and said he picked the wrong day to get on her bad side. Amy C. (Purple Amy) just hoped Heba made "the right decision."

Heba appointed herself the first member of the new blue team, because she did not want to move forward without Bob. She sends Renee and Coleen to Jillian's black team and keeps Vicky with Bob. She then sends Michelle to the black team to be with her daughter and claims Amy P. for her blue team. As a "weird decision", she sent Phil to the black team. Heba moves Amy C. to the blue team and took Ed for the blues and sent Shellay to the blacks. Basically, she just punished Phil for his actions. Game-wise, Heba really made a mistake by not keeping the two remaining men on her team.

It's time for the trainers to meet their new teams. The minute Bob appeared, Heba and Amy P. turned on the waterworks. Vicky gave Bob the lowdown on the temptation challenge and asked everyone how they felt about the big shake-up. Bob reinforces what I thought and tells Heba the smarter move would have been to keep Phil on her team. No duh! Bob's pissed that Heba let personal feelings get in the way. He pulled Amy P. aside for a chat. She said that that bitch Heba wasn't going to bring her down. Amy and Bob are happy that they still have each other.

Jillian looks shocked to see Phil on her team. She actually thinks it's kind of nice that the teams were a little more well-balanced. Michelle again pulled Jillian aside to (once again) discuss her situation. I feel horribly for the way she was treated, but come on. The expression "beating a dead horse" is rapidly coming to mind. I'm sure everyone else in the game has issues just as deep-seeded. Jillian thinks she can have a relationship with both parents and tells her not to give up. Michelle (obviously) is still hurting. Michelle says she's still on the verge of running.

Early the next morning, the teams are awoken by Allison, who assembles them for the next challenge. Everyone groggily assembles in front of the gym where Allison says that the new teams have to learn to work together and will be facing the longest challenge in the show's history. They will be together from sun-up to sundown - 14 hours. The teams have the entire day to climb up and down a mountain as many times as they can. As they reach the top of the mountain, a camera will record who actually made it the whole way up. Each surviving team member earns a point and, if the whole team makes it, they get a bonus point. The team with the most points at the end of the day wins and gets a two-pound pass for the next weigh-in. Ali sends everyone on their merry way. The black team was the first to make it to the top, intact. Vicky was proving to be an early impediment to the blue team, and her teammates debated if they should all keep up with her snail's pace. Heba decided to split the team up and hoped Brady alone would help them make up for the lost time that Vicky was responsible for. The temperature rose as the teams continues to struggle up and down the mountain. Amy P. thought it might be a good idea to ask the black team to take a couple of hours break so that everyone could recover and the team agreed. Shellay doubted that the blue team may have gone back on their word and asked Coleen if they should check on their opponents. Coleen was torn about goung back on her word and ultimately decided to stay put. Later that day, everyone went back to the mountain. Phil was worried that Brady was scooting up and down the hill. He said that watching Brady inspired his team to push themselves even further. Collectively the teams walked and ran over 160 miles and the difference between the winning and losing team was only a little over one mile. The black team won by a nose. Brady alone ran over 20 miles on his own.

After the challenge, Bob found his team eating a corporately-approved, low calorie snack and put his special cream on it for them. (I refuse to mention the sponsors and, besides, it sounds way more naughty - and fun - this way. Bob says his team needs to work even harder to stay with him and herds them off into the gym. Jillian pulled Michelle aside and hooks her up with her dad, hoping a chat with him will "enable" her to stay on campus. The minute she hears her father's voice , she bursts into tears. Dad says he doesn't feel "betrayed" one bit that she's off with her mother. Great, we all love each other - can we move on now? Not yet - Michelle is still unsure as to whether or not she wants to stay. Sheesh!

Michelle discusses her uncertainty with her mother and Renee says that no matter what she decides that she'll love her "no matter what." Bob wanted to "refuel" Amy P. and shared a glass of milk with her. Bottom line - milk is good. Bob them puts her through a grueling last chance workout (as well as the rest of his team.) Jillian was so glad to have a boy on her team and puts Phil and the black team through an equally tough workout. Bob's highly impressed that Brady's doing pull-ups in week five - something that's never been done before.

The teams again face the scale. Before the weigh-in, Allison lays down the new rules. The team that has the lowest percentage of weight loss has to vote on which team member is sent home (the biggest loser on the team receives immunity.) Allison then asks Michelle if she wants to stay on campus. Since there's still 40 minutes left in this episode, she's obviously not going anywhere. She's there "100%." Mom Renee is "elated" that her little girl decided to stick it out. Here's what the scales had to say this week:

Black Team:
Michelle: 7 pounds lost
Renee: 5 pounds lost
Phil: 8 pounds lost
Coleen: 5 pounds lost
Shellay: 5 pounds lost
Total pounds lost: 30/2.66% (+ the two pound advantage - 2.84%)

Blue Team:
Amy C.: 9 pounds lost
Vicky: 6 pounds lost
Brady: 6 pounds lost
Amy P.: 6 pounds lost
Heba: 8 pounds lost
Total pounds lost: 35/2.96%

So, the black team has to send someone home - and it's not going to be Michelle. Allison tells the trainers to bid their teams adieu and gives the Amys a chance to say goodbye to their family partners as they may not be seeing them again for a while. The black team have an hour to decide who they're sending home. Phil has to work overtine to plead his case to the ladies - he can pull the big numbers for his team. Shellay says she's still got a good 50 pounds to drop. She thinks getting rid of Renee would be a good move. Renee finally realized that this wasw a big game. Shellay reminds everyone that a vote is "nothing personal" - which means she's probably the one going home tonight.

The members of the black team have made their decision. Michelle voted for Shellay. Phil voted for Renee. Renee, led by her heart, voted with her head and picked Shellay. Shellay returned the favor and voted for Shellay. It was all down to Coleen, who provided the third vote that sent ol' Shellay packing. Don't you worry about this woman with the oddly-spelled name. Since starting the show, she went from a size 16 to a size 10,  she has lost some major pounds (most of it was hair) and is feeling like she can conquer the world.