The Biggest Loser Families - "One Contestant Breaks Record at Weigh-In" (Episode 607)

I have a question for anyone watching this show - when they cut to Allison in the show's opening credits (after we witness poor Jerry tumble off the treadmill for the umpteenth time), is it just me, or does she look slightly constipated? Sorry, back to the show. Phil thinks his wife's elimination last week may have had something to do with him. He feels "isolated" because he's not sure where he stands and isn't sure who he can trust.

The next day, Bob shows up, and can't hide his disappointment that cranky Vicky is still there and Amy P's not. He said he was "heartbroken" to have lost Amy. Bob was also surprised that Brady got two votes for elimination. Bob wanted to have a private chat with Vicky and Brady. He needed to find out exactly what happened in the elimination room. According to Bob, Vicky is the "mastermind" behind everyone on the team. He thinks Brady may have been talked into throwing the weigh-in. Vicky says she was "flabbergasted" that Bob even suspected such a thing. Vicky says in an interview that she has "no idea what happened" and then grins, just like the pre-redemption Grinch looking over Whoville at Christmas. The producers have sure made her into one grade-A villian! Vicky revealed that Brady wasn't eating every four hours (as his diet dictated.) Bob is going crazy dealing with these two. Bob lays down the law, and Brady is going to lose more than three pounds this week. You tell 'em, Bob. Besides, if they lose the weigh-in, the couple made a promise to Heba that one of them would go home. Bob believes that Brady has the best of intentions, but thinks Vicky is "Shakespearean" (which I believe is Bob-ese for "raging bitch.")

Don't forget - be the hit of your neighborhood this Halloween by giving the kiddies teeny tubs of Play-Doh! Back on campus, it's temptation time. Allison told the gang they were going to test "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" with special guest Dave Zinczenko, who is editor-in-chief of Men's Health magazine and wrote the best-selling book "Eat This, Not That" (which is a really good book!) In this week's challenge, the teams are going to be presented with two similar meals and have to guess which one is healthier. The first team to get five correct answers wins a 40 pound advantage at this week's challenge, something Allison says they're going to want to have.

It's time to play "This or That!" Heba and Michelle are up first. Their meal choices are a hot dog with ketchup, mustard and relish or nachos with cheese. (I think they're both gross!) Both teams guessed that the hot dog was healthier and they were right (the dawg was 280 calories and the nachos were 692 calories. Dave added that the nachos were topped with "nuclear orange cheese goo" (cue Homer Simpson saying "Mmmmm....nuclear orange cheese goo..." - if I had a band, I would so name it Nuclear Orange Cheese Goo!)
Vicky and Renee are next and have to choose between spaghetti marinara with spicy sausage and a side Caesar salad or penne marinara with garlic shrimp and a garden salad with fat-free Italian dressing. Both teams picked the penne and shrimp and were right (sausage = 1030 calories, shrimp = 660 calories). That was kind of a no-brainer, as everyone knows that Caesar salads are terrible for you. Amy C. and Coleen deliberate over chicken and shrimp fajitas with "the works" or 24 chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce. And finally, a split decision! Amy picks the nuggets and Coleen goes for the fajitas. Believe it or not, the nuggets (at 1120 calories) are better for you than the fajitas (1360 calories - the guac, cheese and sour cream in "the works" ups the calorie count significantly.) The boys square off and have to choose between a multi grain bagel with light cream cheese or a ham, egg and cheese English muffin sandwich. Brady asks Allison to clarify that it's light cream cheese, hoping to throw Phil off track. Phil doesn't take the bait, and they both choose the sammich. And, of course, they're right (bagel = 500 calories, sammich = 310 calories.) It's 4-3. Heba and Michelle are up again. Their choices are a grilled chicken burrito with "the works" or 18 light beers. (Screw the calories, I'll take the brew!) Michelle picks the beer and Heba, after much thought (and a commercial break) picks the burrito. Heba won for her team (even though the burrito was 1092 calories and the beers were 1152 calories. What's up with that?)

Heba thinks Phil has taken the competition where it didn't need to go (she's just saying that because Phil was trying to get rid of her last week.) The black team were just sitting down for dinner when the blue team came in and said they had to talk to them about something that's been bothering them. Coleen thought the blue team was "rude" to interrupt their dinner and Michelle thought it was "tacky." Heba then attacked Phil because she insists that he keeps talking negatively about her (which we haven't seen. Paranoid much, Heba?) Vicky thinks he's a "ding-a-ling." Brady says there's only room for one rooster in the hen house and he thinks it's going to be him. Coleen had enough of the petty squabbling and left the room (loving the Coleen!) Phil had no idea what was going on and that Brady was blowing things out of proportion. Maybe Phil doesn't hate Heba, but I'm starting to. Heba doesn't stop, saying Phil doesn't deserve a person like her in his life. Oh, please. After Heba shut her piehole, Phil went upstairs and his teammates followed, telling him they didn't care about the whole mess and that they were still on his side. You know, if they cut out all of this manufactured drama, the show could be a great hour of TV (take notes, NBC!)

It's challenge time. This week there are cranes and harnesses. Who comes up with this stuff? Poor Coleen has to deal with her fear of heights once again. Allison explains the rules. Each team will be in a harness and each player on the team has to hang onto a rope as long as they can. They will be struggling against their own body weights. When the entire team lets go, that team is out. The last team hanging wins. Since the blue team won a 40 pound advantage, the black team carries that additional weight. The winning team gets to pick a player on the opposing team whose weight loss for the week won't count at the weigh-in. The teams strap in and the challenge begins. Coleen was terrified. Phil decided to put her in the middle, next to him, leaving Michelle and Renee on the outside. Brady chose to put the two heaviest team members in the center (he and Heba), which he thought would make things easier for the team. The blue team is holding up 932 pounds and the black team is holding 918 pounds. Amy's hands got numb. People holding ropes...riveting television. At the 25 minute mark, Allison says that the teams have five minutes to decide which team member will let go. The blue team cut Vicky loose and Michelle let go for the black team. Phil started having problems the minute Michelle let go. He's reaching the end of his rope (literally) and at he slips off. Coleen let go soon after and Renee wasn't able to hold all 918 pounds herself, so the blue team got their first victory.

Back on campus, the gloating blue team met to discuss who should go home. They tried to calculate who they thought would lose the most weight. They thought the black team would assume that Phil would be the one left out, so they wanted to pick someone else. The next day, Jillian asked her team about the challenge and was dismayed to learn that they lost. She was even more upset to learn that someone's weight wasn't going to count. Of course, they all assumed Phil would be chosen, but Renee was a close second. Jillian tells them to stay focused and have a kick-ass last chance workout. Heba is hungry 20 minutes after her snack, and gets a lecture from Bob (and a plug for the sponsor's sugar-free gum.)  
 
Bob's last chance workout is going to involve "a lot of running." His team is running ten miles outside. Jillian said her team is made up of athletes and her last chance workout is going to show that. Phil says he knows he has to work extra-hard to stay on campus. Heba said Bob "might have lost his mind a little bit today" making her run outside, which she said was tough at her weight. She thought she was going to die. More sweat, yelling, tears and hugs...and the workout time is over.

Brady thinks he has a slight advantage coming into this week's weigh-in after winning the challenge. He just hopes his team picks the right member of the black team to leave out of the tally. Allison congratulates everyone on making it to the halfway point of the competition. She says the key to continued victory is to "give everything you have every single day." I think I read that on a fortune cookie somewhere.

Heba announces that the black team member whose weight loss won't count this week is Michelle, who couldn't understand how she was the one chosen. The black team hits the scales first - with Michelle leading the pack. She just wants to get under 200 pounds. Here are the results:

Michelle - 202 to 200, 2 pounds
Renee - 225 to 222, 3 pounds lost
Coleen - 179 to 177, 2 pounds lost
Phil - 272 to 269, 3 pounds lost
Black team total (without Michelle's loss) - 8 pounds/1.18%

The black team obviously had a tough week. The ladies were disappointed at the small numbers (not as much as Jillian though.) Coleen almost expected a low number this week after her huge weight loss last week and Phil realized that he relied on his wife a lot more than he thought he did. He confessed that he wasn't "there mentally" for a few days after Amy left. The blue team weigh in next - they need to lose more than 11 pounds to keep theit team intact. Brady says if the scale doesn't give him a big number, he's going to take it to the top of the mountain he's climbed 17 times and throw it off. Here are the blue team's numbers:

Brady - 283 to 270, 13 pounds lost
(Well, the blue team got the easy victory)
Vicky - 203 to 201, 2 pounds lost
Heba - 253 to 247, 6 pounds lost
Amy C. - 193 to 187, 6 pounds lost
Blue team total 27 pounds/ 2.90%

The black team has to send one of their own home, except for Renee, the team's biggest loser of the week. Renee and Michelle talked amongst themselves and Renee noted that Phil had been pretty homesick all week. Coleen, who has less weight to lose than anyone else on her team, joins them. A smart move, as she knows that Renee wouldn't vote her daughter off - but she also knows that she isn't ready to go home yet. Phil then tries to plead his case. He thinks he let his team down but thinks he's going to have "a heck of a week" the next week. Michelle says its gotta be hard for him without Amy. Phil says he was "out of it" but feels like he could "tough it out" moving forward. Renee tells him he's got nothing to be ashamed of. (They might as well say "buh bye" to him right now.)

At the elimination table, Coleen says that her team did the best they could and Phil said he thought the blue team "mentally sabotaged" him by sending Amy home. Phil added that he and Amy's 20th wedding anniversary was only a few days away. Oh, he's so going home. Renee chose the "homesick" as did Michelle. Phil picked Michelle and Coleen (not surprisingly) picked Phil as well. The lone man on the black team is heading home - but at least he can be reunited with his wife and kids. He says he's ready to go home and bids a tearful farewell to his teammates. When he left, he had lost 62 pounds. He wants to be an example to his kids, a better father and a better husband. He says that when we see him at the finale that he'll be so sexy, "you won't care that I have no hair." The next day he went to a jewelry store to find something special for Amy for their anniversary. He found a lovely diamond anniversary band and waited for Amy in the building where he asked her to marry him (I couldn't figure out if it was an office or a hotel.) They went upstairs and renewed their vows. Phil was able to put on a ring he couldn't wear for 15 years because he "outgrew" it. It was a tight squeeze, but he managed to get it on (the ring - get your minds out of the gutter!) Today, Phil is proud to show off his bod at the beach and says his kids see him in a new light. Since starting the show, Phil lost 106 pounds and is currently at 225 pounds with a goal of 175 pounds by the finale. In two weeks (obviously there's no show next week, because we're electing a new president - or something) the teams are dissolved and there's twists a'plenty!