LAST EDITED ON 11-27-04 AT 00:30 AM (EST)LAST EDITED ON 11-27-04 AT 00:28 AM (EST)
DON'T CHECK YOUR INTEGRITY AT THE DOOR!
Last week: Bob, angry about Aaron’s elimination, took out his frustrations on the blue team and started pushing them much harder. Two people from each team (Dre and Kelly Mac for blue, Matt and Lisa for red) had to race up 74 flights of stairs. Lisa had a panic attack and had to be hospitalized, so Kelly and Dre won it for blue. Mo was the biggest loser of the week, leading blue on to victory at the weigh-in. Matt was unanimously voted out, much to his surprise. He thought he had an alliance with Lisa and she stabbed him in the back.
Update on 2 of the eliminated contestants: Dana (voted out the first week) has lost a total of 20 pounds. The experience gave her direction and she feels really good about herself now. Aaron (eliminated in week 3) has lost an impressive 63 pounds. He knows now that he can do anything if he will just put his mind to it. Sarah, his significant other, is his biggest supporter and motivator.
And now they are eight.
Assembling for breakfast, our gutsy gourmands realize that their numbers are shrinking in more ways than one. With the losses of Dana, Lizzeth, Aaron and Matt, one-third of the original group is gone. Mo observes that blue is more unified than red because Dave does his own thing and Lisa gets too emotional.
The red alpha-male rivalry between Dave and Ryan has intensified. Dave says he has an alliance with the ladies and Ryan is the odd man out. Ryan confronts Dave about his lies. Dave says he’s just playing the game. Ryan admits he has no integrity. Dave says he has integrity, but just isn’t using it right now.
DAVE: “This is a game. You can question integrity, lying, trust and all that stuff. You know what? When I got here I checked all that at the door.”
RYAN: “You need to look up integrity in the dictionary.” (Merriam-Webster Online defines integrity as “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values." Sure not seeing any of that here!)
Blue feels strong at the halfway mark. Bob wants them to stay focused and won’t make any major changes to their workout. Gary no longer needs his asthma medication. Dre has changed both physically and mentally. Mo is still pumped about being last week’s biggest loser. Kelly Mac is amazed that she is now doing things she has never attempted before.
Jillian tries to drive home to red that they have to take responsibility for themselves. She hates losing people and Dave is going to have to start trusting her now. Dave still says his ankle is hurt and doesn’t want to tax his body. Jillian admonishes him to get off his butt. She decides to try a team-building uphill run. All the team members are tied together with a rope. Of course, Dave doesn’t make it. Kelly M. thinks Dave is copping out and has abandoned his team. Ryan enjoys not having to listen to Dave’s constant complaining. Lisa notes that this is the first time red has really been united. They have a great time falling over each other and laughing at themselves. An emotional Ryan has developed an attachment to his teammates and says he does not feel like a “big, fat tub of goo” anymore.
Now blue is working out. Bob sums up the team members: Dre is tough, Kelly is conquering her fear of the gym, Gary needs to quit saying he can’t, Mo is the baby but has finally stepped up to the plate. Bob plans to push him harder because he can do it, but gets discouraged so easily.
Lisa and Kelly M. discuss red dynamics. They are the queens, the guys are their servants. Dave isn’t a team player. Ryan is safe for now but they don’t owe him anything either. Jillian wants to prepare her team to function in the real world, so she has them look at restaurant menus to see what they would order. Dave goes for the chicken taco salad with no shell, avocado or chips. Lisa opts for the burger, no bread with steamed veggies on the side and says the Eat Less diet is awesome. Kelly chooses the chicken picatta with veggies and salad. They know what to do now.
The ladies get together and agree they want to be the final 4. Dre has more confidence and self-esteem and has learned a lot about herself. Lisa is happy that it’s all working. Kelly M.’s goal of 140-150 is no longer unattainable and she has more self-confidence. Kelly Mac feels good physically and mentally now that she is pushing herself and is no longer terrified of the gym.
Time for the challenge. The contestants meet Caroline on an empty stage. She says, “This may shock you,” and the curtain goes up, revealing enough food to feed the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and all their reserve components. (My dear grandmama, God rest her soul, would have been proud). The teams have 30 minutes to build a “tower of temptation.” They can’t use their hands, only their mouths. The team to build the highest tower wins the reward, which turns out to be $5,000 worth of equipment from Comp USA.
The two teams start to strategize. Dave has a construction background, so he knows something about this one and starts directing his team. As badly as they want to pig out, no one goes crazy and starts gorging. Red’s tower is coming along nicely. Unfortunately for blue, they are not as organized as red. They have no plan - everyone wants to talk and no one wants to listen. Lisa keeps saying, “Excuse me, Mo, get out of my way!” Finally Gary gets an idea. He believes he can get a large block of cheese and stick a tall lollipop in it, leading his team to victory. He gets the cheese in place and has the lollipop in his mouth and. . .
Cut to commercials.
The lollipop falls and red wins. Ryan starts gloating and Kelly Mac says that made her feel like (BLEEP). Red is ecstatic and happily goes off to Comp USA. They are personally greeted by the CEO, who tells them there is another reward, just watch the screen. Lisa’s aunt and dad appear. They tell her they love her. Dad says he’s gonna kill her, because he’s tired of paying all her bills. Dave’s family tells him he’s mentally tough. He says their words are very powerful and help him become a better person. Kelly sees her nieces, nephews and parents. She feels as if her pregnant sister is there with her. Ryan sees his cat, Boots, and his wife says she loves him no matter what size he is. All agree this has helped them bond as a team.
Red goes back and tells blue about the videos. Blue tries to be happy for them, but their hearts are breaking. Ryan decides to kick blue while they’re down by wondering aloud how they could have won the challenge differently. (Even though Ryan has lost 50 pounds, his smarminess and arrogance are still very much intact.) Dre says, “Shut up, you won.” Dave and the others start telling Ryan to shut up. Speaking for all of America, Gary says Ryan is a pompous fool (actually he used the three-letter "A" word).
Time for the weigh-in. Ryan is shamelessly kissing up to the women. Dave thinks he has them in his pocket. Dre says she’s absolutely, positively NOT going to take 2 back-to-back losses. (Uh, Dre, your team won last week, remember?) How did they do this week?
Dave(red): previous wt 225 - current wt 219 = lost 6 lbs
Gary(blue): previous wt 195 - current wt 190 = lost 5 lbs
Lisa(red): previous wt 207 - current wt 205 = lost 2 lbs
Kelly Mac(blue): previous wt 194 - current wt 190 = lost 4 lbs
Red total so far = 8 lbs.
Blue total so far= 9 lbs.
Ryan(red): previous wt 281 - current wt 278 = lost 3 lbs
Mo(blue): previous wt 401 - current wt 400 = lost 1 lb.
Red total so far = 11 lbs.
Blue total so far = 10 lbs.
Kelly M.(red): previous wt 211 - current wt 211 = no change
Dre’s turn to get on the scale - she has to have lost more than 1 pound for the blue team to win. Dre looks terrified and fears that this might be the week that her body decided to plateau. She gets on the scale and. . .
Cut to commercials.
Back to Dre on the scale. Her previous weight was 192. This week she weighs in at 185. She has lost 7 pounds and is this week’s biggest loser!!!!
Dre becomes the first female biggest loser. (You go, girl!!) Blue wins again. Dre tries on her smaller jeans and kisses Kelly Mac on the lips. (I knew these girls were close, but I had no idea they were THAT close!!!)
Red has to vote someone out. The guys are getting nervous. They know that plans can change at the drop of a hat. Jillian asks how the weigh-in went and her team delivers the bad news. She feels that she has failed her team and Lisa whines, “How much more can we do?” Dave smirks in his confessional, “It’s my system, not Jillian’s, and it bit her. (Oh, really? Read on!)
Dave is very proud of his accomplishments and Ryan is getting on his nerves. He is angry that he has been accused of lying (even though he has already admitted it on national television, or was that his evil twin?) and says that anyone accusing him of lying is full of bull(BLEEP). More of the same back and forth between Dave and Ryan. Dave explains his strategy to Mo and Gary, “ When I said what I said then he said what she said and then you said at the time I said it, so I didn’t lie.” Mo and Gary respond with totally blank stares.
Time to cut the fat. Red heads downstairs with silver platters in hand. Caroline asks Dave if he has lied. Dave replies that only the scale has been truthful. Ryan says the team concept is important and reveals his vote for Dave. Dave, being Dave, rebuts (as Kelly rolls her eyes) and says he was injured and couldn’t do as much as the others. (Hmm . . . where have we heard this before?) Not surprisingly, he votes for Ryan. Kelly talks about the many layers of truth, says it’s all about survival of the fittest, and uncovers her vote for . . .
Cut to commercials.
Kelly votes for Dave. Time for Lisa to reveal her vote (as if we didn’t already know how she was going to vote). After a long, dramatic pause (Did the director tell her to do this?) she says this has been the hardest vote so far and reveals her vote for Dave.
Dave is gone. Says he shouldn’t have put all his eggs in one basket, he and Lisa had an alliance from day one. (Why does everyone think they have an alliance with Lisa when it’s so obvious that only Kelly does?!) He also says he will match the winner’s quarter-million if he doesn’t make it to 185.
Since the show, Dave has lot another 19 pounds. (Wow! Check out those biceps!) Another 15 and he’s off the financial hook.
Next week: They’ve lost over 400 pounds and learned invaluable lessons. Knowing you can do it and believing in yourself are the keys, says Kelly Mac. Plus updates on Lizzeth and Matt.
Congrats to all the contestants - keep up the good work, guys - and happy holidays to all.
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