I know I’m late with this, but I’ve got excuses. I think. Anyway, it’s time for season 4 of Biggest Loser. I’ve seen season 1 and bits and pieces of the other two, but it’s apparent there’s a big following already established here at this site, so I figured I’d get back into it and start recapping it. As reported previously, the big change this year is that Caroline Rhea has been replaced by Alison Sweeney, a younger, less heavier model. I liked Caroline Rhea, but I never did think she fit in too well with this show considering its theme. This season, there’s also a third team, the black team, led by Jillian Michaels, who returns after her hiatus last year. Bob Harper and Kim Lyons will be returning as well.
We start off in the desert with a lot of hills and sand and heat. Bob and Kim are flying overhead preparing to jump out of a plane. The weight loss starts here. It’s a race to get to them. The first person to catch Bob is the captain of the blue team; the first person to catch Kim is the captain of the red team. The captains will pick the teams, but they can only pick 5 each. The show pretends the other 6 will be going home, but we know better.
Gerry, at age 62 and the oldest contestant ever on Biggest Loser, was the first person to reach Bob. He doesn’t seem quite as out of shape as some of these people, even if he is a lot older. Ex-college football player Phil, 27, was the first person to reach Kim. Amber, 30, finished quite a ways behind everyone else, and once they realized she still hadn’t finished, everybody went out to greet and support her.
Blue Team:
Gerry, 62: 297 lbs
Kae, 27: 225 lbs
Neil, 25: 421 lbs
Patty, 34: 280 lbs
Nicole, 26: 279 lbs
Ryan, 29: 374 lbs
_____
1,876 lbs total
Red Team:
Phil, 27: 403 lbs
Bryan, 29: 346 lbs
Amber, 30: 295 lbs
Amy, 28: 297 lbs
David, 31: 368 lbs
Lezlye, 34: 255 lbs
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1,964 lbs total
So that leaves us with a black team of:
Bill, 40: 334 lbs
Hollie, 28: 255 lbs
Isabeau, 21: 298 lbs
Jez, 24: 345 lbs
Jim, 40: 361 lbs
Julie, 34: 218 lbs
_____
1,811 lbs total
As the bus is leaving, it passes a motorcycle going the other way. Now it’s time to break the news to the people and end their agony of being rejected, as Jillian’s back. She will train the black team in secret for a week and a half before they enter the game.
After the weigh in, we go back to Jillian in the desert, and she’s as hardcore as ever. Nothing like working out in the heat of a desert. Pretty primitive workout environment, utilizing tires and sandbags, but it’ll definitely get results. Isabeau falls apart on the hill, which Jillian is displeased with, but she doesn’t quit.
Bob has his first workout in the gym. Everybody says it’s tough, but there are no clear slipups. Kim has her team working out in the yard. Amber, who had so much trouble with the first task, breaks down crying and says she doesn’t want to be there any more. She’s lucky she got a sweet trainer like Kim. If she got Jillian, she would have gotten smacked upside the head. Kim works with Amber to get her to finish.
Next, it’s time to tackle the diet. Bob suggests gum instead of candy bars and emphasizes protein at every meal. Kim’s philosophy is about balance, with carbs, protein, and fat at every meal and snack. They then blindfold their teams and lead them into a room with the lights off. As the lights go on, they reveal on tables what everybody eats in a week, a shocking reality check to all the contestants.
Before the next challenge, everybody must get the amount of luggage across the finish line that equals the weight they hope to lose. Seems like a pretty arbitrary way to pick a task, as anybody who shoots high is gonna have a lot to carry. Ah, but there’s a catch. The luggage will be onboard a plane, which weighs 21 tons, and the players must drag it after loading their luggage. As a reward, letters from home will be waiting at the finish line for the winning team. Blue team comes up with a good strategy of having a couple of the players who are likely to run/carry slower just load the plane. Red team catches on to this but not before giving the blue team a lead. Red team, however, comes up with a much better strategy for towing the plane. Phil lines up like the anchor in tug-of-war, while two of the women get down by the wheels and turn the wheels. Red team wins by a good margin.
The first weigh in:
Red Team:
Bryan: 331 lbs (-15)
Lezlye: 246 lbs (-9)
Amy: 287 lbs (-10)
David: 348 lbs (-20)
Amber: 288 lbs (-7)
Phil: 377 lbs (-26)
Total: -87 lbs (4.43%)
Blue Team:
Patty: 267 lbs (-13)
Ryan: 359 lbs (-15)
Nicole: 271 lbs (-8)
Neil: 399 lbs (-22)
Kae: 205 (-20)
Gerry: 266 lbs (-31)
Total: -109 lbs (5.81%)
Awesome job by Kae. Down 9%, easily doubling, if not tripling the percentage of most others. Being that she is the smallest, if she keeps this up, though, she won’t last very long. With her numbers, it became pretty obvious the blue team would win. But to make it a complete blowout, Gerry steps up there and puts up over a 10% loss, and his 31 pound weight loss is a new record. As the smallest guy, he faces the same potential early elimination.
Phil, with a 26 pound (6.5%) weight loss, is the biggest loser for the red team, so he’s safe. Amber’s boot’s a pretty safe prediction here. With that said, the whole group immediately turns on her for lack of drive and repeated talk of quitting. Of course, regardless of what she may have done or not done, it ultimately came down to the other team doing so ridiculously well that they weren’t winning whether she lost another few more pounds or not.
Lezlye: Amber
Amber: Lezlye
Amy: Amber
David: Amber
Phil: Amber
As expected, Amber has been eliminated. Since that time, Amber has continued on the right path, and she has lost a total of 65 pounds and is now down from a size 28 to a size 18. Her goal by the finale is to be a size 10.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Biggest Loser 4 Episode 2, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.