Yet another team with only one person’s heart in the game was eliminated in The Bigest Loser 5 Episode 3, as despite Amanda’s best efforts, Neill slacking off irritated the rest of the teams. At the end of the episode, Alison posed a question: if they could vote out one team, right now, who would that be?
She gives them an hour to think about it. They can only discuss it with their own teammates. Maggie and Jenn feel guilty because everybody voted for them to stay, which means they have to vote against someone they feel helped save them. They decide they want to go for the strongest team. Jackie wants to target Mark and Jay, but Dan suggests this is a risky strategy as it sends too strong a signal considering they may not actually go home. Her response, which is equally worth considering, is that if they don’t vote for them, they risk getting the most votes themselves. Mark & Jay and Roger & Trent employ a similar strategy, considering the teams who have been below the yellow line. Paul wants to vote for Mark & Jay. Kelly wants to at least consider Roger & Trent, an argument that Paul can’t really debate, so he says he cares more about the fact that Trent needs to be there.
Votes
Paul & Kelly: Mark & Jay
Bernie & Brittany: Mark & Jay
Maggie & Jenn: Paul & Kelly
Mark & Jay: Paul & Kelly
Roger & Trent: Maggie & Jenn
Jackie & Dan: Maggie & Jenn
Bette-Sue & Ali: Paul & Kelly
With three votes, Paul & Kelly have been chosen. I’d like to say I can understand the logic behind these votes, but the majority of them don’t make a great deal of sense. That’s probably because there are alliances on both sides who are more concerned about voting out people not aligned with them than people who are going to put up bigger numbers. Kelly gives what is essentially a goodbye speech, but Alison tells her she’s not going home. It’s all vs. one. For the next week, everybody else’s only competition is the yellow team. If they have a greater percentage of weight loss than all the other teams combined, they can choose who goes home. If they don’t, they go home. A lot of power but also a lot of danger, particularly considering how big a week they had last week as The Biggest Loser team of the week. Then again, last week was a big week for everybody following a bad week two. They can pick one trainer to focus exclusively on them. They pick Jillian. Paul’s ready for battle. Game on.
Now they get a bit of good news. They hike up the hill to choose what they want as their reward for winning last week. Paul has a one track mind focused on gameplay. She’s going on and on about sheets and phone calls and other stuff that’s not going to make as big a difference as a gameplay option, especially in a week where they either win or go home. He repeatedly insists on gameplay. She comes up with a compromise, where if they win and get a reward next week, he’ll have to consider one of the other options, which won’t make any sense then either, but whatever. The reward is an additional two pounds at weigh-in of their choice, which obviously will be this week.
Jillian tries to talk some sense into Paul and his warrior spirit. While he should definitely fight to stay, she’s concerned that they’ll run the risk of alienating everybody else. Not taking the hint, when asked by the other teams what they won for a prize, they say they can’t tell them.
Aside from being a paid advertisement, the breakfast segment has a point: don’t skip breakfast, or your metabolism will pay the price.
The challenge is running across balance beams above water, grabbing pegs, and filling in a board. Every player must get at least one peg. If this were about running, Paul & Kelly would be in big trouble, but since the key is balance and multiple people on the other team have little balance, they have a shot. They are playing for letters from home. Mark gets across with relative ease. Paul’s a ways behind, but Bernie struggles, allowing Paul to get a good lead. Roger does a decent job but is unable to come close to the gap Bernie’s created. However, Jackie goes faster than anybody else, but even still is only able to bring their team behind by one. Trent’s struggling even more than Bernie did. A 400 pound guy and a balance beam don’t mix well. It’s pretty clear the gap is now too big to close, as Paul is now two ahead. Kelly’s on the sidelines waiting for her one turn, and he has absolutely no interest in letting her go. Trent gets to the middle and falls. He must return to the start. By the time Jay starts, he’s behind by five pegs. Paul & Kelly win the challenge. Kelly’s thrilled to get the letters, but Paul couldn’t care less. He’s more concerned about what he’s there to do, which he should be. As an interesting gesture, they agree to forego the letters in exchange to allow the other team to all get letters. Not only does it keep them focused, but it’s a chance to earn some points with the other teams.
Now things are starting to get interesting. Dan & Jackie, Paul & Kelly, Bernie & Brittany, and Maggie (but not Jenn) form an alliance. The plan is to throw the weigh in because this represents the best opportunity to get rid of Mark & Jay, who if left in the game are one of the biggest threats and unlikely to go below the yellow line. Bob not so subtly suggests that gameplay would suggest throwing the weigh in but says he doesn’t want to be blindsided.
We then switch gears from the gameplay aspect of things to the warm fuzzy tearful letters from home. But it’s not long before it’s time to get back in the game and head to the scales. Before the weigh in starts, it’s revealed that Mark & Jay have one last hope. The team with the highest percentage of weight loss this week will be immune. Since half of the teams, including two of the stronger teams, planned to throw the weigh in, they have a good chance.
Bette-Sue: 224 (-7)
Ali: 198 (-8)
Total: -15 pounds, 3.43%
Roger: 331 (-12)
Trent: 375 (-13)
Total: -25 pounds, 3.48%
Bernie: 241 (-7)
Brittany: 201 (-2)
Total: -9 pounds, 2.00%
Bob gets suspicious, but Brittany pulled a -1 in week two when she was trying. Not sure where Bernie learned to throw a weigh in, though.
Mark: 235 (-14)
Jay: 258 (-10)
Total: -24 pounds, 4.64%
Maggie: 218 (-3)
Jenn: 229 (-7)
Total: -10 pounds, 2.19%
No suspicions seem to arise here.
Jackie: 214 (-2)
Dan: 264 (-1)
Total: -3 pounds, 0.62%
If ever there were a dead giveaway, this is it. Nothing like Neil gaining 17 pounds last season, but this has been such a strong team that it’s not like some of the girls whose low numbers can just be dismissed. Mark wants revenge.
Group Total: 2.81%
With the 2 pound weight prize, Paul & Kelly need more than 12 pounds lost to survive.
Paul: 260 (-9)
Kelly: 240 (-8)
Total: -17 pounds and -2 pounds, 3.39%
Without the group effort to save them, Paul & Kelly probably would have been toast. Mark & Jay are safe, though, throwing the original plan out the window. With that said, there is one team that is not in the alliance with them and also voted for them at the top of the show: Bette-Sue & Ali. Logically, though, Roger & Trent are a bigger threat.
They vote out Bette-Sue & Ali. They go out on a pretty sour note at the table, but their confessional after that almost makes up for it. Bette-Sue is now down 49 pounds to 212 pounds from her starting weight of 261. Ali is now down to 173 pounds from 234 for a total of 61 pounds.
Next week, it becomes an individual game. Someone will lose their partner.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Biggest Loser: Couples episode 5, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.