The teams split into blue and black in The Biggest Loser Season 8 Episode 5, and after the blue team fell below the yellow line, the plan was to take revenge and vote out Tracey. However, realizing that Mo was the weakest link, they made the best decision for the team and voted him out instead.
The black team is not happy to see Tracey still in the game either. They were completely looking forward to seeing the blue team make the decision that would harm them on the scale.
Tracey has finally been granted clearance to get into the gym.
Allison is waiting for them at night. Each team has four keys buried in the sand, which they must dig up to open their box. They’re going to have to wait to find out what they’re playing for, but she tells them it will determine who stays on campus and who goes home. Tracey and Abby are sitting out, and Amanda sits out for the black team to avoid having to dig in sand. After 10 minutes, they haven’t found anything. Shortly thereafter, a few people start to strike something. So apparently this won’t be like the challenge in The Amazing Race that took like 8 hours. Allison tells them to remember what they’re playing for. If only they knew. At 20 minutes, everybody has found what they’re looking for, but nobody’s managed to uncover it. Danny is the first person to dig his key up, which will allow him to go help his teammate Daniel. Allen is the next person, putting the blue team on the board, so he will go to help Rudy, who is also close. They take the lead 2-1 for blue. Around the half hour mark, Daniel ties it 2-2. The two blue team members who have finished go to help Liz and take the lead 3-2. 40 minutes have elapsed, and blue team’s got their final key to win the challenge.
So what is the prize? Yeah, it’s obvious. By going home, they mean plane tickets home. They’re celebrating, but this is a punishment. No trainers and having the temptations of home puts them at a disadvantage. Allison gives them the option of not going home and to instead give the tickets away to the black team. Their decision is to send the black team home.
The emotional reunion is tempered by the fact that they now realize they’re on their own and must make some smart choices, which is something most of them have not done in a long time, if ever. Danny has the advantage of having done this at home on his own previously. Abby has an added disadvantage that she’s limited to where she can go, which means she must find a gym with a pool about 30 minutes away, but that’s okay because it is a priority. Danny’s wife goes to the gym with him. Dina has to drag her son off to the gym. Amanda’s struggling to figure out what the heck she’s doing. Shay feels as if she’s being stared at, which is probably true.
Everybody goes out to a restaurant. Their families obviously haven’t changed any (and each person from the looks of it has an enabler or two or a dozen), but there’s time to worry about that later. Danny resists the temptation, however. He will be cooking out back on the grill, and he’s seeing that his family is already learning and willing to change. Dina and Shay see that nothing’s changed. Their families are (over)eating the same things they were before.
Inspired by the challenge from last year, the blue team has asked Bob to bring them down to the food bank to volunteer. They will be filling backpacks to help feed kids.
Jillian hasn’t had anyone to beat up all week, so she’s looking forward to kicking the crap out of some people. From his visit home, Danny says that something’s changed, and he feels like the kryptonite has been removed. Jillian’s getting tired of Daniel’s low numbers relative to the others, and she wants to see if she can get him to live up to his potential. He has realized that his mom tried to get him to lose weight because she cared.
In theory, the weigh-in should be a win for the blue team. Their loss last week combined with staying on campus this week should make this easy.
Allen: 270 pounds (-8, 2.88%)
Rebecca: 232 pounds (-5, 2.11%)
Tracey: 202 pounds (-4, 1.94%)
Liz: 228 pounds (-4, 1.72%)
Rudy: 355 pounds (-14, 3.79%)
Blue Total: -35 pounds, 2.65%
Not the most impressive numbers from the blue team, but Rudy’s big number should provide enough of a cushion.
Amanda: 218 pounds (-6, 2.68%)
Shay: 411 pounds (-5, 1.20%)
Abby: 204 pounds (-4, 1.92%)
Dina: 218 pounds (-5, 2.24%)
Danny: 357 pounds (-15, 4.03%)
Daniel: 277 pounds (+1, 0.36%)
Black Total: -34 pounds, 1.98%
Danny did better than anybody despite the visit home, but it was not enough to overcome the other numbers. Aside from Daniel, most people on the black team are pleased, however, as they managed to lose a fair amount at home. The harsh reality is that Shay is weighing the team down, but I think we’ve all gotten the hint about how much more she deserves to be there than the others. The question is whether they can break away from that mentality when she’s still over 400 pounds. Having gained weight, Daniel is another potential target, but that would be a short-sighted decision because next week he should be able to knock it out of the park. Then again, it may just come down to the three women who weigh the least, and Abby should be safe because she’s proved to be strong.
Votes
Daniel: Dina
Dina: Daniel
Abby: Dina
Danny: Daniel
Amanda: Dina
Shay: Dina
With 4 votes, Dina is not The Biggest Loser. I’d have gone with Amanda before Dina, but her elimination is not entirely surprising. She is now down from her starting weight of 253 pounds to 188 pounds today. She’s finally managed to overcome that step she couldn’t jump on while she was on the ranch. She has also recently completed her first half marathon (hopefully without the assistance of a producer).
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser 8 Episode 7, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.