Gotta hand it to that crack Biggest Loser editing team.  I was convinced that Michael would be the one carted off by ambulance in the middle of the night.   But no!  Dun da DAH!   What I really loved about this episode though?  Blue Team and Yellow Team showed the rest of the players what class looks like.  Gracious beyond belief!  A welcome break from the Red vs. Green drama.

AFTER ELIMINATION

Miggy suddenly realizes she’s all alone.  Her daughter’s gone.  She cries herself to sleep, only to awaken in a few hours with severe stomach pains.  A producer calls 911 and the ambulance arrives to take Miggy to the hospital.

THE RETURN OF BLUE AND YELLOW

Alison gathers the players and reminds them they’ve been free from the challenges of the outside world for 30 days.  Reality check!  The outside challenges have returned – in the form of the Blue and Yellow Teams who have been training at home for another shot on campus.  Since they never got past the first challenge, Blue and Yellow finally get to participate in a Biggest Loser rite-of-passage:  a Last Chance Workout with the trainers before their weigh in.

Welcome to the show, people!   Jillian smirks with satisfaction as O’Neal pushes the weights across the gym.   Cherita, surprised by intensity, partakes in another Biggest Loser tradition – puking.    The triple crown is at stake – winning team returns to the ranch, gets immunity AND the only vote at elimination.

PRELIMINARY WEIGH IN:  BLUE VS. YELLOW

Proving it can be done at home, the dueling parent-child teams shock the rest of the players.

• Cherita – 24 lbs
• Victoria – 39 lbs (only 6 pounds less than average on-campus player does in 30 days!)
• Sunshine -  25 lbs
• O’Neal – 51 lbs
  

Yellow Team is back!  Given all the sniping between Red and Green this season, it’s refreshing to hear O’Neal and Sunshine praise Cherita and Victoria’s accomplishments.   These two teams were worthy opponents.  Sad that we didn’t get more time to get to know the Blue Team.

IN THE GYM

Yellow Team has the only vote this week and beyond the first day, they’ve never seen the rest of the players in action.  Most of other players know they have to prove themselves.   However, Melissa can’t stop whining.  Bob knows she’s lost confidence in herself, but insists that she push outside of her comfort zone.  He admits that she gained his respect with the previous week’s 11 lbs loss.

Jillian reminds Daris that he can’t afford another week so close to the yellow line.  Focus, Daris.  FOCUS!  But only after Jillian breaks you down and makes you cry.

Bob crams four weeks of nutritional counseling for the Yellow Team in one Jennie O product placement.  Every single calorie counts, both going in and out.

CHALLENGE

Another football challenge!  The show loves them as much as the water challenges.  Each team has a dummy situated between two blocking pads.  One person from each team has to hit the dummy 1000 times, and it’s harder than it looks.  The pads swivel after each hit.   Winning team gets immunity, the losing team gets a 2 lbs penalty.

Red is so concerned with beating Gray, they are completely shocked when Michael ties up with them.  Michael pushes past Melissa and Lance, setting his sights on the Gray Team.  He goes head to head with Sam and manages to eke out a win!  Love that little Rocky moment as he realizes he’s got immunity.   Pink Team can’t keep up with the rest of the players, coming in last and locking in the 2 lbs penalty.

After the challenge, the group learns that Miggy’s back!  Michael’s been missing his mom, so he’s overjoyed to see Miggy.  The stomach pain was appendicitis.  She also had a cyst and another mass removed during surgery.   She is allowed to walk, no other exercise.   And that’s what she does, vowing to walk all the way to Puerto Rico if necessary.   When Dr. H visits Miggy, he can’t believe she walked 13 miles the day after surgery.   Now that Migdalia’s really gone, Miggy realizes that she wants to stay.  Desperately.   The doctor also has some news that might affect that desire though – they pumped loads of sodium into her system during surgery.   What will that mean for her weigh in?

LAST CHANCE WORKOUT

Stress at the gym!  The players are even telling the trainers to shut up.  Oooh.  No one likes a trash talker at the gym if it’s not Bob or Jillian.  Miggy’s wondering if this week will be her last.  John’s doing cardio sprints in the gym, working his butt off.  Jillian works on Ashley, trying to get her to up her intensity.  Ashley’s resistant, but Jillian continues to press, telling Ashley that what she’s been thinking/doing hasn’t worked.  Get on that treadmill!  Ashley admits a lot of regret over watching her dad die of cancer.  Tears start flowing.  Jillian’s work is done here, so she rounds up Drea, Stephanie and Sunshine to join Ashley on the treadmills.  Sunshine is not sure about a five minute jog at 5.5 mph but Stephanie and Andrea count it down with her…HELL YEAH!   Nice energy and attitude coming from these four girls.  Loving them more each week.

Decision time for Yellow.  O’Neal reminds Sunshine that they have to get serious.  If they have to crush the opposition to stay, that’s what they’ll do.   While they’re deciding, producers ask the rest of the contestants to finish the sentence “This weigh in is…”  Unpredictable, scary, the usual!

WEIGH IN

Alison announces that there will be no vote if one of the single team players falls below the yellow line, so say what you want to say before stepping on the scale.  Miggy walked 18 miles 2 days after surgery.  Will it be enough to keep her there, in a week when Yellow and White both have immunity?

• Sunshine – 5 lbs
  
• O’Neal – 5 lbs
  
• Michael – 13 lbs
  
• Ashley – 9 lbs
  
• Sherry – 6 lbs
  
• Melissa – 5 lbs
  
• Lance – 4 lbs
  
• Cheryl – 3 lbs
• Daris – 12 lbs
  
• Stephanie – 5 lbs
  
• Koli – 6 lbs
  
• Sam – 10 lbs
  
• Andrea – 5 lbs
  
• Darrell – 8 lbs
  
• Miggy – 5 lbs
  
• John – 6 lbs
  

We don’t get any insight on who Yellow thinks is a threat, because John doesn’t get the 7 lbs he needs to stay.  6 lbs for John and that sends him home immediately.

HOW THE ELIMINATED PLAYER LOOKS NOW

After a disappointing first week at home, John hit his groove!  He discovers he loves doing martial arts.  The results?  You be the judge.

NEXT WEEK

Going for the Gold!  The players head to the U.S Olympics training center in Colorado.  They’ll weigh in as individuals and two players will be eliminated.  Let the games begin!

Patti, 55, is a small business owner in Layfayette, CA.   Overweight for most of her life, she still remembers the taunts of childhood playmates.   But that pain pales in comparison to losing her father unexpectedly at 55, the same age she is now.  She fears that if she doesn’t lose the excess weight, her own life will be cut short, leaving her family devasted.   Patti doesn’t want to be an overweight, unhealthy companion to her husband.  She’s ready to break the cycle and become fit, healthy and energetic.

29 year old Stephanie is a radio sales executive in West Hollywood, CA.  Like her mother, she’s been battling extra weight for most of her life.   Her job requires long hours and frequent social outings, leaving her little time to hit the gym.   Work is also her excuse for not having time to be in a relationship.  However, she admits that she is afraid a potential love interest will reject her because of her weight.   As a former athlete, the thrill of competition motivated her once.  She’s hoping that same spirit will help her kick the pounds, once and for all.

BROWN TEAM – Brothers

James, 30 is a human resources director living in Orlando, FL.   As the youngest kids in a large family, he and his identical twin are used to competition.   While they used to stand out as scholars and athletes, the twins now gain attention because of their weight.   His size makes it difficult for James to do activities he once loved, like dancing with his wife or taking long walks.   He wants to have a family and live a long healthy life.

His brother John works in Orlando as a senior marketing manager.  A number of John’s relatives have died prematurely and he can no longer deny the obvious.  He may suffer the same fate if he doesn’t get his weight under control, which would mean leaving his family without a husband and father.   John has lost almost 160 lbs in the past, but couldn’t keep it off.   He regained all 160 lbs, plus 40 more.   John hopes the competitive nature of the show will be the game-changer for himself and his twin.

BLACK TEAM – Father and Daughter

Darrell, 46 is a machine operator and mechanic from Ann Arbor, MI.   Always the largest in his family, Darrell’s love for food started early.    Oversized portions plus a lack of exercise has kept him heavy his entire adult life.    Darrell’s quality of life has diminished because of his weight.   Living a full, healthy, fit life means that he’ll need help sticking to a diet and fitness regimen.

Darrell and his daughter Andrea, 24 are very close.  As the 4th and 5th generation to carry on obsesity in their family, they are teaming up to change their family legacy.    Andrea works as an executive assistant in Ann Arbor.   Although overweight as a child, she was also athletic and didn’t start gaining weight until after high school.   Her family equates food with love and eating healthfully has always been a challenge, especially at family events.   Andrea is finally ready to break the cycle of weight gain and improve her health.  She knows this will change her life – and her dad’s future.

When you have a hit program on your hand, why waste time between seasons?  Or leave those who need to live Tweet the show with idle hands on a Tuesday night?

Just a few short weeks after the Season 8 finale, The Biggest Loser returns to NBC on January 5.  Season 9:  Couples 3 features 22 contestants, paired off into 11 new teams of loved ones.   No random pairings as in the Season 5:  Couples Blue Team of Bernie Salazar and Brittany Aberle.  Personally, I loved the friendship that developed between those two!

And here’s a shocker – neither of the “Half Ton Twins” is the heaviest player in show history.   Given current rates of obesity in this country, you can bet that Season 9 won’t be the last time Bob and Jillian will say “we’ve got the heaviest player ever.”

Early calls on who will be The Biggest Loser of Season 9? A snippet from Tuesday’s premiere…