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!

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…