On the emotional roller coaster that is The Biggest Loser, the theme is Thanksgiving and the contestants are feeling very thankful. Family members visit the ranch, a trainer comes out of the closet to support a contestant who is struggling, and without any more Trainer Saves, someone is sent home. This is a big week!
Thanksgiving Challenge
The theme of this week is Thanksgiving, therefore the challenge is all about Thanksgiving food. Each team has to load up a truck with 40 boxes per person of Thanksgiving foods that will be donated to the victims of the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado that occurred in May this year. David’s wife is from Moore, and thus, some of his in-laws will be the recipients of these donations. Another challenge that hits close to home for him. Man, David has had a rough go of it.
The first team to fill up their truck wins. Now for the prize: each player of the winning team will get a family member flown in to the ranch for a visit. Each contestant starts crying immediately at just the prospect of this, so we know this will be a weepy episode for all of us. This motivation forces the contestants to work as hard as possible.
It is a close race, but Blue Team wins! They are all thrilled at the prospect of seeing their families. The other teams are understandably devastated — the harsh cruelty of such a prize — but still remain positive about the good work they did in the challenge.
Kid Ambassador Check-In
Sunny, the oldest Kid Ambassador from last season, is now a senior in high school and doing well. I have appreciated the check-ins with the kids since it seems like the show really changed their lives, their families and sends a good message to the families that watch The Biggest Loser.
Heart to Hearts
Matt is upset about Bob using the Trainer Save on him last week. Tanya, who Dolvette saved a few weeks ago, has a heart to heart with him about how it feels. She tells him he needs to keep his head in the game and understand that he earned the save. He says it’s a matter of ego now; hopefully, he doesn’t get too distracted by the blow.
Bob sits down with Bobby (not to get them confused), who is having a hard time after seeing his father this week, since he hasn’t come out to him yet. Bob has never talked about his sexuality on the show ever, but he feels that now is the time because he supports Bobby and encourages him to talk with his family.
Bob comes out as gay on The Biggest Loser. Whoa! This is a big deal! Not that he is gay, of course, but that he feels ready or comfortable enough to come out on the show. Awesome. Out of the closet and into our hearts.
Bring on the Waterworks
The Blue Team gets to see their family members as winners of the challenge. They are all reunited and have Thanksgiving together. Everyone says what they are thankful for and everyone is crying and it is all very sweet. Bob and Holley have more moments together; they have become BFFs this season.
David releases a balloon with a note attached in honor of his late wife’s birthday. He promised her that he would get healthy and he wants to hit a 100-pound weight loss this week to prove he kept his promise. He has been through so much, this guy, and it would be great if he met his goal.
The Weigh-In
Each team has used their Trainer Save, so someone is definitely going home this week. Bob is concerned that the Blue Team was distracted by their families and may have low numbers as a result.
The Red Team weighs in first. David loses 103 pounds. Ruben gets under 400 pounds. Overall, the Red Team’s numbers are strong across the board and are safe.
The White Team weighs in next. They have rocky numbers, but they are safe as well.
The Blue Team weighs in last and with consistently low numbers, they lose the weigh-in. Olympic weightlifter Holley has the lowest percentage of weight loss, falls below the red line and is eliminated.
Bob loses his BFF! He and Holley grew very close over the course of the show this season and he is, understandably, devastated. He has grown close to contestants before, but I don’t remember many times he has had fat tears rolling down his face.
As ever, this is a very emotional episode. I appreciate this side of The Biggest Loser, but I also enjoy the workouts since it shows how hard the contestants are really working, which is motivational. I hope they show more of that next week.
Next week, one player from each team will be going home and will return to the ranch as the sole weight to represent their team. That should prove to be an interesting twist.
The Biggest Loser airs Tuesdays at 8pm on NBC.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
