This week is all about facing fears. Something that terrifies all of the contestants, is leaving the ranch before they’re ready. Right after Francelina leaves, Alison leads the bunch outside for a quick challenge. It’s a cinderblock stacking challenge that is designed to protect friends. Blocks on one end and each person’s picture at the other end. They need to stack the blocks in front of each picture. They can’t stack any in front of their own. Once each picture is hidden behind the stack, those people are safe. Last one with an uncovered picture will leave the ranch.
Blocking Buddies
Gina is instantly the target. They want her gone. She complains, she’s difficult and she’s a distraction. Halfway through the challenge, Jackson asks people to stop stacking the blocks in front of his picture. He wants to leave the ranch. He wants to take this test to see if he can do it. The rest of the contestants listen, for the most part. Jeff ignores Jackson’s pleas and continues to try to protect him. It ends up being a close race, but Jackson is the one to go. Then he needs to pick someone to leave the ranch with him. Jeff volunteers. A man-cation it is!
The Fears
Let’s start with the kids.
Sunny is afraid of losing her mother to an obesity-caused illness. Jillian convinces her that a discussion between them must be had in order for her to succeed in her journey and for her mother to begin making the changes to improve her health. The talk is tense and uncomfortable at first, but eventually her mother gets it.
Biingo is afraid of vegetables. Bob sends Biingo’s mom some new recipes using veggir puree to disguise them in meals. His mom makes veggie meatloaf and Biingo can’t even tell. Hooray for vegetables!
Lindsay is afraid of living her life as a diabetic. She was recently diagnosed as pre-diabetic and is terrified of the disease progressing. She talks to a staff member at her school who deals with diabetes everyday. This woman is on meds, she needs to test her blood every three hours and she needs a daily insulin injection. This is further proof for Lindsay that she needs to focus on her health now, while she still has time to fix it.
Then the adults:
Gina is afraid of small enclosed spaces. Jillian makes her see that she’s really afraid of death and of failure. So, naturally, she puts Gina in a coffin for several minutes. Gina panics a bit, gets emotional, but appears to make some progress.
Danni loves singing but is afraid of performing in public. Jillian makes her see that she’s really afraid of being seen and exposed. She takes Danni to a lounge and has her perform in public. She sings “The National Anthem”. She starts off shaky, but nails the end of the song. Which is the most important part, really.
Joe is afraid of sharks. Bob makes him see that it’s not so much the sharks as it is the loss of control. He can’t control his environment when he’s in the ocean and that scares him. Bob drops him in the ocean and has him swim 500 meters.
Jeff is afraid of failure, so this week away from the challenge will be a good way to test his limits and insecurities.
Jackson is afraid of heights. So naturally, the challenge is all about falling off of tall buildings.
The Challenge
Each contestant is standing on a high ledge and needs to keep a weight lifted that represents 40% of their weight. If they let go of the weight, they fall off of the building. The last one standing gets immunity. They start dropping like flies before it’s down to Danni and Gina. Danni holds on as long as she can, but loses her grip. Gina wins immunity. Ugh, another week of excuses and empty promises.
The Weigh-In
Gina won immunity in the challenge so she is up first tonight. She lost 7 lbs and seems to have a much better attitude. Jackson loses 11 lbs. Jeff loses 13 lbs. Joe loses 12 lbs. Alex loses 8 lbs. Danni is up last and needs to lose at least 9 lbs to land above the yellow line. Danni loses 10 lbs. YAY Danni!
Jackson and Alex are below the yellow line and are up for elimination. Each player goes in to cast their vote. Alex gets the votes and is eliminated. When we see her at home, she looks absolutely fabulous. She has lost a total of 70 lbs and is just stunning. GO ALEX.
We’re down to 5 players, guys. Do you know what that means? Next week is MAKEOVER WEEK!!! I’m so excited I can’t even handle it. See you next week for some Tim Gunn and amazing reveals.
Compete in Fantasy TV: Make your picks on who you think will be going home. Hurry, you have until March 4 at 12pm PST to cast your vote!
Keep up with the Losers by adding the show to your watch-list using the BuddyTV Guide mobile app.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
