by David McAlpine

Last time on The Biggest Loser: Couples, Tara continued to dominate by winning yet another challenge. Helen and Kristin fell below the yellow line and, desperate to stay in the game, Kristin pleaded to Ron to keep her in the game. Ron and Mike struck a deal to tie the vote, sending Kristin packing.

After Kristin's exit, Helen lets everyone know she's happy to be here another week. Mike and Ron leave together, while Filipe voices his concern about Mike because he thinks he's next on Mike's hit list. Mike and Ron go off and gloat about their strategical prowess (wow, scheeming to get someone voted off of a weight-loss show, what genius!).

Realizing that Kristin is gone, Filipe is clearly upset. He says he can't trust anyone and reiterates that he knows Mike is after him. Bob is also upset that Kristin is gone and calls Ron out for being shady. Ron go so far as to lie to Bob (which shows how pathetic he is) about the voting situation.

The contestants meet Alison in the gym where she has a surprise for them: videos of their first week on the Biggest Loser campus. No one can believe how they looked before, and everyone is shocked to learn that this week is their last on the ranch.

Jillian and Bob recreate the very first workout for all the contestants and everyone can see and feel the difference. The talk turns to goal outfits, which everyone seems to have. Helen has an abundant amount of clothes she always hoped she would fit into, but now fits into them no problem. Mike shows off his goal jacket and Ron fawns (gag me) over how Mike confident is. I mean don't get me wrong, the father/son thing is cute, but it's overdone.

Everyone meets with Dr. Huizenga and learns how much their health has improved. Helen has gained ten years on her biological clock, Mike is less than half his size and Ron's heart has lost a good amount of fat.

The contestants meet Alison in a rock quarry, where they are given the task to run over 16 sandhills (as opposed to one the first week). Each contestant is given their starting amount of weight to run with, then, after every hill, they must drop the amount of eight equivalent to how much they lost that week.  The winner gets $10,000 or a one-pound advantage while (twist!) the runner-up gets the prize the winner doesn't select.

Tara, Mike and Filipe pull out to an early lead, though everyone is clearly struggling with the challenge. Tara starts to overtake Filipe, who encourages her to keep going, even if she'll beat him. She blows her lead wide open and wins for the 83rd time (not really, but it seems like it), with Mike finishing in second. Ron can't finish on his own, but everyone walks with him to the finish.

Devoid of any trainer tips, it's last minute workout time, where the contestants get to show off their workout tips and train the trainers. Jillian and Bob are satisfied with how hard the contestants pushed them, then proceed to kick all of their asses. Everyone is determined to give it their all, because the finish line is quickly approaching.

At the weigh-in, everyone is on edge, as almost half the contestants will be under the yellow line. After 152 days and over 600 pounds lost, someone will still be going home, which makes everyone nervous. Tara decides she'll take the one-pound advantage, leaving Mike with $10,000. The results for the weigh-in are as follows:

Tara: -7 (-8 including the one-pound advantage) (-5.08%)
Mike: -11 (-4.68%)
Helen: -7 (-4.35%)
Filipe: -10 (-4.10%)
Ron: -9 (-3.02%)

And the plot thickens as enemies (and, ironically, the only people left on Bob's team) face off in a vote. Ron makes the plea that he wants to finish the game with Mike (as if no one else is entitled to finish because, you know, they all lost their loved ones) and says he's not a threat Well, guess what? Kristin wasn't a threat, either and you had no problem kicking her off! Filipe says he was always picked last in grade school, and he wants to continue. Honestly, I wanted Filipe to come out and let everyone know what a scheming skeeze Ron has been, not come up with some lame excuse. Damn.

So Helen and Tara have a pow-wow where they each say they have no loyalties, since both have tried to vote each out at one point. They bask in the power of being the decision makers, then cut to the elimination. Suspenseful!

Mike votes Filipe (shocking), while Helen also decides to vote Filipe because she wants to play the game for herself. So you leave the strongest, most apparent alliance in the game? Intact? Great call, Helen.

At home, Filipe is a much happier person. Since returning, he's lost 13 more pounds, but hit a plateau. Sadly, his dad suffered a stroke, but it motivated him to exercise every day.

So, with two weeks left, let's have a quick look at the leaderboard, shall we?

Tara: -125 pounds (-42.52%)
Mike: -164 pounds (-42.27%)
Helen: -103 pounds (-40.08%)
Ron: -141 pounds (-32.79%)

As of now, it's a race between Mike and Tara. As an avid watcher, I'm asking, no, actually, begging you all to vote off Mike if we get the chance. Nothing would please my sadistic, reality-TV loving self more than seeing Ron's face after he made an ass of himself on national TV for nothing. Please, help me see that face.

The Biggest Loser: Couples airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

(Image courtesy of NBC)

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