by David McAlpine

 

Last time on The Biggest Loser 8, 16 contestants started their life-changing journey on their way to ultimate weight loss. They split up into eight teams of two and started workouts with Bob and Jillian. At the weigh-in, the Black Team, Alexandra and Julio, fell below the yellow line, pitting them against each other for elimination. In the end, Alexandra received 4 votes to Julio’s 3, making her the first person to go home.

 

Already, it’s twist time: if the contestants can, collectively, lose 150 pounds, then no one goes home this week. However, if they don’t, then two people are going home. Since week 2 has historically been the worst week for many of the contestants, it seems like an uphill battle for everyone.

 

Back at the house, Julio thanks everyone for keeping him, but Shay isn’t having any of it, saying he should have gone home. Mo was trying to keep spirits up, but I’m not sure how much it worked because it still seems the house is divided.

 

Someone else who isn’t happy: Jillian. Honestly, does she ever seem happy? But this time, she’s borderline fierce about this week’s weigh in: “We should just pick two people right now.” Then she proceeds to kick all of their butts in the gym. At least she’s not giving up!

 

Mo goes to visit Tracey in the hospital after an intense build-up, leaving us wondering if Tracey was severely hurt. Instead, she’s just relaxing in bed, happy to be there. Tracey weighs in at the hospital and sees that she’s 238 pounds, which makes her want to lose the weight even more. I really admire Tracey for being so gung-ho about this whole journey, she’s quickly emerging as one of my favorites.

 

Back to the gym, where Shay is on to Julio’s case. I didn’t think we’d see drama this early in the game, but I guess with a girl like Shay and a slacker like Julio, there’s no avoiding it. Daniel tries to be a little more optimistic, but I really agree with Shay—Julio needs to be working harder to prove that he wants to be there.

 

Then it was shameless promotion time. Oh, how I missed shameless promotion time. This week we get a double dose: Jillian pitches the Biggest Loser food journal, while Bob talks about Biggest Loser protein powder. Not going to lie, I miss random promotions from other companies, the Biggest Loser products just aren’t the same.

 

Next, the contestants got a visit from celebrity chef Curtis Stone, who Rebecca couldn’t take her eyes off of. He was there to teach them portion control and how to measure out pieces of meat on (surprise!) a Biggest Loser scale. They also got the talk about soda and how bad it is—even as Sean admitted just how much he loves soda.

 

Twist again! The contestants are quizzed on what Curtis just told them. If they successfully pass (five out of eight questions), they only have to meet a goal of 135 pounds this week. I thought it would be more difficult, but it was based on a short segment, so I shouldn’t have expected much. Everyone passes with flying colors, giving them a little more leeway this week.

 

The challenge this week seems significantly harder than past seasons’ first challenge, but then again, they had to run a mile the first day. Regardless, this week’s challenge is an obstacle course, complete with rafts and balance beams. The catch: this really isn’t a challenge per se, but a group activity, but hey, if they win, they get another 20 pounds knocked off their total (which tells me the producers don’t have much faith in this cast) and phone calls home. Surprise, surprise, everyone passes and everyone gets to talk to their loved ones—cue the waterworks!

 

Everyone hits the gym for the last chance workout, and Jillian is being merciless. I don’t know what happened to her, but I like it. I know she seems harsh and overly mean, but I think she’s a great source of motivation for these guys. Shay has a breakthrough with Bob and is able to tell herself that she deserves to change. You go Shay!

 

The results of the weigh-in were as follows:

 

Abby: - 11 (-4.45%)

Allen: -10 (-3.08%)

Green Team Total: -22 (-4.17%)

 

Amanda: -4 (-1.60%)

Rebecca: -6 (-2.15%)

Pink Team Total: -10 (-1.98%)

 

Antoine: -8 (-2.18%)

Sean: -11 (-2.48%)

Red Team Total: -19 (-2.46%)

 

Daniel: -7 (-2.24%)

Shay: -16 (-3.36)

Orange Team Total: -23 (-3.03%)

 

Danny: -12 (-2.79%)

Liz: -10 (-3.75%)

Brown Team Total: -22 (-3.32%)

 

Dina: -8 (-3.16%)
Rudy: -14 (-3.17%)

Blue Team Total: -22 (-3.33%)

 

Julio (Black Team): -19 (-4.67%)

 

Mo: -9 (-2.54%)

Tracey: -10 (-4.20%)

Purple Team Total: -19 (-3.31%)

 

Total Weight Lost: 156

 

So, they would have beaten the 150-pound goal even if they hadn’t lowered it due to the challenges. Props to the cast! They all seem incredibly dedicated and ready to lose weight, the only who was upset was Amanda, who has lost a grand total of 10 pounds. But America picked her for a reason, so hopefully she keeps working at it.

 

Tune in next week to NBC on Tuesday at 8/7c to the next episode of The Biggest Loser: Second Chances to see who’s the next one to leave the ranch!

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)