by David McAlpine

Last week on The Biggest Loser, the would-be contestants competed for a chance to get on the ranch. Bob, Jillian and Alison traveled around the country promoting fitness and wellness and picked 14 new hopefuls to travel to Los Angeles.

This week, the contestants arrive and Alison gives them some real talk right away: from the get-go, this competition is all individual. Even better, there aren't just 14 contestants, there are 16, since Bob and Jillian got to each pick one of the seven people cut in last week's competition. Bob chooses Aaron, a 29 year-old graphic designer, while Jillian picks Elizabeth, who fainted during her step challenge.

Soon after their arrival, it's the first workout, and most of contestants are hitting rock bottom already. Tina, Rick and Lisa are struggling already, especially Lisa, who's just a sobbing mess.

Bob takes a little more of a compassionate approach, having little one-on-one pow wows with every contestant, really trying to figure each and every one of them out. It's like he's healing everyone's soul…with his eyes. It's magical. Meanwhile, Jillian is in the corner, physically threatening Sophia.

After the first workout, it's time for another reality check: a visit with Dr. Huizenga. This is where each of the contestants gets the real numbers behind their weight and how much they actually have to lose before they can even think about being healthy. Some highlights: Tina's heart is wrapped in four to five folds of fat and Aaron's body is more than half fat, not to mention he has diabetes.

A quick video chat with family later to let them know how they're doing, and it's back to work on the second day in the gym, which apparently is worse than the first. Jillian loves to sit on the contestants while Bob is delighting in the fact that the contestants are "learning." Now, if by learning, he means collapsing in their own various body fluids, then sure, why not.

Even though it's nearing the end of the episode, the weigh-in comes much sooner than anticipated for the contestants, especially since there was no challenge. Since this competition is individual, the yellow line now only saves half the contestants, putting the rest in jeopardy. The weigh-in results were as follows:

Rick: -36 (-10.28%)
Mark: -41 (-9.74%)
Brendan: -31 (-8.56%)
Adam: -34 (-8.46%)
Jesse: -30 (-8.13%)
Frado: -27 (-7.36%)
Ada: -18 (-6.98%)
Aaron: -30 (-6.41%)

not immune:
Tina: -16 (-6.08%)
Burgandy: -13 (-5.63%)
Lisa: -16 (-5.56%)
Patrick: -22 (5.50%)
Allie: -17 (-5.28%)
Sophia: -14 (5.15%)
Jessica: -14 (-4.96%)
Elizabeth: -12 (-4.92%)

Lo and behold, all the women except Ada fall below the yellow line. Rick, this week's biggest loser gets to pick someone to save, too, so he picks Patrick, the only male, leaving seven women to fight it out for another week on the ranch.

The challenge: they must race to pull down a flag, one by one a woman earning herself a spot in next week's competition. Sophia wins first, followed by Elizabeth, then Burgandy, then Jessica. Lisa takes the last flag, putting Tina and Allie up for elimination.

Allie's home story is really heartbreaking, because her family refuses to support her in her weight-loss endeavours--her mom even leaves an unwrapped chocolate bar on the counter! Not to worry, though, as Allie relies on her Biggest Loser family to be her support system, helping her lose 60 more pounds. By the finale, she hopes to be a size 8 instead of a size 18.

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

(Photo courtesy of NBC)

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