by David McAlpine

Last night on The Biggest Loser, Jennifer was still reeling from the Red Team’s elimination of her dad, firmly putting her on the outs of their team.

But no one had too much time to fight about it, because Alison tells the teams that this week is a red line week, meaning the person with the lowest percentage of weight loss is going home immediately. And, per usual, the red line drives people crazy, both with strategy and in the gym.

For once, I would love to see a parent stand up for themselves and say, hey, this is my experience, too, and I deserve to be here, even if I may or may not have screwed up my kid’s eating habits. Would they be the most popular person? Of course not, but I’d at least admire them for standing up for themselves and asking for the help that they need.

Instead, we get all the talk from Marci and Deni about how they’ve gained three kids or four kids from their team…blah, blah, blah. It was clear someone wanted to throw the weigh-in, but not necessarily who would be the one.

On the Red Team, Cara and Brett are determined not to lose anyone, let alone two people. Cara focuses on Kaylee, who has recently been having issues losing the big numbers the other Red Team powerhouses have been getting. She has a breakthrough moment as she tosses her in the boxing ring, and they trade punches to the head.

Meanwhile, Bob is working hard on Arthur and Courtney. Bob knows Arthur is at risk for falling below that red line thanks to his 20-pound loss last week, while Courtney is willing to work as hard as she can to keep her weight loss up. This girl is determined, and I can totally see her taking it home.

This week’s challenge must have been thought up by a producer who was in a slightly pervy mood, in a very teenage way. It was all about balls. Moving balls down a field, similar to volleyball. Lots of different sized balls. Lots of contestants talking about balls. I can just see someone snickering for the entire 10 minutes, and it was a tinge gross. Bottom line, the Red Team worked much better together as a team and crushed the Black Team, earning a three-pound advantage.

Back to the Black Team discussing who was going to through the weigh in. Marci talked about it, Deni talked about it, but Jesse was strongly silent. In fact, when the team presses him about it, he shoves back. Point proven: he looks like an a-hole, but he’s showing that he wants to be there! On to the weigh-in:


Red Team

Austin: -7 (-2.29%)

Ken: -5 (-1.69%)

Justin: -7 (-2.53%)

Rulon: -4 (-1.08%)

Kaylee: -7 (-3.74%)

Moses: -11 (-3.30%)

Jen: +2 (+0.95)

Total: -42 (-2.12%)


Black Team

Arthur: -9 (-2.17%)

Olivia: -4 (-1.94%)

Sarah: -4 (-1.92%)

Irene: -3 (-1.52%)

Hannah: -1 (-0.52%)

Courtney: -2 (-0.78%)

Marci: +1 (+0.55%)

Jesse: +3 (+1.26%)

Deni: +8 (+4.08%)

Total: -11

So in the end, it seems like all the parents tried to throw, but Deni was the most successful, and she went out with a lot of pride. And props to Sarah for not being upset, she’s totally set on finishing her weight loss journey.

In the elimination room, it was clear the Black Team was going to eliminate another parent. It seems as if Jesse’s outburst earlier had everyone on edge about his loyalties down the road, so the women all voted him out with a lot of love. Jesse took it in stride and vowed to keep it up at home, wishing Arthur the best of luck.

At home, Deni got to see her other daughter and the video of their wedding that her and Sarah missed while they were on the show. She’s down 86 pounds and gets to play with her grandkids more. Jesse, meanwhile, has gotten control of his diabetes and has dropped a total of 66 pounds. He looks completely different and much happier, and wants to lose a total of 100 pounds by the finale.

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

(Photo courtesy of NBC)

Follow David on Twitter: @DavidMcAlpine