by David McAlpine

This week on the Biggest Loser, Alison told the final six contestants that only four of them would be making it to the last round and the finale of the show. The red line of doom would rear its ugly head one last time, then the yellow line would put two more people at risk of elimination.

So this stood to put our trio of power players in an interesting situation: they are three of six, therefore they have to be the three biggest losers in order to secure their spots in the final four. Could they make it?

The first challenge was just for reward--well, not just for any reward, $10,000 worth of reward. Each contestant had to do a series of exercises over and over again until they couldn't do it anymore. Elizabeth was out first, followed by Mark, then a tough Ada fell, giving us a serious foreshadow that these three may be the ones to take the entire competition. Eventually, Brendan won and he promised to use the money with his after-school work in Boston.

Jillian came down hard on Ada this week, trying to get her to realize her own self-worth after such an abusive background. You could see Ada starting to break through her own shell and starting to believe that she was a great person. Jillian tells her how strong she's been (and, to her credit, she's been the strongest woman her by far.

Then came the second challenge: 500 step-ups and the mile, the two challenges that ultimately put these contestants on the ranch. The catch was that they had to carry all the weight that they'd lost so far. Ada took her strength and channeled it, giving her a definitive win, a $25,000 home gym and a one-pound advantage this week.

The weigh-in results were as follows:

Frado: -15 (-5.70%)
Patrick: -12 (-4.12%)
Ada: -6 (-3.24%)
Mark: -7 (-2.34%)
Elizabeth: -4 (-2.04%)
Brendan: -5 (-1.89%)

So Ada didn't even need her advantage and Elizabeth shocked everyone by avoiding the red line. Instead the trio hit its first obstacle when Brendan was eliminated on the spot, leaving Frado and Patrick to fend for each other.

Of course, in true mafia fashion, Elizabeth was saved yet again by Frado, Patrick (And Ada) because Mark is clear competition and Elizabeth, well, isn't.

Back at home, Brendan has lost another 23 pounds and he's training for the Boston Marathon, as well as back with the at-risk youth he counsels in Boston. Mark has lost 44 more pounds (and, let's face it, would have been the clear favorite to win the competition) and inspired his cousin to lose 100 pounds on her own.

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

(Photo courtesy of NBC)

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