By Buzz Byrne
As much as producers and network executives try and muck around with reality TV shows, they can’t truly eliminate all suspense from the penultimate episode as so often happens with scripted shows as the season ends. The second to last episode of THE BIGGEST LOSER Season 4 was packed with drama and a huge upset. As well as the longest name of a product placement ad and clues to the whereabouts of Caroline Rhea, the disappeared former host of the show.
At the opening we learned that so far this crop of contestants has lost a combined total of 1098 pounds. Half a ton of fat sweated away. That is incredible, and they all deserve respect even if I don’t particularly care for their whiny game play and personas (yeah, I’m talking to you Julie!). As the final workout looms, all the remaining players acknowledge that the biggest battle they fought was the mental one. This is especially true for the four remaining members of the Black Team. They were the castoffs, culled from the reject pile and yet they rallied to put themselves in a position to control the game. Trainer Crazy Jillian took them back to their desert training ground and put them through the same initial workout they got during the first week.
It was effortless for them now.
The reward challenge offered a prize of ten thousand dollars and was designed, as much of this episode, to be a morale boost and show these people just how far they have come. It also featured the longest name in the history of product placement- “The Quaker Weight Control Instant Oatmeal Challenge.” Taking off on the concept from the TV commercials for the product, the players had to drag a scale. And they had to collect the weight they lost over the past thirteen weeks and drag that around too. Whoever completed this course first had to dump the weight and the scales into a pit and then it would all be covered up with dirt. They were burying their lost weight forever. If you looked closely in one of the dug out pits you could catch a glimpse of a loud scarf and the dyed out roots of former host Caroline Rhea. Seems this was the dumping ground for a lot of dead weight from the show. ZING!
Surprisingly, Isabeau schooled the whole field, dominating the race.
Last chance workouts were had. Neil felt like he was fighting for his exiled teammates and his trainer Bob to be represented in the finals. Isabeau almost didn’t make the mental hurdles but trusted in Jillian enough to push through.
The weigh-in started with Neil putting up ten pounds lost, seemingly cementing his place in the finals. Hollie put up five pounds, Bill almost hit double digits again put eased in with nine pounds. He broke down, crying with joy as he was five pounds away from being under two hundred. Julie lost eight pounds, usurping the top spot from Bill and pushing Hollie into the danger zone. The bottom two, under the yellow line, were up for elimination. Isabeau needed to lose at least seven pounds to avoid elimination. She came in with eight, pushing Neil under the yellow line and assuring his ouster.
Neil was sent home having lost over one hundred and forty pounds in three and a half months. As much as he may have wanted to represent his team and his trainer, there is no way what he did could be looked at as a failure. As Jillian talked about one of the players at the start of the game she used the word “numb.” I think this is where all the obese contestants were. Numb to hope, but walking around in constant emotional pain. Desperately self-loathing but unable to make a change in their lives. Numb to joy, numb to the future yet spilling over with raw, festering damages.
Neil changed his life. Great job, and keep up the work.
To handicap the finale next week I see it as follows: Julie will remain the least likable, Hollie will be the hottest, Isabeau has the best shot at a woman winning but Bill will walk away with the quarter million dollar prize.