Photos
Video
RSS'The Biggest Loser: Couples': Makeovers and hip fractures
It was a tough night on "The Biggest Loser: Couples". Yeah, we got makeovers, but even that couldn't make up for a heartbreaking reversal of fortune for a competitor who had really been growing on me. They eliminated the right person for the right reasons, but that didn't make it any easier to take. High-wire act
It's the Fear of Heights challenge! The Losers have to shuffle across a wire suspended above a canyon, with a guide wire to hold onto. We get the obligatory "Height, SCARY!" comments (this year's height-haters are Kristin and Mike), and the obligatory half-assed effort from Ron. Feh.
Filipe wants to win this for Sione, and he makes a damn good go at it. Tara seems to knock herself out of the running when she slips off the wire (everyone is wearing a safety harness, so no one goes splat) and loses about a minute struggling back upright. But once she does, she's... well, she's Tara -- she glides across the wire and beats Filipe in the last 20 feet. Filipe jumps off the wire and dangles when he sees Tara win. There's no need to pout!
Makeovers!
- Helen got softer hair, softer makeup, and a great purple sleeveless sheath dress. It had some horizontal detailing, but it was subtle and made her curves look great. She looks classy, like she could be hosting a swell cocktail party.
- Tara also got big, soft waves, and her hair looks amazing. She's wearing a fabulous green sleeveless cocktail dress with a v-neckline and a skirt that may be shorter than necessary. The horizontal pleats across the midsection aren't what I'd have chosen.
- Laura gets adorable chin-length red hair. She's got a pink tiered cocktail dress with cap sleeves and she looks good... but she's look better if those damn horizontal lines weren't encircling her body.
- Kristin has glossy dark hair, and she's gotten rid of those horrible blonde streaks. She's wearing a black shirtdress with a cinched waist -- very 50's Grace Kelly. She's the only woman wearing long sleeves. She's also the only woman who avoided the scourge of horizontal lines.
- Both Mike and Ron clean up well with good suits. Mike's got a blue sweater on under his jacket, and Ron got rid of his beard.
- Filipe took the most sartorial risks of the men -- he's wearing a burgundy velvet blazer, and he wears it well. It helps that he's had few inches of circumference lopped off his hair.
Laura has a stress fracture in her hip. She's facing excruciating pain every time she puts pressure on it. Dr. H tells her that if she wants to avoid a really bad injury that would necessitate surgery, she can't run for at least 3 months. Anything that causes pain is right out.
The weigh-in
Helen has a spectacular week, losing 7 pounds, or more than 4 percent of her weight. Holy crap! Tara posts a respectable 4-pound loss, and Mike drops 5 pounds. He's broken Roger's record for the most weight lost on campus.
Filipe also drops 5 pounds, meaning his weight-loss percentage only narrowly edges out that of Ron, who dropped 6 pounds. Kristin lost "only" 2 pounds. Laura couldn't work out -- heck, Mike and Sione had to carry her up to the scale! -- and gained 3 pounds.
The elimination
Allison tells the Losers they have a tough decision to make. Not really -- when you have to be carried up to the scale, you pretty much have to go home. Laura admits that she's probably in denial, but she wants to stay. Kristin begs everyone to keep her even though she may be perceived as a threat.
Tara makes a pitch for Laura to stay -- she's been doing so well! she deserves to be here! -- and Ron snaps that it isn't about who deserves to be here or not anymore. Oh, really? Convenient that he's taking that line now... but yeah, he's right, the risk of injury is too great for Laura. She can't do the work. Of course, neither can Ron, and he's still here....
Tara and Helen both vote for Kristin, but the others vote for Laura. The Biggest Loser provides her with doctors and physical therapists to help her recovery. She has maintained her weight loss, her hip is getting better and she looks great. Congrats, Laura!
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends:
- Tara wins a $25,000 kitchen makeover and a years supply or product placed poultry. What if she's a renter? Who gets the kitchen makeover then? Her landlord?
- Will Tim Gunn still be the makeover maven when Project Runway moves from NBC-affiliated Bravo to Lifetime?
- What was with all the shutter pleats and tiered dresses? Why those strong horizontal lines? I know they're popular right now, but I'm not sure they were the right choice for all the ladies.
- Filipe has a plan: "If they shave my head for the makeover, I won't have to work out for the rest of the week. That's 3 to 5 ponds of hair right there!"
- Mike's brother Max is there for the makeover unveiling, and he's both proud and devastated. Poor kid -- I REALLY wish they hadn't trotted him out for the cameras so we could see him cry and shrivel up inside.
- Ron suggests that Tara is trying to keep Laura so she preserves a vote for herself. Ron, you're an ass -- I find it much more likely that Tara is in just as much denial as Laura is, and she just thinks it's not fair that Laura could get sent home for something that is beyond her control.
34 Comments
Post a comment
Find it fast
Advertisement
Zap2it Twitter Talk Recent posts
Ron is saved again, this time by a gruesome fracture in poor Laura's hip. That's the injury that ended Bo Jackson's prodigious athletic career, to put in perspective how serious this is for her. So sad, and you could feel her pain.
That said, I can't believe that TBL even gave her the option of staying. She should have been removed immediately from the game. You can't do this thing when your lower body can't bear weight. Oh well, too bad for Laura.
I think Kristin's alliance with Ron finally paid off. She didn't want to offend him, and now we see why. I still disagree, but well-played.
I didn't start out liking the Tongans, but Filipe seemed to really find a new sense of focus with Sione gone. He seems more calm overall.
The thing with Mike's brother is so sad. The kid is on an emotional razor's edge. BTW, Max isn't the only 'big one' left in that household.
I was surprised as well, that TBL didn't just send Laura home. I totally expected it to be like Survivor where a contestant has so serious an injury that they are sent home, thus no voting anyone off that week. That's how it should have been. But, at least the contestants saw it the right way. And kudos to Laura for maintaining her weight loss at home!!
How about the maniac trainer Jillian bearing some responsibility for Laura's injury. With all the "free support" given Laura, I wonder if the network didn't smell lawsuit. So far Jillian has had a mutiny, a fractured hip, and general ill will among her group. Time for her to pack it up, work her own issues out on her own, and leave the sadism off the show. ps the meltdown of Max was unforgivable. k
Enough with your negative comments about Ron! He's doing great, looked great, and he said it correctly - if the elimination was about game play, he would have voted out Kristen who is a bigger threat to Mike.
The scene with Max broke my heart. He's only 17 and I read that is why he wasn't eligible to be on the show.
GO TARA!
Agree completely with Dr. K, that Laura's stress fracture does point a finger at Jillians professionalism witht the bullying tactics, remember, "Who's the weak link? Laura! meanest-thing-I've-ever-done"?
Just hate Ron's bossiness when they have these discussions, overtalking everyone. Oh, Max has problems other than calories-in/calories-out. Maybe this is part of the hinted-at Mike's confrontation next week?
Otherwise,kind of a snoozer. I sure won't be wasting time watching "the good parts" again, there weren't any.
Small mistake in recap --- it was Mike and Felipe who carried Laura up to the scale, not Mike and Sione, as Sione was sent home last week.
At least Laura, even with a fractured hip, still goes for it at challenges. Ron has nothing broken and doesn't even put forth an effort at challenges. He's weak, especially with pushing through the physical work mentally. I don't know if he's going to sustain this at home. He seems to be doing this all for Mike and not really for himself. So, Mike's 18 and hopefully will move out of the house and go off to college at some time in the near future. What's Ron going to do then?
And yes, the scenes with Max were heartbreaking. I haven't been a Mike fan because of his Dad, but seeing him in his "big brother" role, well, it made me love him just a bit.
Does anybody else think that post-makeover Tara is a dead ringer for The Real World LA/Road Rules castmember Beth?
Seriously, people need to lay off Ron. He did the right thing last night. I just read the comments from last week where people were harping on him for being ridiculous about accusing Felipe of lying... clearly none of them watched the episode. While Ron made mention of the fact that maybe Felipe didn't need to be there, he voted for Aubrey and sent her packing. He respected the alliance with the Tongans; they didn't when they tried to boot him. I was never happier than when Laura sent Sione home. Hopefully Felipe and Helen are next.
I can't stand to watch a fat person cry about being fat (Mikes brother).
I'm sad for Laura!
Max broke my heart. I've never cried watching TV before (especially reality TV) but something about him really tore at me...
I can't believe the commenter above me.