Welcome to Valentine’s Day in Biggest Loser world, y’all. You’d think that in the spirit of a holiday that focuses on love and all its trappings, the mood ‘round the joint would be happy and chipper and maybe even a little swoony. But nooooo. With the arrival of the Barn people onto the official Biggest Loser campus, the feel of the place was anything but convivial. The two tribes – oops, teams – were armed and ready and loaded for bear.
It’s ironic that when the two groups were homogenized into teams of Red Shirts (Barn) and Black Shirts (Ranch), the true colors of the contestants begin to show.
Let’s start with Arthur, shall we? That poor schmo made what he thought was a strategic game-playah move, “winning” the Temptation challenge by virtually inhaling 35 pieces of chocolate candies. He ran into the room and shoved candies into his mouth at breakneck speed, looking like a squirrel storing nuts for the winder. After what he did to that piece of chicken a couple of weeks ago in another Temptation, this should not be surprising. To any of us. This maneuver gave him the power and the option to swap two of his team’s players for two players on the other side. Fine. He opted to make that swap, sending the former Green Team Jay and Jen over to the Red side in for former Pinks Deni and Sarah. Not a good move on paper or otherwise, as Jay and Jen were his team’s strongest players and Deni and Sarah, basically lesser losers.
To make matters worse, at least for him, good old Arthur copped to being the winner of the Temptation, even though the conditions of the challenge allowed him anonymity. His reasoning: he never trusted Jay or Jen and he wanted to shake things up to keep those who he considered allies close, thus protecting him and his dad Jesse and their place in the game.
Yeah. You know that segment in the Star Trek Wrath of Khan movie when Shatner lets out that very primal “KHHAAAAAAAN!” – you could almost hear the Black Team’s collective “ARRRRRRTHUURRRR!” echoing in their heads when he let loose with his ‘splainin’. As he recounted his tale later to Bob and Jillian, I think it dawned on him what he’d done and how what he thought was a strategic move was really nothing more that missed strategery and the target was now firmly on his own back.
The true colors of the very unfortunately named Q also rose to the surface. Chastised last week by the very bossy Justin for not making a quality effort, you’d think that Q would, at the least, be a little more self- aware and pick up his game. Nah. His lack of effort showed on the scale with yet another low number and his abrasive behavior came into full view during the team challenge, as he yelled and berated his teammates (including the aforementioned Justin) as they tried to complete a task. Way to be supportive, blockhead. No surprise that after the Red team got smoked in the weigh-in by the Black crew, Q was voted off the island – oops, ranch – and sent home. Nice to see that he was doing fairly well with his weight loss at home and nice that we won’t have to see his annoying self on our telly screens anymore.
Random randomness:
• Did you get a good look at that set decoration for the Temptation challenge? Someone bought out all the inventory in the Valentine’s section at the party store for this one. And seeing the looks on the contestants’ faces as they assessed the Cocoa-Cabana was priceless. Arthur’s eyes lit up, bright as the gold foil surrounding the chocolate map on the underside of the lid on a Whitman sampler.
• Here’s to Moses for being the new record holder of fastest time to losing 100 pounds – six weigh-ins! Couldn’t happen to a nicer and more sincere and genuine fellow. And that genuineness extends to that very loud burp he let out after his stint (21 pieces) in the chocolate Temptation room. Nice work, sound editors.
• Purple Hannah talking about why she hates Valentine’s Day made me grin – I’ve been there, chica. She is adorable and is fast becoming my reality show platonic girl crush.
• The two teams working out together in the gym was edited to look like one hot mess. The Red team is loud and disruptive; the Black team is territorial and slightly unsettled. This will be interesting to watch as time goes on.
• How about Deni missing her daughter’s wedding, which was held the first week of the show? Wow. She bugs me for some reason, but I couldn’t help but be moved as she watched scenes from the wedding as part of her video letter from home.
• I love Bob Harper. That is all.
• Arthur and Jesse doing their part of the challenge, balancing on the telephone pole reminded me of the log rolling competition in one of my guilty pleasure, the Lumberjack Games. Good times, good times. And PS: Jesse totally could be the brother of Famous Amos of chocolate chip cookie fame. Hmmmmm. …
• Finally! A product placement in-show! Here’s to Big G cereals!
Quote of the night: “We walk into the temptation challenge and essentially it looks like a Mafia prom.” – Olivia
Clacked by Jane Graves 
on Feb 09, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
You hit the nail on the head! This episode was redonk. Especially because it’s not “real” V-day when they filmed this, right? Unless it was a full year ago. Also, I am totally with you on pinkie-gone-black team mom missing her daughter’s wedding. WTF? These people seem to like their BL “family” more than their real ones.
I was so sad when Arthur and the others shoveled the candy in their mouths … it’s like the show is saying, “You can either have NO candy, ever, or you can be a gluttonous freak who needs help. There’s no middle ground.”
And also … I know people were probably surprised when the old pink and the old green teams lost a ton of weight on “the other side,” but really, anytime you switch up a workout it’s bound to have a good effect weight-loss wise.
LOVE your write-ups!