S16.E04: The Lottery

[Tara Ariano]

A lottery challenge takes place, in which one contestant is selected to go home with a trainer for the week—and the chosen person's weight will be the only one that counts for the team's weigh-in. Meanwhile, the remaining contestants try to keep up with their plans at the ranch without their trainer; and two eliminated players compete at Comeback Canyon.

[bigskygirl]

Looks like an one hour episode tonight.

[bigskygirl]

Mike is a class act. If he does go home, he will do well with his weight loss and other parts of his life.

[pally]

I can easily see Mike going on a run in Comeback Canyon.  Maybe its because he only retired 3 years ago but despite the extra pounds it is easy to see the athlete in Damien.

[newyawk]

Blake just continues to annoy me. When she speaks, I could swear she is missing a chromosome. And that was a weird stance on the scale..most people center themselves and face forward, she stood off to the side with her weight shifted to one side, looking at Ali. I am SO IRKED that she was safe this week. UGH. 

 

I don't see Shandra repeating her 7 pound loss next week. 

 

Well done, JJ!  Very impressive. Ditto Rob, Matt, Sonya and Toma.

 

I was so, so happy for Damien (who has a gorgeous home and family!) that he was able to knock it out of the park for his team like he wanted to. I'm guessing Jessie monitored his weight throughout the week to keep him on point. Super job.

 

Do the contestants on the ranch have access to scales during the week or do they have to rely on guesswork and staying on track from weigh-in to weigh-in?

 

Mike is a workhorse. I love him, he is a sweetheart and he gets it done. But I wish he hadn't fallen on his sword like that. He ALSO deserves to be there, every bit as much as his teammates, and much more than Blake. ( heh.) Hope he continues to kick it at Comeback Canyon.

 

Good on Rob for bucking the team and voting NotMike.

 

Emmy has a really cute face and is starting to look really great. I really love that she is now running 5Ks with her family. I have to get my old butt to the gym. Someday I shall be a runner. Maybe.

[Jersey Guy 87]

I grew up in Mendham, NJ, so it was weird seeing Damien working out at my old high school (although the athletic fields look like they've been updated since I went there).  One person representing the team is either going to knock it out of the park or else fail miserably - it's all on you so if you do the work and don't eat too much you won't be dragged down by someone else on your team.  Damien's only been out of professional football for three years, I would think he's still got some muscles left.

 

If Mike asked to be voted out then I don't understand why Rob didn't vote for him.  Not that it made any difference, I suppose.

[ProfCrash]

I would have loved to have seen Mike stay but I appreciate his thought process. He seems to think that he will be able to succeed at home and the others don't think that they can. If he is right, he will have a good shot at the stay at home prize.

 

I have always thought that this show would work better without the prize element to it and I applaud that there are others on the show who feel the same way. Mike seems to have gotten over his block and feels like he is on a good path. He really did seem to be in a good place the day after his sons birthday which makes me think that he is in a different place then when he arrived. I do appreciate that the show did not show footage from the day of his sons birthday. I hope that they just did not film him on that day or if they did, it was generic gym stuff and they decided not to show it. Either way, it was classy and not something I have come to expect from the show.

 

I did love watching Emmy at home with her kids. The mud run looked like fun, probably a mini one especially for families. Hopefully she remembers that she is exercising for herself, her health, and to play with her kids.

 

Rob didn't vote for him because they were so close and he knew that the others would vote for him. I don't think anyone was offended that Rob didn't vote for Mike and that they all understood why he did what he did. I cannot remember all of their ages but Rob strikes me as emotionally the youngest person on the Red team and he forged a strong mentor/mentee relationship with Mike. It sounded like Mike filled a void in Rob's life and Rob simply could not vote for him. I have no problems with that.

 

As much as I dislike the voting element, this year the people they cast seem not to be massive assholes. They appear to be respectful of one another and I don't see any of the alliance, bullying crap that we have seen in the past. I can get behind that. I do wonder if any of them have picked up on the fact that the person leaving is not being told that they are not the Biggest Loser.

Edited October 3, 2014 by ProfCrash

[sunrisepink]

Yay for the "condensed" 1-hour episode. A lot less crying. Damien really knocked it out of the park which impressed me. I was actually a bit surprised that more of the contestants didn't WANT to go home for the week. It seems like a week at home with family support and 1-on-1 training would be beneficial at this point in the game. It was for Damien, at least.

[Primetimer]

Damien's number is up in all sorts of ways as he heads home with Jessie, then represents Blue at weigh-in. Can he carry the team?

Read the story

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Yay for the "condensed" 1-hour episode.

ITA, but the editing was inconsistent, as though it was a last-minute cutdown due to a schedule change.

[ali59]

Ah Mike!  That elimination really got to me.  I'm a little teary.  I hope he does go on a run at last chance canyon.  Good for Emmy for signing up and doing the 5k's!

[auntjess]

 

Does anyone else hear the words "the lottery" and immediately go to a pitch-dark Shirley Jackson place where somebody's getting stoned to death?

Yes!  And it would be a good way to have a player elimination.

I'm also sorry that Blake is safe, but then again she's so much younger than the others.

Which team did Damien play for?

[Mu Shu]

Mike was the only one who is physically showing  weight loss.   They really need to switch to 1 month weigh ins for show purposes for at least three months.

 

No one deserves or is entitled to fat camp any more than the other person.    Hate it when they do this,   just bring back the red line, period.   Lowest  percentage person leaves.

 

Does Damien have a really bad tattoo of Kentucky on his moob? 

[pally]

I thought Damien's state tat was of his home state of Virginia.  He played for the Patriots, Jets and Lions.  He retired after tearing his Achilles. 

[jonesingjay]

If Mike asked to be voted out then I don't understand why Rob didn't vote for him.  Not that it made any difference, I suppose.

 

He didn't want him to leave. Even though he knew Mike would be voted out according to the group agreement. I think Rob really bonded with Mike, and not voting to oust him was maybe a way to show it. 

[Dittohead]

Can the players just stand still and not rock from side to side?  They give me motion sickness.

 

I thought Sami looked super cute with the short, curly blonde hair during the weigh-ins.

[Eeksquire]

I just cannot stand Rob.  Something about his outsized reactions to everything make me feel like he is SUPER playing to the cameras at every minute - the crocodile tears in the elimination room did nothing to contradict that impression.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I just cannot stand Rob.  Something about his outsized reactions to everything make me feel like he is SUPER playing to the cameras at every minute - the crocodile tears in the elimination room did nothing to contradict that impression.

Rob is head rugby coach and a residence manager at a university. I don't see how that kind of behavior is going to reflect well on him. Is more camera time really that important to him?

[editorgrrl]

I can easily see Mike going on a run in Comeback Canyon.

In the first episode, Mike said the only way anyone could take him out was on a stretcher. I really hope he gets that drive back, but I'm worried he'll just give up again—especially if he's up against another member of the red team.

Mike needs to learn that he is at least as worthy and deserving of help as anybody else. In fact, he's a much better human being than most.

If he falls on his own sword just to give Rob or Blake another week, I will be pissed.

[Eeksquire]

 

Is more camera time really that important to him?

Any publicity is good publicity? Or something?

[Mrsjumbo]

I just cannot stand Rob. Something about his outsized reactions to everything make me feel like he is SUPER playing to the cameras at every minute - the crocodile tears in the elimination room did nothing to contradict that impression.

[Mrsjumbo]

I agree. There is no moderate calm with this guy. He's either super pissed, or weeping or jumping for joy. And I still say he looks like he's got anger management problems. Very immature.

I found this episode boring. Just a lot of same- old, same-old. And I still don't know all of the contestants. And again the new person beats the previous person at Comeback Canyon. I really hope this continues to happen all season, so they don't repeat this next year (or come up with a new, more fair way of doing it).

It irked me that Mike volunteered to leave. He was only there for a few weeks & he's giving up? Maybe he thinks he's being noble. But it is a great opportunity to be there & he took that chance away from someone else that didn't get picked to be on the show that might have fought harder to stay.

[Meraji]

Blake just continues to annoy me. When she speaks, I could swear she is missing a chromosome. And that was a weird stance on the scale..most people center themselves and face forward, she stood off to the side with her weight shifted to one side, looking at Ali. I am SO IRKED that she was safe this week. UGH.

It's been a few days and I immediately deleted this off the dvr after watching, but didn't Blake have her foot in a walking boot/cast, so when she took it off to weigh-in she had to favor the injured foot?  Since that's not a real scale anyway it's stupid that she was required to take the boot off for the cameras at all. But, I agree with you that Blake annoys me. I'm not sure how she qualified for this season at all. She's there trying to recapture her glory days of, what, last year? 

 

And furthermore, I'm disappointed in the show for continuing to emphasize only weight loss when they have former athletes who were strong and fit, but not necessarily skinny, when they were competing. Why can't they examine or reward muscle-growth or change in body fat percentage and fitness. And coming off a year with a scary skinny winner they had the opportunity to change course without bailing on the show, but they didn't. It's same old, same old. Winner will be the skinniest at the end. Blech.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Meraji

[newyawk]

Good point, now that you mention it, I did forget that Blake had an injury.

 

Good point about the focus as well. Maybe a better idea would be for the trainers to establish a healthy target weight for each person, instead of just them losing as much as possible while at the ranch which is the unwritten and unofficial way things are. Establish a challenge per show which determines which team sends someone home instead of weightloss. Then at the end if you lose too much and go past that target weight, like on the Price Is Right, you lose the game, lol. 

[Eeksquire]

 

It irked me that Mike volunteered to leave. He was only there for a few weeks & he's giving up? Maybe he thinks he's being noble. But it is a great opportunity to be there & he took that chance away from someone else that didn't get picked to be on the show that might have fought harder to stay.

I HATE when people do this! "They need to be here more than me!" Really? Then why did you go on the show to begin with? There are surely THOUSANDS of people that "need to be there" more than you!

 

All that said, I was glad that the show was only an hour this week, but wonder how they'll handle that format and squeeze a challenge in as well.

[bigskygirl]

I do not think Mike is giving up. He probably has learn a lot from being on the ranch for a short period of time, and he probably would do well at home. At least he is not one of those contestants who cannot stand to be away from the ranch or trainer for five minutes without falling apart or expects everyone else to give up their spots on the ranch because their sob story is worse or they have children at home.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Establish a challenge per show which determines which team sends someone home instead of weightloss. Then at the end if you lose too much and go past that target weight, like on the Price Is Right, you lose the game, lol.

I don't think they'd have the time for a weekly challenge now that they've cut the show back down to an hour. No reason, though, why they couldn't end the season with something like a triathlon for the top three weight-losers. If you lose too much, you're probably not going to be in shape to win that.

[newyawk]

Is it permanently cut back to an hour? Bad idea. I think it was just for the one week, wasn't it?

[dustoffmom]

Not sure about permanently but this week and next are listed as being only one hour each.

[auntiemel]

When I was watching Damien agonizing over not having told his mother that he loved her enough, I really wanted to say to him - imagine if the situation were slightly shifted and, God forbid, you had died suddenly. Can you imagine any possible scenario where you would want to see one of your children suffering like you are suffering? How would you feel, knowing that they were torturing themselves over whether you knew they loved you? Wouldn't you just want to wrap your arms around them and tell them how much you loved them, and that you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt how much they loved you, too? Because I'm sure that's what your mom felt about you, as well!
 

I mean, you could see in his face how much that guy adores his kids. Maybe thinking of the situation from the parent's perspective would have some meaning for him.