BL9- week 2- General Hospital

EPISODE TWO IN BRIEF:

Number of mind bullets used: 3 (Mike, John, and Maria)
Number of bleeding contestants: 1 (Maria)

Number of times Ashley was shown falling down: 2
Worst Commercial: Nutella spread- a "healthy" alternative for children
Least amount of weight lost: Melissa- gained one pound
Most amount of weight lost: Mike- lost 11 pounds
Number of contestants sent home: 1 (half of purple)
Bob's new "Extra" girlfriend: Andrea
How much Daris' hair weighs:6 lbs
Quote of the week: "I'm gonna creep up like a ninja on their asses!" Ashley


Ah, the dreaded week 2. As all viewers and contestants of BL know, after week 1's monster numbers, week 2 numbers are a little on the wee woo side. But there is also another reason why this week was so dreadful: Dr. Huizenga (hereafter known as Dr. H) spent a lot of time with the contestants letting them know just how important their health really is to them. And showing them how their negative choices have effected their bodies up until this point.


Jillian starts the episode, perched on equipment, trying to decide who she is going to single out from the pack to attack with her mind bullets. She focuses on newly single John, half of the brown team who lost his brother to elimination last week. She puts him to work on a rubber tire and gets him to open up about why he is fat. He reveals he feels his family is cursed, and wants desperately to break the cycle so his own son won't feel the loss that John felt when his father passed away.


Bob, flexing his new tough guy 'tude, fires some mind bullets of his own at white team's Mike. Bob gives him an offer he can't refuse, and Mike gives him a Godfather kiss on the cheek. Marking him for later, perhaps.



Then all the BLers gather to talk with Dr. H so he can give them the news: THIS group is the sickest group that he's ever seen. He points out that he says this every season, but this time he means it. At least until season 10 rolls around.


He confronts purple team Patti first. She has been dealing with type 2 diabetes for over 20 years. A disease that is reversible with diet and exercise has grown into such an issue that Patti now suffers from neuropathy in her feet. She claims she has been in denial that diet and exercise would work for her.


On that note, Dr. H passes out tasks to each team to show what happens when your health gets out of control.


White Team: Watch a normal weight man simulate your weight. Mike and Maria join Dr. H and Bob, and Bob straps on 303 pounds- the extra weight that Mike is carrying around with him. Bob soon complains that his knees and hips are hurting, and that "This is not a life. This is a burden". Mike realizes, "This is embarrassing. What have I done to myself?"


Purple Team: Watch a special message about how your health is hurting more than just yourself. Patti and Stephanie watch a video where Dr. H does a house call to their family- the husband and daughter who, incidentally, are both in good shape. Dr. H points out that Patti is on nine different meds and that Stephanie is following in her mother's footsteps at a much more accelerated rate. Her sister begs her to stop and really listen. Her father doesn't want his wife or daughter to die before he does. Patti vows that they are going to take their lives back, and Dr. H states, "We'll show you the road- you have to walk on it."


Good advice for Erik Chopin, no?


Red Team: Find out your true cost of being overweight. Dr. H meets Lance and Melissa to discuss Lance losing his job due to his weight. He was a commercial diver (what a cool job!) and lost his job because he had gained so much weight and could no longer pass the diver test. Their weight gain was also causing a rift in their marriage. With the visual aide of an armored truck, Dr. H shows the couple that they would be losing over $3 million because of their weight related issues.


Orange Team: Watch how your old unhealthy diet effects a healthy person. Darus and Cheryl meet up with Jillian and a table filled with all sorts of Taco Bell badness. Apparently, they were not on the Taco Bell Drive Through Diet. (What the hell is that crap, anyway? Drive through diet. Geez.) Jillian has to eat the food while she talks to them. It is priceless to watch Jillian trying to make the food healthier by picking off the extra flour tortilla. She just gives up and ends up spitting the food out in the trash. "This shit is not food," she exclaims. Cheryl and Darus realize that convenience is the enemy, and they must be proactive in their own recovery by learning how to shop and plan their meals in advance.


We take a break from General Hospital to meet up with Ali for a challenge! The teams must walk across a balance beam over a pool with a ball. Whichever team gets all their balls across the pool first wins immunity. The losing team gets two pounds added to their final weigh in.


White team's Maria is scared of water, and she totally wigs out and face plants on the concrete, causing copious amounts of blood to spurt all over the place. Her son, Mike, decides not to finish the challenge and instead goes with his mom to the hospital.


The winners of the challenge are the Red team. The White team gets the disadvantage. I thought that Maria may have lost about two pounds in blood, but we will see.


After his trip to the hospital, Bob sits down with Mike to tell him to stop being such a momma's boy and to focus on himself. "How can you help anyone else if you can't help yourself?" he asks.


Then it's Jillian's turn to focus on Maria. After grilling her about being weak, she takes Maria to the pool and makes her face her fear of water in a bizarre Jillianesque baptism. "That's why I love this job," she says.


Quick Extra sugar free gum break with Bob and his new spokes model Andrea, and then it is back to General Hospital.


Dr. H does more consultations with the Black team (Drea has 3 1/4 inches of fat around her intestines! Darrell is the sickest man on campus!), the White team (Mike has tiny lungs!), the Orange team (Cheryl's inner age is 75 and she is a smoker!), the Grey team (Sam moves 100 times an hour when he sleeps!), and the Pink team (Ashley's inner age is 57 and surprise! She is a diabetic!) and then it is time for the last chance workout that consists of Jillian pushing Darus down and Ashley falling on the ground again. What is wrong with this girl's balance?


Then it is time for the final weigh in!


Miggy and Migdalia: 8 and 4 pounds lost
Sam and Koli: 9 and 8 pounds lost
Daris and Cheryl: 7 and 3 pounds lost
Andrea and Darrell: 5 and 10 pounds lost
John: 10 pounds lost
Melissa and Lance: 1 pound gained and 8 pounds lost (GAME PLAY!)
Stephanie and Patti: 3 and 4 pounds lost
Ashley and Sherry: 8 and 6 pounds lost
Mike and Maria: 10 and 11 pounds lost (2 pound disadvantage)

Patti and Stephanie are below the yellow line, and Patti asks to be sent home. At the reveal, Patti has lost 43 more pounds and is looking and feeling great! She is now on one medication, and is working out at the gym with her other daughter and taking dancing classes with her husband.

The game play cherry has been popped with the red team. What will happen next week? Bum Bum Bum.