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| SKY TOWER!!! |
No Winter Olympics, no Hop tie ins, no Subway sandwich commercials on The Biggest Loser this week. We are taking a trip down under. . .to New Zealand! Land of the Hobbits and Flight of the Conchords.
I always love Loser on the Go, and this week's episode proved not to be a disappointment. After a quick recap of Courtney and Brett saying bye-bye and Cara realizing her ass may be on the line, Ali surprises the remaining 9 players with the news of a 2 week trip to this most exotic of locales. Austin's ears perk up: You have to know he is a Tolkien fan. Has to be!
"I've heard of it!" says Kaylee, as the teams check in at the airport. A very polished and well spoken flight attendant offers a quick pop quiz for the teams to see if one person can upgrade to premium economy seating. The winner must guess the correct height of the Sky Tower, the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere. Austin guesses closest to the actual retail price (the Sky Tower is 1,076 feet tall) and gets to relax in comfort while everyone else flies in coach. For a hot second I thought he might have offered the seat to his dad. . .but heck. I probably wouldn't have either.
The players arrive in Auckland, and Ali promises them they are "in for an adventure of a lifetime". They head to the Sky Tower, where Cara greets them at the base of the structure, welcoming them to "Awkland". The players must then run up 1,027 stairs to the top of the Sky Tower where Bob is waiting for them. He offers the players two ways to leave the tower: The hard way or the easy way. The hard way is turning around and walking back down all the stairs that they just climbed up. The easy way? Bob directs them to look out the window where a terrified Jillian hangs suspended midair. The Sky Tower has a guided bungee jump that lands you safely on the ground. The trick is you have to climb onto a ledge and jump off.
Hell, no. I wouldn't ever do it. Never. I hate heights. I don't like glass elevators, cliffs, high diving boards, cliff jumps. I would never jump out of a plane or bungee jump. EVER.
All of the contestants (minus Moses, Rulon and Jay, who are still past the weight requirements) energetically volunteer to jump except for Ken, who feels very much the same way I do about heights. Somehow Bob convinces him to try it even though Bob is also extremely afraid of heights ("The only thing Bob fears more than aging is heights, Jillian shares), and we get to see Bob freaking out as he prepares for jump and his actual descent. Hilarious.
Everyone is excited that they broke past their fears, expressing how the jump felt like a metaphor for jumping into their new lives as healthy people. Moses' journey is slightly different: His father had been sent to Auckland by his grandparents to get a proper education, which led his Tongan family to end up in America. It is an emotional trip and he wishes he could share it with his father. Bob breaks the rules, giving Moses his cell phone so he can call his father, who sounds an awful lot like the Cookie Monster.
Then it is time for the workout, Kiwi style. The Losers get to sail on a racing boat, controlling the wenches to race against another boat. It looks like hard work! I also can't help but notice all the penny whistle music in the back ground. Just because we are on a boat doesn't mean that we have to play Titanic music the entire time, NBC. I mean, really. The Losers win the race, and reflect on their journey outside the ranch and into the future with the rest of their lives ahead of them.
Knowing that weigh ins on traveling episodes are historically catastrophic, Bob, Jillian, and Cara get together to work the teams out. But something is going on with the green team this week, mostly with Ken. Cara takes him to the side to talk and he totally calls her out on not being as qualified as Bob and Jillian. OUCHIE. I know in the twittersphere many don't believe that Cara has the goods, but she has kept her team safe and she is still here and Brett is not. After a pretty terse exchange, Cara promises she'll be up in Ken's grill as much as possible. "This is my chance to prove I'm just as good as Bob and Jillian," she says.
Enough of the drama! Ali meets the Losers out in the sweeping New Zealand countryside for a 5k "New Zealand style". The teams must run together and finish together to win. This is not an ordinary 5k: This 5k is over rolling hills, across beaches, and up steep sand dunes that look nearly impossible to climb. The Blue team of Moses, Olivia, and Irene win the race, but the girls step back and give their half of the prize to Kaylee so that the father/daughter team can ride in a helicopter and drink wine in the land where their family came from.
The Last Chance Workout began with old school calisthenics lead by Jillian, rounded out by a tough Yoga Bob workout, finished for Ken with Cara yelling in his face while they jogged awkwardly in place. I wondered if Ken regretted his decision to bring up that yelling thing to Cara.
Then it is time for the weigh in, New Zealand style. "All eyes are on me!" Cara falsely thinks.
Kaylee: From 168 lbs to 172 lbs- 4 lbs gained
Austin: From 263 lbs to 255 lbs- 8 lbs lost
Ken: From 253 lbs to 247 lbs- 6 lbs lost Total: 10 lbs lost, 1.46% BW
Jay: From 270 lbs to 272 lbs- 2 lbs gained
Rulon: From 318 lbs to 311 lbs- 7 lbs lost
Hannah: From 168 lbs to 164 lbs- 4 lbs lost Total: 9 lbs lost, 1.19% BW
Olivia: From 174 lbs to 172 lbs- 2 lbs lost
Irene: From 164 lbs to 161 lbs- 3 lbs lost
Moses: From 286 lbs to 286 lbs- 0 lbs lost Total: 5 lbs lost, .80% BW
"We did it! I DID IT!" says Cara, taking responsibility for her team's win.
The Blue team realizes someone is going home, and with Irene being safe from elimination, the decision lies between Olivia and Moses. The choice is hard between two crowd faves, but after Olivia pleads to stay so she can be healthy to have children, Moses asks to be sent home.
Moses has lost a total of 167 pounds when we see him next, and he travels back to New Zealand with his father to visit his roots and he gets to bungee jump off the Auckland Bridge. What's wrong with these crazy people?
Next episode: Time to compete as singles and Brett returns on a parachute all the way from America!
Want to know what Mark has to say? Here's his two cents, courtesy of DietsinReview.com!
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