Anyway, since Nicole was voted off by a slim margin last week, with Filipe, Sione and Helen all voting for Ron, there was hell to be paid by Ron, who Kristin said is competitive, manipulative, and that they call him “The Godfather.” Wow. But check this out….when they all went back to the dorms, Mike and Ron said they felt betrayed, and Ron said “Thanks to all of you who voted to keep me here, but for those who didn’t, may you be struck down and die.” Holy crap, did Ron just say that? Then he went on some rant to Filipe about Filipe lying to Ron’s face, and Filipe didn’t defend himself, but he was clearly upset that Ron called him a liar. Let’s face it, this is a game and now that game was on.

So the initial challenge this week was a gameplay inducer if there ever was one. There were about 100 covered silver trays, and under each one was either a high calorie snack, or a few packs of sugarless gum with $500 or $1000. But there was one that held “the golden ticket,” which granted that person the one and only vote at this week’s weigh in, provided that person was above the yellow line. But as the contestants opened a tray, they had to eat what was under the cover before moving on to another tray. The calories could, and would, add up fast. But nobody wanted somebody else to have that golden ticket, so they all indulged, knowing that their trainers would be pissed. Well, Kristin actually ate maybe one snack and then stopped, thinking that if she ate less than everyone else, she had a better chance of avoiding potential elimination. I like Kristin, and now that Ron has been exposed as a gameplayer as well as his son Mikey, I want Kristin to win.

Anyway, Laura wound up with the golden ticket, and she immediately tried to convince her game partner Tara to throw the weigh in so that Laura would have an easy choice. But Tara wasn’t sure she wanted to disrespect the reason they were all there, and feared that Laura might fall below the line with her anyway. Needless to say, Bob and Jillian were extremely annoyed, and vowed to make everyone work extra hard in the gym that week.

Kristin then brought Laura breakfast in bed, which was quite hilarious. Then Jillian brought her team to Subway for some product placement, and Jerry and Coleen from last season were on hand to show everyone how they were both still living the healthy lifestyle they learned at the ranch.

Then it was time for the main challenge, which took place at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, one of the most storied football venues in the country. But they weren’t there to play football. The teams, broken into men vs. women, had to run up and down the stairs, ultimately grabbing their own colored flag to bring back to the starting point. The two players who brought their flags first would face off in a second heat to determine the winner, who would claim the prize of a family spa vacation. Not surprisingly, it came down to Sione and Tara. But for as much as Sione kept saying he wanted to win, he was once again no match for the fiery Tara. Okay, so we’re back to this again. I’m now fully convinced that Tara threw the challenge last week to make everyone like her more.

They then showed Kristin going for a walk with Helen, Sione and Filipe, ironically the alliance that voted to send Ron home the previous week. Kristin kept her mouth shut when Filipe asked for Kristin to join their alliance, and that was smart. Then there was another product placement as Bob treated his team to the DVD of “Marley and Me” while showing them the difference between air popped popcorn and movie theater popcorn. I’ll tell you what the difference is, Bob…..your version is like eating unsalted cardboard while the theater version is crunchy, oily and wonderfully salty. Of course, that’s why I have a bit of a spare tire, so I won’t say Bob is wrong.

Then came the weigh in. Mikey went first and lost 5 pounds, which is not what he wanted. Ron lost 9, which he was happy about but not happy that he did better than Mikey. Whatever, dude. Tara was next and lost only 3 pounds. Jillian was pissed and thought that Tara purposely threw the weigh in, but Tara vowed that she didn’t and I have to say I believed her. Kristin lost 6 pounds which made me really happy, but Helen lost 2 and was in danger of falling below the line. Filipe lost 7 but Sione only lost 4, putting he and Helen at the bottom. Now it was Laura’s turn. Would she fall below the line and lose her vote, or would she be faced with the task of voting off either Helen or Sione?
Laura lost 8 pounds, which not only gave her that one vote, but put her in first place for the week. Wow.

So as she contemplated what to do and listened to Helen say Laura was like a daughter to her and Sione say she was like a sister to him, Sione and Filipe then did some weird Hawaiian dance and chant for good luck. Then as they showed them at the chopping block, Mrs. Mike said something that made total sense….that is, who would Tara want voted off? Clearly that would be Sione, her biggest rival and a big threat to win it all. Helen is not going to win, and she will likely get herself voted off soon. And sure enough, Laura used her power to vote Sione off and send him home.

Sione was at peace with the decision, and they showed him at home with his family being more active and being a better father and husband than he had been before. Good for him. But he’s also gone down from 372 pounds to 235. And trust me, dude is not done yet. I’m quite sure Sione is going to battle Nicole for that $100K.

So that’s it. We’re down to the teams of Ron and Mike and Tara and Laura, with individual players Kristin, Filipe and Helen. Ron was shown telling Mikey that having two of the players who voted for Ron last week fall below the line was the perfect scenario for both of them. But I think Ron is setting himself up to turn the house against he and his son. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, aren’t you all so thrilled that gameplay is back? Ugh.

But Vicky went on to call Amy a “backstabbing bitch” and posted a “REVENGE” sign on her dorm room door. Trainer Bob Harper was shocked about Amy’s choice, but he wanted to talk to her and see what her reasoning was. When Amy explained it, Bob understood and also told Amy she had a great shot at winning. But Bob also wanted his “blue” team (remember we’re in individual competition now, but blue still trains with Bob and black with Jillian Michaels) to get along. He also thought that the whole “revenge” thing with Vicky would bite her in the ass.

So before the first challenge, host Alison Sweeney shows up dressed in ’80’s gear and announced that it’s ’80’s week on the ranch. That meant they had to all dress in ’80’s workout clothes and listen to ’80’s music and answer trivia questions from that decade. Ugh.

So both teams were shuffled off to 24 Hour Fitness to do break dancing and step aerobics training, all looking ridiculous. Then came the challenge in which the contestants had to hold up buckets of water equal to half their weight, and had weight added if they answered a trivia question wrong or if someone else answered correct. It came down to Michelle and Renee, and Michelle told her mom she would buy her a purse if she let go, which she did. Michelle’s prize? Among others, the main one was a choice between $5000 or a 1 pound penalty to an opponent at the weigh-in.

Jillian and Bob then worked their teams senseless at the last chance workout, especially for Jillian, who only became angrier when her team members started crying. Yikes. Amy was then shown apologizing to Vicky, which I thought was completely unnecessary, and Vicky said she still didin’t trust Amy. I get that, but I don’t blame Amy one bit for voting Brady off last week.

Then came the weigh-in, and Michelle decided to give Vicky the 1 pound penalty. Ha! Michelle and Renee both lost 8 pounds, and Ed lost 11. Then came Heba at 7, which put her in last place for the moment. Coleen only lost 3 pounds, putting her in last after which she started to cry, knowing she didn’t have much of a chance to stay in the game now. Amy went next and dropped 8 pounds, putting her in first place. Then came Vicky and with the penalty she lost 6 pounds and was below the yellow line with Coleen. So I started doing the math in my head. Ed and Heba would vote for Coleen, and Michelle and Renee would vote for Vicky. Once again Amy owned the swing vote. Would she pull the trigger on Vicky, something you couldn’t blame her for after being called a backstabbing bitch…or would she go back to blue team loyalty and to Bob Harper loyalty and vote off Coleen? My money was on Vicky, but she instead voted off Coleen. Wow. But Amy saw Coleen as a bigger threat to her winning it all. Personally, I think Amy screwed up this time. Vicky was a bigger threat, and she is conniving and mean and, well, a backstabbing bitch. This time Amy didn’t heed her mom’s advice of the previous week, and it could cost her.

Coleen has lost a ton of weight at home, and it was a happy, tearful reunion with her dad Jerry and with her boyfriend Bob. She really looked great…..so congrats Coleen!

So there you have it….we’ve got Michelle and Renee, Ed and Heba, Vicky and Amy. Suddenly we’re barreling toward the finale, and I really really really hope Vicky is not in it. I also hope they don’t start adding contestants back in, because it’s been confusing enough. Further, Vicky had better be nice to Amy now and apologize herself. But she won’t. Grrrrrrrrr. See you all next week!

Anyway, so last night’s episode began with the contestants road-tripping to the Grand Canyon.
Host Alison Sweeney met up with them halfway there at a convenient store in the middle of the desert to offer up the first challenge. Ali pulled up in a beautiful RV, and announced that the winner of this challenge would stay in the RV and everyone else would be camping. The challenge involved convenience store food, and guessing how many calories were in each item Ali put on the counter. There were three rounds, and Ed and Heba (orange team) won all three, with their teammates conceding them the victory after two of those rounds.

When the group arrived at the campgrounds, which were pretty desolate, they realized that their trainers were not there to guide them and that they had to work out on their own. Most of them just walked and did nothing else. The next day came the next challenge, a kayak game in which one team member had to row out from a dock, and the other teammate had to slowly let out a rope attached to the kayak. After a certain point, Ali announced that they had to start pulling each other in, and I do mean each other. As each kayak hit the dock, that team was eliminated. Once again, Ed and Heba won, and their prize was their own RV like the one they were staying in! Damn, what a prize.

At dinner that night, the contestants celebrated Coleen’s 24th birthday and everyone had nice things to say about her. They brought out a cake but didn’t say if anyone took a bite!

Upon arriving back at the ranch, the trainers had one day in which to work with their teams before the weigh-in. Both of them were pissed off about the lack of working out at the Grand Canyon, and worked everyone extra-hard this time. But Jerry (yellow team) was having leg problems that doctors feared could be serious. They took him to the hospital and found out he had a torn hamstring.

Then came the weigh-in. And instead of two teams that would be below the yellow line, Ali announced that only one team would be below the line this week…and the teams would not be voting off anyone. But this time, the team below the yellow line would have to decide which teammate would go home and which would stay. Ouch. So we knew they would be breaking up the teams, but didn’t know how soon.

Vicky and Brady (brown team) lost only 1.51% and looked like they might be the team below the yellow line, but then Coleen and Jerry went last and while Coleen lost 7 pounds, her dad gained 2, or a team total of 0.89%. This was sad, because Jerry really needs this regimen to lose the weight he needs to to become healthy and basically to stay alive. But he wants Coleen to stay, and they decide he will go home and continue the routine. I have a feeling Coleen is going to go a long way this season.

Afterward, they show Jerry at work in Cleveland, and he has lost 70 pounds in all, down from 380. Dr. Huizenga pays him a visit and says he’s so proud that Jerry not only has lost all that weight, but his vitals are much better and he has stopped taking four of the five medications he was on. How awesome, and what a reminder of how powerful this show is. But again, stop messing with the format every week!

I’m done whining, see you all next week and get on that treadmill!