At the start, they showed the remaining five after Kristin was eliminated, with Filipe clearly keeping his mouth shut but clearly pissed at Ron’s “Godfather” gameplay. Mikey correctly said his dad was “playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.” Then trainer Bob Harper asked Ron point blank if he talked Mikey into voting Kristin off, and Ron flat-out lied to Bob’s face the way he lied to Alison’s face after Kristin was sent packing. Bob was pissed.

Then Alison had the final 5 face a big-screen TV of their journey so far, and didn’t we all just see this a few weeks ago? Come on…this show needs to be an hour, tops. Then Tara, Helen and Mikey put on “skinny outfits” they brought with them, and all impressed each other, blah blah blah. Then they all went to visit Dr. H and surprise, they are all healthier, blah blah blah. Not to disrespect the show or Dr. H, but tell me something I don’t know. Still, good for them.

Then came the challenge, in which the contestants had to pile their original weight back onto themselves and traverse giant sand hills. I am out of breath just writing that. The winner would have, like last week, the choice of a one-pound advantage or $10K…but this time, because the producers are on to Tara and know she will win, the second-place finisher would win the prize Tara didn’t choose. Ooh, good thinking guys! As always, Tara fell behind the pack and then caught up and blew past Mikey and Filipe and won by a mile or more. Then Mikey and Filipe went to find Ron on hill #6 and helped him the rest of the way. Don’t think that’s going to help you in this game, Filipe.

Before the last chance workout, it was “train the trainer” and everyone had a chance to torture Bob and Jillian, which was pretty funny, especially as Bob repeatedly said “Shut up, Filipe!” After the workout it was weigh-in time. Tara chose a one-pound advantage, happily giving Mikey $10,000. Then Alison interviewed both trainers as well as every contestant, something Mrs. Mike and I forwarded through.

Ron went first and lost an astonishing 9 pounds, but would it be enough? Filipe was next and lost 10 pounds, or over 4% of Filipe. He went “Wooooooohhh!!” and I did it along with him, because I was now pulling for this guy. Helen went next and lost 7 pounds, and has crossed the 100-pound weight loss plateau…but more importantly, she was for the moment in first place. Then Mikey went and lost 11 pounds, and now I was fearing for Filipe, because at this point he and Ron were at the bottom. It was down to Tara, who pulled an 8-pound loss, 9 pounds with the one-pound advantage. That put her in the lead, and pushed Filipe and Ron below the line. Dammit! That clearly meant Filipe was going home, because he was “the bigger threat.”

Now we all know Mikey was going to vote for Filipe and not his dad, so it came down to Helen and Tara. They both rambled on about the game but that it was such a tough decision, blah blah blah. But come on, we all knew which way they would vote. Filipe went on and on about how they shouldn’t vote off the big threat, that they should welcome the competition, but that didn’t matter…Mikey and Helen voted for Filipe and that was it. I’m sure Tara’s vote went that way as well, but it didn’t matter.

The good here….everyone in the final five has lost 100 pounds or more. The bad…we have a final four of two evil gameplayers, an cruel mother who sent her daughter home early in the competition and who has a tequila-swilling habit, and a girl who keeps rambling about how much she believes in herself now and who wins EVERY FREAKING CHALLENGE there is. By default, I have to pull for Tara now…she is in no way a blatant gameplayer, she is just tough and determined and does play the game, but quietly.

But like last season, the final show will not be a Final Four but a Final Three. There is one more weigh-in, after which America will vote off one of two who fall below the yellow line. Yes! After everyone goes home for 30 days and comes back to weigh in, we will all have a chance to make an impact. Nothing would bum The Godfather out more than Mikey not making the finale, so here’s hoping Mikey falls below the line with Tara so we can all vote Mikey off and Ron can’t throw the finale. Even if Ron and Mikey fall below the line, I implore you all to vote Mikey off..he’s become incredibly cocky, knows his dad has protected him the whole time, and Ron and his lying, self-righteous self should hurt the way he made Kristin hurt.

I’ve said what I had to say…we’ll see how it plays out….and please leave your comments below!

Then they had a game show type challenge with the editor of Good Housekeeping, in which the contestants had to answer nutrition related questions. It came down to Mike and Kristin, and the tiebreaker was having to guess the number of calories in a fast food fish sandwich without going over. Kristin guessed like 400 and Mikey guessed 635, and the actual amount was 640. Wow! So Mikey won, but then the fact that some of the competitors didn’t do so well angered Bob Harper to the point of him wanting his team to videotape a day of their eating habits.

They showed Mikey doing a product placement with plastic bags, and he said that when he goes to college, he’ll be able to cook chicken breasts in these plastic bags in his dorm. Which made me think of something–what exactly is going to happen to Mikey when he discovers beer? I’m just sayin’!

Then came the big challenge, which was another terrifying game in which each contestant would be lifted 45 feed in the air in a cage, by a crane. Are you kidding me? They had to hold on to a single rope, giving those with upper body strength the advantage. Well, unless you’re Tara, who we all know is going to win every challenge. Tara made some comment about not having the upper body strength of everyone else, and that there was no way she was winning this one. Yeah, right. Of course, I was right, Tara was wrong and she won again. All I have to say about that is “ANNOYING!” I really wanted Tara to be below the line this week so everyone would vote her off once and for all.

Then they showed Bob reviewing the video of Ron, Kristin and Filipe eating their daily meals….and Bob was pissed because his team was not eating enough calories. That’s a good lesson for those of you doing this at home…if you are working out intensely, you need fuel in the form of lean protein, good carbs and good fat. Lettuce and carrot sticks won’t do it.

Then they showed Mikey getting upset with Jillian, but his frustration had been buidling up. Mikey admitted that he needed to talk to Ron about why Ron ballooned up to over 400 pounds and never did anything about it, and why he let both his sons do the same. Ron took it like a man, and admitted he shouldn’t have let it come to this.

Then came the weigh in and Tara shocked everyone by choosing the prize of $10,000 instead of a one-pound advantage at this weigh-in. Host Allison Sweeney played with Tara’s mind, and asked Tara again if she wanted the money before stepping on the scale. Tara said yes, and she weighed in, losing 5 pounds. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she made the right call. And I have to watch her another week on the show, which means she is going to do two things–start crying and whining that everyone is gunning for her, and win another stupid challenge. Ugh.

Then Ron weighed in, and lost 4 pounds, putting him below 300 for the first time since he was like 12. Good for him, but maybe not….and more on that in a minute. Helen lost just one pound, putting her in danger of falling below the yellow line. Mike lost 8, Filipe 3 and then it was Kristin’s turn. Kristin, who was lucky to have stuck around another week, GAINED a pound. That put her at the bottom along with Helen.

Before everyone voted, Kristin was shown talking to Ron, and Ron re-iterated that he would never write Kristin’s name on a card, that he promised Kristin’s mom Cathy he would “protect” Kristin. However, this vote was going to come down to Ron’s son Mikey. If Mikey voted for Helen, Kristin would have three votes, because Filipe would surely vote for Helen and Ron would too. But if Mikey chose Kristin, the tiebreaker would send Kristin home because she gained weight this week. Ron then went to talk to his son, and told him he should vote Kristin off because she was a bigger threat…but he made it worse by saying that he should make sure Tara is on the same page. Wow. Ron was true to his own word, but he basically stabbed Kristin in the back. Not surprisingly, Tara voted for Kristin, Filipe voted for Helen, Ron voted for Helena and Mikey voted for Kristin. Alison asked Ron if he knew how Mikey was voting and Ron said “no.” Liar!!!!! This pisses me off for two reasons–one, because Ron was not protecting Kristin as he said he was…and two, because Ron made such a big deal about Filipe and Sione lying to his face a few weeks back. Well, Ron, the pot just called the kettle black. What a hypocrite, and what a douchebag.

I have lost all respect for Ron, and I’m losing respect for Mikey by the day. Mikey now is practically declaring himself as the Biggest Loser, and Ron is trying to do everything possible to make that happen. Poor Kristin, because she trusted those guys. Now, I am pulling for either Filipe, or, by default, even Tara. At least we know they are both good, honest people. Ron and Mike are backstabbers, and Helen sent her own daughter home.

They showed Kristin at home and she was giving a speech inspiring others about her own journey on the show. How awesome. And so far she has lost 132 pounds, and I hope Kristin wins the $100K prize. As for Ron, I hope he woke up this morning with a horse head in his bed. I know Kristin probably watched at home last night and found out the real truth about Ron and Mike.

So now we’re down to five–Ron, Mike, Tara, Helen and Filipe. I feel like the good people who I want to win continually fall below the yellow line, and it’s pissing me off. But I’m changing my tune on Tara, and fast. Either way, we are barreling toward the finale…just a few more episodes!

Then came the challenge, a frightening one in which the contestants had to cross a 700 foot zip line over a 10 story canyon. Yikes. Kristin said it can’t possibly look as scary on TV as it did in person, and I don’t doubt that for a second. As they began, Ron took a few steps in and realized his knees wouldn’t be able to take it. Ron has basically participated in about 5% of these challenges. Meanwhile, Filipe jumped out to a huge lead, Mikey got over his fear of heights, and Tara slipped and was having trouble getting back up on the line. But lo and behold, as she does every single time, Tara got back up and figured out how to effectively move quickly down the line. She was catching up to Filipe fast, and said something like, “I had a strategy…” I’m so sick of hearing that. Naturally, Filipe couldn’t keep up with her and Tara won. Mrs. Mike is officially as sick of Tara winning every week as I am. She won a $25K package of food for a year or something like that from Jennie-O, and just keeps stockpiling her prizes.

Then it was makeover time, with Tim Gunn from “Project Runway” choosing their outfits and then another company providing the makeover (my apologies but I missed the name of that and the stylists). Each contestant had a family member or friend in attendance to see them made over, and they got to walk a red carpet and have their own movie premier, which was a “film” about each of their journeys on the show. Helen and her husband Russell were just about dry humping on the red carpet, and Tara’s mom, amazingly, is even more annoying than Tara, proving that the apple never falls far from the tree. Ron and Mike were greeted by the mom/wife and brother/son Max, who is HUGE. Max is so happy for his dad and brother, but now is the largest one in the family and is reassured by Mikey that they will help him lose weight too. Producers, I hope you are offering Max a slot on the show next season.

Then came a big curveball. Laura had been having hip pain and Jillian sent her to see Dr. Huizenga. Dr. H revealed that Laura had a small stress fracture and that she needed to stop all physical activity ASAP, and for three months. Not exactly what Laura or Jillian wanted to hear.

At the weigh in, they were all saying what a tough week it was, since they basically only had one day to work out. Mikey went first and lost 5 pounds, breaking the all-time campus record for weight loss. Ron went next and lost 6, Tara 4, Filipe 5, Helen 7, and Kristin 2. So Ron and Kristin were below the yellow line for the moment, with Laura next. Laura knew she was probably going to have a tough week on the scale, and she was right, gaining 3 pounds.
That put her and Kristin below the line and guaranteed Ron’s safety.

This was a tough decision as you might imagine. Did everyone above the line vote Kristin off because she was a bigger threat, or did they do the right thing and send Laura home so she could rehab her injury properly? Kristin and Laura both wanted to stay, and Tara was pleading with everyone to keep her teammate at the ranch. Ron, though, said that while the gameplay decision would be to send Kristin home, he felt like everyone should look past that and allow Laura to go home because it would be the best thing for her. Mikey then made reference to the fact that keeping Kristin there could prove detrimental to him, but he wasn’t going to vote differently than his dad. So Tara and Helen voted for Kristin, but Ron and Mike voted for Laura as expected and it came down to Filipe, who you’ll remember is pretty tight with Kristin. So of course, Filipe also voted for Laura. Whew. I really want Kristin to win and she gets to stick around another week after dodging a bullet. But Ron showed me something…that he’s not all about the game as we suspected last week. He had Laura’s best interests ultimately in mind and proved it. Tara may have been thinking more of herself, and that she didn’t want to lose the vote support of her friend, or she could have been genuinely worried that Laura would struggle too much at home.

The show, thankfully, sent their doctors and physical therapists to work with Laura at home, and she was shown as doing quite well in her rehabbing. I’d say Laura is a dark horse to win the $100K, as she has to date lost 77 pounds, with a lot more weight to potentially drop.

So we’re down to six……Mikey and Ron, Tara, Filipe, Kristin and Helen. This is getting interesting and I think it’s truly anyone’s game to make the Final 4. See you next week…

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.

Estella lost 45 pounds, or 18.6%; David, though he looked about the same as when the season started, lost 46 pounds or 11.7%; and Nicole lost a whopping 87 pounds, or 32.34%, and was the clear winner. Not only that, Nicole has the second highest percentage of weight loss in the house now, second only to the mighty Tara. Not surprisingly, this made everyone nervous.

Then Tara was shown talking to Jillian, her trainer, telling her about the demons she faces and is afraid of when she goes home, the demons that allowed her to balloon to almost 300 pounds. But Jillian calmed her down and pointed out that Tara should be proud she recognizes the demonds and that she has confidence in Tara. Then, Ron was shown walking around the campus and experienced chest pains. He was sent to the hospital, where Dr. H took care of Ron and recommended a scope procedure to see why he was bleeding internally. Turns out it was a side effect from his gastric bypass surgery, and that Ron is fine. Whew.

Then for the main challenge, the host was Michelle, last season’s winner. The challenge was to balance on 40 ropes suspended above a pool. The ropes would be cut one by one, leaving them to balance as best they could. The winner would have a one-pound advantage at the weigh in. Amazingly, Tara did not win…in fact, she dropped in the pool with three or four of the others still competing. Mrs. Mike doesn’t agree, but I think Tara took a dive, because she didn’t want anymore bad blood between her and the field. Then it came down to Sione and Kristin, and Sione was staring Kristin down because he wanted to win so badly, and he did.

Then, after the last chance workout, Allison was back for the weigh in, just days after giving birth! Nicole weighed in first, and GAINED 5 pounds. Bob had mentioned that Nicole shouldn’t let the stress of being back at the ranch get to her, but it clearly did and contributed to the weight gain. So no more immunity and the likelihood that Nicole would be going back home already. Kristin lost 4 pounds, Laura gained a pound, Tara lost 6 to put her over 100 pounds of weight loss (and I actually am starting to like Tara again, just a little), Helen lost 6, Sione lost 6 but 7 with the pound advantage, Filipe lost 4, and Mike 11. Then it was Ron’s turn, and he expected to gain weight because the hospital pumped him with salt water to bring his energy back up. Ron gained 3 pounds, which wasn’t all that bad, but that put him below Laura and below the yellow line along with Nicole.

Mrs. Mike pointed out that Filipe and Sione and Kristin were shown discussing the fact that Ron was keeping his son Mikey there and that Mikey had extra “protection” that way. Interesting, but true. So clearly those three would vote to send Ron home, right? Well, it was a tough vote. Because everyone had told Nicole they were happy she was back because she challenged them all, but it wasn’t exactly fair to vote Ron off after he just spent the week in a hospital. I think they should have given him a free pass this week, but this is show biz.

Anyway, Mikey, Laura and Tara all voted for Nicole, while Filipe, Sione and Helen voted for Ron. That left Kristin with the deciding vote, and she surprised everyone by voting for Nicole…citing that Nicole was just more of a threat to win than Ron. She also correctly pointed out that Nicole has proven that she can do this at home. So as quickly as Nicoled had returned, she was going home again.

They showed her at home trying on wedding dresses, and she has gone from a size 24 to a size 12. Wow. But while Nicole has lost 105 pounds now, down from 269 to 164, she is not done yet and has her eye on the $100K prize. As for who might win the whole thing…I have absolutely no idea. But I’d rule out Filipe, Ron or Laura right away and say that it will be Kristin, Sione, Tara, Helen or Mikey. I guess I’m putting my money on Mikey, and I hope he wins to set an example for his younger brother and for millions of overweight teenagers.

That’s it….the season is flying by and I’m exhausted from watching four hours of TV. See you next week, and get ready for more curveballs!