‘The Biggest Loser’: It’s Heba versus Phil

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Was there more to that weigh-in than was caught by the cameras? Bob seemed to think so.

Before we get to that, though, let’s get some details out of the way. This week’s ‘Biggest Loser’ was a march toward the inevitable. Both teams took a journey of self discovery: Jillian’s black team took a ropes course that taught them about focus and breaking through fear. Bob’s blue team took a self-defense class in which they learned to give themselves a voice. And Heba got to brag on herself.

And then there was the challenge -- walking around and around and around a circular balance beam suspended over the water. Victory went to the black team, courtesy of Renee.

But the show was really all about the clash of the team titans: Heba and Phil.

Phil, apparently and stupidly, approached Brady off camera to urge him to build an alliance against Heba. (Granted, Phil is trying to save his wife, Amy P., from elimination. But everyone knows that Heba, and Brady and his wife Vicky, have formed a tightknit group.)

Brady, of course, went running to tell Heba. (His imitation of Phil, by the way, was completely spot on!) Heba acted outraged and kept going on and on about how that crossed the line. Because, you know, Heba would never, ever engage in game playing.

At the weigh-in, the black team dominated. But did they have a little help from the blue team? Brady lost only three pounds and didn’t seem all that upset, remarking: ‘OK, that’s strange.’

Even Bob was wondering whether they were throwing the weigh-in: ‘You could have picked my face up off the ground. Are Vicky and Brady playing a game I don’t know about?’

Could be.

By intentionally putting the blue team on the chopping block, the team could kick Amy off as punishment for Phil’s audacity. And that, in turn, could cause Phil to lose his focus and stumble. There’s another layer to it as well: Sooner rather than later, the two-team structure will evaporate, and everyone will compete as individuals. If Heba, Brady and Vicky can just manage to stay above the yellow line, their three-bloc vote can help control the fate of the game.

If that’s true, that sets the stage for an even bigger showdown: Heba versus Brady versus Vicky.

It all ended up with Amy P. going home.

Random thought: Dang, when did Vicky pick up the ‘tude? Heba must really be rubbing off on her. First, she gets all sour grapes about the challenge, saying the prize was stupid and wasn’t worth the effort. (The prize was reportedly video from home, but turned out to be live video interaction with home -- a nice inspirational boost for the black team members.) Then, Vicky snarked about the weigh-in: ‘I knew it didn’t matter what my weight was, I wasn’t going home.’ (That also adds more fuel to the conspiracy theory.)

Vicky may have been speaking the truth, but she certainly wasn’t dogging it in the gym: She dropped eight pounds!

-- Rene Lynch