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‘The Biggest Loser’ recap: The Unknowns rule, a front-runner named Courtney and the biggest player ever

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Forty-one pounds. 41 pounds. 41 POUNDS!

Have Bob and Jillian met their match?

It’s a new season and a new diabolical choice: The 11 teams had to chose between working out with Bob and Jillian for a week and then facing elimination, or taking a gamble on two unidentified trainers and being guaranteed four weeks’ immunity. Choosing the road less taken — the Unknowns, as they are now being called — led Moses to lose 41 pounds, setting a ‘Biggest Loser’ record for weight loss in a single week. Bob and Jillian never beat such big numbers out of players. So what, exactly, are those Unknowns doing out there? And who are they? We got to see them in spooky sillhouette, and from the side — do YOU happen to know who these two new trainers are?

What would you have done in this new season, with this biggest twist yet? We know what Bob and Jillian would have done: They’d have taken immunity. In fact, they thought the players who chose to bypass immunity had rocks in their heads. And that’s certainly not what Courtney and the others wanted to hear: ‘Their reaction freaked me out.’

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But look at it from Bob and Jillian’s point of view: The twist puts enormous pressure on them. ‘We’re going to feel terrible about it’ when someone goes home, Jillian said. And let’s face it, at least three more people are going home, while the Unknowns can keep their crew intact.

The first to go home was Ana, who lost more than a pound a day -- 9 pounds in all -- but it still wasn’t enough. The orange team dropped below the yellow line, and someone had to go. Most of the players respected her wishes to be sent home so that her daughter, Irene, could stay. Speaking at a media conference call today, Ana said that she was sad when she got home. ‘I was depressed. I felt like I let my daughter down.’ But then she remembered what she told her daughter: ‘I was going to make my life different.’ And she has. So far, she has lost 52 pounds without doing anything all that dramatic. She said she has been eating less and moving more, even it’s just walking five more minutes than she did the day before. And she’s cleaned up her diet. She said that she already knew what she should and shouldn’t eat — she just finally followed through. ‘My biggest thing was fast food, and I’ve never stopped at a place like that since I’ve been back from the ranch.’ Ana said her goal is to lose 120 pounds total, and she is already well on her way. Congrats, Ana!

Who are the Season 11 folks who struck a chord with you? Anyone willing to bet on who will win? (Bob apparently has dibs on Courtney the Machine.)

Here are some of the moments that stood out for me:

--Gold medalist Rulon Gardener saying training for the Olympics was a piece of, um, cake compared with this: ‘I never worked out like this when when I was trying out for the Olympic team.’

--Bob refusing to let up on Arthur, who is nearly 80% body fat, and forcing him to recalibrate his focus on today, not the 300 pounds he still needs to lose. (That said, do you think Bob was too tough on Arthur? At first I thought yes, but then I changed my mind. Arthur claimed he couldn’t move, his leg was about to fall off, blah blah blah. And then immediately hoisted himself up and took a long stroll with Bob. Oh, and he then lost 31 pounds at the weigh-in. I already like this guy and his determination. Go, Arthur, go!)

--Jillian: ‘Look at me. Do I look like a woman who gives a [BLEEP]!’

--Perhaps the single funniest sequence in ‘Biggest Loser’ history: Bob’s commentary on Jillian’s ‘I’m not going to scream’ resolution. I think Bob spent the break perfecting his comic timing.

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And that’s why the quote of the week ends in a tie between Bob, Bob and Bob:

--’Arthur! Don’t make me lose my mind today ... do not get off the treadmill, please.’ --’You’re not stuck!’ --’Asking Jillian not to scream is like asking the grass not to grow, the fish not to swim, the lions not to roar. Jillian’s always going to yell at people.’

Finally, I’d like to apologize now for all the times I will confuse Dan with Don, and Don with Dan this season. To hedge my bets, and head off any annoying corrections, I just might start referring to them as DA/ON.

— Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

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