View full sizeAustin, Hannah, Olivia, Irene and Jay tough it out for one more week on "The Biggest Loser: Couples."e on
But on Tuesday night's episode, there was no escape -- somebody went home, because how else do you narrow the five remaining contestants down to the final four? And just in case we might have forgotten for a moment, they kept reminding us, throughout the two padded hours, that this was the week the weigh-in would reveal who the final four were. Did we mention the words "final" and "four"? And that the final four move on to next week's episode, the last one before the season finale, which comes the week after that?
And, lest we forget,
is still competing for a spot in the final four. So how did she do tonight? Let's recap!
It's week 19, we're reminded, and the 22 original contestants have been winnowed down to five. Everybody reflects back to where they were when they started this.
says -- not for the last time this episode -- that the most important thing is not for her to make it to the final four, but for her and her sister Hannah to be in there together. When they started, nobody thought they would make it this far.
-- wearing one of her Coats of Many Primary Colors, this one a red pleatherish jacket -- greets Irene, Olivia, Hannah, Jay and Austin, and says this is Final Exam week. This group may be the fittest competitors they've ever had, she says -- and the three remaining women in particular are all looking slim and sensational -- so they're going to be quizzed and scored on tasks with the trainers.
The tasks are: teaching
how to work out on a spin bicycle; answering questions about health and nutrition from
, who hams it up with horn-rimmed "professor"-style specs, and keeps talking about his dad being a Princeton prof; boxing and, apparently, forehead-bump staring contests with
; and motivation with
.
By far the most gripping are the sessions with Jillian, who does a role-reversal exercise, talking to each of the contestants as if she were them, voicing their insecurities, challenges and the issues that got them here in the first place. After motivating contestants for 11 seasons, this is Jillian's last season, she says, so she wants the contestants to respond to what she tells them and motivate her.
View full sizeIrene Alvarado, working up a sweat on "The Biggest Loser: Couples."Irene, who hasn't done particularly well as a spinning teacher or in the health and nutrition quiz, does well with the motivation challenge. Jillian, echoing some of what she's heard from Irene says, "I've lost my motivation."
Irene asks, what was your initial reason for coming here and starting this? To be healthy, Jillian says. Irene says you have to make a choice, to either stay stuck or change your attitude, because what are you going to gain by feeling sorry for yourself, and hating everything that you're doing?
Jillian says Irene did really well, though she docks her a few score points because she didn't force Jillian to emotionally connect, and Irene doesn't emotionally connect.
Then comes a silly challenge thingy that's basically a plug for a "Biggest Loser" video game. It's time-wasters like this that make this episode two hours long, OK? And we get more of Chatty Cathy Olivia repeating that her biggest dream is for her and Hannah to be in the finale. WE GET IT.
Let's cut away from that, shall we, to Bob barking at everybody about the need to show passion while working out in the gym. He hollers at Irene to straighten her leg, or else he's gonna break it so they can put it in a cast and then straighten it. Bob! Get a hold of yourself!
Irene reflects on what a different person she was when she started on "The Biggest Loser." She was neglecting herself, she recalls -- she gained 90 pounds in a year-and-a-half. "I was literally ready to give up." She says, she doesn't think she would have ever become the person she is now if it wasn't for this opportunity.
More padding, and a tip that we should drink our milk. What? No particular brand of milk? NBC, you're slipping in the product placement department!
Time for another challenge: Alison greets everybody with this task -- they've gotta lug sandbags over to a stairstepping wall thing, pile up the bags to make a step, hurl more bags up on the next ledge, hoist themselves up on that, and yadda yadda yadda. The women, Olivia, Hannah and Irene, say it's vital that one of them wins this because the prize is a one-pound weight advantage at the final weigh-in. With the women getting so close to their goal weights, it's difficult for them to drop many more pounds, so the one-pound advantage would be crucial. However -- Austin wins.
Good grief, there's a field trip to a Subway sandwich shop for a deconstruction of a sandwich. Way to get back on the produce placement track, NBC! And then, more workouts, exercise, sweat, exercise.
After what feels like months, it's time for the weigh-in. But there's a twist! Olivia had won the Final Exam challenge, which gave her $10,000. Austin won the sandbag thing, which gave him a one-pound weigh-in advantage. Alison asks Olivia if she'd be willing to give up the $10,000 for the one-pound advantage; and she asks Austin if he'd be willing to trade the one-pound weight advantage for $10,000.
Jillian thinks Olivia should take the one- pound weight advantage, since she's so slim already, an added pound lost could be the difference between staying and falling below the yellow line and being up for elimination. But Olivia says the money can mean a new beginning for her and her husband, so she decides to keep it. Austin opts to stay with his one-pound weight loss advantage.
After a long, drawn-out weigh-in -- with two teaser shots before commercials of Bob opening his mouth in shock, in "Home Alone" style -- we get to the nitty gritty. Olivia's nightmare has been that she and Hannah will both be below the yellow line. But when it ends, Hannah has lost 4 pounds, which puts her below the yellow line. Irene is safe, with a 5-pound loss; Jay had a breakthrough week, with 9 pounds lost; Olivia has lost 5 pounds; and Austin lost a surprisingly small one pound.
It's down to Hannah and Austin at the bottom, which means Austin is totally outta there. Olivia won't vote against her sister, and neither does Jay. Irene doesn't need to vote, because with two votes, Austin is eliminated. He's tearful, but proud. Since he started, he lost 161 pounds and he says he became a man on the show.
Next week: the final four go home and show off!
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