The Biggest Loser: ‘Make It Work’ Make-Overs!

This week on The Biggest Loser, we are down to our final six! And the presence of one happy, fashion-forward man makes up for all the pain I have that Liz is still with us.

It’s a new week, and our remaining contestants meet Ali outside near a limo. She says that from now on, people will recognize them from “The Biggest Loser.” These fans will approach them, expecting to be inspired. So they will all have to give an inspiring speech to a group today. To help them get ready for their big day are Tim Gunn and Tabatha from “Tabatha’s Salon Take-Over!!!!” YAY!!!! Don’t you just LOVE Tim Gunn!? And don’t you just wonder how long they kept those two waiting in that limo? If I were Tim, I’d be terrified to be cooped up in that thing with Tabatha. Had the snacks ran out, she probably would have started sucking his blood. Anyway, all the contestants are very excited. Becca immediately does her runny, clappy dance. It’s make-over week, folks!

Tim has set up a boutique for them in a suite in the Four Seasons Hotel. Tabatha will be taking them to a salon in West Hollywood. Rudy says he’s excited because he’s gotten a little burly. Um, a little burly, Rudy? You are one day’s worth of growth away from being a total Grizzly Jack, man. At this point, he’s just two eyes poking out from behind a wad of hair.

Over at the Four Seasons, Tim first meets with Liz. He asks what message she wants to send in her speech. She wants to tell every wife and mother that they are worth taking time for themselves. She’s been trying to reconnect with the old person she used to love. AND she wants to look fabulous.

Rudy tells Tim that he hasn’t been in a suit since his wedding. Tim says the best way to dress up jeans is with a blazer. Rudy wants to know where he’d wear that to. Tim suggests wearing it when he takes his wife to dinner. Rudy glazes over for a second and looks a little stunned. He wants to know when McDonald’s installed a dress code.

Becca is all over the place, looking at all the pattern dresses. She tells Tim that trying clothes on has always been hard. She loves clothes, and it’s hard to put them on when you’re fat. She’s excited to say goodbye to the girl she used to be, but it’s really overwhelming. Tim hugs her and says he’s proud and wants to show her off. We see a montage of Becca’s “Before Belly,” and I wonder why the producers always do this. I mean, yeah, it’s a weight loss show. And, yeah, it’s probably important that we see their weight, so we can measure how far they’ve come. But sometimes it seems a little excessive and embarrassing. I mean, do we really need to see THIS every five seconds:

Now off to Tabatha at the salon! Becca meets with Tabatha and tells her that short hair is scary when you have a round face. You know what’s even scarier? Short hair is scary when you have an ALIEN FACE.

The men have a little conversation off to the side about their speeches. Allen tells Danny and Rudy that people need to hear their struggles because so many other people are going through it, and they need to know they can do it. Danny says he wants to talk about the underlying reason why they’re there. I wonder why Allen is at a salon. And I hope it’s because they have some of that aerosol, spray-on hair in a drawer somewhere. They’ll spray some on Allen, and we’ll watch him sweat it off during the last-chance workout.

Tabatha tells Rudy that he’s bushy, but Rudy says the beard needs to stay. He worries he’ll look heavy if he shaves it. He cocks an eyebrow and says that beards are distinguishing because Abe Lincoln had one. Yeah, because you really want to look like ABE. Smart man? Yes. Good-looking, man? Not even close. He looked like a twisted old tree with dead eyes and cardboard teeth, Rudy. Not a look to strive for.

Meanwhile, 300 people are gathering for the speech. They will all individually meet Tim before going out on stage. Tim tells them that they all look marvelous (and they do), and he surprises them with members of their families. They are all super excited to see family and so they cry and get super emotional. The highlight is that Danny no longer has his soul patch, and his daughter is FREAKIN’ ADORABLE! She tells us that she’s only ever had a fat dad for her whole life, and now he’s life a new dad. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sure, it’s a strange, backhanded compliment, but adorable all the same. Also, Rudy no longer has a beard and looks a billion years younger. He went from caveman to cool man, in a matter of minutes! Want to see the post make-over pics? Let’s do it!

Time for the speeches! Allen is up first and is in tears, overcome with emotion. He says that as a firefighter, he’s sworn to save lives. But it’s hard to save lives when you fear for your own. He felt like a liability and knew that he needed to change.

Danny says that he fought a weight problem from an early age. A year or two ago, his daughter said she wanted a belly like him. He realized that he needed to set a new example. His daughter WEEPS in the audience, and she is super precious. Want to see her?

Rudy’s weight problem started when he was 12 and his sister was diagnosed with cancer. Whhhaaaaa?!?!?! Everyone is surprised to hear that, but no one is more surprised than Jillian who works her hardest, clawing everyone’s secrets out of them with her fingernails. She turns to Bob and has an outrageous reaction of surprise that he fights to ignore. Before Rudy’s sister passed at age 14, she asked him to make a change. Next thing he knew, he was more than 400 pounds. He wants make a change in her honor and live long enough to see his girls grow up.

Amanda can’t blame it on a tragedy. She always saw herself as overweight and never tried to stop it. It always held her back, but she’s ready to face her problems. Similarly, Becca was always the chubby friend and now wants to shed that image.

Liz says she blamed her weight on everything and everybody except for her. She made jokes about how the dryer shrunk her clothes and that’s why they didn’t fit.. She watched “The Biggest Loser” every season and would eat ice cream during the weigh-ins. She took care of her husband, her kids, and her business, and she lost her. She learned that she needed to take care of herself.

We see an emotional montage of their journeys, as they work out and accomplish things. Rudy says that anything’s possible. Whoa. Is anyone else feeling a twinge of inspiration out there? I actually feel a little misty and kinda like I can shake up the world. Maybe I’ll finally do it. Maybe I’ll finally accomplish all those goals I’ve been wanting to achieve. Maybe I CAN make it through this entire season of recapping!!

The contestants leave speechland and meet Ali outdoors. Time for a challenge. There are cables going across a canyon. For their make-over challenge, they have to make it over the canyon, 200 feet in the air. Heh heh. Get it?! Make-over? Make it over?! Ali should be a comedian. These puns just KILL me. They each have a pulley to pull themselves across 700 feet. The winner gets a two week trip with their families to The Biggest Loser Resort fitness camp in Utah. No, you did not read that wrong. The Biggest Loser DOES have a fitness resort. I’d visit there, but it’s probably not exactly the best venue for picking up hot guys. Now, if only The Bachelor would start such a resort with single men and spa treatments, I’d be on board…

Liz is scared because she feels like she can slide out of the swing and fall out. She screams and cries and screams some more while everyone else tries to hide their giggles. Liz tells us that the only way she’ll make it across is with her eyes closed. It’s funny, because the only way I can deal with Liz is to watch her with MY eyes closed. And with my earplugs in.

And they’re off! Rudy jumps to an early lead. Everyone else is having trouble. Amanda tries to catch up to Rudy, but Rudy wins anyway. Liz comes in last, but she beats her fear of heights. At the end of the canyon are giant pictures of their old selves, they kick off the old pics to reveal photos of the new them.

Back at the house, Jillian tells everyone that they haven’t worked out as much as they should have, so it’s time for a day-long, last-chance work-out. Bob holds Allen back because he feels like he should be winning more challenges, but Allen has been sucking at them all lately. Allen explains that he’s playing the game. He doesn’t want to be the one to beat and become a target. Bob tells him to bring a snack and to put it in the ziplock bag that’s made with wind power. It’s good for the environment.

Jillian is still shocked that Rudy’s sister died at age 14, so she brings it up. She uses it to push Rudy’s buttons to get him going on the work out. Rudy says he’s never been one to share his emotions. He says that when his sister was in the hospital, he got shuffled around a lot because his parents were at her bedside instead of home with him. He finally says that he got fat because he sucks in every problem and leaves it. Jillian tells him that he has an unresolved hurt, and if he can’t acknowledge it, it won’t get better. Rudy says he eats by himself when people get mad at him. He tells us that it’s important to know what started the weight gain. The funny part is that he’s carrying something during his entire heart-to-heart with Jillian. So symbolic of his emotional baggage that he’s been carrying around. Tres clever, producers!

Time for weigh in!!!

Danny is up first. He loses 12 pounds. It’s his sixth week in a row of losing double digits, and he’s poised to be under 300 pounds next week. Rudy loses 16 pounds, and he’s very happy. He set a new record of losing more weight in 10 weeks than any player in Biggest Loser history. Allen drops fives pounds. Jillian says that five pounds, at his weight, is amazing because he’s solid as a rock. But Allen is still bummed because he doesn’t want to lose the competition.

Becca loses three pounds, and she cries. She doesn’t understand how it’s possible and feels really angry. Bob says his heart is broken. Liz loses three pounds as well. Everyone shakes their heads. She and Becca both hover above 200 pounds. This pushes Becca below the yellow line. Amanda loses nine pounds and falls below 200 pounds at 193. So Liz joins Becca under the yellow line. Amanda gets giddy and attributes it to her mom telling her how great she looks.

Back at the house, Liz says she’s not good at fighting for herself, so the decision is up to everyone else. Becca asks to talk to Rudy and Allen alone. She tells us that she feels they are the most up in the air. Danny and Allen both tell Liz that she needs to fight for it and promise she’ll do whatever it takes. Becca tells Rudy and Allen that she’s never been under the yellow line, and she doesn’t want to be Liz in 25 years. Liz got a second and third chance, and Becca wants her second chance. Danny tells Liz to go find Allen and Rudy. Liz tells them that she deserves to be there because she’s 49 and it’s her last chance.

At the elimination table, Amanda votes for Liz, and Danny votes for Becca. Rudy votes for Rebecca because he can’t trust her, so that’s it: Becca will be going home. Becca tells Rudy that if he had an issue with her, then he should have told her that weeks ago. She’s really upset, and they spur a bit at the table. Everyone shuffles around and looks super uncomfortable.

Becca hugs Amanda and tells her to beat all the big boys in the finals. Then she tells us that she gets to start her life now, and being there was the best experience of her life. She returns to her home in DesMoines, and her family is happy to see her. She goes through her closet and throws out all the clothes that are too big. She runs a half marathon and looks amazing. As she finishes the marathon, she gets overcome by emotion and cries. She says that she is no longer than just a pretty face, but a pretty GIRL. Despite her runny, clappy dance, I always liked Becca. She IS gorgeous and definitely deserved to be there more than Liz.

So what do you all think? Can you believe that LIZ is still hanging around?! Who do you think will be gone next?

love,
MandaMo
xoxo