THE BIGGEST LOSER Season 12 Episode 10 Review

THE BIGGEST LOSER Season 12, Episode 10 – It’s Thanksgiving on The Biggest Loser and what better way to kick off the episode than with 100 plates of holiday-themed foods? As I looked at the plates of cornbread, ham, turkey, pie and cake I was immediately struck with one thought – I need a snack.

Allison introduces us to a high stakes temptation challenge with lucrative rewards. The contestants have the opportunity to earn $500 per pound lost, an expensive at-home gym or the sweetest prize of them all, a 3-pound advantage. Kudos to Sunny for at least thinking through the consequences of her actions. However, that moment of hesitation may have been to her detriment considering how the episode ended. Perhaps if she spent less time agonizing over doing the right thing and more time playing the game, she would not have ended the night below the yellow line. I was impressed by John and Vinny’s discipline – although it probably was not hard for Vinny to stop eating after picking the plate that revealed the number 10.

Admittedly, I was rooting against Antone in the temptation challenge. I guess I am a typical root for the underdog viewer and after dominating last week’s pentathlon, it did not seem fair that he would also win at this week’s game of chance. After Antone’s speech at the end of the episode protesting game play, I felt less guilty for rooting against him. I’m never a fan of the so-called do-gooder that chastises another player for playing the game. Anton has been gunning for the younger players for some time now, especially Ramon. Anton was going to send Ramon home regardless of what happened earlier in the night with Sunny and John. The speech was unnecessary and got in the way of a moment that should have been about Ramon, not what Anton thinks. Who cares what Anton thinks?

I did not realize it until Bob pointed it out, the Black team claimed all of the temptation challenge prizes. The Black team will always remind me of Jillian Michaels so maybe it’s some of her juju bringing the team good luck. In light of the holidays, it was nice to have an episode where everyone won a prize.

Dolvett and John have the most to lose this week as John’s elimination will also mean the end of Dolvett as well. John has truly rubbed Bob the wrong way, even leading him to say that John would gain back every pound he’s lost on the ranch. Gasp! I was immediately worried that John and Dolvett were getting this week’s exit edit and I am not ready to let them go! And by them, I mean Dolvett (but you can stick around too John). I was happy to read in an interview recently that Dolvett is already taping Season 13 but I’d like him to stick around a little longer this season.

The Thanksgiving dinner was the calm before the Jacobs Ladder storm. The players joked that the Jacobs Ladder challenge was straight from hell, however, I think the ramifications of John giving Sunny the 1-pound disadvantage will result to his own isolated hell next week. I agree with John, he needed to do what was best to keep his place in the game and if it were me, I would definitely have given that disadvantage to one of the women. The contestants are told all season that they need to put themselves first in order to get healthy and I thought John’s choice tonight was consistent with that advice. Even Vinny, with his 3-pound advantage, did not want to be on the receiving end of John’s decision. It is never ideal to receive a 1-pound disadvantage so close to the end and no matter who was chosen, someone would have been upset. John has never been one of the popular players and I think it makes him an easy target. Thanks to Antone’s dispatch from the soap box at the end of the show, the target on John’s back is much larger now and it would not be surprising to see him (and Dolvett) leave next week. It may be for the best so that the group has no one else to blame for their discontent and nothing left to do but play the game! I would have sent Sunny home. She has been really competitive over the last few weeks and I think at this point in the game she has proven to be a much bigger threat than Ramon.

What did you think about tonight’s episode of The Biggest Loser? Do you think John made the right choice? Would you have kept Sunny? Are you excited for makeover week?