The Biggest Loser kicks off with a big twist

Listen to my Biggest Loser blogcast (3 min 52 sec), or read the post below!




Granted, The Biggest Loser is one of my very favorite shows, but I also can't stand how manipulative it is sometimes. There are times you can almost hear the conversations of the writers and producers in their planning room, brainstorming ways to manipulate the emotions of we, the viewers.

Last night, the biggest twist since I've been viewing the show. Some of the contestants were allowed to choose between having old stand-bys Bob and Jillian as their trainers, or two brand-new trainers completely unknown to them.

And to us, at it turns out. The new trainers were seen only in silhouette throughout the episode.

An unheard-of prize...

If they chose the new trainers, they got an unheard-of bonus: FOUR WEEKS of immunity from getting kicked off the show.

Some of the contestants, even given the choice, decided to stick with the people who had a proven track record. Others simply couldn't resist the pull of four weeks' immunity.

We got to see very little of the teams who went off with the "unknowns"--to a completely different location. There was some footage of them sweating it out through extremely difficult work-outs, and a couple of shots of contestants who had amazing results at the unknowns' weigh-in. One man, Moses the Tongan, lost (if I'm right) 41 pounds in one week!

It's hard to connect with contestants that you see very little of on the show. I've got a favorite or two already--I like Courtney, the girl who had already lost 100 pounds before she came on the show.

I like Arthur, who also lost a lot of weight before arriving on the ranch, but was still over 500 pounds (he did lose down to 476 the first week.) I also like Arthur's dad, Jesse, but he's going to have to start taking things more seriously if he wants to keep himself and his son on the ranch.

The 54-year-old twins, Don and Dan, broke my heart with their backstories--one had a son who died, the other's son has disowned him because of his weight. You can count on Biggest Loser to tug at your heartstrings. I've boo-hooed many a time, and last night was no exception.

Ana of the orange team ended up going home, making the sacrifice so her daughter Irene could stay.


Trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper

Different Dynamic

There's no question that the addition of the two new trainers will provide a different dynamic for the show. It's too early to tell if I'm going to like that dynamic or not.

I WOULD like a chance to get to know the new trainers...as it stands now, I can't relate to a couple of silhouettes, and as I said earlier, it's hard to get attached to contestants you rarely see. I hope that changes, because for me, the contestants and their remarkable courage, determination and radical transformations are what makes the show for me.

I guess we'll see.