Biggest Loser - Season 7: Couples Discussion (merged) (1 Viewer)

[Qui-Gon John]

The thing that I sense with Ron is that he is a likeable guy. And he uses that to manipulate those around him. So we don't know how much he manipulated Kristin and Cathy before hand into agreeing with him and siding against Mandy, even when Aubrey was willing to go home. He's used this technique time and time again to get his way. The first several shows it was OK, because at the time, those were the better decisions. But now he's moved to entirely selfish, at the own peril of his team (blue), strictly to set things up good for Mike. Mandy lost 66 lbs so far, Aubrey only 49.

 

[mattCR]

They've in the past looked for trainers who would work for the show when contestants go home. So they can show them as they've lost weight continued in the game.

 

[Lucia Duran]

OT: My friend goes to the same gym as Heba and Ed from last season and just this past week, Ed came into my place of work. I didn't see him, because I was not working at the time, but my friend saw him.

I'm rooting for Mike or Tara to win this whole thing.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I hope black gets their sh*t together. They barely squeeked by last week. They have gotten overconfident and the in-fighting and negative attitudes towards Jillian aren't helping. Instead of pitching a fit, Filipe should have just asked her to work with him some.

 

[DaveF]

So how about that "reward" and the subsequent blowup? As with the Silver team conflict, I tune out when the show dwells on the contestants and trainers verbally abusing one another. But it did reinforce my opinion that Jillian, for all her strengths, is emotionally abusive; I would not want to train with her. I was disappointed to not have a response from her for Phillipe's calling her on it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

While he had every right (apparently) to be upset with Jillian...Filipe was an immature idiot the way he cried and whined about it and stomped off. Pretty embarrassing moment.

He should have simply told her how he felt and found out why she didn't give Filipe his own personal training time. That kind of anger needs to be directed in a positive way.

And running to Bob is pretty lame, too. I'm surprised the producers would allow it (although I'm sure they're loving the "drama" of it all... ).

 

[DaveF]

So he should have acted in the same, calm, collected manner that Jillian does -- a professional trainer with 5+ years of working with the "Losers"?

If the trainer immediately goes to emotional-attacks in that situation, why would you expect the younger Phillipe, who's been just been berated by her, to act in a more mature manner?

The structural problem is that the "reward" was no reward for a "Biggest Loser". It was a challenge unto itself, as when they put into a room and told that whoever eats the most calories gets to call home.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm not excusing Jillian's methods. And I understand him drawing on his festering experience as a way to lash back at her as she unloaded on them (though their behavior was incredibly stupid given the circumstances).

He should have dealt with it when it happened.

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Bob & Jillian have both acted in fairly unprofessional ways during this season. Jillian: after the Black team's dumb decisions during the reward in the last episode. Bob: When the teams were shaken up. I thought there had been a death in their "family" for gosh' sake.

 

[mattCR]

Yeah, the reward was basically crap. And part of the training setup is that Jillian etc. aren't doing anything to really motivate them toward improvement, she just resorts to dressing people down and berating people. Outside of biggest loser, if you personally were paying a trainer at say, 24-Hour Fitness, and they behaved that way you'd quit. You just wouldn't go back.

Thank god the Aussie version hasn't had Bob or Jillian back this year at all (so far), improves their show immensely.

 

[Bob_S.]

I'm really ready to see Ron go home. He was the one that lost them that challenge and he'll be the one who will lose them the next one. I'm shocked that they didn't send him home.

 

[Matt_A]

I've actually found that though Jillian may be hard during the training sessions, she really gets attached to her people. She gets so angry, because her job is to keep them all there, and when they work against her like they did last week, it makes everything that much tougher.

If you guys haven't noticed, Bob never wins. The only time he won was when Jillian wasn't on the show. Jillian's people always win the whole thing. For Fillipe to freak out like that was just stupid IMO. If he had a problem with her on the day she was there training everyone, he should have brought it up then.

 

[mattCR]

I just realized something. Why is it "The Biggest Loser" can air in High Definition in Australia but isn't in the US? I mean, this isn't something where camera movements would be insane cost like The Amazing Race.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

It was strange that on Jillian's team, the 2 players who did a very good job on the marathon, basically the same times, were the ones who had the lowst numbers for weight loss for this week. I wonder why that was?

Tough choice for Blue to make, especially with Ron having immunity. And I was amazed Ron lost 10 lbs while at home.

 

[Matt_A]

Yeah, TAR and Biggest Loser are the two shows on during the week that I really wish would make the transition to HD. It's not like it's a new thing nowadays.

Ron is becoming dead weight. I bet they'll move the teams around a bit in the weeks to come, or Bob's going to be out of people!

 

[DaveF]

My affiliate broadcasts Biggest Loser in in HD 4:3 (hi-def, but not widescreen).

My wife gets a reality show email. She said exit interview comments noted that there was a long-running gap between Jillian and Filipe not fully shown in the show. As Jillian said herself, she has her favorites; he was not among them.

 

[Mike Frezon]

That sucks that that kind of situation is "hidden" from the audience. Especially when a major glimpse of it IS shown.

That's an unfair manipulation of the audience which results in accurate perceptions of the participants.

While I fully realize we can't be privy to everything that goes on, in the weekly two-hour bundle of repetition that is The Biggest Loser--the producers could certainly let the audience in on the significant running plotlines. :rolleyes

 

[Lucia Duran]

I was so proud of Ron for losing ten pounds. He has it the hardest on this show and he is still hanging in and doing what he can. His son looked so proud of him!


It's funny how this show has made me look at food differently. I am not overweight by any means, but this show just really has me looking at how I eat and what I eat. I guess that is the point of the show to some extent. I wish that they would show the teams working out outdoors more often. I think the gym gets old after a while and would love to see them do more outside activities.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I am always interested whenever they do anything different from the norm. Every once in a while Bob will do his yoga workout or they take to that hill climb. It does shake it up and show how you can do a workout outside the gym environment.

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BTW, am I the only one a little confused by the cookie/half-marathon situation?!? I thought they made it pretty clear that Aubrey had eaten at least one (if not two) cookies to impact the outcome of the race times.

Hell. I just checked at the NBC/Biggest Loser site and their show recap states that Helen & Aubrey did, indeed, BOTH eat cookies to affect the outcome of the race! But when it came time to raise hands and "fess up"...they only showed Helen affecting the outcome. I didn't think I was crazy!

What's up with that?!?

 

[Mike Frezon]

This is BS. Even IF Aubrey ate cookies to affect someone else's time (not Tara or Sione) they need to show that. Because the producers themselves kept making it clear that ALL the contestants knew they were the two favorites in the competition.

This is the kind of stuff that can give the audience a clear impression that things are not on the up-and-up. Just like when they didn't have Dan at a challenge earlier in the season and never explained why. He just wasn't there.

It's like they are fixing the outcome...and being really inept about it at the same time. Horrible.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

The fact that folks think Reality TV has anything to do with Reality is beyond me. It is a primary reason why the Writer's on reality TV (Yes...these shows have writers), have argued that they should be covered under the writer's guild contracts...which they are currently not for these type of shows. Don't get me wrong...I enjoy watching a show like the Biggest loser and a few others. But, the story lines are and have always been written. The editing of the episodes further defines the story the show producers are going to tell. Reality TV being "reality" is really the biggest ruse the television networks have been successful at in quite a while.

Think all the way back to survivor season 1 or 2. The storm comes...and supposedly the only can of rice one of the tribes had was washed away in the storm. And of course, they actually had footage of it washing away. What you don't see is the camera man chewing on a snickers bar filming it. And the dozens and dozens of crew who are camped a few hundred yards away with electricity, generators, computers, satellite phones and a catering line 3 times a day. :rolleyes