For a moment, I thought, Tracey's elimination on The Biggest Loser last week would mean the end to devious game-playing tactics this season.  Well, I was wrong.  This week saw some tactics that would usually put a frown on my face.

This week is, of course, double elimination week, which provides enough reason for the remaining contestants to panic.  And then Alison drops another bombshell by revealing the addition of what she calls the red line.  We know how the weigh-in goes.  Go below the yellow line and you're up for elimination.  Go below the red line, and you're eliminated on the spot.

So the celebration (if we should call it that) after Tracey's departure was short-lived.  Bob and Jillian especially panicked after learning of the red line, and were absolutely concerned about Shay.  They figured she needs more time on the ranch.  The contestants, well, they started to go gaga in the gym.

After the usual trainer-contestant conversations about getting what they used to have back, it's time for this week's challenge, which perfectly coincides with the arrival of the circus.  Well, of course, that's not how things went, but let's go with it anyway.  There are nine hoops, one assigned to each contestant.  They have to jump to other people's hoops, with the intent of eliminating them.  Once a contestant hits a hundred points, they're out, and the last person standing wins immunity.

Now, what complicates this is the conversation the older contestants had amongst each other before the challenge.  They were scared the younger contestants will group together and vote them off, so they decided to strategize.  The challenge was an opportunity for them to avert such a move: the old guys all decided to jump on the younger guys' hoops.  Well, except for Liz, because everybody jumped in her hoop.

Even complicating it further is Rudy, who pulled off a surprise on Shay.  They had an alliance of sorts before the challenge, vowing that they would keep each other from being tossed out.  It works, really, because Shay does need the extra time in the ranch.  Right in the middle of the challenge, though, Rudy decides to jump on Shay's hoop until she gets eliminated.  He eventually won the challenge, and immunity too, but not before a war of words between him and Shay.

And I don't know what he was thinking.

Last-chance workout time, and Bob brings everyone back to a trapeze gym and literally tired them out.  I won't try to explain what they were doing, but let's just say it's hard, especially if you're not really trained in doing trapezes.  When they got back to the ranch, they see Jillian in the gym, for what turns out to be the second part of their last-minute workout.  Inevitably they're all dead tired.

There were a handful of records broken during the weigh-in.  Three people crossed the 100-pound mark: Rudy, Daniel and Shay, who broke the show's record for the fastest time for a woman to lose a hundred pounds.  She lost 17 pounds this week, which is astounding in itself.

But it was a week of huge losses for everyone.  There were a lot of double-digit losses: Allen ditched 10 (with a one-pound advantage), Danny kicked 17, Liz lost 12 and Rebecca lost 10.  Daniel wasn't as lucky: he lost only five pounds and dropped below the red line, resulting in his elimination.  Amanda also lost only five pounds, and found herself below the yellow line--with Shay.  So much for losing 17 pounds.

Shay and Amanda pleaded their case to the contestants, with Shay giving a passionate speech asking everyone to keep her in the ranch so she can live.  The rest were pretty undecided: the vote kept swinging until it got to Rudy, who gave the final vote for Shay, which we expected, but still, it hurts seeing him flip around just like that.  Shay has been eliminated as well.

Next week, it's makeover week, with Tim Gunn and Tabatha Coffey sprucing the contestants up.  Oooh, I'm excited.  To the scoreboards, then:

Allen: 243 pounds (-10)
Amanda: 202 pounds (-5)
Daniel: 256 pounds (-5) (eliminated)
Danny: 316 pounds (-17)
Liz: 206 pounds (-12)
Rebecca: 209 pounds (-10)
Rudy: 324 pounds (-8) (immunity)
Shay: 376 pounds (-17) (eliminated)





- Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of NBC)