Biggest Loser, Season 9 - Episode 16

Exciting news!  The remaining contestants have been on campus for 4 months now and they have all lost a total of 805 pounds.  Here's more exciting news - it's makeover week!  How I've been waiting for this episode for so long!  I've said it before and I'll say it again - Daris' hair has got to go!

The contestants' response to makeover week was no different than mine.  They were all absolutely thrilled that they made it far enough to get a makeover.  Sam blurted out "make me prettier!  I love clothes and I love fashion."   Sam!?  Watching him this whole season, I wouldn't have known.  I guess there's a whole 'nother side to all the contestants that we don't see.  I was especially thrilled to see Daris make it all the way to this episode because.... his hair needs to go!

There are many things in life that we take for granted and we don't realize that we do.  This past season, I've recognized that I do take things for granted and have started to reflect more on what I can do rather than what I can't do.  O'Neal's triumphant trip up the stairs one foot after another was my first realization.  My other realization (among many others) was that it isn't very hard for me to shop for clothes.  When you're at my size, you don't have to worry about finding something that will fit - we become more obsessed with what's in style and what colors we like.  For the contestants, they have to worry about whether they'll find anything in their size.  Once they do, they settle for that - nevermind trying to scour the stores for something that's actually stylish because that'll never happen.

It was time for all of them to get a much needed haircut.  The hairdresser joked that Mike would lose 5 pounds just by cutting off his hair because he had so much.  Koli ended up with a mohawk, Sam got a prison-style cut (sounds bad but looks hot), and Daris finally lost all that hair!  He looks so good!

At this week's challenge, the contestants had to climb (as Ashley put it) Jacob's Ladder from hell.  Whoever stayed on it the longest would get a one pound advantage while the first person to fall would get a one pound disadvantage.  Ashley is out almost immediately at 3:47 and gets the disadvantage.  Mike fell second and then finally Sunshine fell at 45:13.  Daris was up against the two cousins who was hungry for blood.  Sam and Koli both want to beat Daris so that one of them can get the advantage.  Daris simply wants to win just to win.  He's just plain tired of the grey team dominating the challenges.  Sam is out at 55:11, leaving Koli to defend the grey team's honor.  Now here's where the real challenge started.  Whenever the grey team won a challenge, it was usually Sam that won it for them - can Koli win this time?

Two hours have passed and both Daris and Koli are going strong.  Daris asked if it is still considered peeing in the pool if he pees from up above.  If I was on that ladder, I would have fallen off from laughing.  At two hours and 30 minutes, Daris quits.  I was really surprised because even though he stumbled a little bit, he was still going strong.  He could have taken Koli.  It would have been nice to see the rug be pulled out from Koli - it might have humbled him a little bit.  His head seems to be getting bigger, it's a wonder how he's still able to pull his shirts on over his head.  When the competition was over, Koli tried his best to step off the ladder as coolly as he could and just stood there.  I was surprised he didn't jump off into the pool to cool down.

We finally see Bob and Jillian just past the halfway mark of the episode.  I think this is the longest we've been in an episode without seeing Bob and Jillian.  It's apparent that the episodes now are more about them and less about the trainers.  They were absolutely shocked to hear that Koli won the challenge (and not Sam) and pretty upset to hear that Daris lost because he just quit, not because he fell off the ladder.  Bob was disappointed in Daris because while he is physically capable of doing whatever he wanted, it was apparent that he still needed to work on his mentality.  Do I predict another Dr. Jillian session coming up?

There wasn't exactly a Dr. Jillian session but Jillian starts pounding on Ashley extra hard this week.  Of course - the game is coming close to the end and Ashley has a Pink reputation to uphold.  It is Jillian's sole responsibility to make sure that Pink is still "in".

Bob gets a chance to pull Daris aside for some private talking.  He tried to make Daris see that he's so close to the end and that he can't start slacking now.  To teach him a lesson, Bob made him do a brutal last minute workout that even he and Jillian can't complete.  And guess what?  Daris did it.

Koli seriously needs a lesson in humility.  It's ok to be proud of what you've done but I think he's taking it a bit too far.  During his interview, he said he felt he was going to get double digits.  Cocky, isn't he?  Well - I guess he had a right to be because he ended up losing 15 pounds this week.

Sam only lost two pounds.  This is evidence that his time is up.  He's lost so much of his fat and gained a lot of muscle.  Ashley makes it above the yellow line with 10 pounds lost and pushes Sam below.  Never underestimate the power of the Pink ninja!

Mike was unfortunate enough to fall below with Sam.  With these two contestants below, it is pretty obvious what the choice should be, but people might feel threatened by Mike and the potential he has with so much more weight to lose.  However, they might be sick of the grey team winning all the time and want to split them up.  Personally, if I was there, I would have sent Sam home.

Koli kept sniffing around to find out what the other three contestants were thinking so he could weigh Sam's fate.  It seemed as though he wanted to figure out a way to blackmail them into voting to keep Sam.  In the end, Sam was chosen to leave.  It was sad but... it was about time!