The Biggest Loser--Couples: This One Takes the Cake!
There are only two shows left in the season and it's hard to know where the producers can go from here. They say, "When you hit bottom, there's no place to go but up." We certainly hope that's true, although there appears to be a special place reality television goes, and it's below bottom.
It was hard to watch the latest installment of Biggest Loser--Couples, and not wonder what aliens from a far off galaxy landing on earth might think. For argument's sake they land on "campus" only to find a man carrying around a slice of chocolate cake as a pet, while his compatriots tease him and hide his cake in the laundry to teach him to better protect his pet. And then these same people run up and down stairs, gathering junk food and placing it on tables, occasionally taking a bite. The point here was to put as many calories on someone else's table so they could lose the challenge.
The aliens would likely think they had landed on a planet where intelligence was not valued, but a high premium was placed on trans-fat. They would not be entirely wrong. But in watching the episode we felt more like the aliens.
A solid hour, we're not kidding, was spent on Dan's relationship with a slice of cake. He carried it with him everywhere. There were shots of the cake in the gym. Shots of the cake in the kitchen. It was downright bizarre. And idiotic.
And as if that were not idiotic enough, the second hour was centered around a challenge that was not only insulting and inane, but also infuriating. Infuriating because despite the fact that there are no real teams left, Bob's blue team remains strong and intact, and viciously determined to wipe out "the girls." They work out together, strategize together, and still raise their unified voice in "PRIDE" whenever they get the chance. And they approach each task with an eye toward how they can eliminate one of the remaining two women and strengthen their hold on the game. And because there are four of them and only two women, the women barely stand a chance.
The two remaining women, Kelly and Ali, have not exactly been united. Kelly is the sole remaining member of Jillian's black team, and Ali came back in that strange twist a few weeks ago, and still wears her pink team shirt with pride. This week, disgusted and demoralized by the men's behavior, the women decided to unite; Jillian gave them pep talk after pep talk and they rallied, determined not to be eliminated. In the end, the united men could not save Dan from elimination, after he lost only a pound. The women, in fact, were first and second at the weigh-in.
There were the teary goodbyes, now customary for the men. Weeping, vowing eternal love, pledging PRIDE despite the fall. Ugh. We're so sick of the men conniving and conspiring to gang up on the women, macho, mean, and ruthless, and then collapsing into quivering, sniveling babies at the end.
We have been saying for awhile now that this show has lost focus; this week proved once again that weight loss, exercise, healthy eating, changes in lifestyle--all take a backseat to pet cakes and boys versus girls sexist mentality.
Two episodes left. Four more hours. 240 minutes. But who's counting.
(c) NBC Universal.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: Biggest Loser, NBC, weight loss, fitness, couples, cake
It was hard to watch the latest installment of Biggest Loser--Couples, and not wonder what aliens from a far off galaxy landing on earth might think. For argument's sake they land on "campus" only to find a man carrying around a slice of chocolate cake as a pet, while his compatriots tease him and hide his cake in the laundry to teach him to better protect his pet. And then these same people run up and down stairs, gathering junk food and placing it on tables, occasionally taking a bite. The point here was to put as many calories on someone else's table so they could lose the challenge.The aliens would likely think they had landed on a planet where intelligence was not valued, but a high premium was placed on trans-fat. They would not be entirely wrong. But in watching the episode we felt more like the aliens.
A solid hour, we're not kidding, was spent on Dan's relationship with a slice of cake. He carried it with him everywhere. There were shots of the cake in the gym. Shots of the cake in the kitchen. It was downright bizarre. And idiotic.
And as if that were not idiotic enough, the second hour was centered around a challenge that was not only insulting and inane, but also infuriating. Infuriating because despite the fact that there are no real teams left, Bob's blue team remains strong and intact, and viciously determined to wipe out "the girls." They work out together, strategize together, and still raise their unified voice in "PRIDE" whenever they get the chance. And they approach each task with an eye toward how they can eliminate one of the remaining two women and strengthen their hold on the game. And because there are four of them and only two women, the women barely stand a chance.
The two remaining women, Kelly and Ali, have not exactly been united. Kelly is the sole remaining member of Jillian's black team, and Ali came back in that strange twist a few weeks ago, and still wears her pink team shirt with pride. This week, disgusted and demoralized by the men's behavior, the women decided to unite; Jillian gave them pep talk after pep talk and they rallied, determined not to be eliminated. In the end, the united men could not save Dan from elimination, after he lost only a pound. The women, in fact, were first and second at the weigh-in.
There were the teary goodbyes, now customary for the men. Weeping, vowing eternal love, pledging PRIDE despite the fall. Ugh. We're so sick of the men conniving and conspiring to gang up on the women, macho, mean, and ruthless, and then collapsing into quivering, sniveling babies at the end.
We have been saying for awhile now that this show has lost focus; this week proved once again that weight loss, exercise, healthy eating, changes in lifestyle--all take a backseat to pet cakes and boys versus girls sexist mentality.
Two episodes left. Four more hours. 240 minutes. But who's counting.
(c) NBC Universal.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: Biggest Loser, NBC, weight loss, fitness, couples, cake
