The Biggest Loser: Family

I have a weakness for reality TV.  They are like a drug…one show can get me hooked for the season.  It has been several years since I’ve watched The Biggest Loser.  But, it was on, happened to be the first one, and I was hooked.

I liked the concept of family members losing together.  I guess they did this last round too.  I like the drama it causes and the idea that someone can undertake this journey with a loved on at their side.  In some cases, it is a codependency thing – weight gain, so having that support and breaking a larger cycle is important.

I have really liked this season so far. I love Colleen.  Her tenacity is refreshing.  I love the Michelle and Rene because we get to see their relationship issues resolve as we watch the show.  I also love Amy and Shellay.  But, I can do without Heba.  Behind her are Vicky and Brady who are Heba-enablers.

Let’s talk Heba for a moment.  Her husband was eliminated thus leaving her behind.  On the surface, she looks like a leader, but she is truly playing a game.  They are all playing a game at some point – I mean, money is involved, but I feel the game is first with the changes being back burner.  Let me explain my odd statement a bit.  Why did Heba’s hubby go home and not her?  They decided to split up their effort.  She needed more support to lose the weight, so she would work to become the Biggest Loser and win $250K – and he would go home and become the Biggest Loser from the departed contestants and win $100K.  This, in her opinion, would increase their chances of a sweep.  Oh, and by the way, they want to have kids soon, so it is clearly more important for her to stay around and lose weight than it is for him.

The continual strategizing is her focus.  When the teams were going to be re-shuffled, she made the argument that she would “take one for the team” and “win” the challenge by eating the most calories, then she would split the teams for everyone’s advantage.  (The winner held the power to create the new teams.)  No one liked the idea….but only Phil was open about it and tried to thwart her attempt to steamroll the other people.  When he did that, Heba decided he was reacting personally to her.  He didn’t like her for some personal reason, so was undermining her good intentions.  Poor Heba!  To show how good she is, she punished Phil by separating him and his wife.  Later, when Phil tried to strategize so that the field would be level again (I mean, Heba is still calling all of the shots), he was tagged as personally attacking her.  Hmmm…for Heba it is strategy.  For Phil, it is a personal attack. It’s kind of like how an assertive woman is a bitch while a man is simply assertive.  Interesting.

Last night, Heba staged a confrontation in the middle of the team dinner so that “Phil’s team can see the kind of guy he really is”.  She only succeeded in annoying everyone and making them support Phil even more.  In the end, Phil went home because he was having problems staying focused.  He missed his wife, their 20th anniversary was days away, and he was having problems staying focused amongst the drama.

Heba is ruining the show for me.  Seeing the changes these people are going through and seeing how their desire for a shot at money takes a backseat to the weight loss and health gains is what people want to see.  Seeing someone create drama and trying to sabotage someone are not why people watch.  Heck, if I wanted to see that sort of behavior, I would be a fan of Big Brother or The Hills.

The next episode sees the team competition end, and the singles beginning.  Let’s hope Heba’s time comes to an end.  Oh, and if that happens, Heba should watch out because I think Phil will be looking to take her down for the $100K.

2 Comments Add yours

  1. Thanks for the recap. I have never gotten into TBL, but I know that many find it inspiring.

  2. Michelle says:

    It isn’t a bad show. I can’t watch it season after season for the same reason I had to stop watching Extreme Home Makeover. It was too inspirational, if that makes sense.

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