The Biggest Loser: Season 5 at the Halfway Mark

What was once ten teams of two, has now become two teams divided among ten players - five Blue team, five Black team. After 7 grueling weeks, the remaining contestants are halfway to their goal of becoming this year's Biggest Loser. But at what cost to the emotional well-being of the players? This week especially, tensions were flying high on the eve of Jackie's elimination from the Blue team, as her son Dan felt betrayed by his fellow teammates. Other contestants fought with and started to come to terms with their emotional and psychological demons which have been a major cause of their weight gain problems. It seems as though The Biggest Loser was doing it's best with editing the show this week in such a way that would bring us to tears. This week's show was truly one of the best shows of the season by far. It brought to light the issues that so many people deal with at the root of their weight gain and subsequently, the issues that contribute to their weight loss difficulties.

At the start of the show, we saw Dan having a difficult time with the loss of his partner, his mother Jackie. He fought back the tears as he explained how he and his mother had been betrayed by the rest of the Blue team. However, in my opinion, Jackie ended up bringing this upon herself and deserved to be the one eliminated. If there is anyone who was "playing the game" to his or her advantage these past 7 weeks, it was Jackie. Always the first to make or break alliances to suit her purpose, Jackie ended up getting a dose of her own medicine in the end by the team she so sweetly tried to woo prior to the elimination. So, following in his mother's footsteps Dan tried to gain his teammates' "trust" by falsely claiming that he understood why they voted his mother off, which prompted a chorus of apologies from his Blue teammates. This could very well lead to being the beginning of the end to the Blue team, a team built upon distrust and a team that hides their true emotions from their fellow teammates. The only shining light of the Blue team was Trent, who unfortunately and emotionally got voted off this week. If any of the contestants has a good head on his shoulders and knows what the true spirit of the show is about, it's Trent. Trent showed in this episode that he was at the ranch for himself and his family, and that it indeed was "not about the money" for him. His positive attitude and and willingness to be honest about his thoughts and feelings have served him well, as he has to this date lost 112 pounds, 25 of which he lost after his elimination from the ranch.

On the other hand, the Black team seems to be dealing with their emotional issues head-on, at the coaxing of their trainer Jillian. In this episode, Jillian brings a guest to the house, her mother, who is a psychotherapist. The Black team members undergo therapy sessions to get to the root of their overeating issues, while the Blue team takes the "we like to walk it off, and not talk it off" attitude and opts to takes a hike with Bob to the top of a nearby mountain. Again, we see the Blue team not taking the time to get at the core of their weight problems. Maybe that's why the Blue team ends up in the elimination room for a second time in a row this week. Eventually, everyone on both team Blue and team Black are going to have to face their demons in order to lose the weight, and most importantly not fall into the same pattern that brought them to the ranch in the first place.

And this brings us to the culmination of the episode, where we learn that all the players are being sent home to put into practice what they have learned while on the ranch. To me, it seems that the Black team will fare much better than the Blue team, simply because they have begun the process of healing their emotional wounds which may have been the cause of their overeating behaviors. We all need to realize that eating and exercising alone won't heal the core reason behind the problem. It looks as if The Biggest Loser realizes this as well, and is now putting their contestants up to the ultimate test. Maybe this will be the wake-up call that some of them need in order to realize that it's not just about the numbers - it's about the heart and about healing the pain inside. Only then will they all become their own winners.

Source: The Biggest Loser 5: TV Show, Series