[MrsJim]

Sorry gals...9:30 is past my regular bedtime...
Stream of my unconciousness...

Gotta mention that I had an unavoidable interruption for fifteen minutes!!

************

7:59 pm - flashbacks from last week's show...nice summary

Teams have lost a total of 627 lbs as of last week's weighin.

This week's Season One grad - Aaron. Lookin' good - he's got two dogs and running for miles a day (looks like he could stand to do a little more weight training though...) He was considered the 'dreamboat' by *some* last year.

After the credits - a little STRIFE between the teams. They can't stand to be in the same room together. Apparently (not surprisingly IMO) several of the Reds are TO'd about Jen's elimination.

Mark doesn't mince words - he talks about the Blue's strategy or lack thereof, eliminating apparently their best players. Getting some digs in.

Mark and Shannon have a mutual UNadmiration society going on...conflict big time...

Teams meet in the elimination room with Caroline. Pete and Suzy are the two biggest losers on each team so far.

Caroline announces that the teams will be broken up into pairs - 3 men/women pairs, 1 male/male.

Suzy starts freaking out, rest of contestants look uncertain.

Mark...called the blue team Dirtbags???

Segues into this week's temptation - choose a covered dish - one will give the player the opportunity to pick the teams, the rest contain food which they have to eat.

Guess that Bob and Jillian will be working as a team now...

**commercial**

8:13 they make their choices.

Seth gets donuts, Suzy twinkies (she doesn't even like them...)

OMG - PETE gets to choose. Right on...everyone is glad about that, except possibly Pete. It will take the wisdom of Solomon.

All the players get together. Pete wants to hear their preferences first.

I certainly don't envy Pete at all. He's being VERY fair, putting a lot of thought into his choices.

and THIS is when my phone rang - it was my mother in law so I was on the phone for 15 minutes...missed the choosign of the teams...

Teams: Matt & Shannon; Suzy and Seth; Mark and Andrea; Dr. J and Pete

Bob and Jillian seem puzzled to say the least, but they adjust and soon all the contestants are working out together.

Guys are surprised how hard Bob is training them while the gals love Jillian.

(what a great idea on the show's part to mix up the players and the trainers...like one of the players said it's like starting over!)

8:35 pm - challenge at the beach - there are four buckets each with the pairs' names on them.

one member of the pair holds the buckets - the guys and Pete; while the other member - the girls and Dr. J - have to run through the sand with their little buckets, fill them with water, run back and fill whichever buckets they choose.

Last bucket still up in the air - that pair wins a trip to Hawaii and immunity from elimination that week

Okay...Pete is the first one to let go.

It takes a strong grip to hold those ropes!

Mark loses his grip and now it's just Matt and Seth...

Both are determined to hold on at all costs - their hands and arms must be KILLING them...a bucket is shown falling but whose?!? *Commercial*

8:44 pm - back to beach...both guys are still holding on.

Dr. Jeff is still in the game, he's putting water in Matt's bucket!

Finally it becomes too much, Matt loses his grip and Suzy and Seth win.

Okay - here's the heart attack part - it was Matt's uncle.

Crying again, but who can blame him?

He's determined to stay on the ranch, in memory of his uncle so he doesn't turn out the same way, for his health.

Last chance workout before the weighin - Jillian and Bob both kicking their butts big time

All the pairs are getting along so well - it's amazing how they've bonded after what we saw in the beginning...

8:53 pm - time for the weigh in.

Suzy and Seth go first since they have immunity.

Suzy down 4 lbs - she's lost a total of 45 lbs.

Seth didn't lose weight - he's on a plateau. Hopefully they have learned that these things happen in weight loss!

Good thing they had immunity.

Pete down 7 lbs to 318

Dr. J. down 11 lbs and IS NOW UNDER 300 lbs. Wow - look how happy he is! He's lost a total of 76 lbs!

Pete and Jeff have lost 2.86%.

Andrea down 6 to 185, Mark down 14 to 273 for 4.18%.

Shannon down 6 to 212...and then we go into a commercial ugh!!

9:05 pm - Matt down a big SEVENTEEN POUNDS to 262!! WOO HOO MATT!!

(big speech by Matt at this point).

Jeff and Pete lost the weigh-in, so one will be eliminated.

Each team gets one vote.

Hard decision - but Dr. J is asking everyone to eliminate him because he doesn't want to hurt his friend Pete.

Pete doesn't want Dr. J to leave either, but Jeff has already started to pack his stuff.

He's below 300 lbs, and he's gained self-respect and pride which is far more important than any money.

**Commercial**

9:17 pm - elimination time.
I'm certain that Dr. Jeff will be selected...since he asked the guys to do so.
Matt and Shannon are first and they pick....PETE!
It's obvious this is not a happy time for ANYONE right now, there is so much affection for both Pete and Dr. J.
Seth and Suzy pick Jeff.
Mark is crying...this is REALLY hard for him...would have been either way...Andrea stands behind him, her hand on his shoulder, giving him support.
He lifts the silver cover and...Pete is gone.

OMG - I'm CRYING at this point. Really crying.
So is everyone as Pete says his goodbyes. They'll be friends forever.
He seems to be happy that Jeff gets to stay.
Everyone is hugging...

...cut to 24 hours later...at Pete's house.
He's talking to his wife on the cell phone...she doesn't know he's BEHIND HER...
she turns around and OMG!!!
She hasn't seen him since 84 pounds ago...look at his smile....

And this is probably the biggest OMG I've ever had in this show...Pete NOW.
He looks GREAT!
137 pounds lost - his wife has lost a bunch of weight too.
He's a WHOLE NEW PERSON!!!

OMG...I'm crying again...

Summary - this was the best show yet of the season!!!

[Jen415]

Man, was I biting my fingernails last night!! Two of my faves up for elimination!!! But my ultimate fave (Dr. Jeff) was spared. (Speaking of which, did you notice Dr. Jeff was wearing a pink ribbon on his shirt in one of the workout scenes? I know he works in women's health--maybe it is in support of them!)

Did you also see on the guys?? You can actually see stomach muscles forming!! And all the gals are getting very shapely, especially Andrea!

I, too, cried last night when Pete's wife saw him for the first time after leaving the ranch. He looked awesome! I am willing to bet that by the time the reunion show happens, they will be pregnant!

[angel-eyes]

I loved last nights show also!!! You know what I find amazing? Pete was a very heavy guy and in 65 days he lost almost 87 lbs.....flash forward to the cute hottie playing basketball.......I thought he was "grandpa" age, I almost fell off the couch when I heard he wanted to start a family. I had NO CLUE he was in the prime of his life..... Congratulations to his wife also, she lost 50 lbs at airtime and probably more now!!! INCREDIBLE!!!

[lessofsarahtolove]

Man, what an emotional rollercoaster! I was just devastated when I realized that it was going to have to be either Pete or Dr. Jeff -- man, they're both so loveable! I was right there with you guys crying my eyes out when Pete surprised his wife.......and THEN to see him NOW????? OMG. I'm just so, so proud of him....AND his wife!!

I just LOVED seeing Jillian and Bob working together with everybody, and it was GREAT to see the guys impressed by Bob. It really helped to drive home the fact that it's great to keep changing things up.

Matt's ok - he's just one of those guys who has to go away and process before returning with his game face on. He seems like a really loyal, all-about-the-team, emotional guy who maybe has some emotional maturing to do. But he rebounded nicely, and I felt badly for him about his uncle. His response to the loss I thought was just great.

Mark? Well he's pretty much a wienie, I'm thinking. (Like Seth, IMO.) But you can't love everybody, right? I don't like his communication much, and I think he has a lot to learn about respectful behavior -- but I wouldn't say I agree with the women's assertion that they didn't feel "safe" (emotionally, that is) in the house. People say things that you don't like, and sometimes people can be downright mean -- so yeah, you don't have to like it, but people still have a right to dislike you and disapprove of your decisions.....especially when they're competing with you. For many of us, this journey to renewed health is not just a physical one, and the women's tearful responses bears that out.

This show rocks.

[AnnieFannie]

Wow. Sounds like I missed alot the last 20 minutes. Dang cable. I would have given up the whole first hour of the show to see the best part. I did get a small glimpse of what Pete looked like in his white suit. I watched to summary pics on NBC. Boy can we say awesome. I can't wait for them to put up his pictures of what he looks like now. I am dying to find out.

Way to go Matt. He made a great comeback from last week's "0". I was sitting waiting for the commercial to comeback thinking, "GOSH, I sure hope he didn't sneak food again." And bamm.. The cable goes out and I am so upset. Of course it came back on at 9:37. Grrr.. Thank goodness I could get the scoop here. Just want to see the after pics of Pete.

I love that they are showing the before pics of everyone when they are weighing in. It's great to see how much they are changing. They are all looking so good. I was so happy to see Dr. Jeff get under 300. You could tell he felt so great. You go Jeff.

I think the men and women worked pretty well together considering there were some ill feelings there from the women getting rid of Jenn. I think in the end they found out that the other sex isn't all that bad. Question? So what is going to happen next week on the show? Obviously they still can't be couple teams since there is an odd number. I am assmuing that it will each man(woman) for themselves. But heck anything is possible.

I just have to say even though I missed the best part, reading everything from you guys has helped me see that it was the best show by far this season. I can't wait to see Tuesday's show. Hopefully, the cable won't go out on me this time. (Keeping fingers crossed)>

[skinnyjeans]

Definitely the best episode of the season. This was really the first week where I didn't want to vote anyone off. Didn't even want Mark to go because, although he is a weanie and the women need to stand up and not take his garbage, he really pushed Andrea once they paired up.

Really suprised by Suze and Seth's slow week. Lucky they had immunity and hopefully a big rebound next week.

I couldn't believe how GOOD Pete looked in the after shots. Like 20 years younger. And 260something is pretty heavy, buy he is such a big guy it looked great on him. I they hadn't said the wieght I would have guessed much less. How tall is he? My dh and I were pretty shocked by the amount of weight his wife has lost as well. Good for her! She looked much prettier too.

[AnnieFannie]

I believe if I read it right, Pete is 6'5". Very tall man. He looked great. I haven't seen what his wife looks like but I am sure she looks fab. It's great to see them both get into shape. I can see them have a baby soon.

[Star]

Okay - I'm late with my post....
Mrs. Jim - Again - great recap!!! It's like seeing the show all over again....can't get too much of that...lol
My comments - pretty much "Ditto" to all of the above...nice posts everyone!
I have to say this:
...........................I LOVE Pete and his wife, he looks SOOOOOOOOOO HOT!........and so did she after jumping on his bandwagon............Way to Go!!!!!

[Jen415]

I can't remember where I read it--could have been here, not sure--but someone posted that they thought Seth and Suzy sandbagged their weigh-in this week by hydrating before weigh-in, so that their loss will be bigger next week. I can sort of see this.

[sapphire9]

Wow! How great the show turned out to be! When I saw all the nastiness that went on at the beginning I dreaded a whole hour and a half of that. But Pete was a revelation. He had been in the background during most of the show and I really didn't get a take on him. But the judicious and generous way he pared off the contestants showed his true nature. (Imagine if Suzy had won the power!) It was amazing that everyone worked so well together. I was so sorry to see Pete and Dr. Jeff lose the least. And almost shed a tear when everyone said goodbye to Pete. Loved the pix of Pete now and his wife. What an inspiration indeed. By the way, Dr. Jeff is looking good too. His face has more definition than in the past. I would like to see Matt voted off next but I'm afraid it's going to be Dr. Jeff. At the end of the program they had a shot of Matt while they said next week a popular player gets voted off. I don't think it's Matt and the only other player popular with everyone is Dr. Jeff.

[Star]

Where do you work or live that you see Matt?

[Star]

Oh - well that is pretty cool.......maybe you can ask him who won? LOL
Time to hit the road - be back tomorrow....BYE

[RobertW]

Originally Posted by Determined Gal

Have you noticed that if you watch any reality tv show where it requires females to work together, it never works out.

On the 2nd (?) season of the apprentice the all-female team massacred the guys because they did a better job of cooperating.

[MrsJim]

Please - I would ask that for the rest of us viewers that anyone who happens to *know* any of the contestants still in play as of Episode 7 not reveal any information...otherwise known as *spoilers*.

Thanks!

[sapphire9]

Whoops. Just re-read my post. I meant I wanted Mark voted off, not Matt.