Biggest Loser 12: Halloween Treats and a Nasty Trick

The Halloween episode of Biggest Loser was hyped all week, and it did not disappoint. Well, it did at the end...but more on that later in this post.

Gotta love Alison Sweeney as the Bride of Frankenstein, a combination of scary and beautiful as only Ali can do. It's a real gift to dress like that and still be gorgeous. Ali won't have to settle just for Frankie...her creepy milkshake will bring all the monsters to the yard.

Of course there were many twists and turns to the week, including all of the players working together as one and working out with all three trainers. My evil Halloween wish came true as Bob put Bonnie through hell. Actually it sounded like he was squeezing a black cat through the ringer, so this turned out to be part trick/part treat.

The maze challenge actually looked like a lot of fun, even with all of the stipulations placed on the contest. Antone was definitely NOT a graveyard smash as he made his way through the maze. He refused to enter the cemetery section even though it was all completely fake. I have a feeling we're going to learn more about his aversion to headstones in a future episode. Thankfully his hesitation didn't cost the group their win. It looked like losing 90 pounds as a whole was going to be a piece of apple cider cake. However...

Something stranger than strange happened on the way to the weigh-in. Almost everybody pulled low numbers on the scale. Then Sunny stepped up and GAINED 5 pounds. Funny how nobody except Bob seemed really upset. Even Sunny's cry of "I don't know what's going on" seemed as fake as the graves in the maze. As player after player did not pull their weight, something smelled rotten on the ranch...and it wasn't from corpses left lying around from the Halloween festivities.

In the last couple of weeks it seems that certain players wound up with targets on their backs. It certainly felt that way when Courtney was sent home, but even more so this week. The other players ganged up on Jennifer and accused her of all kinds of things, like not working out hard with anyone except Bob, not being a team player, even not chanting along with Dolvett and company. She was hit by one nasty comment after another, telling her she was bad energy in the house and a major distraction.

Now, I don't know what they're all seeing, but I see someone who has issues and is working to overcome them. I also see those issues in ALL of the contestants. As I well know, you don't get to be that overweight without having demons that need to be dealt with. As for Vinny yelling at Jen for supposedly not chanting well with others, I saw differently. Jen did participate in the group exercise with Dolvett and I saw (and heard) her speak. One time did I see her not say the words - and it was because she had tears in her eyes. I don't know about you, but I've been there. You have so much emotion running through you that you can't move for a few moments. She was trying her darndest to shout out with everyone, but for that one moment her emotions got the best of her. She did not lie to Vinny; most of the time she WAS speaking. (Plus, after covering past seasons of Biggest Loser I can vouch for the fact that there is more to it than what you see on TV...everyone should be given benefit of doubt.)

Also, I see a strong woman who had a fracture in her leg that could have kept her from doing her best...but she didn't let it stop her. She learned how to work around it and still lose the weight. Yes, Bob was the one who originally showed her the way. But it was still Jen who did the work. How quickly her team forgets that she contributed big numbers at the previous weigh-ins, all without the use of her leg. She lost more at times than others who had both of their legs in working order. So the emotional baggage she came to the ranch with was bad, but theirs was OK? WRONG. It certainly looked like the majority of the players threw the weigh-in so they could send her home.

They got their wish - but you can't keep a good woman down. She was down 102 pounds at the time of filming and wearing a gorgeous green wrap dress that shows how far she's come. I really loved hearing her at the elimination as Alison told her she was not the Biggest Loser and she answered, "Not YET." There is still a marathon to be run at the beginning of December, and I hope and pray that Jennifer kicks all of their behinds and wins that spot in the finals.

So even though her "team" played a mean Halloween trick on her, Jen is turning it into her own personal treat. The ultimate sweetness will come at the finale, and with the new life she is creating for herself. We can all learn from Jen how to persevere even when other people don't understand. Keep on rockin' it, girl!