Biggest Loser 12: A Happy Dysfunctional Family Thanksgiving

There's nothing like Thanksgiving to bring out the best - or worst - in people.

It doesn't matter that this episode was filmed during the summer. All things Thanksgiving were present and accounted for. The contestants began with a food challenge in order to win a 3 pound advantage. I don't know about you, but if I ate those holiday dishes trying to find the magic number on the bottom of the plate, I would have cancelled out my 3 pound advantage.

Vinny won that challenge, and thankfully without having to eat too much of the Thanksgiving goodies. He also won the Biggest Loser Songwriter of the Year award for the song he composed about his girlfriend, Lori. The lyrics are personal to him, yet universal enough that I could see it becoming a hit...at least from the portion we got to hear. As a country girl and fellow songwriter, I look forward to Trailer Choir at the top of that charts!

The players then sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner with the trainers. I'm sure none of them even wanted to look at the food after the challenge. That's OK, because one of the best lessons anyone can learn for the holidays is to focus on family and friends - not the food. The most touching moment came from Bob, who shared his love for his sister and frustration at not being able to help her get healthy. It's quite ironic that he's a world-class trainer for a living, but hasn't been able to get through to his sister. And it only proves the point that no matter who you have around you, YOU are the one doing the work and YOU have to be ready to make the change. I hope Bob's sister is ready now, after seeing this episode. Maybe she'll even see some of herself in Sunny, just as Bob does.

Now - on to the dysfunctional part of this Thanksgiving. Everyone competed in a Jacob's Ladder challenge for more prizes, with the winner getting a one pound advantage. This person would also get to give a one pound disadvantage to another player. Sunny came on strong and almost won, but John was the victor. Earlier in the episode I was loving how strong he was becoming with Dolvett's help. Unfortunately, this wound up creating a monster who decided to give Sunny the disadvantage.

Sunny was visibly upset, as were the rest of the group. When the weigh-in ended, John stayed above the yellow line and Sunny went below. The kicker was that if she hadn't received the pound disadvantage she would have been safe and John would have been below. I'm thrilled that Dolvett gets to stay around, because if John had gone home Dolvett's team would have been no more. But I wish there was a way to keep the trainer even if his last charge leaves!

Sunny was up for elimination along with Ramon. Almost everyone voted for Ramon becase they thought the whole situation was unfair to Sunny. The only exceptions were Vinny (who's best buddy is Ramon, so that makes sense) and John, who after supposedly being so upset that he put Sunny in this situation STILL voted for her to go home. Antone called him out big time, saying he basically voted for Sunny twice. I do hope John redeems himself somehow...but I foresee a major showdown at the BL-OK Corral next week.

Ramon is the one who had to leave, but after seeing him back home with Jessica I stopped feeling bad for him. He didn't make it to makeover week, but he still had his own to surprise Jessica. I'd say he's still a winner...and quite the hottie now. Things somehow work out - just as they are supposed to.

Tune in next week for one of our favorites - Makeover Week! And don't foregt tonight's special "Where Are They Now?" episode!