Grandstanding, tensions and tough talk -- those are common enough behaviors on any competitive reality TV offering, but it's usually the contestants who can't keep the peace during the game. Not so -- at least not yet -- on "The Biggest Loser" this season.
As last week's premiere episode hinted, and Tuesday night's follow-up confirmed, it's veteran trainer Bob Harper and returning "transformer" Dolvett Quince who have each other in their sights.
This time around, the first signs of trouble showed just after Dolvett's red team took an unexpected risk during the first challenge. Hot on the heels of their recent scaleside win, the reds, or rather, their voluntary representatives Kim and Kimmy, gambled that the team could drop 3.8 percent of their weight for the week. That's 94 pounds -- nearly 10 pounds each in the notoriously difficult second week of the game.
Bob's black team knew that with a goal that high, the odds were against the other team. They declined an opportunity to counter with a higher offer. So it stood. If the red team met the bet, they'd win a 5-pound advantage. If they lost, Team Black won the perk.
While Dolvett wasn't thrilled with the almost-impossible task ahead, he got into the effort -- a little too into it.
As both teams gave their all in the gym, Dolvett pulled out a can of spray paint and graffitied the goal on the wall, where the red shirts couldn't forget what they needed to accomplish.
It wasn't long before a grumpy Bob followed the fumes and saw it for himself.
“Ugh! God, that red team is just so cocky,” Bob said with disgust. “Dolvett painting 94 pounds on the wall? I mean, are you a child? What’s going on here?”
Yowch!
The bad blood didn't stop there. Later, when both teams were putting their all into their respective last-chance workouts, Dolvett noticed that someone sprayed a sarcastic "good luck" over his motivational marks.
"Somebody tagged my tag?” he huffed before channeling the mood into a grueling routine -- a grueling and familiar routine.
“Oh my God! It’s like I just looked at all my workouts he does," a clearly irritated Bob said. "It’s like he’s watched every season of mine, and he does all my sh-- in front of me. Drives me nuts!”
In his own defense, Dolvett said, "I don’t think Bob has exercise as a trademark.”
Snap! But ...
(Note to Dolvett: I've watched every episode of every season of this show, and while you're still my imaginary reality TV boyfriend -- rowr! -- I have to say, those moves were classic Bob. He might not hold the trademark on having players go from a plank to an inverted-V and then having one after another crawl under the group, but in the "Loser" gym, he might as well. It's sort of his thing. Not that you don't do it well.)
Of course, Bob still had a chance to get back at his in-gym nemesis -- on the scale. By the time half of Dolvett's team stepped on the scale, it was obvious there was no way they'd win the bet with modest 3-, 4- and 5-pound loses. Still, they held out hope that they might win the weigh-in, despite the fact that Black held the advantage. But that hope was dashed soon enough.
The black team, led by a suddenly pleased Bob, won it, and the reds got their first taste of the elimination room this season. While in there, they decided to boot the often gruff Mike.
The man had a prickly personality and one heck of a past (smoking two packs a day at the age of 12), but once his fate was certain, he seemed oddly sympathetic and finally dropped the tough-guy act. If only he'd done that earlier.
What did you think of Mike's last-minute, nice-guy routine? And what about the rising tensions between Bob and Dolvett? Sound off on our Facebook page.
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