The Biggest Loser season 9 episode 13 was broadcast on the NBC network on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, at 8/7c. Living up to The Biggest Loser's billing as a show filled with twists and surprises while offering its fair share of inspirational stories, fun challenges, and overall entertainment.
On the last episode of The Biggest Loser, Melissa fell below the yellow line and, without immunity to rely on, the deliberation was quick and unanimous in the decision to send her home. Melissa on The Biggest Loser was a provocative person who drew much attention for her drama-inducing antics and gamesmanship; in her absence, it was expected that the game would return to its purer roots of losing weight and promoting a healthy lifestyle.
With that Biggest Loser recap out of the way, the rest of the contestants were free to compete without Melissa's distractions. Season 9 episode 13 was all about money, with a few financial-themed points of interests sprinkled throughout that led to a somewhat surprising conclusion.
The pop challenge to start The Biggest Loser episode was a balancing act: Each Loser had to balance quarters on a platter, and the last one with a platter standing would win $10 for every quarter on the platter. The only person who seemed to have little difficulty adding quarters was Michael, who easily won and netted $1,000, but in a surprise move the contest sponsor, Total, doubled his winnings for such a great effort. The also awarded Sunshine with $650, citing her perseverance in genuinely trying hard despite having obvious difficulties.
Next, The Biggest Loser players had a visit from Suze Orman of CNBC, who appeared with last season's winner, Danny Cahill. The two offered an interesting insight on the relationship between fiscal health and physical health; that is, people who live healthier lifestyles in diet, exercise, etc., also tend to be more likely to manage their money well. As an example, Danny gave his testimony of having been a Biggest Loser in the aspect of debt, where he had much improved in a previous $45,000 debt total. Suze claimed that she knew Danny would win the previous season because he was numbers-conscious; similarly, she predicted that either Sunshine or Koli would win the 2010 Biggest Loser contest.
Afterward came the immunity challenge, an important factor on The Biggest Loser to determine who can safely avoid being voted to go home. For this iteration, the Biggest Loser contestants had to run to the top of a hill, select one of 140 keys, run down the hill, and try them on a Mazda 3, of which there were two. A new car was a huge attraction, as it was easily one of the best prizes ever offered on a The Biggest Loser episode, and the contestants ran up and down the hill eagerly.
In a twist of fate, it was raining during the competition, and eventually everyone was mud-flung and filthy, but Andrea came away to win the first car before O'Neal won the second Mazda, and gave it to his daughter in a touching moment.
Bob threw them into the mud further for their final chance workout, which eventually just turned into The Biggest Loser: Mud Wrestling. Jillian was even dragged into the mix, where the contestants enacted a measure of lighthearted (though taken with a measure of disdain) vengeance on her by not only completely muddying her, but even shoving mud down her pants at one point. Trainer Jillian took it out on them in the gym.
Finally, the weigh-in, the crux of The Biggest Loser, and the most potentially jaw-dropping portion of episode 13 from season 9. The results came in as these losses:
Daris: -7 pounds, -3.00% body weight
Michael: -9 pounds, -2.42% body weight
Ashley: -6 pounds, -2.27% body weight
Koli: -6 pounds, -2.17% body weight
Victoria: -5 pounds, -1.84% body weight
O'Neal: -5 pounds, -1.77% body weight
Sunshine: -3 pounds, -1.54% body weight
Andrea: -3 pounds, -1.33% body weight
Sam: 0 pounds, 0% body weight
Sam's blank was a shocker, as he had truly seemed to have given his best in the workouts. He and Andrew both fell below the yellow line, leaving them vote-vulnerable, and set up the rest of The Biggest Loser contestants for a difficult decision.
Ultimately, Andrea had to leave, with Ashley being the only one to vote her to stay. In Andrea's parting speech, she said she was finally beginning to get the hang of the process, and went back to life working with children with special needs and running with her dog, not to mention driving her new Mazda 3.
Thus concluded The Biggest Loser episode 13 of season 9; overall, a worthy episode from a worthy series with many storylines still left to work out, pun not intended.