'The Biggest Loser: Couples' Season 11, Episode 16 Recap

['The Biggest Loser: Couples' - 'Week Sixteen']

The rather blatant theme of the week was conquering fears. To help drive this point home, we had contestants diving off of cliffs, scaling mountains, riverboarding and bungee jumping. Alison Sweeney even got in on the action with a death-defying stunt of her own.

But it wasn't all fun and games, as the competition shifted to its final phase. That's right, while these guys haven't made it to Makeover Week yet, they did make it to Singles. Eight contestants, three trainers and another week in the paradise that is New Zealand.

After last week's uneven and in some cases disastrous turn on the scale, the contestants needed to buckle down and focus on their weight loss, which wasn't so easy to do with all those crazy adventures they were being taken on.

The first major change, keeping in line with the 'Second Chances' theme of this season, was the return of Brett. And keeping in line with the adventurous and fear-conquering theme of the week, he parachuted in. Which brings our total up to four trainers for eight contestants.

When Brett announced that each trainer was taking a pair of contestants on an adventure, I got excited to see what each of them came up with. We saw Brett take Jay and Austin up the side of a cliff, albeit one with metal rungs drilled into it to make it safer and easier. Then we saw Bob take Rulon and Irene to the bridge where bungee jumping was invented. Then...

Where was Jillian's adventure? Was it too boring to see? Or did her contestants chicken out and not go through with it? It was so cool seeing those guys scale that cliff wall, and watching Rulon's head dunk in the water on his bungee jump was a highlight of the episode.

Cara faced her own fear. Last week, she was the only trainer who didn't get to go down the side of the Sky Tower in Auckland, but she made up for it this week by taking on the world's highest cliff jump at the Shotover Canyon Swing. If bungee jumping looked scary, this looked absolutely terrifying, but Cara, Kaylee and Hannah all tackled it and came out feeling euphoric.

The Challenge had them riverboarding a half mile down a speeding river in the freezing cold. It looked like a physically brutal challenge, which would hopefully prove helpful on the scales. Olivia took an early lead, earned the win, and then took her sister on a scenic trip to the Eighth Wonder of the World: Milford Sound.



That trip was part of a big week for the sisters. After receiving a vote from Rulon (despite Moses' request to be sent home) last week, Olivia pushed herself to try to compete with him directly in the workouts. She beat him on the Challenge and was determined to beat him on the scale. Hannah, meanwhile, finally realized her own self-worth. Those are the kinds of moments the show is made for, and what the contestants really need.

Kaylee had a similar breakthrough. After losing only two pounds in the last five weeks, she's on a tailspin spiraling out of control. Two weeks ago she tried to throw a weigh-in thinking she was ready to go home, but she couldn't have been more wrong. It took her father being sent home for her to start seeing the truth about herself and where she's at on her journey.

She was late to the party, but it looks like she's finally arrived. This trip to New Zealand appears to have inspired a lot of the contestants in some really positive ways. Even the trainers seemed invigorated and motivated to work harder and be better. Brett came back focused and more determined than ever, while Cara helped Kaylee with her emotional baggage this week.

That mental part of a trainer's job was something Cara seemed to be struggling to figure out. Her shouting match with Ken may have gotten her thinking about how to be a more all-encompassing trainer. Brett admitted to taking advice from Bob and Jillian to improve his game. Maybe Cara was sitting in on those sessions as well.

At the weigh-in, Olivia proved herself a worthy opponent, but no one could touch Rulon. The big guy lost a shocking 10 pounds, but it was a solid week for everyone. By two-tenths of a percentage point, Jay avoided dropping below the Yellow Line, while Hannah fell below with Ken.

This was probably the first true unknown going into the vote, as no one was manipulating the game or trying to sacrifice themselves for the other person. Ken wanted to be there, and so did Hannah.

In the end, we'll never know if Ken would have been voted out as once he got three votes, the rest didn't matter. Even had it been a tie, he'd have been sent home with the lowest percentage of weight loss. Now it looks like Austin will get to do as Kaylee has done and find his own way without his dad in the game.

I'm hoping, as we're getting closer to the finale, that these follow-ups are filmed not long after the contestants leave the Ranch. By the time we caught up with him at home, paragliding with his kids, Ken had lost five more pounds from his ending weight in New Zealand. He looked happy and his kids were happy, so he's probably achieved everything he ever wanted to get out of the show.

'The Biggest Loser' airs Tuesdays, 8PM ET on NBC.

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