“A new force arrived in the game…” Mr Voiceover Man in relation to Commando Steve. Is he going to be a regular feature of the show? Because I think that’d be cool!

Unfortunately, we don’t find out tonight… Because much of the special one hour length episode is taken up by the drama surrounding The Walk once again… And this time it’s perhaps even more drama-y than last time!

What happens? Read on to find out!

And in the preview stuff we find out that Pati is going to find that her Walk is going to give her both power… and poison!
… that’s bad!

Does it make anyone else a little sad to see Bob and Jillian in the intro? :-(

Shannan’s having a little trouble picking up on the vibe in the room after temptation. They tell him of the chocolate fountain… “What’s a chocolate fountain?!”
And then the Blue team recaps the challenge for Shannan. Can’t they just let him read my last recap? Oh…

Michael tells us, again, that he participated in the challenge because he felt like he was probably a little bit outcast because of his friendship with Kelly, who’d just been eliminated.
You probably would’ve been a lot less outcast if you’d gone for the temptation and not lost so badly!
Shannan doesn’t seem too concerned about Michael’s 100 calories or so from the temptation though, so that’s good.

Michelle isn’t real impressed with Red fluffing around about the temptation result. Pati sets out the details of the challenge and that they’d worked out that it wasn’t going to be many calories, about 150 or so, and in exchange for that they get control of whatever The Walk may result in.
Ultimately Michelle is convinced, because Red had worked it out rationally and logically and they were right, 150 calories is easy to work off on the treadmill walking or running and it gets immunity away from Gerard and lets them make the decision on whatever the Walk has to offer.

P’eta (LESBIAN! \o/) says that Pati is going to be facing a surprise on the walk, that’s for sure. She seemed rather gleeful at that prospect!
Mel tells us that Pati looked nervous and the Blue team had sort of decided that they didn’t really envy the “power” Blue had. As P’eta says, it’s pseudo-power, false power.
Courtney doesn’t want “the enemy” to have the power, “stuff ’em!” And so on.

While Pati heads off on her stroll, P’eta takes the time to have a sit down with Laura to chat about how things are going. Even though they’re on “opposite teams” it seems like they’ve got a bit of a friendship happening due to being a bit outside the main group. P’eta’s obviously a fairly outgoing chick and hopefully she can coax Laura out of her shell somewhat.

P’eta tells Laura that she feels like she’s become part of the team, is feeling more accepted… but is still a little worried, because she’s still a bit on the outside looking in and feels like she might be a convenient person to turf if Blue get the opportunity.
I think Michael might be in line before you, P’eta, but otherwise you might be right.
Oh, and Gerard!

The rest of Blue team is sitting out on the steps discussing P’eta and they’ve come to the conclusion that she’s been Blue since the start, she’s fitting in well, works hard at training and sorts food out (?) and so on. They feel like she was definitely the right choice for the team to make.
Michael’s body language is screaming out his nervousness at this point. Obviously if everyone loves P’eta too then he doesn’t even have that safety net if it should come to elimination!
Damien says that when they first saw her, she seemed like a real hard case, a bit nasty or something, but since then they’ve seen that she was just trying to present a tough front, she’s actually a real sweetheart and stuff.

P’eta’s meanwhile asking Laura how she feels about her position in the Red team, does she feel secure, etc? Laura admits that no, she doesn’t, she feels like she’s the easy target. She’s not really hitting it off with any of the girls on her team and at the same time she doesn’t want to get too close because she’s worried they’ll hold things against her. And then she starts crying, again.
P’eta gives her some great words of encouragement, telling her to just keep trying her best and pushing the team as best she can and that soon enough they’ll see she’s of value to the team and one of the ones who isn’t performing up to snuff (COURTNEY) will hopefully go instead!

Munnalita says some more about how she thinks Pati will make the right choice for the team? Because she’ll think really hard about it? So she’ll make the right choice?
Courtney says that it’ll probably be the four stones thing he had to do, Munnalita is all, “It could be anything under those rocks! OMG What if it’s the one where people have to swap teams?”
Greg pipes up at this point and says that whoever it is that’s swapped is probably going to their doom. They’re going to get voted out.
I’m thinking if it comes to that, Laura might volunteer herself to be swapped, so that she can go be with P’eta, who seems to care about her a hell of a lot more than her own team does!

Back with Blue and Mel is telling her team that she doesn’t understand how The Walk is control. Blue agrees, with P’eta saying that the control in this game is diet and exercise, if you do that well then you win the weigh-in! Spot on!
Jules then points out that if it’s the team swapping one (what is with them all harping on that one?! Heh.) that P’eta is a likely choice for Red, because she’s been there the least time and is likely to get a decent number again this week.

I would agree, except I think Jules has forgotten that most of the Red team is *STUPID*.
P’eta thinks that would be a disaster!

And now Pati is finally out on the Walk, which she thinks it’s kind of bizarre, because of all the bird calls and peaceful nature-y sounds, while she’s all wound up and stressed out over what the result might be from this. But we go to another ad break before she even gets to Ajay!

Now it’s Michelle’s turn to have a chat with Laura about how she’s going. Laura’s actually really enjoying the training, even though it’s hard. Good excuse for her to cry, I suppose. Since the waterworks start again!
But Michelle lets her know to just let it out and to come and talk to her if she needs to because that’s what she’s there for.
Laura tells her that she’d had a chat with people in the morning, particularly Munnalita, who’d told her that she was the easy option if they go to elimination again.

Next we see Courtney and Munnalita heading off to one of the benches outside the mansion for another scheming session.
Munnalita asks what he thinks will happen if they go to elimination and Courtney says it’ll be Laura.
Munnalita says that Laura knows she’ll probably be the one and Munnalita confirmed it for her, has a giggle about it and then asks what else she was supposed to say. Courtney actually sounds a bit miffed that Munnalita let on to Laura… but not too miffed.

Michelle says that she wants Laura to feel confident about being able to lose weight, because she really needs to feel confident to have any chance of staying in the game.

And we’re back to Pati, talking about her sweaty palms… As she arrives at the four vessels, as expected.
Ajay rabbits on about the bonds that have been made are about to be broken, everything they’ve been working for is about to change.

The stones say:
1. You must swap teams, choose your replacement.
2. You must choose two people, other than yourself, to swap teams. (Pati says: She was pulling for this one at this point, since then she wouldn’t have to put her hand up and volunteer to be swapped!)
3. Choose a Red, other than yourself, to decide which two people must swap teams. (Pati: Her overall favourite, since then the choice is back out of her hands!)
4. Choose a Blue, as per 3.

Pati got a feeling about the vessel to her left. She wanders back and forth a bit, but ultimately decides to go with her initial choice, holding her breath as she pulls it up out of the pretty flowers.

She has chosen… Stone #… Don’t know!
Ajay’s grinning like a twit though, so I think she knows which one.

“I’d love to mess the Blue team up, I’d love to pull the bond between Damien, Mel and Jules apart. I’d love to rip the guts out of it.” Damn, back to hating on Pati…
“The thought of swapping Courtney has certainly crossed my mind, because he’s a sly character and you don’t know what he’s plotting, what he’s scheming. That’d screw the Blue team right up! Can you imagine the backlash?” DO IT! DO IIIIIT!
She also says that because the agreement to go for the temptation was done under the pretense of it being a group decision, she has to include the Reds in the decision making process or she’d feel a bit too manipulative.

Oh, but it’s okay to want to destroy Blue? Argh!

“This is Horace, he’s my pet rock!” – Pati
She explains each of the rock options.. and Red is all looking on like stunned mullets.
She reveals that she got Stone #2.
“You got the best rock!” – Munnalita

“When does it have to happen?” “By sunset, so start voicing, people!”
Greg points out, again, that if they send a weak person, they’ll get voted out. The only person who has a chance is a strong person… But they don’t want to give Blue a strong person, because then they’d be weaker. Everyone is saying how bad the feel and worried and so on… Except Laura who is sitting there quietly, looking nervous.
Courtney points out that the important thing is to decide on who to choose to come from Blue, as that’s the easier option.

They initially bandy about Mel’s name, because she’s the lightest and would thus add the least to their weight total… But she also won’t lose a lot more weight in a hurry. But she’s strong!
Courtney then also points out that another idea might be to take someone into their team that they just want to get rid of…

“Who were you thinking of?” “I don’t know, I’m just saying.” “Gerard!”
Laura pipes up at last saying that it’s a hard choice… And Munnalita takes that chance to ask if she’s feeling at risk, and of course she is. And then Munnalita goes on to point out she’d actually have the best chance, because she’s new (Courtney: That’s what I thought!), giving it her all and that’s what they want on the Blue team.
Show-me-the-money-lita actually has a point there. Add in that P’eta likes her, and P’eta has been accepted by the team and she’d have the best chance!

Pati shows some good sportsmanship and goes out to the Blue team lounge and shows them the rock too, to ask for their thoughts on the situation. Gerard is horrified.
Damien’s video diary bit has him saying he’s not happy, it’s disturbing a team dynamic that they’ve worked hard to achieve, no matter who they end up losing.
Jules doesn’t really want to say anything, nor do most of the rest of the team. (Apologies, my recording has a glitch in it at this point. I don’t think I missed anything important here, just more of the Blue team not wanting to say much about it.)
We return to Damien’s video diary where he’s still telling us that he’s really, really unhappy. He’s generally a fairly easygoing guy but this has really upset him.

P’eta has some words of wisdom, saying that there’s no sense getting wound up about it, let’s just get over it, move on and get on with it.
“Not. Happy. Jan.” – Damien :-D

Red and Blue head out to the steps and wait for Pati to come out and announce the decision.
Pati tells them all they know how hard it’s been to make the decision.
Red team will be losing Laura, as expected. She starts to well up almost immediately. Poor girl.
In Pati’s video diary she apologises to Laura, saying that she was the “easy option” so they didn’t really have much choice.

In Laura’s video diary? “I’m going to make sure they feel it! Definitely!” Stick it to em girl!

Blue? Mel. Jules in the background has her jaw drop open.
Mel, now in a Red shirt for her aside, said she knew it was going to happen. And Jules says that it was probably written all over her face when Pati announced it. She also said that it was a really cruel twist, as they’re all getting along well.

Pati said that she chose Mel because they really admire her strength. She also said she knew it’d inflict a lot of damage on the Blue team because she’s sort of the centre of their team.

Mel comes across to comfort Laura, telling her that they’ll take good care of her, Laura tries to say likewise but it comes out a bit garbled through the tears and snot!
P’eta comforts Jules who has started to cry as well. Jules is looking shattered.
Damien says on behalf of the Blue team that he thinks Mel has been the heart and soul of the Blue team, everyone plays their part and she will be very much missed. He then goes on to welcome Laura to the Red team, saying he hopes they can make her feel as welcome as the Red team did for her. I’m sure a little voice inside him was urging him to add, “And probably much more welcome than those asshats!”

Gerard’s worried that Blue doesn’t have the strength they need for challenges anymore, now that Mel has left.
Courtney thinks that Mel is the kind of girl who, once she has a loyalty, sticks to it (wouldn’t it be disloyal if she didn’t?) so that while she’ll wear a red shirt and compete for red, she’ll always be a Blue at heart. And he thinks it will be her downfall.
Mel admits as much in her little side interview. And says she’ll miss Shannan. But Red is promising her that Michelle is going to kick her butt just as much!
Mel also says that she’s got every intention of continuing to work hard, no matter what colour shirt she’s wearing.

Ad break… First ad is for the celebrity dog school thing, with a short snippet of Ajay doing a mock scream/squeal. Why can’t she be goofy like that on TBL? Dammit!

Everyone’s yammering about the team swaps. Munnalita is worried, thinking about whether they’ve done the right thing.
Marty is happy because he thinks she’ll bring a lot to the team. Back on the steps and Marty says she’s always been a Red, taking her hat off and pointing at her Red hair. “Yeah, but what do they call redheads, Marty? Blue!” from Damien off to the side.
Munnalita is unimpressed with everyone she thinks is “trying to impress Mel.” She’s part of your team now ya tool, there’s no more point being nasty to her now than there was before, so cut it out!
She wisely realises that most of the other people, like Greg, Marty and Mel herself would probably want to vote Munnalita out before Mel, or Courtney before Mel, or even Pati before Mel.

Damien is fired up still, saying that The Walk should have some sort of similar meaning, each fucking week.

Mel’s worried about losing the weigh-in this week, as she thinks she’s very much at risk if they do.

“Anyway, this is bullshit.” – Damien, just before he walks out.

“Woooooow. Mel, you look so good in Red!” – Michelle on arriving to see her ‘new’ team. Michelle gives her a warm welcome and in the aside says that she wanted to give Mel a bunch of support right away because she knew Mel would need it.
She immediately says, in front of the team, that she really feels for Mel at the moment, to which Mel giggles nervously and tries to pass it off as nothing.
She tries to tell the Red team to imagine how they’d feel if they’d been the one to be swapped. That will probably make a difference to people like Marty and Greg, but I suspect Courtney and Munnalita and Pati won’t give a shit, unfortunately.
Michelle promises her that she’ll do everything she can for her and if she wants to try anything different, just let her know.

Off at the gym, Michelle singles Mel out to give her a bit of a push in the gym to get her going. She tells her that she doesn’t need to worry about whether she’s in the red team, or the blue team, because right now she’s in Mel’s team!
After some of those squats against the wall, Michelle takes Mel over to one of those step boards, getting her to step up on it and knee a pad Michelle is holding out for her, getting her to release all her frustration.
While she’s doing this Greg sings out encouragement from the treadmills. So there may be some hope for her still…

Shannan is pissed about this twist in the game. He gets a bit riled up in front of the team and then realises that Laura might be taking it the wrong way so he stops and says that it’s not about her, mate, because he’s already seen what she can do and they’ve already got a good connection, right? Laura nods meekly, as usual. Shannan has faith in her and he knows she’ll do her best.
He’s just pissed that they’ve been working together for a couple of weeks, putting the team together, eating and training together… And now it’s fucked (?) the whole thing.
He said the whole thing has been rocked up, but now it’s time to rip in. It’s not going to be sweet, innocent Laura… Or it is, but it’s going to be sweet, innocent Laura who’s lost a heap of weight!

Shannan could see in their eyes today that their minds weren’t in it, so he gives them a pep talk before they start, then talks about resurrecting the Blue team yet again.

“Now, little one, welcome to the Blue team: You have the right to remain tough. You have the right to remain dignified. Show respect and loyalty, and everything will be perfect. Do you agree to these terms?” “Yes!” “Good girl, you are now a member of the Blue team!”
Shannan really feels for her, saying that he was worried about her having been barely accepted into Red and then she’s shunted off to Blue because the Reds didn’t really want her.
“No tears in the Blue team! He wants to toughen me up. Not too tough, sweet tough!” – Laura

Shannan relates to her that their Dad’s are sort of similar, so he knows about those sorts of feelings. We don’t hear any more about that though so not sure what he’s talking about there.
Takes him about a half hour to crack through their shells again. He shouts out to them that sometimes life’s not fair, shit happens, you just have to get on with it!
But in the end he’s happy with where they end up as a team once more.

Tomorrow on The Biggest Loser, it’s another day at the beach, with some digging and burrowing… And what looks suspiciously like the challenge in which a US contestant almost broke their neck trying to win it for their team. I’m frankly a little shocked the Australian one is running that challenge after it almost ended in tragedy on the US show, it’s just crazy. The show has enough risks without silly ones like that!
We’ll see how things go… tomorrow!

The post about this recap won’t be on the official forums until tomorrow morning, unless someone wants to go link it for me. As I said earlier, I be banned and incapable of posting, oh noes!