The Biggest Loser Episode 13.01 Episode 1

It's dusk when Alison announces that a new battle is about to begin - Season 13! The theme of this season is "No Excuses!" where contestants and trainers alike will battle like never before. Tonight, 20 new contestants will have to decide whether to make excuses or make a change. Ten new teams of two walk up to the ranch. Brothers Buddy and Ben are the Brown Team; mother and daughter Kimmy and Megan are Purple; brother and sister Jeremy and Conda are Green; father and son Mark and Chism are Gray; husband and wife Roy and Christine are Red; brother and sister Adrian and Daphne are Aqua; grandmother and granddaughter Nancy and Cassandra are Orange; mother and daughter Gail and Lauren are Yellow; brothers Joe and Mike are Blue; and complete strangers Emily and Kim are the Pink Team.

Alison welcomes the teams standing in front of the gates to the ranch, now closed. The bond that holds all the new contestants together is excuses. Excuses like feeling too lazy, not enough time, too many kids, food addiction, emotional eating, single parenthood, emotional tragedy, serious injury, waiting until tomorrow and just not caring. Alison promises the excuses will end tonight. The first challenge starts now, and the team that comes in last won't make it onto the ranch. Tonight's challenge is made of three phases. In phase one, one team member will run a 40-yard dash. The first four teams to cross the finish line are automatically through the gates. The six remaining teams will move onto the second phase. Each team picks one person to compete, and the race is on! The Blue Team comes in first, Cassandra from the Orange Team is second, Brown is third, and Lauren from the Yellow Team comes in fourth. Aqua's Adrian is devastated to lose by a hair, and Mark from the Grey Team takes a tumble during the race and has to get checked out by set medic Sandy Krum.

Now it's time for the second phase, which also includes a 40-yeard dash - but there's a puzzle in the middle of the course. The remaining contestants (who didn't compete in the first heat) will grab a puzzle piece from their barrel, put it in place, run back and get another and so on, until they complete their puzzle. The top four teams will make it on campus. Chism from the Gray Team comes in first, Chris from the Red Team comes in second, and the Purple Team is third. With one spot left, it's down to Pink, Green and Aqua. Green finishes their puzzle first, and Conda rushes across the finish line. Kim comforts a crying Emily. Now the Pink and Aqua Teams will compete in the final phase for only one spot.

Each team climbs on top of a barrel, moves their feet into position and balances while holding onto each other. Whoever lasts longest gets a place on the ranch. Even though they've only just met, the Pink Team is determined to win - and they do! Devastated, the Aqua Team says their farewells, then watches the rest of the contestants enter the ranch. But Alison hangs back. One month from today, the Aqua Team will return to be weighed in. If they can lose 50 pounds as a team, they'll earn another chance to get on the ranch. Adrian and Daphne wipe away their tears and resolve to start their journey at home.

The next day, Alison gathers the contestants outside the gym, warning they're in for the most brutal experience of their lives. Then she introduces the trainers: Dolvett arrives hanging outside a helicopter, while Bob speeds through the gates on a slick motorcycle. Dolvett drops a rope off the side of the helicopter, then belays to the ground. Bob points out that the beginning of the season has its laughs; the contestants are always so happy to see them - little do they know what the trainers have in store. Alison explains that the contestants will have two hours to work with both trainers and get to know them. Afterwards, they'll have to pick who they want to train with. The contestants are amazed to find that the gym has a whole new look and is packed with new equipment from Planet Fitness. And Planet Fitness is giving each and every contestant a gym membership!

Dolvett walks into the gym and does his customary personality flip - now he's the screamer, the drill sergeant. Bob sets his sights on Cassandra - she's the kind of girl he loves. He calls out Megan for fake puking and tells her to get back on the treadmill. Gail just simply stops moving, but Dolvett won't stand for it. Chism's just feeling disappointed in himself, when he hears the sound of water running. But it's not water, it's everyone throwing up. Before long, Bob is laughing his devilish laugh. Dolvett assures Mark that he can train people with injuries. Bob recognizes that professional Santa Claus Roy is strong as a bull... but pretty soon, Roy falls over feeling dizzy, and Sandy has to monitor his situation. Next down is Ben, who doesn't know what state he's in, nor Bob's name. Maybe it's because Ben has nine kids with a tenth on the way. Ben admits he loves everything about his life... except his weight. But this workout is his low point, and he's only going forward from here.

Emily used to be an Olympic weight lifter; her father forced her into competition at the age of eight. She replaced her lack of control over her sport with eating. Now she's 29, and it's time to start taking care of herself. The tears flow, but Bob assures Emily that he believes in her - she can do it! He's going to be her best friend. After two hours, Alison walks into the gym and calls Bob and Dolvett over. They tell the contestants to stop working out and listen. Since this is the season of No Excuses - it's also the season of no partners! Everyone's going to have to learn to rely on themselves. Jaws drop to the floor. Even Emily and Kim who just met are unhappy. It's not long before a lot of the teams are playing rock-paper-scissors to pick their trainers.

Alison welcomes everyone to stage where the scale usually sits and asks the players to pick their trainers. Of the Green Team, Jeremy's going with Bob, and Conda will train with Dolvett. Kim from the Pinks picks Dolvett, and Emily will go with Bob; both Joe and Mike wanted Bob, but they flipped a weight and Joe's going with Bob. Roy from the Reds admits he's not happy about splitting from his wife Chris, but she wants him to have Dolvett's body. Cassandra from the Oranges is going with Bob, and her grandma Nancy is hot for Dolvett. Buddy from the Browns and Gail from the Purples are both going with Dolvett, and Chism from the Grays and Gail from the Yellows is going with Bob. Now there are two teams - Dolvett's Red and Bob's Black.

Buddy and Ben are the heaviest and most out-of-shape contestants, and taking the heaviest meds, so after the gym incident, Dr. H checks in. He wants to do a thorough cardiac scan on both men. He introduces them to cardiac expert Dr. Lepor, who shows them areas of calcified plaque, which is mounting up in an area called the widowmaker on Buddy's heart. Buddy tells his story: his daughter had spina bifida. She lived about five-and-a-half months before she died. Afterwards, there was a long period of time when things just didn't matter for Buddy, and he quickly gained 100 pounds. Buddy breaks down, but he feels that he's reached a point of deeper resolve. He's not leaving his family.

For the first time, the newly split teams head to the gym for their Last-Chance Workout; now they'll be pitted against each other. Ben's worried after collapsing during his first workout, and he's not sure how hard he can push himself. Bob shows him how far he's come already and encourages him to project his future success. Kim's been having trouble with her knee, and it's getting worse; so Dolvett pulls her off to the side to discuss her story. Kim used to be a professional wrestler, weighing 120 pounds. She tells him that her career was taken away from her. During a match on live TV, an opponent broke Kim's back and tailbone. She got up and finished the match - then walked out of the ring and collapsed. When Dolvett asks where she found such energy, Kim explains that she doesn't like to lose. Dolvett rubs his hands together in anticipation. He's going to love training Kim.

Dolvett looks across the gym and sees the Black Team killing it. But when he looks at his team he sees the Bad News Bears, and he doesn't know why. They're injured, going to the bathroom, baking cookies. Is Bob going to beat him again at anther weigh-in? Where's the Red Team's sense of urgency? After Dolvett calls out his team, they show up to work out, even if they are older as a group than the Blacks. Last season Bob beat Dolvett weigh-in after weigh-in after weigh-in. Dolvett wants to reverse this trend with a fresh start. Of course, Bob wants to keep winning too, but he knows his team is smaller as a group than the Red Team. Who knows what will happen at the weigh-in?

The Black Team is the first to take the scale, and Gail's up first. She started off at 322, and has lost nine pounds at .32%. She worked harder this week than ever before in her life. Chism's up next. He started at 361, and he's lost 12 pounds at .74%. Megan started at 259 and is now seven pounds lighter at .99%. Chris started at 240, and she's lost eight pounds. Nevertheless, Bob's not too happy with the low-ish numbers - the first week is usually gangbusters! Jeremy started at 389, and he's lost 13 pounds. He knows that he's one of the biggest guys on the team, and the responsibility is on him to bring in big numbers. He thinks 13 sucks. Bob admits that percentage-wise, this number is not the best. Joe's next. He started at 357, and he's lost 15 pounds, the best yet - 2.26%. Ben started at 396, and he's worried. It's been a rough week, what with his blackout. But he's taken off 15 pounds. Bob reminds him to take it one day at a time.

Emily started at 264, and she tears up over her 10-pound loss. Cassandra started at 239, and she's lost an amazing 14 pounds. She jumps up and down on the scale, because the Black Team's total is 103 pounds lost at 3.64%. Now the Red Team will have to lose more than 94 pounds, an average of 10 pounds each. Roy's up first, and he's scared because he's had a rough week. Roy started at 306, and he's amazed that he took off 14 pounds at .54%; Chris tears up. He's loving it! - and he's set the bar for the Red Team. Conda's next on the scale. She started at 294 and has lost nine pounds. Mike started at 358, and he's 13 pounds lighter. Kimmy started at 219, and she lost nine; Lauren started at 246 and she lost nine too. Mark came to the ranch weighing 291. He doesn't think he's been much help this week because of his injury, but he knows it's all about no excuses - and he's lost nine pounds, too! Chism is very proud.

Nancy never worked out before this week. She started at 217, and she's lost five pounds - which Dolvett expected. At 68 pounds total for the Red Team, Kim and Buddy have to make up the difference... Kim started at 252, and she's lost a whopping 13 pounds this week. The biggest guy on the Red Team, Buddy's last on the scale, having started at 403. He'll have to lose more than 13 pounds to keep his team safe from elimination... and he's lost an astounding 22 pounds! He runs off the scale and jumps into Dolvett's arms. The Red Team's total is 103 pounds at 3.98%. Dolvett is beyond celebration mode, while Bob's mouth is set in a grim, straight line. Now the Black Team has to send someone home - but not Cassandra. She has immunity, since she had the highest percentage of weight loss of anyone on her team. The Black Team returns to the house to talk about who they're going to eliminate. Megan doesn't want to go home, but she still thinks that the person with the least weight loss should go home, and that person is her.

After some emotional discussion, Ben steps up to the plate. He knows he has everything to go home for, and he asks his team to send him home. Jeremy automatically doesn't like this idea, since Ben is the biggest guy on the team and gets high numbers on the scale. Most of Ben's other teammates don't want to vote him off, so what they'll do in the Elimination Room is anyone's guess. Gail votes first, and she's going to honor Ben's wishes, as does Chism, Megan, Emily and Chris. Five votes are enough to send Ben home, and he's cool with that. He's ready to put the things he's already learned on the ranch to work - with his family. Megan credits him with saving her life. Ben knows he'll struggle in the real world, but he's going to prove that he can take time to take care of himself and continue his journey at home with his family.