Loved the makeovers. I feel so much for Mike's brother. He is proud of his dad and brother, yet he is so young, and wants to be losing too. I hope that Mike's words to him was a comfort that when they come home, they will show him all they have learned and he will lose as well. I really hope at the finale that he will have a weight loss of his own.

Tara won yet another competition. If Tara wins this whole thing, she will be beyond deserving. She is fantastic and knows how to reach down deep and find what it takes to motivate her. That's a skill I have yet to learn, personally. However, she has won SO much, (what did they say? 10 challenges??) that it is almost predictable. And she is SO strong, having learned SO much, that she can do this on her own, IMO. I like her, but am having a hard time wanting her to spend more time on the ranch than others. Its like watching Survivor and the same tribe winning over and over and over again. May be deserving, yet its boring. LOL. However, IF Tara wins, I will applaud her. Just, not be surprised.

I do think that Laura needed to go home. I don't know what it will do for her weight loss, but keep in mind, Tara will be going home eventually and will be her partner to help her in her final stages to get to her goal. Ron was right. And he should know since he has dealt with it, himself. Weight or not, something as serious as a hip injury can not be ignored. She is so young that for her to tempt fate with the fracture and possibly make it worse, causing her to have problems for life,.... its not worth it. Heal your injury first. Then, continue with your weight loss.

I don't think Ron was right at all. It isn't his place to tell the rest of the contestants where Laura would have more support. This man doesn't even know her. Also if Laura, knowing the risks, still wanted to stay and try to continue on in the competition it isn't for Ron to tell her she's wrong. It's her body and her life and I think Ron was out of line. Personally I'm really getting sick of him. He's controlling the entire game and what exactly has he done? So what if he's Lost over 100 lbs. He had a lot to lose. He's got his knee issues but he continues to snake his way out of the bottom. He's got a son at home that's just as big, if not bigger, than Mike was and instead of letting Mike finish the journey and go home to help his other son he continues to manipulate the other contestants so that he can stay. I realize that it is still a game but it's becoming very clear that the only reason Ron bothered participating was to win the money and for that reason he should have gone weeks ago.

I know some people don't like Ron, but I think he's a good guy. And I think Mikey is an awesome kid! His mom was so proud, you could just see it in her face when she looked at him. I couldn't help but cry the whole time they were showing Max. I thought from the start that he was the older brother, but Wow was I surprised to hear different. The poor kid just turned 17 and is bigger then Ron was. I also then understood why Mikey would be on the show and not him and Ron, or him and Mikey. But I really believe he will do everything Mikey tells him to when they get home and come finally we'll see a more healthy and smaller Max.

I'd love to see Mikey win, but like most, think it will probably be Tara.

I have to disagree Trish. You are talking about a young 20+ year old fat girl who thinks she would be fine. However a man of 50+ years has enough life experience to know that being in "that" environment would end with her in the hospital. She would only end up below the yellow line week after week not being able to keep up with the others and be left out of all the challenges. There is no way that would help her self esteem. They showed her at home and she is getting great care and seems happy. In the long run, I bet she will thank everyone who let her go. Tara is selfish in my eyes. She knows Laura wouldn't be able to keep up and IMO was thinking about the vote she'd be loosing.

I'm weighing in on the side of sending Laura home. That injury was potentially very serious. She couldn't even walk up the stairs. She got excellent care when she went home(probably because the injury occurred on the ranch and the program made sure she got the proper care) and was healing. She would be able to do even less than Ron. Home was the safest place for her even if she wasn't thinking correctly at first. It certainly didn't make sense to send home Kirstin who could still Work Out and benefit from being on the ranch and keep Laura who couldn't Work Out and needed treatment to heal.

I still don't think it was Ron's place. Tara was the one who said that Laura needed to stay and of the two who knows Laura better? As far as Tara being "selfish" I think you're wrong. Tara doesn't need the extra vote, she's doing just fine. I still don't see how Ron can be such a "good guy" when he's got a kid at home that needs him but he's too busy on the ranch. He's learned enough that he doesn't need to be there anymore but rather than help his other son he stays on the show. Plus if he's such a good guy, am I the only person who remembers him calling Mike an idiot when he didn't do what Ron wanted him to do? And back to Laura for a moment... She could still Work Out, she just couldn't do as much as the others. If she couldn't Work Out she wouldn't have been able to maintain her weight after leaving the ranch. Now back to Ron... Clearly he's playing The Game and he's after the money. Even the people on the ranch with him are calling him "The Godfather" and "The Hatchet Man". That's not exactly a complement.

Ok, not sure why it says Anonymous but that above comment was made by me.

I am also on Ron;s side. Laura was the one to go. I have never liked Tara and after this show I really dislike her. Selfishness at her best. This season has been the Tara show and I am sick of it.

As for Ron. I think he really cares. As you get older you tend to see things different. Laura got great care at home. If she stayed and broke the hip it would be life changing and she would be off her feet for months and would probably gain alot of the weight back.

I too was in tears when Ron's son saw them. Why shoud Ron have to go home to help his son. He entered a competition and deserves the right to stay and play. He is not being selfish. He knows that either he or his son could go any week and Max will get help. And it is only a few weeks til they all go home.

From the standpoint of playing The Game I would have sent Kristin home over Laura because Kristin is the bigger threat & Laura would/could have been the buffer...

Having said that I was glad that Laura has maintained her weight loss w/her injury & it does appear that sending her home was the best thing for her.

My question is shouldn't Max have been getting help right along w/Ron & Mike? Why has he had to wait?

Why should he have to go home and help his son? Gee, I don't know maybe because he's his son. I still don't see how Tara was being selfish. She doesn't need Laura there, she doesn't need the extra vote. Tara knows Laura's home life better than anyone else there so if Tara says Laura doesnt have the support at home then who is Ron to tell her she's wrong?

I think our definitions or what we think Ron meant by support may be different. I said Tara was selfish not because she would have more support at home from family and friends but support from medical staff and such. She could devote herself 100% to healing and weight loss with Physical therapy support. Tara wanted her there for company and was not thinking about what was best for her health. Her injury could have been very bad if she stayed.

And again I say why should Ron have to go home. He came for The Game knowing that when he finally goes home he will help his son. And how is he any different from any other player. We know that several players have obese parents and or siblings. Why don't they go home to help. And although I am not sure if there were any players this season, there have been many players with obese young children. They stayed. Did you feel the same way about them?


By the way no hard feelings. This reminds me of Zappy in the past when we would talk and argue about many shows. Zappy has gotten very quiet of late. I remember in the old days coming here and having to read posts for and hour to catch up.

I suppose I can understand your point about Tara now that you put it that way although I still disagree. The difference between Ron and the other players is that his son is 17 years old. The other kids were all too young to understand the situation as well as Max does. As far as the contestants with parents and siblings it wasn't their responsibility but as we saw with Aubrey they're doing what they can. The difference to me is that the other contestant's families were ok with it but Max is having a really hard time. Yes, Ron signed up and should be able to do what he signed up for but here's my problem... We've seen Max twice now and he's clearly having issues. He's very happy for his brother and father but he's struggling with being the largest and the youngest in the family now. I think Ron should have looked at that and realized that helping Max was more important. It may only be a few weeks to use but that can be a really long time for this poor boy. Ron could easily go home, help Max, let Mike finish this journey himself, and still win the at home prize. My point is that Ron has learned enough from his time at the Biggest Loser Ranch that he could go home and help his son because his other child needs him and Mike has made it clear that he can do this on his own.

I agree, no hard feelings. It's nice to be able to debate and share opinions without it turning into war.

I see next week there will be a little confrontation between Mikey and Ron. This may open up some home issues no one knows about yet. Being in the same state of being that Ron was in before getting to the ranch, I can 1000% understand why he would fight to stay as long as possible. It's easy to say he knows what to do and can go home right now and do it on his own, but I don't know. I'd like to think Ron's going to continue at home and do really well, but he said clearly this is the lightest weight he's been since he's 13 years old. Think about the habits in his every day life that will still be there the minute he walks back in that door. 3 months on the ranch will only help that so much.

In my mind, Max will get his help from Mikey and he would have a better connection with Mikey when doing it. I'm not a parent, but I know all to well how easy it is to do something that is harmful to yourself just to spite your parents even though you know what they are saying is probably the right. It's a teenage thing, and a teenage boy is not going to want to be in pain and Work Out the way Mikey has been pushed to. Really I think if just Ron had been on, Mikey and Max would probably stay the same size after Ron got home and chances are Ron would go back to the same old ways. Mikey's going to be the glue for it all.

One last point, Max has seen Mikey and Ron when they were close to having Lost 100 pounds, then he sees them again 3 / 4 weeks later. He obviouslly didn't do anything to help himself in those few weeks after seeing them the first time. That in itself says something about Max's mind frame. The mom's not a big lady, so she must not eat as badly as the boys and she must move around more. If Max was going to listen to a parent, you would think he'd be more like her and less like them. Right now, the emotions we see in Max are shame and jealousy, I totally get it. But even those feelings are not always enough for some people to change.

Clearly we don't have the whole picture when it comes to Ron & his family, perhaps we'll get more insight in the upcoming episode...

I really feel for Max~~~Ron & Mike needed the Biggest Loser to help them change their lives as they couldn't do it alone yet Max has been left out to do it alone???

Perhaps all three of them applied for the show but only two were accepted. I also don't know how Max felt prior to the Ron/Mike getting on the show and losing weight. I would think that like most people who are overweight, they all had tried at one point or another to lose weight but were unsuccessful. Ron definitely has had his attempts but it didn't last. I am guessing perhaps Ron was looking at this as a last chance for himself and an opportunity to turn around the futures of his sons.

For me, Tara's thought to stay was dangerous. She was running the risk of further damage to the hip and maybe her ability to walk. She needed the rest from the type of exercise to heal that hip. Ron has the limitations now that Tara was running the risk of having. Look at how much Ron is unable to do yet with the limitations he has he has Lost weight. Tara had to heal first then have a chance to continue with the full exercise program. It came down to a matter of health and their future.

Tara knows Laura's situation better than the others. Laura's support system seems a bit shaky. When family arrived after the makeover, Laura's best friend is who showed up, not a mother, brother, sister, or father.

Tara is my favorite woman on the show, but I am hoping for a Mikey or Tara win.

I don't remember hearing about her family? perhaps they choose not to be on TV or it could be she has very little, maybe only one parent.

I read on another forum that the reason Max wasn't on the show is that he isn't old enough yet. I guess you have to be at least 18 and I think they said he is 17. So, he wasn't eligible. That's what I read, anyway.

Which is why I say rather than calling Tara selfish, perhaps she knows that Laura didn't have a good support system, and THAT is why she thought she should stay at the ranch even in a diminished capacity. For goodness sakes, both Ron and Kristin have had to take it easy with their work outs due to injury.

On the other hand, what we didn't see is whether or not the doctors said Laura was okay to continue or not. It is an unknown, but one should consider that if the doctors didn't think she was safe to continue, they would have taken her out of The Game.

I can see what you're saying, but to me Max is on the outside looking in... I guess I need to remember that this is a reality/game show and we are shown what they want us to see, so things may not be as they appear...

Tara rallied for Laura to stay because she knew that Laura wouldn't have the emotional support she needed at home. I didn't see any game play in that just a friend supporting another friend...

Kudos to Laura for going home and maintaining her weight loss inspite of her injury!

It looked to me like Laura was getting really good one on one hands on physical therapy (probably every day). I don't see Jillian being able to do that for her at the ranch. Also I do remember the doctor saying straight out ANY pain at all meant that she was putting a strain on the hip and could cause it to break. What did surprise me is that she wasn't on crutches or even using a cane to take some of the pressure off that leg.