We return to the ranch, and Maria is back. She has a black eye and a fractured ring finger. She's doing better, but still in pain. Maria feels like she's ruined things for her son. Michael meets with Bob and asks what happened at the challenge. Once Michael tells the whole bloody story, Bob asks if Michael felt that he needed to take care of his mom when this was happening. Well yeah. Michael says he's responsible for her well being. Bob thinks that Michael has a pattern of feeling like he has to take care of his mother because she's the most important person in his life. I see what's going on here. Bob doesn't want to deal with an overbearing Italian mother-in-law. Fair. I'm surprised that he doesn't suggest sending her to a home immediately. He tells Michael that he has to be able to think about himself right now. Bob interviews that Michael is the perfect example of how everything you do in the house matters. Finishing the challenge would have given him some self-esteem, which he desperately needs if he's going to pull off the ascot that Bob's going to make him wear at their wedding. The message that he needs to work on himself comes through loud and clear to Michael, and he appreciates the fact that Bob is there for him.

And then, as if Maria hasn't been through enough, Jillian decides to confront her and give her soul a figurative black eye. But, you know, for her own good. And oh God, I think Jillian's wearing Uggs! For shame! Maria's knee is hurting from her fall. Jillian reminds her that her team has a two-pound disadvantage, then tells Maria that she has a whole "I'm fragile and weak" thing going. And in sort of a reverse Secret thing, Maria is bringing everything that she's afraid of into being. Maria is just as strong as the other moms there, but she's not acting like it. And now she's all busted up. So the situation is pretty bad. Maria cries and says, "I screwed it up for him." Jillian replies: "Maybe." She points out that Maria was so afraid of getting hurt that she backtracked and bashed her face on a cement platform. This is why overcoming fears is important -- if you don't overcome them, you'll bring them about in a dangerous way. I get what she's saying, but I also wish she'd leave Maria alone for a minute. Instead, Jillian is going to come at Maria with everything she's afraid of.