pasdetrois

Agreed. Hannah was practically salivating over Mila's situation. Hannah loves when somebody else get in trouble, and she swoops in and inserts herself into the drama...and then prolongs it. And I laughed heartily at this (paraphrasing heavily): "If I had been there I would have knocked her out." Nice professional attitude, chief stew. And cowardly to boot. Can't stand her, wish the show would get rid of her.

I agree about the lost opportunities, but I keep reminding myself this show isn't about renovating for a specific homeowner, but to sell. That's why they're doing the open spaces with minimal disruption to flow. I do like that they continually show the realities of flipping - Mina really watches their dollars and mentions the risks. Surely those precious chemistry beakers were just for the episode? Lots of upkeep there - watering, cleaning the glass - and they looked kind of weird in that space. Did we see the leaded glass window again? I was surprised at the purple exterior. I love it, but I would think buyers would want the more predictable exteriors - yellow, white, tan, blue, gray.

They all produced much better work than we'd seen, given time. Production: please stop dumbing down the show by relying on the stupid challenges and ridiculous time frames. So happy that Sebastian won. He's smart and talented, commercial, and he'll take to being mentored and not embarrass CFDA or PR. Unlike other PR winners who disappeared from sight, there will probably be some promotion behind him. Garo's looks were pretty but nothing special, nothing new. Hester's collection was better than I expected; the craftsmanship was there. Perhaps if she'd stuck with the toned-down baby blue (the Clueless dress) the judges would have liked it better. Her designs are not my cup of tea, but I hope DVF helps her out. I think DVF thinks that with mentoring there's a market for Hester's work. My friend's mother owned a dress shop and kindly sold me a DVF dress at deep discount. I wore it everywhere and made several others. I think the dress pattern was from Vogue, which made me feel very fancy.

I like this show. Karen's a bit over-the-top, but I assume her true personality is upbeat and slightly daffy. I appreciate her skills and work ethic. I was shocked at the excessive shiplap; do we have that other TV show couple to thank for this madness? Maybe the partner is a majority owner of the property and had final say? Mina held on to her composure but it's clear she was upset. I watch Home Town and posted about how they rarely mention the mechanicals. One thing I wonder about is asbestos, which was ubiquitous in old floor tiles. Cutting in to them or removing them requires covering the house with a containment thingy and removing them according to a federal protocol - very expensive. Yet they are never mentioned in regard to these old houses. I wonder if production screens out properties that have them? I live in a semi-urban neighborhood, and many homes are on small lots with little space between them. There used to be decent back yards, but now everything that is torn down is replaced with huge new houses that are built right up to the setbacks. I lost much of my southern light when a behemoth went up next door. And natural springs run underground, so we all have sump pumps and french drains. I do understand why they jammed in bedrooms and baths; that's what buyers want, as long as there is a master bedroom with en suite bath. My in-laws put in a teeny staircase bath 30 years ago, using a teeny sink from a marine supply place. It's a historical house and it was the only place they could have a bath on the first floor.

Phenomenal series. It got me to watch after I initially resisted, knowing it would be very upsetting. I wish there was more quality television like this.

I haven't watched in quite a while, but I noticed on a recent episode a new guy who thinks he's a comedian. He's an Oklahoma trooper.

Ashley and Michael sighting: Sunday morning, walking down a steep hill in the Courthouse/Rosslyn neighborhood in Arlington. She looking like she swallowed a large beach ball, and Michael very attentive. ETA: public records show both their names as owners of their condo.

This show has not been the same since the K-Law/Mastrianni days, although I'm glad they received promotions. I still have on my DVR the old episode where they stopped the two older brothers who were out for a birthday celebration and the stop turned into an extended comedy. "I'll be honest - we were out lookin' for a shorty." I do enjoy the rare Danny Brown sightings. Agree with an earlier post about Ashleigh Banfield's personality change. She was a serious, hard-charging journalist back in the day. Now she's soppy mush. I watch NOLA Dan because I miss the old NOLA accents. The Sticks-and-Dan show - loathe it. I suspect Sticks is kind of stuck with it, having to follow Dan's lead.

DVF is chairman of the CFDA board. Most well-known designers are on the board (Kors, Wang, Karan, Klein, etc). Which is why I hope there is some influence over the winner.

Didn't Bishme say that he was self-taught? It shows. He has a charming personality, except for that time he lashed out at Tessa, but I think his skill levels as a designer and a sewer pale beside the other three contestants. Also, I hate the on-camera dramatics - throwing oneself down on a sofa? - from anyone and regardless of their genesis. In a couple of quick camera shots, he could barely keep his eyes open, even while standing on the runway in front of the judges. Perhaps he had been losing sleep while caring for his sister? Hester's skill level is very apparent, and I think she's a good person, but a win for her would be gimmicky. Her look isn't commercial, unless it is watered down. And I feel like we've seen it in Japan a lot. Sebastian's looks were divine and a nod back to this show's first season. If CFDA wants some mileage out of their partnership with this show, it will influence the decision on the winner and the Hester-emphasis has been for TV ratings. I love Christian as the mentor. ETA: I smell producer manipulation is the assignment of a tailored suit to Garo. Not fair.

None of these women are happy for each other's success. They are competitive, and it's their MO to undermine each other. In the case of Lu, I think they've resented her pretentious ways for years, and now with the alcoholism and arrest, there's a crack in Lu's armor. They're swarming over her like ants on a carcass. ETA: I think Lu was hanging on the edge, trying not to drink, and that was the real source of her irritation and flouncing off to bed. She was really struggling, whereas normally she deflects an avalanche of barbs.

I've always wondered if Ken has a bit of thug in him. He gives me a Kray brothers vibe. Denise's vamping about sex is disturbing. She's raising young girls in a predatory industry, one of whom is very vulnerable. I wonder if there's a deeper story behind how she adopted her - it seems so random. Anyway, Denise is a throw-back to an especially nasty time for women in Hollywood, and she's always ridden the sex kitten wave, even in her marriage to Sheen (not to mention the rumors of her past). All that trading back and forth of his children - did she do it altruistically, or for money? I just sense there's something really off behind her appealing facade. It's too bad she's chosen this sexual storyline - I seem to recall a reality show with her father that was less prurient.

I like Tessa's aesthetic, although I don't wear a lot of black. I wear minimalist designs in smoky blues, deep garnets, steel gray. But her black minimalism was all wrong for this show. When she tried to depart from her aesthetic she failed, although I loved the clay color (hard to find), and the mix with lavender was interesting. But her kimono look was crafty and hideous. Combined with her lousy attitude, it was time for her to go. I did not like Bishme's dress. I thought it was prom or pageant, and some of the construction was poor. Gary's look without the gimmicky wings was beautiful. I'm pulling for Sebastian. Since the CFDA show is off the air, I'd love to see a special showing him working with CFDA after a PR win.

I have friends who work for a world health non-profit, and they do research and interventions on disease outbreaks. Along with local medical people, they go right in to these places and attempt to prevent and contain scary diseases. Some of them have Ebola projects in their resumes. I did not know until I met them how much of an R&D presence the US military maintains, due to the need to protect and treat troops who are deployed worldwide. Anyway, I'm several episodes in and have mixed feelings. The story is compelling but the telling is clunky. I'm distracted by bad wigs and too much Botox. The horrible animal cages are distressing. The bureaucratic ineptitude is infuriating, but having lived in DC many years, I know it thrives.

And a blow dart.

I stopped watching this trashy family a long time ago - the exploitation of Alanna makes me anxious and depressed. But I popped in here to read about June's drug stuff. Regarding money and contracts, I seem to recall that way back when all of this started, it was revealed that June was keeping and spending the money that was meant for others in the family. I believe there was an agreement made that the minors' payments would be put into protected accounts that June cannot touch.

Brett is so far gone that he is feral. Devastating to watch. Morgan is intelligent and young and therefore has a good chance for recovery. I wonder if her family caved and encouraged her to return home sooner than recommended because of the opinion that she shouldn't be away from her daughter. The therapist stated that Morgan's mother encouraged her to come home "because she missed her." So some denial about how to do recovery lingers there.

Tessa should move to corporate America. She would thrive there. Most of these designers are one-trick ponies, not true designers. Only Hester and Sebastian know how to design and tailor. Garo is experienced, but we keep seeing that corset and those weird shoulders. The over-the-top flattery of the larger women felt a bit patronizing. But I'll take that over the barely-restrained disgust we've seen in some designers on this show.

As this scene rolled my brain was singing "Puff the Magic Dragon."

I didn't watch this series until last year, so my perspective is more superficial than others. I'll just say that this last episode was bizarre in that at the start we are all dragged-out despair and earnest speechifying, and then at the end we have a motley crew joking about brothels. What an abrupt left turn. Surely the northern queen and Jon were set up for some kind of follow-on event (movie, etc.) where they reunite and mount some kind of campaign....somewhere?

I wondered about the timing of the story, which seemed to say that Sean got high after seeing his uncle. But he was already nodding off at the start of the intervention. Donna made me chuckle with her exasperated "grandma's vaping while she's on oxygen." Previous to this episode, had we ever heard Donna reference her own addiction history?

I haven't seen the latest episode, but am chiming in to say that what I see going on with Sam and her girls is the same thing I see with privileged families everywhere (which is how I classify Sam's family). There are these little mini-communities where the kids are indulged and the parents don't impose respect and responsibility. They are self-satisfied and smug about their group entitlement. The kids are cosseted all the way through life - from home to college to jobs to marriages. Sam has one foot in the cosseted world and one foot in the practical world, realizing that her girls need to be prepared to make their way in the world. But it may be too late for the two older ones. I understand that they are teenagers, but there are millions of parents who don't tolerate the nonsense we see from Frankie and Max. Teenage hormones, absent daddies, etc. are no excuse.

I'm wondering of Lu's house is a rental (as others have speculated). It could be the real owner created the bedroom-with-kitchen space for a family member, like an in-law space. Or the real owner rents the entire property out as a quiet vacation spot with a beautiful view. If Lu's short on cash, it may be owned by one of her acquaintances who is trying to help her out. It looks distinctly rental, rather than someone's personal space. Lu may have chosen it to try to stay away from the night life. I know an entire set of brothers - all in recovery - that moved their joint business and homes to a rural area. They did it expressly to avoid city temptations. Of course, these days rural areas are stuffed to the gills with pain pill clinics and meth labs.

I was braced for the exploitation 'cause we get it every season. Some of these contestants have been traumatized but are not above exploiting their own trauma. Garo's t-shirt was better than his dress. The shirt has a heart full of tiny bees (I think). His cause was my favorite, as I'm an avid gardener. And I coo at the bees in my garden. They have their own bee-appropriate perch in my bird water thingy. I liked Tessa's cutout "Mine" and I relate. Not so crazy about Bishme's purple number. I'm still enjoying the refreshed series. Now can we just get more time for each challenge so we can see less mistakes and more pretty? How about less challenges but more time on each one?

That's really what's going on here in all of these carefully staged photos that don't show Brynn's face. Bethenny is poking the bear and pushing boundaries. To truly protect Brynn's privacy and prevent a passive-aggressive tug of war, why not just leave Brynn completely out of social media? With Bethenny's many followers, Brynn has no privacy, even with her face hidden. I feel this way about all of the reality TV assholes who use their children for attention and money.