LoveIsJoy

When everyone on the episode was gushing about Leontyne Price—how she grew up in Laurel and how everyone is so proud of her—I couldn’t help but think of what Mississippi was like during that period in history. I wonder if the information provided to visitors also includes the challenges she overcame as a talented black girl coming of age in a segregated and often violent Mississippi. Actually, even though I really like Ben and Erin and enjoy the show, I very often find myself wondering who actually owned the [last name] house when they’re touring the properties. Was it the former home of a Klan member? I’m probably the only person who even thinks that way. I just know I wouldn’t make a good client for the show even though I enjoy their work and find the Napiers and their crew to be good-hearted people.

Yes, I basically binged the series. I got so tired and annoyed at all of the smug, self-satisfied trash talk (I’m a bad ass, I’m so creepy and creative, I’m here to win, blah, blah, blah) that I had a hard time rooting for anyone. And of course, the person I disliked most ended up winning, though it was probably deserved. But I will say that this group of artists have excellent skills. I’m sure a lot of the talking heads were reality show tropes and producer-driven, but it didn’t make for an enjoyable viewing experience for me. Frankly, I prefer the camaraderie, humor, and humility of shows like The Great Pottery Showdown and GBBO.

I want to like his show more than I actually do. The acting is great and there are some scenes with emotional impact. But the pacing seems soooooo sloooowww. I find myself drifting off to sleep in the middle of every episode (which I watch after dinner and the news). Then I have to rewind to see what I’ve missed. Which turns out to be not much of anything. Nazi sympathizer or not, I’m sick of Coco and her story. I’m beyond sick of her annoying friend and hope we’ve seen the last of her.

Thanks for the explanation about the rotting bird. I’m not Japanese, and I was just as confused and taking him literally. I could hardly concentrate on the rest of the episode because I couldn’t understand why he just didn’t have the bird cooked when he received it. Or why he kept shouting “you die!” if someone removed it. You could see the confusion and fear on his household member’s faces. It was just so odd. I kept thinking there was going to be some kind of strategic reveal about why he was attracting flies and making a stench. But no. It was really for a stew. When he finally realizes , “OMG, I killed the gardener,” my first thought was, “no kidding Captain Obvious.” He seems dumb and smart simultaneously. Perhaps I should have read the book first. Blackthorne’s character isn’t doing it for me. I can’t imagine why Mariko would be attracted to him. Maybe I just don’t like his acting. Maybe it’s the script. I’ll keep trying to hang in there because I like the rest of the cast very much, the cinematography, and the general story.

Did they ever get more money from insurance? It sounded like some of the problem was in the bathroom where the remediation team didn’t do a thorough job. But it also sounded like some of the issues didn’t have anything to do with the leak. Like the roof, piping and plumbing. And replacing sewer lines. Asbestos. I don’t see how insurance would be on the hook for that. Or did the mold travel to every spot in the house, so the whole place had to be rebuilt? Also, I thought it was weird that they said they moved into 30 places in the past 18 months. They must have a lot of friends with spare rooms to accommodate a couple with 3 small kids. And then the wife said something about they were currently living in a stranger’s house who they just happened to meet. What? I was confused most of this episode. What really happened with the leak (why would they not have immediately replaced a sink with no overflow drain when they first bought the house?—the husband was a contractor). I didn’t even know any company makes sinks with no overflow, makes no sense. I did figure out why all of the reveals look so similar to me. They seem to use the same products on each project. I noticed so many brand placement labels that I’ve seen in other episodes.

Years ago, Nate’s mom had the name, Nancy Golden, when I first saw her on the old HGTV show, Decorating Cents. She was one of my favorite guest designers. Coincidentally, she was the first designer I heard use the term “matchy-matchy” in a negative way. Not too long later, I was watching Nate on Oprah and heard him use the term. Hmmm? They had different last names but something about the way he said it reminded me of Nancy. Then when the tragedy happened, I saw his mom in the audience and clearly made the connection. He and his mom had completely different design styles. She loved color and whimsy. And he didn’t. But they both loved antiques.

Can anyone with sharper eyes than mine, describe what was on the billboard that Maggie surprised Gary with? All I could make out was something to the effect of “Gary lived,” but I couldn’t make out what the artwork was. They flashed it a couple of times but my brain didn’t process it for some reason. Thanks!

@CruiseDiva Now that you mention it, I can’t remember what was behind the glass partition either. I know she previously called it the dead zone (or something similar), and that it was painted a dark gray. She said the dark color wouldn’t dominate because the new sliding door would be much lighter and would take up most of the space on that wall. But now, for the life of me, I can’t recall what was on the other side. They did show it, but it must have been completely unremarkable. Maybe someone else remembers.

For some reason, I can’t recall the circumstances which caused Javier to go missing in the first place. Can someone give me a quick recap? Thanks.

I can’t seem to remember what became of Sophie’s brother. I can’t even remember his name. Isn’t he still in high school or did he go off to college? Or did he go back to France with Delilah? Now that the house has sold, won’t he need a place to live too?

I recall years ago, when my ex hired a construction guy to dig up the ground and place concrete piers according to a specific plan for a commercial building. The guy took the deposit, made a mess of the land, dug piers in the wrong locations, and didn’t rope off the area for safety. Then, he suddenly disappeared from the worksite and no communication for nearly a month. He was then fired. My ex had to hire another firm to fix the mess. Then, the fired contractor wanted to sue for breach of contract. They all ended up in arbitration where the guy was awarded $$$ mostly to avoid a long legal process. So, this scenario is not uncommon in construction sites: work is done wrong, workers miss deadlines or walk off of jobs, subcontractors are no-shows or don’t get paid, invoices are not paid on time, etc. or it all ends up in a lawsuit. What surprises me is that I initially thought HGTV had more of a hand in making sure that things ran smoothly. But that idea was shattered with the mess that was Nicole Curtis (Rehab Addict) and Allison (Windy City Live). The other thing I noticed about this episode was that it was obviously filmed in different seasons although they kept acting like the scenes were all taking place in the “OMG, 4 weeks until the wedding!” drama. During the bridal consultant walk through and the dress fitting, Mina was wearing a summer top. During the concrete and turf drama, it was obviously bitterly cold. And I had the same reaction to the speakeasy stairs— no rails? And how were the men supposed to get dressed in that little area?

Thank you!! I’d either forgotten all about that or didn’t pay it too much attention.

I’m one who is constantly confused by the similarity of characters’ names. Part of the issue for me is being unfamiliar with the actors’ accents (and they speak rapidly and mumbly sometimes), so it all begins to sound the same to my ears. While watching the show I kept “hearing” Vaemond as Daemon, and thought they both had the same name until I read some posts here. Also, do both Allicent and Rhaenyra have sons named Aegon, or did I mishear that as well? Another thing I missed— why was setting the roast pig in front of Aemond considered a horrible joke? I got the “Strong “ reference during the toast, but didn’t get the pig joke. Overall, I’m enjoying the show, but am feeling old. Like I need a hearing aid and a cheat sheet to keep up. I’m grateful for the Behind the scenes explanations after each episode. And this forum, of course. 😉

Unpopular opinion I know, but I’m glad that they’ll be switching the actor playing Rhaenyra. She seems to be an okay actress, but there’s something about her facial expressions that grates. Especially that half-opened mouth thing she does. Her eyes look vacant (to me) and she seems confused, dopey or something. I don’t know, she’s just never popped on the screen for me like the actresses who played Daenerys, Arya, Mellisandra, Margaery Tyrell, Circe, etc. I do really like the actress playing Allicent and will miss her. This version of Rhaenyra, not so much! Sorry.

Just watched the episode with the couple who give back to the community. Their bedroom and bathroom were updated. I enjoyed the show a lot. Melissa and Jenna are fun, down-to-earth hosts. Unfortunately, I thought the makeover was a disaster. I thought the bathroom floor tile and the wet room tile clashed and was entirely too busy. How could anyone take a restful bath or shower in that room? I know they were going for mid century modern but the high contrast graphic shower tile was hideous to me. And coupling it with the extra wide grout lines on the floor tile made me dizzy. I can’t imagine having to clean all of that. I hope large grout lines aren’t the beginning of a new trend. If it is, I’ll pass. The bedroom looked nice except for the macramé “art” hanging in front of the drapes. And I would need to remove or open the drapes to let some light in. The room felt a little claustrophobic. The built-in clothes storage was nice. The modified dresser was awful, in my opinion. The drawer pulls they crafted didn’t look mid-century or mod to me. Just weird and unwieldy. I did like the gallery wall. Strangely, even with my list of negatives, I still really enjoyed watching the show. Have another episode on my DVR that I’m looking forward to.

This question is for all of you longtime HGTV watchers who remember shows from back in the day. I’ve been enjoying watching Jeff working with the twins, and I keep getting the feeling that I’ve seen him before. If you remember a show in the early 2000s called Decorating Cents with host Joan Steffend, she and a featured designer would redecorate a room for under $500. The carpenter was always the same, and his name was Jeff. He was also very pleasant to watch. I’m wondering if this is the same Jeff on Unsellable Houses. I just now realized how long I’ve been an HGTV viewer. Those shows were back in the day, when “theme rooms” were a trend. The shows were nice, the casts were agreeable, without the staged drama and shenanigans I sit through now. I even recall designer Nate Berkus’ mother, Nancy Golden, being a featured decorator on many of the Decorating Cents episodes. She was one of my favorites.

As a person who is wheelchair-reliant, I was initially thrilled to see that a ramp was added in the back patio. Unfortunately, my thrill was short-lived when they showed the plans. The ramp goes off to the side of the french doors, while the steps lead straight down to the lovely courtyard. Which, fine, maybe that’s the only feasible option they had. However, what really caught my eye, was that the ramp really led to nowhere. There wasn’t a smooth pathway to get from the bottom of the ramp back to the courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded by grass and was its own focal point. How a person was to roll down the ramp, and then easily get to the main event wasn’t addressed. Having to wheel yourself down a ramp and over unpaved terrain, just to try to find a way onto the courtyard, feels less than inclusive. It feels like an afterthought. It’s like someone checked the boxes (“the ramp is ADA compliant, the bathroom is accessible”) but no one thought about how the wheelchair user would experience the space.

I thought I was the only one. I tend to decorate in a more traditional/transitional style, but that choice of tube lighting in a suburban home left me scratching my head. I thought they were exceedingly ugly, probably trendy and will be outdated in a few years. But then again, what do I know? I never saw gray and white becoming popular colors, and yet, that’s about all you see nowadays. Maybe multiple black lighting tubes hanging from your ceiling will be the next big thing.

I only DVR the show. Never watch it live. As soon as I see the scene of the crew coming down the street, I fast forward until it gets back to Mina and her assistant at the design table. I gave up watching those scenes practically from the beginning, since I can't stand Tad and his bro antics. It's beyond tiresome, juvenile, and predictable.

Nope, you're not the only one watching. I stumbled upon The Hype and got a little excited because I love any creative competition show. However, after seeing the entire series, I was pretty disappointed and not at all hyped! First, the judges left me confounded. I know that the Marni lady is a celebrated stylist to the stars, but those ridiculous shoulder pads and hairdo just left me shaking my head. I've since found out who Offset is (although most of the season I could barely understand any of his criticism or praise of garments; he mumbles when he talks). The other woman judge--whose name escapes me entirely-- was so off-putting in the crap she chose to dress herself with. She looked like an extra in Macklemore's Thrift Shop video. I couldn't concentrate on what she was saying because I couldn't take her seriously. Every time she spoke I was fixated on trying to figure out what in the world she was wearing from head to toe. I know I'm not the demographic for this show, but I really thought it would be more interesting than it was. All that Offset seemed to care about was whether there were (and how many) pockets an outfit had, and whether the pockets could be attached, removed, or reattached somewhere else. There had to be a hoodie involved with some "fi-ya" neckline (which went past me because I thought most of the hoodies basically looked alike). And for some challenges the hanging zippers, strings, and other attachments were superb, yet in other challenges they were too "been-there-done-that." And did we ever see anyone's full look-book? The good: Cardi B was a fun guest judge. For some reason that surprised me. I also loved Dapper Dan. For the most part, the designers were competent and already established so they had good contestants (even though I hate 1-day challenges). I enjoyed the host as well. He was laid back, but also very earnest. I truly thought Kai and Paije were going to be the final two, but I was okay with Justin's win, because I love quilting and I'm a grandma!😉 I was surprised that Marni wanted to do a future collaboration with Paije, but no one offered something similar for Kai. In my opinion, he was the best designer. I think he'll be fine and he has reached a wider audience. Justin probably needed the win more. I could see myself watching this again if they replaced the judges. Or at the very least, if the judges had conversations that better explored the construction of the garments and why one outfit was considered dope, while another that looked very similar, was a miss. And I want two days for each challenge. And I need Offset to speak more clearly and in complete sentences so that I--the audience member--can understand what's going on. Everyone on the show seemed to understand him just fine, so maybe it's me.

I mean this sincerely: I praise all of you who can discuss this episode without referring to the graphic image at the end which is now burned into my optic nerves. I admit to having some prudish tendencies, but I am fine with consenting adults doing whatever they please with each other. So when the scene shows Belinda and Shane opening the door and their mouths drop open and eyes bulge in shock, I anticipated they were seeing Armand and the employee in a compromising situation. I assumed it would be left up to the audience's imagination as to what the pair were doing. I was so "clutching-my-pearls" surprised when it was actually shown on film. I wasn't prepared to see that much detail. They easily could have ended the scene at Belinda and Shane's reaction shot and nothing would have been lost in the telling of the story. I know I'm older and not of this generation, but I actually feel bad for actors whom--in order to work--now seem required to participate in unnecessary, gratuitous, graphic nudity or soft porn that does nothing to add to the story or character development. I would have felt that way if the scene were with a heterosexual pair. I thought there used to be practice and standards or something that limited what could be shown on television. I guess that's fallen by the wayside. I can see that I'm in the minority here, and that's okay. I don't watch a lot of television, and now I'm thinking I'll probably be watching less. Or just watching older movies.

Thank you! That’s very helpful!

I’ve only been reading this forum for a few days and I’m stumped by some of the abbreviations. I get that FJ is Final Jeopardy and DD Is Double Jeopardy, but my mind is drawing a blank for TS and CDC. Thanks!

After watching this episode, I leaned over and told my husband that the writers must have gone on strike this week. No real plot movement, nothing for the actors to do but pretend to dance around at various parties. And why exactly is Poppa’s wannabe girlfriend suddenly so smug (Myisha?). What shine-worthy enterprise is the source of all this newfound adoration and social media haters? I find the young female characters so tiresome (starting with Keisha, then on to Gemma, Myisha, Kevin’s new gaming love interest, and Tiff). I have no idea why I’m still watching this mess. Probably because once I invest in a show, I want to see it through to the bitter end. And this has been one bitter pill.

Some of the scene changes were so abrupt that I felt like I missed something important. At one point, when Lucky is cradling the crying baby, it seems like the devil/priest is urging her to do “something” but I can’t figure out what he wants her to do. Then it seems like she’s agreeing, and all the perimeter characters are menacingly holding what looks like forks(?) towards her. Then, after rocking the baby and crying, she says something unintelligible and suddenly she is there alone with the devil/preacher and all the bystanders are gone. It happened so quickly, darkly, and was so muffled that neither my husband nor I could figure out what I suspect was a crucial scene. Also, when the father wiped the blackface off of his tormentor, I couldn’t tell who the person was who was revealed. Was he someone we had been introduced to, or was it just a random white man? The scene was so muddy, I couldn’t tell who I was looking at. Thanks for any clarity. I wanted to like this show much more than I did, but I was left depressed and confused.