BryroseA

I was a little surprised that no one tried to add an extra story onto their dock. I live near an area with a lot of lake vacation homes and two- three- even four- story “party docks” with full outside kitchens, viewing balconies, slides into the water, etc. are a big deal. I wonder if that was a money issue, a dock size issue, or a dock structure issue (presumably you have to have a certain amount of under structure to support a second story?) Whatever it was, it sure made this week underwhelming. I think the twins adding the solar panels might have just won it all for themselves. That’s a huge value add, that may make it hard for the other teams to catch up.

I thought someone on this show was going to listen to my primal cri de coeur and screen in a porch. I was SO HAPPY, and then it was cruelly yanked away. 😅 If you’re in the South, Screen. It. In.

I hate to say it, because I have loathed everything else I have seen them design, but I loved the Bauemlers’ living room. The curved walls and the ceiling treatment along with the full glass wall just really made it look luxe, but in an interesting way.

It’s baaaaack! I think HGTV broke Keith and Evan. I’m so sad at how much they tamped their style down in pursuit of sale-ability. I actually loved their home on their original season (it worked a lot better as a whole home than as individual rooms, imo) even though it was very specific. People side-eyed their round shapes - windows, curved shower, etc. - so much that season and now this season all the designers are adding curves. Maybe the peach walls were ahead of their time, too! 😂 I think this season is Paige and Mitch’s to lose.

I liked that they switched up the finale order and did the master class last, announcing the winner in front of the audience - it felt like a better arc. This was a fun season to watch, as always, but I do feel the creative looks - like last season - continue to feel very “same-y.” Same kinds of prosthetics, same placements, same color blends, someone adds moss, etc. I really don’t think the show has ever managed to hit the artistry levels of Season 2 - particularly Ophelia. Her Bangkok neon lights look, or the full moon / dark face look were so stunning I remember them today - just with makeup.

…back to another season. I just can’t quit hate-watching this show and remembering how much I liked the first few seasons. I *HATE* that the producers keep leaning into the smack talk/ginned up competition between trucks. I don’t want to hear teams yelling at each other or putting each other down, and you know a lot of that is coming from behind the camera. I am, however, relieved that the actual quality of the food seems high this season. Lots of those opening dishes sounded AMAZING & no one is doing “stuff on a waffle” or “stuff on Mac & Cheese” type truck. 🙏🙏🙏🙏 producers - good food and fun, friendly competition. It would work, I promise!

Sure, sure, food, cooking, yes, good, but what I’m really here for was that split-second thirst trap shot of shirtless Ali by the window. 👀

I see a lot of consensus that Christian’s cake was “brown” but I loved the muted color scheme and thought it was absolutely gorgeous - that edging line of gold and the sea foam accents were genius, imo. Perfect for a “Boho” wedding cake.

I do! They do usually take the other bakes from that episode into consideration, however - it isn’t only the showstopper. My mediocre comment was referring to the look of some of Luke’s bakes - that chocolate box for the preheat challenge - oof.

Oof, that’s a disappointment for me. I like Luke a lot as a person, but it’s hard to see someone other than Clement or Christian win when they have been turning out professional, GORGEOUS dessert consistently all season. Luke has done some beautiful work (the Holi cheesecake comes to mind) but lots that was mediocre or subpar as well, including two bakes of the three in this literal finale episode. Hard to believe his cake tasted *that* much better.

Yes! I don’t know how many of the teams had hot tub money remaining, but that feels like it would have been a good addition.

Another year, another season where no one screened in even part of their porch. Bug haters of the world, unite and demand your porch be screened in!!! I thought an outdoor shower, especially one with a dog shower area, would have been a good use of that $1000 challenge. Maybe throw in a kayak/ski rack for gear storage. Everyone I know in CO does a TON of hiking, kayaking, etc with their dogs.

I wonder if the show told them they weren’t allowed to add any extra bathrooms or bedrooms to the listing? The last few seasons that has become the obvious go-to to bump the appraisal price up. Didn’t one team last year kit out their downstairs as a complete rental apartment? For not one single team to even think about throwing a bathroom and a closet down there I wonder if the producers stepped in to stop that from being an obvious avenue to victory?

"This is a tough decision, they're all so different..." said the judges about four kitchens that were, in fact, incredibly similar.

I don’t know why I keep coming back to this godforsaken show, but I think one reason might be to see if anyone - ANYONE- will finally add a screened in porch to one of these homes.

I really appreciated that the technical was something more “normal” - something a British home baker actually should know how to make. There were a few seasons there where every single technical was something completely niche that most of the bakers had never heard of. I get that they don’t want to repeat challenges, and I do like the occasional more challenging or unique bake, but I so much prefer to see them challenged by more standard bakes that really reward skill and knowledge - not just luck.

It’s been a week and I’m still not over them stacking tres leches. Stacking. If you can stack your tres leches you have made it wrong. It should be swimming in its overnight soak in a Tupperware pan, and you should basically eat it with a spoon. Such beauty. 😭

Nooooo, don’t tell me that lady worked for Boris Johnson. Conceal! Conceal! It’s Friday night and I don’t want to have Political Feelings during my wholesome cake show. 😭

I can’t believe that: 1) This show is back- has it been successful at all??? and 2) That I am for some reason watching it again even though I found the last two seasons bland and,in the case of Heidi and Tim, annoying. Why do I keep coming back to TV like this?? 😭

I couldn’t help cackling during the judging when Nick Uhas kept being like “Wow, I LOVE this!!” about the flame & peppers, followed by Katherine and the glass judges being basically like “Wellll, actually it’s very pedestrian and basic and would only appeal to simple minds with no understanding of sophistication or technique.” 😂

I’m not even sure why I’m continuing to hate watch this show at this point, the last few seasons have been so awful. This one is off to a bang-up start, with a winning truck where the customers proclaimed the food “disgusting” (have we ever seen this before???), half the cast already competing for “most annoying,” and either the producers or the contestants themselves trying to gin up tired drama between the trucks. I feel sorry for the trucks that appear to have been airlifted in from earlier, better seasons of this show, like the pasta truck, Foreman family, and the nice South African ladies.

I remember Tina (pearls lady) from her winning turn on the Netflix barbecue show, which I loved and wish would come back. She is very, very good at this and should definitely be a top contender. Anne Burrell ….dang. She’s really not rolling with the friendly-trash-talk vibe of this show, is she? I don’t think that guy on her team took anything off her station, I think he was just asking???? Hopefully she was just nervous and will calm down.

I’m rationing the episodes out one per night so I have longer to savor them, so I just got to the Raku episode, and WOW. I feel like that was some of the prettiest raku we’ve seen yet on this shown. Some really beautiful colors coming through. I can’t believe Christine didn’t win - those cherry blossoms were gorgeous, soft, and milky. So fluid. I feel like the judges are really sleeping on AJ so far - they’ve consistently had some of the best work imo. Their week 1 kids dish set was amazing and just got passed over. I understand the critique about the leaf painting on the raku being too “stiff”, but wow those blues, greens, and turquoise. 😍 I’m hoping this means we’ll be seeing them deep into the competition. (I’m deliberately avoiding reading the comments in this thread until I’m done with the series, to avoid spoilers…)

It was lovely to see full walkthroughs of all of the houses - it really made the Detroit boys’ house shine much more than the piecemeal room-by-room judging approach does. One thing I’ve noticed across the seasons is that no one ever seems to go *back* to a space to fix/add something the judges critique. Are they not allowed to do that? I’d have thought that Keith and Evan, for example, might have wanted another run at that main bedroom closet. The twins were definitely an.noy.ing with all of their antics, but the thing that bugged me the most was they clearly read, like, one article about Charleston and then decided that qualified them to add Charleston tourist-caricature level stuff to their house. And then the judges were clearly directed to lean into that & praise it because it was the only unique thing about their design. Seriously, a sweet tea bar??? An oyster roast oven??? We don’t live in a foghorn leghorn cartoon, y’all. I could almost see the thought bubble above the one twin all “Well, in a NORMAL house, we’d put a coffee bar here, but this is the South and what are we pretty sure we once saw Paula Deen drinking? A sweet tea bar! Genius!” 😂

Yet another season of me screaming “SCREENED IN PORCH!!” at the TV, to no avail. How could not one team add what has to be the most popular outdoor feature in this bug-infested Southern hell I live in and love so well??? Seriously, people. Screens + shade = win for a southern backyard.