RoxiP

Dan's call to his wife reminded me of Jurgen, who I believe won Star Baker two weeks in a row and nobody answered the phone at home either time! The week that Abbi was eliminated I believe that Dan, Roan (sorry if I butchered that) and Abbi were in the bottom three. I personally thought that Roan should have gone, since both Abbi and Dan had been more successful in previous weeks. I think that dealing with the hosts during their bakes is part of the obstacles the bakers have to face. I suspect that the bakers are told that interacting with them is part of the competition. Matty has won Star Baker so I wouldn't say that he is scraping through the competition. Have all the remaining competitors won Star Baker at least once?

Wow, the further along I get in this season the more obvious the friction is between the family members and crew. Tad (who obviously is only on the show to promote his own company - and I like the new, more responsible Tad) shows up as little as possible and there is almost no interaction between him and Mina, Karen and whomever is appearing with her in her little craft segments seem hell-bent on doing whatever they can to sabotage Mina's current project, the guy who appears in Karen's spot (sorry, his name is escaping me right now = Cory!!!) is mostly just throwing out ridiculous ideas and sarcastic comments, and MJ is pretty much there just to look pretty and rubber stamp Mina's ideas. It is all very passive-aggressive. You could tell Austin was kind of sad to be laid off but I'm sure he will be happy working with Tad again. I just watched the episode where she was going to build a duplex and carriage house with efficiency apartments and once again there was an expensive mistake made, and so she just built the carriage house (which had a concrete apron but I'll be darned if I saw a driveway up to the apron - are people supposed to drive through the mud?). I actually thought the efficiency apartments turned out fairly well although I thought the bathrooms were disproportionately large and would have taken some of that space for a larger bedroom area. And where were the entrances to those apartments? Inside the garages? I was very confused.

I do not think the handicapped daughter is capable of doing anything for herself based on what they showed of her. I suspect she is fed via tube so a place at the table probably is not much of an issue (same with the sink). Was that bathroom supposed to be a "wet room" (or whatever they call them?), because I did not see a drain and of course (understandably) there wasn't a lip or a door. I kind of always feel bad for the other child in a family such as this because her needs certainly seemed to be way down low on the list - perhaps in the next episode where they redo the upstairs that will be addressed (and where are the s?). Having said, that, I cannot imagine the day-to-day stress of handling what is obviously a seriously handicapped child.

I'm happy to hear that Valerie will be back.

Isn't Kevin also the one Jesse kept referring to as the Canadian? He was shown briefly in the first round but not much, but then again there are so many people there the first week I think they only emphasize people who are going to either be highly successful or highly unsuccessful.

I have to admit that I thought swans when I saw the turkeys - their necks were so long! The lady who won the pre-heat - I have to cheer for her because she lives in one of my favorite places on earth (New Braunfels) - I would move there in a moment if I could! But she has way too much hair, I agree.

Meri did also explain that circles take up more room than (presumably) rectangles or squares. Not saying it makes sense...

I suspect I probably will be. Darn it.

I was so hoping Liz would walk away.

Kody's only religion is himself.

Hollie's finale cake was really amazing - the amount of detail she was able to put into it - no doubt she deserved the win although I personally thought her cake flavor sounded dreadful (but I'm not a sour taste person). Her little boy sure is a cutie.

I agree with you, but I think that would have been better accomplished by her sitting on the seat with her feet on the pedals and Mitch pushing the bike along...she is really not going to learn to balance on the bike with her feet on the ground. The fact is that she seems to be a very timid child and I think Kody's treatment of her during her first attempt to learn to ride a bike was very damaging to her self confidence, plus having compromised eyesight probably didn't help. I kind of feel sorry for her - she is seemingly quite awkward and I suspect it is hard to find your place in this large group of people, not to mention one that is as fractured as this family is now.

Although Truley was tip-toeing to reach the ground her feet easily reached the pedals when she was seated on the seat and when you are "walking" your bike you generally don't plant yourself on the seat (or at least I don't). Now I'm going to look at other riders and see how they manage it. I fear that if she hasn't learned to ride a bike at age 12 she probably isn't going to - unless that calm guy (Mitch?) takes her out by herself and practices a lot of patience with her...without cameras and an audience (although they were well meaning).

What I would have liked to have seen is Robin's face when she finds out what Kody said to Meri, her last remaining hope at not having to deal with Kody all by herself!

I personally thought the other team had the better presentation, not to mention did not receiving the criticism on their tasting element. I do think the judges really loved the pumpkin carver for the winning team and that might have tipped in their favor, plus that witch coming out of the wall was pretty amazing.

I did notice on a recent episode that Austin created the floor plan for one of the renovations...perhaps he is getting an education but is keeping his personal life personal?

I think Christine knows the reason she gets screen time is her unabashed commentary. She can afford the Botox she undoubted got on her forehead (not digging on her - I thought she looked great).

Dan is the one who had to restart his dough in the technical. I give him credit for putting out a product with plenty of lamination that got first. I think Tasha had a migraine last week. Now whether it was caused by the heat or she suffers from them was unclear. Glad to see her back although I thought she still looked a little teary eyed

I thought for a while Meri did have a dog but I've only watched intermittently. The scene with Christine cooking lasagne (and who makes lasagne where there are no leftovers?) was, I think, filmed in July, so the timeline is just nuts on this show.

During the Covid episodes where they all bunked in together (not literally) there was an episode where two of the bakers were unable to participate and I'm pretty sure nobody was sent home.

The Marrs have been in the home renovation business for a lot longer than they have been on television, which hopefully will help them stand the test of time long after their show is over. As for the Napiers, they weren't in the home renovation business but Erin had a decorating blog that attracted the people looking for talent for the show (Ben had just started his woodworking business and apparently they had some other kind of printing business), and hopefully their stable, long-term relationship will stand them in good stead if the public interest ever wanes (I get the impression that Erin would be just as happy still being a small business owner in Laurel, Mississippi). I think being nice people has helped both couples (and Joanna and Chip) continue to grow their businesses. I have never had a problem with Good Bones but have to admit that I watch it now with a more jaded eye due to the bad press that has come out.

Although I understand the issues with the temperature in the tent and its affect on the baking outcomes, to me the tent is as much a character of the show as are the judges, the hosts and the contestants. And it is fair because all the bakers deal with the same conditions...how they overcome them is part of the competition. Sometimes I think the conditions are exaggerated - I seem to remember an article recently where Paul was quoted as saying he had been pretending to be dealing with the hot weather in the tent when in actuality it was quite chilly, so there may be some production shenanigans going on at times.

I liked how Kody was shown going on and on about Christine trash talking him to the children and Christine was shown trying to reassure the kids that there could be a relationship with Kody. I don't think the editors are fond of Kody.

My native Texan daughter says please and thank you and also yes ma'am and no ma'am (and of course yes sir and no sir). I used to get so angry when an adult would tell her she didn't have to say yes ma'am (sir) when I would correct her when she didn't. And I suspect her child (she is 23 weeks pregnant) will be raised the same way. Funny thing - she loves the fact that she has good manners and is considered a very respectful young woman (her husband works in a church and it is truly appreciated). She will probably clean up on baby presents...LOL!

Speaking as a mother whose child's father was also absent for a great part of her life, I also reassured my daughter that her father loved her to the extent he was able. This wasn't for his benefit but instead for hers' - a child needs to believe that they are loveable even when their absentee parent isn't showing it with his or her actions. Unfortunately the child will grow up and realize the truth all on their own but it can't come from the mother.