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As a palate cleanser, Deonna and Greg continue to warm my heart. Deonna seemed shocked that anyone would think she wouldn't stay married. She just needs to learn to tell Greg that yes, she thinks he's sexy and yes, she's freaking smitten. Greg's friends continue to be impressive in their caring and support.

I liked this episode a lot, if only for seeing some real pretend counseling. The contestants on this show must have some kind of reality Stockholm Syndrome where they refuse to say (or perhaps even acknowledge to themselves) that they don't want to be married. Hey, Keith and Matt? Neither of you are fucking "100% committed" so just stop it! Matt barely tolerates Amber and Keith has now seen Iris' OCD-adjacent outbursts and neuroses, not to mention she seems asexual.

When actresses wear short skirts on talk shows, the camera crew is usually careful to shoot from the waist up to avoid any potentially unflattering angles, and the actresses themselves constantly check the monitor to make sure they're not flashing anything. Elizabeth has none of those crutches.

Trevor seems to rely on Roy to bring the funny. Dulcé or Jaboukie could also have done that bit. I love Roy but think some of the other correspondents are a bit underused.

The Dish Anywhere ap for Windows that allows me to watch shows on my laptop has been broken for probably two years; none of the DVR functions work and I have to record and delete shows via my tablet. I noticed this week that it's fixed! Thanks, Dish coding nerds! Saves me from having to fumble between devices.

An abandoned one was right next door, too! That alone would put me off buying. Ideally it's also on some flipper's to-do list. IMO Mina and Karen's insistence on a downstairs master is the wrong decision much of the time, especially in these narrow houses. Stairs will for sure dissuade a certain pool of people, but the majority of buyers' knees are fine and they'd much prefer adequate common space and somewhere to put a freaking dining table! Jeez. Be interesting to see a list of buyers for these houses ... my guess is single people or young couples who work in the city and are willing to trade convenience for space. None of the confirmed buyers we've seen over the years have had kids, as I recall. I'll have to rewatch to see how Mina configured the house she built for herself. Edit: Mina's own house does have a downstairs master. It's 2800 sf, though.

As I recall, last season the experts pointedly asked Kate and Luke if they wanted to stay married well before decision day. They are probably prohibited from directly recommending that a couple split, but the offer was clearly on the table. Pastor Cal's eyes seemed to be pleading with Kate to leave!

It was interesting that a projected profit of $60K on the purple house turned into "break even." That was one of their larger houses, too (although it still only had room for a small dining table in the middle of the kitchen). Maybe don't paint your houses purple, ladies? Or believe that $400K is a reasonable asking price in a rundown neighborhood, "up and coming" or not? I don't understand the staging details. The BTS episode said Mina and Karen try to stay under $10K for staging. Are they (as I believe) paying a company to do it? Are they actually buying furniture and accessories for every house? Then what ... reselling it or jamming it all in storage? Is it borrowed or rented from the stores we see on the show? It was probably a mistake for me to rewatch all the previous seasons recently; it only highlighted the repetitiousness of the houses and designs. That race car bed was a tragedy as far as getting it or out and didn't even look that good, says this non-Indianapolis person.

Secrets of the Zoo (Columbus) seems to have become the Priya show, which I'm fine with. She's fun and her rounds among all the animals are interesting. Because of the two elephant calves dying at Chester, I was worried after the recent episode showed Phoebe the elephant giving birth. I looked it up and the baby did die at about three weeks; it was sudden and unexpected, like the other two. 😢

I was so nervous for that condor egg! The next time we saw the keepers check on the chick, it looked as big as a turkey! I enjoyed seeing the differences in practice between keeping animals for eventual release vs living in the zoo: cover the birds' eyes, don't make unnecessary sounds, hide from them, zero training, etc.

Welcome! Tuesday nights filled with seething annoyance have become a habit for me.

Of course Clint wears the same plaid shirt for 15+ years. Heh. I like that the guys are willing to splurge for some unique design items like the garage door in this ep to make an impact, while still using less expensive (and period appropriate) items like the ceramic backsplash tiles and plain front kitchen cabinets. I didn't mind the tile color in and of itself, but it did add to the "maybe too much green" feel of the house. A lot of flippers would have painted that pinkish stone, probably including me. I wonder if any buyers purchase some of the staging furniture and accessories? The living room couch fit the space really well.

I laughed the most at Kevin Nealon and Pete Holmes this week; it points up how important the panelists are. I know @midnight also had three guests but it seems like they had more of a chance to get some jokes in because of the rapid fire answers. I like the skits here and Spade's phone videos, but they take time away from the discussion. I assume David is holding the Solo cup so he has something to do with his hands? It's a little odd that he needs that crutch after decades of stand-up. Thanks for the audiobook recommendation, @Tosia. I got his first memoir from the library and started listening to that tonight. Fun to hear it in his voice.

Fredrik's nanny was sure crazy for him! Disappointed that it was only Luis coming over. Heh. I probably wouldn't be as interested in the show if it didn't feature the brokers' home lives (or really any personal scenes where they're not screaming and throwing drinks at each other). At this point the characters are more of a draw for me than the real estate. I even like Emilia! The mother with the one bedroom penthouse was another fool of a seller, even if she was only acting on behalf of her fool of a daughter. Nobody cares if you spent $100K on a shower and $250K on electronics and fucking cashmere walls. Ever heard of depreciation? The sellers might even decide to rip all that shit out! Although the five outdoor spaces could be useful during arguments when one spouse needs some alone time. Just don't get in a tiff when it's snowing. The woman with the underground pool townhouse, oy. A pool is as much a liability as it is a feature. Like Ryan said, buyers can get four-bedroom apartments in buildings with doormen, parking, and full amenities for that price.

Pfft. It's an old ep with "extra" scenes and/or behind the scene captions that somehow qualifies it as new.

Bingo. It was a woman's week to go. Ash was the weakest artist left but I didn't think her work was the worst this week. I'm not riled up about it, but the "evening up" bullshit probably means a less deserving male will be in the finale. Holli, Dani or Laura is due to be screwed in favor of Pon or Cam.

Also Leonard, was Sydney really one of your dearest friends? From my vantage point, he barely tolerated you.

Jamie Otis posted this on her IG. Everyone looks fabulous, although I wouldn't even have recognized Iris with the longer hair.

I appreciate that Amber was gung-ho about her marriage from the start and I didn't view her commitment and enthusiasm as clinginess. From the wedding ceremony: Officiant: "Matt's family and friends would like you to know that he's as loyal as they come. Once Matt is committed to something, he's all in. I would suggest not challenging him to a basketball game, but if you do challenge him, he will stand by you as long as you stand by him throughout this marriage." Matt: "This may be a little scary and you may be nervous, but I want you to know that we're in this together. I promise I will be respectful, patient, and kind while we learn and grow together. Throughout my years playing basketball I've been in many tough games and hard-fought battles. Through those experiences I learned that communication and teamwork are the most important factors to achieving victory." Amber fell for his bait-and-switch bullshit, but at least she went into this with a fully open heart, which frankly the majority of brides and grooms do not. But I also think Amber should have walked out after Matt revealed his true character and disrespected her and their marriage the way he did. It's one thing to be a delighted, happy bride but another to stay in an emotionally damaging, one-way relationship.

I did smile at Dr. Lee's vision for a pimple popping pop-up RV clinic. (Non-boob-looking shooter cyst on top.) She could partner with a food truck selling scrambled eggs, ricotta, jam. and blue cheese!

Fredrik is SO the sort of parent who wants a girl so he can dress her up in pretty clothes, fix her hair, play tea party, etc. It's cute. Happy to see all the guys back and happy that obscene luxury real estate prices are falling. Suck it, rapacious developers! ;-)

I'm really enjoying this season; there's certainly a lot going on. Amber and Matt are finished because Matt never started. Keith is calmly waiting out the storm before returning to the safe harbor of adult sexual desires. I think he and Iris might have had a chance if not for ... well, I guess that would require Iris to be an entirely different person. Jamie and Beth may become one of those toxic, bickering, alcoholic couples who hate each other but stay married because they're addicted to the drama. By the way, Matt's friends might also be assholes if none of them cared enough to tell him to go home. It's also possible they had no idea he was married.

Did anyone catch HGTV's new show Going for Sold? Half hour show set in Houston. The flippers are husband and wife. The first episode was a pretty standard Texas brick ranch from the 80s; they did a cosmetic flip with some repair work. The staging was pleasant, nothing overstuffed or frilly, and blessedly shabby chic free.

I don't know why an epidermal nevus would smell, but neither do I want to think about it too much. I hope the nice brother and sister were able to get some relief and that the show paid for their local doctor if they don't have insurance. During the follow-up, it sounded like the brother might had put off making an appointment; hopefully seeing his sister be pain free will help.

Matt is one of the worst spouses of all time for me, including Dead Inside Luke and Restraining Order Ryan. Not only doesn't he care about other people's feelings, I'm not sure he understands that they have them. It's likely that willful stupidity and selfishness isn't a new pattern for him; a five-minute convo with one of his exes would be illuminating. It's also easier and easier for me to see why he chooses to be estranged from his entire family.