Ritalin Smoothie

While I'm glad that we had back-to-back-to-back women champions, the quality of the games so far since Amy Schneider has been quite dreadful. So many TSs, unfinished boards, scores less than 10K before final Jeopardy...I totally understand how some viewers prefer competitive games over super champ streaks, but I would rather have streaks over games with weak players any day.

Clean-cut American couple with multiple kids who are homeschooled in a foreign country? Wouldn't be surprised if they're missionaries. I did roll my eyes when the husband said his wife was in the "essential oil business." It does sound better than "she's an MLM hun." These couple of episodes confirmed my dislike of episodes on Australia and Mexican resort town condos. The properties from these shows are just not interesting.

And at that exact moment, I REALLY wanted Mina to lose. I'm one of those weirdos who thinks a contestant deserves to lose because s/he gives such a boneheaded answer to what I think it's an easy get. And when she said Deutsche Airlines (instead of Lufthansa) moments later, that cemented my irrational dislike of her.

After seeing the eye candies that are the "real estate agents" from Bressanone and Stockholm, I decided to google the names Agostino Oberhofer and Joel Pettersson and went directly to the Images results, which confirm my suspicion that these guys aren't agents at all. Really, I don't mind the show putting pretty faces on (and they are so purty), but it just reinforces how artificial the made-up background stories and house hunts are. Still, I watch every new show because I do enjoy seeing foreign properties.

Diana's brain fart during her Daily Double is exactly the worst-case nightmare scenario for me if I ever got on the show: the clue asked for an English dynasty (and she could've come up with the answer with relative ease), and yet her brain got stuck scrambling to come up with a Japanese dynasty because of the first part of the clue. I suffered second-hand embarrassment for her when Alex revealed the answer, and the flicker of realization that she misinterpreted the clue flashed on her face for a split second.

The skeptic in me thinks that at least a third of all those improbable relo stories in this show may have to do with religious folks going overseas for mission work.

The Toulouse episode was also a refreshing change: no dramatic dislike of any house features, no instantly hate-worthy hunters, just acceptance that not every detail is to their liking. Kemper, I also saw the H.H. International Renovation episode for Capestang, France. (Are they still doing one-hour Renovations for foreign properties anymore?) I find the American ones rather repetitive: always winding up with an open concept kitchen-living room combo. The foreign properties are much more interesting. Warsaw episode from last week: however much I don't care for the expectant father, I have to admit he was good-looking (the kind of good-looking guys who are so self-aware of their attractiveness that they must be in ON mode all the time).

SmithW6079: I also noticed lately that quite a number of episodes feature a Polish wife (Malta, Krakow, etc). And I just remember that the husband from the Lyon episode was also Polish. Lisbon: Oh boy, loud, obnoxious actor couple who think they were hilarious. That was a miserable show to sit through. Once again, she had to play up the "charm" factor. To me, local charm is always associated with poorly insulated older houses with small rooms and outdated furnishings. Give me a modern apartment and I'll get the local charm by sticking my head out of the window to look outside.

Frankfurt: That apartment ain't quirky; it's a bit sad. It should work for a single person though. Villefranche-sur-Mer: Once I saw their Manhattan condo at the beginning of the show, I knew they had $ to burn. The $700K above the original "budget" is the biggest overage of this show in my memory. Prague: If I were his mother, I would rather stay in Miami. Edited to add: I really like this week's programming because in general, I'm way more interested in properties in non-English speaking countries than ones in U.K., Australia, N.Z., etc.

Eindhoven military wife: Bingo. For all her faults, I bet that he's the one that has always and will forever bend over backwards to accommodate every need and whim of his child bride. Budapest: The twentysomething me would've loved loft apartment living. The old-fart me now will always obsess about how tonight's cooking will make it up to the open bedroom.

Ugh, the Indy brodude needs to stop adding "bro" to every other sentence. Bro, don't try too hard to sound cool, bro.

I remembered Seth made a similarly small wager (not $5 exactly) when the final category was African Geography. And all 3 contestants got that one wrong. So my theory is that when he faces a category in which he has no confidence, he uses the small wager strategy to bank on the other contestants betting big and getting it wrong.

This longtime viewer wants to know if he's the only one thinking that the show is purposely making the DDs much easier than those of previous seasons. It seems that the contestants lately are wagering much more on DD to ensure a huge lead going into Final Jeopardy, and the show is responding to this trend to reward the gamblers with huge returns. While the champ is certainly a good player, his landing on 2 DDs in Double Jeopardy was really a matter of luck, and the answers were almost gimme's.

I think TPTB probably didn't want an all-California final (Cal, Stanford, USC).

Lyon: I agree with all of you that Apt #1 was definitely the ringer of the episode. Halfway though the show and I finally figured out who he reminds me of: Kenneth the Page.

Sofia: I'm sorry, but if you're so cheap that you don't want to spring another US$50 over the $300/month rent to live more comfortably, you deserve your bitchy boyfriend. It's one thing to shower sitting on the toilet, but when the dark mold in the corner of the bathroom is visible on the TV screen, I would've crossed that apartment off right away. Suva: The husband talked as though he was trying to jut his lower jaw out as much as possible. Very stereotypically geeky. It was kinda funny to see him going into the swimming pool fully clothed with this boys. Mr. Ritalin Smoothie was wondering whether his white undershirt was his Mormon underwear. For me, the main drawback of the apartment with the nice kitchen is that the unit is right next to the communal pool. When I saw the exterior shot, I realized that if I lived there, for privacy I would have to draw the curtains on at least two windows (which is no way to live). This show does feature a large number of missionary couples and families. Hey, if I have to go overseas to spread the gospel, I wouldn't mind supplementing my modest income with an appearance on the show.

From the dark recesses of my useless mind: this really encapsulates how formulaic HH has become with all its seemingly artificially created conflicts (apologies to those who are allergic to Daniel Tosh): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_WZihSX78Q

Me: God, this couple is boring. Mr. Ritalin Smoothie: Even the dog seems boring. However much I love checking out overseas housing every night, I'm SO tired of production team suggested storylines and manufactured disagreements on what the couples want. I really wish they'll skip the BS banter and show a fourth option instead.

I know this quote was from last month, but something about all these families stating that they are uprooting the entire household just so that the kids can experience another culture just doesn't sound genuine to me (much like 90% of the HH back stories). So yesterday I happened to catch a rerun on a family of 11(!) moving to Veneto, Italy. 5 seconds of googling confirmed my hunch: that many of these parents are missionaries, and the production team probably told them not to state the real reason for moving overseas so the storyline appears as uncontroversial/neutral as possible (not that there's anything inherently objectionable about missionary work). So the next time when a family relocates to a foreign country with no explanation of job prospects and with a modest rental allowance, it's probably safe to say that they are working for their church.

Ssh, don't make Madonna release her backup dancers on you. I must admit that this is indeed a very first world problem. That doesn't bother me in a house with a less-than-ideal/funky layout. The one thing that I am absolutely not crazy about is a bedroom located at one end of the house that can only be reached by passing through the kitchen. My irrational brain imagines that all the cooking smell just gets stuck in the that room.

So I'm not the only one who senses that our salsa dancer of the week has a soft spot for her. Even with this awfully awfully off week, I still think Kimberly will make it to the finals. Christine is the other one I pegged to be in the final 3. The next one to go? Probably Howard.

Are we sure that only the wife in the Antananarivo episode has health issues? 'Cause Mr. Missionary sure looks gaunt and sickly, and that's after the camera has already added 10 lbs. to his frame. I was expecting him to keel over whenever he spoke. While I completely understand how some people moving abroad really want local charms in their new digs, for Madagascar, I'd say, "Screw it, I'll pay $250 over budget to have new and modern everything. No mold, no dirt, no chickens."

My take on Matt running down the clock: at the end it really did not matter. When he started doing it, he still went for all the $2000 clues first. That could've been a detrimental decision for him if the second place contestant answered them correctly. If instead he went straight for the clues on the top of the board, however, then that definitely would've been a dick move.

Stockholm couple: I'm very impressed by the miminal complaints from the couple; it seems that they adjusted their expectations based on their modest budget. The Debbie Downer/worrywart in me admires them for their quixotic quest, but at the same time I keep thinking, "Are they paying into their Social Security? Will they make enough to retire?" Shallowness alert: I tend to like the modest budget episodes less than the "regular" budget ones mostly because they show an apartment with 1 (at most 2) bedroom and the bare kitchen and the bathroom and that's it. Basically, there's not much house to see. Nancy episode: Wow, an apartment for under US$200K? Not bad. I did think their original budget of $150K was a bit ridiculous.

Ali--such a sweet boy, but g*dd*mn who would admit to the judges that because he doesn't like fruit pies, he didn't taste his own creation?! Ruby--anyone who can make filo/phyllo sheets in her dorm room deserves kudos. Kimberly--well deserved win, and she seems to be a sure bet for the final. Rob and Frances--getting too clever for their own good.