rehoboth

What Larissa doesn't understand is why people are upset over the Swanson's Fish Market show. We (the viewers) love it when a deserving owner gets a hand up from Marcus. We also enjoy when an owner has the potential for success but can't seem to get out of their own way and Marcus pulls out because the situation is unworkable (see Worldwide Trailers or the coffee company). Swanson's Fish Market was neither of these. It struck a nerve with viewers because it screamed SHADY from the get go. The numbers that Gary gave (twice and were repeated each time by Marcus) did not add up. The behavior of the mother was puzzling. I think that viewers started to delve into The Profit comments and Facebook entries to help decide if the couple had been railroaded by Marcus or if we really saw possible insurance fraud and other shady dealings. When Larissa feeds the fire by throwing out explanations and numbers that are then rebuked by an attorney involved in the case, it confirms the worst about the family. And viewers tend to get worked up when undeserving people get Marcus' help. This was a bad decision, it's time to let it go Larissa.

Another deal called off. But it was satisfying because they seemed to deserve each other. It was kind of like that old Star Trek episode where the guy is locked in a "room" with his evil anti-matter twin, forever to be engaged in combat. I missed Marcus' deal (I came into the room to hear him say "I own 51% and will be completely in charge.") Can anyone tell me what he invested and what it was to be used for? Debt? Increased production?

I kept expecting Tabitha to show up and then the sledgehammer came out - could have used a little originality people! I fell asleep after the ex-partner confrontation. Does anyone else find Marcus' calm voice is a good sleep aid?

Upon a second viewing, things look no better for the parents and a little worse for the daughter as it appears that the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree. Worst scene: for me it is the scene with Larissa talking down the vendors. I assumed that Marcus was talking about the money he was going to give to the Swansons for the building but maybe he was not. Did the business have any money in the bank? They did have customers. Best scene: Tie - Sue hiding behind the potted plant and Marcus raising his voice to Gary - Gary: "I explained that." Marcus: "EXPLAIN IT AGAIN!" Marcus is like the Dad who doesn't raise his voice and when he does, you know you're in trouble.

The Swansons are the gift that keeps on giving. I would have expected their comments since the show aired to be uniformly negative about Marcus and the production team but I am wrong since Sue is blowing them kisses in some of her comments. Maybe she is seeing the world through rose-colored glasses or maybe through her anxiety medication (see all typos, grammar and spelling errors). I agree with Gary's point that the producers are only looking to air what brings the most DRAMA but this good point is negated by his own FB post that they are looking to sell their home in order to buy a beach house in FL. Year round jet-skiing, I guess. On these reality shows, I have to go with my gut feeling. When Sue was asked if she could commit to the being at work, she didn't hesitate and said yes. Even with the stress related to the death's of family members and her son's medical condition (which the daughter outed on FB in a crude bid for sympathy), she didn't bat an eye and said yes. To me, this shows that her first impulse is to lie. I also get a bad feeling with all the little, under-the-breath comments that Gary and Sue make about each other. "I'm always here" /"No, she isn't." "She hasn't gotten rid of her car."/"He has a boat." "I use the car for work."/"No she has never." They strike me as a couple who have agreed to stay together to get certain things out of the marriage/business for their own personal pleasure like jet-skis and driving a BMW. I think the BMW is part of Sue's deal and losing it is a deal-breaker. (The boat must be Gary's deal-breaker which is why she brought it up.)

I agree that Marcus doesn't look good here but I still think that a person's word and reputation mean something. This episode struck a nerve with a lot of people judging by the number of comments here and on other sites. In fact Larissa complained of obscene comments and death threats but that is to be expected of anyone who comes on these shows. ( - Godwin's Law and all) (Please excuse the above if this doesn't turn out - I'm trying to quote for the first time!)

In my mind there were two saving graces for the family: 1) the employees who thought enough of the business to chip in their own money to buy product. I read Marcus' twitter feed from the show and he says that those employees are no longer at Swanson's. 2) the mother needing to be away from the business to care more for her son who was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. (Why Larissa felt the need to out this medical information on her FB page, I don't know.) When asked if she could commit to running the business, I thought a reasonable answer would have been "I can commit to teaching Larissa all that I know but my son has a medical condition and I do need to spend time caring for him at home." As it stands, the mother is lying about committing totally to the business and it looks like she says what Marcus wants to hear in order to get a check from him and make him go away. The FB pictures of the jet skis, snowmobiles, fancy vacations, the reference to dad's Mercedes, and I just saw the $550,000, nearly 3000 sq ft house (that is not up for sale) just add up to robbing the business to finance a lavish lifestyle. I do think that due diligence was performed by the producers at the outset. How much Marcus is informed is debatable. I think that is why the structure of the money on this show did not follow the usual formula and the money was put in escrow which we were informed of in a post-production voice over. I found the scene paying the vendors to be problematic. I wonder if Marcus gave them the check to cash and the next day they all began working on real payouts (in Marcus and the Swanson's minds - I can still see Marcus mouthing the word "today" to Larissa) to vendors but the producers pulled back the money (maybe after reading FB) and put it in escrow and the cash was never there to pay those vendors. Curious. They can't all have happy endings; that's what keeps us watching.

Thank you to everyone who has rebutted Larissa's post with the Swanson's own Facebook entries over the last four years. What I really want to see is the house they were (are) living in. Sue making the boat Gary's avatar is pure joy. Poor, poor Swanson's - I think not.

I read Larissa's post and here are my thoughts: - I don't think that The Profit made Gary look bad; Gary provided it all himself. He was asked twice on different days about the insurance payouts and gave the same info twice. - It was pointed out repeatedly to the entire family that the numbers didn't add up. They were asked "Where did this money go?" and the response was <crickets>. Larissa maintains that they weren't given the chance to answer but I think they were. - Amidst all the financial questions, the employees did chip in their own money to keep the business afloat so that says to me that the employees think the owners are good people. - We were told that the money was put into an escrow account until the deal was secured so the scene with them negotiating with their vendors was puzzling. It was as if it was inserted to show that Marcus is the consummate negotiator and it rang very false. - The question of arson only popped into my head when Gary pointed out how unlikely it was for one business to have two fires on holidays within a couple of years. - Marcus jumping up to go do a title search on the business building when Sue mentioned painters and contractors at her home was just makes no sense. - Lastly, I have known a family that complained all the time about their bad luck. But when you look closely at their actions (or lack of actions) over the years, you see that the patterns of how they contribute or are totally responsible for all these bad things that happen to them (and nobody else). I don't believe that this remarkable pile on of bad things to the Swanson family is not related to their own actions and judgments - maybe Larissa is too close to see it.

I didn't really like the name "Queens Vibe" either. Is that something New Yorkers say, ie "that's got a Queens vibe"? I did like the graffiti inspired artwork; totally the opposite of what embroidery looks like.

I can only hope that law enforcement officials take note of this episode. When Judge Judy has someone on who alludes to shady behavior, she tells them straight out that the IRS has people who spend part of their day watching her show and then go after those (dumb) people. It's easier than finding the crooks yourself. If there is any justice in the world, the IRS, state Attorney General and their insurance companies will be on this. To heck with To Catch a Predator, we've got someone volunteering for legal scrutiny on The Profit.

I think this entire episode was constructed solely to make up a TV show. I think the due diligence concerning the Swanson's finances was done by Marcus' staff early on and they knew within days of coming in of the lien on the building. I thought that Marcus ran to the Records Department to check on the Swanson's personal assets. Why would Sue spilling the beans about painters and contractors at their home make Marcus jump up and do research on the business building? They knew from the get go that Poppa Swanson was a liar and that was going to be their (dramatic) out in the end. Also why didn't Marcus make his usual offer of buying into the business? It didn't make sense to me that he would offer to buy the building and then announce to the staff that he (Marcus) was now "100% in charge." Did he not buy into the business because he knew that, no matter how well-run, that business would never show a profit due to Swanson-style accounting? It certainly seems like Marcus went against the rules that he lays out every show that he is not giving out charity and will only be involved with a business that he can make money off of.

So shady!!! Even I picked up on the insurance money discrepancies and would have stopped right there until I knew where the money went. The retail building was not overly improved (no swimming pool or tennis courts in the back) so the money had to be going into the owners pockets. When Marcus went to look up the records, I thought he was going to do research on the owner's house(s). (And yes, I, too, thought that the title search would have been done right away; this was one month into the deal. Head scratcher.) I caught that they added in a voice over that Marcus' money was put in an escrow account and that the owners could not touch it. They knew the viewers would be upset if those owners got it. As far as the daughter's handbag goes, she worked in retail before coming back to the business so I think she really earned that purse. Or maybe it was a gift -- from the mother.

I bet that Sal was allowed to do whatever he wanted - his grand vision of a pizzeria/batting cage/basketball court - by Nick because Nick could just sit back and collect a check. I used to handle questions out of the office for the sales reps at my old job and boy did they know their clients. And they were so happy to get a lead on a new client too. I kept waiting for the sales guy in Nick to come out in that conversation and it never did. Sal and Nick thought up a sweet deal for themselves and hoped to hold it together with string, chewing gum and a few prayers until they could cash in. It's obvious that they don't care about the workers. Thank goodness for Marcus (who Sal and Nick were planning to use to slide by on this) who is there for the workers. I would hate to see someone who cares (Fabio) go down the tubes with Sal and Nick.

That was insane. I really thought that Marcus was going to walk away with all the dishonesty coming to light Does anyone know what the deal is with the money that Marcus invests that is above and beyond the agreement? If he pulled out of the agreement due to, say, he discovers the books have been cooked, does he get that money back? Does he sue them for it? The only worthwhile thing in the company is Fabio and the best thing about the show is seeing Marcus cut through the bullshit.

To me, it's the vibe that Kat gives off of being easy pickin's once you buy this party girl a drink and this is based on what she had to say about her past behavior in season 1. And she seems to be ok with that.

The resolution of 'towel-gate' was a bit disappointing to me. I thought Kate was more professional than that. What she calls sticking up for herself, I see as sneaking around and playing a nasty prank. Sticking up for yourself would have her address The Primary in private saying that his prior comments should have been brought up to her in private so as not to make her feel as if she was being dressed down in front of all the guests. Didn't the crew just meet her two weeks ago? I don't know if she's earned the loyalty that she feels entitled to.

What a letdown! I would have preferred any of the other three to win over Big Hair duo. Won't the noise level be super high between the living room and bedroom above with no buffer? I thought you only exposed the ceiling like that when there was nothing above your room or you had super high ceilings. I do think the order affected the outcome. I wish they would put the houses up for on-line bidding all at the same time next season. Less dramatic than an auctioneer but the results will be more realistic.

Sorry, to clarify, I did not mean that Ben did not do all the non-cooking aspects of the meal (mise-en-place, etc,,,) before the allotted meal time. I meant that he throws the protein on the grill only when the guests are seated. He could have plates out, salads in place, sauces made, etc. at 8:30 but he's not putting the lamb chops on the grill until the guests are actually there (at maybe 9:15??) and have had their beginning courses. Ben is a pro. There is no way guests were sitting with no food for over two hours. If it really happened like that, we would have seen him at the table apologizing in person. I think he was ticked off about the plastic because that guests arrived late and expected dinner ready the minute they sat down, like Ben was some kind of mind reader. I think this is just the producers/editors giving Ben more drama than he actually generates.

My guess is that the guests did not sit down right at 8:30 and that they were late just like at breakfast. After all these are Mr. Big's preferences, not theirs. Also I would think that Ben does not start cooking some of the parts of the meal until guests are seated. If the meal has a lot of components, it may stretch out the time between courses. I I would think that his meals will be simplified for this group after this. I notice that Ben complains a lot in the galley but he is always a pro with the guests. He knows how to get a good tip.

I was glad that John and Whitney won (their room matches my personal taste). I think they will be good in the magazine due to the washer/dryer, the built-in desk and doing a lot with a very small space without cluttering it too much. When I saw the completed twins room, I thought "Ok it's all ready to decorate." The orange accent wall - I would have liked that in an office but waking up to that color staring me in the face would be a nightmare. Every time I heard the sisters say that they are known for their finishing, I keep thinking that they do the least to their rooms - no wonder they finish but I would like to see more of a transformation of the space. I would like to see things that I can't do and the sisters aren't providing that for me. The trailer park/sandbox duo did their best work imo with the least amount of cash. I think that should tell them that they have been over-doing rooms. Pull it back guys and stop designing for yourselves.