Kip1

I too liked Keith and Evan's room best. Then the twins. The preview show the property brothers there next week. I hope the show continues the tradition of determining the winner by having two or three local appraisers evaluate the properties.

I thought the Detroit boys should have one. Their only criticism was that some art on the kitchen wall would have been nice. That is such a minor detail. (And a bit ironic as they normally have art everywhere.) My second choice would have been the twins - purely for the screen. I don't know how well those work, but Brian and Mika said the people purchasing the other houses would install them.

I don't like Paige either, though I'm not sure why. But when I heard the initial descriptions of their MBR plans, I liked theirs best: the bed facing the water, the bed on a platform so the view from the bed wouldn't be blocked by the railing, and the screened-in balcony. Without being screened in, no one's going to want to sit out their most days and you wouldn't be able to leave the doors open to get a cool breeze at night. The outdoor shower in that location makes no sense. I had envisioned the raised platform being much larger such that there would be at least four feet around it. Even then, it would present a hazard, but when I saw how little floor space was on at least one side of the bed, an accident seems guaranteed. I ended up liking Keith and Evan's the best, though the fireplace in the closet was stupid. Even if I lived in the frigid north, I'd rather have more storage space than a fireplace. Like Christina, I didn't like the storage on top of the counter. But both of those faults were minor. The Detroit boys are probably at a bit of a disadvantage. They're used to sourcing products for houses that sell for $60,000-$120,000, not for million-dollar-plus homes (though that could be an advantage in not thinking about cold-plunge pools and outdoor showers).

Just watched episode 4 about the 37-year-old case of a Kankakee, MI, pregnant woman found murdered two months after she went missing. Another circumstantial case. This season I don't recall the teams interviewing as many past wives and girlfriends of the suspects as in previous years. This episode they interviewed the woman who was married to the suspect at the time who did say he had choked her once. She divorced him within a year of the murder, so this guy presumably would have had other romantic relationships during the last 35 years. In the previous shows, these old wives/girlfriends, besides reporting similar violent behavior, would say that the guy had threatened them by saying things like, "Don't think I wouldn't strangle you; I've done it before," or "Do this, unless you want to end up like (victim).

Not sure what to think about Ty either. It sounds like he wasn't totally up front about having children. When the Miami real estate woman asked about whether he wanted to have more children, he pretty much said no. Then in talking to the camera, I think he said that in his description of himself, he had put he was open to it because he hadn't decided. Later with the teacher, he again said he wasn't interested in having more kids, so he doesn't seem at all open to it. I wonder how many of the women would have selected him if he had known that.

Yes, that was bizarre. After potato farmer Brandon revealed the emotional story of his mother leaving, he asked Joy what she thought about it. Joy said something like, "Nothing. I don't have any feelings. My sister and I don't have any feelings." I'm thinking psychopath. Psychopaths pretend to have feelings. I had been thinking Reba was just jealous when she was calling Joy fake, but now it's looking like Joy was very perceptive.

I was looking forward to seeing what Keith and Evan would do. The handle on the roof was genius, but I was surprised that this was the time that Evan chose to use restraint. I would have liked to see a bit more color. The pink flower boxes were a nice touch, but turquoise trim around the windows would have given it a punch. The pink fountain was sitting on drab rocks. Spray paint those rocks blue or yellow. Maybe dye the water in the fountain a bright blue. I have mixed feelings about the flamingos because the water just ended up on the walk way. Paint the driveway. Barbie doesn't drive up to her dream house in her pink convertible on a drab, gray driveway. As for the earlier challenges, I was rooting for Jasmine but thought Egypt and Mike should have won. Felt pretty equal about the bedroom/bath and Ken's den, but probably would have given the edge to the BR/bath just because it's harder to do two rooms.

It sounded like the winner was selected based on the appraised value. In past seasons, we've seen clips of two or three appraisers walking through the houses with their clipboards and then sitting down adding up all their figures. When we didn't see that this time, I was afraid Jasmine, Egypt and Mike were making the final call - too much opportunity for favoritism and individual preferences come in. I'm glad they used appraisers.

Stacia should have at least made Nate feel like he has some say in the house. The number of drawer pulls in that star was overwhelming. She should have gone alone and chosen 4-6 styles she'd be happy with and then let Nate make the final choice among those. I do that with my husband. I selected 4 area rugs I liked and let him make the final choice. It wasn't my first choice, but it's perfectly fine and I like it. That's essentially what designers do on the home improvement shows: show the homeowners a couple of styles of cabinets, hardware, and backsplash tiles and let them pick from those limited options.

During their vows, I commented to my husband that in Andrew's vows, he was saying things like I promise to be your best friend "in this experiment." I guess "this experiment" could refer to their lives forever after, but it made me think that he was only committing to the 8 weeks. It made me wonder if he was doing this show to promote his motivational speaking career. If so, I think it's not working. Talk about showing how to de-motivate someone. The question was, "Are you attracted to your partner?" not "Is your partner good in bed?" He should have stopped after saying he was attracted to her, and then during later encounters showed her what he likes. But, no, he tells her he didn't feel a thing. And as if that weren't enough, he says he's had one night stands (plural) and has felt more on one-night stands than he did with her. That was just plain mean to say that. I don't see how he can come back from that.

I too thought Egypt and Mike deserved the win - all brick house, the attached garage and mud room, and most bedrooms/bathrooms. The non-fenced backyard was a minus, but that's easily fixable. Jenny & Dave's laundry room was a win. But the slide would be a huge minus for most families - even families with kids. The slide goes down to one of the bedrooms. So if there are two or more kids, I pity the child whose room is the slide end point because their siblings will be constantly intruding into their space. And for anyone who doesn't have kids, that hole in the floor will be a big project. I don't remember - were previous seasons longer than an hour? This one seemed rushed. I don't want to see a lot of melodrama or anything, but I would have liked more time showing the relationship of the houses to the lake, a better sense of how one would get from the garage to the house, the floor plans of the house, etc. For instance, when Jenny and Dave converted the loft to the laundry room, we didn't know if there was any other possible hang-out space. I probably missed it, but I didn't realize the masters were on the first floor until the last episode. I like the show at an hour, but if it's an hour I'd rather they only have 3 teams competing. My favorite part of the last episode is seeing the teams look at their competitor's work. Edited to add: In response to a previous post, I think it wasn't Dave and Jenny's island that would face a future neighbor's house, but the kitchen sink window. That didn't bother me because I've had sinks in that situation and if there's a fence with bamboo or other plantings or a fountain in front of it, it's still nice to look outside while you're at the sink, even if it's only a 4-8 foot view.

I grew up in an agricultural area in California and have had Mexican friends since I was 4. I've only heard queso pronounced as Kay-so both around here and when we lived in Texas in the '70s. Maybe Kes-so is a Houston thing. About the overcooked rice on one of the dishes - I've never heard overcooked rice called "broken". When I overcook rice, it either gets hard to burned on the bottom or gummy and clumpy. I googled broken rice, but all of the entries seemed to be about cooking with grains of rice that have splintered or cracked.

I thought Dr. Viviana suggested journaling to them. Michael said he was uncomfortable bringing things up to Jasmina because of the way Jasmina responds. Dr. V suggested maybe Michael could journal and let Jasmina read it.

Egypt and Mike nailed it. Connecting the house to the garage bodes well for them winning the whole competition, IMO. I can't imagine anything the others can do to the bedrooms, baths, and exterior that would add as much value as that. But maybe the bonus space above the garage could be a game changer. The twins are probably at a bit of a disadvantage since the other teams all have a contractor/builder. I don't know if they've ever said how it works, but I assume the teams have to pay for the construction help they need out of their budget, so the other teams can get by with hiring one fewer carpenter. Also, what they do on their show is mostly cosmetic and design changes. Other than opening up kitchens to living areas, they rarely reconfigure spaces.