S08.E09: Ellen and Gloria

[Tara Ariano]

A woman begins hoarding due to kleptomania after her husband's death, but her home has become unsafe enough that her home owners insurance threatens to pull its coverage. Also: a woman's family threatens to call the SPCA due to her hoarding of dogs and cats.

[Primetimer]

Hoarders hopes to help shoplifter Ellen and pet-collector Gloria.

Read the story

[FormerMod-a1]

I was surprised how much they ended up getting done in both houses.

[Yokosmom]

I was surprised how much they ended up getting done in both houses.

 

Yes, it seemed that they skipped a couple of steps.  I'm wondering about the thrift shop allowing cameras in to film Ellen shoplifting.  I assume that she may end up banned from some of her usual stores.

 

I'm usually extremely sympathetic to the children of hoarders, but I found several of Gloria's daughters to be major pains.

[Brooklynista]

Was it ever explained why grown ass Doug was still in Ellen's house? Grown man crying because mommy invades his space in the basement??

In the words of my girl Judge Judy "AH-MOVE!".

[Galloway Cave]

 

I was surprised how much they ended up getting done in both houses.

I get the feeling 99.9% of the stuff is still in boxes in the back yards of both those houses.

 

Ellen was demonstrating her mad shoplifting skillz in her own hoard.

 

As someone who's nose ring gets irritated in nasty environments, I was yelling at Gloria's daughter and granddaughter to get some face masks on! Yuck.

 

Those poor, hairless, eye-gooby dogs. I hope they found a good home.

[stillhere1900]

Was it ever explained why grown ass Doug was still in Ellen's house? Grown man crying because mommy invades his space in the basement??

In the words of my girl Judge Judy "AH-MOVE!".

And that grown ass man did not keep his living area (basement) clean at all!!!!!   

[funky-rat]

I was confused about Gloria's house.  Was it a duplex (ie: the 2nd floor was a separate living space)?  They never once mentioned about an upstairs or showed one, but the house looked like it had a 2nd floor in exterior shots.  Maybe she rents the 2nd floor if that's the case?  Maybe she rents the basement to her son, or maybe he feels someone needs to keep an eye on her, so to speak.  I don't recall seeing the basement space her son had.  I did see them showing a washer and dryer with a lot of crap piled up around it, but washers and dryers aren't always in the basement.  I would have thought that if he had a hoarding problem too, the show would be all over that - they have in the past. 

 

I felt her son's pain.  Growing up, my late evil MIL was always freaked out about her house.  You couldn't leave shoes in the living room, or set a bag down without putting it away immediately - she was obnoxious about it.  As time went on, and my brother in law moved out and on his own, the condition of her house declined.  I said something to him once, and his response was "The house was clean because (brother) and I cleaned it.  And now that (brother) is gone, it's gone to crap because she's too lazy to do it."  And he was right.  She pushed all cleaning duties on to her husband (my husband's step-dad), who didn't do a great job. He perpetually kept a bucket of mop water with Pine-Sol in it in the bathroom.  He kept the mop in the water.  He used it to mop up cat pee and vomit.  That water always reeked, and was grey/black.  I wanted to hurl every time I passed that bucket.  He'd also use dirty dishes full of water to act like a dishpan to wash dishes.  Bleh.

Ellen's house reminded me of what my husband's step-father's house looked like (and smelled like) in the last few years.  He died in that mess.

[atlantaloves]

My DVR cut off and I didn't find out if that pet hoarder got to keep any of her animals that she mistreated, she had 30 dogs and cats. That just killed me.  Can somebody tell me if they allowed that total "sow" to keep any pets?  Thanks guys!  

[SFoster21]

They said that two dogs and a cat would be returned to her. The rest up for adoption.

[LittleIggy]

I can't believe that they got the smell out of Gloria's house. Years ago, a couple of cat hoarders lived in the condo next to my mother's. The smell (and roaches) would seep into my mom's place It was a nightmare. When they finally were evicted, the place had to be gutted to get rid of the filth and smell.

Those poor animals were crawling with fleas! Ugh! No collector would want those urine smelling magazines. Shove Marilyn up your ass! :-D

Corey kept talking about the 80 boxes Ellen was keeping, so I bet they are in the back yard. How dare she get mad at her son for trying to put that flag, which had been in the yard dump, somewhere safe. She didn't take care of it.

[DB in CMH]

All things considered, those dogs were fairly well maintained for there being so many. We've seen SO much worse on this show.

 

Completely superficial: Dr. Robin Zasio needs a stylist, like ASAP. On the stream I watched (not completely legal), the coloring went completely out of whack whenever she was in the frame. Everything else was normal, but her lips were blue and her hair green at one point, as if the stream couldn't find the right contrast between her and everybody else. She looks really, super harsh. The lipstick, over-tan and bleached hair are not doing her any favors and I still cant fathom how she goes into those disasters wearing what she wears. It blows me away, but I guess at this point she's seen everything on this show.

 

To avert accusations of sexism: Corey ain't looking that hot either. Aging is a bitch.

[califred]

I was trying to figure out Zazios peach clubbing shirt. Why would you wear split sleeves in a hoard?

[Brooklynista]

I was trying to figure out Zazios peach clubbing shirt. Why would you wear split sleeves in a hoard?

I'm never sure which is worse. Tanya Harding's club wear or Dorothy showing up in tank tops and shorts to rummage through piss and shit.

[operalover]

How much do you think a Marilyn Playboy covered in cat shit is worth these days?

[LittleIggy]

How much do you think a Marilyn Playboy covered in cat shit is worth these days?

Shove Marilyn up your ass!

[DeepRed]

I wish the show had gone into Gloria's back story more.  She had five husbands.  She started to hoard to spite husband #5 (who was also an alcoholic) when he'd complain about how much money she was spending.

 

And then the house itself.  The walls in one room were painted a deep navy blue, and the living room walls were black, with that red carpet.  To me they were strange choices that jarred with some of Gloria's fussy, old-ladyish knick knacks.

 

As to Ellen, not one but TWO sons lived with her: one in the basement and one upstairs.  Whether on the ground floor or the second floor wasn't mentioned.

[camom]

 

How much do you think a Marilyn Playboy covered in cat shit is worth these days?

 

I looked on eBay, and ones in good condition are going for $10 or less.  So her "collection" of Playboy magazines isn't exactly going to fund her retirement.

[funky-rat]

I looked on eBay, and ones in good condition are going for $10 or less.  So her "collection" of Playboy magazines isn't exactly going to fund her retirement.

Yeah.  The one they mentioned that goes for thousands is Playboy #1.  Just from flashing the cover, I knew that wasn't it.  And it wouldn't be worth thousands smelling like pee.

[Dittohead]

I was kind of surprised when Zasio revealed to Ellen's family about her kleptomania. Confidentiality between therapist and patient is key. I thought she was legally bound as a licensed therapist not to disclose anything said to her to anybody else.

 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Dittohead

[FormerMod-a1]

It was said in front of the cameras.  I don't confidentiality applies when it's in front of the camera crew and signed off to be broadcast.

[terrymct]

Ellen was demonstrating her mad shoplifting skillz in her own hoard.

 

I don't believe that she's stopped shoplifting since the clean up, although once this aired I bet the local stores started following her around while she was inside their premises.   

[camom]

 

I was kind of surprised when Zasio revealed to Ellen's family about her kleptomania. Confidentiality between therapist and patient is key.

 

And we don't know what conversations were held off camera.  I think Dr. Zasio probably talked to Ellen about it and they agreed to let the family know.  Ellen likely was unable to tell them herself, so this worked.

[JudyObscure]

This 'substitution of addictions' thing (or whatever it should be called) is a worry to me. I first heard of it in relation to people who have had surgery for obesity. A big percentage of them become gamblers. It's as though your brain has been soothing itself with one thing -- drugs, alcohol, food, nicotine -- and when that's taken away it goes to something else. Maybe something worse like stealing. When Subway Jared fell from grace, I wondered if it would have happened if he hadn't been on a diet for most of his adult life.

[funky-rat]

This 'substitution of addictions' thing (or whatever it should be called) is a worry to me. I first heard of it in relation to people who have had surgery for obesity. A big percentage of them become gamblers. It's as though your brain has been soothing itself with one thing -- drugs, alcohol, food, nicotine -- and when that's taken away it goes to something else. Maybe something worse like stealing. When Subway Jared fell from grace, I wondered if it would have happened if he hadn't been on a diet for most of his adult life.

That could hold some truth.  My mom is almost always on some sort of diet, and when she's dieting fairly hard, she's spending more time at casinos and at BINGO.  When she's more lax, she's not doing that as much.

[lovinbob]

I was waiting for them to divulge that the dad was killed in some nefarious way, not in the line of duty. I thought I heard one of the sons say "They said he died in the line of duty" or something like that. There was a lot of shame in that family and, clearly, a lot of secrets.

[MissCurmudgeonly]

I was waiting for them to divulge that the dad was killed in some nefarious way, not in the line of duty. I thought I heard one of the sons say "They said he died in the line of duty" or something like that. There was a lot of shame in that family and, clearly, a lot of secrets.

 

Same!! One of them did say that - so I kept thinking one of those other "dark secrets" was going to be that he was actually shot in some less noble circumstances. Hmph. Seemed like a red herring to me.

[lovinbob]

I think this show suffers due to the difficulty the Hoarders have changing their lives. The story arc never comes full circle, and threads that are introduced are frequently not carried through. Any change that takes place takes place in a flurry, and doesn't seem sustainable.

 

Comparing it to Intervention. Intervention almost always ends with the addict going to rehab. Usually somewhere between the addiction story, the intervention and/or in rehab, the addict and/or the family members speak and acknowledge the truth about the addiction and their feelings about one another.

 

With Hoarders, it seems like the hoarder is rarely able to get honest, so all of the threads that are introduced are only loose ends. I wouldn't be surprised if there is footage on the cutting room floor of a big discussion about the father's death, but the hoarder and/or the kids did not want it used.

[ChristmasJones]

I thought this episode really showed how deep mental illness can run, and how challenging it is for families to truly cope with long-term severe mental illness (ie, there aren't simple, easy solutions; the person resists help; the person lacks insight into their problems; the problem gets worse over time, not better - these are the sad truths about severe mental illness).  I was thinking that on TV, we want a happy ending. But happy endings with 98% of the people featured on this show are just not going to happen.  The show tries to do something positive for these families, which I think is good. If nothing else, the other family members get some validation that what they are up against is real. That can be helpful in learning to cope.