Only 24 hours after the preview of Season 9’s Flipping Out, and here we are on episode two! Is it Christmas in July? No, but it’s a filthy mess at Jeff Lewis‘ new construction zone house, Valley Vista. The sweet sound of circular saws and sledgehammers lulls Jeff to sleep each night, but also drives him to the brink of his OCD.
Gage Edward and crew seem like they are speaking more quietly than ever, almost literally tip-toeing around Jeff as he loses his mind over piles of wood, missing nails, and contractors’ cell phones lying around.
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No matter, life must go on! Jeff, Jenni Pulos, Megan Weaver, and Vanina Alfaro go visit an old college friend and current client, Kelly, who’s pregnant and in need of a remodel. She and hubby Jim bought a beautiful home in Valley View, but want a Jeff Lewis redo before moving in. For Jeff, this is a labor of love. For design associate Megan, it’s a chance to scare the bejeezus out of Kelly and Jeff about what it takes to baby-proof a house! She’s all, PLEXIGLASS! BROKEN NECKS ON TODDLERS! Until Jeff and Kelly just both run out of the house to get away from her. #ShesCharming
Jeff reflects on the work/life balance that will need to shift once he and Gage become parents. Jenni claims that Jeff and Gage are amazing with her daughter, Alianna, and will be great parents. Jeff’s not so sure.
Well, this is new! We finally get a peek into Jenni’s private life – and her gorgeous home. Thanks, Flipping Out! As she gets 2 and a half-year old Alianna ready for preschool, we see the typical behavior of the Little Person trying to assert her free will against the Big Person. Jenni laughs that Jeff has NO idea how much his child will actually be his most demanding client EVER.
Valley Vista looks like post-WWII Berlin. So, what’s Jeff’s answer to this chaos? To walk around hiss-threatening “todo limpio” to everyone he sees on site. Todo limpio, translation: clean up everything! in Spanish, is Jeff’s new mantra. He also asks “house manager” Zoila Chavez to repeat this to the contractors when he’s not around.
“If you didn’t tell the subcontractors every day to clean up their mess, they would then leave a mess,” claims Jeff. He thinks chanting the same phrase over and over at them will somehow Jedi-mind trick them into submission. Also, he offers to buy them more trash bags.
There ain’t enough trash bags in LA to clean up the situation Jeff’s got himself – and his staff – in at the moment. But he can distract himself with embryos! He and Gage head to OC to pick up their surrogate, then transfer the embryo. Because he’s tense and out of control about the baby process, Jeff decides to obnoxiously micromanage Gage’s driving the entire way.
Gage stays calm while Jeff barks that “There’s a few things I can’t stand about you and this is one!” Gage doesn’t admit when he’s wrong, drives too fast, and texts while driving. Plus, Gage is simply his punching bag when Jeff is in a place of fear. Gage seems to, sadly, have accepted his role in this dysfunctional dynamic.
Meanwhile, Jenni is driving to Newport Beach to supervise Mary and Marty’s demo day. She’s got to be back to LA for Alianna’s parent/teacher conference, which Jeff assures her she will. This demo is more of a taking-light-fixtures-and-appliances-out than a total smash job, but there is one hiccup: the giant chandelier removal. The contractors don’t have an extension ladder, or a plan to remove this beast. Which begs the question: Why didn’t Jeff/Jenni plan for this accordingly by mapping out the prep equipment and man power needed? Mary looks skeptical when Jenni sends Francisco to Home Depot – and hour away – to rent a ladder. Amateur move.
Back in their tense car, Gage and Jeff have picked up their surrogate, who Gage is now micromanaging. He doesn’t want her to eat/drink/watch anything untoward during her pregnancy, tensely asking her questions about how she’ll “take care of herself” in the months to come. Jeff jokes that if their surrogate lived with them, Gage would make her life a living hell. Kinda like Jeff makes Gage’s? It’s the circle of life, yo!
The embryo is made up of Jeff’s sperm and a donor egg, which they carefully chose last year. They’ve chosen a girl as their first baby. As they wait in the clinic for embryo implantation, Jeff muses that he wants the baby to be healthy, pretty, and smart – in that order!
He and Gage are nervous, which makes Gage go radio silent and Jeff go into teasing mode. As they watch technicians handle the embryos in the lab, Jeff wonders aloud if they’ve ever screwed these up before? I mean, someone, somewhere has gotten the wrong baby for SURE! jokes Jeff. He’s not actually concerned about a screw up, but is just interested in winding Gage up. Gage looks like he is going to go #2 in his pants.
Also ready to sh*t her shorts is Jenni, who is supervising the removal of Mary’s chandelier. Pulleys and ladders and plumbers (!) are assembled to get the job done – all of which look precarious. Jenni and Mary even get in on the action, looking wild-eyed at the 200-lb chandelier swinging above them while they cling to a rope from the staircase. Finally after much effort and tension, the chandelier is lowered safely. But Mary looks like she’s second guessing what she signed up for here. This is how Jeff’s crew operates!?!?
Back at the clinic, Jeff and Gage sit in TOTAL silence in the waiting room while the embryo is transferred to their surrogate. They do not look at or speak to each other, let alone touch each other the entire time. I know they are not into PDA, but dayum! These guys look like strangers rather than parents to be who could be bonding during this pivotal moment. Good news though: the transfer went well, and implantation may happen (80% chance). They’ll find out in the next 2 weeks. Gage is cautiously excited, while Jeff is scared to get “too attached” yet for fear of getting hurt.
Jenni is late for her daughter’s conference. Very late. Stuck in crazy LA traffic, Jenni stays calm while reflecting on the work/parenting balance that she has to negotiate every day. She gets to Alianna’s school 45 minutes late, but the teachers are happy to accommodate her. They do tell her that Alianna is a little bit of a “bossy boots” sometimes though, which Jenni is not surprised by AT ALL.
Back at Valley Vista, Jeff and Gage have Zoila practice her nanny skills by reading “On The Day You Were Born” in Spanglish, which Jeff hopes is the baby’s first language. It’s sweet and funny and just what I love about Flipping Out. More of this, please!
Back at client Kelly’s, Jeff tosses around color palettes for the nursery. They joke about gender neutral and gender queer – which Jeff claims no knowledge of. But greige will do for any subset of genders/non-genders/gender fluidity. So, greige it is! (Of course.) Jeff wants Kelly to come over to help him with his own baby when the blessed day comes. Things are getting real for him now – all too real.
TELL US: ARE JEFF AND GAGE MORE DISTANT THESE DAYS? IS VALLEY VISTA DRIVING JEFF TO RUIN?
Photo Credit: Bravo
