The wait is over! Grab your breath spray and your cherry chapstick, because our favorite OCD interior decorator Jeff Lewis and the gang are finally back for season 8 of Flipping Out! I have been giddy just watching Bravo previews, but now that weâre back inside Gramercy with Jeff, Zoila Chavez, Jenni Pulos, and Gage Edward (wah, wah), itâs like Christmas in July for this girl!Â
We open at Gramercy, Jeff and Gageâs gorgeous home, where Jeff is rising before the crack of dawn to demand coffee from Zoila and to wake Gage up via intercom so they can get the day started. Jeff interviews that he is sick of clients and their high maintenance needs, and wonders if he couldnât just make more money developing products and flipping houses? He feels like he is aging âat a dramatic rateâ because business is so stressful. Gage joins Jeff in the kitchen to get his caffeine IV drip going, updating Jeff about his client appointments that day. Jeff feels like they are chasing their tails, too busy, and working seven days a week. Gage is used to a frantic pace, having grown up working in his parentsâ Nebraska businesses seven days a week since childhood. Jeff admits his business wouldnât be nearly as successful without Gageâs help these past six years that theyâve been partners â both in work and love. âI mean, if something happened to Gage, Iâd lose a lot of money,â quips Jeff. âThat canât happen.â Ah, thatâs why I love this man.
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Later on, Jeff and Jenni are in the car heading to a Mulholland remodel project. In a joint interview, they reflect on their tumultuous 15-year relationship, which began as a result of Jenniâs ex-husband (and liar!) working for Jeff back in the day. Side note: In one of Andy Cohenâs books (I think his first), he tells the story of Jenni & her former husband actually pitching Bravo a show called âThe Wannabeesâ in which they wanted cameras to chronicle their journey as struggling actors who had to slog away at annoying day jobs in between going out on auditions. When Bravo cameras caught Jeff on film at Jenniâs hubbyâs job, they immediately changed tactic to center the show around Jeff (but of course!) and rebranded it as Flipping Out. So, Jeff has a lot to thank Jenni for, in my book. Besides her endless patience in putting up with his verbal abuse, like sheâs doing right now in their interview as he berates her for taking too long to answer the question.
At the Mulholland project, demo subcontractor Francisco is instructing his crew in Spanish while Jeff and Jenni look on like theyâve never heard the language before. How, then, do they order brown salsa with such precision at #ElPolloLoco!? Ah, I guess you donât need language lessons for that. Jeffâs business is growing up, so heâs hiring licensed professional demolition contractors now instead of sending unwitting interns to a job site with mallets and Hefty bags. He understands none of Franciscoâs âsafety plan,â but trusts that all will go well. DJ Eric Prydz and girlfriend Sophie own the 7,200 square foot, multi-dwelling Mulholland property. They want Jeff to make a sleek, modern, sexy greige home and studio for them.
Back at Jeffâs office, Jenni is still relegated to a shared desk and notebook paper (like my kindergartner), while Jeff reminds her to leave his entire schedule âall there, all the timeâ repeatedly until Jenniâs eyes glaze over with weariness and dollar signs. Vanina Alfaro is still employed as design associate, and Jeff claims heâs delegating more to his âteamâ than he used to. New intern Joe looks like he was born twelve minutes ago, but Gage says heâs been working at Jeffâs for a couple of months now. âHe doesnât get it at all,â interviews Gage. And given Joeâs blank stare and lack of recollection about buying the right number of light bulbs, Joe indeed doesnât look like he gets much of anything. But he also doesnât seem nearly as un-hinged as former intern Andrew, who is mysteriously (or not so mysteriously?) missing this season. Although Jeff is worried Joe wonât work out, he wants to âteach him a craftâ for his future career, a career that wonât be at Jeff Lewis Design.
While Jeff is illuminating Joe on the value of reading Post-It notes, Zoila pops in to trade barbs with her nemesis, Gage, then grouchily demands a time-frame for lunch prep. Previews reveal that perhaps Zoila is on the retirement track this year, and maybe itâs about time. I donât know if itâs true angst, age, or just hamming it up for the Bravo cameras, but her increasing disdain for being âtold what to doâ last season got a bit tiresome. Zoila interviews that sheâs worried about Jeff because heâs so busy, but she is enjoying the freedom of being left alone at Gramercy to watch her TV and eat Rice Krispie treats, the crumbs of which Jeff b*tches about as soon as he steps foot in the door.
An exciting remodel for Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox is just beginning, exciting because itâs on the old Bing Crosby estate and because Brian and Megan have given Jeffâs team free creative reign on the design concept. Jeff is hopeful that the celebrity remodel jobs will start piling up after he gets a few big names under his belt. Brian is the nicest guy, according to Jeff, and the sexiest nerd alive, according to Jenni. She wants to build him his very own Peach Pit, circa 90210. Yessss!
Back at hair designer Chaz Deanâs empire, Jeffâs team is working on a new project for the Wen-schilling mastermind. (I seriously purchased that product at one very low point in my hair âjourneyâ and it made me smell and look like a wet dog. #trueconfession) Having worked with Chaz for 7 years on 5 projects, the latest project is all about a new executive office building. Little details remain now that the big project is mainly behind them. Jeff knows Chaz is an extremely busy guy building his international wet dog Wen empire, so he moves Chaz through buying accessories as quickly as possible. Chaz and Jeff are in competition for who can be the biggest micromanager. They agree to meet for 30 minutes soon to hash out the details, details that Jeff assures Chaz will be completely organized beforehand in order for him to make the quickest possible decisions.
As Jenni becomes a live GPS back in Jeffâs car, the gang calls up Gage to annoy him, and in a stunning surprise move, Gage actually JOKES BACK with them! Who is this masked man!? What has he done with sour, serious, party-pooper Gage? At sushi lunch later, we learn that intern Joe is getting more delegated to him despite his head being permanently in the clouds. He lost some mail lately and his blaming it on the post office, which is, uh, not what Jeff wants to hear. Â Â
Up before the sun rises again (5:27am to be exact â ugh), Jeff and Gage look at property values that will help them sell Gramercy. Gage is willing to move on and flip another house now, so Jeff is all in. Zoila comes in to âshhh!â Gage before he can even talk to her. Zoila says, âMe and Gage become friends never.â She makes it clear that Jeff is her boss and Gage, well, heâs just the guy whose trashcan she emptiesâŚon occasion.Â
Back at Eric Prydzâ remodel, he gives Jeff license to make his new music studio more of a man cave, complete with bar and lounge. Jeff encourages Eric to involve Sophie in decisions because Jeffâs been around the block and knows that when mama has a problem, Jeff will have a problem. And he doesnât want problems. After a series of other site visits and client meetings, Jeff advises his clients on flipping, decor, and whether or not they have lazy eyes from too much Botox. (Answer: yes, they do.)
Megan Weaver is back from last season as a part time employee who Jeff considers competent, so sheâs sticking around. Her current task is to pick the exact lighting that will go into each individual unit in Chaz Deanâs new project, which she completes and hands over to Jenni. Since bigger jobs have come along, Jeff has had no choice but to delegate more tasks, which Jenni admits leaves more room for âhiccupsâ along the way. âBut itâs necessary in order to grow,â she says. Before the Chaz meeting, Megan is told sheâs now not only going to the Chaz meeting, sheâs also leading it. So bring your packet oâ lighting and Kevlar vest with ya, Megan! âThe delegation was really perfect,â says Jeff.
At the Chaz meeting from hell, things go south quickly when Megan canât figure out which units go with which lights, nor which handouts go in what order. Chaz hears the clock ticking on his very valuable time and Jeff goes silent in a white hot rage. âIt was a sh*t show,â interviews Jeff. He suggests rescheduling to Chaz, who gasps in horror at the though of wasting yet another 30 minutes of his Worldwide Wen Time! Megan was given the wrong pictures by intern Joe, it turns out, but no one cares right now. Chazâs assistants then start asking questions that Jeff he has no answers to, which sends him deeper into a silent rage spiral. âWeâre gonna have a little meeting tonight is what weâre gonna have,â warns Jeff to Megan and Jenni. Jenni knows they got shredded and isnât looking forward to the lashing that will befall them all later on.Â
In more bad news, Jeff visits the Mulholland project at which Sophie doesnât like the floor plan. Since Eric never showed her the plan, as Jeff advised him to do, Sophie is full of complaints about it not suiting her needs. Jeffâs mood is in the toilet at this point, so his annoyance with Sophie is apparent. Especially when he finally snaps and says the fight over a laundry room isnât worth it. âIâll do your f*kin laundry,â Jeff deadpans. Thankfully, the clients laugh it off and Jeff is free to go back to the office, ready to rip each of his employees a fresh, new a$$hole.
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Back at Gramercy, Jeff gathers the clan for their group spanking. Vanina, Jenni, Gage, Joe, Megan, and Jeff assemble. Gage gets yelled at first for texting while Jeffâs talking. Oh snap! Jeff reads off the laundry list of mistakes they made with Chaz, including not knowing Chazâs assistantâs name. âNo one in f*king this office knows his assistantâs name!!â screams Jeff (who also, incidentally, doesnât know her name). With both hands in the air, Jeff tells the group that if he has to do everything himself from now on, he will. âI look like a f*king moron!â he yells as the group sits in humiliated silence.
âI donât like losing control, but I need to scare them a bit,â interviews Jeff. Although Gage tells Jeff he needs to pay more attention to the details of what heâs delegating. âOK, whoâs making drinks?â asks Jeff finally. He admits heâs partially responsible for the mistakes with Chaz, so in the end he was also âyelling at himself.â Well, I donât care who heâs yelling at, as long as heâs yelling. Because Jeff Lewis Flip Outs are #epic. And Iâm on board for many, many more! (P.S. The recaps will get shorter, promise!)
TELL US: WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE FIRST EPISODE? IS JEFFâS BUSINESS GETTING TOO BIG FOR HIM TO CONTROL? WILL YOU BE TUNING IN FOR MORE THIS SEASON?
Photo Credit: Bravo