On last night’s season 9 finale of Flipping Out, it was the end of one era and the beginning of another. As Jeff Lewis and Gage Edward say goodbye to Zoila Chavez living with them, they make room for the new life who will be joining them all too soon. When Jeff and Gage see their daughter move on an ultrasound, that new era becomes more of a reality than ever.
Despite these emotional transitions, Jeff and the gang must still keep up their hustle. So they take a job with Real Housewives of Orange County star (and close friend of Jeff’s) Shannon Beador to decorate her new home. And her budget is HUGE!
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At Valley Vista, Jeff is consulting with Vanina Alfaro about his newest plan: Moving the entire kitchen into their office! Gage is not happy about his world being disrupted. Plus, he doesn’t like his new desk setup. He’s got to stare at Jeff all day! Jeff just wants as much done as possible ASAP. He doesn’t care how displaced his staff need to be in the mean time.
Bell Canyon is coming along nicely now that the water issues have been addressed and the entire dark Tudor woodwork has been removed. It’s basically a blank slate. Jeff consults Meera and Samir on decor choices, which they seem amenable to, but Jeff is freaking out about how many hours he’s put into this project already. He needs to change the way he does business in order to make these large jobs worthwhile. In other words, he needs to be more efficient.
Back home, Bill The Architect (the one babysitting Jason The Architect) comes over to consult about the model of Hollywood Jeff and Gage have put together. Jason is supposed to join them too, but he’s of course running late. Bill delivers some bad news: Jeff really needs to finish this job with Jason, despite their differences. He was the original architect, after all, even if he has proven to be ridiculously incompetent. Jeff wishes he would have just fired Jason’s sorry butt back when he had the chance.
“We just want it to end,” sighs Jeff, who practically wants to slap drywall up in the house, then just sell it. They’ve wasted months designing a house – and a pool – that they can’t build. The city rejected their plans! Jason took so long with the renderings though, that they’re just getting the bad news now. Jeff agrees to work with Jason until the design is over, but he’s moving to Bill after the build begins. Jason wanders in at the tail end of the meeting, clueless. Which seems fitting.
In a private plane to Chico, Jeff and Gage are bringing Jenni Pulos along for a hospital tour and a 6-month ultrasound with their surrogate, Alexandra. They plan to fly to the hospital when Alexandra goes into labor as well, so this journey is also a test run.
At the ultrasound, Jeff, Gage, and Jenni look on as the baby’s image lights up on screen. She’s turning her head and her body! She has all of her parts in place! The guys cannot believe their eyes, or their ears, which hear their baby’s heartbeat sounding throughout the room. “This just got real. It’s exciting,” admits Jeff. Jenni wipes away a tear seeing Jeff and Gage’s baby, thrilled for them and hopeful that she, too, may have another baby one day.
After the ultrasound, they all drive around with Alexandra, who Jeff still feels slightly uncomfortable with. It’s just weird for him to define this relationship, which is not one with set boundaries. Will he and Gage still be texting Alexandra every day after the baby is born? Is this a business transaction or a friendship of sorts? The boundaries are blurred. But wait – aren’t fuzzy boundaries Jeff’s absolute specialty!?
On the hospital tour, Jeff realizes what a close, emotional experience the birth will be. Alexandra wants her mother in the room, for example, but Jeff isn’t so sure he’s comfortable with that. Who makes the decisions!? For his part, Gage is just freaked out he might see lady parts soon. Icky, eerie lady parts that have strange phenomena coming forth from them!
Jeff, Gage, and Jenni join Alexandra and her parents out for lunch afterward, which is sweet, if not a little bit awkward. Jeff claims he’s not worried at all about the birth or raising this baby. Gage throws a bullsh*t flag on that play! He knows Jeff is scared sh*tless, despite his bravado. Alexandra’s parents tell Jeff and Gage they’ll be fabulous parents, and everyone leaves with big hugs. Jeff feels a touch better about having Alexandra’s mom in the room for the birth after all. Plus, she can hold Gage’s hand.
Wow. It’s Zoila’s last week living with Jeff. <wipes tear> She’s starting her new 3-day work week soon, and she’s moving in with her daughter, Carolina to boot. Zoila says this is happening at the right time for her, but she is sad about leaving her “roomie” of 12 years (her employer for 16). She’s been dusting the tops of Jeff’s light bulbs for over a decade and a half! But now she’ll only have to do it thrice a week, if at all. It’s a sweet deal.
But before Zoila’s emotional goodbye, Jeff, Jenni, and Vanina meet Shannon Beador at a furniture store to choose items for her new home. Jeff loves working with Shannon, as she’s a close friend with MAJOR dollars. Her budget is basically unlimited, so he can go nutso! #MyLifeDream
Shannon wants to update her look from granny’s attic to coastal chic. Jeff suggests lots of overpriced ottomans and mini un-sittable chairs to do the job! Since Shannon sold her house completely furnished, she has to start over from scratch. Jeff tries to bury Shannon in some rugs and convince her on buying a marble table before they go, which Shannon pretty much just rolls with. Jeff is her Dr. Moon of home decor, and she’s ready to buy anything he’s selling!
At lunch later, Shannon asks about the baby. Have they feng shui’d the house? Have they gotten their homeopathic remedies prepared yet? Have they recorded their voices so that the baby can hear them before birth? Shannon warns that the baby’s bed might be in the DEATH POSITION!! Jeff’s like, meh. Death position or not, he’ll worry about design aesthetics first.
Shannon regales the group with a story of her latest RHOC outing which involved another fight amongst the vile harpies castmates. Jeff thinks it’s funny how those ladies just love to stir the sh*t continually. Maybe they’re making some sort of homeopathic remedy for “How To Stay D-List Famous Forever?”
In the car with Jenni later, Jeff admits he’s stressed about how he’ll manage his time between work and family once the baby comes. How will he find the time to parent when he can barely find time to use his breath spray right now?
Bell Canyon is done and looks AH-mazing!!! Meera is in love with Jeff’s work. But Jeff’s next client, Brady, has proven to be a bit more difficult. Though by the end of her remodel, she too is thrilled with the finished product – a gorgeous new kitchen. It’s sleek and modern, yet comfortable and livable. Jeff walks away pleased from both sites.
Back at Valley Vista, Zoila is ready to go. Jeff says Zoila truly is his mother figure, “So my mom lives with me, and has lived with me for 12 years. She was here long before Gage.” Jeff knows the situation needs to change, but it’s a difficult transition. Jenni predicts that Zoila will still spend nights at the house when the baby comes. I think she’s right.
At the curb, the Uber pulls up and Gage hugs Zoila in a very tender moment. We see a montage of Jeff and Zoila from the many years of FO footage, and I admit, it’s making me weirdly sad! I need Dr. Donna and her gigantic hair to give me some coping strategies right now!! This is just too sad/strange/final. Jeff, in typical form, jokes his way through the emotional scene, sending Zoila off in a janky Uber – that at least has air conditioning – toward her new life.
As Valley Vista construction marches on, Gage hopes their September deadline (which they’re 3 months out from) is still feasible. In the car later, Jenni offers them advice on the many, many items they’ll need for the baby. They have no house to live in, let alone a finished nursery, but Jeff wants to buy everything NOW. And he wants to drag Jenni, Megan Weaver, and Vanina along for the ride, which Gage thinks is just plain weird. Jeff thinks Gage’s nesting habits are weird though. He’s apparently making brownies out of nowhere these days.
The nursery progress, much like Jeff and Gage’s knowledge about babies, is minimal. Plus, there’s water damage, mold, mildew, and asbestos. Fun times! By the time the baby’s born, an entire half of Valley Vista will need to be constructed. “This is the money pit,” sighs Jeff. What he should do is move out of this house, but what he will do is push forward with this mess, hoping the baby can sleep through construction.
Gage wonders if Jeff is continuing this chaos to distract from the baby on the way? “Hope she doesn’t come early,” says Gage. Well, it should be very soon. Here’s hoping she’s got somewhere to sleep by now!
And with a final tribute to Casey, Jeff’s sweet dog who passed away this year, season 9 of Flipping Out is a wrap.
I’m just going to put it all out there right now. I LOVE THIS SHOW! I love Jeff, I love Zoila, I love Jenni, I love the animals, and I’ve unexpectedly grown to love me some Gage. This is the one show where I find myself rooting for the “characters” when they’re acting insane, rather than wishing Bravo would simply remove them from my TV screen forever. And Jeff is the one Bravolebrity that I would love to meet in person, even though he would probably insult me, my family, and my home decorating skills in the span of 30 seconds.
It’s all love over here, despite everything. And I have a feeling it is for Jeff and Gage too. So, me and my (possibly delusional!) big love for these guys hopes that they are able to get their happily ever after with their new precious girl. A baby changes everything, after all. (Maybe even Jeff Lewis.) 🙂
TELL US: WHAT DID YOU THINK OF SEASON 9? WERE YOU SAD TO SEE ZOILA MOVE OUT? WILL VALLEY VISTA BE DONE IN TIME FOR THE BABY’S ARRIVAL?
Photo Credit: Bravo
