The Renovators

Well, it is just over a week until finale (yes, that’s right folks, the finale will now air from 7.30pm next WEDNESDAY) and while the show could have spread the head to head challenges over the course of this week, it has decided to give us what we all want; some bloody renovations! On the cards tonight: house façade and front garden!

We begin the episode at the warehouse where the judges are awaiting the contestants to join them. Brendan welcomes them and tells them that the countdown is on until auction.

He questions them about their progress and they all seem to be in competition mode; except for Natalia and Nathan, who joke about working together.

Baz tells them that today, they will be boosting their houses selling price.

I forgot to mention that Chris Gray is there; and he introduces tonight’s challenge as the Streetwise challenge- do what ever it takes to make the most of the facades, fences and front yards.

For the challenge, they will get 2 painters, 50L of paint, and one and a half days. For some people, there is a lot of work to do. Michael just hopes he can pull something out of the bag.

Robyn tells them that every house needs to have charm; and their houses are no exception! If they want good street appeal, they need charm.

The prize for the winning team, will be $10,000; a needed boost to the budget! August and Peter, sole renovators, are eying this prize like Shane to Liz Hurley!

Their time begins and they are off and it is going to be a long, long challenge.

At the fibro cottage, we see that they haven’t done much with the front yard, so they get straight into it and have their timber, soil and plants delivered on day one. Jarrad explains that they will be turning the fibro cottage into a modern home with a rubric façade and a monochromatic garden with a splash of colour.

It isn’t long before their house looks completely different. They want to go into the Guinness Book for Records for some reason.

To the half done house and Peter is going for a formal English style. His tiles are already being laid while his plants are being planted. He seems to be enjoying the gardening.

To the weatherboard house now and after being stressed at first, Mel is now excited due to the fact the weatherboard is very charming.

Keenan runs through the intricate plans for the garden before the excavator comes and removes the trees so that the team can start with a clean slate. They move a tree from the backyard to the front yard to become the centerpiece of the garden.

At the inner city terrace and Jason describes that they have a ‘shit load to organize’. Luke wants to bring the new and the old when it comes to the front façade.

After the break, we are at the shop where while there isn’t much left to go, August is going to August to buy the finishing touches. He wants to work on its street appeal.

He finds a gnome and proclaims it to be his new team mate.

To the sixties suburban and their soil has arrived for Nathan to begin to build his mound flowerbed (in an effort to save him the job of creating a fence.

Natalia does what she does best and welds out a border for the flowerbed.

Back at the fibro cottage and Michael finally installs the security alarm which is blaring, causing Jarrad a bit of discomfort.

With that, the boys begin to paint their house and get the fence up and that is exactly where Keenan and Mel are at in the weatherboard property. Keenan even gets the gates down pat and the fence painted!

Back to the inner city terrace and the boys are working on concreting the front patio. The boys hustle their tradies to get the cementing done in 10 minutes because if they don’t, the tiling won’t get done. The concreting isn’t staying put on the last step, but he gets it in the end, and the two can rest for day 2.

The next day, it is judgment day, and they contestants have but seven hours to complete their chores.

August is hanging blinds, but it isn’t working too well. He then gets outside to paint the gate and he is just hoping it will look good. No. All done and painted, it just looks like a white cloth draped over a fence. He is not happy.

At the fibro cottage, they have to plant a few more trees among other chores before cleaning up before they are going to be ready for judgment day.

Keenan and Mel are laying the grass down and they are very happy with their progress as their garden sparkles as they add some colourful, small, plants.

After the break, we are at the half done house where there is still a lot of work for Peter. He cuts his fence into shape while he tiles his patio with tessellated tiles. He doesn’t have many, so he has to make do with what he has.

At the inner city terrace, Luke is stressing about the tillers who have not arrived. They need the tiling done in 3 hours otherwise they will lose! The guy on the phone just tells them not to stress, which causes him to just laugh.

At the sixties suburban, Natalia plants a banksias tree which looks brilliant… until Natalia waters it too much, making it to fall over. Now it keeps falling over; so they put some stakes onto it and hope to god it stays.

Back at the inner city terrace and with 2 hours to go, Jason creates a bench for the outside, made out of recycled materials. Meanwhile, their tiler turns up but are confident as all hell. They may have just saved the day.

Nearing the end of the day, Nathan finishes the steps of the SS as the fibro cottage boys start on their turfing. August is finishing the planting and he is worried he has left too much too late. Bloody hell August, you had nothing to do!

Natalia and Nathan are just having a joke as they struggle to uproot a tree.

Five minutes to go, and Luke and Jason are waiting for everyone else to finish so they can finish. Near the end, the tiler tells them that he won’t be able to complete the last two steps, which isn’t going to go down well. Thanks, guys!
After the break, it is judgement day and they are off to the sixties suburban first which just looks amazing. They love Natalia’s flowerbed borders which circle the lovely ‘globby’ shaped asymmetrical flowerbeds. Chris loves the patio while Robyn just loves the entire transformation. She also loves the gravel, but Baz realizes that the gravel will spread badly if a car goes up and Natalia admits they ran out of time to fix that. Still, Baz loves the door; saying it has the best workmanship he has ever said.

The banksia get Robyn’s vote!

To the half done house now and it again just looks amazing. They seem to love the plants and flowers and Brendan just cannot believe what he has done in the short amount of time. Chris calls it amazing.

Baz is still being negative, saying the ending of the tessellated tiles at the back of the patio with nothing but cement does nothing for the house.

With that, they wish him good luck before the judges head for the fibro cottage which in my eyes looks bland, but good for what they had to work with.

Brendan is jumping out of his skin with the garden. I must say, the letterbox looks amazing.

Brendan notices the mulch didn’t make it to the flowerbed and Michael says it was a budgetary decision to omit it. The boys, and Chris, agree they have added heaps to the house!

After the break, the judges head to the weatherboard house which looks amazing with the circular plot of lawn circling the tree and all bordered by bark chip and a nice pattern of flowers.

The façade of the house looks a little too bland for me.

The judges are impressed with it with Baz saying the garden makes him feel like he is in a fairytale. Chris thinks family when he sees the garden which is a good thing. Robyn can’t believe what they’ve done and hey, no negatives! I think we have a winner!

August is next for the Shop’s judging and admittedly, there’s not much to see; but considering the transformation, a LOT has changed. August admits that the gate his not his favourite, but to Brendan, it is the flowerbed outside the shop which is the main concern with Brendan concerned it may not have enough colour. He goes and gets a yellow plant from out the back which he uses as an example of a bright plant that would fit perfectly in it. In the meantime, Robyn just puts in a word to say that if he paints the fence the same grey as the house, instead of white, it will look good, but considering she just inserted that comment in there half heartedly while Brendan was picking daisies, it is obvious that the fence is not a big concern and therefore, August is a real contender for the $10,000.

With that, they head to their final house, the inner city terrace. They are amazed by the job they have done and somehow, I think they have finished the tiling; or the camera is just omitting the bottom two steps.

The judges love how the sun bounces off the house and when they go to inspect the balcony, they are impressed. Brendan even looks relaxed. We then find out that the tiling has not been done completely and Baz actually scolds the tiler for doing a dodgy job when trimming the tiles.

He is impressed with the dressing up of the patio with the recycled bench as the centerpiece. It does look quaint and nice.

Baz thinks they have the best terrace in the street but thinks the tiling job may let them down. Damn tiler!

After the break, we are back at the warehouse where it is decision time. Chris says that judging this challenge was close and that the decision wasn’t unanimous. He tells them that the winner had the most charm and that they nailed the demographic 100%. That property was… the weatherboard house. Hmm, predictable!
The judges also acknowledge the rest of the houses before telling them that the rest of the houses will not go unrewarded and that the rest of the teams will win $5,000. Well, that niceness is certainly a make up for the predictability.

Niceness over! It is time for Mel and Keenan, as winners, to select the next house to go head to head; either the inner city terrace of Jason and Luke, the sixties suburban of Nathan and Natalia or the fibro cottage of Michael and Jarrad.

They decide to choose the inner city terrace. So either Luke or Jason will be leaving tomorrow. And that signals the end of the episode!

So it was a predictable episode, and again, a bit of a pointless one. I do feel that by this stage, they could have had one head to head tonight, and the other three tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. Instead, there will be two head to heads (the most crucial episode so to speak) on the Friday, which is a hopeless day to have it.

Still, seeing all that renovation was good and those transformations were brilliant. Should make for a suspenseful end of the finale week commencing tomorrow night!

Courtney’s Verdict: 7.5/10

Amateur renovator and mother of three Samantha from NSW, made her second departure from The Renovators tonight when she went head to head with team mate Peter from Victoria. 

Samantha was in a unique position, having been eliminated from her original team – the Inner City Terrace – in Week 7, then selected to return to the competition and work on the Half Done House, during the Queensland episodes in Week 8.  

The feelings between her and new team member Peter were tense, with Samantha stating the reality of the challenge, “In just in a few short hours, it’s going to be decided who’s taking this house to auction. We both have an affinity with the house and it will be sad to go.”  

As head renovator throughout the competition, Peter put up a good fight to keep the keys and chose to renovate the indoor lounge area. His vision was modern contemporary, with a “homely” feeling. He unveiled his secret weapon – the Orange team gold fish – four fish representing the original team members, Lisa Ausden, Kim Gilmore, Bob James and himself. 

Samantha was left with the mammoth task of transforming the backyard into the “Ultimate Aussie Oasis” and her support team had the hurdle of transporting eight tonnes of soil down the side of the house, which had to be carried via buckets.  

Although she did a miraculous effort on the outdoor area, regrettably for her, the judges decided that Peter was the winner. 

Samantha graciously said, “I’ve got a lot of really good memories here and I don’t think I can just pick one out to say - that’s my favourite memory. There are just a lot of things that I’ve really enjoyed about being here. 

“I feel very lucky though, I’m the only person who’s been eliminated and been chosen to come back in so I’m probably the luckiest person in this competition.

It hasn’t lit the ratings world on fire, but now with the end in sight, can this little show pull in a few more eyeballs? Tonight isn’t anything special, but let’s check in with the contestants and see what they’re up to!

Natalia is at the half done house with Nathan, and as they talk about living on site, Nathan runs through the jobs of the day; installing windows and doors! All hands on deck. The half done house is now at lock up stage- congratulations guys. Nathan jokes that with lock up, he can stop people like Natalia (and Suzanne) from entering the group.

The green team are in the process of ripping out the original foundations due to the house being so old, and Keenan isn’t happy with the labour and budget expensive job. Mel frets that leaving this job so late in the game could cost them the competition.

Product placement time as we head to Bunning’s to hear Michael tell us how buying from Bunning’s can be cheap!

Back at the house, a real estate team have come to see the fibro cottage. Jarrad gives them the lowdown (excusing the mess), telling them how they have converted the cottage. The real estate peeps seem very impressed.

They value the house at around $600,000, but Michael is cautiously optimistic.

After the break, we head to the shop where August is happy to be his own man. Without Christie, there is no need for compromise or anything! The only problem; Natalia has left a half finished kitchen for August, and August can’t find the instructions nor one of the pieces!

To the inner city terrace and a truck of LG goods have arrived and the boys shamelessly run through quotes fit for an ad (life’s good, etc, etc.)

They go to fit the fridge through the door, but it doesn’t fit! What the hell will they do? Well, they take the doors off the hinges and after a bit of struggle and some much needed help from the tradies, it still doesn’t get through. They’ll need to take the doors off the fridge, but there’s no time right now- it’s challenge time.

The contestants arrive at the warehouse and stand before the judges.

Brendan says this will be a day they will talk about for years to come; this is the start of finals week!

Today, and for the rest of the week, Peter and August will learn of who will join them in the final six.

Brendan reminds them of the overall prize before Baz tells them that today; they will be earning a reward for their house.

Robyn then takes them over to find out the theme of the competition.

She tells them that this white room challenge will ignite their inner child- it’s youngster theme.

He tells them that the winners of the challenge will win four tradies for 48 hours! This white room is a must win; make it count!

They have five hours and work starts…now!

They all run for the stuff with Mel and Keenan, both parents, most keen for the job. Baz interviews Keenan and we find out he wants to build a cubby house!

August is building a castle complete with toy soldiers.

Jarrad uses this opportunity to build a room that we would have wanted; complete with a 50 inch TV and a sky blue wall.

Peter will be making a Rubik’s Cube room and he has a myriad of colours to help him paint the spectacular room. Luke wants a unisex room.

5 minus one equals four; that’s how many hours they have.

Robyn goes to the khaki team’s room and finds out they are building a boys room ‘designed by the adults, influenced by the kids’. Painting is done in most instances, except for Peter’s Rubik’s Cube room where he has had to rethink due to his colours being wrong and too pale.

The judges discuss the progress of the challenge thus far and Baz seems happy with the green team’s cubby house room.

Robyn discusses Peter’s problem and decides that he should never go near a paint mixer again.

To August, and his room is completely white as he continues to work on his toy soldiers. Due to time constraints, he has cut down the number of soldiers to just one.

Two hours to go, and Peter is going to make a splatter effect on his wall with some paint. August is now taping his room up to paint! Yeah, there are some problems!

The weatherboard team are sticking stickers on the walls to make it look super fun before Mel goes to paint the cubby house. They are definitely struggling today, but the amount of time her and Keenan mention how they are ‘pushing it today’ is a bit nauseating. Not another reality TV cliché, please!

Nathan and Natalia are building something which they describe as letting their imagination go! OK.

An hour remains and August is still painting with the rest of them rushing around everywhere!

Baz and Robyn discuss the progress thus far and they love how Jarrad is using his own artwork on the walls while they discuss the ambitious greens room.

It seems August’s new nick name is ‘Augie’, as I find out when the judges discuss his room. They think it will work in the end.

They feel that the Khaki’s team and their Pocahontas room is the most stable in terms of time management and organisation. They do think Luke and Jason are cramming a lot of stuff in their room. Robyn mentions that Luke picked most of the girly colours.

With 30 minutes to go and Jason and Luke are getting into the spirit of things, arguing like two kids about the placement of a clock. Meanwhile, the other contestants are working.

August’s room is coming together but it is the Khaki team’s room that gets Peter’s attention as he goes over, sits in their tent and acts like a buffoon.

The judges discuss the rooms one final time as time ticks down. Soon enough, time is up!

After the break, the contestants stand before the judges and Brendan as they debriefs on the challenge. He tells them how the judges are impressed, and the judges begin to pass judgement (positive) on the rooms.

Why are they doing this now? Well, they aren’t judging in proper today!

Brendan then welcomes in their guest judges; an army of children! The renovators are happy to see so many smiling faces; except Natalia who isn’t confident about their judging at all. Bloody kids, she says.

Brendan tells the kids that their job is to find the best room and then vote by using the tokens. Peter is happy that the kids are judging because his paint job is horrible and Baz wouldn’t like it at all!

With that, the kids are off and judging.

The contestants have a quick preview of how the judging is going before they are moved off into the locker rooms to wait their fate.

As they watch the jumping kids, Brendan wonders whether any of the rooms will survive the kiddy onslaught.

We hear of some opinions but not much is given away as the kids continue to draw on boards, use the toys and jump on beds!

Out in the locker room, the business is serious as they wait nervously for the result.

After a while, it is time to announce the winner. Brendan gets the renovators back in the room as the kids ‘welcomes them back to the warehouse’ as miniature versions of the judges (possibly their kids?) hand out their quotes!

Results time.

Brendan tells them that three rooms are ahead of the pack; the fibro cottage, the inner city terrace and the weatherboard house.

One team got 22 votes, one got 23 votes, but the winning team on 30 votes was the team from the… weatherboard house with their cubby house and monkey bars!

With that, they win the four tradies and the kids are sent on their way.

Brendan then tells them that this is the final straight; finals week.
With that, the episode is over and hey, it’s kinda overshadowed by what’s to come.

While it was a lovely episode, complete with humour, something different and a bit of fun, it seems very out of place. Is it the most appropriate task for a finals week? I would rather my finals week to be filled with high intensity.

Still, nice start to the week and a good idea in my opinion.

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.2/10

The AFL Grand Final is one of the most watched events on Australian TV.

While this applies more so in the AFL states, it is still the most watched TV event in all markets when it airs. So why would Ten not have capitalised on this event to promote more of what the network has to offer for the rest of 2011 and beyond?

Ten could have used its last telecast of an AFL game for now as a means to launch or promote the network’s new shows and to help draw the huge audience’s attention to what is airing on Ten on the last eight weeks of the 2011 ratings calendar.

While I can’t speak for all markets, promos in Sydney for Ten shows during the AFL Grand Final seemed to focus The Renovators which is entering its final week, and Terra Nova. One pop up ad aired in Sydney for Terra Nova simply said “1 day to go.”

Keeping in mind that there would have been alot of viewers watching Ten that normally may not, it would surely have been better to promote Terra Nova as “Sunday 8.30pm?

And, as for The Renovators, given its low ratings, why not promote that it enters its final week, and the auction results and finale will air Monday October 9 from 8.30pm?

Then there was the “coming soon” promo for “Recruits Paramedics” – the premiere of which airs airs Thursday October 13 at 7.30pm. Even though that air date and time was embargoed to the media until today, there is no reason why Ten themselves could not have promoted this new local observational series as airing Thursday week so potential viewers could keep in mind when it airs. The words “coming soon” means little to people these days.

Then there is the latest changes to Ten News. As of this week, there is no longer a late night news service on Ten. Sports Tonight will no longer exist as a stand alone program on either Ten or One from now on. The brand will be part of the network’s evening news service.

Surely, Ten, rather than going straight into a movie at 6.30pm in eastern states after the AFL Grand Final formalities, could have capitlised on the large audience by re-launching its new look news services on Grand Final Day.

It is surprising Ten did not have a promotional package spruiking all of the shows the network has to offer during the Grand Final. Looking at Seven and Nine, during any major event they air, those two networks almost always air a montage of up and coming shows and events set to air on their networks. As annoying as self promotions can be, what better time that a major event is there to advertise what the network is doing in coming weeks, months and into the next year?

For Ten, however, it appears they overlooked the benefits of such promotions. Ten have as much to offer as Seven and Nine do, but their ratings are far below their two commercial counterparts. There would have been no better time than during their last AFL Grand Final broadcast for now to promote themselves more than ever before.

Ten has almost as much new fast tracked international content as Nine does. While they have nowhere near the local content Seven does, again – they could have used the Grand Final to promote what they do have, and thereby potentially lifted ratings in the remaining ratings weeks of 2011.

For the next five years, AFL on free to air TV will be exclusively on Seven. Ten are now well and truly out of it. It is unlikely Ten will be part of the NRL rights either, with a deal between Nine and Foxtel most likely, just like Seven and Foxtel have agreed upon for the AFL.

Congratulations to Geelong for winning the flag for 2011.

In the week spanning October 9-15, Ten will ai the finale of The Renovators – bet they are glad that is over! – as well as the premiere of new US series Ringer and the second season of An Idiot Abroad, after the first season aired on ONE. New Australian factual Recruits Paramedics also premieres that week.

Here is the run down.

Sunday Oct 9
6.30 The Renovators – last episode before the finale Monday Oct 10
7.30 Junior Masterchef – first offsite challenge
8.30 Terra Nova continues
9.30 Ringer – new series premiere. Pilot: On the run from the mob, Bridget assumes the identity of her deceased twin sister, Siobhan, only to realize that her sister’s life was no less complicated than hers.

Monday Oct 10
7.30 Junior Masterchef – it’s all about Chocolate!
8.30 The Renovators – auction night and finale of the series.
10.30 Good News World

Tuesday Oct 11
7.30 Modern Family Rpt
8.00 Modern Family Rpt – yes, an hour of repeats when new eps have been airing in the US for a few weeks now. Maybe they’ll change their minds and put in new episodes?
8.30 NCIS new
9.30 NCIS: LA new

Wednesday Oct 12
7.30 TBA (Glee has a few weeks off in the US, so no new episodes until November for them and us)
8.30 Hawaii Five-O – moves to 8.30
9.30 An Idiot Abroad – Bucket List – Premiere. Season 2 of An Idiot Abroad, the first season aired on ONE.

Thursday Oct 13
7.30 Recruits Paramedics. New Australian factual.
8.30 Rush
9.30 Law & Order: SVU rpt – again – new episodes have aired in US – so why is it still in repeats?

Friday Oct 14
7.30 Rules Of Engagement – season return
8.30 House – season premiere (not a good night for House! Seriously?)
9.30 TBA – possibly a movie.

I thought I’d put this here: There will be no Weekly Reality Highlights post this weekend due to the fact I’ve only been here half a week, and as I was writing it, it just looked pointless. Have a nice weekend, and I’ll have the segment up and running from next week. Thanks guys!

In what has to be the most poorly placed episode of the season, this How To will be full of the usual; building, crafting, designing and learning. What better way to spend the Saturday afternoon; unless of course you want to watch Meat Loaf make a fool of himself!

Well, actually, this episode looks a little different than usual; it’s based around loved ones visits by the looks of it.

We begin the episode at the fibro cottage where the boys are getting up and ready for work. They hear someone come down the driveway, and we notice some people coming to the house. They come around the corner to greet the boys and we realise, these are their loved ones. It seems we have Jarrad’s mum and brother and is that Michael’s girlfriend? Well, her name is Ashley anyway.

The boys give them all a tour and for me, this is the first time I’ve seen their completed bedrooms and bathrooms.

Jarrad’s mother isn’t happy with her son not making his bed, but she and Ashley seem very happy with the house and what they have done with it.

Michael wants to make good use of his woman while she is here, but he only means making her work, haha. Jarrad’s brother is foreman (I should point out at this stage that Jarrad’s brother is only a kid).

Jarrad gets his brother to paint the plaster, and with a bit of help lifting him up, Jarrad helps him finish the job.

Jarrad’s mother is cleaning the bathroom and wonders if the boys can keep it clean from now on. Michael and Ashley are already arguing while painting, but they have nothing on Josh & Jenna.

Meanwhile, Peter is waking up with the realisation he is taking his house to auction. He realises that Sam has used most of the available money, so he decides to put the rest of it to use today. But hold up; your mum and dad are here!

Safe to say, it is a bellissimo reunion. They are stereotypical Italians, and it is so nice to hear Peter speak in his native tongue.

Soon enough, Peter’s mother is cooking in the kitchen with his father helping him in the garden! He feels like he has gained a team member.

To the sixties suburban and Natalia and Nathan are eagerly awaiting Baz out front considering the plasterers inside woke them up. For the first time this episode, we hear a team member talk about their loved ones before they arrive. Natalia talks about how hard it has been without Duncan before he, and Nathan’s loved ones, arrive!

Nathan is surprised by his girlfriend Mel’s arrival, but he is even more surprised that Baz isn’t there.

The contestants then ship their loved ones around the house on a tour and hey, that bathroom looks magnificent!

To the weatherboard house, and it seems as if so much stuff still needs to be done; look at all that rubbish! It is raining today in Parramatta but hey, as Mel said, they need to clean up the rubbish! It’s a hard job, but made easier with the arrival of Keenan and Mel’s loved ones.

As per usual, the contestants give their loved ones the grand tour with a lot of impressive shots.

Inside, the transformation looks magnificent. Keenan seems to have his whole family up; father, partner and kids!

At the inner city terrace, a lot of work is being done between Luke and Jason before their loved ones arrive.

We have Luke’s wife and kids plus Jason’s… either kids or brothers.

They get the grand tour before while the boys discuss with their loved ones what they will be doing today. They seem like the least enthusiastic of the bunch of loved ones about the house, haha.

All of a sudden, Baz actually does show and meets Luke and his family. They all seem quite taken by him!

Luke then goes upstairs with his family as Baz walks outside and meets Jason’s loved ones. It is now time to work on the paving and the water feature. Jason cannot be happier to have Baz’ help and advice for the boys.

All of a sudden, this whole thing becomes a how to session about how to install a water feature! I reckon that today, how to is going to take place at the houses.

To the shop now where August is getting into the landscaping as his loved ones turn up to meet with him!

He tells them to get ready to get dirty as they head outside to landscape. August promises it will be the last time they do gardening with him.

With that, Brendan turns up and asks him how landscaping is going. August: ‘terrifying’ but he is thrilled because he is the sole key holder of the shop! With that, Brendan interviews his daughter and wife about what they think of him. They think he has changed (of course) and hopes to see more of the gardening August.

Brendan then takes August to a different houses garden which is filled with flowers, giving him inspiration.

The owner has given them free reign of the garden and all its plants, so the two begin to hack away at some really stalky, green plant as the girls continue to plot holes back at home.

Back to the half done house and Natalia’s partner Duncan is getting into the demolition of the front steps in preparation for the deck.

It doesn’t take them long to get a deck up and running. Meanwhile, Nathan and Mel are inside painting the hallway which would be a huge job down.

Even the little one gets involved! Maybe they should lower the age limit of this show, haha.

After they complete the painting, Nathan and Mel share a smooch!

After the break, we go to the weatherboard house where Keenan and Mel are getting them to clean up the yard a bit. They go in for a green team motto and ritual before work begins.

Robyn then turns up to give the group a how to class on how to choose a colour for the weatherboard house. Yawn.

After colours have been chosen for the house and the fences, it is time to get stuck into it. Greys and blacks are abound!

We then head to the half done house where Peter and his broken arm come to help, Peter (the orange one). He meets Peter’s parents and after a quick chat, Pete gives Peter a bit of advice when it comes to placing his solar panels on his house.

After the break, we are back to the half done house where the loved ones run out of time and begin to pack their things; it’s time to go!

After the teary goodbye, it is time for Natalia and Nathan to power along. The same is the story for the other five houses as Peter’s, Keenan’s, Mel’s, Jarrad’s, Michael’s, Luke’s, Jason’s and of course, August’s loved ones leave.

So, despite some obviously scripted moments; it was a heart warming episode to say the least. The only downfall of this episode, and it is a massive downfall, is the timing of it! An episode showcasing the arrival of some loved ones should be an event (albeit a small one) which deserves a Monday or Tuesday timeslot; not Friday at 11pm in some states! Poor, poor effort TEN!

Courtney’s Verdict: 7.510

Well if there is one person who already knows just how it feels to have the win snatched from you in this competition at the final post, it is Christie! She isn’t here now, thanks to these head to head challenges and tonight, very oddly, either Peter or Sam will follow her as the other stays to take the half done house to auction!

We begin as the sun rises on the half done house where we see the progress of the house thoroughly coming along. Peter sits in the kitchen which looks amazing, as he sketches some plans with the obvious idea of moving forward in the competition. After a quick look at his back story, for the umpteenth time this year, we see how determined he is to not let intruder Sam steal the house from his hands. To be honest, it would be quite odd to see the half done house fall in Sam’s hands.

Peter goes upstairs, chats to his fish, before we move to Sam who is also sketching plans, this time of the garden. We see her back story as we look at her continue on with work in the garden, with no hint of competitive dialogue coming from her.

She and Peter bond over a hole in the back yard that needs filling. This little session is cut short as Brendan, shortly followed by the rest of the cast and crew, turn up for head to head day!

Brendan tells them that Pete’s job is to complete the living area while Sam’s is to complete the garden (we knew this already, obviously) before telling Peter that as head renovator, he can choose his team first. He chooses Keenan, Michael, Luke and Natalia. Sam has Mel, Jarrad, Nathan and Jason.

Brendan quizzes Peter over his strategic choice of team but whatever Peter throws at Sam, it seems Sam is more than confident with her team. Brendan tells them that whoever wins this challenge, will go to final with a chance to win the season (if you’ve heard today’s news, someone has already won by a big margin, but I have no idea who that is, nor would I reveal it here if I did!).

With that, work begins and Sam and Peter get their teams to work.

Sam designates Jason, with his bung leg, to shopping duty, something he is comically sarcastic about. She gives him a mammoth shopping list and half an hour to collect it in, but with it being peak hour, that’s a fat chance!

Inside, Peter is giving his team the grand tour of the living area; point out what needs to be done.

After a while, Peter is annoyed that with all his talent, it is mostly going to be wasted on cleaning and scrubbing things!

Meanwhile, back in the garden, plants and soil has arrived, so it is time for Sam’s team to clear out the passageway linking the backyard with the front yard so the trees can come in. It is a daunting job, and some contestants are a bit quizzed over the choice of design and the amount of trees Sam has ordered. Michael can’t even find Mel from behind a bush.

Meanwhile, Jason is a bit confused as he tries to find the proper wood he needs. He rings Sam, who after muffling something through the phone, hangs up! Not much help; it looks like it is all up to Jason! This should be interesting!

Back inside the living area, and Peter has found a pillow that matches the wallpaper (or are they blinds?) which is good, and Natalia and Michael are meanwhile bantering friendlily together as they clean windows.

Meanwhile, the narrow passageway provided for Sam’s team takes its toll as the team begin to load 20L bucket after 20L bucket with soil (4 tonnes of it in total), cart it through and into the garden. Clearly, this job is strenuous and there is no way Peter will let them wheelbarrow it through the house!

After the break, the soil is slowly filtering in as Jason is still out shopping for supplies and materials. His half hour trip has turned into a 2 hour one, but hopefully he won’t have to come back.

Meanwhile, Robyn has arrived to inspect the house and she doesn’t give much away as Peter guides her through the house.

Sam is now struggling under the stress, with Jason’s absence doing nothing but adding to that. As Brendan and Baz question her team’s speed at getting the soil into the backyard, Sam breaks down. The prospect of having so much soil to ship, the lack of equipment and Jason’s absence is really getting to her but her luck is in store as Jason leaves the warehouse and heads to Bunning’s, picks up a few more things, kisses a magazine with Brendan’s face on it, and bolts off back to the house.

He comes back and finds out Sam is annoyed, but the team is impressed with all his equipment, or are they? All this stuff has to go out the back, so this just adds to the amount of stuff that has to be carted through the passageway. Sam just gets him to paint some posts; possibly trying to diffuse a possible blow out.

Meanwhile, the furniture has arrived for Peter’s living room and while we are out front, let’s see what Brendan and Robyn are saying. They are calling this period of time Sam’s standpoint. Her team are meanwhile just doing all they can to work hard for her.

Peter is nervous in side, having finished wallpapering some walls. He knows how much cleaning is left and how much more is to go, and suddenly realises he is missing a coffee table! He needs that coffee table and hasn’t much time to get it!

After the break, work is still on more than ever. As the contestants break their backs as Brendan tells Sam not to worry about getting the rest of the soil into the backyard and make do with what she has. After showing him her plans, Sam is delighted to hear that Brendan thinks it will all work out.

Meanwhile, while fitting the electronics, Keenan is really confident that what they are doing will get Peter into the final.

Meanwhile, Mel goes for Sam to get some furniture as Peter also pops out to get some for the inside. Mel drives the van into the car park, getting stuck in the oversized vehicle, as Peter rushes to get the best stuff.

Back at the house, people are stressing, especially Michael, and as Peter finds out, there is a lot to do in the kitchen. It is time to put the pedal to the metal!

Outside, the judges seem to think Sam is in front and thinks Peter should really watch out that he doesn’t fall short of the race.

Peter is getting Natalia to iron the cloths for the coffee table as they all nervously wait for it to arrive. Keenan suggests substituting it for Michael if all goes wrong!

Meanwhile, furniture has arrived for the back yard and they begin, with great struggle, to pass it through the passageway.

Meanwhile, Peter’s nerves are put to rest as his coffee table arrives! All of a sudden, his house falls into place. With not long to go, Peter introduces the team to his fishes as the clock ticks into the final minute. As the contestants finish their areas, time runs out!

Sam is happy with how the garden looks, and Peter is also happy with how his living area looks. If he goes home today, it would be with his head up high.

We see some before and after shots of the living area, which are impressive, before we see Peter joined by the four judges as they question him on his work for the day. He says that taking the house to auction would mean ‘too much for him’.

The judges then inspect the room at every angle.

Robyn loves Peter’s eye for detail and colour, the walls and pictures in the room with Brendan happy to see the room finished in the vision of Peter. He can imagine a life happening in the room. Pete says Peter’s job is magnificent, saying the furniture fills the room perfectly. He loves how he works with the steps in the living room, but feels that when it comes to having the dining table to close to the edge of the stairs, the problem is not yet resolved.

The judges move outside to Sam’s area, and while it looks wonderful, I can’t really see her winning.

Robyn loves the garden, giving out her favouring opinions on every aspect of the yard. Her and Pete love the frangipani tree while Brendan tells her that she has successfully created a sanctuary. The only negative comes from Brendan and the choice of viburnum she has made, due to its tendency to grow large. I have a viburnum, and I don’t find it hard to maintain!

Sam tears up as Baz compliments her.

So all that is left is the results!

As night falls, like a tribal council on Survivor, the contestants wait as Jeff Probst in the form of the four judges, walk in, quiz the two orange team members, and announce whose torch will be extinguished.

After a break, of course, we find out that the person taking the half done house to auction is… Peter; as he made the fewest mistakes. Still, this was predictable as a cat in a room full of fish!

But for such a predictable episode, it sure was a joy to watch. Unlike the grey teams head to head, this one had a bit more stress, which unlike some other times looked genuine today. The tears from Sam highlighted the toughness of how this show can affect an intruder. No matter what anyone says, it is an impossible task.

Production values were the same as always, but I have to say, it felt like this episode had so many ads!

Now, to those who are curious, I will be blogging the How To episode, but as the lovely Johnson has pointed out, it doesn’t air until 11pm here in Adelaide, so I will be unable to blog it tonight. It should be up around mid afternoon tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience, blame BTG!

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.5/10

Love is in the air tonight! No, this isn’t another episode of Farmer Wants A Wife; just a regular challenge involving the renovators designing an entire wedding reception venue! They better get it right tonight; otherwise there may not be much love to go around.

When we begin, we are still in the shop where Brendan introduces the cast to Jason and Millicent who announces to the group that they are getting married; tomorrow!

Brendan tells them they are going to help them celebrate with their challenge; style a dream reception venue. Jason tells them they better not screw it up! It will be for Jason, Millicent and 50 of their closest friends and family. Mel is shocked.

Jason tells them how important this is for them before Millicent gives them their desired theme; inside forest. Hmm… sounds good. Jason said that they would also like to have an industrial theme! Really? For a reception? Sounds fishy.

Brendan tells them that the group will split up into two teams and each team will build one of the themed rooms. The winning team’s members will win $2,000 for their house. With that, Jason and Millicent give their brief to the contestants. They like backward ideas hate the colour yellow and love orchards.

With that, they head off to bed before the teams are decided. The shop, fibro cottage and weatherboard teams group up to become the black team with the rest going gold. The gold team automatically chooses to do indoor forest and the black team automatically choose to do industrial. Problem solved.

With that, they leave for the night where the next day, Brendan and the judges are waiting for them, in very spiffy clothing, at Technology Park. Brendan points out their work spaces before their 6 hours begin!

The contestants get straight to it, taking what they can (there is limited supplies of things to use to be shared amongst the two teams) from the other team. A round robin ensures but soon enough, contestants begin to just wheel entire shelves over to their area. Game on; I love it!

After the break, Millicent is getting ready for her big day and tells us what she is expecting; candles, boundary pushing ideas and flowers! She drapes herself in her white wear before throwing a very interesting fur coat on! Interesting!

The black team have their idea down pat and are already planning on who does what. The gold team, led by Natalia and Peter, also seem quite organised and controlled; however how long that lasts is anyone’s guess.

With that, it’s shopping time and Jarrad bolts for the van with Mel to pick up flowers and furniture and he wastes no time to get to the first stop. The gold team are already there (well, Peter is) and I notice that both teams want ghost chairs however Peter nabs them first. They could be a tad too traditional, so the industrial chairs Jarrad finally picks out may do the trick.

As it turns out, Jarrad finishes shopping before Peter! As we return to Tech Park, the panning shot of the exterior of the warehouse makes the show feel even MORE like MasterChef (considering that’s where it is filmed). I actually had to double take, although the warehouse used is not the EXACT same as the actual MasterChef kitchen.

Inside, the gold team already have a wall up and an in built ‘wall forest’ up when the judges come and ask Luke and Natalia about their wedding. Natalia got married in a pub and Luke got married in a full hog mansion clad affair!

To the black team, and some of the boys are creating an industrial style mural. The judges wish them all the best.

Jason from the gold team arrives at the florist before Mel does, another blow for the black team, as he begins to pick all the good orchard flowers. He leaves some for Mel because he is so nice.

Five hours remain (no sweat!) and Jarrad returns with his furniture. Michael says he smashed it in terms of quality while Peter seems to offload the van himself; aww.

With Mel at the florist, Jarrad is in charge of designing and he just hopes she likes his ideas; but it doesn’t get off too good with Jarrad a little dazed at the already transforming arena around him.

Back at the florists, Mel and Jason are ready to leave as back at the warehouse, Michael is giving August a hard time about painting the mural. They are quite a funny pairing.

Jason returns with his flowers and as Nathan opens the van, flowers drop from inside, onto the floor, with vases of water spilt everywhere! Oh no! Jason takes it well, mocking his team’s incompetence before showing his appreciation of the progress so far.

Jarrad and Keenan are working on creating their laser cut metal ceiling which looks pretty impressive and puts a bit of character into it. In the process, we find out that the church where Keenan got married has now been demolished with an Audi store built in its place. Bit sad.

Jason and the gold team begin to construct a hero feature; a light made out of sticks and organic forest-y material that looks really cool.

Natalia, the expert in this field, is constructing other flower-y lights to compliment the hero light. Meanwhile, Pete talks to August who is BSing about the design idea behind the mural painting. There’s a lot of wall to fill!

The gold team are constructing the outside deck while Mel returns with a flower choice that impresses Jarrad. She is really happy with progress and I’m just waiting for all the stress! Will this show finally have an episode without that ‘oh, we’re not going to finish on time’ BS?

The judges discuss the progress thus far and the team’s designs but don’t give too much away about their opinions. I think Brendan said something about the industrial themed team being weak.

Meanwhile, drama ensures on the gold team; the tablecloths are too big for the tables!

They know they will have to change the table cloth before setting up the tables but Robyn comes up with the predictable idea of tucking the cloth under the table to make it look pretty. Basically, anyone who’s been to a wedding before would know that the design Robyn is pointing out is the oldest one used in the book! Seriously, I’m thinking the gold team have just fabricated this problem so Robyn can cram in a bit of a How To session for us at home!

Finally, we get the ‘oh there’s a lot to do’ shit with the gold team now stressing out with 90 minutes to go. August finishes the mural and he is very happy with it.

Meanwhile, at the Sydney Opera House, Millicent and Jason tie the knot in what does look like an interesting style of wedding.

Back at the warehouse and Jarrad and Mel are rearranging the tables to make the set up look complex and different to the usual symmetrical look Michael wants. Mel, stressed for some reason, goes off at Michael, and then the camera man!

Back at the gold team, the hero light is done and ready to be hung. They begin to edit some of their room as the black team also struggle to put some finishing touches on their room.

The black team have invested in a pyramid of LED cubes which look amazing. I most certainly would want them at my reception!

Tables are being set and things are being broken in the heat of things as the bride and groom begin to arrive. Finally, time is…up!

They give each other a hug and it just looks brilliant. I would want BOTH!

By the look of it, Michael got his way when it came to the table arrangement in the industrial set up.

The bride and groom arrive, and it must be surreal doing this for their wedding day, but they are just amazed at the two ideas. Brendan compliments the bride and groom before asking the couple to have a look at the rooms.

First up for inspection is the indoor forest room; their first choice of theme. They think it is absolutely spectacular with Millicent loving the hero light. She smells the forestry with delight and calls the whole thing ‘dreamy’.

They like the fact there is no bows on any chairs.

With that, it is time to move on to the industrial room. They think it is cool, and love the fire props the team have used before the mural.

They love the exclusive, intimate area (which I believe is the best thing about the room) and they decide that the decision will be hard to make! With that, they go and make their hard decision.

After a quick pan shot of both rooms, we arrive back at the group which are standing before the bride, groom and the judges.

Jason, the gentleman, leaves it up to Millicent to make the decision.

In the end, they choose…the industrial room, the worst kept secret of the entire season! Good on them. That means the members of the black team; the weatherboard house, the shop and the fibro cottage win $2,000 for their house!

As it turns out, the fact that the forest room had an elevated, separate area for the bridal table was a turn off.

With that, the guests enter the area for the reception and to be honest, I can’t see how the guests can take all this seriously; I would feel too much on set, like it is a scripted television show!

The winning team now have to decide which team goes into the next head to head challenge tomorrow. If you read the TEN synopses for tomorrow’s episode, you should already know it will be the half done house consisting of Peter and Sam that will be facing off tomorrow.

With that, episode over! For such a pointless episode, it was highly enjoyable! I loved the rooms, loved the ideas, loved the challenge and loved the atmosphere. There were plenty of laughs to be had, and it was very stress free.

At times however, it felt scripted, but other than that, this episode was hard to fault!

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.9/10

Emotions ran high on The Renovators as Perth’s Christie Blizzard became the first contestant to be eliminated in tonight’s head to head challenge. 

Christie faced off against team mate and key holder of The Shop August Smits in a challenge to decide who would be taking the Marrickville property to auction.  

Unfortunately for Christie, she became the sixteenth contestant to leave The Renovators after failing to impress the judges with a piece of furniture she created in the Head to Head, leaving August the winner with a spot in the Top Six and the opportunity to take The Shop to auction. 

Nerves between the two were apparent when they were set the five hour challenge to create a piece of furniture that will  fit into The Shop. August chose timber as his medium, leaving Christie to work with glass.  

Christie created a hallway table with a leaf design etched into the glass, “My table is very much me. It’s got some beautiful soft lines but then it’s got some hard corners too. It’s got a great glow to it but if you look hard enough it’s just really a piece of glass. It will look great in The Shop.”

The judges gave positive feedback to Christie, however they felt August’s wooden wall storage unit was more suited to The Shop, making him the first contestant to win a place in the Top Six.  

However, Christie feels like she can walk away with her head held high. “I have held myself in the highest regard the whole way through; I haven’t compromised my morals at all. It is devastating though to know I’m not going to be holding the keys at auction day. I honestly believe that I deserved to and I would’ve loved to be up with the Top Six, but that’s not the way it played out and I’m so proud of what I’ve done to get here. 

“It’s been bitter-sweet, it’s going to be so awesome to go home and see my loved ones but I am going to be sad to say goodbye to some truly amazing people that I’ve worked with. It’s been a great journey and not only with the contestants but the judges as well. I’ve had the pleasure of working with some amazing pieces of furniture and textiles and I’m certainly going to miss renovating on somebody else’s budget!”

When I returned from my holiday, you would imagine my surprise when I found out that no one from the show had actually been eliminated. But what I was even more surprised at was the ‘sheer coincidence’ that the judges have somehow managed to whittle the group down to just two members per house (with a few swaps here and there); somewhat taking away the unpredictability (key ingredient of reality eliminations) from the eliminations whilst at the same time making me feel so in the dark about the whole process, taking a week off seems to have left me with more questions than answers. But anyway, to tonight’s episode and what is actually happening is that with two contestants per house, it is time to determine who will lead their house to auction. Tonight; the grey team, consisting now of August and Christie, will go head to head to find out who will represent the Shop at auction.

We begin at the shop where Christie and August are getting ready for the day’s challenge. August and Christie wake up and we see a back story, along with thoughts, of each contestant. Winning would mean a lot!

The contestants then arrive, all of them, to the warehouse where Brendan welcomes them to the first head to head challenge where August and Christie will battle it out. Brendan tells them that from today, they will be competitiors, not team members.

Their challenge is, to create a piece of furniture that fits perfectly into the shop (because the winning piece will be sold at auction with the shop). As head renovator, August gets two advantages. The first is that he can choose the material to be used today.

With that, two crates on a forklift come out and Baz lifts the lid on them, revealing timber and glass as the two materials to choose from. Christie seems happy with the glass.

Funnily enough; he chooses Timber. That means Christie will be given glass.

August’s second advantage is being able to choose his team. He chooses Michael, Jarrad, Luke, Jason and Sam; the best of the carpenters. Is Brendan sick? He seems to be nearly burping a lot!

With that, the contestants leave to start the challenge.

They have five hours, and that begins now!

For August, it is straight to the timber yard and he already has a design idea for a wall storage unit.

Michael is concerned with the time it will take to construct the piece, but August decides to plunge ahead.

Jason seems very happy with the idea and with that; they begin to collect wood in the form of railway sleepers, for their heritage look. Michael is still concerned by the piece, claiming it is impossible.

With that, we move to Christie’s glass team and Christie runs through the design of the shop; emphasising the glass physique. After running through her ideas for her glass table, she finds that most of her ideas are undoable, and she begins to realise just how hard this will be!

She is stressing! After the break, she is already pushing her team for new ideas, adamant she doesn’t want a clear glass table. She is NOT getting eliminated over this!

Meanwhile, August seems calm with his team working their arses off. Peter and Brendan walk in and interview him on his piece. They question its function and the workmanship of the team and August seems confident this will be the master piece of the house.

August thinks they have everything under control, but there are a lot of doors to hang perfectly; something Brendan makes mention of.

Back to the glass team, Christie has finally worked out a design for her table with Sergio at work. Robyn and Baz come in and it seems as though Christie is excited by the concept.

Two hours remain and back at the timber team, August runs through how important it is to make sure the cabinet is precise.

Coming up to an hour to go, the body of the wardrobe is only being finished, making August scale down the number of doors on the wardrobe from 20 to only 2. Hopefully it doesn’t drop to 0, as is a concern to Brendan.

To the glass team and Christie is joking about dropping some of the glass fittings that have been completed. The team carefully complete the piece and turn it over. Robyn and Baz watch with awe and fear as this is going on and explain all the things that must happen to get the final piece on; the glass top.

We see it happen, the gluing, the placing of the glass, and the matching of the leaf pattern of the table and luckily, nothing goes wrong. Team well done!

Back at the timber wardrobe, work is still continuing and they don’t have long to go now! Five minutes to go!

After getting the doors on, they are reduced to just a few seconds. They work to the last second but in the end, August and his team pat themselves on the back. August says that even if he does go home, it doesn’t matter; he has worked with some amazing people. See, that’s the sort of spirit not present in shows like X Factor!

With that, the contestants gather before the judges as Brendan tells them they must now place their piece in their house and that the judges will then cast their verdict.

August is first up, and after placing his furniture into place, Robyn asks him about the team he worked with today. He and Robyn become emotional as he talks about how grateful he is for their help in pushing him through.

The judges then inspect the piece before passing judgement. Baz says that his craftsmanship is brilliant and is proud to be just looking at it and Robyn praises the piece’s height in the room.

No negative comments and August decides that Christie’s piece must be brilliant to beat him.

The judges then move to Christie’s piece and inspect it straight away. Robyn loves the simplicity and beauty of it but thinks it may be a bit dwarfed. Peter loves the pattern on the glass and finds it hard to find fault.

Now, it is time to find out who will be representing the shop at auction.

As the contestants gather with Brendan and the judges in the shop, the host debriefs the challenge and reminds them that one of them will be going home.

Brendan says the call was the closest one the judges have ever made. He tells us that the winner won because of great project management among other things (but that surely tells us the answer). As it turns out, August wins, and with a huge bass, it hits- Christie is gone, and August will represent!

Christie has a sad goodbye, leaving just Mel, Sam and Natalia as the last remaining females in the competition.

With that, the episode ends and despite it’s shorter than expected length, it was very emotional. I enjoyed it, but I still can’t get over the fact that the show was still able to come up with the even split of contestants. Anyway, still, this episode was all you could hope for, and the fact that it was fittingly filmed almost entirely in the shop (the verdict part was entirely) was just the symbolic icing on the cake.

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.6/10