The Block Sky High – Sun 6:30pm, Mon-Thu 7pm, Ch9
http://homes.ninemsn.com.au/theblock/
“It’s not every day you wake up with a camera crew in your bedroom,” says Scotty to open the episode. Clearly, Scott, you don’t know me.
He then offers us a quick recap of last week’s dramatic events, when Bec and George left the Block to care for Bec’s mother, who is dying of cancer. The other Blockheads chipped in and helped finish their room, which is so gosh-darn sweet that I can’t even make fun of it.
Scott then gives them a week off from the Block to go and visit their families. Tonight, we pick back up with them as they return. Did they all visit their families, as instructed? Or did they just hit the casinos? I suppose we’ll never be sure.
As they inspect their rooms after being away for a week, the Blockheads notice that a lot of structural work has been done, offering clues as to what this week’s challenge will be. Trixie and Johnno hope for a bedroom, while Alisa and Lysandra don’t want one, because – their words “Bedrooms are boring!”
Clearly, they are not using their bedrooms properly.
The contestants gather in Scott’s HQ, where he lays down the challenge for this week. The teams must deliver their final guest bedroom, with the en suite. More bedrooms? Is this an apartment consisting entirely of bedrooms? Are the tenants expected to eat in the bedrooms and watch TV in the bedrooms and – god forbid – sleep in the bedrooms?
The remainder of the day is a “stop work day”, during which the contestants aren’t allowed to do any work (or ask their tradies to do any work for them, then stand around complaining about other teams to the camera).
They can discuss ideas, though, and Bec is trying to sell George on a “blackboard calendar” that would feature on one of their walls. Nobody has the heart to tell her that you can just buy calendars, on paper.
The next morning, when work can resume, Jarrod wakes to find that Bec and George are not there. Tom, their builder, explains that they had to rush to the hospital. Tom is going to continue with demolition work while they’re gone, which has got to be the most fun part of renovating. If you can tell me that there’s anything more fun that wantonly destroying things with a sledgehammer, I’ll call you a damn liar.
On Level Two, Matt and Kim have stopped work because they just don’t know what the heck they’re doing; there’s some contention over whether there should be shelves, or shelves (this is honestly what the discussion sounds like).
On Level Five, Johnno is installing a spa bath in their bathroom, which – apparently – is something that Snoop Dogg would do. Putting aside that fact that it’s “Snoop Lion” now, is this accurate? Is Snoop known for rapping about luxurious bathroom fittings? That would be kind of amazing.
Meanwhile, Alisa and Lysandra are just being total b-words and making fun of Trixie and Johnno’s ideas, right to the camera. Snoop doesn’t have to put up with this.
Later in the day, Matt and Kim head to the beach with Alisandralisa. It seems to be very relaxed, but I imagine that Scott will jump out at any moment and challenge them to build a luxury sandcastle.
While at the beach, they get the message that Bec’s mother has passed away. The show ends with a dedication card for her, which is nice, and a notice about how you can donate to breast cancer research (ninemsn.com.au/theblock has all the info).
Dan Hall can be found on twitter at @danieljohnhall