Jeff Lewis may have dodged a bullet when he passed on Versailles, but business isn’t his problem. Nannies are. Remember the lovely and caring Gema, who Jeff was madly in love with just a moment ago? Yeah, well – now she sucks, apparently! This week’s Flipping Out finds Gage Edward and Jeff ready to fire Gema over a series of infractions, including messing with their nanny cam – which is definitely not okay with these super-addicted nanny cam dads. Nope. Nope. And Nope.
We begin at New Hollywood, where Jeff is berating Jenni Pulos for coming to work with a cold. It’s not a cold, says Jenni – it’s pregnancy congestion! But Jeff barely has the attention span to keep ragging on her because now he’s mad at Gema, who hasn’t been responding to baby Monroe in a timely fashion. Also, Gema feels like she’s going crazy working in this controlling environment, where Gage literally snaps his fingers at her if she moves too slowly, and where Monroe is still screaming her poor little head off (less so, but still…it’s maddening). On a scale of easiest to toughest babies from 1-10, Gema ranks Monroe at a solid ELEVEN. Zoila Chavez is even feeling rattled by Gema’s frustration, thinking the nanny might quit any day. And she’s ready to help make that happen.
Jeff and Jenni make a trip back to Valley Vista to check on the progress. As they walk around with a team of contractors (who are laughing at Jeff’s unreasonably long list of wishes), Jeff and Jenni review the 479 phases of VV in their heads. This project will be done in roughly a thousand years. But the initial clean up will only cost $2,500! So, there’s that.
At Long Beach, Jeff walks around his father, Tom’s, condo with Cuba, Tom’s handyman. But Cuba is not all that handy, it turns out, and has botched a myriad of details and rather large items in the condo. Since Tom is ready to flip this place NOW, this is not great news. Jeff wonders, Does Cuba have a drinking problem? Is he blind? Why are there holes punched through doors?
Cuba doesn’t seem to care, but Jeff does. Even more so when he hears that Tom wants to list the house in a week. “It’s not ready! You always rush, and I think it’s a mistake,” admonishes Jeff. Tom just does his best eye roll in response, but my guess is that he’ll listen to Jeff’s advice in the end. Especially when Jenni pulls a pizza box out of a random shelf, thus proving that this condo needs a serious once-over.
Back at the office, it’s time to obsess about nanny cams and property management. Jeanne Shaw is wife of Styx lead singer, Tommy Shaw, and an insanely fun client who screams right in Jeff’s face on the regular. Jeanne, we missed ya, girl! Jeff has missed her too – she’s one of his favorite clients, probably because she gives his sh*t right back to him. Jeff and Jeanne have recently decided to go into a co-owned flip together, but they need to find the right property. Jeanne agrees to fly in from Nashville to take a look at Jeff’s list, but she ain’t gonna babysit no screamin’ babies! Also, she has no problem actually sh*tting in open houses, and reminds Jeff that she’ll be doing just that at around 2pm on the day of their tour.
The next day in the car, Jeff tells Jenni that Gema wants to discuss her schedule – and a raise. He’s not okay with either of these topics. But Gema claims she pulled a muscle in her back while picking up Monroe (who weighs all of 15 lbs), and that taking care of Monroe is making her FAT! Yip. She’s got a long list of crazy complaints, this one. Jeff bitterly laughs about how Gema has done such a 180 since she started, knowing the end of her employment with them is nigh.
While planning the staging of Tom’s condo, Jeff sees a lot of the work he dictated has not gotten done. Tom seems unfazed by Cuba’s shoddy work, so Jeff inserts a new own contractor, Paul, into the mix to get this place turned around. With Paul on the job, this place might actually sell, hopes Jeff.
Gage, Jenni, and Jeff meet Jeanne out for lunch later to discuss the property hunt. Jeff breaks the ice by berating Jeanne about her purchase of some bungalow in Nashville. Jeanne doesn’t give a flying f**k. She’ll decide what crappy bungalows she wants to buy, and take 2 o’clock sh*ts where she pleases, thank you very much! Jeff loves this little spitfire, practically salivating at her potty mouth. Jeff and Jeanne are a match made in the stars. They will be perfect business partners, thinks Jenni.
Jeff drives Jeanne around Hollywood, noting several properties he’s got his eye on. The neighborhood is starting to price people out, so they need to move fast. One of the hill properties they tour might be the winner – the views alone are worth it! – but the place is in escrow right now. Somehow, Jeff imagines the deal might fall through – so they’ll need to be ready to jump. Jeanne loves the house, but agrees to see more.
At home, Gage is feeding Monroe while Zoila checks in on them. Monroe is just a darling little cutie (this child is seriously beautiful!) while Gage successfully puts her down for a nap. It’s one good parenting scene, people, so even though it’s short and sweet – we’ll take it! So will Gage, I imagine, who looks bone-tired.
After a few hits and many misses, Jeanne, Jeff, and Jenni visit Hidden Valley – a property in need of major updating, but maybe not a total gut job. “It’s an easy redo,” thinks Jeff, who wants to expand his empire. Hidden Valley is much less sleek than some of the other properties, but will definitely appeal to a family buyer. That’s who’s moving into this neighborhood, after all, and Jeff knows this is a key factor to remember. Jeanne agrees.
Before ending their tour, the group stops by Valley Vista to give Jeanne a look around. She’s not a fan of the thousand steps that lead up to the house, but she sees potential. She’s also not a fan of the brass fixtures that Jeff has installed everywhere. Jeff agrees that yeah, it’s probably a passing fad – but it’s “in” right now. And right now is all he needs to worry about, because this dude never owns a house long enough for it to go out of style. Ever.
Later that week, Jeff checks in on his dad’s condo. Contractor Paul has not come through. Faucets are backwards, fixtures are missing. In fact, on the lengthy list of to-do’s, only three items have been completed. Jeff knows his dad is busy managing the eleven buildings he owns, but if he wants to sell this condo ASAP, he’s gonna need to crack some contractor skulls.
But Tom just doesn’t seem willing to micromanage on that level. Hmm. Perhaps that’s why he brought Jeff in as his secret weapon? It may also be why he married a “very strong, powerful woman” who will probably come in here and whip this project into shape herself, thinks Jeff. Strangely, Tom doesn’t seem capable of it.
In the car sometime later, Gage checks in on the nanny cam from his phone. Gema has been serving up major attitude (according to Gage) and blocking the camera on purpose (again, according to Gage). So, um, things are not improving. When they arrive back home, Gage even pumps Zoila for information on Gema. What’s she doing? Is she working? Is she f**king with our CAMERA?!? Zoila agrees that Gema is definitely a problem, and is probably blocking the camera on purpose. But we all know that Zoila may be sabotaging the situation, as she’s wont to do. She looooooves her some drama, after all. And she has not-so-quietly hated Gage ever since he appeared on the scene.
Oddly, Jeff doesn’t want to make the rash decision to fire Gema immediately, mostly because they don’t have another nanny in place yet. Gage’s ultimate wish is to just be a stay at home dad until Monroe is older, but he thinks Jeff wouldn’t like it. Hold on here – didn’t Jeff just say the other week that he’d be cool with the idea of Gage staying home? And that it would be better if Gage wasn’t torn between both worlds? This, in my opinion, definitely needs to happen.
But it will never happen if they don’t talk about it honestly. And these guys don’t necessarily specialize in open and clear communication. They might be forced to discuss it soon, though, because later on Jeff actually SEES Gema blocking the camera (from his phone) and finally agrees she’s gotta go. Goodbye, Nanny Number Seven! Or is it eight? In any case, she’s just another ex-nanny now. And, thus, the beat goes on.
But wait! The day after Gema is fired, she sends Jeff an interesting text. Gema apologizes for her behavior, but says she was just acting under Zoila’s orders! She claims that Zoila has been trying to undermine Gage for months, even telling Gema that “he’s not Monroe’s father” so don’t pay attention to him. Gema confesses she went along with Zoila’s plan, but never felt comfortable about it, and wanted Jeff and Gage to know what really went on. Oh. My. God. Jeff doesn’t know what to think as he just stares at Zoila coming down the stairs toward him. Is there truth to these claims? Is Zoila behind it all? Was she playing both sides to get Gema out for good? We’ll have to wait until next week to find out.
TELL US: SHOULD GAGE JUST STAY HOME? DID ZOILA SABOTAGE GEMA? WILL THEY EVER FIND A NANNY WHO FITS THE BILL?
Photo Credit: Bravo
