On this week’s episode of Flipping Out, first it’s Paul out the door and now Jeff Lewis and Frankie go head to head on more than one occasion and the tension is getting to everyone.
At Valley Vista, Jeff tells Frankie that he wants to train him for the job he was meant to do, but the management part of it he’s struggling with. (Okay, I’m confused. Why not send Frankie to project management classes? But I’m not Jeff…)
Jeff thought that he could train someone with no project management experience, but he’s regretting that decision now. Great, where does that leave Frankie, who moved from Vegas for this job? Jeff and Jenni Pulos tell Frankie to become more aggressive in his calling of people and of his organization. Frankie tells Jeff that after watching Jeff fire Paul he’s concerned about his future. He assures Frankie and tells him it would almost be impossible to let him go because he works so hard, but hey it’s Jeff, so who knows? Famous last words, right?
At the Hidden Valley project, Jeff’s happy with the way the project is going, but Julie feels like things aren’t moving quickly.
Jeff, Julie and Jenni go out to lunch and the conversation turns to Jeff’s grandmother, who is in Hospice. Jeff talks about how he’s concerned about his grandma’s well-being but that being in assisted living is the best thing for her and he can focus back on his work knowing she’s being taken care of. During lunch, the bid for Hidden Valley comes in for materials, etc. and you can see that Julie, who is more hands-on than anyone Jeff has worked with, is concerned with bottom line and the professionals that are being used. She keeps notes and that makes Jeff uneasy.
At Casa Madden, Heather welcomes Jeff, Jenni and Megan Weaver to see the stunning finished project that started two years ago. Jeff talks about how it hasn’t always been smooth sailing with Heather, but that she became more decisive as she went along. Now it’s time to refurnish the home. Jeff wants Heather to explain to her husband Jim that it’s going to take time to do this — he tells Heather six months, but tells the camera a year, for sure. Oh boy, that’s not going to go well.
At Valley Vista, Jeff’s project, we finally start to see more of why this show is called Flipping Out.
First, Frankie gets snippy with Jeff, telling him, “You don’t think I do anything here, do you?” Some phone calls haven’t been made and Jeff expected certain people to already be on the job. Frankie tells the camera that he wants to tell Jeff where to go, because Jeff’s coming back to the house with a negative attitude even though he’s working hard for him. Jeff tells the cameras that Frankie is a master of distraction and toots his own horn, but now it looks like a smoke screen — a distraction from what he isn’t doing. Jeff flips out on Frankie, telling him he knows nothing about what’s going on and yes, he could end up another Paul. Frankie wants to know if he should look for another job and Jeff tells him he’s heading that way. Pissed off, Frankie walks away.
Jeff calls Frankie back in and claims he’ll listen. Frankie says that he works hard for Jeff, but that Jeff puts him down all the time. He tells Jeff, “How can you want to get rid of someone who works like that for you? How can you even say that to someone?” Jenni talks about how this has snowballed and that Frankie is a ticking time bomb. Jeff tells Frankie he can’t afford to pay him unless he gets more out of him.
Back to Julie, who is really concerned about the costs — the premise is that Jeff said he would have a hard time spending $600,000 and now he’s up to spending $700,000. Jeff thinks that she should just trust him. Julie is obviously annoyed. Jeff isn’t used to having someone so hands-on that he has to answer to. She tells Jeff, “Had we had been working faster,” a dig that Jeff picks up on and confronts her about it. She says she’s not trying to insult him and Jeff responds, “You’re wasting a lot of energy fighting me.”
At Jeff’s house, he talks to Megan about the lunch with Julie and Megan talks about how Julie seems stressed. Gage Edward tells Jeff he comes across as overpowering and left Julie feeling steamrolled. Jeff calls Julie and tells her what Gage said and asks her if she agrees. Jeff apologizes for bulldozing her.
At Valley Vista, we’re back with Frankie who already seems annoyed. Jeff tells him that he wants him to make sure all three properties are clean, an obvious demotion for Frankie. “He’s now going to be the most expensive trash guy in Los Angeles.” Jeff tells Jenni that Frankie seems defeated. Um, duh.
Another meal with Julie and Jeff tells her about Frankie’s outburst. Jenni reenacts it but wants Julie to pretend that Jeff had done it to her. Laughing at the situation, Jeff calls the situation ‘messy’ and he feels guilty and was certain it would work, but says he was wrong. He’s thinking of the breakup plan and is convinced that if he fires Frankie he’s going to have to call the cops to get him out of his house.
Jeff tells Frankie that he was clear that Aubry was a priority to clean and he needs to get over there. Frankie went to Hidden Valley instead — and Jeff says that he can’t be an effective trash guy either. Jeff admits to Jenni that she was right that it wasn’t going to work.
They meet Heather and help her pick out some fabrics. He tells her that he thinks her fabric pick is too ‘formal,’ but tells the camera he doesn’t think it’s formal, it’s his way of saying ‘ugly.’
Jenni calls Frankie and he is clearly upset, not wanting to have himself monitored like the way Jeff is doing. Frankie tells Jeff he’s not the easiest guy to work with and that he doesn’t work this way. Jeff confronts him and asks, “How soon were you thinking of leaving?” Frankie says he didn’t think about leaving, but that he’s just frustrated. Jeff tells him that maybe they should think of an exit strategy. Frankie doesn’t want to leave without another job, but Jeff says that he can’t wait for him to find another job. Gage is ecstatic about the fact that Frankie is probably leaving.
In an in-person meeting, Frankie tells Jeff he doesn’t match with the company and offers to stay until they find someone but Jeff said no thank you. Gives Frankie a one-month severance pay, and Frankie suddenly starts smiling again. Another employee bites the dust.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED AT THE WAY THINGS WENT DOWN WITH FRANKIE?
Photo Credit: BravoTV
