43 Comments

  1. So let me update you.
    Julia is whinging that she is not happy and how it going to affect her career, and Sasha does all the work.
    That’s it. The whole show. And I am only here for the reveals.

  2. Team Smug- Everyone reads from the Telstra Hymn Page…and all we can think of is Wil Anderson mouthing Thrive Off in the Gruen segment on Telstra.
    With the plug done for the Telstra done Shaynna’s first words were: “How dramatic is this?”
    Darren loves the palette colour of the brass, metallics and blues. It is consistent and very sophisticated.
    They are also very impressed by the big photographic artwork of the bundy clock courtesy of the historical society.
    BUT Neale feels hemmed in as it feels the styling was based on how much furniture they could squeezed in.

    Darren point to the eco fireplace under the TV. Fire Hazard much?

    The judges feel that they can take 50% of the furniture out.

    7,7,6.5 =20.5

        • blue tape on the window sill? i think its just looks like that because of the sun coming in.
          the pine thing between the two windows.. thats from a challenge a couple of weeks ago, they had to restore something or convert old pieces from the building and then use them in a room in their apartment. The side table in Dan and Carlenes dining area is their challenge piece. i don’t think i’ve seen the others pieces come up yet, but not sure.

          • Thanks, Erin. You can tell I haven’t been watching! Not like the old days of Josh and Jenna, Dale and Sophie, the twins etc when I wouldn’t miss an episode.

  3. Baby Boomers: Are they really Baby Boomers or the beginning of Gen X?

    Compared to Team Smug, the living room feels open and twice the size. It is not the living room they were expecting as it feel quite luxe and glamorous. Overall it feels modern (we think the feature wall has more of a 70s corporate vibe) but hey, it reminds Darren of the latest high end furniture room of an Italian design company. Is that really a compliment????

    Even the candle is just right! (Because property investment comes down to a candle with a five hour life expectancy).

    Cons: Concrete Tiles sans underfloor heating.
    Advertorial: Viridian Windows are double glazed.
    Storyline: The BBs are on track of fulfilling the growth storyline.

    The BBs use the bonus point to secure the win.

    8.5,8.5,8.5+1=26.5

  4. Teachers:
    Referencing the building’s past life as a soap factory is becoming a real signature of the boys (Kitchen and Sons logo this week). Neale states they are overdoing it now (that and in the past teams have been caned for having decals on the wall).

    According to Darren the living room looks like a display suite. He also bitches about the coffee table been too far from the sofa and the height of the TV.

    Boys bite back and observe it is rude to put your feet on the furniture.

    7,7.5,7.5=22

  5. Team Nova:
    Unlike the boys’ room Nova’s living room leaves no room for the imagination. The judges don’t know where to look as they have thrown everything into the room but the kitchen sink. So much noise.

    They hate the brickwork, an ‘eyesore’ (well, the judges shouldn’t have praised the raw brick wall to kingdom come for the past ten seasons of the block). It needs a treatment observes Neale.

    Again Darren bitches about the placement of the TV.

    Shaynna believes it is country (makes some snide comment about Daylesford which has a different interpretation on Twitter https://twitter.com/LeeRock/status/779987108370845696). So Nova don’t so much call her a bogan but ‘flip the bird’ when she calls them country bogans.
    7.5,6.5,7=21

    • While I think this room is nice, definitely warm, not sure about its soul, the block has confused me on that one but I just feel bad that their apartment is such a mish mash of absolutely everything you could think of… a ‘hot mess’ if you will :p

  6. Just here for the reveals , too. Thanks for your work, Maz,

    I think they’re Gen X’ers and not baby boomers also,Maz. Too young. Ch 9 pillaged Led Zeppelin tonight.

    • Too lazy to google, but I think baby boomers were from 1945 to early 1960s. I suppose they still fit the term and are on the verge of being Generation X (that reminds me to look for Reality Bites on DVD, that movie was great). It’s the same with my generation. I am basically at the end of Gen X and right at the beginning of Gen Y (Millenials, usually the ones who reached adulthood around the Millenium). So it’s roughly early 80s. Which then makes sense to have Gen X start around 1964-ish I guess. This makes always roughly 20-year-steps. Still not sure why it is actually important where I fit in as I couldn’t care less which generation I actually am. 😉

      Anyway, Gen X might not be a good description for the couple (Gen X is I think a bit symbolic for the lost generation). So baby boomers simply sounds more mature. I mean, producers might have thought: Uhhh, duhhh, we have people with grey hair and wrinkels. So they must be really ancient. I think my parents are so-called baby boomers and have grey hair and wrinkles too. So let’s call them baby boomers! Genius, isn’t it? *producers clap each others shoulders*

  7. The Bad Blood Block intones Scotty at the beginning of this episode and yes there is a lot of blood bad through the random pettiness of the producers and the casting agents who did not learn their lesson last season with Tinder.

    Julia shows up at the eleventh hour (how much begging did the associate producers do to get her to return to the block?)

    Of course she criticises Sasha’s choices:
    “It is all dark and dingy and I really hate it.”
    “It is awful”
    “It is really embarrassing. I f**king hate it” as she walks away AGAIN.

    Dan is enjoying himself as obviously there have been fights that have not made it to air.

    Sasha has had it enough, ” Stop letting me down and just clean the room.”
    Julia struggles even to do that. “You can’t be in a competition on 4% effort.You will lose.”

    Now to the judging:

    The judges are pleased with with the additional window width (see Nova’s facebook post here 🙁https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1vXFRsS_MxITHNuOURfSXZMb1k/view)

    They love the artwork and the paneling (which Julia DID NOT want). It is worthy of a magazine cover says Neale.

    8.5,8.5,8.5=25.5

    • This one looks rather “hard” and uncomfortable. It’s been a while since The Block has had a TV plopped on an entertainment unit rather than on a wall. You can’t even watch TV from that couch. Thanks for the updates, Maz.

      • Actually Sasha’s living room was the best (I suppose thanks to Julia’s antics she didn’t put much thought into the placement of the sofa…). Swap the sofa with the two chairs, change the positioning of the table et voilà!
        I like it better with the free standing TV. Built-ins lack the possibility to re-arrange the furniture. Plus if you mess it up with the height, it’s a costly mistake to fix. So I am with Darren (plus I am very short so the higher the TV is the more I have difficulty to watch properly).

        Btw, Julia, wow. What an ungrateful bitch she is. She’s my age and I feel kind of embarassed by such behaviour. Suppose she always gets what she wants when she starts crying and throws a temper tantrum. Get your sh*t together. Sasha isn’t the most likable person, but hell, I pity her and I hope she shoots that whiny bitch to the moon soon.

        PS: Is it just me or is someone else horribly annoyed by those judges? They get worse each season. I know lots of the comments are out of context, but their reactions on certain things in the rooms is so over the top…

    • Why on earth does Julia think she can has any leg to stand on when questioning design decisions when she has free reign at the start of the week to do what she wants, um’s and ah’s, time runs out and then Sasha has to pull things together? She can go away I think… no value.

  8. I always enjoy your reviews Maz, and basically agree with everything you write.
    I can’t believe Julia and Sasha’s room. It looked like they had started to move out, when in fact it was the finished product! It looked so incomplete, empty. I didn’t see any rugs for warmth, and the placement of the small TV looked like an afterthought. If sitting on the lounge would you really be able to see the skyline or would it be just the clouds? The windows would be too high wouldn’t they?

    I knew that the “judges” would go overboard on their comments, to help increase their confidence, save their reputations etc. blah, blah, blah. They deserve a Raspberry Award for their bad acting.

    Julia should take permanent sick leave, let Sasha do the styling, and simply get on with it, and let the producers bring back an old “favourite” from a past series, to help her. If my memory serves me correctly, isn’t that what they did when one of the “two fat tradies” unfortunately had a heart attack on set and they brought in Dale?

    Way too much product endorsement in this series, embarrassing to listen to.

    I still believe that there should be a 1st, 2nd and 3rd $$$ winner for the weekly judging.

  9. A mish-mash of my thoughts from last night!
    Karli and Will
    * agree their living area in particular looked tiny. But i think the column, didn’t do any of the couples any favours, made the dining area look massive in all and the living area tiny. If they had been able to move it, i wonder if that would have made a difference. And i’ve always had an issue with The Block encouraging massive bedrooms and smaller living spaces.
    Kim and Chris
    * I’m really not into exposed brick inside so not my fave and i just don’t get where this couple is going in terms of style, none of their rooms are consistent.
    * not sure about the mis matched couches..
    Andy and Ben
    * “Couple school teachers who don’t know what they are doing” – i think not!
    * agree with Andy (is it – i’m still not sure which is which), that the dining table should have been bigger.
    Julia and Sasha
    * Julia needs a big kick up the arse! i assume she stays thou as otherwise they would have made a big deal about her leaving tonight or this week in the previews.
    * their dining table was also too small.
    * i wonder if white sheers would have made the space a bit brighter.
    Dan and Carlene
    * i liked the round dining table. this couple made the best use of the dining area IMO.
    * not a fan of inside plants personally, thou i noticed the judges didn’t comment on this in any of the rooms.
    * i did laugh when the judges said how high end their tv unit looked and i thought it looked like it came from IKEA!
    * just looking at photos now, everything looks too brown and from the 70s actually!

    I am curious as to what the buyers advocates have to say tonight, im hoping its very different to the judges!

    • I actually fast forwarded through the reveals today after reading Maz’s updates, which is the most Block I’ve seen this season. Those columns were tricky to deal with.

  10. Tonight (apart from the boys playing golf) is about the buyers advocate walk through. The real estate agents verdict:
    Team Smug:
    Pros: Apartment is confident and consistent
    The bathrooms are excellent, well considered and well appointed.
    Cons:The entertainment unit is clunky. The bedhead in the second bedroom will turn buyers off. It will not attract a wide range of buyers and it is a ‘young apartment’. The buyer will probably be a young banker (bonus time).

    Baby Boomers:
    Pros: The bedroom layout is terrific.
    They liked the entertainment unit as the TV is unobtrusive.
    Cons: They have gone too far on the Art Deco. There is no underfloor heating. The bathrooms are overdone. The should have pick one or two features and accentuate them. The (heritage) doors should be painted black as they are too clinical.

    Boys:
    They are blown away with the ingenuity of including an additional bedroom and ensuite. The 4th bedroom should be styled as a tween bedroom or an office.

    They have the blank canvas that potential buyer can project on. They are a real threat to win the Block.

    Negatives: The shower roses are too low. Paintwork dodgey.
    Fireplace and TV have an odd position. It is obvious that the apartment is styled by two blokes.

    Sasha plus one.

    Pros: Orientation of the lounge towards the view is world class. They love the flow between the rooms which ooze Hollywood style and glamour. It will suit downsizers looking for something special.

    Negatives: All from John McGarth. The bedrooms are bland and need a style makeover. They should have choosen a better floor tile for the bathrooms as older buyers may find the floors too slippery. It has a display apartment feel as the last 20% of each room feels unresolved.

    Nova.
    Pros: It will appeal to a cashed up downsizer.
    They love the double head shower in the ensuite. The contemporary style will appeal to buyers . It feels relaxed and comfortable.

    Negatives: It feels like a bit of Richmond in Port Melbourne( Shelly interprets this…okay…fine we know Chris and Kim are from Newcastle but there is no need for the never-ending Melbournian sneering and open disdain masquerading as constructive criticism). OVER IT.

    The living room centre piece has too many flowers. WHAT??? Obviously, we are not from Melbourne, but pray tell are flowers and candles really such a deal breaker in property investment that necessitate the assortment of judges to constantly comment upon it?

    Nova also need to be consistent in their apartment.

    The winner will be revealed by whoever has the $20k in the safe back in their apartment.

    The whole apartment block learns that Sasha plus one have won due to the screaming or as Chris observes, “We learned that they had obviously won, through their graciousness.” Yep, the apartments are not sound proof.

    McCafe Award goes to Team Smug. They win a custom Christian Cole piece to the value of $5k.

  11. ….and for my next prediction – Chris & Kim will win next week as they haven’t won a room yet, as this seems to be the way on The Block. Whinge, cry, moan and you’ll win the following week – or win a challenge at least. It’s almost a guarantee.

  12. Thanks for the recaps, Maz. I can barely watch this season and fast forward through the episodes but your summaries are an excellent replacement.
    I really wish they would have eliminated Julia for all of her moaning, groaning, whining and, of course, taking a vacation away from The Block. If not that, then penalize the team by taking away points or $$. Don’t want to penalize Sasha but it doesn’t seem fair to the other teams although maybe Julia had some kind of medical excuse since it seemed that she was having a breakdown although I think she was just having a temper tantrum.

  13. Oh no, Nova refer to Sasha plus one as the ‘molls’. The outrage! We get the feeling that Nova are the team on the outer.

    Keith rules Nova’s floor needs to come up and they cannot place the cabinetry ($50k) over the windows. It will ruin the appearance of the Block (we call BS on that given the debacle of the supporting wall of 4&5 which miraculously was not a problem for 3&2).

    The Boys have been anointed for a future all stars series.

    Tonight’s sponsor is Glass House Fragrance with a supporting act provided by Handsome & Co and the challenge is to make soap and a (wooden) soap dish.

    The inspiration for the fragrance is the contestants’ favourite place in Australia:
    Nova: Port Stephens
    Smug: Hayman Island
    Boys: Geelong
    Sasha plus One: WhiteHaven Beach
    BB: Peaceful Bay (WA)

    Kim realising that the other teams are doing coastal changes hers to Blackbutt Reserve but it is all for naught as she hates cooking. For Blackbutt she should have gone along the lines of eucalyptus not lavender and orange.

    The Boys win with their Coastal Candy as apparently Geelong smells of oranges and chocolate.
    https://www.glasshousefragrances.com/body-bars/200g/coastal-candy-chocolate-orange-zest

    Image of Blackbutt from: http://gallery2.wildwalks.com/400020.jpg

    • Thanks for the link. Interesting all Nova’s agent can say about their apartment is “Boasting a huge 261 square metres, this heritage listed art deco apartment in Port Melbourne is a beautiful space, exposing breathtaking city skyline views and a communal rooftop terrace.” i.e. nothing about the individual apartment yet Smug’s agent goes on and on.

  14. It is interesting if you (for each appartment as you scroll down the link) click on the 360 degree view and then click on thumbnails to see a 360 for each room although only those currently revealed are included with blackout curtains hidding unseen rooms. Some things can be gleaned for example Nova listened to the advocates in part.

    • And Sasha and Julia are not much better. The latter in particular is unhinged (while simultaneously trying to be Nigella Lawson for the camera).

      If we were in Nova’s shoes, we wouldn’t necessarily dob them into Scotty but we would cease to acknowledge their existence as they come across as manipulative…crying and wailing until awarded the $20k.

  15. Tonight’s episode was brought to you by McCafe (and if we were Maccas we would be asking was this money well spent integrating our product into this storyline).

    Let’s cut to the chase, no one is interested that this was Smug’s 9th anniversary (If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it) was celebrated at Grossi Florentino and Nova (why???) acted like a pair of bogans at Eureka 89 ordering foie gras.

    Nah, we are all here for the Sasha plus One show:
    1. Both Sasha & Julia are absent from the Block…more pertinently Sasha has the Cam Van.
    2.Julia hires a feng shui expert (mirrors in the bedroom are bad for the chi). (There is a budget on this Block right??)
    3.Kim dobbs in Sasha plus One for using a collated screw gun at 6.45pm. Cop a $2000 fine from Scotty;so
    4.Julia lurks around to film Nova’s trades using power tools at 6.00.59sec

    All we can say, this building could have been something spectacular in the right hands but it is utterly ruined.

    • Is not entirely hypocritical of Sasha plus one to call Kim and Chris ‘playing dirty’ when firstly they were the ones breaking the rules and then coming over the next day to try and pull the same trick with phone at the ready to apartment 5?!

  16. The best reveal on the block to date was Keith and Dan’s office tonight. A splendid visual metaphor of what the show has become. And any further reveals of each contestant’s character suggest the only furniture needed in every remaining room would be a psychiatrist’s couch.

  17. Enough with the faux drama and the challenges taking up the entire episode (such as the soap challenge). Renovation show….not so much any more and it’s been that way for a few seasons but this is the worst season evah, IMHO.

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