Jeff on forcing employees to pick up human feces: “I realize that was never in the job description, but, you know, your description expands. You’ve got new responsibilities all the time.”
Wow. No reality personality gave us more profound sound bites and YouTube fodder this summer than Flipping Out‘s Jeff Lewis. A Los Angeles speculator (house flipper) who handles all of his business with the meticulousness and focus of a serial killer, Jeff is like Dexter but with high end real estate. When he’s not railing his employees over creepy specifics like the way they pick up the phone and the lemonade to punch ratio in his afternoon refreshments, he’s hiring psychics to cleanse his many homes of bad vibes and to communicate with his pets. If you’ve been watching at all, you’ve probably found yourself asking the same questions that I have. Is this guy real or is this all for show? And either way, where the hell does Bravo find these people?
In last night’s season finale, Jeff threw a mandatory “we appreciate you” party for his staff after closing the deal on another fancy home. He chose this time to apologize for his behavior, shed a little tear over all they’ve accomplished together and more or less fire one of his assistants. As his maid cries over how much she loves him, you can’t help but wonder if this is a watershed moment for Jeff. Since the show aired, he has even come forward to say it was a reality check for him (Ba-dum-chh!). I remain unconvinced. Jeff has been at this for a long time, and a semi-annual apology and immediate return to the norm seems right up his alley. He scrapes by giving in just enough to not be left totally on his own. In turn, it’s exactly what I need to keep watching.
No word on a renewal yet, but you won’t hear any complaints from me if Bravo brings Flipping Out back for another season. Jeff might not be as high as Jackie Warner on the crazy/awesome scale, but he’s miles above Jonathan Antin.