Episode 20 recap: All Stars prove their dominance

Yesterday we left the Blockheads in a state of flux as the All Stars cast a critical eye over their homes. Jesse and Mel in House 5 were also copping a critical eye from Foreman Keith. He was unimpressed with the state of their insulation and Jesse was fighting back while Dea and Darren, their All Star team, cringed in the corner.

Picking up the drama, Dea is (somewhat surprisingly) compliant about the whole fiasco. "There's no point even worrying about it," she advises wisely. "You'll have to just get it done so you can get your room finished." In fact, Dea's stunned by the heated exchange and Jesse's attitude. "He's pretty lippy, isn't he?" she observes.

Later Dea confronts Jesse about the flaws in his rooms, notably power points that weren't hidden and the use of multiple metallic tones.

"I'm seeing something that really bothers me. I'm seeing chrome tap wear, brass door handles and bronze handles on your cabinetry," she said.

"Jesse was quick to bite back in defense. "The doors are a feature themselves, and they go with the veneer and the brass. And the cabinetry are never together."

"I think we've got a headstrong couple to deal with," noted Dea.

She escapes the drama by taking Mel shopping. The brunette has been a reluctant stylist so far this season and Dea is keen to change all that, as she believes their house is starting to look like a hotel and needs an eclectic vibe. "She gave me a lot more confidence," Mel admits.

It is a Western Australian hurricane of energy in House 4, as El'ise and Matt combine forces with Ronnie and Georgia, making huge moves as they race towards the power tools deadline. They're delighted to learn they picked up $1,000 prize money for their carpool karaoke, and even make time for Ronnie to do some spying around the other sites to suss out what everyone else has planned.

While their team is harmonious, Mitch and Mark and twins Alisa and Lysandra are not. Things started badly, with the girls criticising the merging of many styles in their first bedroom. The twins appreciate the textures and luxury the boys are striving for but warn their colour choices are polarising.

"You're certainly setting a tone when you walk in here," Alisa remarks. "And someone's either gonna love it — or they're not." H

er take on their execution is that they've pulled off a cheap version of glamour. Mitch is gobsmacked by the blunt assessment. "You just told me that my baby's ugly," he muses. "My baby might be ugly, but you need to ease me into it gently, about how I can dress her in better clothes, so you don't notice [her] ugly face." Begrudgingly, he agrees to try things their way, but we already know that nobody puts baby in a corner.

It's a completely different story in House 3, where Andy and Deb are having a lovefest with their All Star team of Jenna and Josh.

The stars have suggested the duo stop and revisit their planning, assisting them in creating a 3D model of their home. "They're really great at what they do and more importantly, they're great people," Deb gushes.

Josh comes up with an epic idea to create a huge skylight that will allow natural light to flood into their kitchen. It essentially cuts their future study in half but will make their kitchen area stunning.

The NSW parents are amazed the experienced pair are able to conceptualise so far ahead — making decisions now that will affect them substantially down the track. "It's a very big bonus for us," smiles Deb.

Back to the drama in House 1, and in news that comes as a surprise to no one, Mitch's tentative alignment with Alisa and Lysandra has come unstuck. While the two groups had agreed on a style, Mitch is now second guessing everything, and his cockles are raised. He is worried that the room will feel totally disconnected from the rest of the house.

The group explains their fractious relationship to an interested Scott Cam and Shelley Craft, who have arrived to learn what everyone has planned. Alisa tries to point out they had merely suggesting the boys expand their property's appeal to a wider market. "At the end of the day, you're not appealing to 5 per cent [of the market]," she says.

"We didn't say we didn't like the style they're doing, but we just wonder if it's a little bit too polarising."

The girls are, however, blown away with Mitch and Mark's decision to flip their floorplan, calling the move to swap the master bedroom to an entertaining space a "game changer". "I think they're going to win because of it," Alisa says.

It turns out the boys have got more than just an entertainment space as a point of difference. As the final structural changes requested earlier in the week take effect,

Andy and Deb and Tess and Luke quickly realise their rooftop areas are not the same as the other houses. It appears Andy and Deb have read their plans incorrectly, assuming a window was a door and roofing was actually decking. "Instead of a walkway, we have a roof," Deb explains of the oversight.

There is zero chance of changing this and it's a devastating blow, particularly when they learn all the other homes (bar Tess and Luke's) have made the right provisions. "We're not going to have an outdoor area upstairs," realises a shell-shocked Deb.

Tess and Luke did ask for provisions for the upstairs terrace but completely overlooked the need for a connecting walkway. That means they too can't go from inside the house directly onto the terrace, leaving the only access via a spiral staircase from the ground floor. Not ideal. "That could cost us lots and lots of money," Tess says sadly.

Over in House 4, Ronnie is being even more doom and gloom, sceptical that all the houses will sell on auction day. "I reckon these houses will probably sell for about four [million dollars]," he muses. "Do you think that there's going to be five buyers on the same day with four million bucks? Probably not.

"The only guarantee is the $100,000 [prize money]," he continues, stressing to Matt that he needs to start thinking more strategically.

While Ronnie likes El'ise and Matt, he is concerned they're not being ruthless enough. "They have to start being smart and playing the game," he stresses. "The decisions they're going to be making over the next couple of weeks is going to make or break [them winning The Block]."

He wants them to use their carpool karaoke win money to put down a deposit on a pool for their upstairs terrace, and Matt concedes it's not a bad idea.

Tess and Luke would badly like to have that option, as would Andy and Deb. They rally together to face off with Foreman Dan about their upstairs terrace debacle. As Dan explains the plans, Deb complains that they were misleading. "There are three other couples that understood it and came to us," Dan says gently, but firmly.

"Surely there is a way," Tess frets, as Dan finally admits there is a way — a very expensive one.

The two teams are well aware that not having an upstairs terrace will effectively put them out of contention when it comes to splitting the difference between the homes.

"You're not going to have people that are going to buy our house over one with a terrace — it just won't happen," Andy says, disappointed.

"Congratulations, you're renovating a losing place," drawls Luke as Tess breaks down in tears, adding, "I don't want to do this anymore."

And finally, House 2 reaches an all new low.


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