Bravo's addictive and hysterical reality series Flipping Out returns next month with a whole new season of meltdowns, freak outs, and dirty, dirty... martinis. (Yes, martinis.)
I had the chance to watch the Season Four opener of Flipping Out a few days ago and instantly fell back in love with this series, which manages to effortlessly remain one of the most consistently funny and eye-opening reality series on television today. (That it remains off the radar of the majority of viewers is a crime against reality TV that simply cannot stand.)
Season Four finds the gang at Jeff Lewis Design grappling with some very different problems than when we last saw them. Longtime viewers will remember that Season Three of Flipping Out focused on the economic downturn and how the global financial crisis wreaked havoc with Jeff's business... and with his relationship with ex-boyfriend and business partner Ryan Brown.
Yes, the fallout from that, er, fallout resonates sharply throughout the Season Four opener and while Jeff Lewis is still at his OCD best, we also see a very different Jeff than the one we saw fall apart last season. He's more confident, a little more calm, and a hell of a lot more collected. Likely part of that has to do with the fact that Jeff Lewis Design has taken off at a meteoric rate since we last checked in with the tempestuous owner.
Things have changed, mostly for the better. Ryan is completely out of the picture (Brown doesn't appear in the credit sequence or any of the press for Season Four) and Jeff's business is booming to the point where he is now being flown on private jets, consulting on projects all over California and in New York, redoing restaurants and homes, and has more work than he knows what to do with. (He has learned one thing from Ryan, however, and that's the fact that he has to bill for his time.)
But success brings a whole new slew of issues. Namely, the fact that the employees at Jeff Lewis Design haven't quite kept up with the massive changes afoot with their business. Jenni is now only working part-time as the company's Chief Operations Officer, and seems more interested in her new boyfriend than in keeping track of client phone numbers. Executive assistant Sarah still needs some more on-the-job training. She might be family (her sister, Jeff's realtor, married Jeff's brother) but she also needs to be able to keep up with Jeff's demands and she seems... a little scattered at times. Trace is finishing up college and so is splitting his time between the office and school.
And then there's Jett, who has actually carved out quite a niche for himself as Jeff's house assistant, a role that has caused a fair bit of conflict between him and Zoila and which plays to many of his strengths, like his flair for making the pitch-perfect dirty martini for Jeff Lewis. (Yes, the measurements are exacting and precise.) While family lunches might be gone--a necessary sacrifice in the face of an expanding business--and dinner might be verboten but Jeff seems to relish the thought of plying his employees with liquor each night as he keeps them working until after 9 pm.
There's also a baby in the mix but I won't spoil who it belongs to and just what said infant is doing hanging around Jeff Lewis Design.
Ultimately, the Season Four premiere perfectly matches just what I love about this series, offering the perfect entrypoint for new viewers while continuing the misadventures of the lovable misfits that make up Jeff Lewis Design. So grab a martini, turn off the phone, and prepare to flip out yourself.
Season Four of Flipping Out launches Tuesday, August 10th at 9 pm ET/PT on Bravo.
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