Wickedly Perfect, Episode 5: It’s Just an Egg

My city’s WB affiliate postponed this week’s new episode of Gilmore Girls until Saturday night. I missed it for this show. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.

Previously on Wickedly Perfect: the teams created living art. Margo and Kimberly butted heads. Kimberly called Margo a snake. Artisan won anyway. Patricia Field didn’t like Mitch’s individual project, and Mitch didn’t like Patricia Field. Tim and Heather were on the chopping block, and Tim went to the Designer Dungeon, leaving only three Crafty Beavers to Artisan’s five members.

It’s the morning of Day 14 at the Domestic Domicile. Heather feels bad that Tim is gone, but it’s a game, and you have to play to win. Margo says that the time before today’s challenge involved a road trip. Darlene is excited to be on the fifth challenge. She likes her team and wants to stick with them.

The eight remaining competitors arrive at Roger Sherman Inn in New Canaan, Connecticut. Okay, now they’re just rubbing it in that I’m missing Gilmore Girls (which takes place in Connecticut and includes a character who runs an inn). Joan Lunden greets the contestants, telling them that they’ll be innkeepers at the Bed & Breakfast. They’ll be running everything, preparing rooms, manning the front desk, and serving “welcome snacks.” They also have to serve brunch the next morning. They’ll be judged on the guests’ overall experience, the food, and service. They’re responsible for everything. Individual projects will be wreaths, which must be made of fruit.

Now that the teams are uneven again, someone from Team Artisan will go over to the Beavers. The Beavers are allowed to choose; they discuss and choose Darlene. Dawn is disappointed, since Darlene is “hysterical,” and she doesn’t think things will be as fun and crazy anymore. Mitch says that since Kimberly and Margo don’t like each other and Darlene was an “even keel” for them, Team Artisan will now be out of balance. Sneaky. At first, I thought that they would have been smart to take Denise back, since she was originally a Crafty Beaver, but then I remembered that Mitch doesn’t like her.

Joan announces that check-in starts at 3 p.m., so the teams only have four hours to prepare. They don’t know that the judges will be the guests, and “they’ll be a bit more demanding than usual.” Bobby will check in late, David will come with a friend and want two rooms, and Candace will bring her husband and their dog. I’m already excited about this one.

The front desk will have to be continuously manned; the teams will take turns and rotate every 30 minutes. The kitchen is split in half and contains identical groceries. Each room has three rooms to clean and prepare. Dawn and Denise clean bathrooms, which are definitely gross.

Darlene bakes cookies; Mitch says this is “lovely.” Heather says that Darlene has some good ideas for appetizers, so they’re letting her do what she wants. Darlene says that there was a lot of pressure, since she didn’t know she would be switching teams.

Amy and Heather clean, and Amy says they would never have enough time to clean everything. It’s 1:30 p.m. and Dawn is manning (womanning?) the phones. She tells someone that they have a lot of weddings at the inn, then admits after she hangs up that she didn’t actually know and just lied. That’s one way to do it. Margo realizes that no one is in the kitchen, so she goes down. She notes that the Beavers have Darlene in the kitchen and wonders why Artisan wasn’t working on food while they were cleaning.

Denise isn’t thrilled that Margo has taken over in the kitchen, since she doesn’t really like her choice of food. Margo says that she was moving at a steady pace while Darlene worked “at a warp-speed pace.” Margo is a little overwhelmed; she starts laughing tiredly when she can’t open a jar. I’ve been there. Darlene keeps running around. She shows us some fancy appetizers, which she’s made by herself. She says that she doesn’t know what will happen if the guests don’t like them.

Team Artisan works in the kitchen. Kimberly says that she entered into the challenge wanting to work as a team, even though she still doesn’t like Margo. Margo says that no one is listening to her and Kimberly doesn’t want her there. She thinks that Kimberly might see her as a threat. Kimberly would rather have Margo on the other team, and thinks that Margo would get rid of her if she could.

Darlene’s on the desk now. Dawn goes over the things they’re in charge of. The teams make final preparations just before check-in. Candace and her husband Charles arrive with their dog; they’re the Beavers’ responsibility. Heather shows them around and takes them to their room. Candace wants to sleep on her own sheets and asks if the Beavers mind putting them on the bed. Heather tells her it’s no big deal at all. She doesn’t even flinch.

Mitch decides that they should only take a few choices of appetizers out at a time. On the patio, Charles says that B&Bs are hard to run. Darlene brings out the food and asks about Candace’s dog, Betsy. Candace would like to give her some vegetables and meat; Mitch says that he’ll fix her a gourmet meal. In the kitchen, he says that he thinks Candace hates him because he doesn’t suck up to her.

Candace says that the food is good, but it’s too much. Charles agrees. Heather comes out and says that they moved Candace and Charles to a different room because the sheets Candace brought don’t fit the bed. Candace and Charles want to go back to the original room. After Heather leaves to move them back, Candace says, “I feel like I’m on Fawlty Towers.” I honestly have no idea what she’s talking about, since I’ve never seen that show. I’m sure someone will e-mail and fill me in, though, because you guys are good at knowing about stuff I’m not familiar with. [Or a know-it-all Editor could pop his head in and mention that Fawlty Towers was a British show starring ex-Monty Python player John Cleese as a man who runs a hotel with his wife – of course, since it’s a comedy, nothing ever goes right, though it always goes funny. You can buy the full series on DVD here.]