Brother Vs Brother Recap: Craftsmen-style Kitchens and Bathrooms

We're back with Episode 3, and I still think Jonathan made a massive mistake last episode by sending Joe (one of his pair of brothers) home for unfinished work.

While Joe was a slow worker, he was creative and accomplished in construction.

Sometimes the people who screw up and are given a chance to learn from their mistakes end up winning the entire competition.

Without Joe, both teams are down to four, but Drew drops the bomb early in the set-up: this time, the losing team will be down two members, leaving them seriously short-handed.

The first mini-challenge is all about detail: which team can answer as many questions correctly about the Craftsman-style house with only the 60 seconds given to them by the brothers? As it turns out, Team Drew knew the answer to both "what animal is featured above the stove?" (a rooster, for the curious) and "does the house have three bedrooms?" (yes, yes it did.)

The winning team got the opportunity to choose which house they wanted to renovate, and place a camera wherever they want in the opposing team's house to keep an eye on them. "And to be a creeper," according to Jonathan.

Team Drew chose to pass on the Craftsman-style house, leaving Team Jonathan with the fixer-upper.

Team Jonathan was not a bunch of happy campers, and when you take a look at the house, you really can't blame them.

Everything is narrow, old, and pretty darn unattractive, and the fact that Team Jonathan is left with only $25,000 is worrisome, if you're rooting for them.

Team Drew is also given a Craftsman-style home, but it has much more space than Team Jonathan's does. They, too, are given 3 days and $25,000, and to be honest, I'm not sure how much they have to improve.

Melissa says she feels really comfortable working on this home because she grew up in a 100-year-old house, like this one (how does that make any sense?) so I guess we'll see just how well her comfort translates to money.

Speaking of, Eric takes on the budget instead. They're focusing on the upstairs powder room, downstairs bathroom, curb appeal and kitchen.

Team Jonathan has gone to work on the kitchen and bathroom, splitting up by gender. The women have taken the kitchen, and the men the bathroom.

They've got some amazing design concepts, including a skylight from the kitchen to the bathroom floor. Interesting choice? I agree.

Speaking of, Stacye is managing the budget, and she is worried because she never has before. Team Jonathan, I'm rooting for you, but this looks like a recipe for disaster.

Meanwhile, over at Team Drew, Six is worried because she is floating throughout the house, not able to put her mark on any one thing, leaving her an easy choice for elimination should Team Drew lose the challenge.

Stacye found knob and tube wiring in their money pit, as did Adi and Rick in the upstairs bathroom. They're going to lose a lot of flex in the budget, although not as much as it could have been.

The electrician turns out to be from Israel, and as Adi is ex-Israeli military, he gives him the homeland discount to the tune of $2,000. All veterans should be treated so nicely.

Team Drew is at an interesting standstill -- they still have not bought all their appliances and vanity for the bathroom, and after everything has been allocated, they only have $900 left. Thomas' big dreams of adding a tub-shower combo to the bathroom look to be shot, and he is really upset.

"I don't like disappointing Drew," he said. We'll see how he turns this into an opportunity.

Six has decided to focus on the dining room, and do a bar set-up on the built-ins for a design feature, which might be a good choice, and Drew and Melissa come over to put the camera in the perfect spot to watch the kitchen. They of course head right back to their own Craftsman to gloat and talk trash about the other house.

Not cool, Team Drew. Not cool.

Jonathan gives a nice, optimistic talk to the camera, walks in to the bathroom and immediately has a meltdown since it has not progressed in the slightest. We then flash to the other team's house, who are mulling over the changes in the kitchen since they last saw it.

As they watch, Team Jonathan walks in to the kitchen, turns around, and simultaneously moon the camera (with underwear. This isn't HBO, guys). Best moment of tonight's show, bar none.

With nine hours to go, Team Jonathan is in trouble.

The upstairs bathroom is at stage one, and Peggy and Stacy have so much work left to do it's crazy, not to mention working to highlight the rooster.

They are in a battle with "Gretchen" (what they 've named the house) for the gold.

Thomas of Team Drew is in some real trouble with his upstairs bathroom. So much so, in fact, that Drew says he's going to send someone to help Thomas.

With only a day left, not fixing up this bathroom can and will lose them the competition. This is an opportunity for Six to shine.

David Visentin and Hilary Farr from Love It or List It are back as our guest judges -- by far my favorite choice so far -- and are underwhelmed by Team Drew's work.

The color palette of brown, brown, and more brown left them making faces and the soaker tub instead of tub-and-shower combo upstairs was disappointing. You can't take a shower, said Hilary, clearly put off by the lack of function.

David agreed, pointing out, "kitchens and bathrooms are an opportunity to add big-time value to the home. They didn't maximize the value they could have added to this space."

Heading over to Team Jonathan's house, Hilary and David are far more positive than they were at the previous house...until they get to the upstairs bathroom where Adi and Rick have created a tub-shower combo without any tile on the drywall.

Uh oh...

Hilary and David give Six kudos for her work, and are very happy with the kitchen redesign, but chew out Thomas and Eric for their bathrooms. They give Team Drew an increase of $48,000.

Team Jonathan is given props for having the much more difficult house to work with, and praised for upgrading the knob-and-tube wiring. The upstairs bathroom is beautiful, but the lack of tile on the shower wall really hurts them. Despite all the work that went on in the kitchen, the rooster stands out.

To me, this was the perfect opportunity for Peggy, who is a design student.

Since she passed it off to Stayce who had no idea whatsoever to do with it, the rooster stands out and just looks odd.

David and Hilary give Team Jonathan a monetary increase of $50,000, giving them a $2,000 edge over Team Drew.

Thomas volunteers himself to go home because he feels he met his limits during the competition, and Drew eliminates Six. I would have sent Melissa home over Six, as Six has more construction know-how and design aesthetic.

Melissa's not bad, but she's definitely the next one to go home when Team Jonathan loses. However, we're one step closer to the $50,000 winner. Who do you think it will be?