Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
The Dolan Family - How'd They Do That?
Recap By J. G. Bird
May 3, 2005
The cast and crew gather in St. Petersburg, Florida, and soon a brief explanation of the family’s situation is made. It is noted that the adjustments James Dolan and his family have made since the shooting are still evolving. Everyone of the designers and crew, I believe, are sincere in their individual statements; if only they’d realize how clichéd every sound bite they edited into this episode truly is. Luckily, some sense of having evolved past that awkwardness is achieved by the end of the program. In getting to know Jamie Dolan in the week, Ty comes to the conclusion that Jamie’s gladness to be alive and knowing the family is happy is an outlook we can all take. In being blinded suddenly, Jamie Dolan lost his independence. The efforts of the design team help him regain the ability to navigate his own home, and eventually, he can step into even greater independence.
Chrissy Dolan, guiding Jamie by the arm, their daughter Haley, 6, Charles, 12, and JT, 3 are all the occupants that greet the EMHE team. Phil and Lauren are called on the phone to join them. We also get to meet Jamie’s parents. The small 60’s era Ranch home that gets replaced with the beach villa Lexington home was Jamie’s childhood home. His mom notes a date and small prints of a not quite 1 yr old in a slab of cement near the sidewalk.
Director, Patrick Higgins acknowledges that the place where this family is at in coming to terms with Jamie’s blindness makes this “knock on the door” different than any other. You can’t stage anything. There’s no running or jumping and shouting when they come from the front door. Eduardo Xol, as one of the team members there in those moments, states that what you can sense is the strong emotion coming from the family.
Lexington Homes' contractor Craig Gallagher gets to tell the family what they will try to accomplish for them in the week, and Chrissy Dolan thanks him with a hug. One of the ways the functionality of design will be utilized strongly is actually outside the home. Eduardo notes that existing trees will be removed due to root structures that are raising areas of the concrete walkway into the existing house – a particular hazard for Jamie.
Adam Helfman, the EMHE Construction Coordinator accepts a bet on 2 to 3 odds that Craig cannot complete the clearing of the site following demolition in a mere 3 hours – but that, he does. We also get a little more on the work of the director setting up his shots for the show, particularly on Demo day. Eduardo regales us with his planting creativity when an alteration to the master bath windows (for greater privacy, since they face the front) has to be masked in a more beauteous way. He gets the crew to build and install mini trellis in front of each window so a climbing plant can flourish and eventually cover up the modification.
Paul and Preston yuk it up over Paul’s puzzling predicament in getting the grand-scale 24-piece puzzle together. They also show an uncomfortable looking alternative for their muralist in painting this.
Philip and Lauren’s room was Ty’s Secret Room. Ty notes that as production crew keep him hopping to get his shots in which he’s concerned for the overall completion of the house, oftentimes he ends up putting his own projects on hold. His 2 glass topped side tables for beside each side of the bed are fairly intricate and have a 60’s cubist feel. The bed cover has a simple grass-type design, so, he also places some bold color in the room by painting a 4-paneled flower painting. Since he relies on assistants for getting the room pieced together, it’s not surprising he had to come in later and flip over one of the painted pieces.
In case you didn’t know this already, it costs about $30,000 to provide someone a trained guide dog. Paul gets to meet a pack of 2 year old dogs and a slew of puppies at a local training center for guide dogs. In an equally enlightening segment, Alex, the 11 year-old that walked Paul around in Sunday’s episode, gets an advance tour of the Dolan home. Ty really enjoys this kid’s spunk and design sensibility. If he says something is a hazard, Ty hops to it and makes a change to the layout of the room.
Constance witnesses the operation of the automated systems for the home. Since the build was being completed so rapidly, the guy responsible for wiring the house with the computer systems is flown in a day or so earlier than he expected.
Preston does his own “blind walk” with eyes closed, arm outstretched and shoes off. In this way, he uses tactile sense on the carpet runner and with the textures changing on the walls. He even points out a Braille map of the house. Finally, with the recap of the family entering the home for the first time, we get a brief video montage of just James Dolan’s hand touching all those different surfaces he’s being introduced to in the new home.
Even the tough lead from Lexington Homes, Craig, can be seen choking up a little as the family is introduced to the EMTs that responded to the emergency call from the shooting. Chrissy Dolan shows how very grateful she is to the men, she is tearful and hugging them. James adds that he knows that they entered that store not knowing if a gunman was still a threat to them. Their dedication to preserve one life in the unguaged danger of the situation that night is part of the Dolan’s miracle
About J.G. Bird
I have a direct, clear writing style useful in business, but if you wonder what I'm really thinking about, I keep a portfolio of creative writing on Writing.com/authors/walkinbird. My day-to day work is at a great metropolitan newspaper, proofreading ordered advertisements. Keeping an experienced eye to consistency in design elements also makes me an obnoxious, if not valuable, web editor and fact-checker. Due to my straight-laced demeanor, I need the occasional infusion of Reality TV. The home design shows are my only true addiction. I can be contacted at: walkinbird@writing.com
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