Is everyone ready for the exciting conclusion to The Complex Malibu? Tonight, we’ll learn how much each condo sells for at auction and who is the winner of the most grueling real estate reality game ever!

If you missed the first six installments of the show, and tuned in for the first time tonight, then it’s no big deal. For your convenience, the producer’s have decided to recap the ENTIRE season, starting with the obligatory limo ride to the set. In fact, we faithful viewers are treated to a full 30 MINUTES of recrap material. It’s full of “Best Of” clips, such as the one where Dave comments about their deck that ”we have wall to wall carpeting and a spa – we won hands down”. That line always cracks me up so I had to repeat it. If you really need a recap of the previous weeks’ events, check out our summaries for Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, and Episode 6.

Each of the four couples reflects back on their experience during the game:

- Steve and Nicole are proud of the way they played the game - they kept their word and played with integrity.

- Scotty and Sam are in awe of what they accomplished.

- Dave says that “this prize was worth going through anything for I’m not sure what he was referring to. Was he referring to the experience being worth what they went through or was he talking about the potential prize money that he’s almost certain NOT to win? He doesn’t express himself very well – lots of words strung together but they rarely meran anything. Ana confides that no amount of money can make up for the damage to their relationship. What they lost during the game was priceless. I think these two are definitely on opposite paths. Ana, you’re lucky you learned these things about Dave before you did something stupid like marry him and have babies.

- Barney and Rose are proud of what they did; it’s a game. Rose tells us that America should think they are shrewd instead of terrible people. Sorry Rose, not much chance of that!

Up next – the couples have one last chance to influence the outcome – they get to “sell” their homes.

First, we learn that Steve and Nicole spent their $5,000 “best kitchen” bonus to improve their master bathroom, adding some needed closet space, extending the wood floors from the bedroom into the bathroom, upgrading the counters from tile to marble, and adding a clear glass shower door. During the open house, Steve goes ino extreme salesman mode, at one point describing their unit as the penthouse: “no one looks down on you”. Oooh, I like it! Nice line, Steve!

Scotty and Sam are trying to impress people by pointing out that their grill came from Sears. Hmmm, this may not be the best marketing plan. C’mon guys, how long will it take you to figure out that Sears just isn’t very “Malibu”. Sam feels vindicated when someone compliments her rattan deck that the judges blasted earlier.

Dave and Ana try to deflect attention away from their ugly deck and unfinished kitchen by playing up the fact that four of their rooms were judged to be the best. They don’t mention that a)they had no part in the design and construction of three of those rooms, and b) if they hadn’t been busy sabotaging the REAL craftsmen of apartment 3, their unit might have turned out even nicer.

Barney and Rose take the strategy of playing up their extra space- they have 350 square feet more, and an extra bedroom. And of course Barney is proud of the drawers that fully extend and self-close. If I was Rose, I’d buy him one drawer like this at home – it’ll keep him occupied for years!

We also learn that apparently, all the teams want to win. Steve and Nicole want to rub it in everyone’s face. Scotty and Sam say it’s nout about the money - they want the bragging rights. Barney and Rose want to do it for the seniors. On the other hand, Dave and Ana already seem resigned to losing.

Now it’s time for the auction, which will take place live under a tent. Units include all furniture, and the starting bid for each is $500,000

Apartment 4, renovated by Barney and Rose goes first. Their unit is over 1,400 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. Bidding starts in $100,000 increments and goes very quickly to $900,000, but then grinds to a halt. Finally someone bids $950,000 and that ends up being the final price. Barney and Rose look pleased. I think they may have an advantage with the extra square footage and the third bedroom. I hope it’s not a big enough advantage to give them the win. Next up is Apartment 2, by Scotty and Sam. This time, bidding quickly goes to $800,000 but stalls there. Uh oh. The auctioneer works hard, but can’t get much more action. He finally works it all the way to $900K, but after that there are no more takers. Scotty and Sam are trying to put a smiling face on it, but you can see their disappointment. Barney and Rose are beaming and look extremely confident.

Steve and Nicole’s Apartment 1 is next. The auctioneer plays up the deck and the fact that it’s the “penthouse unit”, but it’s only 2 bedroom and 1 ¾ bath. Again, bidding moves quickly to $800,000, but starts to slow. Finally, the auctioneer persuades a bid of $850,000. Oh no, are Barney and Rose going to win this thing? But the slowdown was only temporary. In $50,000 increments, it goes quickly from $850k – $1.15 million. Steve and Nicole have taken over the lead! The auctioneer is able to finally squeeze $1.2 million out of it , with two bidders competing for the penthouse. Rose is still grinning, but the smile is gone from Barney’s face, and he’s VERY quiet. This may be the best moment of the entire series! Dave and Ana's Apartment 3 has been saved until last. No way they can win unless panic sets in from someone who had their hearts set on one of the units. Bidding quickly goes to $900,000, but stalls. The auctioneer somehow coaxes another $50k out of the bidders, but that’s it. Steve and Nicole are the winners! Now, all that’s left is to hear how much they’ve won. I’m guessing they may receive the largest prize in reality TV show history. Do they get the difference between the $500,000 and the actual sales price? That would be almost $2 million. They are told their prize – total profit from the sale of all 4 units is $317,250! WOW, that’s WAY less than I expected. What if they had only gotten a million for their unit?

AFTER THE FINAL BID

With the revelation of Steve and Nicole’s prize, the show is over – no fanfare, no final confessionals. All that’s left is the fine print disclaimer at the end of the show. It says:

Auction order was determined in advance by the auction company. Order was re-arranged for this program.

Real estate experts set a “basis price” for each unit. The sales price of each unit above that basis price determined each unit’s profit.

To this point I have enjoyed the ride, just like the rest of you, never really giving a thought as to whether I, the viewer, has been manipulated. Normally, I don’t really care because it’s just TV. But now I’m beginning to wonder….. Was the whole auction a staged event? During the regular episodes, there were several announcements aimed at people interested in bidding on these units. Were they really requiring everyone to show up in person for an auction? Also, what about the basis prices? Did each unit have identical basis prices? One would expect the different units would have different expected fair market values, all other things being equal. Why didn’t they explain this to us?

Maybe as time passes, we’ll find out more about the real story behind The Complex Malibu. Amateur sleuths, do your digging, and make sure to post your findings here at Reality TV World.

Handcrafted by RollDdice!