The Block 2020 episode 17 recap: Harry is accused of cheating

Author:ahsan

Is Harry a dirty cheat or simply a man who innocently used his home-ground advantage?

The other contestants have dubbed the happy-go-lucky father “Dirty Harry”, for sneaking on to the building site to do some measuring while the rest of them were interstate in COVID-19 lockdown.

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Harry argued that he’d done nothing wrong because nobody said contestants were banned from the site while work had stopped.

But the other contestants weren’t having a bar of his excuses, labelling his antics “shifty” and vowing to take revenge by blocking Harry and Tash from making any changes to their building that required approval from the entire group.

Daniel and Jade aren’t happy to find out Harry repeatedly visited The Block site while the other contestants were in lockdown interstate.

The revelation about Harry’s covert lockdown work came when host Scott Cam welcomed the five teams back from a six-week production hiatus back in March.

As the pandemic took hold in cities around Australia, state borders began closing, leaving four teams at risk of being marooned in Victoria and separated from their loved ones for an unknown period of time. And so, Scotty reluctantly called tools down and sent the interstaters packing.

Although work on site had become increasingly difficult ahead of the closure, with shops around them shuttering and a growing sense of fear about their families’ health and safety, nobody was keen to leave midway through the project.

“We are going home, and we don’t know how long for. Two weeks? Two months? Two years? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Tash worried when Cam announced that The Block was shutting up shop.

Luke and Jasmin amuse themselves during lockdown with aerobics.

Like the rest of the country, the contestants spent the next few weeks in their homes, although they remained in contact with each other with regular Zoom meets.

To keep the spirit of the competition going, Scotty also challenged them to create weekly videos, offering a cash incentive for the best ones. So we’re treated to the sight of Jasmin and Luke doing aerobics, Harry gyrating in costume as George Michael, and George rolling around in the shrubbery in a Pikachu jumpsuit (no doubt from that prized Pokémon collection of his).

When the teams returned to Melbourne to recommence work, they were visibly disgusted to hear that Harry had been caught prowling around the abandoned construction site with a tape measure.

Dirty Harry got his reputation for sneakily going on to The Block site while the other contestants were in lockdown interstate.

The revelation was initially met with nervous laughter but as the reality of Harry’s actions dawned on each team, their amusement at Harry’s chutzpah turned to fury.

“We were all in quarantine doing the right thing and for him to go on to The Block and do that, I am not cool with that,” a visibly emotional Tam said having earlier outlined her struggles with going from “100 to zero” — from working 24/7 on her reno to being shut in her Queensland house with Jimmy and their young child.

Jimmy was also unimpressed with Harry’s tape work: “I think all the other contestants were a little unhappy about that. We are all in different states. We don’t have an opportunity to go in and throw a tape measure around, we can only work off the plans. For him to be able to go on site and measure things and make changes, to possibly advance himself in the competition, we were all dirty about that.”

“We are dirty on Dirty Harry,” added Tam.

South Australians Daniel and Jade were just as indignant.

“I’ll be honest, he better not ask to change a single thing with his house because it’s going to be a flat fricken no from me,” a furious Daniel vented, as wife Jade nodded furiously in agreement.

It was understandable. The farming couple have been under immense financial strain because of the drought. They also have a child with a rare medical condition who needs treatment. Locked away on their rural property in South Australia with their three young kids, they didn’t have the luxury of sneaking in anywhere to get a leg up in the competition.

Jasmin warned that retribution might be in store for tape man Harry: “There was a chat on a Zoom meet that they wanted to change some of their steel. We were going to have a body corp meeting about that but now after hearing that I think he’s just dug himself a grave.”

Just imagine their anger when they discovered that Harry hadn’t been on site just once. Nope, he’d managed to boldly pop in three times!

Sarah and George find out Harry sneaked on to the site while the other contestants were in interstate lockdown

As Harry got to surreptitiously preview, a lot has changed on site since the contestants were sent home. All the properties are now at lock-up stage with Wi-Fi installed to help deal with the increased need for online meetings and shopping.

New post-lockdown rules were in place too. There were limits on how many people were allowed on site at any one time. And sanitising stations had been set up at every front gate.

Of course, all this has become an all too familiar to Melbourne residents these days. But, back in March when the show was filmed, it all felt quite new and strange.

While readjusting to new life on The Block, the contestants have the monumental task ahead of creating two rooms — a bedroom and a bathroom — in the newly erected steel-framed extensions to their period properties.

That’s right, it’s out of the old part of the house, and everyone has grand plans for their spaces.

Jade and Daniel (who are yet to win any prizemoney) decided to go big and create three bedrooms rather than the two that had been earmarked. This will give their house a total of five bedrooms.

Luke and Jasmin also had grand designs. They wanted to move the orientation of their upstairs bathroom so that they could create a second living area. This meant moving a structural wall.

Unfortunately, it’s a grimmer proposition for Harry and Tash who have the smallest upstairs area on The Block and an unusual roof pitch to work around.

And, thanks to Harry and his tape measure, they now also have four angry neighbours.

MISSED AN EPISODE?

Episode 16: The most jaw-dropping rooms The Block has seen

Episodes 14, 15 recap: ‘D*** move’: Tensions rise as team dobs on another

Episode 13 recap: ‘Blockhead’s potty antics disgust Keith’

Episode 10-11 recap: The new Block rule that could ruin the season

Episode 9 recap: Favouritism allegations hit The Block

Episode 8 recap: Judges pull no punches on grieving Daniel and Jade

Episode 6-7 recap: Sack your builder: Keith slams ‘pathetic’ work

Episode 4 recap: Luke and Jasmin’s big stuff up

Episode 3 recap: “So two years ago”. Team’s boring room slammed

Episode 2 recap: Disappointment as Block houses are handed out