Battle Royale: Jeff Versus Ryan on "Flipping Out"

It had to happen, really.

The tension between Jeff Lewis and sometimes business partner Ryan Brown has been building all season long and things got more than a little heated on last night's episode of Bravo's addictive reality series Flipping Out ("Irreconcilable Differences"), in which Jeff confronted Ryan about his allegedly "shady" business dealings.

The confrontation, which went down in the final minutes of the episode, followed an hour where Jeff pulled some rather telling passive-aggressive maneuvers towards Ryan, disregarding his father's advice to cut the cord between the two but also not quite giving Ryan the opportunity to defend himself against Jeff's silent accusations.

Who is at fault? It's really difficult say. Obviously, Flipping Out follows Jeff Lewis around on a daily basis and not Ryan Brown, so it's easy to side with Jeff because it's his perspective that we're seeing here. But let's look at the supposed evidence.

So far, the most damning pieces of evidence against Ryan are those sponsored links to Brown Design on Google. Regardless of whether Ryan can say that he's just being a "smart businessman," there's something underhanded about sponsoring links to your design firm to pop up when people are searching for Jeff Lewis.

Is it smart? Sure, it's diabolically clever but it's also toeing a very narrow ethical line between acceptable and shady behavior because it's quite possibly--or probably--taking business away from Jeff. Ryan claimed that he doesn't say that it's not Jeff Lewis' office that callers have reached because it isn't. But people searching for Jeff Lewis who stumble onto the Brown Design site might call thinking the calls would get to Jeff. Or, assume so anyway, just as Ryan assumes that he needn't ask people who they are looking for.

And then there's Santa Barbara. Ryan is debating whether or not to move north and open up a second office as he's flooded with business from Santa Barbara, a fact that has Jeff very suspicious, coming on the heels as it does of the magazine layout featuring Jeff's house at Valley Oak... which contains barely any mention of Jeff's role in the design of the place.

The confrontation itself was painful to watch. Jeff might talk a big talk about being tough as nails but the guy is sensitive underneath his hard exterior and it was clear to see just how much hurt and anguish he was experiencing bringing up these difficult topics. Old wounds hurt the most, after all.

It's impossible to say right now who is telling the truth. Ryan makes a point about Jeff cutting him out of his life altogether if he doesn't believe him, which I think he meant as a sincere expression of his honesty and loyalty but which Jeff interprets as a sign of guilt. As for how they left things, it's not good, to be honest. Ryan storms out of the house, Jeff is tearing up and this friendship and business partnership may have been ripped asunder forever. Trust is, after all, a very fluid, funny thing. Once it's gone, all bets are off.

Whose side are you on in this conflict? Is Jeff right to be suspicious about Ryan or is he just being paranoid? Discuss.

Next week on Flipping Out ("Pledging Allegiance"), Jeff faces setbacks with his Buena Park contractor while Ryan makes commitments.

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