Shout-out to edemuth.

We're back in Mississippi in Laurie's hometown with the Jackson Five: MPDP, Amy Wynn, Laurie, Hildi, and Hildi's ego. We see Laurie, Hildi, and Amy Wynn sharing food from a plate piled high with French fries and fried chicken. Or maybe it's fish; can't tell. MPDP's hair looks cute; not too wingy. Our first homeowner is Shannon, whose friend Diane will be helping her out. Shannon explains, as Diane looks sad for her, that she first applied to do the show back in the spring; at the time, she was married. Shannon describes getting a nasty shock in June when her husband of eighteen years suddenly left her. We get a shot of two empty chairs from the video editor, apparently trying for the Sven Nykvist Master of Subtlety Award. Wait, she was married for eighteen year? How old was she when she got married -- seventeen? She really doesn't look old enough to have been married for eighteen years. Maybe the bum couldn't take the thought that Hildi might be redecorating his house. (Since he's not here, I feel free to call him a bum.) Shannon explains that Diane was consoling her throughout this trauma and agreed to be her Trading Spaces partner.

Shannon's bedroom has a white tray ceiling with seafoam walls and a sisal-coloured carpet. She's got a bed with no headboard, and it's covered by one of the fugliest bed coverings I've ever seen on this show, in orange, yellow, Pepto-Bismol pink, and brown or black. It's got a border of brightly coloured fruit on a white background. It goes with absolutely nothing else in the room, particularly the wall colour. Shannon has an assortment of interesting vintage furniture (an armoire, a chest of drawers, a trunk, a desk, etc.) mixed with a hodgepodge of decorative items and newer pieces, such as a armchair in slate blue velour and contemporary lamps. There's a TV on a chest of drawers opposite the bed. The bed is between two narrow windows, covered with floor-to-ceiling white curtains. There's also a pair of French doors with a transom window over them, covered with white curtains. There are a lot of different framed pictures all over the walls, and a schmoopy-looking white ceiling fan. Shannon wants to ex-orcise the ghosts of her marriage, and is open to just about anything for the room: she says they can paint the furniture, smash it, whatever. She doesn't want to recognize anything. Yikes. (This makes me think she's getting Hildi for sure.) I hope they don't trash too much of it; Shannon has some interesting pieces with nice lines, and it's probably very solid, well-made stuff. The room mainly needs a good colour scheme and a trained eye to style it and pull it together. Diane says she doesn't want Shannon to have any negative feelings in this room. She wants it to be a positive and uplifting place for Shannon. Shannon wants a new beginning in her room, and for nothing to be the same. She says that the worst possible thing she could see is "framed wedding pictures." The two of them crack up. Don't worry; even Hildi wouldn't do that. But Kia might, so count your blessings.