Are Jackie And Richard Ready To Let Hoarders De-Ruin Their Homes And Lives?

Severity Of Hoard

Jackie, of San Leandro, CA, introduces herself thus: "I love love love teddy bears." This is clear: from what we see, her house is filled four feet deep with teddy bears and dolls. It doesn't look like it's progressed to being hazardous from a hygiene perspective, but there is another alarming element here that I don't recall ever having seen before: Jackie sincerely believes that she's had "someone" in the house "almost 24/7" throughout the year; that said someone has been stealing her most valuable teddy bears; and that he or she is using her hoard to hide. Jackie is not able to provide evidence for this theory, and no one around her seems to believe her impressions reflect reality.

On the other side of the country, there's Richard, of Cotuit, MA. That combination of name and hometown may be familiar to you because Richard was formerly featured on the very misleadingly titled Hoarders Live last year. At the end of that special, Richard agreed to accept help, and now that help is coming to deal with his house.

Severity Score: 18

Relevant Hoarder Backstory

Jackie was a highly paid computer programmer until...her son Gerald was messing around with explosives and suffered an accident that blew several of his fingers off his hand. Jackie left her job to homeschool him for his senior year of high school, and apparently kicked ass at it because he got into college right afterward. But then Jackie was diagnosed with kidney cancer and was unable to return to her job. Her former employer gave her a $1 million severance package (which...she either had a pretty amazing contract to get that large a package when she more or less voluntarily left her position, or else -- more likely -- there's more to the story than can fit in the space allotted). "That's when she had a lot of cash in hand and things exploded," says Gerald, WHO ONE WOULD THINK MIGHT USE A DIFFERENT TURN OF PHRASE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES (!!!). But anyway, Jackie started spending compulsively -- mostly on teddy bears and dolls -- and now her whole severance is gone.

Richard's hoarding, we are told, was triggered by the death of his daughter Cheryl, from SIDS, when she was three months old. His marriage fell apart, and he started collecting junk to alleviate his loneliness.

Backstory Score: 18

Native Likability Of Hoarder

It's kind of hard to rate Jackie's likability when her behaviour and mood are erratic as a result of her paranoid delusions. She'll seem like she's maintaining for a while, but then she'll start caterwauling about the thief who took all her "beautiful one-of-a-kind designer bears" and "top-quality stuff," when it's clear that...has not occurred. Richard's hard to like too; instead of taking responsibility for his hoarding, he defaults to self-pity -- "I'm sorry, I'm a loser" -- and we later learn he drinks to excess even though he's on medication that interacts badly with alcohol.

Likability Score: 9

Anxiety Of Family/Other Enablers

Gerald and Jackie's son Nichole admit they're putting Jackie's paranoia to the side for the moment and focusing on their relief that she's letting them help her clean the house, which is understandable. On Richard's side, there's a surprisingly small amount of discussion about Richard's physical safety in the home, considering it was judged bad enough to be the focus of a live intervention.

Anxiety Score: 9

Inciting Incident

It seems as though Jackie's belief in the intruders living in her hoard is what has convinced her to seek help cleaning it up. Richard's house is at risk of being condemned.

Incitement Score: 19

Assigned Experts

Jackie is visited by psychotherapist Mark Pfeffer (starting to grow on me, I have to say) and organizer Standolyn Robertson (who really seems like she can't with Jackie's hysterical carrying-on, which I appreciate because me neith). Joining Richard are psychologist David Tolin, who returns from the live special, and all-star Matt Paxton.

Expert Score: 14

Success Of Cleanup

In Jackie's case, this is a mixed bag. After Robertson brings in a teddy bear expert to appraise her collection, Jackie has another crying fit about how much better it used to be, but finally announces, "For the sake of expediency, take everything." Three truckloads of collectibles are removed to an auction house, and Jackie's home ends up looking a bit dated but otherwise great. Everyone on Team Jackie is sitting around her dining room table congratulating one another on the great job they all did, until Jackie herself adds, "WHEN YOUR HOUSE IS SO CLUTTERED THAT THERE CAN BE SOMEONE THERE FOR MONTHS AT A TIME, HIDING, THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE. And if you can't prove it, then it becomes a serious problem for you." ...Yeeeeeeah. It is. Eek.

Richard's house, on the other hand, is not salvageable: there's so much mold that walls and ceilings and even wood beams would need to be removed in order for it to be safe for Richard to occupy, so the county condemns it, and Richard moves in with his daughter Connie, who also becomes his appointed legal guardian.

Cleanup Score: 10

Epilogue

Epilogue Score: 15