Will Hoarders Convince Roxann And Barbara That They're More Than Just 'Packrats' Living In Clutter?

Severity Of Hoard

Makeup artist Roxann, of Philadelphia, claims her house is "cluttered" with "upcycling" projects she just hasn't finished yet -- and, to the observer, it looks like she might be right? She still has running water and nothing is covered in outright filth. But it's also clear that the home is not really functional. After bathing her (GD adorable) baby son Joaquin, we see her drying him off with a fitted sheet.

Roxann also admits that she's worried about Joaquin pulling things down on himself once he starts learning how to walk. Things like this...plastic pop bottle filled with (presumably) used syringes, maybe?

Meanwhile, in Beaver Falls, PA, homemaker and mother of ten Barbara also doesn't think of herself as a hoarder, but merely a "packrat": "The difference between a hoarder and a packrat is, you keep it more organized. You have places to put the stuff." In theory, this is true. In practice, Barbara is about to learn that several rooms in her home have been contaminated with the waste and corpses of rats, not to mention maggots. Also, she sleeps on a mattress on her living room floor -- and not even the whole mattress; just a one-Barbara-wide strip with clutter encroaching on both sides.

Severity Score: 14

Relevant Hoarder Backstory

Roxann and Barbara are both dealing with fresh loss: Roxann's mother, who lived in the home with her, passed away two months ago; Barbara recently lost her husband, Joe. Roxann's hoarding seems to be fed, in part, with her inability to part with items that belonged to or that she associates with her mother.

Oh, and: Roxann recently started dating Richard, a neat freak. (From what we see of his place, that phrase does not seem like an hysterical exaggeration on his part. This dude is TIDY.)

Barbara's backstory also includes an older tragedy: decades ago, when her son Brandon was five, he was playing with matches and started a fire that burned down the family home. They lost everything and, Barbara says, "That started me starting to collect more, and wanting more."

Backstory Score: 18

Native Likability Of Hoarder

Roxann is very likable, and sweet with the son she obviously treasures. Barbara, on the other hand, seems at first very sympathetic and ashamed as she lets Brandon and another of her sons, Jeff, walk through for the first time in five years, but as the episode progresses, her tears give way to screeching and her emotional meltdown reads more like a manipulation.

Likability Score: 7

Anxiety Of Family/Other Enablers

Roxann's older sister Monique has concerns about Joaquin's safety as he lives in Roxann's hoard, but she doesn't seem like she thinks it's at a crisis point yet. Neither Brandon, Jeff, nor their sister Joey wants Barbara to continue living in the house in its current state, and maybe not even if she gets it cleaned up.

Anxiety Score: 14

Inciting Incident

Roxann has apparently turned herself in to the show. Barbara fell ill after her husband Joe's death, and her doctor gave her an ultimatum: he would put her in a nursing home before he allowed her to resume living in her hoard. As a consequence, she's been staying with Jeff, but she's very eager to return to her home.

Incitement Score: 10

Assigned Experts

Roxann works with psychologist Suzanne Chabaud (yay!) and organizer Standolyn Robertson (eh); Barbara is assigned psychotherapist Mark Pfeffer (usually too recessive for me, though here he is tough on Barbara's crocodile tears) and Matt Paxton (all-star -- and, bonus, he's not still plying his "Five Decisions Away" shtick!).

Expert Score: 13

Success Of Cleanup

Roxann starts from a place of greater progress so it's a lot easier for everyone to get her to an HGTV-calibre "after"; the producers have to work hard to make her seem at all intractable.

Barbara? Is a nightmare. She refuses to understand that she can't keep any clothes that rats have soiled with waste, and throws a shrieking temper tantrum so loud and obnoxious that Paxton -- for whom this is far from his first rodeo -- is seen covering his ears with his hands. And since he's been handling God knows what all day, the noises coming out of her must be extremely unpleasant for him to touch those gloves to his face. Finally, Pfeffer and Paxton decide to call it, and the cleanup gets downgraded to the bare minimum for the second time in one night.

Cleanup Score: 13.

Epilogue

Would not be surprised if it was Richard who dumped Roxann because she put a tablespoon in with the teaspoons. Barbara REALLY should follow up with her therapist.

Epilogue Score: 10