‘The Rachel Zoe Project’ Season 5 Recap – Somewhere, Joey is rolling his eyes…

“There’s three bedrooms, so one can be a closet.”

Rachel has bangs now.

The Rachel Zoe Project Season 5, Episode 5 Recap: “Maj in Manhattan”

The adventures of Rachel, Rodger and Skyler continued and it was all about New York and the ever-present tension between the creative genius and the guy who pays the bills.

DreamDry is still not done

Rachel is getting bombarded with questions from magazines about the salon and how it feels to go into the hair business. We learned that she thinks she is just like us.

“I tell them, ‘I’m like every woman who has a challenge with her hair. I have to challenge it. Are you gonna work today? Are you gonna bend or just be weird?’ “ Joey was rolling his eyes somewhere off camera.

For a blow-dry salon that will pride itself and getting busy women in and out in no time at all, this project is becoming a problem. If Rach and Rog were kids in the backseat of an auto on a family trip, they’d be saying, “Are we there yet? Mommy, are we there yet?”

Rodger could barely hold his tongue and you could see he was roiling. The fiscal reality of the money flowing out without any coming in has become a constant worry.

Robin, the couple’s partner in the salon schlepped to L.A. for a status update meeting and had fabulous news: “It’s moving fast-forward, super fast. It’s gonna be done sooner than we thought.”

Rachel stopped her cold with this question: “Wait, sooner than we thought the first time, second time or third time?”

Robin countered with a chuckle and “The fourth time.” Somehow Rachel understood that and was happy. Don’t ask.

Black is a no-no on a construction site

Did you know that? I surely didn’t and was a bit puzzled. Is it bad luck? No, it’s a bit more practical. Clothing get soiled easily from dust and material so Robin had to warn Rachel who lives in black, black and shades of black

Ms. Zoe was stunned as you can imagine. “Can I wear leopard?” Whew! that was close, of course you can wear leopard, Major problem solved.

That means the Zoe-Berman caravan with nanny, child and ridiculous amounts of luggage is back on a plane very soon. Last week it was Michael, her chief designer for the women’s fashion line who was pulling her back to N.Y., now it’s Robin. The pressure is on.

New York vs. L.A. is really about the coats

As Rachel explained, having been raised on the east coast she’s got a closet full of coats. Wait, she hasn’t lived there for years and yet her collection of coats has grown?

“I must have about 900 coats in my closet,” she explained and maybe a handful get worn in So Cal. What a bummer!

All of a sudden she began to think that New York is more than a business trip destination. Two of their three major businesses are centered there. The tug of war just shifted a bit.

“Life is so different here (N.Y.),” she explained to Rodger who was getting green with nausea about leaving Beverly Hills. There might be one big reason not to fret about a NY move “At least we get to wear coats.”

Rodger once again hit on of the over-packing issue. “For a week’s trip how many coats would you bring?” Well that was just so silly. “Seven,” was the reply. Duh..seven days in a week, one coat per day. Yup, that makes sense, right?

“If we make an offer on it, that’s it. We’re leaving LA”

Uh, oh. The gauntlet has been thrown down and big time.

As expected, Rachel doesn’t want what Rodger calls a “crash pad”, a place that substitutes for a hotel suite. Maybe a sub-let of a furnished place? You’ve gotta be kidding.

Apartment hunting began in earnest as the couple spent time in NY. The first place they hit up had three bedrooms and less than 2,000 sq. ft. Closet space was limited, you know to a normal number for your average person.

“There’s three bedrooms, so one can be a closet, right?” Rodger knew he was doomed to looking at nothing but palaces from that moment on.

When they saw the place of Rachel’s dreams Rog had had enough of the foolishness. He was placating her by even going to look at these places. It had more than 3,750 sq. feet and seven closets inside. Seven closets! “This is kinda more what I was thinking,” the diva said. Rodger called it the Taj Mahal and Rach knew she was pushing the envelope.

One way to fix the fact that the place is palatial? Have more kids to fill it up. Rodger offered that as a carrot.

But wait there’s more.Another 4,000 sq. feet outside with a wrap around patio-balcony. What a view and one design idea came from the stylist to the stars. “I could actually make a beach out here.” OK…..

The place needed work, despite its palatial feel and of course it was way over the top. “Let’s put an offer in,” Rachel told him, driving him further up the wall.

It was then that Rodger explained the facts of life. His lovely wife could have her home in LA or the place in NY. It’s one or the other. Is she really considering it? Her LA based employees are truly worried about it. Can our Rachel leave Rodeo Drive? Tune in next week.

Written by Paula Duffy. Talk back to her about The Rachel Zoe Project on Twitter: @jurisdiva. Catch up with her sports fanaticism on Examiner.com/sports-in-national/Paula Duffy