Episode 36 Recap: The Block turned into a circus of sausage stunts, fiery arguments and emotional outbursts that had fans questioning the fairness of the competition.

The midweek episode of The Block opened with a drone flying a giant sausage in bread across the Daylesford site – a bizarre curtain-raiser to what would become one of the most chaotic instalments yet.

With tempers flaring and rules under fire, The Block’s tradie games left contestants fuming and viewers divided over the drama. (image – Channel 9)

With Blockpocalypse week underway, each team is under pressure to deliver the back of their house and five rooms, including a laundry, mudroom and pantry. But before the games began, Foreman Dan was already dishing out trouble.

He hauled Robby and Mat over the coals for laying floor leveller without getting their waterproofing signed off. Things turned uglier when the pair cheekily scrawled “done” across their inspection sheet.

“All you boys do is just deflect, deflect, deflect,” Dan fumed.

“All they want to do is point the finger at everyone else and say it’s a stitch-up. The stitch-ups in the mirror boys, it’s you.”

Viewers weren’t convinced the punishment was fair.

“Dan admitting he saw Mat doing the work and didn’t say anything until now lol. Seems like the landscaper is making sense if the extra check applied to pavers and he’s not doing pavers?” one fan pointed out.

Another was less diplomatic: “Dan obviously rode in on the douche canoe.”

Cash to Burn, Cash to Desperately Chase

It wasn’t all tension. In House 4, Sonny and Alicia celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary, complete with flowers and smiles.

Meanwhile, Han and Can were showing the strain of budget blowouts. In sharp contrast, Emma and Ben were still flush from an $80,000 win – though even that sparked bickering about how the money was being spent.

Enter the Sausage: Tradie Games

At Kryal Castle, the much-hyped Tradie Games finally kicked off. Up for grabs was $10,000 cash, $10,000 worth of mature trees and the title of Silliest Sausage on The Block.

Hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft presided over the madness in medieval garb, while a lineup of Block Allstars returned to egg on the contestants – including Tom and Sarah-Jane (2022), Bianca and Carla (2018), Eliza and Liberty (2023), Sarah and George (2020) and Jesse and Mel (2019).

Han’s determination to win was obvious.

“We want to win because we’re f–king broke,” she sobbed.

“There’s only so long you can stay positive. It’s hard to enjoy it when you don’t have money, you’re broke and you get close to it then it’s taken away.”

Fans were divided. Some sympathised: “Rad to see Han fighting so hard – they’re exhausted and broke, I’d crack too.” Others dismissed the meltdown: “Scotty giving Han a pity prize to calm her down.”

The challenge climaxed in a wheelbarrow water race. Han mistakenly tipped her load into Britt and Taz’s bucket and then spilled the rest trying to salvage it. The blunder let Sonny and Alicia swoop in for victory.

Han’s fury boiled over.

“That was ours because we were leading by a lot. And we got to the ramp first and we put a lot of water in the bucket. It’s rigged.”

Can tried to reason with her, only to be met with more frustration.

“It’s not rigged! We put it in the wrong bucket.”

Fans lapped it up. “Just swap the buckets around Han and Can 😂😂😂,” joked one commenter, while another said, “Tbh this crashout is totally valid.”

Sonny the Snitch

The games weren’t the only drama. Sonny spotted Britt and Taz building their alfresco terrace early – work that was meant for next week. He dobbed to Dan, who promptly penalised the couple with a one-day deck ban. That didn’t stop the knives coming out on social media.

“Sonny is such a smug childish prick,” one viewer blasted, while another added, “How’s the way Sonny dobbed on House 3 – he should be minding his own business instead of poking his nose in.”

“Sonny needs to GTFO of everyone’s business. This is why you don’t win shit that isn’t literally handed to you by a producer,” one viewer fumed.

Others thought Sonny had a point: “Yeah, acting like this is the other contestants getting the rules changed is a stretch – alfresco is not landscaping.”

But not everyone was convinced the rules were clear. “The rules have changed so much. I wish someone would clarify what the bloody rules are these days.”

Walkarounds and Tree Handouts

The week ended with the usual walkarounds. Scotty named Han the hardest worker on The Block, handing her five free trees. Some fans saw it as a morale boost, others weren’t impressed.

“Scotty throwing Han a bone,” one joked. Another chimed in: “We know you’re broke so here’s some short plants.”

Meanwhile, the Allstars were given house tours, making snide remarks about caravans, hot tubs and contestant gossip.

And while Shelley Craft praised Han’s effort, fans were less impressed with the season’s architecture. “The laundry / butler’s is a cluster fk of a design. The main bedroom suite off the kitchen is awful too. Sack the architect,” one blunt viewer declared.

As one exasperated fan summed it up: “What the absolute f–k is going on with this episode?”