THE RECAPS
STORMSEEKER.COM RECAPS! Reality writer Gordon Pepper provides
recaps of each show.
January 5, 2004 January 12, 2004 January 19, 2004 January 26, 2004 February 5, 2004 February 12, 2004 February 19, 2004 February 26, 2004 JMarch 4, 2004 March 11, 2004 March 25, 2004 April 1, 2004
This is the show that I've been waiting for. I'm not going to start the show, though - I'll let the Donald handle it.
'New York - my city. Where the wheels of the global economy never stop turning.
A concrete metropolis of unparalleled strength and purpose that drives the business world. Manhattan is a tough place - this island is the real jungle. If you're not careful, it can chew you up and spit you out, but if you work hard, you can make it big - I mean really big.'
'My name is Donald Trump, and I am the largest real estate developer in New York. I own buildings all over the place - model agencies, the Miss Universe Pageant, jet liners, golf courses, casinos, and private resorts like Marle Island, one of the most spectacular estates anywhere in the world.
But it wasn't so easy. 15 years ago, I was seriously in trouble. I was billions of dollars in debt, but I fought back and I won - big league. I used my brain, I used my negotiating skills, and I worked it all back, Now my company is as big as it ever was, as strong as it ever was, and I'm having as much fun than I've ever had.
I've mastered the art of the deal, and I turned the name 'Trump' into the highest quality brand, and as the master, I want to pass along my knowledge to somebody else. I'm looking for - The Apprentice.'
Hence it starts. 16 people from all walks of life will be competing for the spot as The Donald's protege. Just like in Survivor, the 16 people are divided into 2 teams, and the teams have to complete a task. The winning team stays intact, while the losing team will send 3 people up to The Donald, who will 'fire' one of them.
Before we get to the firing, we must see the 16 people who are being hired.
Jessie (21) only has a high school diploma and sells real estate. She looks like a thinner version of Survivor's Jessie Camacho.
Kwame (29) has an MBA from Harvard and works for a wall street firm. He's the lone African-American male in the group.
Ereka learned her trade right in NYC from her family's pizza place. She is a marketing manager from an international cosmetic company.
Troy only has a high school diploma, but he is the president of his own linen company. He is the stereotypical cropped brown hair, blue eyed mid-western accented guy - from Idaho.
Amelia is from Austin, who got caught in the dot com bust. She works for a high tech agency and is hoping not to be dot gone.
Bowie Hogg (there's a name for you) is also from Texas (Dallas) and works for an express delivery service. He's not a hog, but he is plump.
Kristi is from CA as she owns a restaurant and other real estate property. She's a long haired blonde.
David is the only doctor. in the group, and earned his MBA at NYU. He now works as a health care medical venture capitalist.
Omarosa came from the projects and is a phd candidate. Her resume includes working at the White House for the president. She's the lone African-American woman in the group and I like her chances.
Self-described as the hardest working salesman in California, Nick works at 100% commission. The blonde Californian is impressive - but is he too full of himself? 'If I don't see, I don't eat.'
Katrina is in the top 3& of all realtors - and she's 23. She's blonde/brown haired, leggy, and sexy - and it seems like she's aggressive. I like her chances as well.
Sam is a business director of an internet company that he founded. Those people are either very smart - or very weird. We'll see where he fits.
Heidi is a senior account executive for a telecommunication company in Philadelphia.
Bill started the 'Cigar of the Month Club'. He's turned it into a multi-million dollar operation. Hopefully, he won't be the butt of the Donald's ire.
Jason built up a real estate development firm and gives it to lesser developed families. He's only 23 years old and is from the west coast.
Tammy is from Washington, and she is the top stockbroker for a firm on Wall Street. She's the lone Asian in the group - and when she comes in, she doesn't talk.
Neither does anyone else. It seems like they care only about impressing one person - Donald Trump. These are all a bunch of high strung individuals with high strung personalities. This ought to be fun.
The 16 people are brought into the Donald's office, where Trump introduces everyone to his 2 cohorts. The first one is George Ross, executive Vice President, The other person is Carolyn Kepture, Chief Operating Officer. Those two people will be Donald's eyes and ears, and will be helping Donald in determining who stays and who goes. 'This isn't a game - it's a job interview.'
Donald divides the teams into men and women. He also tells someone to select a project manager. The manager is accountable for both victory and defeat, and the losing team will be called into the board room - which is where he eliminates people. The winner will be the president of one of his companies for a year with a nice ($250,000) salary.
The Donald dismisses everyone and sends them into their suites, where caviar and other goodies await them. They start mingling - until Tammy wonders why the women are mingling with the 'enemy'. Nevertheless, the people start talking. Sam, who is in love with Donald, can't relate to David, who's been buried in the classroom instead of in the business world.
Omarosa finds the first assignment, where she calls the ladies over to read the note. The first task is to create a team name. The women take a long time to determine the names, and the bad names from both sides get tossed around. The men decide on Versacorp, while the women choose Protege. I think the women's name is cooler. Nick hates Versacorp, and we are already sensing rifts with the guys.
The teams are invited to go to the New York Stock Exchange at 5:45 am the next morning. At the exchange, Donald invites them all - and tells them their first assignment. The teams are given $250 to create their own lemonade stand. Whoever makes the most amount of money will win the competition. Donald notes that the women are more excited about this, Will he be prophetic?
The team captains are Troy for the guys and Ereka for the women. With that, the Donald sends them off as the competition begins. Troy says that the best spot is location - and he sends Kwame to get the best site for them. Kwame decides to use the seaport and the rest of them will get supplies. The women are more concerned about the product, as some of them want a table and the other people are yelling at each other. Omarosa accuses Ereka of being emotional and irrational as they continue to squabble.
Kwame, meanwhile, gets a deal with Duane Reade as they get the table, ice and cups for free in exchange for people to show up at the store. ON the women's side, Kristi and Amy split up to get the supplies while the rest of the girls scoped out for location. Troy is being the cheerleader - and it looks like they are selling lemonade.
The women set up shop all the way uptown - 59th street. After they all get profusely lost, the women start selling as half of a group. They finally all meet at 53rd and 9th - and they have lost precious time behind the guys. Tammy who 's feet hurt, decides to take a lunch break - something that pisses off the women at no end. Omarosa confides with Tammy and tells her that the women feel like she is not carrying her weight and she says that to not worry about it if she just works. What does she do when they get back? She blows up in front of the group. There's a good way to get sent to the board room.
What's another way to be sent to the Board Room? To act on their own and not listen to the rest of the group. This is what David is doing - and the fact that Carolyn is taking notes on what he's doing is not helping. What isn't helping for the group is that Trump is angry that they are trying to sell the lemonade at the Fulton Fish Market. 'It's a smelly fish market and no one is there.' The guys realize it and decide to switch to a new location.
It's the guys turn to waste precious time while the women will be capitalizing. They sell $5 a glass - and the horny men are going for it. In the words of George, 'I'm spending $1 for the lemonade and $4 for the kiss.' The women are using sex to sell - and it's working beautifully.
The men are slowly moving uptown - and they are not finding anyone here either. Sam is convinced that the women are selling products better. Sam wants to get hot women to sell the lemonade, which in theory works - but it's something that should have been thought of hours ago.
Sam is getting desperate - especially after Troy yells at him and Carolyn is taking notes. He tries to get someone to spend $1,000 on a cup of lemonade - and hopes that Donald will be impressed by it. The person approached, though, isn't too impressed and does not go for the pitch. Sam feels like he is in trouble - and he's probably right. They do move up to the village and get some more sellers, but it seems like it's too little, too late.
It will be too late for someone as the Donald gets called into the office. He calls Carolyn to give a report for the men, who doubled their money to $500. George says that the women made...over $1,200. The women win in a rout. The women as a reward get a tour of Donald's apartment. The men will be seeing the Board Room.
While the men are grumbling, the women get to see the suite. Nice. Everything is bathed in gold and the women meet his girlfriend Melania. The Donald comes in and tells them that if they are really successful, they can live in this. Donald gives them the tour and all of the women enjoyed it.
The men are finding it less enjoyable, as they know that they will be losing one of their own, Troy knows that he is going to the Board Room - and he will be bringing 2 people with him. Sam decides to make notes - and say both positive and negative things about people. He's also getting bad energy from David - but can he get rid of the doctor?
It's Board Room time. Kwame tries to defend his actions and David is asked if things would have been different if he was the leader. David says that sales isn't his forte, and I think he dug his own grave right there. Jason, meanwhile, doesn't help his cause when he interrupts the Donald. Jason accuses Troy of not listening - and Sam backs him up. Troy said that he was trying to be positive. Carolyn thinks that Troy was inconsistent. Everyone asks who was the worst leader - and they all say Sam. He defends himself by saying that the only person that he respects is Donald Trump. That pisses all of the guys off, and even if Sam gets out of this one, he will be the target of the guys ire every single time.
Donald asks Troy as to who else is the most responsible for the disaster. Troy replies Sam and David - and all three of them are on the chopping block. While they are outside waiting for the axe, Carolyn explains that Sam didn't break the line - and Carolyn may have saved Sam's bacon. Sam keeps bragging on how he will be the president - and George likes him as a risk-taker.
Donald tells all of them his opinion. He tells Troy that he did a lousy job as the leader - but he does have potential. Donald tells Sam to be careful - but he could be great - or he could be a total disaster. Donald keeps the project named Sam - but tells David that he just didn't step up and his saying that he couldn't have done a better job damns him. There are 2 elevators - one goes up and one goes down. David will be taking the elevator that goes down to the street. 'David, You're fired.' David leaves the building and we leave the episode.
My take? This is a cool show and Burnett has another winner on his hands. If this show stays the course, then this will be a good show. Next week, we'll see if any of the people who are on the bubble can get themselves off - or if they burst.
On the last show, Davie took the fall - but the guys think that Sam should have gone home. The men are discussing this with the women while they are eating dinner - and they are greeted by a very cocky Sam, who say that David has departed. The women, seeing this, want to make sure that they don't go to the Board Room, while Sam says that he doesn't think that The Donald gives second chances.
That night, while the men go to bed, the women decide to select Amy as the next project manager. Omarosa and Ereka get into another fight and Amy will only accept the responsibility if Omarosa and Ereka cool off. Kristi notices that those 2 just don't get along and while the 2 people are bickering, Amy is wondering how she got into this mess.
The men are greeted with a call that they have a meeting in an hour at the Deutsch Advertising company. Jason, who used to work in advertising, says that he should be the project manager - and the men elect him.
Both teams meet Donny Deutsch, and go into their conference room. The task for this week is to create an advertising campaign for one of Deutchs' clients - Marquis Jets. The teams have to create a paper and television campaign, and Donny tells the team to not be afraid to step out of the box. 'Swing for the fences - and failure is not an option.' The winning team goes to Boston for dinner, as they are taken there by, of course, Marquis Jets. The losing team gets to go to the Board Room and say bye-bye to one of their members.
The Donald's Business Tip for this week - 'Don't Negotiate with Underlings.' Deal with the boss whenever possible. Thanks you, Donald.
The women decide to listen to Donald's tip, and schedule an appointment with the president of marketing at Marquis Jets. Omarosa and Ereka both want to go, but Amy knows that both women together spell trouble, so she brings Ereka with her while Omarosa stays back with the women to brainstorm. A visibly pissed Omarosa isn't happy that Amy left them with nothing to do, but Kristi decides that they should go to the airport and start on their campaign.
On the men's side, Jason tells Bill to do creative, Kwame to do the printing ads and then they meet somewhere in the middle. Troy suggests to Jason that they should talk to the clients in terms of what they want, but Jason says that it's a waste of time and he sends everyone out to get the job done. he then says that he didn't have enough people to go to Marquis Jet.
Take a look at Donald's business Tip. Then take a look at what the women did about it. Then take a look at what the men did about it. By this point, it should be very clear who wins and who gets fired. But we still have 40 minutes worth of show to recap, so let's go back to the show.
Amy and Ereka meet with the Marquis guys, who expect to be wowed with the campaign. They will be wowed, all right - Tammy decides to make a phallic campaign. 'If you buy a Marquis card, you're going to go up - you're going to go way up.' Uhhh....yeah. Omorosa once again disagrees - and she talks to Tammy about it and is worried that the campaign could offend the client. Tammy shrugs her off and Omorosa now has another person that she'd like to bitch at.
Speaking of shrugging off, the guys - specifically Jason - are shrugging off Sam, who is trying to get his 2 cents in. The only problem is that no one wants to hear Sam, who caused more than enough damage to his reputation in terms of not being a team player i the first episode. 'You ask Sam what time it is, he tells you how to build a clock.' The men decide to go along with the luxury campaign, which is a safe , if not generic, idea.
The women come back from the photo shoot, and Amy liked the phallic idea. She makes it consistent as the underbelly of the plane looks like a male's anatomy. Omarosa, the only person who is not liking this, is noting that Carolyn and George are staring at what they are doing - and they don't seem too amused either. Omarosa is hoping that for their sake, the women win.
The men are working on their plan - and Jason, not wanting to be screwed by Sam, sends Sam to do small menial tasks. Sam does what someone who is used to doing big things would usually do when being faced with small tasks - he falls asleep. Sam excuses himself from the table, and curls up in a little ball on the ground. This does not amuse Jason, who says 'If Sam was working for me, when he fell asleep, I would have fired him.'
Someone is going to be fired as we fast forward to the presentation. The women believe that the card is not just a product, it's an experience. For their presentation for the airlines, the women do another smart thing as they dress like stewardesses, with a airline logo on the top of the shirt. Omarosa is the spokeswoman, who is a team player, as she starts hawking an idea that she wants no part of. 'It's damn good.' she says, as she displays the photos. Donnie's reaction? 'I'm not going to say what I think of it. I don't know what you want me to think of it, but I'm kind of thinking it.'
Omarosa continues, as Donnie is grinning and bobbing his head up and down. He continues as Heidi saunters across the desk top showing off cleavage. 'You can have the greatest presentation - but if you can't present it well, it's worthless.' Donnie seems to like the presentation. 'You've set the women's movement back around 17 hundred years.' laughs Donnie, but the clients wanted wow - and they got wow.
What the men are getting is frustrated, after they can't get their act together in terms of presentation. Bill is trying to help them and Jason seems like he appreciates it. 'Marquis Jets - redefining first class.' They use a Power Point presentation with charts and graphs, but to put it blunt, it's boring, and I can understand why Sam fell asleep for the presentation.
Donnie's group talk about Steak Vs. Sizzle. The Men had the steak and the meat of it, while the women had the sizzle and the eye candy. Donnie makes his decision, and based on the guidelines that they were give - to swing for the fences - and the addition of them talking to the president, who had no problems with them swinging for the fences, the women win the campaign.
The women toast on the limousine to the plane and they are celebrating all the way to Boston and back. Omorosa, who probably wishes that they left her back in NYC, is having a splitting headache and is disregarding Omorosa's request to quiet down. Back on the limo, Omorosa is sleeping and someone tries to wake her up. She immediately goes after Ereka and Tammy, and the women realize that Omorosa is alienating herself from the rest of the group. 'Being a bitch for the rest of your life is your problem.'
How paranoid is Omorosa? Ereka, in defense of Omorosa calling her a child, says that it's the pot calling the kettle black. Omorosa then accuses her of being racist, and Omorosa is well on her way on the path of delusion. Omorosa is clearly not playing well with the women in the sandbox, and she is in the position that Sam is in. Fortunately for her, the Donald decides, not the girls, because if it was up to them, she would be on the same flight as David going home.
None of the women are in danger of going home - but Sam is, and he's worried to the point that Troy is concerned about his health. Troy sticks a cowboy hat on Sam and tells him to meditate. Jason will be taking Sam with him - but he doesn't know who else to pick. Meanwhile, the guys know that Donald will be going after him for not having a meeting with the president - but will it be enough?
In defeat, Sam is asking Jason on who he thinks is going to be fired, in an obvious attempt to get info. Jason isn't telling and is cursing Sam out. For dinner, Sam may be offering a piece of burnt apartment, as he is successful in setting his meal on fire.
It's time to go to the Board Room. Nick thought that Jason did a great job. Kwame thought that it was Jason's decision to not speak to the president, and Donald called Jason's lack of calling a terrible decision. Sam knows that Jason will select him as one of the people to be eliminated, because no one likes him. Jason is indeed going to pick Sam to come with him - but he also picks Nick - the guy who just defended him. Wha?
George and Carolyn want to get rid of Sam - but Donald astutely points out that Sam (who he thinks will be a huge success or a disaster) is not the reason why the mission failed. When the guys come in, an angry Nick comes in firing on all cylinders as to ask Jason why he was selected. Jason had no answer for him then and he just said that he had to make a decision. 'Why? Because it has to be somebody.' Donald was upset that Nick was selected and Donald tells Nick that he's not going to be ejected.
This leaves Sam and Jason, who are fighting to remain in the game. Sam and Jason are arguing about what Sam did - and Trump calls Sam a disaster and that everyone hates him. But the problem is that Jason made a mistake by not talking to the president, and that, coupled with him selecting Nick for no reason, is enough to eliminate him from the game. Jason gets fired and Sam, despite sleeping in the fetal position, is still in the game.
But for how long?
The men have a serious problem. Sam is clearly the least productive member of the team - but since he is not the direct reason of their failures, he is still in the game. The rest of the guys want to get rid of him - but they are already 2 men down, and if they lose a third, it's going to be very hard to get back in the game.
The women have just as much of a serious problem in terms of unity - Ereka and Omarosa are at each other's throats, and although it hasn't cost them a challenge yet, the continuation of this squabbling probably will.
The women's problem isn't nearly as bad as the guys, as the women are hoping to see Nick and Jason come back. They see Nick....and Sam. Jason is gone, and the women greet Nick. They don't greet Sam, which should send a message to him. Troy - 'We've sent (Sam) to the board twice, he's been in front of Trump twice - well, Trump obviously knows more about Trump than us boys do.' Sam reads the message the wrong way, and he feels like he's not being respected - because he isn't. He decides to wait there until he is greeted, and the way that everyone is acting, he will be waiting there until Super Bowl LXV before someone shows up. He says that when he is home, his parents greet him at the door - but these aren't his parents and Sam is acting more and more like a spoiled child.
The guys realize that they are playing the game wrong - and that they need to put Sam in a position of power. 'He's either going to lead us to victory, or he's going to be colossal failure that we won't have to put up with him anymore...it's time to put up or shut up.'
The women decide to not shut up, as Jessie holds a meeting putting both Omarosa and Ereka to the task about what happened at the airport. That goes over just as well with Omarosa as singing lessons from Vanilla Ice, and she leaves the group and tells everyone to bite her. Amy points up that women hold grudges, while the men just scream and move on. They obviously hasn't had to work with Sam...
Katarina tries to talk to Omarosa, and they almost come to blows. Omarosa says that she didn't come to make friends, while Katarina explains to her that life is too short to be a bitch and that she is not going to get anywhere in the game if she makes enemies. Omarosa counters that she has gone from the projects to the WHite House - but Amy says that she can live with herself. They get into it, and Katarina tells Omarosa to shut up. Katarina grabs Omarosa's arm to stop her and they almost get into a fist fight. They eventually are broken up, but not before Katarina tells her that she causes problems with everyone in the house.
Katarina - 'If Donald Trump wants someone that will manipulate and backstab those around them to succeed, I feel that Omarosa has made it pretty clear that she will do anything to win this.' Omarosa turns around and accuses Katarina of being naive, but in order to win the game, you have to get along with your team - or you will be in the Board Room every single time. (See Sam).
Amy then comes up with the idea to possibly throw an assignment just to get rid of Omarosa, but that's problematic in 2 ways. 1. If you have seen any episode of Survivor, you know that throwing a challenge is the equivalent of slitting your own throat, and 2. The people don't decide, DOnald does, and he may go after not the person that you target, but the person who decided to throw off the challenge, because they, of course, was the reason why the challenge failed in the first place.
This week's lesson from Donald - 'The Art of the Deal' - Who you're dealing with is determined on how the best way to handle a situation is. Trump explains that he got his planes from Surplus instead of paying 50 million dollars - and saved himself over 45 million. The task is that the team has a list of items - and the team that brings the items back at the cheapest cost will win.
The girls feel that the guys have an advantage - but the guys decide to take the disadvantage and make him the team leader. Sam is thrilled that the team has elected him, blissfully unaware that the reason why is to get him out of the game - as they expect him to royally screw up. They are playing the role of little Bo Peep and leading Sam the Sherman Cow into McDonalds.
The items that they have to get include a 24 carat bar of gold, a golf club, 5 pounds of squid, a cigar, a polaroid instant camera and a full leg wax - one team member, both legs. Sam's plan was to take this like a football game, as he divides the team to offensive and defensive lines. The guys mouths were so agape that you could stick a football in there. Bill says that Sam paints like Picasso - a beautiful, but disturbing picture. It's up to the guys to analyze the picture.
On the girls side, Jessie divides the girls into 2 teams to pick up the different items. Ereka, Heidi, Katarina and Tammy (not coincidentally, all of the women who have had problems with Omarosa) are on one team, with the other girls on the other side.
Sam's team of three is back doing the research, while Bowie, Kwame and Troy are out getting materials. Sam's idea of doing work is a sound one - but do you really need 3 people doing that? Omarosa believes that she needs to get them on time - and is shaking her head when the women on her group fail to use their charms on a sushi chef. Is there anyone that Omarosa can work with?
The guys decide to start in Chinatown, where they feel that they can get some great deals - which they could. Meanwhile, back at headquarters, cheerleader Troy calls up about the price of gold - and he is told to never buy the gold late. Meanwhile, the guys are about to buy the squid and get a cheap leg wax when Quarterback Sam tells them to double back and get the gold - immediately. The guys are also getting from Sam an address to get the golf clubs, but Sam does not give them the phone number for the store because they will not need it. Wha? For someone who really needs to win this, Sam is not being smart at all. Bill - 'I describe his leadership skills as downright unproductive.'
It's now 1pm. All of the things need to be in by 5pm. The guys have absolutely zero items. Sam is so obsessed on getting the gold that he isn't letting anyone else get a work in edgewise - and the fact that Carolyn is right next to the team when they are talking isn't a good thing. If the guys lose, Sam is toast.
The women continue to beg for the gold - but the guys get the gold for $399. The women, who are dancing for their gold get it for $390. The guys are convinced that Donald will be firing all of them - and speaking of which, the Donald comes down to talk to Sam, who tells Donald that he will turn it around. Donald shakes his hand, and he alludes to him that the guys stuck him up there to get rid of him. 'There is one way that it doesn't happen - win.' Sam goes nuts and babbles about it like a little school girl, while Bill takes him and calms him down. Sam is like this spunky bunny rabbit, bouncing around the street, oblivious to the fact that the rest of the bunnies are driving a mack truck who are about to run him down.
Bill convinces Sam to give the street team the number of the store that sells the golf clubs - and it turns out that the store doesn't sell golf clubs at all. The guys curse Sam out, and because of the time lapse, that also forces Troy to get a leg wax in the more expensive part of NYC - for $76. You know that mack truck I was alluding to earlier? Change it to a steamroller.
Omarosa decides to do the leg wax ($30) for the team - and the women finally appreciate what she is doing. She feels like she has gotten some trust from her team of 4, and this could be the beginning of patching things up - at least until the next episode.
While Troy is getting waxed, the rest of the guys, running out of time, try - and don't get the golf clubs. Meanwhile, Amy tells the Asian gold store owner that she would have a deal for 10% of the clubs - $300.
Bill calls Sam and tells him to run to get the golf clubs, Sam rambles on whether they are going to win - and then rambles about Troy and execution, The guys, who would love to see Troy executer, get the camera for $30 and the cigars for $80. Time runs out, and the guys are forced to buy the clubs for the full price - $419. Ouch.
It is time for everyone to go to the Board Room, The women saved 22%, while the guys saved...only 9%. Donald's reaction? 'The guys are getting used to this...I'm starting to think that I may never hire a man again.' OUCH.
The women, as the reward, get to go to the 21 Club and have dinner at the table that Donald's father, Fred, usually sat at. The guys, however, will also get a reward - they get to see Sam leave, because I don't see any way that Sam is going to get out of this one.
The men are getting frustrated both with Sam and with losing, as Bowie just wants to win one thing in this competition. The women cheer to '#4' (meaning their fourth straight win) - which could very well happen as long as Sam remains on the men's team.
Will that happen? Sam, who realizes that his job is on the line, has to think about what to say. The women don't think that he's leaving - and Sam doesn't think that it's time to go. Kwame says that from a strategy standpoint, Sam should go after Nick, who gave him the information that they had to get the gold at that point, which pushed everyone to change strategies.
Donald is disappointed that the guys are there, and Sam says that the plan was not implemented. Kwame says that it's Sam's fault because they got forced to get stuck at the items with the biggest margin, they didn't have a chance to get the items for the best prices because Sam rerouted them to get the gold. Bowie adds that they spent just as much time calming Sam down as they did to get the items. Sam counters with the fact that he doesn't get any respect from the guys - and Donald agrees that Sam didn't get any respect. 'I can't lead until they get the respect.' Carolyn's response? 'You have to earn it, and if you don't earn it, you have to demand it.'
Sam is asked to select 2 people to go with him to the chopping block. Instead of going after Nick, he goes after Kwame and Bowie, who were critical. He may have had a shot with Nick, because he gave out the wrong info, but Kwame and Bowie? Goodbye Sam, as Donald calls him a disaster, George says that he is the disruptive influence on that team and Carolyn is even saying that she wonders how the team will do when he's gone.
While they are waiting, Bowie goes after Sam for saying that he wasn't respected, and Sam apologizes. Sam should be apologizing for the first 2 missions, too, but he won't be around to do it.
Last defense - Kwame, who says that he doesn't respect him, says that he didn't make any critically bad decisions. Bowie - 'Sam has proven that he is not successful as a follower - and he's not successful as a leader.' Sam says that he can get respect with another shot, but Donald interrupts him and asks him if it's over. Sam doesn't think it is , but Donald tells him that he's fired. Sam responds by giving him one of those steely-eyed knife cutting through butter stares, and Donald tells him 2 more times that he's fired.
As Bowie and Kwame leave, Sam is still sitting in the chair. Donald for a fourth time tells him to go, and Sam finally leaves, wishing them good luck. George says that it was the first decision that was an easy one to make, as Sam the bunny finally gets nailed by Mr MacGregor's tractor.
As for the women's reaction? they scream when they see that Sam has not returned - but is this a good or a bad thing? And will there be a female animal that will be taking their turn under the tractor? Find out in 7 days...
Last week saw the end of Sam. Will it spell the beginning of the men's reign of terror - or will it spell the beginning of the end for the guys, as another loss would leave them at half--strength.
'Everyone of us would have been in complete shock if it wasn't Sam (who was fired)' says Amy, while Bowie noted that when the men walked in without Sam, 'they all rejoiced like the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz'. Apparently, Sam got on the women's nerves as well, and they was much joy and rapture when he was eliminated.
But there was not all joy in Mudville, as Nick is brandishing his Brutus-like dagger. 'There are weaker players in the game than Sam - and I'm pissed...it was a witch hunt to take down Sam...he'll get his vengeance through me.'
Trump gets his vengeance on the partiers at 7am, as they are all supposed to meet at 8am at Times Square. He brings them out in front of Planet Hollywood - and the assignment is simple. The women manage the restaurant tonight, while the men manage it tomorrow night. Whoever can do better business at this point from the same point last year will get to share a day of golf at Trump National Golf Course.
The women's reaction of the new men's team? 'The men are a more lethal weapon now without Sam, and I'm much more nervous now than when they had Sam.' That comes from Katrina, and this comes from Bill - 'If we have to walk back into the Boardroom now, it will be a 100% complete embarrassment.' Nick, who is wanting to see a male embarrassment, nominates Kwame, and Kwame thinks that it's because Nick doesn't have any leadership skills - but Nick says that he wants Kwame to be the leader to that Trump can fire him. The women, also taking notes on that, have made Katrina the project manager - although Amy, who has had experience with restaurants, and who should probably be the manager, is Katrina's second in command. Strategy, strategy, strategy...
Omarosa has decided to play in the sandbox with the other women and she is making steps to be nicer. Ereka still thinks that it's to play the game, but Omarosa is doing just that - and she's learning to be a player. I am sure that the Donald and his minions are noticing what she is doing, and if she doesn't make any egregious errors, she could be a threat to win it all.
Back to the assignment at hand - Kristi notices that 25% of the sales is from liquor. According to her, that's a potential mark-up increase of 300%, and that's where they should be targeting the increases at. The women, who have been using the 'Sex Sells' campaign throughout the whole show, decide to continue it by being the 'Planet Hollywood Shooter Girls.' As you know from the promos of this show, Carolyn will call them out on this later on. You'll be getting my opinion on this topic as well.
Trump's tip of the week - the art of the deal, part 2 - sticking by your word. If you get the reputation that you are a deal-breaker, then your business career will be short-lived.
Will Katrina's life in the show be short-lived? Coming out to hawk merchandise isn't working, so Ereka has the idea of coming out to the lines in Times Square to hand out coupons. That doesn't seem to be going well either - but they do play some dirty pool of their own, telling people to come down tonight because the store will be closed tomorrow.
What do the guys do while the girls are out? Do they plan? no. Do they Bill decides to play Trump - The Game, as Troy and Bill start to get into it while they are playing the game. Troy calls Bill a snake be breaking the 'handshake deal' and Nick looks like he wants to slither out of the room. Even without Sam, the guys can't get their act together and if they don't, it doesn't matter if the women bring in 400 pound Polynesian Hula dancers to be the Shooter Girls.
However, we have problems in the women's camp as well, as Jessie comes out and sets up some tables for people to come down and get a better view. The problem? No one told Katrina and they share some words. What else isn't good? Kristi looking at the sales numbers and seeing that they are not nearly close to making up that money in the merchandising.
Whatever the women don't make in merchandise, they more than make up for in booze. '$20 for a t-shirt can take you up to 25 minutes to sell it. I can sell $20 worth of shots i 3 minutes.' And that she does. Heidi - 'Heidi was the queen of selling shots.' The managers wanted to shoot the women, who explain to them that 1. No workers should be drinking on the job, and 2. They are responsible for the welfare of all of the patrons, so they could be liable if one of those drunk people mistake the head of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader squad for a speeding NYC bus. The women do make a profit - but they notice that they only made around 10% more of booze than last year, which leaves them very vulnerable for the guy's first win of the show.
Nick is looking past this round and is looking at the total game. His strategy is to sit in the wings and watch the guys eliminate themselves, also adding that if he loses, he's feeling comfortable in the Board Room. Kwame's target is to make an extra $25,000, and they create a street team and an inside team, with Bowie being the merchandising salesman. Bill has a great idea, and tells the sales staff that every hour, the guys will make $100 bonus for whoever has the most sales. George and Carolyn watch and smile at that - what they don't smile at is Troy trying to sell alcohol to passerbys on the lines for the people on the Broadway ticket line, and as Bowie points out, you can't do that. Troy then tries to sell merchandise and food - which is a great idea, but Bowie tells him to return to base - which is not a good idea because they could have made food money on that line.
Bowie and Nick try to peddle outside, and they are as convincing as trying to sell ice to eskimos. Bill is inside and staring at - an empty interior of a restaurant. 'I think that Donald Trump would be having a heart attack if he saw this.' He'd also have a heart attack if he saw Bowie trying to sell - and his heart is clearly not in it. Their target? $25,000. Actual amount? $5,000. Not good.
The women are in much better spirits as they go out for sushi. Omarosa is continuing to blend in, as she imitates the guys. She is definitely the most improved person in this episode, and this footage may be here to tell us that she sticks around for awhile...
...which is more than I can say for the guys, who are in dire straits. Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures - such as telling people to get an autograph from Kwame Jackson! 'Who is Kwame Jackson? Someone who is working at Wall Street.' Well, there's a sucker born every minute, and the Kwame Jackson 'signing' is bringing in suckers to see the mighty Kwame - and buying merchandise. They are finally getting people to come in - much to the chagrin of Nick, who doesn't want to make money this way and is cursing out both Kwame and Bill. 'I'll explain to Mr. Trump that I don't do business like that, and if this is how they work, they may as well fire me.' That convinces Nick to sulk, and Kwame accuses Nick of 'checking out', which would be reason in his mind to let Nick have his wish.
With crunch time coming, Bill takes over and starts doing stuff. Nick and Kwame start selling, and Bowie...pretty much doesn't do anything but walks around, delivers messages and gets spurned. Is this foreshadowing?
We will find out as we head to the Board room for the reports. The men wet from $13,168 to $14,069 - an increase of 6%. The women go from $12,592 to $16,537 - an increase of a whopping 31%. The women's selling inside and the promotion of the liquor, albeit unethical (but then again, it's not like the men were saints pushing the Kwame Jackson tour) was the smart play and they get to go out on the links.
So the guys go off to the Board Room for the 4th straight time. Bowie - 'I feel like my pet was just killed'. The women get to kill some golf balls - and we see quickly why women traditionally don't close deal at the golf course. They do get to see a beautiful waterfall - which they get to deposit most of their balls in.
The women, however, don't get away Scott-free. Mr. Trump tells them women that they are smart and dynamic - but he warns them to not use their sexuality to win. Carolyn adds that it won't help them get the job in the long run. With that, Donald sends them on their way. The women completely disagree. Katrina - 'If being attractive is wrong, then this is wrong.'
My opinion? This game isn't about playing fair - it's about surviving in the corporate jungle where you need to use every aspect to stay alive. The women do have the advantage of T&A, but they have been out-thinking the guys from day one and they deserve to be up. The men certainly could have gotten women from off of the street to do the dirty work for them - and if they listened to Sam (who brought up that idea) instead of ostracizing him earlier, then they would have bought some women off of the streets to hawk up the sales - and probably a few wins. That's the biggest problem with the guys - they have played it by the numbers and have not thought out of the box for the whole entire season - while the women have been more creative from Day 1. They haven't been out-sexing the competition - they have been outplaying them.
The men have more ethical issues, as Nick blasts the guys for the Kwame Jackson debacle. Nick, who believes that he is going into the Board Room, says that he has a very good defense if it happens. Bowie says that he will probably be eaten alive by Trump because of the lack of merchandising sales. With fingers being pointed everywhere, they go to the Board Room, where Kwame thought that they lost because of the lack of willpower. Carolyn says that it wasn't the people - it was the lack of brains. She says that they could have hired people to go out and get coupons and sell. The guys fail to realize that they can always get more people in terms of workmanship - what they really need is a guy with a plan of action that will get them on the win side of the ledger.
Trump asks who should be fired, and Nick goes right after Kwame and the merchandising scheme. Troy and Bowie go after Nick, who accuse him of losing motivation. Nick says that he was deflated because he didn't like the sales tactics. 'What about that kid who spent 12 bucks go home to the internet and sees that Kwame isn't on the NBA?' Kwame is asked who he is bringing with him - and he says Nick and Bowie, who underperformed under Troy and Bill.
Donald goes over everyone's weaknesses, and he says that it's a tough call. Kwame says that he did better than Nick, while Nick says that they other guys are trying to railroad him out of the game. Trump says that Nick and Kwame both have strong ideals and opinions, and that makes them both good leaders. Bowie was a disaster on sales - and when he was asked about the ethicality, he teeter-tottered from he was against Kwame to he was for him - and that may have cost him the game. For not standing up for what he thought - and for being a disaster in merchandising, Bowie is fired.
So we do have 8 women and 4 men. The teams will be redistributed into fields of 6 - but who will go where? And where will the bad blood be boiling now? We get all the nastiness served up in a platter next week.
Just in case you wanted to know, this is the first time in a Burnett production that a team has started out a competition by having 4 straight members of their team eliminated. There have been many times where a team has lost 3 to start it off - and there have been times where a team has lost more than 4 people (including a very impressive 8 straight by Sook Jai in Survivor 5), but no one has lot more than 3 to start a show - until now. Hence, we now have 8 very happy women, and 4 dispirited guys who want to rip each other's throats out.
The feelings only intensify when Nick, the guy who everyone else claimed 'checked out' and who the men wanted to see gone - is back. He even says as much, and you can cut the tension with a knife. Not everything is all daggers and creme though, as Troy and Bill make up about their spat in the board game, AwwwwBarf.
Still, the Donald decides that he wants a change - and both teams have an hour to assign their new project managers and meet him in the Board Room. Nick, playing the role of Sam, is now the Project manager for the men while Kristi takes over for the women. Also taking over is Bernie Diamond, who will be sitting in while George is out attending business. According to Donald, when things aren't working out, you reshuffle, and with that, he orders the Project Managers to create new teams. The guys, as can be expected, look happy, and the women, as expected, look like they've stepped on one of those wind grates which cause their dresses to lift up.
Here are the new teams - The New Versacorp has Nick, Amy, Bill, Katrina, Ereka and Tammy, while the new Protege has Kristi, Troy, Jessie, Kwame, Heidi and Omarosa. This on paper looks like a horrible mis-match. Kristi's team has all of the sociable people who get along, but all of the business savvy is on the other team and it's possible that Protege could spend the next 4 meetings in the Board Room.
Now for the weekly assignment - each team gets $1,000, and the teams need to go to a flea market, sell the wares that they have gotten for the $1,000, and try to make as much of a profit as they can. How do the teams prepare for this? Nick's team starts out with a plan immediately, as the women suggest to make t-shirts and jewelry and sell them for a much higher value. Tammy, who kept being the dissenter for the women's team, continues her role here. 'It is not smart for Nick to defer so many of the project manager tasks to the women on the team because this is NickÕs moment to shine. I think Nick will be back in the boardroom and I think he will get fired.' Is there anything that Tammy has done besides not complain? Yet she has not gotten to the Board Room because every team that she has been on has won. Talk about someone who is riding on coattails...but at least her team has a plan - which Kristi's team doesn't. They finally decide to sell dirt with seeds and flecks of gold. Wha? That's going to sell in New York? I am just waiting until Kristi takes her first trip to the Board Room.
The Donald's lesson for the week? 'Stand Up For Yourself.' This is one of the rules that I know by heart - If you don't stand up for yourself, neither will anybody else. Let's see if that comes into play on this episode...
Protege goes to a flea market - and that's not the one that they want to sell at, since no one was buying anything. They decide to try their luck in Chinatown - and Troy suggests that they use a
Nick and Katrina find a clothes rack in the dumpster - and Nick wants to get it, because he knows that if his team doesn't win, he's gone. Katrina, who was with him, goes right into the dumpster to get the clothes rack. They wheel the rack in to Trump Towers as Katrina tells him how sexy he looks carting the rack. Really? Hmmmmm.....
While Versacorp is creating their product and finalizing it's production, Protege are in Chinatown getting hats and other fashion accessories - but they are not the items that they will be selling. Troy asks Kristi if they have gotten a product yet, and she hems and haws before saying that they have found some nice mini-umbrellas. Troy says that there will be a rainstorm tomorrow and it would be a great idea to sell that if they will actually be sturdy. Kristi says that it's a decent product, but there is no way that the paper umbrellas will be good in a real rainstorm and I don't even have to watch the rest of this episode to see what's going to happen here.
As they are leaving, Kristi tells Omarosa to make sure that no money falls out of her pants. Omarosa squeezes the money in before they leave. If the money was that important, why not put it in a purse instead of someone's back pocket? Kristi did do a smart thing, as they booked an indoor booth and they said that they sold a decent amount of profit. Nick's team is stuck outside, where there is a rainstorm - and people do not traditionally go to outdoor flea markets in rainstorms.
But inside, Kristi's team isn't doing much better, as Heidi suggests that they work outside. The rain clears up, and Heidi talks to Omarosa about convincing Kristi to make up her mind and to move outside. As the rain clears, Nick asks Katrina her opinions about what they should do, and Katrina says not to panic. Nick says that it's smart to get advice from the women - and why not, since they have won 4 challenges. Katrina responds that Nick is a great leader, because he doesn't take all of the credit or the blame. Nick's team manages to sell everything - including the table - and the rack that they got out of the dumpster.
The very impressive work means that Kristi's team can not make any mistakes in terms of selling. Omarosa, who is the expert in counting the money, finds a mistake - she finds $186 missing from the ledger. Everyone double-checked and they don't find the money. All of the suspicion goes to Kristi and her butt, while Kristi accuses Omarosa of setting her up. We see the return of the cat's claws...
Versacorp made a profit of over $600, and Donald tells them that Nick was impressive. Bernie, on the other hand, tells Donald that Kristi's team made a loss of $78. Nick's team wins, and as a reward, they get to see George Steinbrenner. Kristi's team gets to go to the Board Room, and Kwame and Troy will be making their fifth straight trip to see The Donald.
Kristi takes the full responsibility for the loss - and although the rest of the team tries to convince her that it wasn't all of her fault, she is convinced that she's gone and she takes the loss very hard, tearing and being miserable.
Heidi is convinced that she and Omarosa are going to join her in the Board Room, and she tells Omarosa this, because she will not be bringing or either of the guys with her. While Heidi is cursing up a storm and singing her own rendition of 'Bitch', Omarosa is being start and is creating her own plan on how to defend herself against Kristi.
The victors are sensing all of the tension, and they tell Nick how dirty it's going to be in the Donald's business, while Nick feels that Kristi is going to be safe. Who cares about that? They are going to meet George Steinbrenner at the Yankee Offices. They get a tour of Yankee Stadium - and they get to see George Steinbrenner's Box Seats. George and Donald exchange a love fest between themselves and the winning team, and Nick is a very happy puppy. 'George guaranteed a victory when he bought the Yankees, I guaranteed a victory for my team. I'm feeling pretty good right now.'
But not everything it good in Mudville, as we still have a losing team to deal with. Omarosa and Heidi are still yapping, and Omarosa points out that she is a sensitive manager. They still talk about their preparations to get rid of her, and we may be Omarosa's first alliance, which would be a huge jump for her.
Kristi talks to Jessie about getting a game plan going on - and she tells her to follow a plan and to talk about what she did wrong - and about what they did wrong,. She also tells her to not counter-react or gripe until the Donald talks to her. Her gut tells her to trust Jessie, who is telling her not to overreact and to say as little as possible in terms of counterattacking so she doesn't look too over demanding.
It's time to go to the boardroom - and Kristi gets taken down for a bad plan, a bad project - and the disappearing money. 'The money disappeared between the hand and the ass.' Omarosa talked about the money and that it disappeared when she gave it to Kristi and she never saw it again. Heidi takes the high road and says that she doesn't know where the money disappeared to, but everyone else points the finger right at Kristi - including, Jessie, who was asked about where the fault was laid at - and she says that it was the Project Manager's fault. Ouch. That probably blew Kristi out of the water at that point - and her mind was probably so dazed due to Jessie turning on her that you can stick a fork in her and she'd be done for th evening. When asked on who to bring with her to the Boardroom, she should have gone after Jessie, but instead, she selects the 2 tiger sharks Omarosa and Heidi to bring with her, and I think that Kristi is as good as gone.
Carolyn and Bernie both tell Donald that Kristi is a good follower - but not necessarily a good leader. Donald even tells her that she was a superstar - until now. 'I saw Heidi fighting for her life, I saw Omarosa fighting for her life...you didn't fight for your life. You're fired.' Kristi asks if she can talk, but Donald said that it wasn't going to matter, and that she's gone.
So why did Kristi get booted? Well, sure, some people say it was because Jessie backstabbed her, but I didn't see as much as that, because Jessie did give her a plan to list out what happened - and Kristi didn't follow it at all because she didn't say anything in terms of why anyone else was to blame - and Jessie did tell her to say that. She knew that she was to blame for a lot of it, and even without Jessie saying anything, she was going to play it wrong because she wasn't going to defend the hardest accusations against her. You can't really blame Jessie, because she was never in the board room, so she didn't really know what to expect either. In the words of Bernie, 'She took the heat without any defense, which meant that it was all true.'
Omarosa has learned a lot - so she is still in the game - what happens when the people who don't want her in the game find out? We'll see in 7 days...
After seeing that the drama of the people inside their room waiting to see who comes back from the Board room seems to be a good way to start for the last 2 episodes, we'll do it for a third straight time. Jessie is completely expecting Omarosa to be gone - but as we all know - she is still there and Jessie's strategy with Kristi backfired on her in the worst way. She gets to find that out when Omarosa returns.
Reaction? Ereka is thrilled that Heidi is back - but Tammy's jaw drops as she spins around like one of those wacky cartoon characters that you would see in Tom and Jerry. Omarosa's reaction? 'Oh, are you surprised, Tammy? Did you think I was not going to hold my own?' she says, and then slinks off, staring daggers right into her. Any sort of good will between her and most of the people on her team is gone, and if the team didn't think that she was a superbitch before, well, I can't wait to see what she'll be doing in the future.
She immediately reacts - and she doesn't disappoint me by wanting to be the next project manager. 'During the last task, seeing a very, very weak Project Manager made me want to step up. Either I remain a team member and let someone else choose to put me up, or IÕm Project Manager and I choose to put someone else up.' It's an aggressive strategy to take, but I think that it's the right one, because she is looking to take fate into her own hands, instead of giving it to someone else. Jessie is looking at it in a positive way too - because either they will win, or Omarosa will be going home. Be careful what you ask for, Jessie...
As for the task itself - both teams have to get items from celebrities for an auction to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation. Each team will be talking to 5 celebrities to get items to be put up for auction; Versacorp's celebrities are Regis Philbin, Rocco Dispirito (the chef in Marc Burnett's The Restaurant), Carson Daly, Tiki Barber (Running back for the New York Giants), and Ed Bereno, (Third Watch executive producer), while Protege gets Russell Simmons, Kate White (Editor in Chief for Cosmopolitan), Nicole Miller, the 'Fab Five' of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and Isaac Mizrahi.
Whichever team gets the most money at the auction wins, and the losing team gets to see another member go bye-bye.
Omarosa quickly goes to work and tries to do her homework on their celebrities, which includes pronouncing Isaac Mizrahi's name correctly. The rest of her team wants to do homework by calling up the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation itself, which Omarosa likes - and likes so much that she wants to be the person to do it. Like Sam did before, she doesn't give out the phone number and hangs up on Kwame. That is not a good style of leadership and Kwame is justifiably steamed, realizing that they do have another Sam on the team. Jessie thinks that it would be better for everybody if Omarosa was gone.
Kwame, Omarosa and Troy meet up with Russell Simmons, who seems more than happy to help - until he listens to ideas from the suddenly flustered Kwame and Omarosa, which all appear (unlimited backstage passes for a year, New Year's Eve concert and after-party) seem unreasonable. Troy then comes in with a suggestion to have a one-night only event for someone and make them feel special. THAT, Russell will do, and they get that event for a donation.
That leads up to Trump's tip of the week - 'Know What You're Up Against'. It is vital to do your homework when you are negotiating with people. OMarosa's team may have done their homework with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, but they certainly didn't do any research on the celebrities - and they probably could have done much better with Russell Simmons if they knew more about him. Could that cost them down the stretch?
Let's see if Versacorp does any better when they speak to Carson Daly. He says that he can give them a limo ride with 8 tickets, which seems nice - until Tammy asks him to maybe get a round of golf with him and Tiger woods. Carson's reaction? 'What have you been drinking tonight?' adding that Tiger is busy and he can't control someone else's schedule. Well, that was a good try, but Carson says to shelf the golf ideas. Amy then goes back to the golf idea - and then Carson tells them to go back to Z-100. The rest of the group, who thinks that Tammy is a loose cannon, wants to send Tammy to the golf links, and Amy suggests that Tammy doesn't return with them to any other negotiating sessions.
Next up for Protege - the 'Fab Five'. Troy says that their job is to critique straight men, so he purposely takes off his belt and expects to be critiqued - and he does. 'You may as well be naked'. Troy thinks that he was in like Flynn with that, and he suggests to go out on the golf links. The Fab Five talk about doing something else including balls - bowling. Heidi is happy that she is working with Troy, and that deal gets done rather quickly.
Katrina's group meets with Tiki Barber, and they get a deal done with Tiki Barber, while Nick gets a chance to star in an episode of Third Watch from Ed Bereno. Next up is a trip to Rocco's Restaurant - and Amy wants him to auction off his most expensive wine, which gets a weird stare from Rocco. Amy - 'When Tammy comes with us, we can pretty consistently expect her to say something at a meeting that we wish we can erase.'
Omarosa wines and dines with Kate White, who is impressed that she did her homework - and that gets them a nice deal. Next up - Isaac Mizrahi. Did Omarosa get the pronunciation of his name right? She doesn't have to look like an ass - Jessie does it for her, as she talked slowly like he didn't understand English. Omarosa notices that Isaac is going nuts - her team is going nuts, and more importantly, George the reviewer is not happy. Jessie isn't happy when Omarosa tries to interrupt to salvage this discussion, and Isaac isn't happy about the idea, but Troy saves the day when he suggests the winner gets a sneak peak into Isaac's fashion show for the 7th on 6th showcase coming up. Everyone is happy about that - and then Omarosa, on the way out, mangles his name anyway. Despite that, everyone thinks that Jessie was the poorest performer on the team - and George was watching. Hmmmm....
Versacorp is trashing Tammy in the taxi the whole way home. Nick - 'Tammy is not only not on the same page, she's not reading the same book.' Nick and Amy get into a playful tiff about shushing Amy, and they laugh about it on the way back. Is Amy and Nick seeing some sparks?
More importantly, will Tammy screw up again when they meet her idol - Regis Philbin? Amy suggests a morning with Regis, but he says that he gets up very early, gets some cereal, and feeds his cat 'Maybe thy can help me feed my cat.' Tammy suggests an exciting weekend with him, Joy and another couple (what is it with Tammy and Trips?) which Regis balks at. Trying to shut her up immediately, Amy suggests a night in Atlantic City with him as he is performing, and Regis goes with that. On the way out, there is a sign that you are supposed to hit (for good luck) - a la the Notre Dame football warm up group. Tammy is too short to reach the sign while everyone else hits it as they leave. Foreshadowing?
It now comes down to the auction. How beguiling are the prizes and who comes down to the auction? We start with bowling with Queer Eye for the Straight Guy - and that gets $9,000. Versacorp counters with the 'Day with Regis' and it gets only $6,000 (+$3,000 for Protege)
Next round - lunch with Isaac Mizrahi, which gets $7,000. Private Party for 50 people at Rocco's gets $13,000 ($19,000 Vs. $16,000, Versacorp).
Kate White gets $6,000, Third Watch gets $7,000, for a third round score of $26,000 Vs. $22,000, Versacorp. 4th round - Nicole Miller for 15 days as an apprentice - $6,000. The Tiki Barber set of clothing only gets $4,000, so the lead is now $30,000 Vs. $28,000, Versacorp.
The final item - A day with Russell Simmons for $7,000. Versacorp must get at least $6,000 for the Carson Daly experience for the win. It gets up to $8,000 and the game is over. It eventually gets to $10,000, making the final score $40,000 Vs. $35,000, Versacorp. Perhaps the touching of the good luck sign is good luck, because Tammy will not be eliminated - because her team didn't lose. During their party, the group doesn mention to her that she is in left field, and even though she says that if the ball is hit to her, she'll catch it, it should signify to her that she is the outsider looking in. She's probably as good as gone if her team ever loses - but as long as she stays under the radar, and her team wins, she's still in the game.
The Donald congratulates both teams because they made a total of $75,000 - but Protege has to go back to the Boardroom. The Donald does congratulate Omarosa for a great job because $35,000 is still a nice number to raise - and that should signal to her that she isn't going anywhere - and that whoever she picks will probably be going.
Conversely, no one on Versacorp will be going anywhere on this episode. 'I love this team' says Amy to Versacorp, as Amy, Katarina, Tammy and Ereka has never seen the insides of Trump's Boardroom. Nick and Amy have seen a lot of each other's hotel rooms. Could this be an item? Maybe...or maybe not, according to Nick. 'Women have been the cause of a lot of guy's downfalls - it ain't going to be me.' We'll see about that...
But Omarosa could be the cause of someone's downfall at Protege. At least she is upfront, thinking that she could go toe-to-toe with any of them - and she tells Jessie that she was horrible. She notes that when Jessie screwed up, she did so in front of George, and she knows that she can get rid of her because George has seen her in action. A tearful Jessie says that if Omarosa goes after her, then she'll question Omarosa's character.
At the boardroom, Kwame said that Omarosa did a fantastic job. Heidi says that everyone did a great job - but when pressed by Donald, Heidi said that Jessie did the worst job - and Kwame seconded her. When asked about Heidi, Omarosa said that she was fantastic. That should have been good right there, but she opened up her mouth and said that in the past, she didn't have any class and proceeds to bad-mouth her. Donald? 'That was one of the worst compliment that I have ever heard.' Heidi takes a little offense to that - but she says that she likes her. Donald keeps asking them if they are in the least bit hurt, but they both say that they like Omarosa. Donald tells them that they should be insulted by how Omarosa was speaking to them 'You either aren't telling the truth, or you're not very bright.' Ouch.
Let's see - she was nice to Kwame and Troy, yet spoke down to Heidi and Jessie. Omarosa, as can be expected, brings Jessie and Heidi with her to the Boardroom. George wasn't thrilled about Omarosa's leadership qualities - and neither was Carolyn. Trump gives Jessie one more catch and asks Jessie why she shouldn't be fired - and she goes into character development. That wasn't good enough for the Donald, and even though Omarosa was very rude - 'but worse than you're rudeness was the way that Jessie took it.' The problem was that she took it - and Jessie is fired. She tries to protest - but it's too late now and that was something that she should have done earlier. That was clearly a warning shot to Omarosa - and Heidi knows to stand up for herself. IF they lose next week, it's clearly going to be very nasty in that Board Room.
Will we get to see sparks fly? Or will the love nest start to be developing thorns? We'll find out next week.
'Annoying', 'Pestering', 'Incompetent', 'Won't Go Away'. Those words, 3 episodes ago, referred to Sam. The words now, can refer to 2 people - Omarosa, who is not yet eliminated by Trump, and Tammy, who is not yet eliminated because she has yet to be on a losing team.
Since they are on opposing teams, one of those people may be getting her walking papers - but we start off with Omarosa returning once again to visit the rest of the group by saying that she's still here - but that may change now that her biggest ally, Heidi, tells everyone that she is classless and looked unprofessional by calling Heidi classless in the Board Room. That seems to galvanize everyone, which means that if Omarosa loses again, she is going to get trashed.
Omarosa's team has been trashed in the recent competitions, so when The Donald calls everyone over, he tells Protege to pick out a member from Versacorp to that the teams are even at 5. Kwame tells The Donald that they are selecting Amy, and we see Nick and Amy's relationship temporarily dampened.
What isn't dampened, though, is the spirit of competition, and this competition is to select an apartment, renovate it, and sell it for the higher value than what it was worth beforehand. The teams have 72 hours to do it - and the losing team loses a person.
While the teams were talking, a little piece of plaster falls on Omarosa's head. While she says that she is ok, it looks like the little piece of plaster will be causing a big piece of ruckus later. Causing a ruckus now are the two project managers, Katrina and Troy, as they look at the buildings. Katrina, who has a real estate background, says that this is a perfect challenge for her, while Troy agrees that she will be a tough adversary. We've heard people say that their backgrounds have been good before - and then have the failure of those tasks lead to their dismissal, so we'll see what happens here...
The first building is Court Street which has a value of $1,500. The second building is 3rd street, which has a value of $1,200. Both people had to negotiate as to which building that they want. Both people want third street.
The negotiations get interesting as Troy knows that Katrina is the better real estate person - and Katrina sense (rightfully so) that Troy is trying to siphon off of her knowledge. They decide to write out which apartment that they want. Katrina writes the 3rd street complex, while Troy write out 'I want what you want.' - which is funny, but it infuriates Katrina, who calls him a sleazeball and despicable and the most untrustworthy person that she's met. They settle it on a coin flip - which Troy wins. He picks 3rd street, which leaves Katrina fuming and bitching to her teammates.
Reaction? Troy wins the round - and he may win the episode - but he may have lost the war, because his reputation as a dirty dealer may have gotten to the team - and Trump. It seems that Trump frowns on unethicalitis - and you now have someone who has done 2 major ones - this and the Kwame Brown debacle at Planet Hollywood. Whoever can get into that Board Room and successfully string all of Troy's unethicalities together will send him packing. What's more, Troy may have made a few enemies, which could come back to haunt him when/if it moves to individual play.
What's haunting the teams now is the state of disarray that both apartments are in. Troy, Amy and Heidi are painting, while Kwame is eating and Omarosa is dictating what needs to be done. That scene should say a lot. 'I think Omarosa is having meetings for meeting's sake because she does not want to get down and dirty.' says Amy - and methinks that she is right.
But we get a dark cloud into the party. Heidi's mom is in the opening stages of Stage 1 colon cancer - and mom has called Heidi to tell her. Heidi says that she will leave if needed - but the family tells her to stay in the competition, and she will - for now.
This week's lesson? 'God id in the Details.' The details reflect in the price as to what things are worth - which is why he is up early to see everything. 'You can spend $10 for the Carwash - and get another $200 for the car.' Ereka is awoken by the drills that are trying to make their apartment look better - and her team is discussing the price for the apartment.
Meanwhile. Heidi is concerned about her mom - but mom wants her to stick it out, so she will. Heidi would love to eliminate Omarosa, who is complaining about her head. Amy thinks that Omarosa is using it as an excuse while Heidi calls her 'Worthless and Useless'. She'll have another reason to bitch out Omarosa, because as Heidi goes out to walk - she notices that Omarosa is playing basketball with 2 kids. This drives her nuts, and she can't wait to get back into the Board Room.
Katrina, trying avoid going to the Board Room, hires a contractor to survey the place and it only costs them $1,500 - thanks to Katrina's feminine ability. Bill - 'Do you think we'd be able to get him to do that? It's a woman's world. we're living in, Nick.' The problem is that the woman who isn't living up to the standpoint is Tammy, who once again is living up to her role as the royal scarer. She is scaring Katrina as she asks for clearly undoable things from the contractor, to the point that Katrina tells Tammy not to talk to them. 'Tammy adds absolutely no value to the team. In fact , she only adds obstacles and I feel like I have to babysit her.'
The houses are renovated - and they look nice. Katrina is convinced that she outdid Troy, while Troy is determined to beat Katrina. Now the teams need to be determined to get someone to buy the apartment - and it's not looking good for Troy's team as some of the furnishings are falling down. Katrina's team isn't doing much better either - as it's 3:15 and neither team has secured a buyer yet - remember, this needs to be done in 72 hours - and the 72nd hour is 5pm.
It's 4:15 - and everyone is getting anxious. Bill finally got someone - but she is going low and Bill only gets $1,650 - which is a 10% markup. That means that the only team only needs to sell their place by more than $1,320 - and in this market, it should be very simple to do. It is - they get someone to rent out the place for $1,525 - a 27% increase. They all give Heidi a hug for support - but Kwame and Omarosa are not in the hug, and that could speak volumes.
While waiting to go to the Board Room, Omarosa is still complaining about her headache to Tammy - which pisses off Katrina, who is mad that Omarosa is creating drama with the headache, while Heidi, who has had her mom take care of cancer, is not creating any drama.
Time to go to the Board room for the results. Carolyn was very happy with the effort and shows the 10% - but George says that his team was a 27% increase. Katrina cries foul, saying that Troy was unethical and dishonest. Donald says that Troy duped Katrina, and Katrina denies it, adding that The Donald probably doesn't want anyone to be dishonest into his company. Tammy then pipes in, saying that Katrina was duped, which gets the whole group rolling in laughter - except Katrina, who is staring daggers at Tammy. Nonetheless, even though Katrina lost, I think she won in the long run, learning a lesson from Trump and setting up the groundwork to get rid of Troy, should he wind up back in the Board Room.
Troy's team, however, isn't going to the Board Room, as they get to go to a picnic in the country. Before that happens, Donald asks Heidi if she wants to continue? Heidi says that she wants to stay - and she asks not to be judged with that in mind. Donald makes sure that everyone wants her to stay - and he looked really well in that exchange. Heidi agrees, saying that Donald was more like a friend than a mogul. At the picnic, Omarosa's headache is suddenly gone and Amy, although she despises OMarosa, is going to make sure that her team keeps winning - which unfortunately means that she will also keep Omarosa in the game.
Katrina's team, however, will be losing a member, as they go to the Board Room. She s plotting with Ereka to get rid of Tammy, as she is fuming about what Tammy said in the Board Room. Bill want to know if Katrina is going to say who she is bringing with her to the Board Room - but she says no and she is putting Bill up for not charging a high price in the negotiations. Ereka is trying to convince Tammy that they weren't duped, but Tammy just isn't getting it and everyone wants her gone.
Will the Donald feel the same way? Carolyn asked Tammy why she didn't deal with the negotiations - and she defended herself by delegating it to Bill. Bill defends himself by saying that he needs better prospects coming in. Donald goes after Tammy for going against the team. Tammy says that she was defending Troy - but you don't defend someone on the other team, as the team takes the advantage and calls her disloyal. Katrina predictably brings Katrina and Bill with her to be judged, and Nick and Ereka are safe.
Who's going home? Carolyn wasn't impressed with Katrina - but she said that Tammy didn't bring anything to the table. George wasn't impressed with Katrina either - but it's clear that she wasn't the cause of the failure. Donald admits that Troy caused some bad blood. Katrina does the right thing here, and goes into why Tammy should be gone, adding that she had to concentrate energy into babysitting her, which stopped Katrina from being effective. Tammy counters by saying that Katrina is pointing fingers. Tammy's argument is weak - and not effective enough. Donald tells Tammy that due to her being ineffective, getting into the team's way, and being a general detriment, she's fired.
Donald thought the decision was much tougher than George did, who said that Tammy brings nothing to the table. Next week's Board Room promises (according to NBC) to be the best one ever, which means that we should be seeing the final round of Heidi Vs Omarosa. I'll be here next week, selling the tickets to the fight.
On the last show, We saw the wacky Tammy finally eliminated from the show. Will this mean that better things are in store for Protege? Or will they pull a Sam and continue to spiral downwards?
Amy is happy that Katrina and Bill return - without Tammy, and Nick and Troy are happy - but because it's game time. Bill is back - but now he has an axe to grind with Katrina and Ereka, since he felt that he should not have been brought to the Board Room. The people become fewer, the tensions are higher...
...and no one can be more stressed out than Heidi, who's mom has cancer - and she's the most stressed out with Omarosa, who is still claiming to have a headache from the plaster that fell on her head. OMarosa thinks that she has been a trooper about it, but it's grating on the rest of the women, who are contempting her right now. Amy - 'She is a scheming , conniving Bitch.' Ouch.
The teams better be scheming now, as the next plan has been set out. Trump decides that the next challenge will be branding-related, as he unleashes his new product - Trump Ice water. The team that sells the most of it wins. The winning project manager gets a helicopter with 2 of their teammates. The losing project manager will also get to bring 2 of their teammates - to the Board Room.
Troy is starting to create a campaign - and he is starting to feel a little full of himself. Amy is concerned that he is being a little bit used-car salesmanish, but thats what's been working so far. Ereka is thrilled to be the Project Manager - but Bill calls her emotional and he is concerned about her leadership. He is even more frustrated when his ideas, which sound very good, are being dismissed by ereka - and usually when that happens, it's the leader that's usually dismissed from the game. Despite this, Bill masks his frustration and succeeds in selling the first water of the game - 2 palates (12 cases) worth.
The lesson of the week 'Beggars Can't Be Choosers'. You won't be able to sell anything if you beg - if the strategy doesn't work, then take your lumps and move on. Troy does this, asking for space for water, which has the bar owner asking if they have the product outside. Meanwhile, Omarosa and Amy are going to sell water together - and they have an agreement that if Omarosa says something bad, then Amy will kick her. Omarosa will be having problems walking by the time the day is over, because she is completely mangling the strategy of what they are doing. They are selling water - but not nearly as much (in terms of both quality and price) that Amy wanted. They wanted 1,500 cases - but they haven't sold nearly enough. Amy has had enough of Omarosa. 'She can't sell her way out of a paper bag.'
We have the same tension between Ereka and Nick. 'She's trying to tell me how to sell - it's like trying to tell the pope how to pray.' Nick wants Ereka to be less hands-on, while everyone wants to cut Omarosa's hands off. Her and Kwame go out for...hairstyling? Yes, she gets prettied up, but they sell 2 cases.
Troy gets an idea - instead of selling them all in one shot, he says that he can send out orders if terms of weekly shipments - and he can get them all out that way. They love that idea - and that may be the one that put them over the top. Nick, conversely, wants to bring them to the promised land - but he winds up giving out free water instead. Oops. Bill - 'Nick is one of those people who jumps out of a plane before learning how to use the parachute.' To add to it, Nick doesn't fill out the paperwork properly - and some of their transactions aren't going to be approved. Ereka blames Nick, Nick blames Ereka, and Bill looks like he wants to sell tickets to the fighting event - and wondering if he can use the proceeds for the water sales. Sorry, Bill, you can't...
The sales have been tabulated - and it's time to figure out what to do with the time while everyone is waiting. Kwame works out, while Bill, Amy, Nick and Omarosa do a little dancing, where Nick puts the moves on Amy - and Katrina, who sees the reserved Nick turn into a Cyrano, thinks that she could be his downfall. Even OMarosa is hugging Nick. Yikes! Bill puts it the best 'There was a love fest, and in 12-15 hours, there's going to be war.'
Fastforward to 12 hours later. The war is starting, and the returning George fires the first shot - $6,283.45 for Protege. Carolyn's group, Versacorp, only sold $4,015.93 - so they take the loss. Heidi, the Project Manager, takes Troy and Amy with her to the helicopter ride, while Ereka's group crashes and burns. To celebrate, Heidi calls mom and tells her that she won, and she sniffles about it and tells her much she loves her. AwwwwBarf. The helicopter ride makes her feel better, as they fly around the statue of liberty. Amy thinks that this rates as the best prize yet...
...but what's even better is that they don't have to go to the Board Room. Ereka says that she is bringing in Bill - but only as a measure of support. The real person that she wants to eliminate is Nick, dut to his lack of sales. Bill, knowing that Ereka stabbed her the last time, is very wary, and I have to agree. She is much better off bringing in Katrinas an ally. She is also making a mistake to tell Nick that he is going to the Board Room - because now Nick has a chance to think of a strategy to defend himself. 'If she slings mud in this direction, it's a bad move. I'll ask her leading questions that will cause her to implode.'
At the Board Room, we find out that the team lost on Distribution - which is Nick's specialty. Ereka goes after Nick, saying that he didn't do his homework, but NIck said that he did and went to the website. He accuses Ereka of being frazzled - but Ereka accuses Nick that she was fixing Nick's mistakes and brings out the papers with all of the distribution numbers. Katrina says that Ereka did a good job - and Donald tells Katrina that she's doing it because she is not going to be selected. Sure enough, she isn't, and Bill and Nick are joining Ereka into the final deliberations. Donald - 'Ereka, your girlfriend just gave you a break.' Does that mean that Katrina was in bigger trouble in that challenge than we were led to believe?
Regardless of if she was, she is safe, and the deliberations start. They don't like Nick's lack of sales repore. George says that what's worse is someone who can't control their emotions. Donald tells BIll to shut up - and that he's safe - but he is asked who did the worse job. He says Ereka, because she dismissed most of his ideas, and Ereka looks like she would fire Bill - right through the window. Donald goes right after the fact that Katrina wasn't selected because they were friends - and that Bill shouldn't have been there. That decision to save Katrina (and leaving in Bill, who applied the final knife sheathing) has doomed her, as Trump cans her for being too emotional. 'In business, that could just kill you.'
The nastiness continues after the Board Room. Bill offers to shake her hand, but Ereka declines, saying 'You sold me out.' Bill retorts with 'Short memory' and they leave. Ouch.
The cuts will be more painful next week, as we are down to half of the staff. We have eliminated the people who can't defend themselves, and now we are down to 8 pit bulls. The next Board Rooms should be a lot of fun - and next week could be the most fun of them all...
'Ereka was the one person that I stood by because I believes in what she stood for. Now, it's just about me and the job.'
That comes from Katrina, who was not happy that Ereka is gone. She's even less happy when Omarosa is smirking that one of her enemies are gone - and she's still there. When the men come back, Nick and Bill talked to Katrina in her room - and they even admitted that if any combination of a her and a guy were in the Board Room, the guy would be gone. They also told her that it was bad, to the point that Ereka wouldn't shake Bill's hand when she left. It seems like they are smoothing out things so that they can work as a team...
...which is good, because the teams will now be meeting in front of the Metropolitan Museum. Trump tells both teams that Versacorp, since they are down 5 people to 3, will be able to select someone from Protege. Nick, of course, infatuated with Amy, selects her - but Trump thinks it's a bad move, since he notes that she is the only person moving from team to team, which indicates to him that she is the reason for the success. He has a point for another reason - Amy has NEVER been on a team that has gone to the Board Room - and if that continues, no one will be able to come close to her. 'Maybe what you're telling me is that I should give her the job right now.'
To keep Amy out of the Board Room, the teams will be selecting one of a selection of artists. After the artist is chosen, the team will then have an art gallery exposition, and the team that makes the most amount of money from selling their artwork wins. 'This is a tough one, because what makes good art is entirely subjective. There is no market value, so you need to think this one entirely through.'
Kwame, who is Protege's project manager, says that it's going to be tough. They start with Giles, who believes in Jackson Pollack style of are - and he likes to put his body hair and toenail clipping in it as well. Ewwwww. He then invites them all to touch his art and body parts. Ewwwwwwww. Heidi, when stuck with dealing with Omarosa again, looks like she'd rather eat the art, toenail clippings and all.
Versacorp's first artist visit was Andre, who's art was admired by both Nick and Katrina. He does nature paintings which do look very nice. He uses paint and weaves a story around it, in an intelligent, sophisticated way. Bill and Amy meet Leah who paints art out of snapshots of her life. They both fall in love with her work as well.
Protege meets Meghan, who Heidi finds passionate - and creepy. She sells peculiar extreme items, like paintings called 'Psyche and Smut', about a girl named psyche and her sister called smut - in a city ruled by frog concubines. Uh....yeah. What makes her attractive? Her average painting price - $4,000. According to Kwame - 'If we sell 3 to 4 of Meghan's work, we're going to win this easily.' Yeah - IF you can SELL three to four pieces.
Trump's advice for the week 'You've Gotta Believe' You have to believe in what you sell. If you don't, then you'll never be able to sell it, and you'll be miserable.
Everyone wants to go after Meghan - except Omarosa, who wants them to go after Leah. She is overrule, and they go with Macabre Meghan. 'Art is all about risk - let's take a risk.' Omarosa? 'I'm going to take the frog smoking opium.'
Nick and Katrina realize that Andre already has a fan base, while Leah is an up and coming artist. With the team tied at 2, Nick makes the executive decision with Andre. Amy is not thrilled with the decision, but Nick is the Project Manager, and that's who they select = knowing that if they lose, Nick is probably done.
Protege starts the gallery at 7am - and George acknowledges that they took a risk. Heidi is doing her homework and asks Leah about what the work is. She gives her a bizarre explanation, which is making Heidi's head spin. Omarosa's head is also spinning, and she wants to get food. Heidi says that they have time for a quick bite, but Omarosa says that her head hurts and she needs to take her time. Unbeknownst to Omarosa, Heidi called Kwame, and he is listening to all of the bickering that's going on. 'She always has a headache when it's task time. When it's reward time, she doesn't have a headache. he is such a lunatic b$tch.' It gets worse when the women are eating and it ends in both of them cursing each other out and eating in separate areas. It's getting so bad that even Troy and Kwame are making fun of Omarosa.
It's the night of the gallery, and both teams are waiting for their guests to arrive. Bill is concerned, but Nick tells him that it's always slow for the first hour and reaffirms that it's going to be ok. Nick says that if you're the manager, that they should never let them see you flustered. Sure enough, during hour #2, they get people - and they get a couple of sales. Nick talks about his he is making everything ok, but they are selling.
Now, as for Protege, thy are not doing as well. Actually, they are sucking wind, as they haven't been able to sell ANYTHING. The people who are selling the work are not doing a good job in terms of that, as Troy tells one of the buyers, 'The process of this painter far exceeds my comprehension.' Uh...yeah. Omarosa is enjoying this, as she is the art expert, and she is watching people screw up painting after painting. Heidi is saying how one painting, which has a sliding section, is a toilet bowl cover, while Meghan says that it's a fireplace covering. Oops.
It comes to this point - Madeline, who is the head of the gallery tells the group that despite them being MBA's, they lack the communication skills to relay the meaning of the art to the potential buyers. That's pretty much what Versacorp has been doing that Protege hasn't. Omarosa complains about the art and makes a mention that none of this was her idea. She does sell a piece for $869, and Kwame thinks that they need to sell a few more pieces, since $869 is 'cutting it close'.
Did they sell a few more pieces? In the Board Room, The Donald asks the teams who picked out their artists. Nick said that he made an executive decision for his team, and Amy and Bill, even though they disagreed at first, thought that Andre was amazing from both the sales and aesthetic pattern. Kwame said that it was a team decision, and that they selected the artist due to the high price point, even though they weren't fond of the artist. Just the $869. We already know that Versacorp sold more than that - we just didn't find out how much more - until now - 8 pieces for $13,600. That is a blowout, and Donald even says that the losing team was creamed.
The winning project manager - Nick - gets 10 minutes to speak with Donald Trump. The losing team - which Amy once AGAIN was not on - will be losing one of their on members. Nick was happy that he went with his gut, as he knows that if he lost, he would have been canned. In his meeting with Trump, he asks him what he's looking for. Donald says energy - and he is impressed with Nick's. He said that he learned a lot from his dad, and he stressed the relationship with his parents. Donald tells him to keep it going, and regardless of how it turns out, Trump thinks that he is going to be successful.
We now turn our attention to the unsuccessful team - but Heidi is getting comfort that her mom is doing well. She knows that Kwame is taking her to the Board Room. The question is that is he going to take Troy because he likes Omarosa, or Omarosa for strategic purposes? Omarosa talks to Bill, wondering how Troy contributed, and she thinks that Kwame won't take her because she was his advisor and went against her advice - but if he did nominate her, she would 'have to take a brother down'. As for Heidi? Every time her team has lost, she has been in the Board Room. 'If I lost and I was the project manager, I will have to nominate myself just to be consistent.'
At the Board Room, Donald says that this has been the biggest disaster so far. Kwame says that he took a risk - and that Omarosa was the lone dissenter. Trump praised her, but George said that it wouldn't have mattered in terms of who they selected because they didn't work as a team. Heidi says that Omarosa wasn't working with them, and she defended herself that she had a concussion. Trump goes after Omarosa with the concussion, and Kwame backs Heidi's assessment that Omarosa is overdramatic as he brings the two ladies with him, saving Troy.
She is not helping her overdramatic cause afterwards, as she hugs Kwame and cries about her concussion. Heidi is sitting on the couch staring at this. Omarosa realizes that she may be in trouble, and she makes one last dramatic effort by breaking into Donald Trump's office - which is something that you NEVER do to ANYBODY. She has to backpeddle and accused Heidi of cursing her out, which caused the delay in working.
Donald tells Heidi that she has an edge, but the competition is about leadership and getting along with the team - something which Omarosa has said from day one that it didn't matter. The Donald doesn't like excuses, and the lunch coupled with Omarosa's behavior solidified the deal. Omarosa, described as having a huge chip on her shoulder, thanks The Donald for the opportunity and then walks out of the courtroom (A La Camille in Next Top Model) and doesn't say good-bye to anyone as she slinks to the elevator. It's not like she would say anything to Heidi, and Kwame looks like a huge 120 pound weight has been lifted from his back.
Heidi will be celebrating - but how long will that last when someone pisses off Carolyn? We'll see if upsetting a woman is worse than upsetting a man on the next episode.
This is the episode after Omarosa leaves - and everyone is ecstatic. 'I wanted to have some electric shock - but they said that they didn't have any' says Troy, who is relieved that Omarosa is gone. Heidi is thrilled and does the ;Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead' dance that Tom made famous on Survivor - and she is also happy that the operation that her mom had was successful. She prioritizes her family first, then the competition.
Speaking of the competition, that comes next as the group meets at 9:30 am in front of a set of rickshaws. THose rickshaws are the next challenge, as Donald says that transportation in the city is a disaster (and I agree). Each team has a shift from 10am to 6pm to try to get as much money as they can be operating the rickshaws. Whoever makes the most money wins.
Kwame is the team leader, but Kwame has the great idea - how can they get money besides giving people rides on Rickshaws? Troy comes up with another good idea - prepaid rickshaw cards (like a bus ticket) that they can use any time that they need to.
On the other side, Bill, who won the coin toss, is the team captain and he suggests that they all dress up in character outfits. Katrina suggests Ben Affleck and Sharon Stone, which isn't a good idea - but Amy's idea of selling advertising is a great idea which could be the key to the win. They call back all of their old clients to see if they could get the advertising. 'We could be like NASCARS...if we put this together, it could be a bloodbath.'
The cards for Versacorp are done, and Troy decides to cold call the companies - something that Heidi doesn't think will work. Heidi seems to be distracted by her mom's situation, and Kwame is making a note of it. Hmmmm...
Bill is letting the ladies do the talking, and that's doing very well. Amy calls up Marquis Jets, and he said that he'll do it - IF Amy and Katrina wear the Marquis clothing line, too. Amy says that it's a deal, and Marquis Jets is in.
Bill talks to Katrina about selling big ticket items - and Katrina, says that she knows about it because Heidi told her that her team is trying to do that. Katrina also adds that she is feeling slighted because it's convenient to talk to her about her looks when he needs to sell a product, but he consistently ignores her when it comes to ideas. 'I'm not successful because I dress cute.'. Bill's response? 'Katrina doesn't like the way I lead. My response? Step aside, then.' My response? Both Bill and Nick seem to use that tactic, and the slighted women could come back to bite both of them at the end.
Trump's lesson? Thinking Out of th Box - sure, it's a cliche, but it's a successful one, and the people who are the most successful will take that one to heart. Kwame brings back the incentive program and tells the drivers that whoever gets the most money at both noon and the end of the day makes an extra $100. Versacorp is making much more than that as they have advertising plastered all over their rickshaws.
One of the advertisers banners get destroyed, and Nick thinks that they should call the company and give them a few hundred dollars back. Bill disagrees, saying that they got some value, but Nick insists and Bill sends him off to meet him. That impressed me, as Nick is more concerned with his ethics than Bill's ideas of saving every penny. 'Without your reputation, you're pretty much finished.'
Nick speaks to Alberto, who is thrilled that he is getting a $250 credit. Bill's reaction? 'That sucks', as he is concerned about losing the competition and getting sacked. Nick realizes that the company is much more important than a $250 refund, and although Amy is also upset, Katrina doesn't say anything, nods, and notices George taking notes...
Both teams seem to be doing well with getting customers - but Kwame, who apparently hasn't seen the Yaphet Kotto episode in TV Nation, can't get anyone to go with him on a ride. Amy and Katrina get the same treatment, with Katrina getting upset that Amy is using her body to get rides.
We have more frustration at the other side as Troy, who is trying to sell the cards, is not getting any business. They all reconvene in a restaurant and they decide to go out, change their clothes and go out and have fun. Kwame turns into the 'Rickshaw Cowboy' and they are making money and having fun - until Heidi mouths off to the customers - and then notices that Versacorps rickshaws had advertising all over it. 'That's a great idea.' says Troy. 'I didn't think of it...we were looking up the ass of a dead dog with fleas if we thought that we were going to go up against that and win.'
Versacorp is digging out the shallow grave for the dead dog as Nick and Bill count the money from the drivers. Even though they didn't get much money, Amy is convinced that the team won, while Katrina is about to sharpen her knives and dig into Bill if they lose and Bill takes her to the Board Room. Protege may have done better with the fares - was it enough to offset the advertising? As they go into the Board Room, the answer is...no. George says that Versacorp made $621.39 on the cab - but picked up $3,450 on the advertising with people that they dealt with before. Their total profit was $3,681 for the day. On the other side, Protege didn't think of advertising and they only made $382,68. Troy admitted that they didn't think of advertising - and he admitted that they took a pretty good thumping.
Versacorp wins again - and as a reward, they get to go on George's yacht for the day. The losing team sees a member go bye-bye, and according to The Donald, 'At this stage of the game, I was not impressed...I may just fire all of you.' OUCH.
on the yacht, Versacorp had some drinks and enjoyed the moment. Katrina notices that Amy and Nick are still making googly eyes at each other. 'They are playing each other in some sort of strange way...I think in the end, Nick will win.' Nick thinks that being aligned with her is good, while Amy's goal is to make it to the end without every losing. We'll see if that happened and if it does, she is probably a shoo-in to win the whole thing.
Thinking about winning is the furthest way from Versacorp, as they are planning the defenses. Troy jokes around with Heidi and Kwame, telling them that he is bringing both of them - which is cute, because they are the only people left on the team. Troy and Kwame seem to have a warrior's bond between them, while Heidi tells Katrina that her mom is more important than winning the cab challenge. That may be great in real life, but I am sensing that Heidi, who isn't thinking about the challenge,, could be mentally unprepared this time around.
Versacorp hits the board room, where Donald scolds them for being badly beaten. 'I didn't see any good ideas from any of you.' Troy thought his card idea was good. 'Our idea was great, theirs was brilliant, and that's the way it goes.' Heidi is accused of disagreeing, but she wasn't - but the Donald may have been hinting that she should have - and she does say that it was Troy's idea.
They talked about driving the rickshaw, and Kwame says that it wasn't successful, saying that he got no customers. He is asked who he would throw out, he would say Heidi, only because he's been with Troy longer. Heidi would select to get rid of Troy, and Troy is asked to only bring one person with him to the Board Room. Troy selects...Kwame to stay up, because he did a good job, while Trump counters it by saying that Kwame spend the whole afternoon running around in a rickshaw getting no customers.
The Donald is intonating that Kwame did the worse job, but troy goes with the allegiance, something that Heidi calls him on when they are in the hall. She calls Troy an '@$$hole', and tells him that he knew that she did better and that he was just covering for him. I have to agree with that, and it's a toss-up now in terms of who is going to get fired.
Back in the Board Room, George says that Heidi came up with nothing, but that Troy came up with a lousy idea. Carolyn counters it by saying that at least Troy came up with something, while Heidi has been riding on coattails for most of the show. OUCH. Troy and Heidi come back, and Troy says that she is a good salesperson while he has been selected for three tasks. Carolyn gets into it with Heidi telling her that Troy has been leader for 3 times while Heidi has only been the leader once, and she accuses of setting Troy up for the fall.
Donald says that people have said that Troy is a good leader - but he also remarks that no one has said the dame about Heidi. George tells both of them that neither of them would survivor in a corporate environment and there shouldn't be any explanations. Troy thought that they wanted one, and Donald does - but not 'a long and boring one that put me to sleep.'
Trump decides that the difference is the following - Troy had lost as a team leader - but at least he's been up there three times. Heidi hasn't contributed as either a leader or a follower, and hence, she's fired. 'I just don't think that she has the leadership qualities to run one of my companies.' Troy and Heidi exchange a hug and she leaves to visit her mother.
We get a week's break due to a recap - and the NCAA tournament - and then the final 6 get to go down to Atlantic City. Tune in next week to see who comes up snake eyes.
This week we take a gamble to Atlantic City - but everyone is hedging their bet that Heidi would be gone. They are right, as Troy shows up - which causes everyone to celebrate...
...until the next morning, where the crew is summoned down to Trump's office in the lobby. George isn't here - so Mark Brown, who organizes Trump's hotels, will be taking over. Versacorp will also be taking over one of Protege's members - and Troy picks Bill, because 'Amy's had enough kudos as it is.'
This week, Mr. Trump sense everyone down to Atlantic City via bus. The objective is to create a promotion that will bring new members to sign up for a promotion. It's not the most members that win - it's the members signed up that spend the most amount of money in the casino. The teams have from 10am to 10pm to get people, and one member of the losing team will be cashing out.
Amy is the manager of versacorp, and a seemingly jealous Katrina just wants to make sure that she does a good job - and will try to stay away from the relationship of Nick and Amy. Not everything is roses in Protege either - Bill hates the style that Troy uses to lead - but Kwame is the leader, and he selected Bill because he knows that Bill will get the things that he heed to be accomplished done.
Troy, Kwame and Bill are doing work in the back of the bus. They wonder what the three in the front are doing - and they are sleeping, which irks Troy. If Amy's group loses...
They are greeted by Mark in AC, as he tells the group that the objective is to keep the people in AC happy. Troy realizes that it's not the quantity of people they bring in - it's the quality, so he is designing a plan with Kwame to attract the high roller. In Versacorp, Katrina is pitching ideas from bringing in belly dancer to tigers to offering a car - and Amy is staring at her like she grew antennae on her head. 'Amy needs to be responsible if this idea fails.' Katrina said that Amy thought she was being delirious, and there is only one word that I can think of that Katrina is acting like - Tammy.
Troy is looking to find a wheel - and he does. He decides that the wheel is 'The wheel of our dreams' and he decides to refurbish it. Meanwhile, Katrina goes to talk to the guy at the car shop - and she asks for a Crossfire. He just laughs at her and Amy accuses her of using sex and flirting to get what she wants. 'Turn of the sexual bullsh$t and let's talk business.' That doesn't happen as the women get into it - but they do land a deal.
Troy wants some flash to go with his wheel - so he decides to talk to one of the acts - The Fairkas Brothers Show. He talks to a 10 year old (I kid you not) names Fitz, who will give him some lions and tigers as an exchange for publicity. He even gives Troy some advice - 'Don't sell when it's already sold.' He gives him what he wants - IF they go to the show. Troy and Kwame says that they'll do it, but Bill is miffed that two of them went - when they only needed one. Kwame sheepishly admits that he just wanted to see the show, and Bill probably wants to stuff Kwame in a cage with the lion.
While they are watching the show, Katrina is watching a different show that she doesn't necessarily want to see - Amy and Nick. They decide to share the same room, but Amy isn't so sure that she is in this relationship as much as Nick is. Hmmm...
Trump gives his own advice - 'It's Easier to Think Big.' It's easier to get acceptance for a big project than a small menial one that people don't necessarily want to finance. And just in case anyone is wondering - Trump's hair IS real (which I didn't think it was) as it's flapping in the wind as he is talking about his golf course. 'At least I'll see it now in the wind.' Heh.
Troy's wheel to have a shot at $1,000 is getting a line out the door. Amy's idea is to sign up for...a rental for $300? WHA? First of all, $1,000 is much nicer than a $300 rental, and second of all, since everything is on the boardwalk, and most people come from out of town, Why would you need a local rental anyways? I can already guess who is going to win this one.
Amy sees that her plan may be in trouble, so she gets a pair of models to help them out. They are going to have problems, as Bill has already gotten the exclusive rights for models of their own to escort the gamblers from VIP to go straight to Bill's wheel. Amy sees that and send the models at Bill's direction, but Bill intercepts the women and tells them to stay 50 feet away from the clients, as he calls the models 'vultures'.
Katrina tells the models that they can go after the people on the line. The vultures insist to go after the prey, so Troy calls up the people who Bill got the exclusive rights to and they tell the blonde bombshells for the 80th time to get away from the line. The vultures may be picking the bones from Versacorp's body...
Amy isn't done yet, as she uses a microphone to try to lure people to her line. 'She's shouting into the casino. Great.' says Troy - so Bill gets on the microphone and screams also and we now have TWO people shouting into the casino. 'I think we need shock value - and we don't have it right now.' says Katrina. A tiger adds shock value - but it's the tiger that Kwame secured and they are in the process of housing Protege. Nick - 'Please direct your attention at the 2003...I can't really beat the tiger.'
The problem is that the tiger didn't cause people to gamble, because they were too busy looking at the tiger - and they didn't swipe their card for the wheel promotion. That gives Amy's team the opportunity to get more people, and ironically, the tiger is helping Protege get the people who can't see Versacorp's tiger. Oops.
With an hour left, both teams get a surprise from The Donald - who tells Amy that the other team is doing well with the tiger. Amy's reaction - 'Do you want them to see the tiger or do you want them in the casinos?' The Donald likes that answer, as a concerned Nick is watching on. Nick is even more concerned as the raffles conclude and they meet at a Black Jack table to see who won. Versacorp brought in 1,337 players for $105,362. Mark's Protege only brought in 776 people - but they were the high rollers, and Protege made $123,159. Amy's streak is finally over and Kwame's team gets the win. As a reward, Kwame's team gets the best suite at the Taj - and each person gets $1,000 worth of spending money. Nice. Amy, for her first loss, has to go to the Boardroom.
The guys get to go to the Napoleon Suite, and it looks nice. They get shrimp cocktail - and cocktails of all sorts of alcoholic beverages. They see the Black Jack tables and Troy is happy with Bill - but Bill says that he is still at opposite spectrum with Troy. He is happier with a $150 blackjack, though, and the happiness lasts for the evening.
Nick is far from happy, as him, Amy and Katrina have to wake up early for the Board Room. This is Amy's first time and she is doing her research. Nick thinks that she's at a disadvantage, but I don't see her leaving. Katrina is more worried because she knows that Amy isn't going to send Nick back up - and her fear could be justified as they enter the Board Room. Amy says that she hates to lose - and that the competition had the better strategy. Amy adds that Bill is her bigger competition - and that ruffles Nick's feathers. Hmmm...
Carolyn says that the $300 rental car idea wasn't a good one, and Trump says that it should have been a win a car instead of a rent-a-car. Katrina says that she wanted a circus - but that was the bad idea and the Donald calls her on it. Donald asks who's idea was it to get a rent-a-car. Katrina says that it was her idea to get the car - but not to rent it. She doesn't say who thought of the idea - and that's a mistake, because if she figured out correctly who it was, that person is probably gone. Amy is told to send someone back up - and of course, she spares lovebird Nick.
As Katrina and Amy are waiting on the outside while Mark and Carolyn discuss. Carolyn say that Amy made large mistakes - but they both think that Katrina was more aimless than Amy or Nick. Amy said that Nick was a stronger leader from a historical process. Katrina said that she did not have an opportunity to lead - including the leadership. She says that she isn't going to wrestle anyone to be a star - but The Donald said that maybe she should. Katrina also adds that Amy and Nick may have a relationship - and that Amy and Nick may be playing off of each other - despite Trump calling Nick her boyfriend.
Amy says that everyone has a personal relationship - and she plays off the accusation off quite well. She says that she works with the strongest people until the end. Trump - 'And then you destroy them.' Amy - 'Absolutely'.
Trump thinks that both people fared the same in this challenge, so he looks at past history. In past history, Katrina has only lost twice - and captained once, while Amy has led the teams to four victories before this loss. Because of the past history, Katrina is fired. 'Katrina just wasn't as outstanding in the past events as Amy was.' It's true that by taking the control, you could get fired, but if you win the events, you provide yourself with a major advantage down the stretch - and this is an advantage that Amy was able to benefit from.
This past week, Katrina got booted, but not before she sewed up some seeds of destruction for Amy and Nick's chances to win the game by accusing Amy if playing favorites with Nick. She also may have planted seeds of destruction with their 'relationship' as Amy thought that Bill would be a tougher competitor than Nick - and she says this in front of Nick.
Nick is convinced that Amy will not be fired - and she goes in wondering why there is no one left to greet her. She talks about how she has only been there once - and she talks about how she is the last woman left (which is true - Trump, after eliminating the first 4 guys, has knocked off 7 straight females).
Amy praises Bill, who thinks that Amy has gotten a God complex. Amy says that she thinks that Bill is the stronger player - because she meant it - and she says that Nick should realize this. He does - and he now realizes that Amy could stab him in the back at any time. Someone who doesn't think that he will be backstabbed? Troy - but he thinks that although Kwame is one of his best friends, that he is also his greatest threats. Is this an alliance - or is it foreshadowing? It's foreshadowing to Bill, who knows that he is on the outside looking in for that alliance. 'I'll be a fool not to take that into consideration.'
The Donald meets everyone in World Towers as they come back from Atlantic City. He shows everyone an apartment in Trump World Tower - the 90th floor Penthouse, so to speak. Trump rents it out only in special events. He tells the group to rent it out for one day - and the minimum is $20,000. The team that rents out the space for the most amount of money will be taking the Trump Jet for lunch in Florida at the Merlago. The losing team will have someone sacked.
Trump notes that Nick has a relationship. Nick's answer - 'We do have a strong business relationship and sometimes we engage in meaningful conversation.' Trump likes that answer - and so do I. Heh.
Troy takes over as Project Manager for Protege while Nick takes it from Amy for Versacorp. Both teams take out different sections of the lobby to call up different event planners. Bill asks what the average sell point is - and e is told that it's $40,000. 'It's really going to come down to finding the right person at the right time.'
Amy's idea is to let the people to rent out the space and have their own vision, but Nick tells the planners what exactly they could do - and that turns Amy off. She talks to Nick about it and Nick tells her that it's the way to operate. Amy says 'if you say so' and the love bird's nest may have found a few wormy twigs.
Trump's lesson for the day? Passion. 'You can not be successful without passion - if you don't have passion for it -forget it. Do something else. You'll be a lot happier with your life.'
Troy has passion to not give Amy and Nick a romantic lunch - so they get some people in to look at the place. Troy says that they are looking for a number in the $30,000 range - and the clients response is 'Oy Vey.' Troy says that there are a few offers on the table - but Bill is concerned because they don't have any offers on the table - and they may be losing this one. Nick and Amy are having just as little luck, as Amy is offering in the $40,000 range and people are laughing at her...
...until Ian shows up, looking for a place for a New Year's Eve event. That didn't work for them, because the lease says that they have to be out by midnight - and as we all know, New Year's Eve parties last much longer than there. 'That's another client that we lost' says a wistful Amy.
Troy's team now has an opposite problem - both Troy and Kwame have perspective bidders. Troy tries to turn on the charm on to one group as he tries to jack up the price - but the guy interested thinks that he's being hustled and he passes. Bill is concerned about that - but fortunately, they did have another group in the wings at $35,000. Bill asks if they can make the deal $35,001, and they do this, as Kwame says, Price is Right style, just in case Amy and Nick get a $35,000 deal. A happy Protege come back down and see Nick and Amy scrambling to get a client - with 35 minutes left to go in the competition. They are feeling very good about themselves as Bill says - 'I think it's time to gas up the jet.'
Amy and Nick are indeed struggling - but with 2 minutes left to go, Kate comes back - with Ian, the New Year's Eve person. He makes what he says an 'extravagant offer' and calls them walking in at the last second 'an act of God.' An Act of God? No. An act of kindness by Mark Burnett - like he did with the house rental a few episodes back by sticking someone in there at the last second? That's more likely.
We'll see how likely that is when we hear the numbers. Protege got $35,001. They needed to make it $40,801, because Versacorp gets the win with a $40,800 rental. The Donald continues the relationship talk by saying that if this isn't a match, he doesn't know what is - and he sends Amy and Nick to Florida.
A stunned Protege are now licking their wounds. 'I said gas up the jet.' says Bill 'I was wondering if I can retract that statement.' They feel devastated as they are trying to figure out what to do next. Bill, meanwhile has a heart to heart talk about trying to get a little action from Amy. Bill tells Amy that Nick wants to make some magic, Amy's response? 'Well, maybe there will be an attractive flight attendant.' OUCH.
Trump says that time will tell if they are in love - but they better not use the bedroom. Sure enough, there is a bed in the back of the plane - but it's going to be really tough to use it as The Donald has brought in some guests with him to the plane. Any magic that could be made for Nick just went down the toilet as the guests are...Amy's sister and Nick's dad.
Amy says that Nick talks about his family, so she may have a bead on him. He says that Amy is a beautiful girl - but that Nick has a horrible track record with women. Dad isn't helping when he asks Nick about the women on the west coast - in front of Amy. Her face immediately changed from joy to wondering why she didn't bring Nick into the board room instead of Katrina.
After the turbulent air flight, the group gets a tour of the mansion and are served drinks by the guests. The treat is not only seeing our relatives, but experiencing their reactions to things that we are used to' says Amy.
Troy's team is also used to something - losing. Bill didn't sleep a wink, so he went out to get a haircut. Bill reads the horoscope to Kwame, who believes in that stuff. Kwame's horoscope? Someone who you love and respect will let you down in the next 24 hours. Don't let that affect your relationship. Like we don't know what this means. Kwame thinks that it's possible that Troy will send him back up because of their relationship - but he also knows that Troy would be committing game suicide if he went up against Bill, who has the better record.
The Board Room knows all - and Kwame tells the Donald that they were disappointed. The Donald was happy with the money - but accuses them of setting their goals too low, which is what cost them the win. Bill then talks about that he wouldn't hire Troy as a CFO. Kwame says that he would hire him - as a sales exec. Donald tells Kwame that he should have kept his mouth shut.
Donald compares the education of the people in the room. Kwame comes from Harvard, Bill comes from Loyola of Chicago, and Troy has no experience in college - but 15 years ago, he got all of his learning from Trump's book 'The Art of The Deal.' He sends Donald a copy of the letter that he sent him 15 years ago - and that either helps him - or screws him entirely. Troy is asked who he will be bringing with him - and he says Kwame, as they shake. Donald is surprised, but I'm not, as that was the only move that Troy could make.
What move will Carolyn and George make? Carolyn says that Kwame is textbook - but not practical, while George says that Troy is a loose cannon and isn't right for Trump - yet. This could be a good match-up. Troy says that Kwame has done great in a supporting role - but Bill has been good in the leadership role. Kwame says that he's been steady, but the Donald says that his style is more laid-back then active. Troy says that he has more instinct than Kwame - and he goes back to the education - until Donald says that 'Education isn't a bad thing.'
Donald notes that Kwame has been chosen to led three times - but it comes down to what they were doing when they were leading. Quite simply, Kwame was more successful while Troy was more of a loose cannon - and could be detrimental to a company. Trump says that Troy isn't ready for the next level - and Troy is fired. Troy and Kwame's alliance is broken - but they shake hands and end their pact in the game with a hug. AwwwwBarf.
We are down to the final four - and the hugs are over. They are really over when some of the past contestants return - including Omarosa. Will the ghosts of the past come back to haunt the present players? Tune in next week to find out.
