The Apprentice 3, Episode 5 Extras: The Scapegoat Says, "Bleat"

On the balcony, Erin doesn't think that Michael will be fired, since Stephanie caused so many problems. Kendra says that Stephanie wasn't a team player. She'd rather have someone around who is lazy, and who everyone knows is lazy, than someone who talks bad about the other team members. Magna prepares for the boardroom. Bren says that he'll be vicious if he has to, since he needs to take someone else down and save himself. Michael is sick of being blamed, but he'll only bring out the big guns if someone else fires first.

Magna heads to the boardroom. Trump asks whose idea the spa service was. Michael takes responsibility and Trump asks why they went with the spa. Michael says that the other ideas didn't stick. Apparently one of the ideas was a paper-shredding business. Yes, I'm going to gather up my possibly confidential documents and wait for the Paper-Shredding Trailer to come around to my neighborhood. Though I guess people who are willing to pay for others to shred their papers get what they deserve.

Trump asks how Bren was as project manager. Erin says that originally she was disappointed, thanks to the Queens trip, but then she realized that it wasn't that big of a deal. This is why Erin is less annoying than Stephanie - she got over it. Trump asks Bren what the big mistake was in the task. Bren blames the team's failure on marketing.

Bren is willing to let go of Stephanie because she was the only person who didn't like the spa idea. That in itself didn't bother him, but she never told him why. Stephanie explains that she had two problems with a spa business - the task began at 8 a.m., an hour when people are rushing to get to work, and a massage takes a long time.

Trump asks Stephanie about Bren's leadership. She allows that he was "okay," but not so good with time management. Alex says that Bren did well and he's trusted him in the past because he always takes care of problems. He continues that Michael didn't do a good job and Trump asks if Alex thinks Michael is qualified to be there. Alex says that he is, because he's been successful with his business, but he's not used to working with a lot of people. He doesn't look for possible problems the way that Bren does. He finishes up that Stephanie is too negative.

Stephanie says that she would fire Bren because they win or lose as a team. In a complete non-sequitur, she thinks that team members should be able to discuss problems with the leader. Trump asks if Bren was too dictatorial. Stephanie says he wasn't, but he got defensive and she didn't want to argue with him. And, apparently, that's Bren's problem. Kendra puts in her two cents, but considering how much screen time she gets, I'm not sure Trump will actually consider her opinion. Michael again calls himself the team's scapegoat. Trump asks why the other team does better; Erin says it's because of their "fire" and ability to street hustle.

Bren chooses Stephanie and Michael to come back to the boardroom. We see Michael's weird kiss-up moment again and Trump blasts him for being phony. Because Trump would never surround himself with people who kiss up to him.

After Trump gets George and Jill's input, Michael, Stephanie, and Bren return to the boardroom. Trump asks Stephanie what she does for a living. She deals with customers who outsource their IT to her company's division. I think I understood one word of that - "to." She negotiates and works with executives on multi-million dollar contracts. Trump asks why she's not better on this show, then. Stephanie explains that her background isn't in sales, but she's learning. She thinks she did a great job. Of course she does. She thinks that Bren misinterpreted her honesty. I don't even know what that means. Stephanie would rather bring up problems as they occur so that they can fix them.

Michael tries to jump into the conversation by saying that everyone twists his pompous attitude, and it's disheartening. Trump points out that he keeps being brought back into the boardroom. Michael says yet again that he's the scapegoat. Got it. Michael = scapegoat. Let's move on. Stephanie thinks that her honesty has been taken personally. Shh, Stephanie, let Michael shoot himself in the foot. Michael says that Bren was the team's biggest problem on the task. Jill blasts him for his excuses for not doing well in the marketing portion.

Bren lays into Stephanie and Michael jumps in again. Trump tells him to let Bren attack Stephanie. Alas, Michael is too much trouble, so he's fired. Michael gives Trump his card and says to look him up if he's ever in Boston. Trump interior monologue: "Note to self - don't go to Boston."

Michael gives a rambling speech in the cab about everyone stabbing him in the back. Hey, Michael? Go watch the credits of the show. You know that part where it says, "It's not personal, it's business"? Do the math. Michael says that "dealing with idiots cultures" people. Sure, if you consider idiocy a culture. He was pretty sure he'd go into the boardroom, but he had a good idea. He claims that Bren didn't do anything. He adds that he was uncomfortable asking people if they wanted massages because people will attack you for that. Okay, Michael, whatever you say. He felt bad for Stephanie because Bren was picking on her.

Michael is now happy to be away from the "mental cases" of Magna; they didn't have any business ethics. They're a bunch of lawyers who don't know the business world. He thinks that Net Worth will win. He says again that Bren should have been liable for what happened, especially in the wake of last week's cucumber porn. He wishes his team good luck and says that he doesn't wish bad on any of them. Even though they're nutcases.

Next week: I really hope Carolyn is back.

Jenn Brasler is an aspiring writer from Falls Church, VA. You can e-mail her at luckyjenn@hotmail.com. She's trying to decide whether to use her powers for good…or evil.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of our recent articles on this show at our The Apprentice page and take a look at our sections on Survivor: Vanuatu and Amazing Race 6. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about The Apprentice, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: The Apprentice Page!