The Apprentice 2, Episode 3: The Brush-Off

As usual, things are not so rosy back at the suite. Lil Stacy tells Elizabeth that some people on the team are a distraction and cause chaos. Some people whose names rhyme with “Lacie,” I’d reckon. Elizabeth says she’d like to have Stacie fired, but says that Stacie is not the reason they lost the task, so she doesn’t think she can take her to the boardroom. The reason they lost was Maria’s handling of the printing. Elizabeth lectures Maria about how she could have handled the situation better, and Maria says that the price was clear. If it was so clear, she would have had it in writing and the printer wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Maria blows off Elizabeth, saying that she’s being made the scapegoat, but actually, it was a leadership problem. It was? What did Elizabeth do wrong? Sounds like Maria is looking for a scapegoat, too.

Meanwhile, perpetual scapegoat Stacie is in a corner alone, taking notes and drinking a bottle of Trump Ice. In an interview, she says that she thinks she’ll go to the boardroom because the other women have formed a sorority, and she’s not part of it. I like to call their sorority Epsilon Beta Sigma – EBS for Everybody But Stacie.

The team heads to the boardroom to meet their fate. Trump reminds them that P&G liked their promotion better, but because they were 10% over budget – a figure that Trump reminds them would be significant if running one of his companies – they lost. Elizabeth says that, “It’s unfortunate,” and that she was surprised, especially because she and Ivana put some padding in the budget. Even with the padding, Maria’s printing broke the bank. Maria blames the agency and the printer for the problem, and Elizabeth says she’s just trying to pass the buck. The two of them bicker back and forth for a while, and Maria claims that the problem was not her fault. George reminds them that that one item in their budget was six times over what it should have been.

What does the rest of the team think? Well, Stacie says that Elizabeth was disorganized. Lil Stacy says that because of Stacie, Elizabeth had to spend a lot of time putting out fires. Ivana agrees. What fires? Stacie screwed up the toothpaste samples, no doubt about it. Was there more? We don’t know, because Trump asks Elizabeth who she wants to take to the boardroom. She selects Maria and Stacie.

Carolyn says that Elizabeth was a terrible leader, but that Maria made a huge mistake and won’t take responsibility. George tells Trump that he wouldn’t trust Maria with the money involved in running one of his companies.

Stacie, Elizabeth, and Maria return. Elizabeth says that Stacie performed the worst in the task, but that Maria is the reason they lost. Wouldn’t that mean that Maria performed the worst? Elizabeth takes some of the blame for the team’s disorganization. Trump asks Elizabeth why she didn’t take Ivana into the boardroom with her, since Ivana was in charge of the budget. The answer – that it wasn’t Ivana’s fault that Maria went over budget – is never answered, because Maria breaks in to say that Stacie is crazy. Stacie says that she’s not, and that everything has been blown way out of proportion. Elizabeth says that’s true, and Trump says it’s the first thing they’ve agreed on. Maria tells him about the Magic 8-Ball. Trump asks Stacie if she believes in it, and she says she doesn’t. Maria shakes her head and says that Stacie does, and that the entire team saw her. Trump says that if that’s the case, he’d like to have the entire team come back to confirm it, and sends Maria to get them. As Maria stands up, she starts to speak, and Trump shuts her down, saying, “Maria, you’ve said enough.” Excellent.

Maria rushes to the suite and gathers up the team, some of whom have to put their suits back on. Trump tells Stacie that if she is indeed crazy, he can’t have her running one of his companies. Stacie understands. The team returns to the boardroom, and Trump tells them that he’s not happy with Maria or Elizabeth, but they both seem to be “almost afraid” of Stacie. He asks the group if Stacie has a problem.

Jennifer C. says that Stacie’s behavior was odd. Ivana says she was calm, then suddenly flipped out. Lil Stacy says that she feels sad to say that Stacie seems crazy and wonders if it’s a chemical problem. Jennifer M. says that Stacie behaved so erratically that she felt nervous. Sandy says she was horrified by Stacie’s behavior, adding, “I agree with Little Stacy.” Hee! She called her Little Stacy! It’s Lil Stacy, but I’ll accept it.

Trump says that this is serious. Stacie says that she’s not crazy. But Trump says that the entire team is concerned and nervous about her, and there must be a reason. He cannot have a loose cannon on the team, so Stacie is fired.

Trump, Carolyn, and George agree that they had no choice but to fire Stacie. The team was unanimous and, as Trump points out, “They don’t even like each other.”

This boardroom really didn’t sit well with me. If you’re judging based purely on this task, then there’s no question that the women lost because of Maria’s handling of the print pricing. But Trump doesn’t always judge just on the task – we saw that last week when he fired Bradford based on how he handled himself in the boardroom, and we saw it several times last season, such as when he fired Jessie for not standing up for herself in front of Omaroasa.

And without a doubt, Stacie was a problem on the team. It might not have been fair. In the second task, she seems to have sold well, and we learned from the boardroom bonus footage that Ivana actually asked her to call temp agencies. And this time around, she made a big mistake by not looking at the dimensions of the toothpaste, but by no means was that the reason the team lost. But fair or not, she didn’t fit in, and at this point in the competition especially, it’s important for teams to work well together. If the women had all said, “Stacie is weird and her personality doesn’t mesh well with the group,” that would be one thing. But instead, they’ve chosen to imply that she’s somehow dangerously mentally unbalanced. That’s not right. These women don’t know Stacie very well, and they’re not in mental health professions, and now they’ve slapped a label on Stacie that, sadly, will follow her in the years to come. If Stacie is weird and you don’t like her, then just say so – don’t pretend there’s more to it than that.

In her cab ride home, Stacie wonders what these women’s definition of crazy is. After all, she’s not blowing up buildings, killing people, or refusing to pay her taxes. Yeah, that might not have been the best argument, Stacie. I still think you were mistreated, though.

Next week, on The Apprentice, Bill is back to judge the candidates. The challenge is to open a new restaurant, and we’re promised another explosive boardroom. And, in the meantime, the Saturday repeat of the show will feature an additional 15 minutes of boardroom action. Keep an eye out right here for my recap of it! See you then.

Betsy is the Associate Editor of RealityNewsOnline. She can be reached with any comments at betsyw42@hotmail.com.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about reality TV, be sure to check out SirLinksALot!