The Apprentice 2, Episode 12: On the Edge

Mosaic is up next, and they too are surprised at how big the room is. Andy seems nervous at first, but quickly recovers and shows off the globe bottle and points out that the cap has a compass in it. He passes around the bottle, and no one seems too impressed by the design – a bad sign. Sandy then stammers and stutters her way through her description of the concept. When she came up with the idea, she explained it so well and so clearly, and now she is totally falling apart. It’s a little painful to watch. Jen then explains how they’ll do in-store promotions and does a fine job. In an interview, Andy says it was like the ultimate debate room.

With both presentations over, the Pepsi people talk about what they just saw. They totally pan Mosaic’s idea. The bottle looks like two blobs of tennis balls stuck together and doesn’t show the youthful spirit they want associated with Pepsi. Plus, the whole concept relies entirely on people getting excited about geography, which doesn’t seem like an easy sell. Apex’s design was much cooler and more on target. Everyone in the room seems to agree that Apex ran away with the win. They bring in the two teams and get Trump on speaker phone. Dave tells Trump that Apex’s idea was innovative and contemporary, and that Mosaic’s, while offering a consistent promotional idea, was rather boring. Plus, he adds, because of the globe design, you can’t see the liquid in the bottle. Apex wins.

Trump tells Apex that because they came up with a good idea so fast, their reward will focus on speed also. They’ll take his private helicopter to the Pocono racetrack to race Lamborghinis. And since Kelly, as the project manager of the winning team, will be exempt next week, he’s guaranteed a spot in the final four.

I have to say, the reward part of the show is usually the least interesting to watch, and this week is no exception. Ivana, Kelly, and Kevin fly to the racetrack and drive around having a great time. Ivana says that driving fast is, “almost like having sex.” Whatever.

The next morning, Andy is bundled up in bed, with his blanket pulled up to his ears, looking groggy and sleepy. This doesn’t stop Ivana from perching on the bed next to his and telling him all about how he needs to get rid of Jen. Ivana says that Jen is really good in the boardroom, so Andy should beware of her. She adds that Sandy has really proven herself in recent weeks. She blathers on some more, then tells Andy that they can talk more about it later. Yeah, maybe after Andy wakes up and has a cup of coffee.

Andy says that he thinks Ivana wants to get rid of Jen because it would benefit Ivana. Andy, however, isn’t so interested in what’s best for Ivana. He finds Jen and tells her about the conversation, and that he thinks Jen did a better job in the task than Sandy. He says he plans to go after Sandy in the boardroom and hopes she’ll do the same. Andy says he doesn’t want to talk to her for long so Sandy won’t think they’re plotting. He concludes by saying that if Jen takes shots at him in the boardroom, he’ll shoot back to defend himself, but he’d rather they present a unified front. Jen nods in agreement, and Andy walks away.

Sandy, of course, has a different idea of how things should go. She asks Jen what she thought of Andy as a leader. Before Jen can answer, Sandy says that she thinks Andy was hyper and immature, and that he was distracting at times. Jen says that it’s getting tougher as the challenges go on, and that things are starting to feel more personal.

Mosaic files into the boardroom. Trump asks who came up with the idea. Andy says that he thought of the “best of both worlds” concept and that he liked their bottle design. George is much less impressed and points out that the bottle wouldn’t fit in the cup holder of your car, which is definitely a miss on Mosaic’s part. Trump thinks it works better as a barbell and demonstrates by doing some curls. Andy still thinks their design was better than Apex’s. George says it was too complicated and relied entirely on the promotional campaign to even make sense, which is a good point.

Sandy says that Jen came up with the bottle design and that she did the label and thought of the game idea. Trump asks Andy which of the two was more creative, and Andy says it was Jen. It was? It sure looked to me like Andy and Sandy were coming up with most of the ideas on the white board. Sure, Jen came up with the ultimate shape of the bottle, but she mostly took that idea from Sandy’s unworkable round idea. Sandy, like me, disagrees with Andy. She is more charitable than I am, and says that the idea was a team effort. Andy then accuses Sandy of taking credit for his ideas. Then, to make matters worse, Jen claims that the trip idea was hers. I know we didn’t see their entire brainstorming session, but it sure looked like Sandy’s idea to me. Trump asks Andy which of the two women is smarter and which is harder to manage. Andy says that Jen is both smarter and easier to manage. Wow. I’m not a big Sandy fan, but I have to say, this is unfair.

Trump asks how Andy was as a leader, and Sandy at last gets to make her points. She says that Andy was immature and at times embarrassing. Andy says that he motivated the design team by both saying thank you and by giving them money. Jen says that Andy was a fair leader. His weakness was that he was frantic at times, but he was enthusiastic and motivated. Trump asks if “frantic” might also be described as “energetic,” and Jen agrees. Carolyn, whom I don’t think is impressed by Jen, says that was a safe answer. Jen concludes that Andy isn’t the greatest – they lost, after all – but that he’s better than Sandy.