The Apprentice 4, Episode 4: Bitch Coat

A sneaky thing that both this show and the Martha Stewart version have been doing is putting a little bit of new footage in with the previously, so I find myself actually paying attention. While the three members of Capital Edge are in the Boardroom, Alla tells her team that she does not want to lose again. Kristi says she’s sure Rebecca will be the one fired. Felisha says that Rebecca’s decision to not bring Toral back to the Boardroom was “not loyalty, but stupidity.” As we now know, Jen W. was fired, and Trump predicted that Rebecca would either be great or a disaster. There is no middle ground with Trump, is there? Couldn’t Rebecca be just okay?

Rebecca and Jennifer M. (now known as Jennifer since Jennifer W. is gone) return to the suite, Jennifer kindly carrying Rebecca’s bags. Kristi tells Rebecca she did not think she would be back, which might be just a smidge too honest. Rebecca says that as a team, they have a lot to discuss. And you’ll never believe what happens next: the team sits down as a group and has a civil and fairly productive conversation about what’s going on. I know! What kind of reality TV is that?

Felisha says that she doesn’t understand what Rebecca sees in Toral. Rebecca says that she personally guarantees that in the next task, Toral will step up to the plate. Toral is quiet through the whole discussion until Kristi asks her if she has given her all in the tasks. “Probably not,” says Toral. Well, that’s impressive. In an interview, Toral says that her strategy has been to be passive and let the rest of the team implode. I’d say that was a lousy strategy if it weren’t so close to Kendra’s from last season (and yes, I realize that Kendra did turn it on later, but she started passive). Anyway, Toral thinks that her strategy is working so far. Kristi asks if she will step up in the next task, and Toral says blandly that she will if she has to. Kristi tells her that she owes the team – and Rebecca, her defender most of all – to really “bust your butt” on the next task.

The next morning, Marshawn answers the Trump Phone. The candidates are instructed to meet at the Trump Tower ice cream parlor. There we meet Dairy Queen executives Michael and Eric. Trump says that Dairy Queen is the biggest ice cream retailer in the company, and the Blizzard is their biggest brand. The candidates will work with costume designers to come up with mascots for Blizzard. Michael and Eric will judge the best one. Randal, Trump reminds us, was given an exemption by his team. No one else is safe. Trump’s parting advice is for Toral to show her talent. She assures him she will.

But back at the suite, Toral says that she doesn’t really want to be project manager, but she will if no one else wants to do it. The rest of the team looks stunned. In an interview, Alla speaks for all of us, saying, “What the hell is that?” Never did I think I would love a Russian ex-stripper as much as I love Alla. She is awesome. Toral says that she doesn’t have a background in advertising, so she does not want to lead this task. Felisha says she does have such a background, so she offers to lead the team. Rebecca says in an interview that she is disappointed in Toral.

Meanwhile, over at Excel, Clay says he’ll lead the team, but under certain conditions only. If he tells his team members to do something, they better do it. The second rule is a little harder to follow, but the gist of it seems to be that if he has something scheduled, they’d best not schedule something that conflicts with it, such as eating. In an interview, Clay says that he showed the team that he will lead, and that he will put them in their place if need be. Or another way to look at it might be that he showed his team that he is a micromanager and a bit of a control freak, but whatever. You say tomato.

Clay’s fury comes out almost immediately when Markus schedules a meeting for 11:30. Clay says he wanted it ASAP, and 11:30 is not good enough – he wants 11:00. In an interview, James says he was being ridiculous, a point that’s hard to argue against. Clay says he wants their pitch ready at 1:00.

The women start brainstorming. Felisha says that they are Dairy Queen’s target demographic, so they should think about what they’d like. Marshawn suggests something with Dairy Queen’s red spoon. Toral throws out words seemingly at random that start with B. Felisha is not impressed, and says in an interview that Toral was “a non-factor” in their team. They hit on the name Zip, and they all like it… except for Toral, who thinks it’s goofy. Toral, it’s a mascot. It’s not supposed to be serious. The other women start enthusiastically sketching Zip. Jennifer suggests he wear a shirt with a Dairy Queen logo, but the rest disagree, saying they don’t want to be so blatant about it. Ooh, either that’s a bad idea or Ronald McDonald needs to seriously rethink his wardrobe. In an interview, Jennifer says, “The fact that I was a beauty queen makes people underestimate me all the time.” Wait, what? I haven’t seen anyone treat her like she’s dumb so far. We’re going to need to keep an eye on this.

While Marshawn, Rebecca, and Toral stay behind, Felisha, Kristi, Jennifer, and Alla go to meet the designers. Carolyn is there to watch, and notices that Rebecca and Toral are definitely on the outside. She’s dead-on, of course – the other women applaud their group effort, but note that the four of them did more than the others.

Over at Excel, the guys have decided that their character will be a genie. My boyfriend Josh says that she can be either motherly or sexy. They design her with hair that looks like soft serve ice cream and a big DQ belt buckle. Dude, I would totally wear a DQ belt buckle. I wonder if after the show there will be an ad urging me to go to Yahoo to buy one. Randal says in an interview that he hopes Ginnie the Genie will become a beloved character.