The Apprentice 5, Episode 2: Razor Burned

Meanwhile, Brent is well aware that everyone is talking about him. He says in an interview that they all think he’s dumb and doesn’t know what’s going on. “That’s all right,” he says, “I’m smarter than them.” He is confident that he will do well, and if they don’t recognize it, that’s their problem. “Brent is not going home this evening. That is for sure.” I’ve seen this show enough times that, alas, I agree. You don’t get rid of the crazy person in the second episode!

The team gathers in the Boardroom. Pepi says that they lost because they wasted precious time on the distraction that is Brent. Brent can’t believe it and says he was a star. Pepi disagrees, saying that Brent is a big part of why they lost. Trump brings up the very good point that the other team had a 100 vote lead before Synergy even got started. Michael says that Pepi did a good job as project manager, but he couldn’t manage Brent. He never gets to answer Trump’s inevitable question of whether Michael could have handled him better, because Brent has to argue with Pepi about whether or not he’s smart. Brent says that he wouldn’t hire Pepi to organize a kid’s birthday party, and that if Trump hired Pepi, he wouldn’t get a single night’s sleep.

Bill says that Stacy did a lousy job of choosing their location. She disagrees, saying that they were in Times Square just as Broadway plays were starting and as people were going to dinner. Ivanka says that the other team had a much better spot, even though they too were in Times Square. Now seems like as good of a place as any to mention that Ivanka is incredibly smart and articulate. I hope we see more of her. Trump, Ivanka, and Bill say they hated the bathrobes. Trump goes on an icky tangent about how he would only want to see some of the women in bathrobes, not the men.

Sean says he’d fire Brent. Allie would also. Roxanne, however, says that they lost the task because they didn’t have any manpower until noon. She blames Pepi for that. I like Roxanne and will be watching her. Andrea would fire Brent because he wasted their time. Bill thinks that blaming Brent for wasted time is “lame.” They need better management skills on the team if Brent can derail them so much.

Michael admits that the bathrobes were his idea, and Trump says it was terrible. I don’t think it was that bad. It was eye catching, and that was part of what they needed. They didn’t lose the task because Brent looks bad in a bathrobe; they lost because they slept too late. Michael then tries to weasel out of responsibility by saying that the bathrobes were his idea, but that Pepi approved it. That’s weak. Michael then shines the spotlight away from himself by saying that a male member of the team threatened one of the women.

Stacy explains that Brent’s “words and conduct” made her feel “threatened and uncomfortable.” Trump thinks that surely as a criminal defense attorney, she has seen worse. Ivanka wants to know exactly what he said. Stacy says that he put his finger in her face and screamed at her. Trump can’t believe that, with her experience, that would scare her. Brent says, “Shame on Stacy as an attorney.” He says that Stacy cut him off and was rude and disrespectful. Trump points out the elephant in the room by saying that everyone disrespects Brent.

Trump tells Pepi he can bring in three people instead of just two. He adds that because of the size of their loss, he’s going to fire two people. Pepi chooses Brent (shocker), Stacy, and Michael. That doesn’t bode well for Pepi. If Trump is that upset about a loss, he’s bound to blame the project manager.

Bill says that Stacy has got to go. She doesn’t take responsibility for her actions. Ivanka thinks Brent is a liability. She doesn’t think he’ll stay around for much longer (leaving unsaid that this might not be the week to fire him, because she’s no dummy), but thinks Pepi let things spin out of control.

Trump calls the candidates back in. Pepi says that Brent is a negative force and cannot be contained. Brent interrupts him, saying that Pepi is “chaos.” Ivanka wants to know how Pepi guided the team. He says that he is consistent and is a good manager. Trump says, basically, not this time, he wasn’t. Pepi agrees.

Brent says that he was the one who created a buzz, and that people were looking at him. He was a star. Stacy says, “He was the star in a clown role.” That woman hates him so much. Brent thinks that Stacy is disrespectful. She reminds us that he put his finger in her face. Again, hasn’t she seen worse? Stacy says that no one else was there to see it.

Trump says he’s fired many people, and it’s usually tough, but not this time. Pepi was a bad leader, Stacy chose a bad location, Michael came up with a bad concept, and Brent is “a disaster.” But Trump knows that location is key, and Stacy picked the wrong location. Plus if she can’t handle Brent, she probably can’t handle on of his businesses. Stacy is fired.

Michael, Trump says, has great potential, but did a terrible job. For now, he’s safe. If he screws up again, he’s gone. Michael promises not to disappoint Trump again.

That leaves Brent and Pepi. Trump says that Brent is a disaster and will be gone soon. But Pepi didn’t lead the team well. Pepi is fired.

In the lobby, Pepi and Stacy commiserate briefly. They head downstairs. Trump says that it was not easy. Ivanka says that they were nice people, but not apprentices. Pepi and Stacy share a cab. Pepi says that he did his best, but there were circumstances beyond his control, plus Brent was a big distraction. Stacy thinks the team is destined for failure as long as they have Brent.

I’m mostly okay with this firing. I don’t like that Michael tried to shift the blame for his idea on Pepi, but I don’t think the idea was that bad. As for Pepi, he made a number of mistakes. He should have handled the Brent situation conclusively. Brent should have either been benched, or Pepi should have somehow made the team feel okay with having him on it. He should have gotten the team mobilized much earlier. That alone could have made the difference. If given the choice, I would have fired Brent over Stacy. He is completely socially inept, and Trump is looking for a manager. Someone like Brent doesn’t exactly inspire devotion, does he? He needs to polish his people skills before he can hope to be successful in this kind of setting.

That said, I’m okay with Stacy being fired. She didn’t seem to understand the nuances of choosing a good location, but more importantly, the way she handled the Brent situation was just as much of a distraction as Brent himself. She also came across as completely weak that she couldn’t handle something as simple as a finger in her face. We’ll just have to patiently wait for Trump to fire Brent.

Next week, the candidates literally swim with sharks. See you then!

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with any comments at betsywasser@gmail.com

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