The Apprentice 5, Episode 12: Marry Me, Ivanka

We start off this episode of The Apprentice where we left off: in the boardroom. Michael gets fired. Back in the suite, Roxanne says that she’s antsy. Tammy says Lee’s won twice as PM. They wonder if Trump will fire all three of them. They should be so lucky! But on this show, you never know. Sean and Lee return to the suite. The women quickly put together that Michael’s gone. Lee says he never lost before as PM. He thinks Trump must like him. They all toast the final five.

The candidates arrive in the showroom of the Trump watch collection, which Trump does a pretty weak job of tying into the task. The candidates will be creating a display for the Xbox 360 for Wal-Mart stores. They’re to create an interactive, 3-D in store environment with the X-Box 360. The two executives – Jay from Microsoft and Steve from Wal-Mart- will choose a winner.

Sean and Lee hit Wal-Mart and are all excited about the project. Sean is project manager and says his juices were flowing. Ivanka comes in and says hello. Sean says he wants to target more than just gamers. Lee interrupts and describes the display to Ivanka. She likes the idea and thinks they’re working well as a team. Can they bring it together?

Sean meets with two men who will build the display for them. One of them, Adrien, will make a graphic for the floor, along with a ceiling above it. The other guy will make a wraparound wall that will go from the floor to the ceiling. Lee says both pieces fit together “like a puzzle.” Sean and Lee outsourced everything, figuring they’d hire the best. Lee says he’s totally confident they’ll win the task. Oh, Lee. Never say that!

And now for the Trump Lesson Of The Week: “Death To Traitors.” If there’s sabotage from within, get rid of the people you suspect, and fast. And now for the Betsy Lesson of the Week: It’s allergy season, so keep a box of tissues in your car or you’ll end up blowing your nose on an ancient scratchy Starbucks napkin.

Synergy checks out their space. Tammy is the project manager. She’s imagining a red carpet theme to show other things that are compatible and to highlight entertainment. “People love entertainment,” she says. It’s a fairly insipid statement; I’ve heard that most people also enjoy fun. Tammy imagines “a make your own awards show.” She says people won’t even want to leave their houses, everything is so great. Roxanne doesn’t like the theme, but doesn’t offer any other suggestions. Allie suggests that Roxanne handle graphics. The three women wander around the store looking for supplies for their display. Tammy wants to hang mirros to make it bigger. Roxanne rolls her eyes. They put it on the “maybe” list and Roxanne says “Maybe if you’re good, Santa Claus will bring it to you.” Wow, condescending! Bill arrives, and Tammy explains the concept to him. In an interview, Bill says Allie keeps shooting him looks as if to imply that Tammy is a moron. He’s not impressed. Bill says they should be working as a team, trying to win. After Bill leaves, Tammy wants to show the other two something and they giggle over the wet floor sign. Tammy says they’re being “really high school” as she nervously gnaws a cuticle. Why am I hit with a sudden urge to watch Mean Girls?

Gold Rush eats at the Wal-Mart food court. They are enthusiastic about how things are going to go. They just have to wait for the signage people to put things together. They’re happy because things are going so smoothly. Lee says the two of them are in the honeymoon stage. Sean says they have a lot different. He’s 11 years older than Lee, he’s from England, Lee’s from New York, Lee’s Jewish, and he’s half Arab. Still, they work well together. He adores Lee.

Roxanne says she hates the layout. Tammy asks her when the banners will be ready. Roxanne doesn’t know. Roxanne then tells Allie that Tammy glared at her. Roxanne says Tammy is a stress case and doesn’t listen unless you agree with her. Tammy is clearly at wit’s end and gathers the other to the display and asks the what they’d like to do. She says she’s really frustrated and feels disrespected. Roxanne says it’s unfair, but Tammy has seen the eye rolling. Both of them deny it. Allie and Roxanne clarify in interviews the many things they do with their eyes other than rolling. It is such crap. Allie says in her interview that her “raised eyebrows” (not to be confused with rolled eyes) were called for. Tammy says she wants to prove herself. She wants it to be about her. Allie says that’s going to come back to bite her. If this team loses, it’s going to be ugly.

Sean gets a call from one of the sign guys. He says “probably” he can be ready at 7:00 the next morning. He had promised midnight, so Sean is freaking out. They can’t do anything until he gets the floor. Lee gets on the phone with him and has no success. Sean begs him to do his best to get it done. Ooh. Maybe they shouldn’t have spent so much time enjoying the fine cuisine of the Wal-Mart snack bar.

Gold Rush has 2-1/2 hours to go. They set up cameras and mp3 players for Wal-Mart, but really they’re waiting for the floor. Adrien arrives and sets up the floor graphics, which look awesome. The guys are thrilled until they get the news that it will take about two hours to put up the top and ½ hour to install. Sean begs him to move fast. In an interview, he says his fate lies in Adrien’s hands.