The Apprentice, Episode 4: The Bar is Lowered

Last week, on The Apprentice, Protégé and Versacorp faced off in a battle of negotiating skills. Versacorp continued their losing streak, and Project Manager Sam got sent home, but not before he sent an evil fire and death glare Trump’s way. By the way, if you haven’t read my interview with Sam, check it out here.

This week, all of the contestants are gathered in the suite waiting to see who will be sent home. Amy says that she’ll be shocked if anyone other than Sam gets the boot. When Bowie and Kwame walk in the door, everyone rushes to them and cheers. That’s got to be hard on Sam watching this from home. It’s bad enough that everyone jumped up and down and whooped with joy that he got fired, but something else happened that’s got to hurt even more.

Bowie and Kwame were greeted at the door.

The mood in the suite is jubilant. Bowie thinks that the women wanted Sam gone just as much as the men did. But one person is not celebrating – Nick. In an interview, Nick says, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead? I don’t think so. There are worse players on this team, and I’m pissed.” Bowie is still celebrating and says that he would have been embarrassed if he got sent home before Sam did. Nick continues to glare and says, “He’ll get his vengeance through me.” What? Since when is Nick Sam’s best buddy? Sure, he didn’t totally trash him in the boardroom, but he when the other guys showed their annoyance with Sam, Nick sure seemed to be right there with them.

The Trump Phone rings. The two teams are to meet in Times Square the next morning at 8:00. That’s all the instruction they get, so all of the candidates kind of mill around on the street until Trump pulls up in his limo. Trump joins them and announces the next task. Each team will manage Planet Hollywood for one night. The women will be that night, and the men will have the next. Whichever team gets the biggest increase in sales over last year wins. The reward is a day at what Trump calls “one of the best golf courses in New York state,” the Trump National Golf Club.

In an interview, Katrina says that she thinks the men are “a lethal weapon” now that Sam is gone. That’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it? It’s not like Sam is the only reason they’ve been losing. Still, the lethal weapons meet to choose a Project Manager. Nick immediately suggests Kwame, and the men agree. Kwame thinks that Nick didn’t want the position of authority for himself because he is afraid to lead. Nick says in an interview that he wants to get rid of Kwame and thinks this is the best way to do it. Wait, so Nick hates Kwame and wants to get rid of him? We never had any indication of that at all. I guess that while Sam was acting crazy and Ereka and Omarosa were fighting for the past three episodes, the other people continued to coexist. Who knew?

The first order of business of Protégé Corporation is to discuss what to wear. One of them decrees that they should all look “sassy and cute.” Considering that their wardrobes seem to consist mainly of tube tops, off the shoulder shirts, and short skirts, I don’t think that will be hard to pull off. In an interview, Kristi tells us that she owns and runs a restaurant, but that Katrina will be the Project Manager. Kristi will help Katrina make decisions. Wow, I really wish we had been shown how that happened, because Kristi is a natural choice to be in charge. She has the most experience and the most specialized knowledge. Is she afraid to lead because she’s afraid to fail?

Meanwhile, Omarosa is being much more pleasant to the other women. She says in an interview that she is making an effort to engage them and finds that she likes and respects everyone more than she initially did. Her nemesis Ereka is still suspicious. Ereka thinks that Omarosa is only acting nice out of strategy. That seems really unfair to me. Didn’t Ereka want Omarosa to stop being so nasty and make an effort to get along with everyone? Hasn’t everyone been saying that would be best for the team? Maybe Omarosa finally decided to listen and to be part of the group instead of trying to be in charge. Maybe she realized that she was bringing everyone down. Or maybe it is all a big act. Even if it is, at least everyone is getting along and is functioning as a team. Isn’t that what Ereka wants? Or does Ereka really just want to win this little battle?

The women arrive at Planet Hollywood and get a tour from the general manager. Kristi quickly learns that only 25% of Planet Hollywood’s sales come from alcohol. She thinks that’s a big opportunity because booze has a 300% profit margin. Again, it makes me wonder why she isn’t in charge.

The women come up with their plan of action. Some of them will stay in the restaurant to work the room and to sell drinks and merchandise. The others will focus on bringing people in from the street. Katrina says that they will be the “Planet Hollywood Shooter Girls,” and will wear skimpy t-shirts and sell shooters. Heidi selects a t-shirt and giggles that it is size extra small.

I wish I were making this up. But it gets worse.