The Apprentice, Episode 5: Flea Circus

The next morning at 6:30, the members of New Protégé go to the flea market to set up their tables. They want to arrive early to secure an indoor booth because it’s supposed to rain all day. Kwame thinks it’s a great location.

Versacorp is outside in the rain. Amy says that at the beginning of the day, she wasn’t confident in their chances at all. Bill says that because of the weather, they might not have much time all day to sell. He suggests that they blow through the merchandise as quickly as possible. Amy agrees, not wanting to be stuck with any inventory when the day is done.

Meanwhile, Heidi is unhappy. She says she’s bored. She thinks that the foot traffic inside is bad, and she’s aggravated because Kristi is a terrible leader. With Omarosa in tow, she takes a break from sulking to see what it’s like outside. They agree that there are a lot more people outside and that they should definitely move. But Heidi adds, “But I am not the project manager to make that final decision.” She then says, “This is unbelievable; why does it take so long to make a (bleeping) decision?”

The mood is much lighter at Versacorp. Sales seem brisk, and Nick suggests that they start selling rings for a few dollars over cost. In an interview, he says that the reason he’s asking the women for feedback is because they have been successful in the last four challenges, and that a good leader draws on his resources. He then jokes that if he’s wrong, “I’ll just be in the boardroom again. I’m used to it.” Katrina says that she loves Nick as a leader. He’s been praising his team all day long, and he’s willing to share both successes and failures with the group.

At Protégé, Heidi is still miserable, so Troy gives her a pep talk. Sadly, he doesn’t give her his cowboy hat and instruct her to “be the hat” as he did with Sam. Bernie comes to see how Protégé is doing. Heidi barks “ten dollars!” at him shrilly in an attempt to sell some merchandise.

Carolyn inspects Versacorp, flipping through the rack of t-shirts. Bill says that they’re selling as much merchandise as possible, since the end of the day is looming. They manage to sell everything, including the tablecloth. At the end of the day, Amy says that they had a great time. Everyone gathers in for a group hug.

Back in the suite, Protégé reviews their receipts. Omarosa says that she is very proud at how well she handles money, accounting for every last penny. She tallies everything and discovers that they are off by almost $200. She suggests that everyone check and double-check their purses, pockets, and side pockets. Kristi is crushed that they can’t find the money. Omarosa mentions the money that Kristi put in her back pocket and suggests that she check there. Kristi says in an interview that she thinks Omarosa is trying to blame her for the lost money. Omarosa says they’ll have to write it up as a loss.

I don’t think for a minute that Omarosa was inappropriate in the way she handled the lost money. She never accused anyone of anything – I don’t think her mentioning the money Kristi put in her pocket came across as accusatory at all. That was a time when the location of the cash was in question, and Omarosa would have been remiss if she didn’t follow up on it. Omarosa was calm, reasonable, and fair the entire time.

The teams head to the boardroom. Carolyn reports that Versacorp sold t-shirts and jewelry. She was concerned because the shirts were in sizes small and medium only, but in the end it must not have mattered, because Versacorp made over $600 in profit. Trump tells Nick, “Not bad. Was it good enough?” Bernie says that Protégé’s strategy was to divide and conquer, but it didn’t work. They had a loss of $75.78. It’s worth noting that even if the team had found the missing money, they still would have lost by hundreds of dollars. Kristi says that she’s not used to losing. Be that as it may, Versacorp wins the reward. They’ll visit Yankee Stadium to meet George Steinbrenner, a man who knows quite a lot about helming a winning team. Protégé must go to the boardroom, where one of them will be fired.

The candidates return to the suite. Nick congratulates his team on a job well done, which I find very classy. Kristi, on the other hand, immediately isolates herself because she’s so upset. She goes out on the balcony to cry. She says, “I take all of the blame.” Kristi explains that in her restaurant, if the money came up short, she’d hold the manager responsible, and now she is in that position herself. She doesn’t think anyone on the team did a bad job – it’s all on her.

The next day, Heidi is all fired up. She says that she’s fully prepared to be a bitch in the boardroom. She didn’t like the product they were selling, she didn’t like the location, and she doesn’t think their failure was her fault. She’s positive that Troy, Kwame, and Jessie are safe. She and Omarosa will have to go to the boardroom. Heidi relays all of this to Omarosa, who asks Heidi if she heard anyone say that they’d be the two to go. Heidi says dismissively, “We live in a (bleeping) bubble. Hello? I’m not an idiot.”