The Apprentice, Episode 5: Flea Circus

Heidi continues to rant and rave all over the suite. She says that Kristi and Jessie are good friends, so she knows Kristi won’t take Jessie. Heidi says that it should be about business, not friendships. Kristi comes in the room while Heidi is mid-rant and asks if they can talk. Heidi says that she doesn’t want to talk about it. She doesn’t? Because it sure looks like she wants to complain about the injustice of her possibly going to the boardroom to anyone who will listen. Maybe what Heidi really means is that she doesn’t want to talk about it in a productive way.

Heidi goes on to say that Kristi won’t send Troy or Kwame to the boardroom because they’ve been there too many times, and Kristi doesn’t want to put them through that. What? Where did she get that idea? She returns several times to her claim that she knows what’s going on because they live in a bubble. Later, she says that she could tell from Jessie’s face what was going on. So which is it, Heidi? Do you know that you’re going because everyone is talking about it, or because you read it in Jessie’s face? Either way isn’t exactly air-tight evidence. Heidi goes on to say, “I don’t know why I’m nice,” and says that she thinks Kristi stabbed her in the back. How does she figure that? Did Kristi ever promise to never, ever take her to the boardroom? Just because someone does something you don’t like doesn’t mean they stabbed you in the back.

A much calmer Omarosa says that she thinks she’ll be going to the boardroom. Kristi will make her a scapegoat for the lost money, and she is prepared to handle it. Omarosa comments, “Heidi speaks her mind, but what’s on her mind isn’t always appealing.” Meanwhile, Heidi dances around the bathroom singing “Bitch.”

On the ride to Yankee Stadium, the victorious Versacorp team agrees that Protégé’s trip to the boardroom will be nasty, a bloodbath. Ereka says that she tried to calm Heidi down. Nick thinks that Kristi will survive because Trump sees potential in her; after all, he said that he was surprised to see her lose. Ereka agrees with him, and says that she loved Kristi’s remark that she’s not used to losing.

Trump meets the team at the stadium. He says, “Nick, you did it, huh?” Then he remarks that Nick must be glad to have “these girls” with him. You can interpret Trump’s remark one of two ways. One is that Nick should be happy to be working with pretty girls; the other is that Nick couldn’t have won it without them. Neither one is flattering, and shouldn’t Trump refer to females over the age of 21 (with the obvious exceptions of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie) as women?

Trump and Steinbrenner greet each other with an “I love you.” Steinbrenner immediately remarks on the “pretty girls” that Trump brought. Ick. Steinbrenner then tells the group that to be a winner, you must have desire and passion. Tammy notes that he’s wearing some “serious bling.” He explains that those are his Yankee championship rings. I’d forgotten Tammy’s tendency to stick her foot her mouth, like when she asked Trump’s girlfriend how she kept their apartment so clean. Katrina says that everyone cringed when Tammy made that remark, but that Trump looked amused. Everyone leaves the office to check out the stadium. It’s pretty cool, but it would have been a lot more fun if they got to actually go down on the field. Wouldn’t you want to run around the bases, or throw a pitch? I would. As the team departs, Trump and Steinbrenner tell each other, “You’re a special guy.” Steinbrenner again comments on the pretty girls, and Tammy makes a dopey remark about how he didn’t point at her when he said it. Nick is totally high on the win and looks very happy.

Back at Protégé, the mood is still tense. Omarosa says that she was disappointed in Kristi as a project manager because Kristi is a restaurant manager and should, as a result, have been a good leader. She and Heidi talk about the upcoming boardroom. Omarosa says that Kristi had a defeated posture all day, and that her mood affected the rest of the team. Heidi says she’ll be disgusted if Kristi cries. Heidi is certain that she and Omarosa will be the two sent to the boardroom. Omarosa doesn’t know about Heidi, but she’s positive she’ll be there. Heidi turns nasty again, saying, “(bleep) you when I supported you.” She says they would have been better off if they’d just kept the thousand dollars and stayed in the apartment.

Heidi’s handling of this situation is both immature and short-sighted. She and Kristi are competing against one another for a prize. Kristi believes that Heidi contributed to the team’s failure, and in accordance with the rules of the game, plans to have Trump consider Heidi for termination. Heidi has, for whatever reason, chosen to take this personally, even though there is no evidence that Kristi plans to pick her for any personal reasons. Plus, Heidi doesn’t even know for sure that Kristi intends to take her to the boardroom, since she refuses to discuss it with her. If Heidi was mistaken, and Kristi hadn’t made up her mind yet, I bet Kristi would be more than happy to take Heidi to the boardroom after her outburst. Furthermore, what if Trump fires someone other than Heidi or Kristi; what if he fires, say, Jessie instead? Then Heidi will have to work with Kristi again after she’s so thoroughly burned her bridges with her.