The Apprentice, Episode 6: For a Good Cause

This week’s episode of The Apprentice starts the usual way – the players that didn’t have to go to the boardroom are clustered near the door wondering who was sent home. Troy tells everyone that things got rather personal and heated in the boardroom. In an interview, Jessie says, “If Omarosa comes back from the boardroom, then I’ll really question what this is all about.” That’s interesting, Jessie, because I remember last week you blamed your team’s loss on Project Manager Kristi, not Omarosa.

The suspense ends as Heidi and Omarosa return to the suite. Ereka squeals with joy, happy to see Heidi back. Tammy is visibly shocked to see Omarosa back again. Seriously, Tammy’s jaw pretty much hits the floor like a surprised cartoon character. Omarosa smoothly says, “Oh, are you surprised, Tammy? Did you think I was not going to hold my own?” Omarosa says that seeing the team’s reactions to her return was valuable. She doesn’t elaborate on how they were valuable, but she has two choices now that she knows how everyone feels about her. She can either change her ways and be nicer to everyone so she won't be so disliked. Or she can embrace it and be an evil super villain. Lex Luthor is a bad genius, and his evil ways and lack of ethics allow him to claw his way to the top. Perhaps Omarosa is doing the same.

We’ll find out soon, because Protégé is ready to plan the next task, that is, after Heidi has a refreshing cigarette. Omarosa tells the team that she is “very interested” in being the next Project Manager. In an interview, she says, “During the last task, seeing a very, very weak Project Manager made me want to step up. Either I remain a team member and let someone else choose to put me up, or I’m Project Manager and I choose to put someone else up.” I’m glad to see that she’s taking charge. For weeks now, Omarosa has been telling us how smart she is. Now we’ll find out if it’s true. Jessie says in an interview that she’s glad to have Omarosa as Project Manager. If she’s as good as she claims to be, they’ll win. If she’s not, she might be going home. Omarosa is confident that she’ll come out on top.

The Trump phone rings, and Omarosa pounces on it. The candidates are instructed to meet Trump at the Wollman skating rink in Central Park.

Trump tells the candidates that he’s very proud of the Wollman rink. The City of New York spent, according to Trump, many years and millions of dollars to build a skating rink in the park, but was unsuccessful. Finally, Trump got tired of looking at the eyesore from his apartment and offered to build it himself. He did, in only three months and for less than two million dollars. He’s glad to be doing something for the city because, “It’s all about giving back.”

Trump tells the candidates that their next challenge will focus on giving to a good cause – the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation . Each team will meet with five celebrities to negotiate a donation to an auction for the foundation. The auction will be held at Sotheby’s, and whichever team raises the most money from their donations wins the challenge. The team that raises the least amount of money must face the boardroom.

Versacorp meets to choose a Project Manager. Bill and Tammy are the only team members who have not yet taken the helm, and because the team thinks Bill is better suited to the task, he’s in charge. Versacorp must meet with Regis Philbin, celebrity chef Rocco Dispirito (no stranger to reality TV himself, as he starred in another Mark Burnett production, The Restaurant), Carson Daly, NFL player Tiki Barber, and Ed Bereno, executive producer of Third Watch.

Protégé will be meeting with Russell Simmons, Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Kate White, Nicole Miller, the Fab Five of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and Isaac Mizrahi. Omarosa has trouble pronouncing “Mizrahi” (it’s miz-rah-hee, if you were curious), and vows to learn it before she meets him.

At Versacorp, Amy is hard at work scheduling meetings. Ereka says that she’s not usually star-struck, but she can’t believe she’s actually going to meet Regis Philbin. That is just about the cutest thing ever that she’s so excited to meet Regis. They decide to split up the team into two groups so that they won’t overwhelm the person they’re meeting with. Good idea. Ereka, Tammy, and Amy will meet with Carson Daly, while Katrina, Nick, and Bill talk to Tiki Barber.

Meanwhile, Omarosa schedules meetings with Russell Simmons and Isaac Mizrahi. Protégé also divides up into two groups. Jessie calls Omarosa on her cell phone to ask for a phone number for a contact person at Elizabeth Glaser. Omarosa wants to know why. Jessie explains that she wants to get some background about the charity so she’ll know what she’s talking about when she asks someone for a donation. That’s a really good idea, and shows that Jessie respects the fact that they’re asking these stars for some pretty generous things. Omarosa demands to talk to Kwame, who repeats Jessie’s request. Omarosa says that she also wants to talk to their contact at the charity, so she refuses to give them the phone number. She then hangs up on Kwame.

Let me repeat that: Omarosa hung up on Kwame.