The Apprentice, Episode 7: Duped!

Once again, The Apprentice opens with the candidates wondering who has been sent home. Katrina figures it’s between Jessie and Heidi. Troy thinks Omarosa might get fired.

Their questions are answered when Omarosa and Heidi return to the suite – Jessie is gone. Omarosa says, “It got hot, but I’m here.” Heidi tells everyone, “It got really ugly.” That ugliness, of course, stemmed mainly from the many patronizing and rude things that Omarosa told Trump about her teammates. Heidi tells everyone about how Omarosa called her unprofessional. Omarosa tries to blow it off, but Heidi maintains that Omarosa had never called her unprofessional to her face. She then reminds Omarosa that Trump called her “repulsive.” All Omarosa can say in her defense is, “Whatever. I’m still here.” In an interview, Heidi says that she thinks Omarosa’s behavior in front of Trump made her look bad and will hurt her in the long run.

I am not a Heidi fan; in fact, I found myself in the odd position of agreeing with Omarosa when she called Heidi unprofessional and classless. But Heidi handled herself beautifully in this scene. She made it very clear that what Omarosa said to her in the boardroom was unacceptable, but at no point did Heidi turn into the shrieking harpy that we saw when Kristi sent her to the boardroom a few weeks ago. In this scene, Heidi was tough, she stood up for herself, and she let everyone know what Trump thought of Omarosa’s behavior. In other words, she did not let Omarosa get away with talking so badly about her.

Omarosa, on the other hand, came across as a fool. It’s true that Trump didn’t fire her, but he made it very plain that she was on warning. He called her behavior rude and repulsive and said he couldn’t imagine how anyone would tolerate it. If Omarosa had been listening to anything he’d said other than the fact that she wasn’t fired, she would have changed her tune. But she didn’t, and it looks like she’s going to keep treating people just as poorly as she did before… that is, until Trump sends her packing.

The next morning, Amy answers the Trump Phone and learns that the candidates need to meet at the Trump Park Avenue at 9:00. There, Trump checks on the progress of his renovations, and then meets with the candidates. He says that in the past two challenges, Protégé has been “decimated.” To even up the teams, Protégé has two minutes to choose another candidate from Versacorp. To review, the choices are: Nick, Bill, Amy, Katrina, Ereka, and Tammy. After conferring briefly, they pick Amy. Really, other than Tammy, any of them would have been a good choice. Amy joins her new team saying, “I’m ready to win.”

Trump lays out the challenge. Real estate is his forte; in fact the Park Avenue building that they’re standing in is one of his current projects. Once his renovations are done, penthouses in that building will go for thirty-five million dollars. Their challenge will be on a smaller scale. The two project managers will visit two apartments in Brooklyn. Then, they will negotiate which one of them will get which apartment. Once that’s settled, each team will have 72 hours to renovate and rent the apartments for as much money as possible. Whichever team rents the apartment for the most money, proportionally, over its previous market value wins.

At Protégé, Amy thinks she was chosen because she can get along with Omarosa. She doesn’t like her, but she can get along with her. Nick says that he’ll miss having her on his team because she’s smart, pretty, and reminds him of his mom. That sounded creepy the way I wrote it, but trust me – it was nice.

While Protégé forms their action plan in the Park Avenue building, a piece of plaster falls and hits Omarosa on the head. Bill says it was just a small piece, nothing serious. Omarosa says that she’s tough and she’ll be okay.

Project managers Katrina and Troy head to Brooklyn to check out the two apartments. Katrina is excited about this challenge because of her expertise in real estate. It is her passion. Troy says that her experience makes her a tough adversary. An agent shows them the two apartments. The first apartment is on Court Street and has been assessed at $1,500. The second apartment is on 3rd Street and is valued at $1,200. Both of the apartments are pretty trashed and will take some serious work, but the second apartment has hardwood floors that the agent says will be a draw to potential renters.

Having looked at the two apartments, Katrina and Troy immediately get on their phones to talk over their findings with their teams. Katrina tells Versacorp that the second apartment needs a lot of work, but she knows that with a little vision, it could be great. Her team supports her decision to go for the second apartment. Troy tells his team that he was leaning towards the second apartment, but now that he’s heard Katrina say that she wants it, he’s sure it’s the way to go. Both Katrina and Troy promise their teams that they won’t back down.