The Apprentice: Why Ereka Lost

But before they went to face Trump and the others, Ereka told Nick and Bill that she would be taking them – after consulting with Katrina. There is a rule in my column, What Survivors Should Have Learned, that says, in part, that players should not let the potentially doomed know that they are going to be targeted. The same applies here – Ereka never should have told Bill and Nick that they were going to the boardroom. Quoting from that rule, “There is no reason to alert them to their impending doom – it only gives them time to plot their own counterattack.” Two weeks prior, Omarosa had not told Jessie or Heidi that they would be picked to go to the boardroom, and both of them kissed up to her (though Heidi changed her tune after she was chosen). Had she told them, they might not have been so nice. Also, what if Katrina had said something about Ereka that made her want to take Katrina along? Now she would have to publicly change her mind. Overall, not a smart thing to do.

So Nick and Bill were ready. Each time she tried to blame Nick for something, he had an answer. He pointed out that she got emotional – which Trump could see right in front of his face – and that she was frazzled in front of the troops – which Carolyn had seen when they were trying to tally the sales. Bill was also prepared to put the blame squarely on her shoulders because of the warning she gave him.

Katrina made things even worse for Ereka when she opened up her mouth and said that Ereka was not taking the two guys just because she and Ereka are friends. Uh oh. This planted a seed in Trump’s mind and it grew. Ereka didn’t have any good reason not to take Katrina – in fact, her reasoning, as it was, basically went that Katrina didn’t have a leadership role and therefore didn’t really do anything, so shouldn’t be held accountable. Now some of us might think that the person who did the least should shoulder some blame, but in her attempt to not appear emotional, Ereka only succeeded in showing that her decision was in fact made by emotions.

That wasn’t the only way that emotions hurt her in the boardroom. As recapper Betsy Wasser pointed out, Ereka might have had more success if she had actually presented a rational case against Nick. She could have noted that he promised he could do the selling so she relied on him. But she allowed herself to be flustered, which was exactly what Nick was trying to do.

Ereka and her all-female teammates could sell lemonade using sex. But when it came to water without having sex as a weapon, it wasn’t so easy. She claimed that Trump Ice was the reason she lost, and also blamed Bill for turning on her. But the fact of the matter is that she set up the entire situation. First, she had attacked Bill and then expected him to defend her the very next time. She allowed her emotions to take over while she should have been leading, and then later in determining who would come to the boardroom with her. She was not a good leader and she couldn’t present good arguments as to why she should stick around rather than somebody else. That is why Ereka lost.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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