The Apprentice, Episode 10: Rickshaw Cowboy

Furthermore, as Versacorp themselves showed – the relationship with a client can continue. They used contacts from previous challenges to get their advertising. Maybe they can do it again, and if that’s the case, you don’t want to have somebody turn you down because you screwed them in a previous challenge.

Troy, Heidi, and Kwame try to sell more punch cards on the street. Heidi calls after a person asking if they’d like to buy a rickshaw ride for a loved one “or a lover.” She gets frustrated and a little bit crude as Carolyn looks on. She tells the guys that people need to have more sex so that they’ll loosen up. Troy spots a Versacorp rickshaw and notices the ads on it. He says, “That’s a great idea. I didn’t think of it.” Then, in typical colorful Troy fashion, says, “We were looking up the ass of a dead dog with fleas if we though we were going to go up against them.”

At the end of the day, Versacorp collects money from the drivers. It’s not a lot, and Bill is worried. Katrina says she thinks they won, but Bill’s not so sure. In an interview, Katrina says that she’s certain Bill will take her to the boardroom, and if he does, she’ll tell Trump he was a horrible project manager. Meanwhile, Protégé thanks their drivers and passes out the incentive money.

The candidates file into the boardroom. Trump asks the project managers how they feel. Bill says that he is cautiously optimistic. Troy is too, and adds that they had a fun day. Trump asks if they’ll still think it was fun if they lost. Troy says yes, that nothing can take away the good times they had. Trump says, “I’ve never liked losing, personally.” Heh.

George says that Versacorp brought in $651.29 in cab fares, but made an additional $3,450 in advertising revenue. Carolyn reports that Protégé had transportation only, and brought in $382.68. Ouch. And I guess Nick’s $250 didn’t make much of a dent. Troy says that Protégé didn’t think of selling advertising. Trump says that the winners will take a yacht trip around the city, and the losers will come back to the boardroom. He’s not impressed with their performance and says, “I may just fire all of you.”

Versacorp climbs aboard the yacht. Bill says that it’s nice to be able to just enjoy their victory. Amy and Nick flirt over breakfast. In an interview, Katrina wonders who is playing who. She thinks in the end, Nick will win. Is it crazy to think that no one is playing anybody, and they just like each other? Amy tells Nick that he is hard to read at times. She asks him if he’s intimidated by her, and he says that he is, but then says he was being sarcastic. In an interview, Nick says that it’s good to be “semi-aligned” with Amy because she’s very sharp. Nick tells her that the competition is getting fierce, but Amy says that she still feels like she’s in partnership mode. Amy say in an interview that now that she has had ten straight victories, her goal is to make it to the end without losing a single challenge.

Kwame is doing pull-ups under the basketball hoop. Thank you, editors! Troy says that he and Kwame have no alliance, just a warrior’s vow: If I cut your throat, I’ll make sure the sword is sharp. May the best man win. Kwame says in an interview that all three of them are at risk of being fired – Troy because he was project manager, him because Trump may be sick of his (bleep), and Heidi because she has yet to show a compelling reason she should stay.

Heidi has a cigarette outside with Katrina. She tells Katrina how her mom is doing. Katrina says that she doesn’t want Heidi to go. Yeah, because she’s such a good friend that you’d rather talk about the competition than listen to her talk about her mother with cancer. Heidi says that she’s not worried, and she’ll be herself. And she reminds Katrina that there are some things more important than the competition, like family. She’s not worried about the boardroom because they’re not going into it like a back-stabbing Omarosa, but as a team. At this moment, I’m pretty sure Heidi will be the one to go. It’s like on Survivor when you see a castaway talking about how much they miss their family, you know they won’t be around for long.

Troy is talking to Amy about the boat trip, and Heidi reminds him that they need to get dressed for the boardroom. Troy tells Heidi the bad news: the two people he’s taking to the boardroom are her and Kwame. They both laugh. A few moments later, the three of them are ready to go. Troy says, “We’re going in as a team.”

It’s time for the boardroom. Trump tells them that their performance was abysmal, and that they had no creative ideas. Troy says that he was proud of his punch card idea so that they could get several days worth of fares all in one day. He says that Heidi sold well and that Kwame did a fine job of handling their finances. He admits that the punch cards might have been a great idea, but Versacorp had a brilliant idea to sell advertising. I like Troy here because he owns up to their failure, respects the other team, and makes no excuses.

Trump asks Heidi why she’s shaking her head. She says she’s not doing it to disagree with Troy – she fully supported his idea. Carolyn asks if it’s fair to say that they put all of their eggs in one basket, made only a few appointments the day before, and then did nothing after that. Heidi doesn’t think so, and Carolyn asks her what other ideas they had. Troy offers to answer, but Carolyn says she was addressing the question to Heidi. Heidi says that she supported Troy’s plan. Now that they’ve lost, does she still think it was a good idea? Heidi says no. George asks Heidi if it was Troy’s idea, and she agrees that it was.