The Apprentice 2, Episode 9: Destruction and Rebuilding

As always, the candidates are hanging out in the suite wondering who will be fired. Wes figures it’ll be Elizabeth. Andy thinks that if Elizabeth stays cool, Raj will be the one to go. Obviously, Andy has yet to witness one of Elizabeth’s infamous crying jags, or he’d know how unlikely that is. Then, much to everyone’s surprise, five out of the six candidates return to the suite, so they quickly learn that Trump didn’t even want a second act in the boardroom – he fired Elizabeth on the spot. Chris tells them what happened, and everyone is shocked. Maria says you just never know what’s going to happen in the boardroom.

Apex gets out the little slips of paper to choose their next project manager, and Raj is the lucky winner. Kevin thinks that Raj is really on the hot seat. Raj must think so too, because he asks Kevin how he can improve on his last performance as PM. It’s very cool that he asked – it shows that he’s willing to take constructive criticism. Kevin says Raj did well last time, and that he should make sure everyone is well coordinated. Raj says, “I better win this one.”

A shirtless Kelly answers the Trump Phone. It’s delightful that none of these boys bother to wear shirts around the suite. The candidates are to meet Trump at the penthouse at Park Avenue. When they arrive, they all immediately don hard hats. This cracks me up – looks like Trump doesn’t want to risk anyone getting hit on the head with a tiny bit of plaster and claiming a concussion like Omarosa did last time around. Trump, who is not wearing a hard hat, undoubtedly protected by his hair, tells them that they’ll be working in real estate. His associate Matthew will be filling in for George, who is away on business. How come Carolyn never goes away on business? (Don’t email me the answer about how she runs one of his golf courses in New York and thus has no cause to go away – it’s just a joke… which I have now ruined by talking about it too much.)

The candidates will go to Long Island, and they’ll each have $20,000 to renovate a house. Trump adds, “Make sure you spend it on the house and not on the women, Raj.” At the end of the task, the houses will be appraised, and the one with the highest increased value will win.

And now for the twist. Trump tells them, “In life you have to work with people you don’t like.” To illustrate that point, Trump is bringing back the first four candidates to be fired: Bradford, Jennifer C., Stacie, and Rob. Rob and Jennifer will join Mosaic; Stacie and Bradford will be on Apex. As the fired candidates come out to join the others, everyone looks very uncomfortable.

Jennifer C. says that the mood was very tense back in the suite. She believes that Ivana should have been fired that week instead of her. She then tells Ivana as much, saying that if she’d brought her to the boardroom, Trump would have fired her. Jennifer adds that she brought the two weakest members of her team, Elizabeth and Lil Stacy. Since Trump has fired both of them now, obviously she was right. Right, Jennifer, but it could be argued that you were even weaker than either of the two of them, but why ruin a perfectly good rant? In an interview, she asks, “Ivana, what have you done besides lose money and make mistakes?” I can name one thing she did: she beat you, Jennifer.

Meanwhile, Stacie and Chris talk in the hallway. Chris says this is her chance to redeem herself. Stacie thinks she needs to set the record straight, starting by asking the other women “why they lied about me.” She approaches Ivana first. Wow, Ivana has not made friends, has she? Stacie asks very directly why Ivana told Donald Trump she was crazy. Ivana claims that she felt unsafe around Stacie. Stacie demands, “How were you in danger?” Ivana tries to wiggle her way out of the conversation, but Stacie keeps repeating, “How were you in danger.” Go, Stacie! Jennifer C. watches the whole confrontation with a big smirk on her face. Considering that she doesn’t like Stacie or Ivana, I’m not sure what she’s so smug about. Ivana claims that Stacie requires a lot of supervision, and Stacie argues that the opposite is true – Ivana is the one that needs supervision.

The argument escalates, and Stacie tells us in an interview that she made herself calm down. That ranting lunatic! Ivana walks out of the room, and Chris tries to calm Stacie down, saying, “It’s business.” Stacie says that it’s personal because the other women made it personal, which is true. Interestingly, Chris has spoken twice in this episode, and not once have I wanted him to shut up. That’s a new record.

The Trump Lesson of the Week is rather specific this time around: Control Your Contractor. Trump says that your contractor might not have an MBA, but he or she knows a lot and should be taken seriously. They’re tough and smart, and it’s important to pay attention to what they’re doing. I think it’s pretty safe to guess that this lesson will factor in pretty heavily into which team wins this week.

Apex checks out their house, and it’s in pretty sorry shape. They want to add siding, put a bathroom on the second floor, and Raj wants to knock down a wall to turn the four bedroom house into a three bedroom house. The rest of the team isn’t so sure that’s a good idea. I wish I knew why Raj wanted to do that. Are the bedrooms really small? Does Raj think the house will sell better with a big master bedroom? It’s never explained what he’s thinking. Jennifer thinks Raj lacks common sense. Chris, on the other hand, thinks that Jennifer is not a team player. There is no chemistry in their team, and Jennifer is too confrontational. Raj concludes the discussion by saying that knocking down the wall will be no big deal.

Sandy is the project manager for Mosaic because she is the only one who hasn’t done it yet. It’s about time. Since she’s seen lots of other project managers before, she’s confident that she will have learned from them. Wes asks various contractors for bids and time constraints. Sandy thinks this task is an especially important one since Trump loves real estate so much.