The Apprentice 2, Episode 13 Extras: The Quality of Ivana is Quite Strained

Darn, Betsy used all the good Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory jokes in her episode recap. I guess I’ll avoid a gimmick this week, considering what happened to Ivana when she employed one.

We start out with Kelly answering the phone in his boxers. If it were Kevin answering the phone in his boxers, I’d make a comment. But it’s not, so I’m just going to move on. The final five arrive for their assignment and Trump says that he wants to take a moment to congratulate Sandy. He was going to fire her last week, but her “spunk” won him over. Unlike Lou Grant, Trump does not hate spunk. The teams get their assignment and are told about six times that good quality will be key.

Kelly is reminded that he’s automatically in the final four. Trump asks Jennifer and Sandy who their project manager will be; Jennifer replies that they were waiting until they heard the task. Ivana says she’ll do it for Apex and Trump warns Apex to be careful about Mosaic. Sandy volunteers to be the project manager for Mosaic. I have to hand it to Jennifer and Sandy – they worked together extremely well this week. I was waiting for them to have a huge catfight over which one of them was going to be the project manager. Trump says that, after this week, there will be no more exemptions.

Mosaic is at their factory, figuring out who is going to do which tasks. Sandy calls Jennifer a mannequin and I giggle again. Not too far along in the process, Sandy tells Jennifer to stop making chocolate because there’s some sort of problem. Apparently the M&Ms are the wrong temperature and the chocolate is screwed up. Past the halfway point, Carolyn talks to another employee and learns that Sandy and Jennifer have only made ten bars. Sandy says that they’re working too slowly.

We see Sandy slip and watch the two trays of bars fall into the bin under Carolyn’s watchful eye. Carolyn: “Genius!” Maybe I like Carolyn so much because she talks like me.

Sandy and Jennifer get a rhythm going, where Jennifer takes the bars to the freezer and Sandy oversees the production. Okay, once again – these two hated each other last week. They were almost ripping each other’s hair out. And this week they’re working together without fighting. They’re not even glaring at each other. I can’t believe it. The inspection team arrives and okays the majority of the bars.

Apex gets ready for the task, suiting up in safety gear. They’re told the number they should call if there’s a medical emergency. Strangely, the number isn’t 911. Apex gets a tour of the production plant. Kevin doesn’t see Willy Wonka or Oompa Loompas. I’m kind of sad for him. To her credit, Ivana double-checks to make sure that she understands the steps of the process. We see Apex producing their bars. Kevin starts taking charge and Ivana doesn’t do anything to take the reins back. At one point, she tells Kelly that she and he are on the same page but Kevin isn’t. Good to see you’re trying to do something about that.

Also to her credit, Ivana calls in a quality control inspector before the inspection team is to arrive. This was a good idea on her part, as Apex is having a glossing problem and their bars wouldn’t pass inspection. They decide that they haven’t completely cooled and are able to fix their problem before the final inspection.

In the morning, Mosaic gets ready for the selling portion of the task. Jennifer and Sandy make sure they look the same. Sandy talks about heading into the final four and says that they have to “bring it or go home.” I like Sandy, so I’ll refrain from the “it’s already been broughten” response that her comment normally would have evoked. In the van, Jennifer says that they should be “willing to do just about anything. Within reason.” I’m glad she draws the line there, because a certain someone else didn’t.

Sandy and Jennifer spot some male construction workers on the street and tell their van driver to pull over. They sell some bars for five bucks each, which is just insane, despite the fact that people are going for it. One guy buys one and says that he’s not even allowed to have chocolate. He does make Jennifer and Sandy take off their sunglasses. Sandy interviews that they weren’t sure about selling the bars for five bucks each, but after they sold to the construction workers, they knew they could do it for the rest of the day.