The Apprentice 4, Episode 5: The Rubble Man

Over at Excel, Brian reiterates the point that they need to focus on the name. The guys build the float, looking like they’re working pretty hard. Brian says that it looks like the game has come to life. They want people to feel the experience that the brothers have in the movie. Markus, by the way, is standing around, doing nothing. Brian asks him if he wants to paint. Markus doesn’t seem interested. Does this seem familiar to anyone else? Brian says that Markus is a pain and, as project manager, he hopes to keep a tighter leash on him. However, he has to manage a lot of things at once.

The men are ready for dinner, so Brian decides that Markus can be useful by getting the guys food. Unfortunately, he chooses to order Markus to do this. Now, be nice, Brian. Markus claims again that he’s being marginalized. He says that he’s a “Teflon player” and the guys can never set him up.

The women build their float. Kristi, who apparently came up with the concept (or so we’re led to believe, at least), explains that we see the house, which gets ripped away to reveal the galaxy. She and Jennifer start discussing the transition and don’t agree on how it should look. Marshawn says that Kristi is confrontational, bossy, and even disobedient. She thinks that Jen has some weak areas but Kristi isn’t going to improve. Jen asks Kristi to listen before she starts doing anything. Randal thinks the women need to respect each other, like the men do, or they’ll keep losing.

Jennifer pulls Kristi aside and tells her that she’s being bossy. Kristi asks if she really means bold. She doesn’t. Jen says that she’s bothering people. She does a lot of work, but it’s not okay for her to whine. She doesn’t think Kristi realizes how much she complains. Jen says in an interview that Kristi’s negative attitude brings the team down and she needs to go. Wow. Is this the end of the blondes’ alliance? Kristi thinks that Jen is blowing things out of proportion.

The men of Excel are tired. Markus is still not doing anything. Josh says it’s frustrating because he’s working so hard that he’s sweating, but Markus keeps procrastinating. He says that Markus needs to do something.

Markus pulls Brian aside and Markus says that Brian saying he was only good for getting food offended him. Brian says that he was joking, but Markus isn’t amused. He notes that if they lose, he’ll be brought to the Boardroom. Well, maybe if you did some work, you wouldn’t lose.

Markus says that he’s trying his best, but he’s not happy about the game Brian is playing. Brian is surprised that Markus thinks he’s playing a game. He adds that Markus has some guts to bring this up right before their presentation. Josh joins the discussion and tells Markus that he needs to come help the other guys clean up. Markus tries to stall and Josh tells him that he won’t accept any more excuses. Markus’ time is up. He says that if he’s out there sweeping, Markus needs to be sweeping right next to him. Josh is tired of carrying Markus and wonders if he thinks he’s a prima donna.

Rebecca, Randal, Marshawn, and Jennifer head to a carpet store to get some things for their presentation. Marshawn thinks this is a bad idea, since they should be finalizing their float and practicing their presentation. Back at the float, Alla and Felisha are trying to plug something in. Jen calls and Felisha hangs up on her so they can keep working. Alla is unhappy that the project manager and half of the team are out shopping. Felisha says that the planning has been bad.

Bill stops by and Kristi tells him that Jen is out shopping. Alla explains that they’re trying to make the presentation into a red carpet affair, so Jen wants to get actual red carpet. Kristi notes that they have about ten minutes left to finish up. Alla says that it’s crucial that they finish the float. If there’s no name on it and the place is a mess, they could be disqualified. She says that she, Felisha, and Kristi saved the day.

Presentation time! Carolyn and Bill head to Excel, followed by Jeff and Jon. Brian explains the float, stating that it shows a few of the brothers’ experiences in the movie. He also mentions that they used branding (someone was paying attention last week) by featuring the name of the film. They’ve also included some audio on the float, so people know how Zathura is pronounced.

Brian starts talking about how he saw ET when he was 12, which was a year ago (he only gets polite laughter for this). Carolyn looks unimpressed. Jon compliments the float and, for some reason, Brian is still talking. Jon actually tells him to be quiet because he’s giving him a compliment. Josh says that it was like Brian was “injected with Markus fluid.” Um, okay. Brian tells Jon and Jeff that his team did terrific work. Carolyn notes that the team incorporated the name and included the website on the back of the float. She thinks the float was true to the movie’s spirit.

Bill, Carolyn, Jon, and Jeff next head over to Capital Edge. Jennifer introduces the presentation, but she keeps pronouncing the name of the movie as “Zenthura.” Randal mentions this in an interview, noting that Carolyn and Bill kept laughing. Under the float, Kristi cringes. Jen explains that they wanted to make the house bigger but didn’t. Instead, she “amputated” a mannequin’s legs to make the house look bigger. Alla says that the presentation was a disaster. Jen couldn’t get her thoughts together. Jen, however, feels great. She spoke from her heart and thinks that Jeff and Jon loved the float, too.