Celebrity Apprentice, Episode 6: The Hydra Juggernaut

Soon, even after requesting permission to speak, Lennox won’t let Piers talk. In fact, Lennox won’t even hold a vote to decide if Piers can speak! Hoo-boy! Funny stuff, but unproductive.

Over at Empresario, the team meets with their graphic designer right in their window space. Omarosa notes that Marilu is not communicating well with him. Ideas seem to be pouring out of Marilu so fast that even at the rapid pace she’s talking, she can’t keep up with them, and she’s jumping between topics too quickly.

After the next commercials, the teams are assembling their displays. Empresario has a little script ready for Carol and the absent Stephen that sounds maybe a tad Harlequin Romance Novel-ish. Omarosa is concerned that this may be too edgy for her and too complex to execute well. Meanwhile, Nely is becoming enamored with Omarosa and says that she trusts her and is inspired by Omarosa’s passion and vision. However, Marilu feels Omarosa is covering her butt, and that she will stab you in the front, never mind the back.

At Hydra, all four of the men are laughing over Lennox’s lack of direction. It doesn’t look good for Hydra right now, who seem to be foundering badly.

Later that evening, Baldwin has returned and rejoined Empresario. After hearing of their plans, Baldwin tosses out a bunch of suggestions that he says will put his own stamp on things. Nely does not welcome this help, as his ideas will “change the whole vibe,” plus, it’s too late to do most of these things anyway.

Baldwin says, “I’m just trying to take in everything you’ve done, and then pepper it with a little Stevie B!” I say, “Yuck!” Nely’s face has that “sour milk” look and she now has zero interest in his ideas. So much for Baldwin’s plan of just sitting back and making coffee!

With only half an hour to go, Tito and Lennox are running about the streets hunting up props like champagne, food, and fabric. Their actors (it seems both teams were allowed to hire actors) are getting dressed, but time is tight.

Viceroy George drops by to observe Hydra. He doesn’t think anything is missing, but he isn’t sure they will have time for a lot of the finishing touches, either. Lennox comments that as guys, they aren’t good at “the finicky stuff.”

On Empresario, it’s also a last-minute time and Don Junior is on hand to observe. They are sweating the small stuff, like making sure candles line up and pillows are placed correctly. It looks like they are good to go!

Vera sees the Empresario window first. I don’t see a lot of signage, and thanks to some beautiful bed linens, I don’t see the Serta mattress either! I do like the trademark Serta sheep (#58), but it’s off to the side. Vera gushes over the spectacle, and Omarosa is positive they have won.

Next, the sponsors travel to Hydra’s window and are greeted by Piers. As he explains the concept, I see signage with Trace’s great slogan right over the bed and prominently naming both sponsors. When the camera pulls back, the Serta tag on the mattress is front and center, and no linens encumber the product. No sheep, though!

Vera again responds most positively, mentioning the slogan and how they combined the age-old romantic theme with using the bed in a non-traditional way. After hearing Vera’s reactions, Lennox is sure it is he who has won.

The teams assemble in the Boardroom to hear the results. After Baldwin says it was better working with the women than Piers, Piers reiterates that things went smoothly “after the New York quitters had left us.”

Omarosa tries to attack Piers’ tolerance and intelligence, but he responds, “For four ugly blokes to take on some glamorous women and Omerosa in a challenge is not easy.” George liked that one! It seems like every time Omarosa engages Piers in a verbal battle, she gets killed.

Trump wants to find out about Lennox as a PM, and turns to Trace for an opinion. He starts choosing his words carefully, but the tale of Lennox making them raise their hand to speak comes out.

A bit later, Piers relates how they learned from Vera Wang how “they are moving away from bridal stuff into a much wider range to appeal to all women based on romance.” The subtle yet scared look on Omarosa’s face – priceless!

Trump asks Nely her impression of Omarosa as a leader. Nely the toady says Omarosa is a rock star, they jelled well, and, “We finally have our Mojo.”

The next opinions come from the viceroys. Don Junior calls the Empresario approach “more conservative” but adds that they worked well together. George thought Hydra was “extremely creative” and entertaining. He adds that it may not have been beautiful, but it was “eye-catching.”

It’s time for Trump to announce the winner. He says Vera liked both windows a lot and felt she understood them. But when he weighs in the Serta executive’s opinion… Hydra wins!

Lennox tells us that his $20,000 will go to The Muhammad Ali Center.

Piers offers Empresario his commiserations and wishes Omarosa “bad luck” as Hydra heads back to the suite. His precise enunciation and phrasing makes that so funny that I laugh right out loud.

Trump now turns to Empresario to find out what went wrong. Carol says that they asked the same question about the future direction of Vera Wang and got a different answer. Why we saw this comment without seeing the corresponding part of the sponsor interview, I cannot say. But one thing we did see was Vera Wang emphasizing creativity, which the men had.

George says that Vera’s obvious connection with weddings makes the Empresario solution seem unimaginative. He adds that it wasn’t terribly entertaining either, but does give them credit for branding. I actually think that the low-visibility branding of Serta is how they lost this task, but maybe I missed something. Trump wants to know whose idea the wedding theme was, and after a reminder from Don Junior, Omarosa fesses up.