The Apprentice 4, Episode 1 Extras: Melissa vs. Kristi

Trump makes the mistake of engaging Markus in conversation. Markus says that he likes skiing and football. He keeps talking, but Trump has lost interest, so he turns to Brian (I think; it’s the short one, whatever his name is) and asks if he likes jockeys. Ouch! Fortunately, Brian takes it well. As someone who stands just over 5 feet, you kind of have to just laugh it off. And then go back to plotting to take over the world.

One of the guys (possibly Markus) asks Trump for his secret to success. Trump reports that it’s never quitting. Quitting is for losers. No, he really said that. He’s seen a lot of smart people fail because they gave up, but he’s seen a lot of less smart people become very successful because they didn’t know what quitting meant. Markus tries to talk again. Trump thinks that the guys will be on Markus’ case for talking so much. The guys discuss the possibility of Markus’ exemption. Trump says that people don’t change.

In the suite, Kristi says that in the boardroom, she’ll focus on Melissa’s issues and on what she herself did well. She wishes that she had been able to manage Melissa better. Melissa and Jennifer M. (uh, oh, bad sign) discuss Kristi. Jennifer tells Melissa that she was a good worker, but that was cancelled out by her negativity. Melissa says that she’s not concerned about going to the boardroom. She knows that they lost the task because of a lot of things, but they weren’t things she was in charge of. Ah, yes, the “that wasn’t my responsibility so it wasn’t my fault” defense. Always a classic. Jennifer says they lost because they made bad decisions collectively.

It’s boardroom time! This right here is why the Martha Stewart version of this show disappointed me. Where are the knock-down, drag-out boardroom battles? Trump asks Capital Edge why they lost. Marshawn blames marketing. Carolyn asks about the XXX decision. Kristi blames Melissa for the loss and Melissa laughs. She says that she asked people what they would be comfortable paying, then tried to push a little more. Kristi announces that Melissa wanted to charge $10. Melissa blames Kristi for the loss. She lists all of Kristi’s problems, which sound suspiciously like her own.

Alla speaks up that the task should have been an effort put forth by the entire team, but Melissa didn’t give 100 percent. Carolyn says that Melissa told her she was doing everything. Melissa claims that this is true, but everyone else thinks she’s crazy. Alla says that Melissa makes things up in her mind that are really lies, but she convinces herself they’re true. I’ve known people like that. They’re really, really annoying. Alla tells Melissa that everything she’s said in the boardroom has been a lie. Rebecca (who looks eerily like Evangeline Lilly from Lost) speaks up that the team won’t be able to make it with Melissa around.

Marshawn says that she’s come to her decision independent of the group, but she thinks that Trump should fire Melissa. She thinks that Melissa insulted everyone else’s intelligence with her talk about what Hispanic people want. As a minority woman, Marshawn understands Melissa’s position, but she points out that there are 9 beautiful, intelligent women on the team and they would be able to make things work. She notes that with four blonds on the team, they still did well in Spanish Harlem. She thinks that Melissa made the mistake of underestimating the others and that negativity is kryptonite.

Jennifer W. says that Melissa told her she lost respect for Kristi. Trump asks Melissa who she thinks the strongest team member was. Melissa names Jennifer M. Trump decides to point out that she made the top ten in the Miss USA pageant. Jennifer M. can’t remember her placement but thinks she was sixth. “Five and a half,” she jokes. Alla agrees that she did an amazing job. See, Trump? Beautiful women can be smart and do well in business. Why does he always seem surprised by that? You’d think he’d have learned after so many years of working with Carolyn. Jennifer M. says that she thinks Trump should fire Melissa. She causes friction and drama. Melissa says that she needs to keep her feelings in check. Yes, Melissa, that’s your biggest problem. This woman is delusional.

Kristi takes the risk of asking if she can just bring one person back to the boardroom. Trump agrees and Kristi picks Melissa. That was kind of dumb of Kristi, since it reduced her chances of getting out of there. But on the other hand, it’s hard to decide who else she could have brought without making it seem personal. It doesn’t seem like any of the other women did that bad of a job. Plus, Kristi probably thought (correctly) that she was a lot safer than Melissa.

Trump and his associates confer. Carolyn says that Kristi and Melissa both had problems, but George thinks Melissa was worse. Hey, it’s Robin! Hi, Robin! Still screening your calls in case Raj tries to ask you out? Kristi and Melissa return to the boardroom. Trump tells Kristi that she portrayed good leadership by picking just Melissa. I really can’t tell if he’s being serious. Kristi says that Melissa was the team’s weak link. Melissa thinks her mistake was letting Kristi get under her skin. However, this mistake didn’t lose them the task, while Kristi’s mistakes did.

Trump asks Kristi if she thinks they lost because of Melissa. Of course she does. She says that Melissa challenged the prices in front of customers. She thinks that this created inconsistency, and you can’t run a business when there isn’t consistency. Melissa says that everyone said she was negative, then admits that she doesn’t work well with women. Gee, I wonder why not? While Melissa goes on and on about this, Kristi tries to say something to Carolyn, probably about a past experience working with women, but she can’t be heard over Melissa. Trump notes that there’s a beauty queen on the women’s team, but Melissa doesn’t think that Jennifer M. was intimidated by her.