The Apprentice 3, Episode 10: Pizza My Mind

The candidates, as always, are speculating as to who will be fired. Stephanie thinks it might be Erin, noting that she can only use her sex appeal for so long. The question is answered as Angie strides triumphantly into the suite, followed by Chris. They better check the bathroom to see if Erin swiped any of them for her wardrobe. Stephanie admits in an interview that she’s disappointed that Erin is gone. She thinks Angie and Chris are mean and rude. Angie accuses Stephanie of not helping her in the boardroom. It wasn’t really Stephanie’s fault – as you’ll recall, Trump asked Stephanie who was responsible for the loss. Stephanie said Angie, then started to elaborate, but Trump cut her off. Angie chews Stephanie out for this, and all Stephanie can do is shrug.

Alex, Kendra, and Bren have a little powwow and decide that they want Bren to be their project manager. The three of them built Magna from the beginning, and they want to keep original Magna people on top. They don’t need Craig and Tana to win. Meanwhile, Craig and Tana obliviously hang out in the kitchen.

The phone rings, and we see Angie still snoozing away. Oh, no! What will happen? Don’t panic – Kendra gets it. Robin directs the teams to meet in Trump Tower. When they arrive, Trump tells Net Worth to choose a member of Magna to join their team. After a short conversation, they happily take Alex. He hugs his new teammates. With that out of the way, Trump tells the candidates about their next task. They must create a new pizza for Domino’s (he notes that he likes meatballs) and sell it from a mobile unit. The team that makes the most money wins.

Chris says that Net Worth chose Alex because he is creative, honest, and hard working. He adds, “I hope I’m not wrong about that,” kindly providing a bit of foreshadowing. Project manager Stephanie puts him in charge of marketing, happy that they have someone savvy to do it instead of her or Angie. Stephanie explains that she is project manager because Chris is “a nutcase.” Fair enough.

The team goes to a Domino’s training facility in Brooklyn to learn how to make pizza. They review the topping list, and Angie wants to use meatballs, since Trump likes them. I think that’s exactly the kind of sucking up that Trump loves. They brainstorm about names, and Alex suggests Meatball Masterpiece. They all think it’s a great name, and Stephanie notes that this is exactly why they picked Alex.

Chris has kept his promise to Trump and is chewing sunflower seeds instead of tobacco. Maybe choosing another habit that involves spitting isn’t the best course of action. Angie, as the designated mom, points out that he’s going through nicotine withdrawal and suggests he buy some gum. Chris says he doesn’t need to, but that he may be a little short with everyone. Oh, great. Angie points out that he’s always a little short with everyone. The two of them laugh about it. Later, Alex and Chris go to a nearby construction site and sell several pizzas to the workers there.

Magna tries to choose a topping. Bren suggests barbecue sauce, chicken, and cheddar cheese. He is the project manager and tells us that he wants to prove himself to Trump, not to mention score an exemption. Tana wonders how a meatloaf pizza would taste. Kendra thinks they should have pepperoni on it, since everyone likes pepperoni. Craig tells her not to generalize or she’ll wind up believing what she’s saying – after all, not everybody likes pepperoni. Tana is frustrated. The team is not communicating, and after all, it’s just pizza. She adds, “It’s not rocket scientist.” Ironic, no? Tana’s Italian heritage kicks in, and she suggests a meatball pizza with lots of sauce. They’ll call it Meatball Manga. That would be magna meaning “eat” in Italian, not the style of comic book art. I’m not sure how you’d render that in pizza form. In an interview, Tana says that the idea for the pizza topping was totally hers, so “hoperfully that son of a bitch’ll sell tomorrow.” Hee!

And now for the Trump Lesson of the Week: “Know When to Fold.” If you have an idea you’re really attached to, but that doesn’t seem to be working out, know when to forget about it and move on. Next week, Trump will remind us that you never count your money when you’re sitting at the table. There’ll be time enough for counting when the dealing’s done. And now for the Betsy Lesson of the Week. I’m breaking with tradition and will actually give a business-based lesson I’ve learned. It’s simple – return phone calls and emails as quickly as possible. If someone leaves you a message asking you a question and you don’t have time to find the answer right away, call them back anyway and just say that you don’t have the answer, but will call them with it later. I did that all the time with a vendor I used to work with, and even though I kept calling them saying, “I’m not ready yet, but I’ll get to you soon,” they thought I was really on top of things. Of course, you do have to eventually get back to them with an answer.

Net Worth gets ready to start the day. Stephanie tells us that they hired models to help them promote, which seems like a good idea to me. A big part of her strategy is to market to college students in the dorms at nearby NYU. We watch Alex chatting up several attractive women, and Chris comments that he is doing too much flirting, not enough working.

At Magna, Tana and Kendra are in charge of marketing. Their plan is to sell large orders to area businesses for lunch. It’s a good idea, probably even better than selling to college students since it’s during the day. If they had been able to sell late at night, NYU probably would have been fantastic. Anyway, Kendra tells us that their success hinges on her and Tana getting plenty of sales and the others keeping up production. Craig and Bren seem to be having a great time making pizza and they sell a slice to George. Tana says she loves seeing businessmen in suits because she figures they’re hungry.

Over at Net Worth, Stephanie is worried about getting the pizzas to those construction workers in Brooklyn. She wants to take Angie with her, but the guys say it would leave them short staffed. Angie says in an interview that Steph was preoccupied with this order to an annoying degree. She grabs one of the models, then takes the subway to deliver the pizzas. Man, that would take a long time. Wouldn’t it have been better to take a cab? Sure, it would be an expensive cab ride, but they wouldn’t have lost so much time. Oh, and to make matters worse, Stephanie has never ridden the subway in New York. She finally gets to the construction site and apologizes that the pizza is so late. She says in an interview that she could have sold the pizza on the subway, but it meant a lot to her to keep her word. Maybe she should go back, grab a stack of pizzas, and go back on the subway.

Alex is still flirting while the phone rings. Chris is making the pizzas, and when Alex goes to talk to him about the status of the orders, Chris yells at him about it. Alex tells him rather calmly not to yell at him, and wouldn’t you know it? Chris loses his temper! Chris wigs out and tells Alex to get the f#$% out of his face. Alex says in an interview that he felt physically threatened by Chris’s outburst. He adds that Chris is like a big kid, with a short fuse and a huge sense of pride.

To make matters worse, Net Worth’s models are all clumped together outside NYU not doing much of anything. Carolyn spots them and is not impressed. Carolyn then goes to the pizza stand and gets a slice. They give her the tour of the kitchen, including a pizza that the guys dropped on the floor. Nice!

With the challenge over, the candidates gather in the suite. Alex tells Stephanie about his altercation with Chris. Stephanie is shocked. Chris’s behavior, she says, is not acceptable, and Trump would not like it.

The candidates file into the boardroom, and I have to say, things are looking good for Magna since we’ve hardly seen them this week. Net Worth tells Trump that they’re confident they’ll win. All Craig will say is that Magna did “fine.” Carolyn reports that Magna did indeed do a fine job. They sold $653.12 total. And what about Net Worth? George tells us that they sold $523.90 in pizza – Magna wins, and Bren is exempt. Trump asks Stephanie – in front of the other team – who was responsible for the loss. She fingers Chris. But enough about the losers! Magna’s prize is breakfast with Trump in his apartment.

In the suite, Stephanie tells Angie about how Chris threatened “to beat up Alex.” That is taking it way too far. He was intimidating Chris, but he certainly never said he’d beat him up. Angie then finds Chris to ask if it’s true. Chris denies it, then goes to talk to Alex about it. Alex tells him that even though he might not have intended to hit him, he felt threatened. Chris says that’s not true, then walks off. He says in an interview that his view of Alex has changed. He’s not someone he can trust.

Magna goes to Trump’s shiny apartment. Kendra calls the place “bling bling” and theorizes that Trump was a rapper in a former life. Trump joins the candidates for breakfast and tells them that the apartment was harder to build than all of Trump Tower because of all of the details. The table they’re eating at, for example, had to be raised in from outside the building on a special crane. Craig jokingly asks who the project manager was on that task. And did Trump stay on budget? Trump says the budget was unlimited, yet he still exceeded it. Tana says that it was great getting to know Trump outside of the boardroom, plus it gave her a chance to show him more of her personality.

Meanwhile, in the tension filled suite, Stephanie talks to Alex about the boardroom. She says Chris needs to go, but Angie won’t go after him, so she’s bringing Alex. Alex tells her that might backfire on her. He says in an interview that Chris has a lot of potential in business, far more than Steph does. Alex tells Steph that if she brings him in, he won’t just say negative things about Chris.

It’s boardroom time, and Stephanie looks really chipper. Alex tells Trump he’s surprised they lost. He thinks Magna’s decision to sell to businesses put them over the edge. Stephanie says that Chris was very hard to manage. Plus, he threatened Alex. Alex tells Trump what happened. Chris says he’d never hit Alex, though he does own up to the swearing. And where was Stephanie when all of this was going on? Delivering those pizzas to Brooklyn, that’s where.

Trump says that Chris is a little rough around the edges. He asks about the chewing tobacco, and Chris tells him that he quit, as promised. He has indeed not been chewing.

Trump asks Stephanie if she’s tough enough to handle this group, and of course she thinks she is. Angie doesn’t think so, “Not at this level.” Carolyn asks why all of the models were clumped together. Angie adds that they should have passed out flyers in Union Square, and Chris says that one of the models actually asked why they weren’t passing them out in Union Square. Well, Chris and Angie, why didn’t you say something?

Stephanie sends Angie back to the suite, leaving Chris and Alex to go to the boardroom. Trump tells Stephanie to get ready to fight for herself. She better listen! George is surprised Angie survived, since she didn’t contribute much. Trump says he might have taken Angie after she was so negative to Steph. Carolyn, though, is not surprised. She adds that Chris has a temper that is likely not suitable for the company.

The candidates return to the boardroom. Alex says that Chris has a short fuse, and was hard for Steph to manage. Ooh, a double play. Well done, Alex – you nailed both of them. Stephanie counters that Chris was inappropriate for threatening Alex. Chris says he absolutely did not threaten Alex. Alex answers that his perception was to feel physically threatened. He also says that when someone tells him to get the f out of his face, that remark usually precedes a punch.

Trump asks Stephanie if she can handle Chris. She says she can, and Chris disagrees – she is not tough. Stephanie explains that she is not used to such volatile personalities. So, does that mean you are, in fact, not tough enough? Chris says that he is an intense person, and sometimes when people don’t know him, they think he’s being harsh. Well, dude, learn from it! This isn’t the first time this has happened. Trump says that Alex is refined and that Chris is not. However, Chris has made a lot of money in part due to his energy. Alex says that he thinks Chris has a lot of potential, but that he’s just not ready yet. Chris says his quitting the chew was a big deal. Trump isn’t impressed yet since it hasn’t been very long.

And what about Stephanie? Chris thinks she is “limitedly talented.” He asks Alex if Stephanie was any good on Magna, and Alex says no. The two men agree, though, that this was Stephanie’s best showing yet. Ouch. And to really twist that knife, Alex says that if given the choice between working with Short Fuse Chris and Stephanie, he’d pick Chris.

Stephanie says that the trip to Brooklyn took up a lot of her time. Trump says she should have delegated, but Steph wanted to deliver the pizzas personally. George asks her if she put Chris in his place. She didn’t, she explains, because she wasn’t there at the time – she was in Brooklyn.k Trump says she should have stayed with her team.

Trump tells Alex that unless he says something stupid, he’s safe. Alex buttons his lip. Trump says that Chris is “a disaster,” but Stephanie is a lousy leader. People swear sometimes, and she needs to get over it. Stephanie is fired.

As the candidates leave the room, Trump warns Chris to shape up, and fast. Chris promises he will. Trump tells George and Carolyn that Chris has potential, but there’s something a tad off about him. George and Carolyn agree, and they also think Stephanie was a weak leader.

In her cab ride home, Stephanie says that the high school graduates had no class, respect, loyalty, or integrity. She says that the college graduates are far more qualified to win. She sounds like a total snob. Trump will fire Chris for that temper, probably soon. But in the meantime, I’m glad to see Stephanie go.

Next week: It looks like Angie’s team is actually going to miss their presentation. Ooh, this should be good. See you all then.

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with any comments at betsyw42@hotmail.com .

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