The Apprentice: Los Angeles, Episode 10 – All’s Fair in Love and War

Previously on The Apprentice, Muna talked way too fast in Kinetic’s commercial, had the wrong impression of how highly Heidi regarded her and got fired. Who will it be tonight? I don’t know, but I do know that there are several candidates I wish I could see more from. Are Angela and Stefani, for example, any good? I have no idea. Maybe we’ll find out tonight!

In an interview, Kristine says that she was hoping she’d be one of the final players on Kinetic, but she didn’t think it would happen this way. She says that Arrow has basically disintegrated them. She and the rest of the team toast themselves with beers.

At the mansion, Nicole says she’s happy that she’s with Frank and Tim. She thinks the three of them are the strongest. She tells them she thinks they’d be a great final three. She thinks they’d trash talk each other, but “with respect,” because they’d know they were joking.

James answers the Trump Phone. Trump says that they need to send someone to Kinetic. James asks when he needs the decision done. Trump says to do it now. James asks for volunteers and gets nothing. Trump sighs, “James, I want it done,” and tells him to take care of it. James really doesn’t want to make the decision and tries his best to make Trump the bad guy, saying Trump was very adamant. He wants to keep Frank and Stefani, so it’s between Tim and Nicole. They’re both creative, but James says he is too, so it’s got to be one of them. Tim and Nicole look at him blankly, offering no help. James says he’s going to have to go with Nicole and that he’s sorry. Nicole shrugs and says okay.

James says it was a tough decision to separate Tim and Nicole, but he thinks it was the right thing to do. Business is more important than people’s feelings, and he’s got to take care of his team first. James offers Tim some “alone time” with Nicole. Oooh, hot! Oh, wait – not really. The two of them share a big hug. Tim tells her she’s going to be the last one standing over there, so it’ll still be the two of them in the end. In an interview, Tim says that it’s been a great experience having someone who he really loves spending time with. Most people don’t get that, so he’ll really miss having her around. Nicole tells him not to try to kiss her through the bushes.

James apologizes to Nicole, but she’s not having it. She tells him that harder things have happened to her, and she intends to be even stronger on Kinetic. Nicole is furious and tells him that she thinks it’s personal. He swears it was “the skill set,” but Nicole disagrees. In an interview, a fired up Nicole says that she’s going to kill herself winning this one, and furthermore, James will be fired next because, “You made a dumb mistake.”

I think Nicole is being a big baby. James had to pick somebody, and I think he gave a good reason for Nicole. I don’t think it was personal at all. Of course, I also think that he ultimately picked Nicole because she’s the weak link. Of all of the members of Arrow, she’s the one who has impressed me the least. That said, James was diplomatic about it, so Nicole should really stop being so huffy about it.

The next morning, the candidates meet for the next task. Trump asks why James picked Nicole. James says it was nothing personal, but of course Trump tries to make it that way. Nicole, naturally, agrees with Trump. Dude, he had to pick somebody. Tim says he’s sorry to see her go. Nicole giggles and says it’s “not ideal” being apart from Tim. Trump makes his usual blather about Hollywood, the task, blah, blah, blah, including that he has “the biggest show on television.” Trump is on American Idol? The candidates will be working with Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. They will sell passes using Ad Walker technology. The team that sells the most will win. Simple enough.

Nicole pretends to punch one of the Arrow guys as she walks out. Stay classy, Nicole!

Kinetic starts brainstorming. Angela is happy to finally be in charge. Heidi likes the idea of flyers, but is concerned that it’ll also help the other team. They agree that they should find a way to distinguish themselves.

Tim says that they need to find people who are coming to the park but don’t have tickets yet. He wants to create kiosks, since that’ll give them credibility. James likes the idea, and he thinks people will be drawn to them. The customers will come to them, rather than the other way around. What could be better?

Nicole says they need to be different, and she’s sure she knows what Arrow will do. She thinks they’ll have lots of signs and some kind of big impression. What can “four cute girls” do to be different? She’s thinking… roller skates. Angela says she’d do it, and the others agree. Nicole thinks that if they’re mobile, they can go wherever they need to be. Arrow won’t be able to do the same.

Frank says that since they’re on the same turf, “it’s all-out war.” James predicts it’ll get ugly. They agree that Nicole is ready to kill them. Tim thinks she’s getting the other team all riled up. Tim hates not having her on the team and misses being with her. That said, he knows how competitive she is, so he wants to beat her. “I am all about fighting dirty tomorrow,” he tells the rest of the team. He doesn’t care how they win, he just wants to win.

Arrow starts setting up, and James is wondering what the other team will be up to. James says that the product that sells them is cool – you can swipe a card right then and there. Frank says that if it comes to one on one sales, there’s no contest – Arrow is “the A-team.”

Meanwhile, Kinetic busts out their roller blades. They look vaguely menacing in their vests and skates. Nicole says that “sex sells” and they’re using their assets to win. She thinks that Trump would respect them less if they didn’t use their feminine wiles to sell. Let’s put aside the debate about whether or not it’s appropriate for women trying to gain executive positions to act sexy. Instead, how about the fact that they don’t look sexy? The members of Kinetic are wearing white t-shirts and denim shorts, neither of which are especially revealing. And over them are the “ad walker” vests, which pretty much look like flak jackets. Not hot.

Tim is afraid that Kinetic will swarm in front of them and take their customers. James thinks they should use their bullhorns. Tim suggests they use their tables to form a line so that people will think there is no other choice. He announces on the bullhorn that only the people at the station will give you free water bottles. Kristine offers to buy one of the customers a water. She thinks Arrow is “a little slimy.”

Nicole signs someone up for a pass, and Tim tries to steal her customer. He tells the guy that they have better prices. Nicole is furious in an interview, saying that he just lied. Then, she taunts Frank, saying that the customer went with her because Tim was obnoxious. “So, thank you for my thousand dollar deal,” she says.

Ivanka arrives and asks Angela what the dynamic has been like. Angela says she’s disappointed in the way the other team has been acting. She says that they’re not breaking the rules. Frank and Heidi argue over a customer. Frank says that they’re going to win because they’re not afraid to steal sales. Heidi says that Arrow has no shame. Nicole is still fired up, saying, “I’m going to smash their face in the dirt.”

She’s a classy one, that Nicole.

The candidates go to the Boardroom for the results. James says his team did an excellent job. Angela says she’s been a part of “many great teams,” but this is one of the strongest. Trump says he was surprised they got rid of Nicole. He says he hopes she wins so she can rub their noses in it. Ivanka says that it was an all-out sales war. Kinetic made $24,000 and change. Arrow didn’t use any gimmicks, just worked hard. They won, with over $31,000. Tim says that Trump needs to re-evaluate “who the stars are.” Trump agrees. Ivanka thinks Arrow was a little more ruthless. Angela agrees, but thinks that they didn’t represent Universal well. Had it been qualitative, it would have been a different result. Trump doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with being aggressive.

Arrow’s reward will be a helicopter ride around the city. Ah, a classic reality TV reward.

Nicole is disappointed to be back at camp. She says she’s in shock. She loved her old team, and she was hurt when Tim “didn’t stand up” when she was sent over.

Meanwhile, Tim sits sadly by the pool. He says it was hard seeing her go, but that the two of them have an understanding that they’ll get through this no matter what, that the two of them are stronger than any of it. He says he’s always been aware of the potential “very upsetting complications.” Frank sends Nicole over. Nicole says that she can’t believe Tim and Frank let her go, that they should have said something. Tim says he didn’t want to volunteer to go over. Kristine and Heidi think Tim should have objected. The ladies think he sold her out. Nicole says he should have said that the team needed her. She was mad that he didn’t get it.

Tim and Frank talk, and Tim thinks Nicole is being unfair. Someone had to go, and he wishes it hadn’t been her. Tim says, “that’s just how it goes.” James shrugs that he doesn’t understand women.

I guess I don’t either. Nicole seems to think that Tim should have told James that they couldn’t give her up, that Arrow needed her. But again, James had to pick somebody. What good would it have done if Tim had said, “No, we need Nicole”? James would have had to pick somebody else, and there would have been discord among the team. That would have made things even worse.

Time for the boring reward. Frank, ever the sophisticate, isn’t sure if they’ve taken off yet. They fly over the city, and they love it. Stefani says they feel like a family. They are proud of the fact that Trump finally recognizes how good they are as a team. Frank says he covets the Trump lifestyle.

Angela tells Kristine that she’s going to take Nicole in. They lost a lot of money, so she thinks the concept was flawed. She also figures James must have considered Nicole the weakest player, otherwise he wouldn’t have sent her over. Angela explains that she thinks Heidi and Kristine are great business people, but she doesn’t know that about Nicole.

Tim sticks his head through the fence to talk to Nicole. In an interview, Tim says that he knows it was dumb to get involved with a fellow candidates, but he wants to work things out. He says he knows she’s still mad, but he wants to put it behind them. He’d hate for things to end between them. Nicole says her mind really isn’t there. She’s more focused on the Boardroom and doesn’t want to talk to him. Tim looks upset.

Frank and James talk about who to target. James says he’s going in with a clean slate – except for whoever came up with the horrible roller skate idea. James says it’s an interesting situation, since he likes Nicole. Frank says that Trump writes about crushing the enemy. Stefani agrees. They’re not there to make friends, but to get jobs. James says he agrees, but he hesitates. Tim leaves to talk to Nicole. He tells her through the fence that James is going to go after the roller skate idea and to be ready. Frank is outraged, but Tim claims that he just told her good luck. Frank thinks Tim is being ridiculous. He’s only known her for two weeks – “are you kidding me?”

Tim tells Frank he wouldn’t attack Nicole in the Boardroom because he doesn’t want her to be fired. Frank can’t believe he’d consider blowing the whole process for her. Tim admits he’s being a bit biased. Frank is still gobsmacked by Tim’s attitude. I’m with you, Frank.

The candidates arrive in the Boardroom, Kristine wearing some unfortunate cropped pants. Trump asks why Angela keeps losing. He says they had a huge loss. She agrees and adds that she thinks they lost because their selling concept was flawed. She says that Nicole offered them “insider scoop” about Arrow that was worthless. Nicole says she had great ideas and correctly predicted what Arrow would do. Angela thinks that the mistake was chasing customers. That was Nicole’s fault.

Nicole thinks that she is a good seller and that James can attest to it. James says he sent Nicole because there are three other strong sellers and that it was “a coin toss.” Trump wonders if Tim and Nicole are in love. Nicole demurs and says that Tim said sweet things to her through the hedge. Ivanka laughs about how embarrassing her dad is. Trump is surprised that Tim didn’t defend her, and Nicole agrees. Trump thinks she should dump him and tells her, “make him suffer, make him cry.”

Nicole doesn’t think Angela led. Angela doesn’t think she needed to micromanage. Nicole’s enthusiasm, Angela says, sent them in the wrong direction. Ivanka says the others created a presence and a sense of legitimacy. James says their sales pitch was relatively weak and that he wouldn’t have bought from them. Angela believes Arrow was immoral, and that contributed to their loss. James thinks it’s just an excuse. Angela thinks their concept was weaker, and she commends what James did. Trump says there was nothing immoral about it at all, they were just better business people.

Trump asks Kristine what she thinks of Angela, saying that he loves her background. Is she a leader? Kristine says it depends on the kind of leader you want. Kristine says she’s a great team player, but not a vocal micromanager. Heidi says Angela oversaw the operation, and if that was flawed, Angela should have caught that. Nicole says she’d fire Angela. Kristine thinks that Angela, as PM, is to blame. Trump can’t imagine firing an Olympian. Angela advises him not to.

Angela tells him to do what he wants, since he’s the boss. Ivanka tells her to make a stronger case for herself. Trump blathers about how she should do that. Well then shut up so she can talk! Angela says everyone agreed with the concept. Angela wonders why her team didn’t catch it either. The trouble is, Angela doesn’t have anyone else to blame. Angela is fired. As much as Trump loves her, she’s not going to be the next Apprentice.

As she leaves, Nicole suggests Trump ask Tim if he wants to go to Kinetic, because she’d love to hear his answer.

Whatever, Nicole.

Angela hugs her team goodbye. She wipes away a tear and gets into the car to head home. Kristine is crying too. In her car ride home, Angela says it hurts to lose. She says she learned a lot, and that you learn more from losing. She says the silver and bronze medals meant more to her than the gold.

Did Trump fire the right person? I don’t know. I would have fired Nicole. The concept of the roller skates and being mobile was completely hers. She sold the team on it, and it didn’t work. She is also supposed to be a strong seller, but her team got creamed. On the other hand, we didn’t see Angela do much of anything. She believed in Nicole’s concept, so the team ran with it. Although I would have picked Nicole to go over Angela, I’m fine with Trump’s choice.

Next week, one team bombs and gets knocked out by both Trump and Ivanka. This is going to be fun.

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with comments at BETSYWASSER@GMAIL.COM

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