The Apprentice 4, Episode 3: How Can Seven Brilliant Women Be Wrong?

Trump sent regular recapper Betsy Wasser to his golf course to take care of some things, so I’ll be her George this week. She’ll be back as soon as she’s had her fill of drinking mai tais with Bill Rancic.

Previously on The Apprentice: The teams made ads for Lamborghinis. Alla directed her team’s and did a great job, even though she’d never directed before. Randal went to his grandmother’s funeral. Chris tried to maintain control over Markus and wound up “marginalizing” him. Excel’s “green with envy” ad was confusing rather than clever. Markus complained that his ideas were ignored. Capital Edge won, but while they were enjoying their reward, playing hockey with the Islanders, Rebecca hurt her ankle. In the boardroom, Chris blamed Markus for the team’s loss, but Trump disagreed that he was the reason the team did so poorly. He fired Chris instead. 16 candidates are left. Who will be fired tonight?

The men, minus Markus and Chris, are waiting in the suite. Mark thinks that Markus should be the one to go. Markus returns and Betsy’s boyfriend Josh gets a hilarious look on his face like he doesn’t know how to react. His eyes dart back and forth a little, like he’s thinking, “Am I really seeing this?” The men are obviously not pleased by Markus’ return but they applaud anyway. Josh suggests that they all leave the Boardroom in the Boardroom. Markus good-naturedly agrees. In an interview, Markus admits that he does talk too much, but he’ll work on toning it down. The guys all say that they’ll make a fresh start tomorrow.

Elsewhere in the suite, Felisha tells Kristi that Rebecca went to see a doctor. Not long after, Rebecca and Toral return from a clinic. Rebecca has a cast on her leg and is on crutches. She says that she and Toral have become friends. Toral says they get along well and have a lot in common – she went to Wharton, Rebecca’s from Chicago, and they have banking in common. She thinks they also both have a strong work ethic.

Kristi and some of the other women come to see Rebecca, who tells them that her ankle is broken. She’ll be in a cast for five or six weeks. Felisha interviews that this will cause obvious problems – they sometimes run during tasks and they’re often up all night. Rebecca says that she’ll just get through it and not let her injury hold her back. She’s not one to let things get her down easily.

Kristi, Felicia, and the Jens are in the kitchen while Toral and Markus are talking nearby. Markus tells Toral that he didn’t think he’d be coming back to the suite. Toral, however, says that she knew he would because he’s articulate. She might have said some other things, but I was laughing too hard to hear. Toral says that she hates cliques and popularity contests. Kristi gets the other women in the kitchen to be quiet so they can eavesdrop. Toral interviews that basically the other women on the team aren’t as great as she is. They don’t have the professional experience or work ethic. If she were looking for someone to fill a position as a secretary, she might consider one of them. Markus and Toral toast each other with wine.

The next morning, Trump, Carolyn, and George are in a park near the Hudson River, making small talk. The candidates arrive and Trump asks Rebecca what happened to her. She wishes she could say it was something glamorous. He tells her that she has the option of leaving, but she says she’ll definitely stay. Trump announces that they’re in front of Trump Place in a children’s park that is part of a larger park that he’s donated to New York. Someday, it’ll be spectacular. Just like everything else Trump has a hand in.

Trump says that he likes to give back, and in this task, the teams will give back as well. Their job is to create a high-tech expo for a retirement community. They will use technology from Best Buy and teach senior citizens how to use the technology in order to improve their lives. Did Trump learn nothing from the Home Depot task last season? At the end of the task, the seniors will be surveyed, and whichever team gets the highest score from the surveys will win. Trump asks if anyone has any questions, specifically looking at Markus. He’s surprised that Markus has nothing to say.

The men immediately decide that Randal will be their project manager. I wonder if they decided that ahead of time. Randal says that there’s some irony in this task – one of the last things he did with his grandmother was take her photo with his camera phone and show it to her on a computer. He thinks that she’ll be watching him and that will give him an extra edge. I really like Randal and hope he’s around for a while.

Rebecca will be the PM for Capital Edge. She says that she stepped up, even with her broken ankle, because she wants to prove that she’s still a valuable resource. Jennifer W. is assigned the job of taking care of catering for the expo. She says that this is the perfect job for her since she has a background in event planning. She loves to entertain and she loves old people. There’s a personal ad for you. Jen W. is confident that the team will win (obviously she didn’t learn from Excel last week) and thinks that the women will be able to engage with the seniors because the seniors will see them as granddaughters.

At the retirement community in New Jersey, Kristi, Alla, and Jen M. talk to seniors. Jen M. thinks that they’ll do well with the task because women are softer when they talk to people. Interesting logic. One of the men the women are talking to says that if they’re at the expo, he’ll come.

The men are also speaking to the seniors about their thoughts on technology. One man, Jacob, says that technology is from the devil. That explains the attraction and addictive nature. I should’ve known. Mark says that they’re going to need some outstanding ideas to overcome that kind of belief.

The men meet to go over what they’ve learned and decide what to teach at the expo. Markus wants to do something with TiVo, but Clay doesn’t think this is a good idea. Markus offers to do that portion himself. Clay thinks he’ll be wasting his time. He says that TiVo is too difficult to set up. Exactly the reason you should teach the seniors about it – make something seemingly difficult easier to understand.

Clay asks George if he can give some input into people his age. George warns dryly that Clay is on thin ice. Clay asks if people George’s age tend to be set in their ways. George tells him that that’s something they have to figure out for themselves. Randal decides to try the TiVo idea. Clay tells him that if they’re wrong, they’ll figure things out later. Josh interviews that “Clay is the biggest bi%#$ on the team.” He basically told Randal that he wants to be on the record as having been against the TiVo idea in case they lost. Josh says that they’ll take Clay down.

This week’s Trump Lesson of the Week is “Inspire.” Considering later events, I’m surprised they didn’t use the one from last week, “Be Flexible.” Trump yells at some poor guy in his office and says that leadership is important. Leaders must inspire their followers. For some reason, some woman named Jennifer (we’re everywhere), who happens to be Miss Universe, comes into Trump’s office. He tells the guy he was yelling at that they have a good time around there and that “Trump is Trump.” The Jenn Lesson of the Week is “Don’t Name Your Child Jennifer.” There are too many of us as it is.

The women of Capital Edge meet to discuss what they’ve learned. Rebecca announces that there will be no discussion until everyone has said something. She makes sure that everyone is listening. The women decide that they’ll have three stations at the expo – one for computers, one for TV, and one for health and fitness. Rebecca asks if there are any other products they should consider. Alla interviews that Rebecca’s leadership style is abrasive. She thinks that a strong woman leading other strong women should talk to her team, not talk at them. I like Alla, too. I didn’t think I would, considering the whole ex-stripper/murder-inspiration thing, but I do.

Capital Edge shops at Best Buy. Kristi, Felisha, and Alla are all standing around. Kristi says that she’s just been sitting back and not doing much. The team has a low energy level and Alla says that, without any excitement, they could fail. Kristi says that if a leader can’t get her team jazzed up about a task, she’s not much of a leader.

The guys (all wearing Geek Squad shirts) are meeting again. Mark calls Clay out on his behavior earlier, calling it contrived. Clay announces that if they lose and he’s taken to the Boardroom, he doesn’t want everyone to say that he never said anything. Randal wonders if his comments were constructive. Markus announces that the guys should bury the hatchet and sort out their problems. Only he uses a metaphor I don’t want to use.

Excel’s expo (say that five times fast) begins. Randal explains that the theme is “connecting the generations.” Clay and Brian are in charge of the hobbies and interests section, which is about the Internet. Clay tells a senior that he can use the Internet to find anything. The man suggests that he can find an old girlfriend. Adam (who?) is in charge of photography. Oops, sorry, Adam, your three seconds are up for the week. See you soon!

Markus is leading a TiVo training session and actually doing pretty well. Josh says that this is the perfect situation for Markus – he has a captive audience and can’t be interrupted. Markus tries to make sure that Jacob is paying attention. One of the seniors tells George to try the food. Randal thinks that the expo looks good and is inviting.

The women’s expo, on the other hand, looks… empty. Not only are there not a lot of people there, but there’s a huge blank space in the middle of the room, so it looks emptier than it is. Rebecca greets people from a wheelchair. Jen W. is at the front of the room, greeting people and offering food. She talks to Carolyn, who thinks that Jen W. created a dry event that isn’t drawing people in. Oh, and the cake is supposed to say Techno Expo, but it says Tethno Expo. Oops! Rebecca is also unimpressed but says that they’ll persevere.

Toral tries to show some seniors how to use a high-definition TV. She’s not doing very well. She interviews that she’s an investment banker and negotiates multimillion-dollar deals. She doesn’t want to say that this is below her, but it’s not something she would generally do. Marshawn interviews that during Toral’s demonstration, the TV worked less than it malfunctioned. She thinks that Toral is the team’s weakest link.

Jen M. talks to a senior about a heart rate monitor. She says that the men are loving being around the women. She does some pushups to demonstrate the monitor. The man tells Carolyn that if his wife were around, she’d kill him. He notes that Jen M.’s heart rate is high and he got her excited. Jen M. teasingly asks what she’s going to do with him. She interviews that if they men give them a high score just because they’re women, she’ll take it. Yay! Using sexuality to get ahead! We can never get enough of that!

The teams head to the boardroom. Trump asks Excel how Randal did; they loved him. He tells Trump that Markus didn’t do too badly. Trump asks Rebecca about Capital Edge. She says that they were good but Jen W. was weak. Carolyn reads off Capital Edge’s comments – some of them are good, but the seniors complain that there were no informed technicians. The ratings were based on things such as usefulness and comfort of using the technology. Out of 10, then women scored a 7.9. George says that Excel’s comments were generally good, and they received an 8.1. The men win!

Trump mentions that Randal could get an exemption, but only if his team votes for it. Fortunately, the men unanimously decide that he should get one. Trump announces that the men’s reward will be something else involving giving back. They’ll be visiting a children’s hospital and donating thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment from Best Buy. Aww, that’s sweet. Trump seems to have taken a page from Martha’s book about rewards that involve doing nice things for other people.

Trump says that it’s hard to say that a team lost when the task involved helping people, so, really, both teams won. Except they didn’t, and the women will be returning to the Boardroom. Capital Edge returns to the suite, where Jen W. says that Rebecca stabbed her in the back. In her room, she cries and tells Kristi that she’s tired. [Editor’s Note: Good thing she’s not on Martha’s version of the show, because Martha said businesswomen don’t cry!] She swears, then says she needs to wash her mouth out with soap because she hates swearing. Jen W. hates that Rebecca threw her under a bus. She thinks that she’ll be going to the Boardroom and will have to fight to stick around.

The men head to the children’s hospital for their reward. Josh thinks that this is a “phenomenal concept.” He says you can’t quantify the value of this reward, and he thinks the group will become stronger from doing this together. Mark feels like Santa as the guys give all of the goodies to the kids. The guys all talk to and play with the kids, treating them like normal, healthy children. And I’d like to point out that not one guy complained about having to do this. They all look like they’re enjoying themselves, and the kids are obviously loving the gifts and their new playmates. Josh thinks that they’ll take a lot away from this experience.

Mark says that the guys are just as happy to connect with the children as they were with the seniors. The men talk to a teenager who says that when he makes his first million, he’ll buy a Lamborghini. The guys laugh and Clay notes that that’s a sore subject with them. As the guys are getting ready to go, my potential boyfriend James (I still haven’t decided between him and Brian) asks some girls if they don’t want the men to leave.

Back at the suite, Jen W. tells Rebecca that she did everything she was supposed to do. (Of course, there’s a difference between fulfilling your obligations and actually doing a good job.) Jen W. says that Toral was the one with the problems. She thinks that Rebecca and Toral have bonded, which bothers her. She says that if Rebecca doesn’t take Toral to the boardroom, it will come back to haunt her. She would rather have Rebecca stick around than Toral. Jen W. notes that the other women agree about Toral, asking, “How can seven brilliant women be wrong?” Rebecca is torn.

Boardroom time! Trump asks the women if Rebecca was a good leader. Toral, of course, thinks she was great. She thinks they lost because of problems with their knowledge of technology. Marshawn speaks up that Toral must be talking about herself. She says that the women didn’t ask much of Toral, but she still did poorly. They don’t have room on their team for benchwarmers – in fact, they don’t even have a bench. Nice!

Toral starts getting worked up, and I’m wondering if she’s going to be this season’s Chris. She says that she is the most qualified person there. Carolyn wonders if she feels that she’s the only one who deserves to be the apprentice. Toral names herself and Rebecca. Alla accuses her of making things personal, since she and Rebecca are friends. Toral says that she and Rebecca both speak less and think more. Trump notes that the women were better. Carolyn agrees and says the women were boring.

George brings up the food, mentioning that the men’s food was better. Jen W. says that that wasn’t why they lost. Carolyn points out that Jen W. has a background in event planning, but there was no banner announcing the expo and the message on the cake was misspelled. Yeah, I have to wonder, if seven brilliant women can’t be wrong about Toral being awful, how could those same brilliant women not catch that glaring mistake?

Trump starts asking everyone who should go home. Jen W. names Toral. Felisha thinks either Rebecca or Toral should be fired and adds that Toral is a liability. Alla names Toral. Jen M. names Toral. She thinks that if Rebecca doesn’t bring Toral back to the boardroom, Rebecca should be fired. Rebecca announces that she would like to see a woman win. “And you don’t think Toral’s going to make it?” Trump asks. Rebecca continues that if Toral doesn’t continue, the other women won’t have the intellectual charge to get by.

The women are all offended, as they should be. Jen M. says that this shows Rebecca’s lack of judgment. George thinks that Rebecca is “way off base,” but Trump doesn’t necessarily agree. You know what, then? Just do your show with all men, if you’re going to have that attitude. You handpicked these people yourself, Trump, as you keep saying. If you don’t like the women, that’s your own fault. Rebecca points out that Toral went to the same school as Trump. So? Why are we still, after last season, equating schooling with intelligence? Trump defends his school, noting that Toral has to be smart because the smartest people in the nation go to Wharton. Shut up, Trump. Shut up a million times. He does admit, though, that this doesn’t mean Toral has common sense. It doesn’t mean you do, either, Trumpy.

Trump asks Rebecca who she’s bringing back. She says she has to go with her gut and integrity. Get used to hearing her use that word. Rebecca is bringing back both Jens. Oh, you have to be kidding me. What did Jen M. do wrong? Trump says that Rebecca is putting herself in a bad position. Danger, Will Robinson! Rebecca, are you listening? No, she’s not. She says that she has to maintain her integrity. She believes in Toral and is “incapable” of bringing her back. If this means she’ll be fired (“which it might,” Trump speaks up), so be it. Her integrity is more important.

Trump tells Toral that she should drop to her knees and thank Rebecca, because he doesn’t get it. Toral tries to say something, but she should really be quiet right now. She just got her neck saved. She manages to say that she wasn’t the reason they lost. Trump announces that he hates Rebecca’s decision, but he admires her integrity. He tells Toral to enjoy the view while Rebecca goes through hell. The women exit and some very deserving and one undeserving person go back to the suite.

“That was amazing,” Trump says. Carolyn is surprised. Trump asks George if Rebecca was right or wrong. George notes that Rebecca has principles and stuck with them. Notice that he didn’t actually answer the question. Carolyn is surprised that Rebecca didn’t bring Toral back, and she’s especially surprised that Rebecca brought Jen M. back. She does agree that Jen W. should be there.

Rebecca and the Jens return. Trump asks why Rebecca wanted Jen M. in there. Rebecca says that Jen M. sometimes gets off-point. She focuses on things that are technically important but don’t lead to a win. So, basically, you have no reason and just needed a second person to bring with you. Trump doesn’t think that Jen M. did anything wrong. Jen W. agrees. Trump says that unless Jen M. says something really stupid, she won’t be fired. Fortunately, Jen M. keeps her mouth shut the rest of the time she’s in the Boardroom.

Trump tells Rebecca that she should have brought Toral back because none of the women like her. She could have brought her simply for that reason. I think he’s implying that everyone’s hatred of Toral trumps (no pun intended) everyone else’s bad work on the task. He notes that Rebecca is hardheaded, which she agrees with. George thinks that Rebecca is inflexible. She thinks this is ironic, since she stepped up to be PM even with a broken ankle. What does that have to do with flexibility? “To call me inflexible…,” she begins. Trump cuts in that she is inflexible.

Carolyn thinks that the women lost because there was nothing to their presentation. George asks if Jen W. really thought everything was fine. Jen W. based the food on what her grandmother likes (a respectable decision). Trump asks why they lost. Rebecca blames the poor presentation. Trump asks if that was her fault; Rebecca blames Jen W. Jen W. blames Rebecca’s poor leadership and judgment. She asks again how seven brilliant women can be wrong about how bad Toral did.

Trump notes that the task was about creating an inviting environment. The women didn’t, and it was Jen W.’s fault. However, Rebecca should have brought Toral to the boardroom. He actually says that if Toral had come in, she would have been fired. Just when it looks like Trump is going to fire Rebecca, he says that she has potential, so therefore, Jen W. is fired. Jen quietly says, “Okay,” pretty much accepting that there’s nothing she can do. She leaves as Jen M. and Rebecca head back up to the suite. Trump shakes his head silently a few times, then says that Rebecca will either be great or a disaster. At this point, I’m thinking it’ll be the latter. George says that only time will tell.

I’ve agreed with Trump’s decisions the past two weeks, but I definitely disagree this week. I don’t care how much integrity Rebecca has. Integrity, schmintegrity. This is a game, not a way to keep your friends happy. I don’t think she should have stabbed Toral in the back or anything, but Toral was obviously the weakest person on the team. As PM, Rebecca should have her team’s best interests in mind. By excluding Toral from the boardroom, she made things personal. She should’ve been fired for making such a bad decision. I wish Trump had pulled a Martha and made everyone come back to the Boardroom so he could fire Toral.

In the cab, Jen W. says that, for the record, she is a good event planner. She’s disappointed with the outcome and feels that Toral should have gone home. She thinks that Rebecca’s judgment is clouded and she showed poor leadership skills. Jen W. believes that the team will be shaken by this and have to work to rebuild their morale.

Next week: “Sometimes really smart people go a little bit too far.” Some of the candidates dress up as… mascots? Theme park characters? It’s hard to tell, but it looks amusing. Clay wants to get scary. Someone takes on Trump and is branded “ineffective.” Oooh, fun!

Jenn Brasler is the Assistant Editor of Reality News Online and an aspiring writer from Falls Church, VA. You can e-mail her at luckyjenn@hotmail.com. She used to like Rebecca, but now she’s just annoyed by her and hates the fact that she’s Evangeline Lilly’s doppelganger.

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