Previously on the apprentice...
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"Motel Mogul" Yahoo.
Donald Trump, still sporting his tuxedo, entered the boardroom and informed Net Worth that John held an exemption, and would therefore not be fired. Echoing Bradford's boardroom mistake from season 2, Trump gave John a chance to waive the exemption. Wisely, John declined. Mr. Trump then asked project manager Brian for his thoughts on the defeat.
Brian stated that they had a great opportunity, but the team faced great difficulty. "The problem was cooperation. I don't think we functioned as a team." Donald stopped him right there. "But you're the team leader," he said. "I mean, would you say it's your fault? Maybe we shouldn't go through this whole process. Do you think it's your fault that you lost?"
Brian did not attempt to deflect blame. He simply said, "It is my fault that I lost." Donald's next question was inevitable. "Should I fire you now?" he said. To the surprise of everyone in the room, the real estate broker replied: "Yes, you should."
The response stopped Donald in his tracks. At a loss for how to proceed, Mr. Trump's normally stern demeanor softened as he admitted, "That's amazing. I've never been in this position before. This could be the shortest board meeting I've ever had."
Looking for confirmation, Donald opened up the discussion: "Well, let me ask you, does everyone else feel that Brian should be fired, or not?" Not surprisingly, Kristen was the first to speak up. "There was no organization. When we got there, he didn't delegate. We just had to start doing. I am the accountant. I asked him to get together with me to discuss a budget. He refused to do so," she said, albeit in a much calmer tone than she had used during the task.
Donald wanted to make sure Kristen wasn't at fault for some of Brian's problems. He asked her, "Didn't you give him a very hard time?" She began to explain her reasoning for butting heads with Brian, when Donald interrupted, "Yeah, but he's the leader. Aren't you supposed to listen? Did you not respect him?" Kristen didn't hold back: "I'll be honest. I don't have any respect for him." -
Brian refuted the real estate financier's claims, "Kristen, we were given the opportunity, all of us, to sit down at the pool, and go over a budget as a team when we got to the property. You insisted that it was so important to take the list of furnishings, go out to Target--"
Kristen stopped him. "That's not true," she claimed. When Brian questioned her accusation, she continued, "No, and the rest of team members will say that I actually said-- You were upstairs and I was downstairs, and I said 'we need to discuss a budget'. And you said 'no'." Brian denied the incident, saying, "I totally disagree with that."
Carolyn chimed in. "Excuse me. Why didn't you have a budget?" she asked. Brian claimed that he did have a budget, but George wanted clarification. "A line item budget we're talking about. Not just a budget for $20 thousand. We know that," he said. Brian changed his tune. "We didn't have a budget because to go through and itemize each individual item that had to be done, in the amount of time, I just didn't feel we were going to be successful," he said.
Detecting a flaw, George probed further. "What was your timeline? There's a timeline for every job. Where was the plan?" he asked. The project manager attempted to cover his bases: "The timeline got screwed up..."
George wasn't buying Brian's excuse, so he rephrased the question, "Was there a timeline?" Brian conceded, "No. There was not." George made his point abundantly clear. "Then how could it get screwed up? There was no doubt in my mind that you were delusional that you're going finish on time, and you're going to have everything in place, because there was no timeframe."
Brian could not muster a reply, so Donald moved on. He asked Audrey if she thought Kristen or Brian deserved blame for Net Worth's failure. Audrey supported the accumulating consensus, saying that the project manager was at fault. "If he didn't appreciate the way that Kristen handled the finances and had control over him, then he should have just said, 'then step aside,'" she said. -
Brian explained his decision not to relieve her of her duties. "We needed an accountant and we needed a team leader," he said. "And I have never told my accountant to go f**k themselves. And I have never told my accountant that I hope you get f***ing fired. I have never done that!"
Brian acknowledged his language was impolite. "And this is the first time you've heard me curse. I did not curse at anybody during the task," he claimed. Carolyn found Brian's outburst to be unprofessional. "I suggest you don't do it in this boardroom," she said. Furthermore, John refuted Brian's claim. "You cursed at me yesterday morning when you told me to f-off," he said.
Mr. Trump wanted to know John's opinion of Brian versus Kristen. John fortified the case against the project manager. "I think that a happy team works well. And I think that Brian has a very abrasive side to him, and rubbed pretty much, at one point or another, the majority of the people at this table the wrong way," he said. Brian attempted to stand up for himself. "There is not another player on my team that could have done a better job than what we did," he said.
Donald disagreed. "You did so many things that were just terrible. You spent all of the money on toilets as opposed to putting a seat on and spending it on carpet. I heard the carpet was a pigsty. The thing was a total mess. Whose decisions were they?" he asked. John confirmed that Brian made the decisions.
Donald turned to another candidate for his thoughts, "Craig, what did you think of Brian's leadership?" Craig piled on the evidence: "It was lacking." Donald wanted to know if Craig had respect for Brian. "I did before yesterday," the shoeshine empire entrepreneur revealed.
Donald agreed. "I did too before today." Turning to Brian, Trump continued: "Honestly, I thought you were a young, dynamic guy, and you are. But, you gotta convince them you're great." Adamant he was being misjudged, Brian stated his case: "Donald Trump, I am great." -
Mr. Trump was not swayed. "But maybe you're just too abrasive. And by the way, it's more than abrasive. It's also, there are a lot of stupid things you did. Ripping out toilets that were perfectly fine," he said. Brian stood by his decision to replace the toilets, but Chris stepped in with more criticism. "The point is this. It was not organized, and the organization comes from him. I think he did a horrible, horrible duty as a project manager," he said.
Chris' harsh words caused Angie to speak up against the 22-year old real estate investor: "My problem was, you made it clear that this was your expertise, that you had done this renovation, that you were all over it." As if a flip had been switched in his head, Chris retaliated with a vengeance. He erupted with furor, shouting, "This is what I said, if we're going to be honest here! I do refurbish homes! I do not personally go in there, hands-on, and touch everything! That's what I said verbatim! I never said I've got in hands-on construction time! I never said that!" Angie rolled her eyes at his outburst, saying, "Oh, Chris."
The flare-up caused Donald to ask, "Angie, should Chris be fired over Brian?" The gym franchise owner gave her opinion: "Absolutely. I think Brian has more leader potential than Chris." Donald stopped to comment on the state of affairs. "This team is a mess. You started off so good and now you're like a total disaster. Brian, you did not do much of a leadership job here. Brian, you're not a hell of a leader," he said.
In an attempt to turn the tables, Brian said, "Does a leader give up?" Donald jumped on the question: "Well, you gave up because you thought I should fire you." Brian replied that he never gave up. Dumbfounded, Carolyn exclaimed, "You gave up just now!" As Brian shouted back, Donald refused be shut out. "Excuse me! I sat down and you said that you were responsible for the loss. Is that right?" Trump demanded.
Brian backpedaled, saying that he was willing to take responsibility, but Donald saw a major contradiction. "You said that you should be fired. Now all of a sudden you've got your gumption back," he said. "I sat down, and you said you were responsible for the loss."
Brian still tried to claim otherwise. "All I'm saying is that I never gave up," he said. Donald called him out: "You gave up the first minute I sat down. I said, 'what are we doing here?'" With looks of agreement on the faces of Carolyn and George, Donald continued, "I sat down and you said, 'You should fire me Mr. Trump.' Isn't that right?" Brian couldn't deny the truth, "Yes it is." In Donald's mind there was nothing more to discuss. "Alright. Brian, you're fired!"
Donald sent the rest of Net Worth out with a warning. "Out! Everyone out. You better get it together, Net Worth," he commanded. With the remaining candidates in an elevator to the Suite, and Brian in an elevator to the street, Donald spoke to George and Carolyn. "I'll tell ya, he was arrogant, and he wasn't smart," he said. Carolyn suggested that the choice was too easy: "This was a waste of our time." George agreed, "If the project manager thinks he ought to be fired, how are you going to defend him?" Donald concurred. "A lack of judgment," he said. "Total lack of judgment." -
"PR Launch":Nescafe
The candidates of Magna, fresh from their loss on the Nescafé task, prepared themselves for a stressful boardroom. Mr. Trump took his seat, and without hesitation, fired out his first question. "So, what was the reason for the loss? Tell me. Danny, tell me," he demanded. The project manager voiced his disappointment, "It's a tough loss Mr. Trump. We worked hard together, and we didn't want to lose this. We thought we had a good event."
Danny quickly shifted gears. "But before we go there, I'd like to discuss something very serious," he said. "We understand that the situation is, there's exemption, but when you give a gift to somebody, especially a gift from you, you don't expect somebody to abuse it. You gave Michael a give with the exemption, and he severely abused that exemption."
"Well didn't he earn that gift?" Trump asked. Erin quickly disagreed, and Danny followed suit: "He didn't earn it." In the face of this unique appeal, Trump reviewed the ground rules. "Don't forget, he does have an exemption, and we do have to live in this world by the rules. I mean, ask the SEC. Ask the people that run the world. You have to live by rules. He has an exemption."
Erin, drawing from her background as a lawyer, offered a savvy rebuttal. "However, from a legal perspective, every contract, every corporate bylaw, there are words, and they don't exist in a vacuum. They have meanings, and they have exceptions," she said. "'Exemption' is a word that has meaning, and possibly, if you guys agree, maybe exceptions."
Donald was intrigued. "So, you think he should come back to the boardroom. And you actually think he should be fired?" he said. Erin noted that the decision of whom to fire belonged to Mr. Trump. "But if you were me, you would say he should be fired," he said. "Sir, I would, because I think you should have someone that works for you who has personal integrity," Erin replied.
"Why do you think he doesn't have personal integrity? These are very strong statements," Trump said. Erin promptly backed up her accusation. "Anyone that abuses exemption, and dangles it in the face of their teammates, and doesn't perform... He quite possibly did nothing on this task," she claimed. Michael attempted to speak up in his defense, but Donald stopped the real estate developer short. "Boy Michael, you're having a tough day. You're very borderline Michael," he warned.
Donald attempted to shift focus back to a candidate who was eligible to be fired. "But Danny, let me ask you this. Didn't you give $50 thousand to one firm right off the bat? Now whose idea was that?" he asked. "I found the event planner," Stephanie answered. Donald wanted to know her thoughts on the company. "Actually, they were wonderful. They pulled off a wonderful event," Stephanie said. Erin agreed: "If it weren't for that event planner, we would have had slim to none... We would have had nothing." -
Donald again shifted back to the project manager: "Stephanie, what did you think of the job Danny did as team leader?" Stephanie's answer was circuitous at best, which caused George to enter the fray. "The question was very simple," Trump's trusted associate explained. "He said, 'what do you think of Danny as a team leader?' Was he good, was he bad, or what?" Stephanie said, "I wish decisions were made more promptly," but still avoided direct condemnation of her project manager.
"Bren, who would you pick? You are me. Who is responsible for the loss?" Trump demanded. The prosecutor from Memphis gave his honest opinion. "I hate to say this, but the biggest responsibility for the loss itself - the loss itself and nothing else - was Danny," he said. "If I could fire anyone, without any doubt, I would fire Michael, because Michael showed an utter, total lack of integrity by his actions yesterday."
Michael couldn't hide the disbelief on his face, but Donald remained unconvinced. "As far as Michael's concerned, he was lousy. He did a lousy job. He basically did nothing, and everybody's blaming him," he said. "But who's responsible for the loss? He wasn't responsible for the loss." Bren could not disagree. "Ultimate responsibility should fall on Danny's shoulders," he admitted.
Donald opened the debate up again, saying, "Even though, from a legal standpoint, Michael is exempt. Right?" Erin shook her head, and Trump asked, "You don't believe that? You think he's so bad that we should violate a certain trust?" Erin returned with a dexterous counter-reply: "He violated your trust sir. And he violated all of our trust. I feel very strongly about this." Every member of Magna, with the exception of Michael, nodded in agreement.
With the case mounting against Michael, George had a question for Danny. "I'd like to know one thing. Why didn't you tell Michael, 'Get out of my face. I don't want you. I don't need you. You're a disrupting influence.' Why didn't you just tell him, 'Get lost'?" he asked.
Danny told George that he "handled it like a gentleman," but George pointed out a more viable strategy. "Somebody sabotages what you're doing, you don't handle it like a gentleman. You say, 'Get out of my face. I can't use you!'" he proclaimed. Danny explained that he had to stay focused on the task, causing Michael to erupt incredulously. "Danny, you were lost yesterday. How can you say that you were focused?" he demanded.
Mr. Trump had heard enough. He was ready for Danny to choose who to bring back to the boardroom. "Alright, Danny it's time. You're the team leader-- sort of, like, a little bit. I don't know. You're not much of a leader, unfortunately." Danny refuted the comment, but Trump continued: "Well, something happened. This was a disaster." -
Danny asked permission to pose a question to Mr. Trump, but Donald already knew what was coming. "I know what the question is going to be. 'Can you bring somebody who's exempt with you?' Is that your question?" Trump guessed. The project manager wanted to be more specific: "I can obviously bring them in, but can they be fired?"
Donald made sure Danny knew who sets the rules: "I'm not sure that you can bring him in, but you can certainly suggest it. Would you like to bring Michael in?" Still unsure if Michael could be fired, Danny rolled the dice, and hoped his big gamble would pay off. "I'd like to bring Stephanie and Michael in to the boardroom," he said assertively. Donald dismissed the remainder of Magna, but reminded Danny, Stephanie, and Michael that he would see them shortly.
With the candidates out of the boardroom, Donald, George and Carolyn all appeared to be on the same page. Carolyn spoke first: "Well, I think it's clear that Danny can't make a decision. And the fact that he brought in Michael, who is obviously exempt, was just a bad choice." Donald reminded her that Michael had been a "disaster," and Carolyn agreed, but couldn't look past the facts. "Rules are rules," she said. "He's exempt."
George had a similar take. "I agree with Carolyn," he said. "Bringing in Michael, he wasn't the reason they lost, and he's exempt. So, you're effectively bringing in one. It's just a question of him and Stephanie." Donald agreed, but remained open to all possibilities. "I sort of have some strong feelings on this one. Let's see what happens," he said.
The candidates were called back into the boardroom. "Michael, they do not like you," Trump said. "Did you do badly because of the fact that you're exempt, and you figured, 'Why should I work?' Which is pretty terrible. Or, did you do badly because you're incompetent?"
Michael pleaded innocent on both counts. "I'll be honest Mr. Trump," he said. "When we arrived there, I put my best foot forward. I gave everybody the best ideas, that, to be honest, maybe I should have kept to myself, because they were not reciprocated, and Danny did not put them into action. And, I was so adamantly against the signing of that contract." Danny insinuated Michael's claim had no merit: "We took a vote!" Michael demanded that Danny let him finish, but the project manager continued, "And once again, the lies go."
However, Mr. Trump was busy zeroing in on a flaw in Danny's logic. "Danny, you elect somebody, they're supposed to make a decision. You're not supposed to be taking votes on everything," he pointed out. Danny admitted to seeing truth in Donald's statement, but said that he wanted to get a consensus on the decision. "But, do you think that a good leader really goes and takes votes all the time?" Trump asked. -
Donald turned to Michael for his opinion on Danny's leadership. Michael made his feelings clear: "Mr. Trump, I think, just because he wears, you know, polyester suits and plays guitar, that he's not a great advertising person, nor is he a good leader." Danny remained unaffected. "His lack of endorsement is hardly unflattering," he said. But Donald took the real estate developer's comments a bit more seriously: "Pretty insulting."
Mr. Trump then looked to the only female candidate in the room for her thoughts: "Stephanie, you thought Danny wasn't much of a leader?" Stephanie did not offer support for her project manager. Donald then asked, "You thought Michael wasn't much either. Right?" She confirmed that Donald was right on track. He wanted to be absolutely sure of her opinion of the two men. "I mean, you think they're two male losers. Is that correct?" he questioned. Stephanie responded emphatically, "Cor-rect!"
The male candidates were not pleased with Stephanie's slander, but she continued, "My thing is, if you are going to sign over $50 thousand, you, as a leader, at this level where we're at, you do not take a vote amongst the team. It was ridiculous! Take ownership. It was ridiculous." Danny came back, "Take ownership? It was your job, Stephanie, to procure the vendor!" Michael spoke up: "When you pay $50 thousand to run an event, let them run it."
Donald switched focus back to the exempt candidate: "Michael, do you think you should be fired?" Of course, Michael answered no. Danny, putting himself in the shoes of Mr. Trump for the moment, questioned, "Why not?" Carolyn looked amused by the interaction, as Michael responded: "I think I did a great job."
Danny expressed his disbelief before Carolyn asked, "A great job in what?" Michael spoke of his contribution, "I think I did a great job in giving great ideas, and putting things forward."
Donald stopped the conversation to offer his thoughts on the three candidates. He started with Michael: "I think you did a terrible job. I don't think you did anything close to being good. I think your job was terrible." He moved on to Stephanie: "I believe that you are better than I thought. I really do. Everybody seems to be of the opinion that getting the event planner was a good thing. The difference is, you wanted it sooner rather than later. So, I don't think you have to worry about being fired right now."
The safe candidate thanked Donald for the positive words. Then, the mogul turned his fury towards the men. "You guys should be ashamed of yourself. Both of you. I think Michael did a terrible, terrible job. Honestly," he criticized. He looked back toward Danny. "But you know, when you get right down to it, you've done a terrible job also." Danny disagreed with the comment, but Donald wasn't finished. "Excuse me," he said. "You were late with the event planner. In my opinion, you paid too much money to the event planner." -
Mr. Trump ignored the project manager's attempt at a rebuttal. "You know what I hated more than anything else? When I asked you to choose two people, you chose one person who's exempt. And that either shows a lot of imagination, or somebody that doesn't want to play by the rules," he pointed out.
As the candidates remained silent, Donald charged forward: "Michael is terrible, but Michael is exempt. I have to live by the rules. Danny, you're fired." Danny's head dropped in defeat while Michael offered his thanks. Donald dismissed the candidates from the boardroom.
After the candidates had departed, Mr. Trump and his associates shared their thoughts. "Well, that was interesting. Not easy," Donald said. Carolyn agreed, and Donald felt bittersweet about the latest ex-candidate. "Boy, I like this Danny a lot. He's a good guy, but he couldn't make a decision." -
"Madison Avenue Pitch": Dove
Both Magna and Net Worth made their way in for this most unusual boardroom. Donald began by expressing his disappointment in the candidates' efforts. He added, "Donny Deutsch said both commercials were terrible." He then asked Erin for her thoughts on Magna's performance. "Well we worked together well. We met deadlines. There were no arguments. The whole team has expressed that they were happy with my leadership," the project manager explained.
Donald made sure Erin knew that working well together doesn't necessarily translate to success. "And you ended up doing a fairly bad job," he said. Donald then called for Magna's commercial to be played on the plasma screen: "I want to see if this is as bad as I'm hearing."
When the playback finished, Donald was less than impressed: "Aye aye aye," he said. George suggested that there was nothing in the commercial that would serve Dove's needs.
Donald wanted to know how the cucumber concept was conceived. He asked Bren, "This was your idea. Where did you get this idea from?" Bren mentioned that the concept was "very opposite of my moral beliefs", but highlighted the value of taking chances: "We felt this was a huge risk to take, but that the payout would be worth it." In this case the risk did not pay off, and Donald let Magna know it, "You must have been crazy to think that stupid cucumber idea wouldn't offend anyone."
Net Worth was next. Donald asked to view their commercial, saying sarcastically, "I hear it's a beauty." After viewing the ad, Mr. Trump's first reaction was, "Boy that's terrible. Whoo!" He mentioned that advertisement can be subjective, but let the candidates know, "It just seems like both of these ads are just absolutely terrible."
On the Net Worth side, Mr. Trump first looked to Audrey for her opinion. The real estate agent did not hold back: "I think Kristen was terrible. These gentlemen came up with a joke, and she didn't follow through with it. She doesn't have the personality to make it funny."
Next on Donald's list was John. The technology firm owner thought the ad had potential to be funny, but that it wasn't executed properly. "When we started incorporating all those different body shots, we just had too many different styles of commercial going into it."
Kristen spoke up in defense of the ad, "Well the whole point was to be sweating and then be refreshed." Carolyn pointed out a major flaw in Net Worth's commercial: the models never rinsed the body wash with water. "I mean he just put it on his face. He wiped it off. It was disgusting. It repelled you from buying this product." -
Kristen reasoned that they didn't use water because the models were "difficult to work with." Not surprisingly, Donald wanted to know who was responsible for the models. Kristen named Audrey and Tana. Audrey did not accept responsibility for the models, "No, Mr. Trump. She put Tana in charge and Tana asked me." Taking the information into account, Donald directed his question to Tana: "Why were the models out of control?" The sales executive refuted her project manager's claim. "The models were perfectly happy," she said.
George had something else on his mind. "I'd like to hear from Chris," he said. "He's sitting here nice and quiet, hasn't opened his mouth once. That's not like you. What's on your mind?" Chris' intense boardroom demeanor sprung to life. "We were told to come up with something bold. Ours may not be as bold, we weren't over the top in the homosexual connotation. I think that's disturbing," he spewed.
Mr. Trump wanted to clarify: "Are you not a homosexual?" Chris was adamant, "Sir, I am not a homosexual. The fact is this: that is not a huge amount of people to attract." Donald turned to Erin who was shaking her head at Chris' comments. "Look, who watches 'Will & Grace', a show about gay men? Women women women women women" she rebutted.
Donald felt he had garnered the information he needed, so he asked Erin and Kristen to each select two people to return with them to the boardroom. Erin picked Bren and Michael. Donald was not surprised. Kristen chose Audrey and Tana. The candidates were dismissed, but the final six would return shortly. One of them would be fired.
With the remaining candidates outside in the lobby, Donald turned to Carolyn for her opinion. "I think Tana has performed in the last few tasks. And I'd say she's better than Michael. Bren came up with the ridiculous cucumber idea," she said. George was next. Donald asked him specifically about Kristen: "I think she failed as a team leader. The first requisite is to hold the team together."
All six candidates filed into the boardroom and took their seats. "What'd you think Kristen?" Trump asked. Net Worth's project manager gave a fiery response. "I sat there. I directed. I was doing many things, as I do in every single task," she explained. "So, as I'm directing, and I put these girls in charge of the models, I expect people to carry through their tasks, Mr. Trump."
As Kristen's defense built up momentum, Audrey stepped in to break her stride: "Also, she pointed out, Mr. Trump, that her boyfriend is a director." Kristen unknowingly took Audrey's bait by agreeing, and Audrey moved in for the kill. "Okay, so she's made a point that she's been on a set before, but yet, she has no respect for the people that were on the set," she proclaimed.
"Would you fire Kristen, or would fire somebody from the opposing team?" Donald asked her. Audrey's choice was clear. "I would fire Kristen," she said. -
With Net Worth's dissent now out in the open, Mr. Trump wanted to know if there was similar strife lurking within Magna. "Erin, why shouldn't I fire Bren?" he asked. Erin stayed loyal to her teammates. "You shouldn't fire Bren, because these people are like my family." She even shielded the embattled Michael. "You get mad at your family sometimes, but at the end of the day, I always like my family better than somebody else's family."
Harkening back to Brian's boardroom suicide two weeks earlier, Donald asked Erin, "Should I fire you?" Magna's project manager refused to roll over in the face of adversity. "Absolutely not," she said. "I stepped up to the plate in a situation when I had no experience. I showed honor, I showed integrity, and I showed courage. And I think those are characteristics that the Trump Organization would be proud to see in its newest employee."
Unable to expose a chink in Magna's armor, Donald turned back to Net Worth. "Kristen, your team is really turning on each other, and that's sort of bad leadership. Wouldn't you say?" he asked. Kristen attempted to deflect blame. "When I stepped up and said I'd be a leader, I knew that Audrey was a loose cannon," she said.
Audrey did not take the criticism lying down. Interrupting Kristen, she exclaimed: "Mr. Trump, she doesn't like me. It's personal. It's not business." Donald steered the conversation back to the commercial. "Did you like the models?" he asked. "Mr. Trump, they were fine. The only thing was, is that they didn't get direction," Audrey claimed. "And do you think that's Tana's fault, or Kristen's?" Trump asked. With great certainty, Audrey replied: "It's Kristen's fault. She was the director."
Carolyn reiterated Donny Deutsch's main problem with Net Worth's commercial. She said that the way the model applied the body wash to his face without wiping it off was very unappealing. "I don't understand why you couldn't get these models to just take the water, splash it on their face, like your idea stated. Why?" she asked.
"Carolyn, because they were never asked to do that," Tana said. Trump's trusted associate asked, "Whose fault is that?" As Audrey gestured towards Kristen, Tana replied: "Um, I would guess, the director's."
Kristen denied the claim, saying, "That's not true. We talked about water." Audrey emphasized how important the water was to the concept of the commercial. "That was the joke!" she said. "The entire pitch was gone because John wasn't even there to implement the whole joke."
It seemed that Kristen had an interpretation of the commercial that was not shared by her team. "She keeps stressing a joke, Mr. Trump. I never looked at it as a joke," she said. Despite Kristen's protests, Audrey interrupted the project manager again. "It was very clear that we were going to put something together that was funny. And John made it very clear that, 'wouldn't it be funny to see him throw water on his face, wash his face, and run off, and win the race,'" she recalled. -
Kristen explained that she sent John away from the set to supervise the music, but she inadvertently left herself vulnerable for another attack from Audrey. "She just answered her own question. 'Why wasn't there water thrown on them?' Because John wasn't present," Audrey accused. Kristen struggled to regain control. "I did not just say that!" she spouted.
Whether Audrey was putting a spin on Kristen's words or not, Mr. Trump thought one thing was clear: "Kristen, aren't you saying that you had no control over your team?" The project manager disagreed, but Donald was not convinced. "It just sounds like you have no control over your team," he said.
Turning back toward Magna, he chastised Erin for making a "terrible" commercial, but commended her for keeping her group together. "You've saved these two guys from being fired tonight," he said, referring to Bren and Michael.
Trump turned to Net Worth. "But Kristen, I must tell you, the leadership on this team-- it's a mess." Kristen tried a new tactic: "Mr. Trump, they're very hard people to lead." Donald wasn't buying it. Gesturing toward Magna, he asked her, "You think that this is an easy team, with Michael, who everybody hates?" Kristen attempted to reply, but Donald wasn't finished. "Kristen, Kristen, I think this is a harder team to lead than your team."
Instead of focusing on her failure, she attempted to highlight her positive qualities. "I know what the Trump Organization is looking to hire, and I know that I am definitely an incredible candidate for that. I know that I'm a great leader. And I know that I'm also incredible--" Donald interrupted her: "But you had no control over your team, and you produced a bad product." He had heard enough.
Kristen reminded Mr. Trump that both teams had produced bad commercials. However, Donald made a clear distinction between the two failures: "I don't like theirs either, but their team held together. You didn't hold together." Over Kristen's defiant plea, Mr. Trump delivered the two words no candidate wants to hear. "Kristen, you're fired!"
Dismissing the five candidates, along with the new ex-candidate, Donald capped the unusual boardroom by offering some final thoughts to George and Carolyn. "Those commercials were just terrible. Dove is better off making their own ad. I really didn't have a choice. She just had no leadership." -
I can see that nobody seem to 'hiew lan' u...
Nevermind, I eng siew u a bit...
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"Business on Wheels": Visa & Airstream
The six remaining members of Magna were seated in the boardroom when Donald Trump entered the shadowy sanctum. "What did you think the mistake was, Bren?" he asked. The project manager cited Magna's concept and location as positives, but noted that "the marketing was what failed us in the end."
Bren also commented on the group's lack of creativity, prompting Donald to ask how it feels to lose to people without college degrees. "High school people are beating you fairly consistently," he said. "How do you feel about that?" Again, Bren highlighted Magna's failure to generate creative ideas as one of the reasons why Net Worth has had more success in the tasks.
"Do you think you'd be helped, Bren, if I gave you some of the high school people and started mixing up the teams?" Trump asked. Bren assured Donald that an influx of street smarts would help Magna. Donald wanted to know which two people Bren would like to give up in favor of two Net Worth candidates. "I'd replace Stephanie, and I'd replace Michael," the bow-tied prosecutor offered without hesitation.
Bren explained his choices. "I'd get rid of Michael because Michael is just not a team player, in so far as he doesn't give the 110% that the other people on this team give," he said. Michael didn't appreciate the evaluation. "While you were sitting down dictating to everyone, collecting money, what was I doing with the rest of the team?" he asked. In response, Bren mocked Michael's behavior during the task: "You kept coming up to me every five minutes, telling me that you just couldn't sell. You just couldn't sell."
Michael disagreed. "No, the only thing I said to you was, 'It's very hard for a man to sell a massage to either a man or a woman,'" he said. Bren took advantage of Michael's opening. "And this is coming from the man that walks around the Suite and says he's the sexiest man in the Suite," he said. Donald asked if Michael, in fact, does think he is the sexiest man in the Suite. Erin answered for Michael: "He thinks he's the sexiest man alive!"
Michael bashfully dodged the claim, but Bren was relentless. "I mean you should have no problem with your charm going out there and getting people to get massages," he said. Michael tried to shift the trajectory of the debate. "You're trying to tell me that the main reason that this failed was because I was not good enough at bringing people in," he said. Bren assured him that he was part of the reason for Magna's failure.
Donald stated the obvious. "Well Michael, you have been having a hard time. Let's face it. Every time it's the same thing," he said. Turning back to Bren, he asked, "Why Stephanie?" The project manager explained that the supply chain consultant had a negative attitude. "Stephanie is very concerned about hedging her bets, and making sure that something's known, so that it's on the record, so that if it comes back she can say, 'Look, I said that, you know, this was a bad idea.'" -
Donald asked Stephanie what she thought of Bren's leadership. "He was okay," she said. "To me, a good leader also has time management skills. I was not happy having to drive to Queens to deliver cheeseburgers."
After Bren commented in favor of his own leadership, Mr. Trump asked for Alex's opinion on the subject. "I thought Bren was a great leader," he praised. "Now with respect to Stephanie, I do see that whenever Stephanie's alone in groups of people, they start getting these negative attitudes, and they're starting making lists of reasons why they shouldn't get fired."
Donald then asked Kendra for her thoughts. When she complained about Michael, Trump pointed out the obvious. "Michael, they're not loving you. You know, these girls...you're supposed to be a good looking guy. I don't personally think you're that attractive. The girls aren't in to you, Michael." Michael's defense was simple. "I'm the scapegoat for them," he accused.
Mr. Trump turned to Carolyn's replacement for the week: "Jill, what did you think?" Jill agreed with Bren's original sentiment. "I think the marketing was very weak. I think they could have used other destinations to market this in," she concluded. Donald fortified her comments by informing Magna of her credentials. "Jill is a marketer," he said. "She's a great marketer. She's done fantastic work for me."
Erin saw a break in the conversation as her chance to offer up some insight, "Mr. Trump, Michael has become a boardroom cliché--" Donald cut her off. "That's true. Very good. Very good. You have some good lines of crap. You really are, you're very good," he said. Above the laughter, Erin thanked Donald for the "backhanded compliment." He assured her that there was no insult intended: "No, it is. It's a front-handed compliment."
Erin thanked Mr. Trump again, and moved on with her point. "We needed to be street hustlers," she said. "I was shameless, okay? I was shameless, and I got people in that door. Michael doesn't have that fire in his belly to just do everything." Michael questioned the validity of her claim, and she reiterated her point: "You gotta do what you gotta do to win, and he just doesn't have that fire."
Michael attempted to defend himself: "Mr. Trump, I was trying to think of new ideas. I wasn't the best street hustler, handing those flyers out--" Before he could finish his thought, Jill interrupted him. "And what other technique were you using besides passing out flyers, and calling people on the street?" she asked. Michael conceded, "That's the only thing that we had." -
Mr. Trump chose to end the conversation right there. He asked Bren to choose two people to return to the boardroom with him. Bren's mind was made up. "I choose Stephanie, and I choose Michael," he said with confidence. Donald told Alex, Erin and Kendra to go up to the Suite. They were safe for another week. Stephanie, Michael and Bren would be back shortly-- one of them would be fired.
In a stark break from tradition, Donald stopped one of the candidates as he was walking out of the boardroom. Michael was patting Bren on the back and telling him he did a good job, when Donald piped up, "Don't be so nice to him Michael. I can't stand that." Michael fumbled for a reply, but Mr. Trump wasn't finished. "What are you so nice-- Don't kiss his ass. He hasn't done anything for you."
Again Michael tried to respond, but Donald spoke over him, "I mean it's ridiculous! You're kissing his ass, and he just picked you to be a loser! Forget it. Alright, just go outside. You don't have to be so nice to him." The interaction struck a chord with Donald. He said to Jill, "You know, I hate that phony stuff, when they're all loving each other."
With all of the candidates outside the boardroom, Donald turned back to the business at hand. He asked George for his thoughts. "I think the most critical item is a small one. The fact is that Stephanie is negative, and bringing the team down. I just think that's unforgivable," he proposed. Jill thought two candidates should be examined: "Michael did not get the word out as well as he should, and Stephanie was maybe too critical."
With Stephanie, Bren, and Michael reseated, Mr. Trump attempted to uncover some conflict within the team. "Now you three people don't like each other very much. Right?" he probed. Stephanie claimed that Trump's assessment was not true: "I don't have anything personal against either of them." She said she respected both men, but added, "It's unfortunate that my honesty within the team has been taken personal."
Donald moved on, asking Michael who was at fault for Magna's failure. "I think Bren left us in the dust a lot of the times," the real estate developer offered. Donald thought Michael didn't have much to brag about either: "But over the past few weeks, you've come up short." Michael reasoned that it was difficult for him to "sell a massage to a man."
Jill was quick to point out that massage was not the only service being offered. "You were also offering express manicures. I think if an attractive man came up to me and offered me an express manicure, I would be flattered," she surmised. Michael agreed that his excuse was a poor one. -
Donald then asked Bren who he thought should be fired. "Mr. Trump, I would choose Stephanie," he replied. "Stephanie works a lot harder than Michael. There's no doubt about that, but Stephanie has a negative attitude." With Mr. Trump's attention, Bren took the opportunity to address the argument he and Stephanie had in the warehouse. "You were giving me a list of things throughout the day that I had done wrong," he said to her, "but when did you ever call me on the phone and say 'You've done this wrong'?"
As Bren was attacking Stephanie, Michael interrupted to change the subject: "I raised numerous concerns. Number one: the name." Bren insinuated that Michael's concept for a business name - "Massage A Go-Go" - was ludicrous.
As the two argued, Donald broke in to question Michael. "He's knocking the hell out of Stephanie," he said, referring to Bren. "He's telling me how bad Stephanie is, and you're interrupting him with nonsense over nothing. Why don't you let him knock Stephanie? He's not knocking you for a change."
Michael couldn't disagree, and Donald continued, "I mean how stupid can you be?" Michael tried to defend himself, but Mr. Trump was unnerved: "I'm starting to think that maybe you should be fired. What do you think about that?" Again, Michael attempted to speak, but Trump didn't let up: "He's killing her. He's going after her. She should be fired according to him. And you're trying to stop him from talking!"
One last time, Michael tried to muster a defense, but Trump would not be swayed: "Look, you claim to be like me. The difference is: I work hard. You've been lazy. You've been nothing but trouble. And now you cut them off as they're fighting each other for who should be fired. Michael, you're fired!"
On his final departure from the boardroom, Michael left his business card for Donald. As though he had never been fired, Michael said, "If you're ever in Boston...call me. I'm serious." He flashed a smile before heading for the door.
As Michael headed down the elevator, Donald turned to his trusted associate. "You okay with that George? If you're not okay, I'm not okay George. You understand that?" he said. George agreed with the decision: "No, you got the right solution." -
"Graffiti Billboard": Sony Playstation
Net Worth sat ready for battle as Mr. Trump arrived in the boardroom and began the interrogation. He asked Tara, the project manager, what happened. "There was a piece of information that I did not have, that I think, with that information, I would have gone in a different direction," she answered. Tara identified Audrey and John as the candidates who withheld specific information about Gran Turismo 4. "I was not aware that the game had various scenes," she explained.
"Why didn't you make her aware?" Trump asked John. The technology firm owner gave Donald the same answer he gave Tara in the Suite: "Mr. Trump, I assumed that she did know that piece of information, and the design that we went with was something that was incorporated in the game, so I felt that they knew."
Audrey was next. Like John, she did not claim responsibility for the misunderstanding: "I made it very clear to her and the rest of my team that the game takes place in several different areas, especially the desert and the city."
George immediately picked up on the contradictions in their stories. "That's not what Tara just said," he pointed out. Looking to the project manager he continued, "You said that you didn't get information from John and from Audrey. Somebody's gotta be lying." Tara spoke up, saying that she had heard Audrey describe the different scenes, but she thought Audrey was referring to a previous version of Gran Turismo. "She did not take the time to clarify the information," Tara accused.
Audrey responded, "Gran Turismo 4 has not been released yet. And for her to assume that I'm supposed to know about Gran Turismo 4 would be a misunderstanding." Tara then pointed out that Audrey "had no problem" pulling her aside during the task to discuss a problem with Craig, but was not as eager to point out the multiple settings in the game.
"What problems did you have with Craig?" Trump asked Audrey. The real estate agent told Donald that Craig's demeanor during the task was less than respectful. Donald asked Craig for his side of the story. The shoeshine business owner replied, "Mr. Trump, there was only one time when I addressed Audrey, and that was after Tara said, 'I'd like for you to supervise,' basically, so there wasn't any confusion."
Audrey explained the incident from her perspective: "Nobody ever told me that he was in charge until after the fact." Craig responded by outlining his approach to the problem. "And that's why I went to Tara and made it clear that it might be best that, when you leave me in charge of anything, to go each person, because some people don't receive me as well," he said.
George changed topics: "Who came up with the concept?" Tara raised her hand. George wanted to know when the idea was formulated. "The concept changed after we met with the people from Sony," Tara informed. Trump's trusted associate had no problem picking apart the logic in her answer. "That leads me to believe that you had the concept before you went to meet with Sony," he said. -
Tara admitted that he was correct, causing George to continue his line of questioning. "Do you think, at this point, it's right to come up with a concept before you are speaking to the people who you're trying to impress?" George asked. "In addition to that, where did you come up with the line 'Tear It Up'? Where?"
"That was a hip-hop allusion," Tara explained. Jill jumped in. "But, was it a Sony PlayStation Gran Turismo term? That's what was important here," she said pointedly. Tara pleaded her case with the man in charge. "Mr. Trump, you said it's always important to search for the win-win first. I thought that, as a bonus, I could also have elements within the advertisement that the community would appreciate. I was not trying to do that at the expense of the PlayStation 2 executives, and their goals," Tara explained. Jill reminded the project manager, "It was a Sony ad, not a community ad."
Mr. Trump had heard enough from Tara. He wanted Audrey's opinion on the billboard. Audrey agreed with Jill: "We didn't project what Sony wanted. We projected what the community wanted. She decided to go with a community theme which has nothing to do with Gran Turismo 4."
Donald asked Chris who he would fire. "I would fire Audrey because she's the weakest person on the team in my opinion," he offered. John agreed. "If we're basing it on the overall performance, I think our team is better with Tara on it, and it would be more effective without Audrey," he opined.
With two strikes against Audrey, Donald asked her, "What do you think about being called 'the weakest person on the team'?" Audrey couldn't believe she was being singled out. "I am so furious that my team thinks of me as the weakest person," she spouted.
Donald turned to Craig for his thoughts on who should be fired. "The sole responsibility of our concept from beginning to end, was definitely Tara," he said. Craig had broken Net Worth's united front. Tara looked shocked. "I'm not the only person on this team. I cannot be expected to think of everything. That's why there is a team," she spurted. Donald reminded her that she is the leader.
Mr. Trump asked Tara to pick two people to return with her to the boardroom. "I'd have to pick Audrey and Craig," she said. For reasons left unsaid, the project manager had strayed from her original plan. John had received a free pass, apparently because Craig had surpassed him on Tara's list of targets. Mr. Trump and Craig both expressed surprise at the choice.
John, Angie, Chris and Tana would live to see another task. Craig, Tara and Audrey were not so fortunate. They would see Mr. Trump in a few minutes, and one of them would be fired. -
With the three remaining candidates waiting outside in the lobby, Trump turned to his associates for their thoughts. "I was very surprised that she pulled in Craig, but at the same time, it looks like it's a personal issue. He sold her out," Jill surmised. "I think it's really between Craig and Tara. We gotta find out why she brought Craig in," George said.
The three candidates re-entered the boardroom, and Craig chivalrously pulled chairs out for his two female opponents. The small gesture did not go unnoticed. "See Craig's a gentleman. Look, he's not such a bad guy," Trump said.
Mr. Trump started by asking for Tara's evaluation of Craig: "Where did he go wrong? Why did you bring him back in?" The project manager explained that Craig was her "right hand man" on the failed task. "He had a lot of, unfortunately, some skirmishes with Audrey. And that, you know, is somewhat of a distraction," she said.
Donald looked to Audrey for confirmation. The real estate agent assured him that Tara's claim was true. "Craig handles you in a manner that you feel like you're being belittled. I'm not one of his children. I don't appreciate him treating me that way."
Craig brought up a point regarding Audrey's relationship with her husband. "She loves the fact that she makes more money than him, and that she is used to being in control at home," he accused. Audrey denied the claim, and Mr. Trump felt the claim was irrelevant. "But I don't see Audrey as having been the big problem in terms of this event, in all fairness," he said. Craig agreed that Audrey was not to blame for Net Worth's failure. Which left only one person: Tara.
Mr. Trump asked Craig if he would still pick Tara to be fired. "Um, on this task, yes," he answered. Looking to George, Craig continued, "Addressing the question that you asked her earlier, the concept was made before we left. And it was her idea, and she owned it all the way up until even when she pitched to the executives. She said, 'I. I wanted to do this.'"
Donald clarified Craig's comments: "In other words, the concept was already formulated. So, you think then, that Tara has made, really, a pretty bad mistake." Craig agreed, and Tara took some responsibility. "I admit that the concept that I used, that there were some miscalculations with that," she conceded.
Donald retorted, "And they were bad miscalculations." Tara disagreed, but Donald had heard enough. "Look, this was a marketing task, and you didn't get it. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, forgetting about even leadership, you didn't get the marketing task right," he said. "I think you're going to have a great future. I really believe that. But I have to say, in this case, Tara, you're fired!"
Tara entered the elevator, descended the heights of Trump Tower, and entered the cab that would officially end her quest to become the next Apprentice. Donald had some tempered praise for the latest ex-candidate: "Well, she's smart. She's tough. She just blew this task very badly-- too badly to really have given her a chance." [/b]