The Apprentice 4 Episode 5 – Lost In Space

The Apprentice 4 Episode 5

Before I jump into the current episode, I thought I might point you to some of the latest Apprentice news.

First, check out this article:
Trump blames Martha Stewart for his ratings slide – Yahoo! News

The show currently averages 10 million viewers a week, down 4 million from last season.

Many TV critics have said Stewart’s prime-time success has been hurt by her post-prison image make-over as a warmer, softer lifestyle guru, in contrast with Trump’s tough-boss persona and his curt signature phrase “You’re fired.”

I agree that I was hoping Martha would be a total tough ass. I wanted to see some cunning cut throat managing. Or even better, some non-understanding, irrational decision making. But now it’s some milk toast show. That all said, I don’t think Trump can blame Stewart for his ratings slip. I think we all get it. It’s just not particularly exciting.

And here’s a Toral Interview:
Insider – [TV Guide Online] Toral Interview

On to tonight’s episode.

In recap, Rebecca gives up her friend. And Toral got fired last week. Toral is immature. She will be humbled some day, if she stays in business. I think Rebecca is sharp and smart. But her commitment to Toral is concerning.

The men point out that the reason they are winning is because they have good team dynamics. That is completely correct.

Marshawn says she is tired of being around bickering women. Also a good point. They need to come together.

We are in the 5th week of the 13 weeks. Bill Rancic, the first Apprentice, is standing in for George.

The women get one of the men and they picked Randal. They feel he will help them and hurt the men for losing him.

Clay is exempt this week.

The men agree that taking Randal causes a huge challenge.

The contest today is to create a float for the movie Sony Pictures – Zathura. One of the judges will be the movie’s director, Jon Favreau.

The lesson today is “Money Matters”. He says that business is all about money. I so strongly disagree. It is what business is all about for Trump because that’s what Trump loves. If you don’t love money, then business is all about something else. There are many reasons and motivations in running a business: organizational growth, personal challenge, community contribution, helping team members. It is about what inspires you to get up in the morning and keep going and keep growing.

We go to Excel. Brian is the project manager. One of the men mess up the name of the movie. Favreau is upset.

Jennifer Murphy is the project manager for Capital Edge. She feels that she will be able to handle the personalities on her team. That will be interesting to see.

Favreau says that he actually couldn’t pronounce the name initially either. So it will be crucial for people to see the name and learn how to say it. This is brilliant from a marketing standpoint. We are just hearing the name Zathura over and over again. All Apprentice viewers will know exactly how to pronounce the name of the movie.

Randal points out that there is a major team problem with Capital Edge.

Kristi and Jen M. and having it out. Neither one is willing to give an inch and it just deteriorates the entire team. The team that plays like a team will win, ultimately.

Back to Excel. Josh is having a hard time with Markus. Markus pulls Brian aside. Markus is upset because Brian said he was good at ordering food. Brian stands up for himself well. Josh comes in and wants Markus to help clean.

Capital Edge. Randal, Rebecca, Marshawn and Jen M. go to a carpet store that Marshawn feels is a bad use of time. Half the team is gone from the float and there is 45 minutes left. Felisha feels there is bad planning.

The Excel float, Favreau and Carolyn feel is true to the spirit of the movie. It looks like they like it.

Capital Edge. Jen M mispronounces Zethura over and over again. Carolyn and Bill are laughing at her. Alla says that Jen M.’s presentation is disjointed and a wreck. Jen M. says she feels great about the presentation. She continues to mispronounce the name of the movie. She is completely blind to what is going on around her. People are laughing at her and she doesn’t know it. She’s blind. Maybe she’s blinded by her beauty. For some reason she is completely self absorbed. She ruined the presentation. From the editing perspective that I saw, she is the one that failed. Her vision was wrong, she didn’t appreciate the movie, her presentation was rambling and poor. And what’s completely the worst is that she has no idea about any of this. It’s only 9:30. It looks like we’re going to spend a long time in the board room. It seems pretty clear cut to me.

This is why The Apprentice is losing ratings. The formula is getting predictable. It’s completely evident who should get fired.

Trump heads over to Sony. Favreau is talking about one of the floats and how much he likes it. It’s clear he’s talking about the Excel float.

The Sony exec says that one of the goals of the float was to have the name very apparent. The men do this very well. The capital edge scale is all over the map. The name is not overly easy to see. And the presentation was botched.

Brian is exempt unanimously. The Excel float will be in the Hollywood Holiday Parade. Trump says that he’s “a little impressed” with Brian. That’s as good a compliment as it gets.

Randal points out that something is wrong and broken on his new team. He points out, from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Seek first to understand and then be understood. These women are not listening to anyone else.

At the men’s reward they are tired. They’ve been up for 36 hours. And they are laying a track with Wyclef Jean. It actually doesn’t totally suck, for a bunch of white guys trying to be cool.

This board room is going to be interesting. I know that Trump likes Jen M. He finds her very beautiful. But no one deserves more to go home than her.

Jennifer M. is crying telling one of the men that Kristi is the one at fault. That she won’t listen and Kristi was trying to unnerve her. This guy is a a drooling dog. And that is Jen M.’s life. No one tells her anything straight.

In the boardroom Jen says that Kristi is causing a riff in the team. Carolyn says that the team totally missed the project. It is said that Kristi is bossy. Randal says, from a team dynamic, Kristi is too negative for the team. Jen brings back Kristi and doesn’t bring anyone else back in. This is a recurring happening and it’s just bad odds. However, in this case, no one else looks to be at fault. Jen or Kristi will go. Kristi is negative, but she didn’t lose this task. Jen lost this task. I have this feeling that she is going to be given a pass. And that sucks. Pretty people need less passes in the world. Symetric features should be less focused on at this point in our evolution. It’s pure biology and it sucks.

Carolyn thinks that Kristi is headstrong and Jen lost this task. Bill agrees. So do I.

Kristi says she would not hire Jen. Jen says that Kristi is bossy and outspoken. Jen says that Kristi was good at getting things done. Trump says that her team doesn’t like her. Jen says that you have to respect your team. Trump says that this is not a popularity contest but people don’t like her. Trump says that Jen is a good leader, but her concepts are bad. He’s not sure she will be good under pressure.

Trump is being controlled by his emotions and desires here. That is very telling and dangerous.

Jen says sorry to Kristi and Kristi tells her to shut up.

Trump says he is going to have to make some drastic changes to the team. He also said that it would never function with Kristi.

The truth is that both were poor.

Kristi says that Jen is fake and she doesn’t care for her.