Welcome! Are you ready for a massive dose of Trump’s massive ego? Of course you are.
Lisa and Dayana return from the BR after Victoria “I Hate My Team” Gotti is fired. Lisa says that, because it’s hard to survive after having lost as a Project Manager, she won’t PM again till the finale. So she contemplates sticking around that long. Dayana is ready to have her voice heard. Yes, because they’ve been keeping her locked in the basement all this time.
Since Penn Jillette won as PM last go around, we see him handing over a $40,000 check from Medieval Times to his charity, Opportunity Village. It’s very sweet, and he actually gets choked up talking about the worthwhile work his charity does. But sweet isn’t why we watch this show, so let’s keep it moving.
Unanimous and Forte meet Trump at Trump Tower for a description of the next task, which is . . . window dressing! The teams will design two living windows each for Lord & Taylor. He doesn’t spell this out to the team, but they will be using items from daughter Ivanka’s clothing and jewelry collection. Must be nice for Daddy to pimp your shit. Ivanka and Scott Devine, head of visual presentation for Lord & Taylor, will judge the teams on three criteria: creativity, brand messaging and overall presentation. Pretty much the same with every task, no? Apprentice needs to create a macro for that line. Don Jr. and Eric serve as dad’s eyes and ears on the task.
Both teams take longer to pick a PM than Trump wants. What, is there a birther rally he wants to attend? Unanimous picks Mr. Sulu, aka George Takei. Adam Carolla says Takei was selected because he’s gay, of course. Sigh. Naturally, Trump thinks this is a very good choice. Over at Forte, Dayana and Teresa both want to PM but since Dayana has “worked in the industry” she gets the nod. I guess model/Miss Universe = skill at designing windows. Whatever. Her charity is the Latino Commission on AIDS, while George is playing for the Japanese-American National Museum. The winning PM will receive $20,000 for his or her charity.
Forte’s strategery meeting. As always, Aubrey is very vocal and proposes a vision – a clock demonstrating differences between a woman during the day and at night. She suggests two vignettes within each window, for a total of four displays. Not a bad idea, actually. Debbie snots that it was Aubrey show but does not come up with any ideas of her own.
Unanimous. George is uncertain how many windows the team must design. Uh oh. Clay observes that George processes info slowly and isn’t always aware of what’s going on. Penn and Arsenio come up with the idea of getting twin models. Adam asks George to sketch out his vision, but George wants to see the space first.
Unanimous meets with Ivanka and Scott, the head of visual presentation for Lord & Taylor. Dee Snyder finally clarifies that the living windows will promote Ivanka’s clothing and accessory line. If only every entrepreneur had this level of advertising at her disposal. a says that her customer is a sophisticated, fashionable woman. 25-35. She repeats this at Forte’s exec meeting, and says that her customer can go from the office to a cocktail party. Aubrey says her team is excited because she knew they were brainstorming the right concept. Ivanka also mentions that coral is the core color of the collection. Say that three times fast. Of course, whatever they do must be consistent with the brand.
George discusses the idea of having two windows: Ivanka by day and by night. Interesting, but not surprising, that both teams devise the same concept. The team will place Clay (I’m not sure why) and Arsenio (on the red carpet) within the day and night windows, respectively. Arsenio reiterates the need for twins to pull this off. It’s a good idea. Arsenio wants to dress the women. George thinks Arsenio is amazing and has panache.
Adam wants to design the space and solicits Paul’s help. Lou offers to help as well, but he’s shut down as someone says they already have a design team. No one puts The Hulk in a corner! Paul will have the design done by his shop. I don’t know what his shop is or what said shop does. Dee Snyder has to go to doctor’s appointment for his finger, which he broke in the last task.
Debbie offers herself as a model and feels she’s accessible. Only in her dreams. Dayana is concerned about age range as identified by Ivanka and shoots that down. The women settle on having Dayana and Aubrey within the windows.
Teresa looks confused, which is phrase #2 requiring a macro. Tia, Lisa and Aubrey are going to build the sets in Brooklyn. Tia is amazed that they have to build the set. Well, these things don’t build themselves. And they’re not really building; Forte is telling the set design people what they want. Dayana asks Debbie to get a selection of outfits, shoes and bags from Ivanka’s collection so that the models can be photographed wearing them. The pictures will go inside one of the windows. Aubrey has the idea of a wind machine and a clock for the timeless effect.
Adam, Michael Andretti, Paul and Lou head off to build the space. So now Lou’s on the design team? Adam directs the team to paint the space that will serve as a window. Lou suggests several times that Adam call GT to run his ideas by him, but Adam shrugs it off.
While Aubrey describes the window concept to the set design team, Lisa realizes the display space will be smaller than they thought. Lisa calls the PM to tell her and suggests an alternate theory – there is no room to divide the boxes in half as originally planned because the space will look too crowded. She suggests dedicating one window each to the best ideas. Dayana, who isn’t seeing what Lisa sees, is very resistant. Aubrey asks Dayana to trust them. At least their approach varies from the usual Apprentice approach. Meaning, we’ll do whatever the PM wants, no matter how impractical or stupid, and if we lose we’ll use that as ammo against her in the board room.
Unanimous. Clay, George, Arsenio and Penn see inner workings of windows. The windows are set on hydraulic lifts, designed in the Lord & Taylor basement, and raised to street level. Servicey! The more you know.
At Ivanka’s showroom, Dayana considers placing clothing pics in one window and handbags and shoe pics in another window. The men also show up and – turns out Amanda the board room secretary works for Ivanka’s clothing line. Who knew she had a real job?
Clay, Penn, Arsenio, and George squee over the shoes in the show room. Arsenio sez his gay teammates weren’t as much help as expected. Yes, because everyone knows geighs are experts at these design things!
Eric Trump shows up, and the men explain the day/night theme. George feels confident forging ahead with the concept because Eric didn’t tell them otherwise. Clay is babbling to Eric and inadvertently reveals to lil Trump that he is not happy with George’s leadership. Eric could tell Clay was making a referendum on George’s PM skilz and that he needs to be a leader.
Forte is at the war room (?) to take pictures of models wearing Ivanka’s clothes. Debbie calls Ivanka to ask for access to items from her jewelry line for the models to wear. Shockingly, Ivanka says of course! Who doesn’t like free advertising?
Donald Jr. shows up to check on the women, and Dayana tries explaining the theme. And by “explain” I mean “blubbers almost incoherently.” He asks what’s the concept. The women reply “timeless style.” 24/7 women. Don sez he still doesn’t understand what the theme is and it doesn’t look like Dayana has control. She does look very flustered.
The doctor tells Dee that he needs surgery to fix broken finger NOW. Delaying surgery is bad because the broken bone will heal and set in the current disjointed position in as little as ten days.
Back at set design, George tells Adam to have the set builders paint the back wall midnight blue. I guess they didn’t get the coral memo. George tells Adam that Adam’s group is done for the day when they complete their work. Adam says that George should have agreed to stop by when he’s done with his model dressing group to see what they’re doing. Adam basically says Michael isn’t doing anything. Lou sez the color midnight blue is too dark. Someone on the team says Takei should have stopped by to see what’s going on.
Forte. Photo shoot. Dayana is concerned because they are running out of time and they should have sent the pics to the printers one hour ago. Patricia also concerned that printers do not yet have pics and really wants Dayana to succeed. It’s nice to see that all of the women are working hard to ensure Dayana’s success. Debbie suggests sending five pictures – one bag, one pair of shoes and three outfits – to the printers, just to cover themselves.
Teresa says that Dayana had no clear vision of what she wanted, and that being a model and designing windows are different things. She makes a valid point. Meanwhile, Dayana says that being PM “is a lot of work.” Holy understatement, Batman!
Before Dee goes under for his surgery, he jokingly blames Trump. Heh.
Debbie and Lisa are headed in a cab to pick up the sketches and the photos of the collection that were shot the day before. Aubrey, Dayana, Tia, Patricia, and Teresa go to Lord & Taylor’s basement to work on the windows. Dayana can’t believe how stressful being PM is. She’s nervous because they don’t have any photos or sketches. It is 8 am, and the windows go live at 11 am.
The men’s team already have their sets in the windows. They’re ready to install Ivanka Trump signs on a blue backdrop. Adam says that they wanted their sign in the center and it’s not and that Paul’s guys misinterpreted something. There’s some problem with where the brackets will be mounted.
The women are waiting for their sketches and pics. While Dayana is worrying about what to wear, Aubrey is placing paper towels in the windows where the pictures should go in order to save time. I really wanted to dislike Aubrey but I can’t. She works hard and come sup with fairly decent ideas to move tasks forward.
Debbie and Lisa are in a cab and stuck in traffic with the sketches for window #1 and pics of the models wearing Ivanka’s clothing for window #2. It will take an hour to reach Dayana.
Men’s team. T minus 55 minutes. They’re still building the set. Since the brackets are completely off, Adam and Paul decided to, I dunno, do something. Cue the clown music. Michael Andretti sez Lou was trying to help, almost too much. At least he was trying, Michael.
Of course, Debbie and Lisa get to the store just in time. While the printers printed the window #1 sketches, they didn’t print the photos that Patricia sent over. Now there are no photographs for window #2. and they have 15 minutes to devise a solution. Drama!!!
Aubrey sez they need a Plan B and makes a suggestion on the fly. Instead of the pics, put two of the models in outfits. Lisa sez wow, she’s good. I was so prepared to hate on Aubrey, but Lisa is spot on.
Unanimous. The twin models are in hair and makeup. George is standing around kind of not doing anything, while Arsenio and Clay are getting the models ready. I’m thinking the men are losing but it’s still too early for such projections, no? Based on what we’ve seen so far, not really.
We see Forte’s final preparations. Someone tells Dayana to get some juh-luh-ree for the models. Sigh.
The men stage their models in the window. Clay interviews that George abdicated authority and really had no purpose, which I kind of agree with.
Dee Snyder shows up, arm in a sling and finger in a cast. His team is happy to see him. I like him a lot. He seems to have an even temperament and a positive attitude. We’ll see how long it takes for Trump to wrench that away from him.
Presentation time! Ivanka and Scott await George’s explanation of the concept. He and Penn unveil the windows. Unfortunately, Mr. Sulu apparently swallowed a jar of marbles and has a tough time articulating the window displays. Inside the daytime window, Clay hopes that George can explain the concept. Arsenio is fake interviewing the models in the red carpet evening window. GT manages to explain that the windows contain twins, and the day night theme is a mirror reflection. Adam notes that the midnight blue became washed out due to the glare. Ivanka notes that the twin concept is very creative.
Ivanka asks George how hard it was to create the signage and logo on short notice, and he credits Paul. He then throws Lou under the bus by saying he wasn’t involved. Awkward!!
Michael thinks the men have a shot at winning this thing. Poor thing!
Next up: Lisa, Tia, Debbie and Teresa present to Ivanka and Scott. They present timeless style as the theme. Dayana is striking various poses in the window. Ivanka notices that Dayana looks gorgeous wearing a dress from the collection. The next window contains Aubrey holding a sketch. Bags and clothing are also displayed. The team members are wearing Ivanka’s clothing as well. Smart.
Ivanka asks how the women picked Aubrey to be in the window. Well, that sounds like a slam. She gets why Dayana is inside a window but seems puzzled that they also picked Aubrey. Wait, didn’t she say the goal was the 25-35 demographic? Next to Dayana, Aubrey obviously represents the target demo. They explain this but Ivanka does not seem impressed.
Ivanka and Scott like the men’s signage and the mirror image idea, but she says the evening wear “wasn’t particularly evening.” Is that the men’s fault, or a function of what’s available in the collection? Ivanka didn’t like the fan in Dayana’s window. Also, the coral border only allowed them to see half of the shoes.
Board room. Dayana starts explaining the concept. Trump does the usual baiting. Blahblahblah.
Appropos of nothing, Tia Carerre is one beautiful lady.
Trump wants a cat fight with the women, so he asks Dayana who she’ll bring back if they lose and hints that she needs to answer or she may be fired. Yeah, right. Dayana doesn’t believe him, either. He asks Aubrey who she’ll bring back, and Don Jr. gets in on the fun. Aubrey says she’d want Lisa and Patricia on her team. The women are trying very hard not to fall for the bait of attacking one another, but Trump wants none of the lovefest. Somehow, they manage to hold the line. Dissatisfied at his failed efforts at shit stirring, Trump turns his fangs to the men.
Trump pretends to care about Dee’s surgery. He asks George how the team worked together. George explains how the men contributed and that the signs were produced at Paul’s shop. I still have no idea what Paul does or what his shop does.
Clay sez George did a “perfectly fine job” as PM. This is Apprentice speak for “he sucked.” Trump looks displeased and happy at the same time. Finally, there’s blood in the water. Clay tries to clean it up and throw George a lifeline. Arsenio sez George allowed them to do their thing. Don asks whether or not that’s a good thing. Trump continues feeding the fire, trying to get the men to talk shit about George, but they are mainly saying positive things about him.
Turns out Ivanka liked the women’s attention to detail, use of logo and signage throughout, the living aspect of window and understanding of demographic. Cons: she and Scott disliked the fan, and the shoes were set too far back to be visible.
Ivanka liked the men’s signage, Arsenio in window and the brand messaging. There are many cons: it was hard to see second window; the window felt empty; the midnight blue color in background was bland; evening window didn’t focus on who Ivanka was, and the displays lacked creativity.
Trump gets each team to critique the other’s pics. Predictably, each team finds fault with the other team’s pictures. Trump asks Dayana if men tell her what to do. Huh? Adam sez he doesn’t understand what was going on in the Dayana pic, and neither did I.
Finally, the winner is revealed. The women’s display takes the victory! The editing did not hint towards this at.all. Dayana sez she was sweating cuz she was so nervous. Like Trump was really going to fire his future ex-wife. The usual blathering ensues – the women can watch the board room in the suite on TV. One of the men will be fired.
Back in the suite, the women toast each other with champagne. Dayana is happy that her charity won $20k.
In the board room. Man, I so think George is so getting fired. George thought the presentation was good and concedes that Ivanka’s name disappeared in the logo. Lou says that Adam was reluctant to call George to discuss the midnight blue backdrop. Adam says they already agreed to the blue, so why call the PM?
If the men knew the blue would be too dark why didn’t they adjust it, asks Don Jr.? You want answers? I don’t think you can handle the truth.
George says Arsenio picked the outfits, which Trump trashes as not elegant for a red carpet event. Arsenio says he wanted to show the line’s “longitude.” I don’t know what this means. Also, George didn’t like the clothing? Why didn’t George step in to say this before?
Paul would fire George because communication was lacking. George runs down list of what he did. I think it’s already too late. Clay has looked up to George as gay advocate, but says that George is not always “present” in the task and didn’t delegate to Adam, leading team members to find their own strengths.
Trump is amazed at how respectful Penn is and agrees to give Dee a pass, since his injury kept him off-task. How magnanimous. Arsenio would apparently fire himself if his team found fault with the clothing selected by him. Adam would fire George because there’s no one else to fire. He seems not to notice the other seven men in the room. Penn reluctantly agrees.
Trump asks George if he even wants to pick two people. Damn, that’s a hint and a half right there. He does, and he selects Arsenio and Lou. I have no idea what Michael Andretti did on this task, as he utters nary a word. Arsenio continues talking in the waiting area outside the board room about taking the bullet if Ivanka thinks the clothes sucked.
Back inside, Trump asks Lou why he’s here. Lou gave 110% so he doesn’t know why either. He knew the midnight blue was a problem. George replies that Lou is enthusiastic and eager to pitch in, which I suppose is a bad thing. Trump makes a weird donkey/racehorse analogy.
Trump sees Lou as the new shiny object in the corner and asks Arsenio what Lou did wrong. Arsenio seems to answer a different question but eventually works his way to a response – the team didn’t want Lou around, and they needed to send Lou elsewhere for them to be effective. Trump didn’t like the trench coat and critiques Arsenio for not seeking access to Ivanka to ask questions. George continues digging his own grave by saying he didn’t know they such access was possible. I guess there was nothing else he could have said there, but that just sounded all kinds of bad because clearly the idea never occurred to him. Asked by Trump why Arsenio didn’t contact Ivanka, Arsenio replies that he did what he was told by the PM.
Trump asks George whom he would fire. After a rambling explanation, he says . . . he assumes he’s going to be fired and that he should be. It’s a foregone conclusion at this point, much like it was at least a half-hour ago. After Trump solicits from Arsenio and Lou that they respect George, and he does too, Mr. Takei is fired. Instead of blaming those bitches for taking him down, George regrets that he couldn’t do more for his charity. George hugs Lou and Arsenio. Now that’s class.
George strides to his waiting car in a fabulous coat. His parting words continue to be classy, of course. He takes ultimate responsibility as the PM. Mr. Sulu, you were too good for this show.
Image source: bostonherald.com
