The Apprentice: This Week's Episode

The good news? No more sleeping out in the tents. At the beginning of this week's episode, Arrow was invited to move indoors with Kinetic. The remaining six were then instructed to form three teams of two (no project managers needed); the losing team would be fired as a pair. The players quickly pair up:

James and Stefani from Arrow quickly announce they're a team.
Heidi says she wants to pair up with Kristine or Nicole. Frank wants to pair up with Nicole. But Kristine says she wants to pair up with Nicole. So, it's Nicole and Kristine, Frank and Heidi. In later footage, Kristine explains that she wants to step out of Heidi's shadow and believes Heidi is viewed as a golden child by Trump.

This week's show was a great commercial for Trump's Las Vegas towers. One is sold out and under construction. The other is in the planning stages with units now for sale. Each team is tasked with developing a marketing plan for  the towers. The teams fly out there in Trump's private plan. James and Stefani quickly develop a theme (The Heigth of Luxury) while the other teams begin arguing. Not a good sign. Teams visit the construction sight, then visit model units. Frank and James have both hired professional photographers to capture images. At the construction site, Kristine is upset that Nicole isn't asking any questions when she, as a commercial real estate agent, should be the most interested.

Once back in L.A., most of the would-be apprentices are in for a late night. Kristine is tired of working with Nicole. When Nicole wants to lay down for a 20-minute nap, Kristine never woke her up. It seems as though Frank and Heidi spend a lot of time telling each other to focus. James and Stefani work with a graphic artist.

Their appointed time in the boardroom arrives. The judges? Donald and Donald Jr. James and Stefani offer a flawless presentation. The brochure and video look good and they offer a variety of marketing strategies. Trump admits to being impressed.

Next up are Kristine and Nicole. First, the two have technical problems with their power point. They really don't address marketing that much. When asked about their concept, they say it's "Turning Las Vegas Into Gold." Then Trump notices the brochures have different phone numbers. Trump instructs James and Nicole to go call the numbers and find out which one is correct. This gives Kristine a chance to dish Nicole. When the two return, they announce that Kristine's brochure (which she proudly claimed as her own) has the wrong phone number. Trump calls that the kiss of death. Not a good sign.

Then, Frank and Heidi get up. Suddenly, things don't look so bleak for Kristine and Nicole. Heidi is not her usual professional self. She's figety and hands things over to Frank for the presentation. The problem? Frank doesn't have a presentation. He just starts the DVD, which is pretty bad. It shows close-ups of the cabinets, the show tile, etc. If I had paid for that footage, I would want my money back! Then comes the brochure. Trump calls it a novel. It really did have a lot of copy and no photographs. And it was gold lettering on black paper, which made it look so heavy.

Trump congratulations James and Stefani on a job well done. Then, he says he's considering firing someone from each time. Things get a little nasty as Frank, Heidi, Kristine and Nicole defend their performances. In the end, it's Heidi and Kristine that get fired.

Do you think Trump made the right choice? I think he should have fired Nicole perhaps instead of Kristine.