Celebrity Apprentice 2/7 Recap: The Task in Which the Apprentices Work With Wang

[SueEllenMishke]

We start off tonight with what seems like an extra long recap of last week’s episode, which is fitting, since last week was the longest episode in the history of the Apprentice. Now, I know there have been other 2 hour episodes, but this one just seemed exceptionally long for some reason. Probably because nothing really happened and there were lots and lots of commercial breaks.

We join the gang right after Vinnie has left the building and the competition. Omarosa offers Piers alcohol and then tells Lennox that she’s glad to see that he’s just as crooked and underhanded as the rest of his team. Piers announces that Omarosa isn’t even any type of celebrity, and Omarosa counters by telling him that she’d rather be a has-been than a never-was. What if you’re neither, Omarosa? Piers talks about his celebrity experiences, and Omarosa tells him not to start and that he’s in her war room. (??). Piers has enough and leaves the room, where he runs into Stephen who is sitting in the hall. Stephen tells Piers that he can’t work with him any longer, and he’s going to tell Trump this. Piers thinks Stephen is crazy (he’s not completely wrong), and gleefully tells the ladies that Stephen is going to quit too!

Stephen is granted an audience with Trump, and tells him that at this point, working with Piers is just not a possibility. He tries to resign, but Trump tells him not to be a loser and go out this way. He suggests that instead of leaving, Stephen should join Empresario so that he can help them win and really stick it to Piers. Stephen likes this idea, but I’m not sure how on board the women will be with the whole thing.

Stephen returns to the group and announces that he’s now a part of Empresario, and everyone seems pretty shocked. Nely doesn’t think it’s fair for them to be saddled with a Baldwin just because everyone hates Piers. Stephen realizes this, and tells the women that if he’s on their team, and they tell him to shut up and make coffee, he’s happy to do it. Lennox can’t believe that Stephen would say that and thinks he’s “mental.” He is disappointed to hear something like that from a man- Stephen wants to move over to the “girls’” team to make coffee? Ridiculous! You know what else is ridiculous, Lennox? Such dated, sexist thinking in 2008. Piers doesn’t care about Stephen, or coffee and knows that Hydra will win any task put in front of them.

So, the ladies aren’t too excited about having Stephen, but seem to warm a little bit when he tells them that he’s willing to do whatever they say. Then, he drops the bomb that he has a prior engagement and won’t be involved in the planning for the next task. Omarosa jumps all over him, won’t let him speak, and states that they were forced to take him on their team, and now he won’t even be there to help with the next task. Yep, that about sums it up, Omarosa. I think Stephen’s in for a really fun time on Team Empresario.

The next day, the teams meet with Trump, and we see that George is back! Yay! Hopefully that means that Lil Donald won’t have as much screen time. Trump tells the group that Tito is back, but Stephen is gone for a few days and then will also be back. Trump tells Empresario that he has made the decision to send Stephen over to their team, and Omarosa tells him that they respectfully decline this offer. Wow- ballsy! Trump tells Omarosa that he doesn’t really care, because he’s the big boss and all, and Stephen will be joining Empresario.

For today’s task, the teams will be creating living windows featuring Serta mattresses designed by Vera Wang. Vera tells the groups that they will be judged on three things: creativity, brand imaging and entertainment value, and the winning team’s Project Manager will get $20K present to his/ her charity.

Omarosa jumps to be PM for Empresario, and immediately shares her idea for their theme- Vera Wang and Serta- the Perfect Marriage. She thinks they should dress Carol in one of Vera’s wedding gowns, and Carol and Stephen can play the happy couple in their living window. Oh, and Omarosa’s charity is Positive Vibrations, which may be a group that helps at-risk kids, but kind of sounds like something else to me.

Lennox takes the PM role for Hydra, and his charity is the Muhammad Ali Center. The men know that Vera Wang designs wedding gowns, and Piers tells them they need to figure out if the mattress thing is wedding related. He knows that they need to think feminine, and admits that the women may have an edge on this task. Trace is more blunt and says that Hydra is screwed.

Hydra meets with Vera and the executive from Serta and ask if they should focus on the bridal portion of Vera’s line. Vera says that she would like to see this done, and the Serta exec goes one step further and says that women are the primary purchasers of mattresses, so adding Vera’s name to the mattress makes it more appealing to women. Lennox asks Vera what she does for entertainment, and I’m surprised and pleased when she says she watches a lot of TV and reads- usually in bed so her mattress is really important to her. Trace pulls out another slogan with The World’s Greatest Romance Deserves the World’s Best Mattress, and the guys decide to design their living window display around Marc Antony and Cleopatra.

Empresario also meets with Vera Wang and the Serta exec, but their meeting seems much shorter, and they don’t come to any revelations because they’ve already decided what they want to do.

It’s time to get to work! Over on Team Hydra, they’re meeting with the graphic designer, and Lennox is a little sick and tired of Piers and his talking. Lennox tells the guys that if they want to speak, they need to raise their hand and wait to be called on. If Lennox can’t see them, they are allowed to say “Permission to speak.” Piers doesn’t love being treated like a child, and tells us that Lennox turned into a monster as soon as he became PM. While meeting with the designer, many decisions need to be made, and Lennox wants the team to vote on everything… because they’re a team. I think it’s because he’s afraid to make decisions on his own, but I might just still be mad over the whole Stephen/ coffee thing.

Over on Team Empresario, they are also meeting with their graphic designer and it doesn’t seem to be going so well. Maybe the women should take turns speaking and raise their hands. Nely thinks that Marilu is completely scattered, and Omarosa says that Marilu was unable to communicate their needs clearly. She was standing with Marilu though, so possibly she should have stepped in as PM and offered some clarification.

Empresario is still missing Stephen, and Omarosa is starting to get frustrated. Marilu reveals that they will have Carol dressed in one of Vera Wang’s wedding gowns, then Carol will step out of it and be wearing some of Vera Wang’s finest lingerie underneath. Omarosa is concerned that they basically have a burlesque show planned, and tries to rein Marilu in a little bit. Marilu is willing to bend, but knows that Omarosa is always covering her own ass, and you have to watch your back every second with her.

Hydra is still chugging along, trying to figure out what kind of food they want in their living window display, and voting on every tiny detail. Piers comments about how the whole team knows that Lennox has not had any ideas or made any decisions for this task, and they’re not happy about it. There’s no clear vision. Piers asks Lennox to tell him what decisions he has made for this task, and Lennox asks him why he’s trying to divide the team and tells him to stop making trouble.

Stephen finally arrives to help his new team, but as they explain their plan, he tries to step in and make all sorts of changes. Nely is not happy with this because they already have their plan in place and it doesn’t need any changes, but Stephen tells her that he’s just trying to “pepper it with a little Stevie B.” Well, that just sounds icky. While Stephen is spreading his pepper around, Hydra is working to find the fruit, champagne and accessories for their window. Lennox admits that when it comes to design and “finicky stuff,” women are great. Also at cooking, cleaning and childbearing.

It’s presentation time! It’s a little chaotic on Empresario’s side, but they get everything together, and Vera loves the scene, loves the bridesmaids and Carol and Stephen as the bride and groom. Based on Vera’s reaction, Omarosa knows they won because they delivered exactly what she wanted. Unfortunately for Empresario, Vera also loves Hydra’s scene. Marc Antony and Cleopatra don’t move around a whole lot, but they’re eating fruit on their luxurious mattress, and they have cell phones and computers too! Hydra also knows that they’ve won. Someone is going to be very disappointed.

We’re back in the Boardroom! Trump asks Stephen how he enjoyed working with the women, and Stephen replies that it was a blessing, and the women provided an environment that was conducive to working and winning. Omarosa says that Piers is not socially adept at working with people who are different from him, and I just wonder why she has to start in on him already.

Trace tells Trump that working with Lennox as PM was fine, although a little strange because they had to raise their hands before speaking. Piers thought he was being treated like a child and didn’t like it, but Trump says that it showed good leadership and that Lennox had control of his team. Or a kindergarten class.

Nely announces that Omarosa was a rockstar, but Donald Jr tells the group that the women played it safe with the wedding theme. George really liked the men’s idea of timeless romance was great- maybe not as pretty as the women’s, but more inline with what the clients wanted.

Although Vera Wang did like both teams’ presentations, Hydra takes the win and Lennox gets $20,000 for his charity. Piers extends his condolences to Empresario and tells Omarosa “Bad luck.” She says that he has no class, but she really doesn’t either.

Dear lord- the final Boardroom tonight is going to take 15 minutes? Yikes. Trump tells the women that the slaughter continues, and DT Jr cuts in and says that he thought the women would have this thing in the bag because they’re all female and glamorous. The women say that they asked Vera and Serta the same questions the men did, but somehow came away with different answers… answers that fit perfectly with the plan they had already come up with and did not want to change. It’s funny how that worked.

Trump asks Stephen how he should determine whom to fire and Stephen suggests that he take it on a task-by-task basis, but that Marilu’s performance was the most questionable. Omarosa agrees and says that Marilu is too theatrical and too energetic, and then asks Trump if she can skip the “bring two people back with you” portion of tonight’s show, because they should all stand as a team. She doesn’t want to bring two people back, but by default, would have to bring Stephen. Trump tells her not to be stupid and make a Gene Simmons mistake by bringing Stephen back, because he was not able to have any impact on the task, and he’s not going to fire Stephen. After hemming and hawing for a few minutes, and having George tell her that they can’t all stand as a team, because that’s not how things are done, Omarosa finally selects Marilu and Nely to return to the Boardroom with her.

Omarosa tells the group that she chose Marilu because she’s a weakness on their team, cannot communicate effectively, and does not listen well. Trump says that Omarosa is not the greatest listener in the world either though, and then he, George and Donald Jr laugh and laugh and laugh. Trump tells Nely that she should have used her experience as a TV producer and known what to do to win this task, and then he fires her. And then he tells her to “get the hell out of here!” and that’s the most exciting thing that’s happened all night.

Trump tells Omarosa that she needs to step up her game because Piers is killing her and he’s frankly surprised to see it. Judging by the previews for next week, it looks like Omarosa takes his words to heart and she and Piers enter into the ultimate battle of irritating non-celebrity vs. self important wind bag.

[Google]

 

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by SueEllenMishke

Omarosa jumps to be PM for Empresario, and immediately shares her idea for their theme- Vera Wang and Serta- the Perfect Marriage. She thinks they should dress Carol in one of Vera’s wedding gowns, and Carol and Stephen can play the happy couple in their living window.

Great recap, and thanks for clearing up that the losing idea (for which Trump fired Nely) was entirely the O's. No one pointed that out in the boardroom, or it was conveniently edited out. Sure looks like The Hair wants O in the final two. So long as she is thoroughly humiliated and Trace wins, then I can live with that, LOL.

[lildago]

Oh, and Omarosa’s charity is Positive Vibrations, which may be a group that helps at-risk kids, but kind of sounds like something else to me.

That just made me choke on my drink! Great recap, SEM!

[Ellen]

. . . Omarosa . . . and Piers enter into the ultimate battle of irritating non-celebrity vs. self important wind bag.

*raising hand* Umm -- which one is which?

BTW, great recap! Thanks, SEM, for watching this so I don't have to.
(I've defected to Lost.)

[Impervious1]

This comment really made me laugh:

"Trump says that Omarosa is not the greatest listener in the world either though, and then he, George and Donald Jr laugh and laugh and laugh."

HEHE, that made my day.

[dagwood]

Originally Posted by SueEllenMishke

Oh, and Omarosa’s charity is Positive Vibrations, which may be a group that helps at-risk kids, but kind of sounds like something else to me.

Stephen tells her that he’s just trying to “pepper it with a little Stevie B.” Well, that just sounds icky.

it looks like Omarosa takes his words to heart and she and Piers enter into the ultimate battle of irritating non-celebrity vs. self important wind bag.

Excellent recap as always, SueEllen!

[Bonbonlover]

Empresario also meets with Vera Wang and the Serta exec, but their meeting seems much shorter, and they don’t come to any revelations because they’ve already decided what they want to do.

Excellent point!!
I think this is a real weakness of the women.

Great recap

[Marleybone]

Piers announces that Omarosa isn’t even any type of celebrity, and Omarosa counters by telling him that she’d rather be a has-been than a never-was. What if you’re neither, Omarosa?

I keep forgetting to watch this, so I'm very grateful for your fabulous recaps, SEM.