Feb 1 2008

It’s Not Just Business, It’s Personal Too!

Omarosa declared that she hoped that model, Carol Alt, had been fired because she didn’t like her. She noted that all business was personal in the end. However, once Carol returned, Omarosa put on her best fake smile and played nice. She noted that ‘as long as it isn’t me [who’s fired]’ she didn’t really care that much.

Friendly Exes

Actor Vincent Pastore, who was the winning PM for the last task, received $50,000 to donate to his charity, which is a pancreatic cancer foundation set up in honor of his ex-wife’s late husband. Vinnie’s divorce from his ex was truly amicable as he revealed that his ex-wife’s late husband was a good friend, and he was happy to be able to make a contribution to the charity in his name.

The Kids Are Back

Don, Jr. finally returned, and joined his sister, Ivanka to act as Trump’s eyes and ears on the next task.

Which is Harder?

Tito Ortiz (UFC Champion), is MIA this week and Trump revealed that he had a fight. We wonder what is harder for Ortiz? A UFC cage fight or going the distance on this show?

Crocs Rock

This week’s task involved those ‘trendy’ shoes known as ‘crocs.’ Executives from the company revealed that they wanted the celebrities to create a campaign (to be displayed in Macy’s stores) to showcase the company’s charitable business, known as SolesUnited. SolesUnited wanted to get people to donate their old crocs so that they could be recycled and made into new shoes to be distributed to impoverished communities worldwide.

The Leaders

Trump basically appointed Carol Alt as Empresario’s PM, while Piers Morgan (Judge from ‘America’s Got Talent’) decided to take on the leadership role for Hydra.

A Wolf in the Henhouse

Piers decided that he wanted Vinnie to spy on the women, and the two staged a fight culminating with Vinnie getting kicked out of the men’s work room. Vinnie then offered his services to the women, who surprisingly, accepted his offer with little question. Nely Galan (former Telemundo executive) in particular was very naïve, stating that accepting Vinnie into the women’s team was a ‘no-brainer’ and that after working with them, he ‘fell in love with us.’

Sharing Slogans

In the midst of all the scheming, the two teams managed to come up with slogans on which to build their marketing campaign. Empresario went with ‘share the love’ while Hydra went with Trace Adkins’s (country music star) ‘wear them, share them.’

Lennox Lewis. . Again?

Hydra, once again, decided to feature Lennox Lewis in their campaign, banking on his status as former heavyweight champion of the world. We wonder what they’d do if Lennox Lewis ever got fired. Empresario finally decided to capitalize on their celebrity status and decided to use Carol Alt as their spokesperson.

Cheating in God’s Eyes

Vinnie played his role and passed a note to Stephen Baldwin before he went off on assignment with Marilu Henner (actress). Stephen, however, wouldn’t pick up the note, instead getting Lennox Lewis to do it. He explained that when Vinnie actually started to pass information to them, he began to have doubts because he believed it was ‘cheating’ and as a born-again Christian (with his own ministry no less), he couldn’t compromise his values. We noticed that he had no problem listening to Piers read the note, or laughing about it though.

Change of Heart

En route to the warehouse where they would create the recycling receptacle for the used crocs, Vinnie had a change of heart and confessed his real motives to Marilu. He then told her he would be a double agent and really be working for the women now. Marilu didn’t seem convinced of his sincerity, but promised not to reveal his subterfuge to the rest of Empresario.

On Board with the Sabotage

While checking in with Hydra, Ivanka learned of the team’s efforts to sabotage Empresario with Vinnie. She expressed disappointment that Empresario so unquestioningly accepted Vinnie into their camp. When asked by Stephen, who was still on his ‘it’s cheating’ spiel, whether she thinks sabotage (or espionage) in business was a good thing, Ivanka stated that in some cases, it was, as long as it was executed well.

Trump as Don Corleone

Don, Jr., meanwhile, was checking up on Empresario and encountered Vinnie and Marilu at the design warehouse. Stating that Vinnie was the ‘ugliest woman I’ve ever seen,’ Don Jr. wanted to know what was going on. Vinnie explained his double agent role and told Don, Jr. that he’d like to see the women win, especially if it meant that Piers would get fired as a result. Don, Jr. expressed some doubt as to Vinnie’s plan and probed him in private on whether he was really being a triple agent (yeah, it’s gonna get even more complicated folks!). Vinnie insisted he only wanted to help the women and told Don, Jr. not to tell anyone but Trump, saying that ‘your father’s Don Corleone.’

Creative Tension

Stephen and Piers were still butting heads over Piers’ ‘Vinnie as the rat’ plan and Piers explained that he and Stephen don’t like each other much, but they worked well together creatively. He termed it ‘creative tension’ and said that it had benefited the team so far.

Closer to God Am I

Piers and Stephen had a rather insightful discussion about God, with Piers pointing out that since they were both Christians, they both probably prayed to God to let them win The Apprentice. Piers then noted that only one of them would actually win, so what does that mean about the losing person’s relationship with God? Stephen could only laugh and stated that Piers’s observation was ‘big, dude.’