EPISODE FIVE

As the candidates waited in the suite to see who would return - and who wouldn't - the mood seemed somber. In an interview, Ivana said that she agreed with Carolyn's assessment of Apex - that they made business women look bad. Ivana said, "And I agree, we've been a complete disgrace." Stacy R. entered, with Elizabeth in tow, and declared, "Ding dong, the witch is dead." Jennifer C. hadn't survived the boardroom. But even with the most recent firing behind them, Apex fought amongst themselves. In an interview, Elizabeth said that the women were tearing each other apart. At dinner, one of the women asked Pamela how she liked being on Mosaic with all of the men. Pamela said, "I love my team. I love these guys."

The next day, the candidates met with Trump, who had a little surprise for them. Trump started by saying that Apex had been "decimated" by lack of leadership, infighting and bickering. Trump called the whole thing "disgusting." To solve the problem, he said he would install new leadership with a woman whom he had developed some respect for recently: Pamela. For a moment, Pamela just seemed shocked, then she dutifully left the men of Mosaic and moved over to join the women and lead them on the next task. Trump warned that turning Apex around would be a challenge since the animosity on the team ran so high. Trump then explained the next task. The teams would work with QVC, an electronic retailer that does more than 4 billion dollars a year in sales. The teams would go to QVC headquarters in Pennsylvania where they would pick a product, set a price and sell their product on live TV. The team that brought in the most money would win. The other team would meet Trump back in the boardroom, where another candidate would be fired. George and Carolyn would again be Trump's eyes and ears during the task.

As Project Manager of Apex, Pamela set the tone right away. On the bus ride to QVC, Pamela promised her new group that she would not be their friend on this task; she would be their tough and uncompromising leader. This attitude did not win everyone over. In an interview, Maria complained that Pamela talked to the group in a condescending way that showed, "She didn't respect us in any way, shape or form." Pamela also reprimanded Stacy R. in front of the group for offering drinks to the team while someone was talking. Pamela insisted that everyone on the team listen when someone else talks. Pamela said it was critical for the women to win this one. She said that if they didn't, it would look like the team just couldn't get it together. The bus ride for the men took place in a friendlier atmosphere. Raj said that the team had to win this task because if they didn't, it would look like Pamela was the reason they had been winning. Others agreed and the men headed into the task as a unified group.

At QVC headquarters, Apex chose to sell the It Works! Cleaning Blocks - a set of sponge-shaped supplies that removed stains from walls, cabinets and other surfaces. Pamela divvied up the responsibilities. Maria, who had said her forte was public speaking, and Jennifer M. would get some face time in front of the cameras as they pitched the product. Sandy would be in charge of set decorating, while Ivana and Elizabeth were in charge of the script. Finally, Stacy R., a lawyer by trade, would handle all legal matters for the team as well as set the product price. However, Stacy R. didn't keep her all-important pricing responsibility for long. She and Pamela clashed over the issue and Pamela finally took the pricing away from Stacy R. and said that she would do it herself. In an interview, Pamela said that Stacy R. - who had suggested a price of $19.99 for the set of cleaning blocks - lacked business experience, which would inevitably lead her to under price the product. Pamela said that's why she stepped in and priced the product herself at $27.23.

The men of Mosaic had their own intense discussion about pricing for their product - the DeLonghi Panini grill. Kelly and Raj were on opposite sides. Kelly felt that the grill had to sell for just over $71 to maximize profits while Raj felt that going over $70 created a psychological barrier for potential customers. He wanted to see something in the 60 dollar range. But Raj thought Kelly had another reason for fighting so hard. In an interview, Raj said, "Kelly was very much jockeying for de facto leader of the team - no question about it." The actual team leader, Chris, followed Kelly's suggestion and agreed to a price of $71.25 per grill.

Stacy R. worked with a QVC lawyer to make sure that anything Apex might show on TV, such as cleaning products, would be legally "cleared" to appear. But Pamela became exasperated with Stacy R's focus on all of the details. Pamela called putting Stacy R. in charge of legal a "bad idea," in retrospect. At one point, Pamela turned to Stacy R. and told her, "We're not here to be legally thorough - we're here to get him to 'yes'." Later, Apex did a run through - a rehearsal - of their sales pitch, in front of cameras. Maria and Jennifer M. stood beneath the hot stage lights and pitched the product as if they were on live TV. During the run through, Pamela thought that Maria was flailing around and said she looked like, "she was having a seizure." Pamela came down to the set as soon as the run through was over and told Maria that she was going to switch roles with Jennifer M. and become the sidekick. Pamela also offered Maria some performance advice - she told her to "stop speaking."

After Mosaic's run through, John and Wes took to the QVC stage and went on live TV to sell their DeLonghi Panini grills. Andy watched a real-time graph of the buyers calling into the station and watched the line plummet as his team went on the air. Andy said the graph looked like the 1929 stock market crash. However, when a caller came on the air and gave a ringing endorsement of the grill, sales picked up. Andy was thrilled and said, "Thank you. God bless this woman." Finally, the twelve minutes of making hot paninis were up and Mosaic's chance to sell was over. In an interview, Raj said that the team had only sold a little over 200 units when they expected to sell 800. Raj said the price mattered "hugely" and that Kelly would be "reckoned with." Chris, the Project Manager, was disappointed too. He said, "The thing that sucks is that it's not even gonna be close."

The women - now with Jennifer M. as the lead salesperson - pitched their It Works! Cleaning Blocks. Pamela said that in the first two minutes, they sold exactly zero units. Eventually, sales started to pick up. And Sandy said that by the end of their twelve minute segment, the team had sold about 650 units. But, would it be enough to break their losing streak?

Via live videoconferencing, Trump joined the two teams through a bank of TV monitors. George reported that Apex had sold 659 sets of cleaning blocks at $27.23 each for a total of $17,944.57. Carolyn said that Mosaic had sold 252 grills at $71.25 for a grand total of $17,955. Mosaic had won by just over $10! As their reward, the men of Mosaic would get to play tennis with John McEnroe and Anna Kournikova at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York. As the losers, the women of Apex would take another trip to the boardroom where yet another team member would be fired.

At Arthur Ashe Stadium, Mosaic arrived to see John McEnroe and Anna Kournikova playing tennis - and the guys jumped in. Andy said that as a kid, he had a poster of McEnroe on his wall, and playing with him now was "beyond a dream come true." On the other hand, Raj was pursuing a dream of his own as he got up the courage to ask out Anna Kournikova, whom he called "an epic beauty." Anna decided to make it interesting and said that if Raj could return one of her five serves, she would go out with him; otherwise, he would have to perform a dare. Raj accepted the challenge - but try as he might, he couldn't return a single serve. As payment for his loss, Raj had to jog around the entire stadium wearing only his boxers. To add insult to injury, McEnroe, Kournikova and the rest of Mosaic fired tennis balls at the nearly-naked Raj, who did his best to avoid a direct hit.

Stacy R., Ivana, Sandy, Elizabeth and Maria got together and discussed their leader, Pamela. Sandy said the reason they lost was obvious - the price that Pamela set was too high. Stacy R. said that Pamela wasn't up to being Trump's next Apprentice. And Elizabeth claimed that "anybody with decent leadership experience could have successfully led us to a victory." In an interview, Pamela said that she expected her team members to come under "more heavy fire" than her in the boardroom.

Apex met with Trump, Carolyn and George in the boardroom on the day of reckoning. When Trump asked how the team lost, Pamela insisted that Apex really tied. Trump said that the team may have lost by only ten dollars, but they still lost. George echoed the sentiment - there is no close when it comes to first place. Jennifer M. said that she thought the team lost because Pamela set the price of their product too high. When pressed, Pamela said she actually thought that the price was too low - something that Trump and Carolyn completely disagreed with. And it wasn't just Jennifer M. who thought that the price was too high - the entire Apex team felt that way as well. Finally, Pamela chose to bring Stacy R. and Maria back into the boardroom with her to face the firing.

With just his advisors in the boardroom, Trump asked George for his thoughts. George said that Pamela did bring the team together under difficult circumstances. Carolyn said that while Pamela has some good leadership qualities, the team lost because of the price - a decision Pamela made on her own. Trump then called the three women back in. Trump asked why Pamela brought Stacy R. into the boardroom and Pamela said that Stacy R. talked so much it was a detriment to the team. Stacy R. shot back that she did her job as a lawyer for the team while Pamela complained that she was "too legal." Stacy R. said, "I am not going to act unethically. If you want another Enron on your hands, Mr. Trump, here's Pamela." Next, Pamela had to defend why she brought Maria back into the boardroom. Pamela said that Maria "crumbled" once the camera went on. Pamela continued, "I literally had to replace her fifteen minutes before we went live because she was so bad." Trump said that he felt Pamela didn't have a good ability to assess people's skills. In fact, Trump said he totally disagreed with Pamela's choices on assigning responsibility in the task. And as Pamela was still pleading her case, Trump said, "Pamela, you're fired."

Team Apex Team Mosaic