EPISODE THIRTEEN

Up in the suite, Kelly, Kevin and Ivana speculated about who would return from the boardroom. In an interview, Kevin said he felt that Jennifer M. wouldn't win the competition. He added: "I think the powers-that-be are on to her and realize that she is not bringing as much to the table as everybody else is." After the three toasted, both Jennifer M. and Sandy walked in. Apex asked what happened, but this time the survivors were tight-lipped. Jennifer M. and Sandy put up a unified front and offered no details. But when the two women were alone, they had plenty to say - to each other. Although they had gone after each other in the boardroom, they resolved to work together as a team and win the next challenge.

The following day, the teams gathered and Trump told them that their next task involved something near and dear to him: chocolate. The teams would work with M&M/Mars to sell a brand-new candy bar called The M-AZING Bar. The twist Trump introduced was that the teams could only sell the bars they personally helped make on the assembly line and which passed strict M&M/Mars quality standards. The team that brought in the most profit selling their candy bars would win while the other team would be back in the boardroom where someone would be fired. As usual, George and Carolyn would act as Trump's eyes and ears.

Apex, led by Project Manager Ivana, arrived at the M&M/Mars plant. Ivana, Kevin and Kelly suited up in M-AZING coveralls and protective eyewear. Looking sharp, they got on the assembly line where they received a crash course in what it takes to make an M-AZING Bar. The process, they discovered, involves many steps, including putting down a layer of chocolate in a mold, adding M&M candies and then covering the mixture with another layer of chocolate. All of this had to be done quickly as not to clog up the constantly moving assembly line. But if the candy making process were rushed, inferior bars would be produced and tossed out by the inspectors. It would be a delicate balancing act. At one point, Kevin noticed a bottleneck in the assembly line. To solve the problem, he reorganized the line, and intentionally slowed up one segment of it. In an interview, Ivana said that while she liked that Kevin tries to solve problems when he sees them, he doesn't always seek approval first - and that can be an issue.

Sandy and Jennifer M. had resolved their differences and agreed to act professionally. According to Sandy, that's all she could do with Jennifer M.: "How can you get personal with Jen? I don't think that's even an option. She's like a mannequin. She's just... you know. She's plastic." On the assembly line, with Sandy as Project Manager, the team got off to a slow start. After two and a half hours, the team had produced just ten candy bars. In addition, Carolyn said she watched two trays of perfectly good bars fall to their demise when no one was around to take them off of the moving conveyor belt. Carolyn sarcastically declared the move, "Genius." But even if her team wasn't producing candy bards with blistering speed, Sandy was fine with that. She said she'd rather take the time to produce quality bars instead of going too fast and having a poor product.

Once Mosaic was done, they took their finished bars to a group of inspectors. When an inspector saw the bars, he asked, "So, this is it... so far?" Another employee answered, "That's it." Although the inspectors were not overwhelmed by the number of bars, they were impressed with the quality. Those bars that did not meet the high M&M/Mars standards were broken into pieces and thrown away. Sandy said that every time an inspector snapped a bar, it was like a knife going through her heart. The final total of quality bars that Mosaic could sell was 290. Jennifer M. was concerned that with an extra person on their team, Apex would produce more bars and start with a big advantage the next day. On Apex, Ivana was also tense during the candy inspection process. She said it was like "presenting your little babies." By the end of the inspection, the Apex team members were the proud parents of 323 M-AZING Bars.

The next morning, Jennifer M. had the idea for the two women to dress alike. They wore red tops, denim skirts and high heels. Sandy commented, "It was like the M&M Sisters were born." When the women walked out of Trump Tower, a guy on the street stopped and stared. Jennifer M. told Sandy, "We're already getting the appropriate reaction." Sandy agreed and said, "Buy some candy from the eye candy." Jennifer M. admitted that the two were willing to do just about anything - within reason - to win. Dressed to sell, Sandy and Jennifer M. jumped into the M&M promotional van and headed for Wall Street.

Apex also headed to Wall Street to peddle their wares. The team was selling their bars for two dollars a piece. But soon, Kevin dropped the price to one dollar. Ivana complained that after just ten minutes, Kevin said he was having a hard time selling the bars for two dollars each. She said that Kevin told her that he was going to simply sell the bars for whatever price he could get - a decision, Ivana said, that was made without any approval from her. In another area of Wall Street, the M&M Sisters stopped in front of a group of men and were able to coax them into spending five dollars each for a candy bar.

Back on Apex, Ivana got disturbing news when a pedestrian reported that two blondes in high heels were selling the same candy bars for five dollars each. Ivana said she felt panicked because Mosaic could easily beat them with that selling price. Kevin told Ivana in no uncertain terms that they could not get five dollars per bar. So, Ivana devised a plan. They would find Sandy and Jennifer M. and undercut them on price, stealing their customers while taking in cash. Well, Apex did find Mosaic, but Ivana's strategy didn't work as Sandy and Jennifer M. just moved to a new location. Ivana said she was upset and called the situation a "street fight." Ivana said that desperate times called for desperate measures - and it turned out Ivana was desperate enough to remove clothing to make a sale. She went up to men and told them that for twenty dollars she would give them a candy bar - and drop her skirt. When one guy gave her twenty dollars, Ivana kept her promise and took off her skirt, revealing bikini shorts. A-MAZING-ly, Ivana sold several bars this way. But as Carolyn watched, she did not look pleased.

Both teams gathered in the boardroom to learn how they had done. George announced that Apex sold 323 candy bars for a profit of $560.75. But Carolyn said that Mosaic had sold 290 bars for a profit of $1,023.11. The two women had beaten the three-person team - and by almost double. For their reward, Sandy and Jennifer M. flew to Chicago and spent a day with Bill Rancic, last year's Apprentice. Bill showed off the progress of his project: Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago. But what the women really wanted was to pick Bill's brain. Bill told them that the key to success is heart, passion and desire. Bill also warned them that they'd have to let go of whatever happened in the past if they wanted to win. After meeting Bill, each candidate felt that she could really win and become Donald Trump's next Apprentice.

Back at the suite, everyone was focused on the boardroom. Kelly, who was exempt from the firing, said that he thought it was a tragedy that either Ivana or Kevin had to be fired. Kelly believed that they were both stronger than either Jennifer M. or Sandy. Ivana and Kevin had a heart-to-heart talk and said that they would discuss their own record in the boardroom and not tear each other down. In an interview, Kevin said that Ivana was one of the few candidates he truly considered a friend. But in her own interview, Ivana admitted that she would have no choice but to go after Kevin.

In the boardroom, Trump told Apex that they set their price too low. Kelly said that Ivana couldn't control Kevin, who unilaterally decided to sell the bars for a lower price. Trump told Kevin that the lower price killed the team. Then Trump asked Ivana if she flashed people on the street to sell candy bars - and Ivana admitted that she did. George criticized all three candidates for their lack of effort and creativity. He said that no one came up with any marketing ideas (other than skirtless sales). Next, Trump dismissed the three and asked his advisors for their input. George thought that all of the candidates left something to be desired. But he said that at least Ivana stepped up and did something. Carolyn didn't see eye to eye with George and called Ivana's sales technique of pulling down her skirt "horrendous."

After Apex returned, Ivana said that between Kelly and Kevin, she would fire Kelly. Kevin said he would fire Ivana. Carolyn asked each candidate what their record was as Project Manager. Ivana said she had 0 wins and 2 losses. Kevin had 2 wins and 0 losses. And Kelly had 3 wins and 0 losses. Ivana asked Trump to take a chance on her - but Trump said he didn't want to take a chance on someone who loses all the time. Trump told Kevin that he hated the fact that Kevin priced the candy so low. But then Trump turned to Ivana and said, "You stripped - I'm not hiring a stripper. You made a lot of bad decisions. And frankly, you've lost too much. Ivana, you're fired."

Team Apex Team Mosaic