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"Sweet & Lowdown" -
December 2 In
America's Next Top Model, we saw how b!tchy the women
would get to be in the Final Four. The stakes are a lot
higher here - $150,000 more worth of salary and far more
prestigious. What would they do to be in the Final Four?
We'll find that out in the next 60 minutes. In the next
10 seconds, we find out who was predicted to get the
boot, as predicted by the people upstairs who aren't
getting the boot. They think that Jen's the most
annoying - but the most annoying one, as we know, still
stays. Ivana sees this and telly the guys that Andy is
gone. Ivana wants to know why - and Jen decides not to
say anything about it as she and Sandy saunter off to
the next room.
Jen and Sandy go into the next room for a heart-to-heart
talk. She tells Sandy that with the numbers down, it's
every person for themselves, and you can't afford to
take sides against anyone. She also says that she is
looking forward to them working together, and that
appeases Sandy. Jen has that way of making everyone
swoon for her, doesn't she?
The next morning, the crew comes down to Trump's
International Tower for their next assignment. Trump
talks about his hotel's success as the 5 remaining
candidates arrive. When they arrive, Trump sends them to
adjoining room as he finishes his talk about hotels.
When that conversation is done, he talks to them
about...quality. 'Quality Speaks for Itself.' He speaks
about something that he loves - M&M Mars, the biggest
chocolate company in the world with over 5 billion
dollars worth of sales last year. Each team will be
creating a new candy bar for M&M's called 'The M'Azing
Bar', which is a bar of chocolate with tine M&M pieces
in them. They have to work in the assembly bar as their
inspectors will be going through their product. The team
that makes the most profit by selling all of the bars
that pass inspection will win the challenge.
Ivana is the captain of Apex, while Sandy is the captain
of Mosaic. Donald reminds them that, like last year,
once they get to the final four, they are on their own,
so there will be no exemption carry-over for this task.
Sorry, Ivana and Sandy. With that, Donald leaves and the
teams hurry over to M&M Mars.
Donald's rule this week? 'Know Your Enemy' Donald says
to never underestimate your opponent, as that's the
worst thing you can do. IF you assume that your opponent
is better than you and plan for it, it will lead you to
victory.
At the assembly line, there are no Oompa Loompas or
chocolate river (which Kevin realized when he walked
in), but there were things to be learned as everyone
takes the tour. They heat the chocolate, put the M&M's
in there, then put another layer of chocolate in and
then cool it off. Kevin takes charge, which is fine...if
he was the project manager. He isn't, and Ivana is not
happy about it.
On the other side, Sandy and Jen (who Sandy accuses of
being a plastic mannequin - OUCH!), run the shop - and
promptly makes a mess. As Carolyn looks on , the manager
tells her that they are on a 10 bar an hour pace - which
is not very good. Carolyn watches two unwatched candy
bars fall right into the garbage bin. 'Genius' says
Carolyn, while Sandy says that they want to take it
slower - if they make bars of better quality.
How much quality is yet to be seen as the inspectors
show up. They didn't think that Mosaic's quality was
that bad, but they snap some bars and they only have 290
to sell - a number that has Jennifer worried. She has a
right to worry, as Apex gets 323 bars to pass
inspection.
Jen and Sandy realize that the other team have the
better numbers - but they strategize and create the
image of 'The M&M Sisters'. Jen created the idea of them
wearing identical red on black outfits (with glitter in
their...chest region), low cut black dresses and high
heels. They get a marketing van - but they are going to
try to sell candy...by the eye candy, according to
Sandy. 'We're willing to do just about anything - within
reason'. I have a feeling that we'll be looking back on
this quote later on in the episode.
Apex doesn't have identical outfits - conversely, they
are selling in casual clothes and Ivana has on a white
undershirt, which is not very impressive when you want
to sell something. They catch the Wall Street Crowd and
sell them for 1 for $2.00, and 2 for $3.00. Well, Kelly
and Ivana does, but Kevin sell them at 1 for 1 dollar.
That comes without Ivana's say so, and her frustration
at Kevin is heating up...
it would heat up even more if she knew what Sandy and
Jen were doing. They go over to workers and sells each
bar at $5.00 a pop. That's a lot of money to charge for
a bar - but it works as they sell it to men, women -
even children. None of them seem to be offended by the
scantily worn clothing. 'We could have gone over the top
- but we didn't' says Sandy - and she's right.
Ivana is selling the candy - and finds a consumer who
already bought candy - from Jen and Sandy. Uh-oh. She
finds out that they were charging $5 a pop - and getting
people to buy it. That concerns Ivana, who realizes that
she has to do something or they are going to be sunk.
They decide to go over to where they are selling and
undercut them by selling in their territory.
Ivana goes over to sell candy past Jen and Sandy, who
just swat her away and call her an @$$. Ivana compares
them to cheap strippers out in a Texas Saloon - and then
decides to do some stripping of her own. 'I got too
cheap hookers walking around for $5 a bar. For $20 a
bar, I'll take off my skirt.' WHA? An obviously
concerned-looking Carolyn watches as Ivana takes off her
skirt and shows off her bikini shorts. She thinks that
she needs to do this 3 or 4 more times to make the
profit. ON my calculations, based on the fact that they
lose $3-$4 per each 'normal' sale, she will have to do
that another 50 more times - and for that, she may as
well hire real ladies of the night to do her bidding and
charge $100 for a bar and a creamy surprise.
Did the stripping work? as we go into the Board Room, we
see that Apex made a profit of $560.75 (which isn't much
stripping. Mosaic, at $5 a bar, made a profit of
$1,023.11, which easily gives them the win. The Donald
was impressed, as two women who hated each other makes
off with the win.
For their reward, the winners get to go see Bill Rancic
in Chicago and give them a tour. Even more importantly,
they get to pick his brain about the final interviewing
process. Bill shows them the 7 foot model of the new
tower and takes them through the suite. After the tour,
they strategize about what's next. Bill tells them that
everything that they have done now goes out the window,
as the interviewers don't care about that. He says that
different paths can lead to the same situation. Bill
tells them that now, it's not about why the other person
isn't qualified - it's why you ARE qualified. That is
very good advice, and they seem to drink it in like it
was...well...hot chocolate.
Back in NYC, Sandy asks Kelly who he would fire. Kelly
says that he isn't going to give an answer, but he will
give it AFTER the Board Room, so he doesn't help or hurt
anyone. He says that it's a travesty that Ivana or Kevin
would be gone, since he thinks that either of them are
stronger than either Jennifer or Sandy. Ivana and Kevin
say that they will play as cleanly as possible, but they
both realize that for them to win, one of them has to go
home.
On to the Board Room we go. Donald asks why, and Kevin
says that thy got outplayed, while Ivana says that it
wasn't about pricing. Donald disagrees with them and
Kelly says that they underestimated them. George takes
Kelly to task, saying that it's a huge flaw. Kelly tells
Ivana that she couldn't control Kevin when he sets the
price. He says that he didn't set the price too low, but
Kelly said that Kevin sold it at the lower price. When
asked who she would fire however, he said that he would
fire Ivana, because she was the project manager.
We go back to Ivana and her flashing for $20 for a candy
bar. She says that it was a gimmick, which is all well
and good, but then addresses both of them by starting
with 'Look'..., which isn't all well and good and
Carolyn calls her on it. She says that she shouldn't
have done it, but she did it because she had to raise
her price. Carolyn corrects her and says that she wasn't
selling a candy bar, and Ivana can only nod in silence.
It's deliberation time, and George says that Ivana at
least stepped up and tried something while the other two
people did nothing but cut the price. Carolyn completely
disagrees with what she did. 'This is someone who's
going to run one of your companies, period.'
The group comes in, and Donald asks who she would have
fired between Kevin and Kelly. She says Kelly, because
she knew Kevin more. Kevin says that he would have fired
Ivana, because she lost twice. Going into records, Ivana
is 0-2, Kevin is 2-0 and Kelly is 3-0. That statistic is
damning, and while Ivana wants to see Jen fired, as they
have identical 0-2 records.
Donald gives her a chance to defend herself, and she
says that she is smarter than Kevin - and that's not
what Donald wanted to hear. Donald gives Ivana one more
try, but instead of going after the fact that Kevin lost
the task because of the pricing, she asks Donald to give
her a chance. He says that he is not hiring a stripper,
and that, combined with her many mistakes over the show
and her 0-2 record, gets her fired. Donald does this,
smacks the desk, and makes a shooting motion with his
fingers. That was cold, Donald.
Donald said that he had no choice, as the records showed
that Kelly and Kevin have yet to lose as project
manager, and Ivana had yet to win. To make it even more
damning, she could have gone after Kevin on his one
vulnerable point - and didn't.
No ratings necessary from now on, as we get to the final
four. So who do I think wins? I think that Kelly, who
hasn't made a mistake yet (or one that the editors
wanted us to see) is a shoe-in for the interview. I
think that Kevin is going to once again sweat, and that
will cost him. As for the women, I think the Jen-bot
will use that charisma to get past Sandy, making a
Jen/Kelly finals. Let's see in 7 days if I am right. |