The Gardening Gloves are Off

Well... this has certainly changed the tomber of the game.

Let's breakdown the facts first:

Challenge: Each team was given a location and had to setup and run a retail flower business. 

Project Mgrs: Matchstick- Chuck, Primarius - Carrie

Summary:

• After plenty of conflict and confusion, Matchstick decided to leverage Chuck's background in the floral industry and chose to focus exclusively on selling bunches of tulips.
• The marketing centred around the fact the tulips were flown in fresh from Holland... so they hired women to dress in "little dutch girl" costumes and try for walk-by business.
• As the task progressed, Chuck had a meltdown.  He called the group to order and told them he was going to quit.
• Much fussing occured... the team, with Jim in lead, spent a fair amount of time convincing Chuck not to give up.
• Chuck snapped to, seemed to get some clarity and a serious take-charge attitude.  Sadly, it didn't last.
• Matchstick's marketing and message was unplanned and unclear as demonstrated by 3 of their team members going out on the town to promote to men in bars, and the dutch girls.  I think the correct response to this is "what the hell?"
• Over at Primarius, they decided to outsource something they had no experience in and invited René Hofstede of Mille Fiori to create a showcase for his floral designs.
• This gave Primarius product, a message, and an established brand to work with.
• After realizing that most customers were having "sticker shock", Primarius removed the prices from their displays and flowers started moving.
• In the end Matchstick Sales were brisk, but had sales of less than 1/2 of Primarius'.

Winners: Primarius 

• (Quick note... did anyone know that Carrie was PM on this??  Had I not seen her name on the screen as PM, I would have guessed it was Jennifer.)

Primary Factors in the loss:

• Chuck's lack of leadership and Jim's controlling manipulations.
• Chuck was in over his head attempting to lead a team of people all trying to prove they are "creative" to Martha Stewart.
• Without leadership they ran the project without a planning and the team's self-destructive dynamic went unchecked.
• The team may have been able to recover if they had allowed Chuck to step down as PM or quit. Chuck would have still been on the chopping block if they lost, but they might have been able to pull things together and make things happen if a strong leader had stepped in.

Conference Room: Matchstick- Chuck with Jim and Dawn

• Chuck repeatedly told Martha that the loss was his responsibility.
• Jim repeatedly lied, boldly, saying that Chuck didn't have a melt-down and didn't quit.  He very aggressively attacked Dawn about her lack of contribution to the team.
• Dawn "fought" for herself by bringing a list of things she did on the task
• When asked why he brought Jim and Dawn into the boardroom, Chuck said that they were the biggest point of conflict on team.   

Fired: Chuck -- Chuck was in over his head, recognized it, attempted to address it constructively, and was manipulated into staying. Then, due to Jim's insistance that Chuck had done no wrong, sort of manipulated into fighting to be fired. He won.

Next week:

• I'd like to see Jim as PM next week.  He has to be called to task.

The official detailed summaries of this episode are available at NBC's Official Martha's Apprentice Site and Yahoo's Official The Apprentice:Martha Site

• Chuck's lack of leadership and Jim's controlling manipulations.
• Chuck was in over his head attempting to lead a team of people all trying to prove they are "creative" to Martha Stewart.
• Without leadership they ran the project without a planning and the team's self-destructive dynamic went unchecked.
• The team may have been able to recover if they had allowed Chuck to step down as PM or quit. Chuck would have still been on the chopping block if they lost, but they might have been able to pull things together and make things happen if a strong leader had stepped in.

Comments

[Thomason]

You have to admit, Lex, Jim is pretty darn entertaining. Be back with more on Martha for you later.

[Lex]

I agree - he is entertaining and frustrating...

As a tv character, I want him to be less transparent in his manipulations and "hidden" agenda, so I can see how it plays out. I'm fascinated by human behaviour and how people are influenced is a huge part of that. However, his approach seem so flagrant I can't imagine Martha keeping him around all that long. Well unless she is pressured to because of ratings.

As a person, I want him to stop it. First of all he's screwing with people, he's screwing with his own personal brand, and it makes me want to fire him myself.

As part of a tv show I'm interested, I'd like to see how everyone, including Jim, would perform without all the game play. (but that's a complaint I've had about the recent seasons anyway. More business, less bs.)

[Greta]

I am a former Tyler Grad-Jim is a total embarassment.
Classless and so obviously insecure. After total outrage
at his lack of professionalism, you can only
feel sorry for him. He is one who should stay out of the public eye.

[Robin]

First of all - it is ridiculous to think that Jim is being "kept around" beacuse of ratings. The show has already been taped - in it's entirety. The winner has been chosen, everyone is on with thier lives now and we are seeing this series long after the decision has been made.

Look at the things that people have written about Jim - there is definately a common thread and not just because everyone thinks he is nuts. He is extremely creative, a master at manipulation, and frankly quite calculated in his actions. At least it seems to me.

I think that people have "misunderestimated" Jim. Watch.

[Robin]

First of all - it is ridiculous to think that Jim is being "kept around" beacuse of ratings. The show has already been taped - in it's entirety. The winner has been chosen, everyone is on with thier lives now and we are seeing this series long after the decision has been made.

Look at the things that people have written about Jim - there is definately a common thread and not just because everyone thinks he is nuts. He is extremely creative, a master at manipulation, and frankly quite calculated in his actions. At least it seems to me.

I think that people have "misunderestimated" Jim. Watch.

[Tall_Texan]

Robin,

I do think Jim was chosen for his entertainment value, just as Danny in A3 was there for entertainment. No way in %^$& Martha is going to hire somebody like Jim - in fact Jim is the complete antithesis of Martha's public persona.

But I do think Jim (like Chris, A3) is being kept around because he causes tension and *that* draws in viewers.

Most of us would like to be in a room full of Marcelas, not a room full of Jims but it would be boring television to watch a room full of Marcelas compete.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Jim is actually an actor or a comedian they've hired simply to liven up the show and make the real contestants more edgy.

Remember, nobody is grading Trump or Martha on what order they fire people. Bottom line, only one gets the job and all the others are just window dressing.

If it were me doing the hiring and firing, I would quickly break down the candidates into those I might hire and those I'll definitely fire. But I might keep around a few of the ones I'll definitely fire for those weeks where I need a scapegoat who happens to be on the losing team. I knew all along I was going to fire "X" but I wait until a week where "Y" lost the task but is still somebody I think has potential so I make up a reason to fire "X" instead so I have more time to evaluate "Y".

Jim is definitely an "X". He'll get fired when it's convenient for the show to fire him.