Incomplete Suite

Okay,

Dawn is gone.  She was the obvious choice for "goodbye" after 4 visits to the conference room after 4 episodes.  Task performance bedamned.

WRT task performance - well... Matchstick didn't "finish" because they didn't get their couch or any other of it's seating - so they threw some pillows on the floor and Leslie attempted Shawn's "fake it, 'til you make it" approach to pitching their concept of FLOW - a room for living or working.  Just not sitting or comfort.

For all the time management issues, you have to give Leslie credit for stepping up to lead Matchstick, and presenting the incomplete suite as designed intentionally without any seating. That took some serious hutzbah.

Primarius' cockiness really made it hard not to cheer for the underdog.  But in the end, Matchstick's room was simply not spinnable without seating. 

But not only was the suite incomplete, so was the reward.  "What reward?" you say.  Yup, that's my question too. 

Now, I'm pretty sure the claims that this is the first time a team wasn't able to complete a task is incorrect.  Does any one else remember another renovation task in A2 when the team didn't complete the bathrooms before the real estate appraisers arrived?

Oh, and I have to ask - is Mark Burnett off his game?  There was a huge product placement opportunity lost.  What's wrong with Martha Stewart paints, products and furniture? Don't they have a KMart in New York? 

Comments

[Kaysi]

About time one of the Jim/Dawn babies were fired. Now if only the 2nd half of this 'nondynamic duo' could lose his head. Jim's about the fakest guy I've ever seen. His facial expressions, his comments, hand gestures - all a fad.

Amanda did a good job with her PM position - she'll have to be reckoned with later. Keeping all the brilliant minds cooperating isn't as easy as it looks - notice they have a freak-out session every task. The re-shuffling should be interesting, but I think it will continue to cut down Matchstick to Bethenny and Marcela. Not sure they have enough business skills to last to the final four though.

Leslie took on the PM job for Matchstick because she knew even if she lost, she'd be rewarded for taking the risk by not being fired, and she wouldn't have to be a PM again anytime soon so she just had to be a good team member for a few more tasks. She's also pretty conniving and really 'playing the game', but obviously suffers terribly at time management - she's the think, think, think marketing type who doesn't actually put together a good product in the end. Being in advertising myself, I can't stand the touchy-feely marketing types because they never get anything done. Bethenny may not have gotten the furniture delivered, which she should have been on the phone all day taking care of, but it looks like they needed all hands on deck to get the suite looking like a liveable room. Still, she'll have to make sure she takes care of her job in the future.

I thought the suites looked great - excellent promo for Westin, but Martha needs to work on her rewards. hanging out in the suite you've been working on for 24 hours isn't my idea of a picnic. You'd think she'd at least send them to dinner! Despite Martha's shameless plugs for "MSLO", it's a great fun change from the Donald.

[Jamison]

I don't know who would've been the better choice for firing -- Dawn or Leslie? But at the end of the day, I'm sure glad it was Dawn. At least Leslie stepped and, when her time mismanagement resulted in the contractors giving up on them for the night, at least she took action by having them stay up late and paint and making sure everyone held together.

Dawn, on the other hand, was a total nuisance. She was lazy, she was nothing but trouble, and she made excuses. The EXACT reason Omarosa was fired. She whined and complained (although she was right most of the time) and finally paid for it.

I think I know how Martha got the clue that Dawn was unfit for her company. Everyone on Matchstick wanted Dawn gone because she's weak and contributes almost nothing. Well, that's just the Matchstick members' opinion. However, if a former Primarius member went to their team and experienced the same thing from her, and Martha heard that from her, wouldn't that also raise a red flag? Obviously, it did, because Martha finally stopped giving Dawn chances and fired her lazy ass.

Don't get me wrong. I like Dawn. But because she's from Alexandria, VA, where I lived for three years and lived near for a fourth, I like and am biased toward Leslie more. Leslie survived, and I'm glad. Dawn has now seen the Dusk, and I guess it was for the best.

[Jack Sprat]

What is the knock against Jim? Yeah, he acts psycho but that's just good television. You'll notice that he always works hard during the tasks and you can't say that about most of that group. He's never been responsible for a team loss.

On another note, what prevented Matchstick from asking management if they could "borrow" furniture from the hotel to complete the room? It would have been used for less than an hour. They might have taken a "ding" for resorting to this strategy, but at least the room would have been completed.

[Lex]

Jack,

excellent point! While Westin was evaluating them, it would have shown the completed design concept... it would have also some some serious contingency planning skills.

[jillian]

Dawn was completely useless.

Leslie is more into "playing" as opposed to "doing"...come on 6 HOURS to work out a concept and in the end have the judges completely clueless as to what that concept was supposed to be?

Bethany really did a fantastic job of just getting down to brass tacks and ordering up furniture. Too bad she didn't continue keeping on their butts about delivery.

Jack made a great point in the post above...the team should have been flexible and "creative" enough to come up with a second plan (borrowing furniture).

Jim needs psychiatric help.

[chaim]

Does anyone notice how awful Martha's daughter is? She adds nothing to the show. Considering how important George and Caroline are to the Donald, it is certain that had Martha not resorted to nepotism, and selected a dynamic person for the job, the show might not be seen as drive and phony as it is.

[Tall_Texan]

I don't think Charles does much for the show either, waving around that cigar he can never light, sort of like a baby holding his pacifier. He may be a good businessman (according to his profile) but I've yet to see either one of Martha's go-fers really tear into anyone the way George and Caroline can.

To me, that's the real difference in the two shows. The Trump folks are sometimes a little abusive to their candidates. Martha and her seconds are just too polite to rip anyone's head off and that's part of what viewers really want to see. We want to vicariously fire the slacker, the psycho, the whiner or the screw-up in our own offices and the Apprentice shows are a way of identifying non-performers and watching them dealt with harshly. Trump delivers the tongue-lashing that Martha, so far, has not.

[Beth]

I must be the only one, but until this episode I think Dawn got a bad rap. So she wants to eat a banana while she reads to concentrate better, big deal? Some people can't work on an empty stomach. I didn't think it was an outrageous request to have quiet while she wrote either. And in spite of psycho, transparent Jim seeing her as a threat and obviously being out to get her from day 1, she handled that pretty calmly. Until this episode I don't think she deserved to be in the board room, and had she not been dragged into the boardroom by spiteful team members on previous occasions, Leslie would've been fired.