Week Nine - Scavenger Negotiation

For some reason we start this episode listening to the radio. The Apprentii are bleary-eyed and still in their pyjamas (or in Daniel's case pyjamas and a hoody), which make explain why Katie comments that she can't believe there are only eight of them left when they started out with 20. I don't think she's fully understood how this show works.

All this domestic bliss is interrupted by Lord Siralan showing up at the front door. The candidates scramble to decide whether to get dressed or offer him a cup of tea, before stumbling into the living room still in pyjamas, making it look like the world's most organised and depressing sleepover.

Knock, Knock.

Who's there?

The Bloody Apprentice.

Lord Siralan announces the task and it's the scavenger hunt. He tries to claim this is all about negotiation but given that the Apprentii having nothing to bargain or negotiate with, no repeat business, no bulk orders, no reputation, all they can really do is beg for discounts in front of a camera. And with a fine for getting back late to the boardroom or not getting a full set of items, we all know what this task is really about.

In a slight twist, all the items they have to collect come from previous scavenger hunts from the past ten years. So we have another 'best of' compilation task. There is a bit of cheekiness, the full sized human skeleton was from the odd 'inverse' scavenger hunt from a few years ago when the Apprentii were given items and had to sell them for as much money as possible. And in Dubai last years candidates were sent to buy an oud, which is a musical instrument, which they got mixed up with oudh oil which this years candidates are being sent to get.

The BBC Worldwide sleepwear range

As if by magic, Nick and Karen appear. Where they hiding in a cupboard? Daniel thinks he should be project manager of team Tenacity because he knows London so well. But Mark also claims to know London pretty well, while Katie argues that this task is about organisation. So all they can really agree on is that the Project Manager should not be Felipe. Daniel, on solo cam, admits to being desperate to be PM. He pushes his local knowledge for all it's worth and ends up practically begging Mark for support. Mark gives in possibly just to prevent Daniel suffering a total mental breakdown at the table.

Sanjay ends up as Project Manager of team Summit. He justifies it on the basis of his local knowledge, but admits to solo cam that he's trying to prove to Lord Siralan that he isn't complete crap after last week's boardroom demolition.

Daniel has a strategy to deal with the rift in the team. He makes Mark and Katie a sub-team and appoints Katie as sub-team leader, giving them half the money and half the items on the list to buy. He will team up with Felipe. So it's very much a kill or cure approach. Either the two of them come back having settled their difference, or one of them comes back having settled their differences.The strategy doesn't seem to be working brilliantly. As soon as Katie and Mark get in the car, Mark claims he only supported Daniel as PM to stop him destroying the team from within, while Katie says she's fed up of Daniel thinking he's better than her.

It turns out Daniel is Jewish and heads straight for Golders Green to get a kosher chicken. After a lot of shaloms and mosletophs he manages to knock the price down from £6 to £4. A decent discount,  but on low price item. Given that failing to secure an item only costs you the list price of that item, prioritising the cheap items isn't very smart.

Sanjay has taken a very different approach to the task. He wants the team to call around lots of suppliers before leaving the house. His theory is that 30 minutes extra planning will save time in the long run. Fine in theory, but it relies on them actually using the time productively. The team have to get a diamond and Bianca suggests going to Hatton Garden. Roisin ignores this and starts phoning around independent jewellers, who don't tend to leave big piles of diamonds lying around. Has she considered calling the seven dwarves? In the end one of the people on the phone suggests Hatton Gardens and Roisin makes a careful note of this, because now someone on the phone has said it, it's good advice.

Bianca gets on the phone to a guy called Declan in search of a second-hand sink. But Mark and Katie have already arrived at Declan's place to pick one up. Mark manages to get a £5 discount and spends £75. He then tries to get Declan to promise not to give a better discount to the other team. Bianca rolls up minutes later and straight-forwardly asks for a better discount than the other team got. Declan offers her a bashed up sink for £60. This could be a pretty good strategy. Just follow the other team around and ask to pay slightly less than they did for everything.

Sanjay, for all his pre-planning, has been distracted by a skeleton in a shop window. He then breaks the cardinal rule of negotiation by marching in, announcing he's desperate to buy the thing and has no idea what a reasonable price would be. Unsurprisingly, he is asked for a ludicrous price of £5000. Sanjay decides he' not that desperate after all.

Meanwhile, Felipe thinks he's come up with a clever trick to save money on the Skeleton. He's found a shop that has a paper skeleton, that comes unassembled. But the list of items says nothing about the skeleton being assembled. He reminds Daniel he's a lawyer. I'm not sure relying on your law skills is a great way to win Lord Siralan's approval Felipe, given that a few weeks ago he was in favour of torturing you for that very reason.

Daniel and Felipe hurry to the shop to pick up the skeleton and even hold hands to cross the road. How things have changed from last week. Though this is starting to feel like a married couple getting over a fight. They collect the skeleton, in a flat pack, and Felipe begs for reassurance from the person in the shop that this is anatomically correct. So there you have it Lord Siralan, certified anatomically correct by the guy in the shop. Daniel and Felipe speak to Mark and Katie over the phone about their triumph. They sound a bit dubious about the paper skeleton, but Daniel says that if it goes wrong it's on him and Felipe. Remember this, because Daniel may forget it later. Felipe thinks Lord Siralan will be impressed with his creativity and this will win him the task. He then flies fate to Paris for a candlelit dinner including truffles, caviar and champagne.

Solomon, meanwhile, can't even say "anatomical". He and Bianca stop at some kind of medical supplies superstore to find a skeleton. Solomon tries to establish a rapport with the sales person, but this mostly consists of a lot of babble while Solomon plays with the skeleton. Bianca finally gets bored and pushes for a price. They end up paying £230, saving about enough money to buy a paper skeleton as well just to be on the safe side.

 Solomon and his new best friend

Both Daniel and Felipe and Roisin and Sanjay arrive at Hatton Garden at almost exactly the same time. Daniel plans to tell a shaggy dog story about how he's getting married. Given how he and Felipe have been getting on, they may think Felipe is the intended groom. Unfortunately, Daniel ends up meeting with an experienced salesperson who seems insulted that Daniel would even ask for a discount. Daniel finally manages to get him down to £172. Meanwhile, Roisin is talking to a diamond cutter who acts like he has never spoken to a human being before and who asks for £140. Roisin isn't happy with that and eventually beats him down to only £50. Sanjay comments that this is like a heist movie.

Speaking of criminality, Mark and Katie have ended up at a block of flats looking for a perfume dealer to sell them some oudh oil. With Nick Hewer hovering in the background it looks a bit like a drug deal that someone has brought their Dad to. Mark thinks they over paid at £48; meanwhile Sanjay is buying oil in a perfume shop for £100.

With little time left, the teams mop up a few last items. Felipe and Daniel get a bag of scallops, while Mark and Katie debate whether to try and cut down the piece of rope they picked up at a Garden Centre so that it's exactly one metre long before deciding they probably don't have to bother. Sanjay gives up on the Kosher chicken in a mad dash for scallops, but still ends up getting back late.

Everyone's happy for now

In the boardroom tenacity are very complementary about Daniel. Katie thinks he has turned over a new leaf and Felipe says he has become a man, which raises all kinds of questions about what exactly they have been getting up to. The camaraderie is spoiled somewhat when Lord Siralan decides to interpret one metre of rope as being 'exactly', and not 'at least', one metre. But the best is reserved for the paper skeleton. Lord Siralan looks at it like Felipe has taken a shit on his desk and asks if they're taking the piss.

What?!

It's at this point I'm disappointed that this isn't a slightly different show. There's a good argument to be made that the instructions were purposefully vague in order to catch the Apprenti out. Not to mention that predicting how Lord Siralan will behave is a difficult business. On another day he might have praised the ingenuity. But none of the team have the nerve to make this point, or if they did it was edited out of the broadcast. The instructions actually call for an anatomically correct human skeleton, it doesn't say anything about it being a model. If they strip all the flesh off Felipe they would probably do. Actually, he might not meet the 1.8 metre height requirement. Daniel maybe?

Summit come in for some criticism because Roisin didn't know where Hatton Gardens was and didn't listen to Bianca, and because Sanjay turned up late and without a Kosher chicken, but in the end it's all about the skeleton. Tenacity win on numbers, until Lord Siralan insists on adding the full cost of the skeleton to their total and so Summit are sent off racing cars at Silverstone on a technicality. Mark and Katie look furious.

In fact, in the cafe, Katie out right admits that she has never been so mad in her life, which at least suggests she has lived a pretty tranquil life up until now. Felipe is still arguing that they followed the rules. It's too late Felipe, you forgot the golden rule that Lord Siralan is always right even when he's wrong.

Back in the board room, the formally united and triumphant team now have the knives out for Felipe, with everyone denying any involvement in the skeleton. Mark and Katie can at least claim they never saw the thing, even if their claim of total ignorance is a touch dubious. But Daniel's denial is staggering in its barefacedness. Remember earlier how he said that if there was a problem with the skeleton it was on him? He certainly doesn't. He all but accuses Felipe of using his terrible mind powers, claiming he was duped and knows nothing about skeletons. Nick actually comments that its painful to watch.

Lord Siralan makes a half-hearted attempt to spread the blame around by commenting on Mark's and Katie's inability to find a pair of scissors to cut the rope in central London. Felipe claims he would have cut it with his teeth. It's a bit late for that Felipe, but maybe you could have found some paper rope that you could just tear? Daniel brings back Katie and Felipe to the boardroom, further enraging Katie who claims he's only doing it because she told him things he didn't want to hear. Daniel points out, not unreasonably, that if this was personal he would have brought back Mark.

 Katie is fine with being brought back to the boardroom

After this it's really just a question of whether Daniel or Felipe will go or both of them. Lord Siralan claims that Katie's common sense wouldn't necessarily make her a good business partner, which may be true but puts her ahead of candidates with no common sense or indeed sense of any kind at all. The case against Daniel is essentially that he's been in the boardroom so many times Lord Siralan is starting to suffer from deja vu. But he's saved because, despite the loss, he does seem to have made some improvement. Felipe is booted, though he gets in one last third person statement. "This is not the end of Felipe."

Back at the house, Mark thinks its unbelievable that Daniel is back. He sounds like he actually means it, as though Daniel gave the taxi-driver the slip and snuck back in the boot of Katie's car. In an attempt to mend some bridges, Daniel suggests Katie has been improved by her experience in the board room. Katie thinks she was fine already.

Next Time: The Apprenti design desserts, Roisin and Bianca try to stop a tragey and Lord Siral thinks someone has given up on the process, probably himself by this stage.

Episode 9 - June 26th 2013 - Pot Noodle

Poor Alex, after nine weeks he finally gets a shot at being project manager, but only because it was enforced by Lord Siral. It's a bit like the teacher giving the unpopular kid a shot at being team Captain. Everyone knows its not real. Not that this is going to stop Alex, whose confidence appears to be undentable, who launches into the role with gusto, possibly mistaking 'project manager' for 'dictator.'

 Luisa just can't be bothered this week

No team reshuffling this week, which means that Evolve have been left with just Neil, Luisa and Alex. As they have all had a go already, Lord Siral doesn't care who leads. The task is to design and market a new ready meal, and so Luisa, with her experience in the food industry should be ideal for the job. But after last weeks infighting she doesn't want it, leading two a split between Francesca and Neil that she decides in Neil's favour.

In fact, Luisa is determined to play down her food experience, refusing to go to the factory. Apparently, her only experience is in baking and she knows nothing about savoury food. Francesca is also keen to emphasise her food ignorance, but Neil clearly thinks Luisa is the most ignorant and packs her off to the factory while Luisa works on branding. Neil will be going with Luisa, having decided that branding is more important than product. Alex is no better, he and Myles will be working on the brand while Jordan and Leah will be going to the factory. He justifies sending Leah because, in spite of her lack of food industry experience, he thinks they will be 'nice to her.' I can't decide if this is sexist or just weird.

 Francesca is entirely happy at the factory

Alex and Myles pretty quickly fall out over branding ideas. Alex favours a pair of cartoon characters travelling around the world teaching children about regional food. He wants to name these two Pippity and Pop, after the welsh word for Microwave. Myles, prefers a horror theme that he labels 'Deadly Dinners'. They ask a random member of the public, sorry focus group, but she unhelpfully tells them that they're both good ideas. Alex is determined that his idea will win out, convinced that his idea is parent-friendly and educational, but he seems to lose confidence after being unable to explain how a picture of Pippity on a gondola is educational. In the end he gives in and they go with Myles idea.

Actually, once the decision is made, Alex jumps on board with a bit too much enthusiasm. The packaging ends up black, decorated with bats, blood and a skull, displayed on a fade skull background. Nick Hewer points out that skulls are more normally associated with poison though, to be fair, this is probably no more lethal than your average Sainsbury's lasagna.

 Appetising

Meanwhile, Evolve have decided on a fusion theme, combining Caribbean chicken with Thai noodles. Unfortunately, it turns out that when Francesca said she couldn't cook she wasn't lying and Luisa, who apparently was, has to dictate a recipe down the phone. Francesca has the assistance of a professional chef, but he doesn't have much to work with as Francesca queries whether it's possible to burn chicken (it is, who knew?) and checks to see if the noodles are done by hurling them at a wall. She's too stressed out to taste anything and the results are not well received by the test audience. Weirdly, the food with skulls on that claims to be made from bat's blood is actually the more appealing of the two.

How to cook wall noodles

Best not to look

Not that Luisa and Neil care about this, they're far too busy having a love-in and creeping out a designer. The end result, a rainbow patterned package labelled 'Oh my Pow' claims to be 'powerful food for people with powerful minds'. Powerful enough to avoid ready meals made by someone who thinks the wall is a cooking utensil we hope.

 We creeped out the designer...

 High five!

The next day the teams are given the chance to test their food on a focus group. Not that there's much point as they won't be able to make any changes. Maybe the idea is to make them shit themselves before the big presentations? A class of primary school kids are highly enthusiastic about Deadly Dinners, but the parents are less keen. You'd think they'd be okay one they saw the ingredients list on the side, which admits that it isn't really made of bats blood. Maybe two message were confusing and the parents don't know which to believe. Though bats blood would probably be preferable for the members of Evolve's focus group. Francesca is left desperately searching for positive feedback while Luisa disparages her cooking to her face.

 Oh my Pow!

The teams are dispatched to three retailers that Lord Siral has "laid on" again. Myles is presenting first for team Morse. He's been pretty reliable in the past, but the steady popping sound Alex is making as he punches a fork through the top of the packaging proves a bit distracting. Though not quite as distracting as when Alex interrupts to ask him how to operate a microwave. Unfortunately for the team, the people of Asda seem as put off by the skulls as the focus group parents.

 Asda seal of approval

Leah delivers the second presentation. Well I say "delivers", what she actually does is try to bark it out between interruptions by the rest of the team. Jordan gives presentation number three, and does a highly professional job, emphasising the dual marketing strategy of using the skulls to attract kids while emphasising the health details on the side. The whole team agrees that this was the best presentation of the day.

 Shut up Leah!

Over at Evolve, Neil has the opposite problem. The packaging is fine, but the food tastes of nothing. Eventually Neil hits on the idea of promising to add flavour if they make a big enough order. This could be a whole new marketing strategy for food. You could have a basic version with just texture, or the 'Extra special' range which actually tastes of something.

Back in the boardroom, Francesca comes in for heavy criticism for not tasting the food and not putting in any flavour, but Luisa also gets some flak for having refused to go to the factory when it was obvious she knew the most about cooking. But the amount of time spent on Evolve makes the outcome obvious. The team that gets the most criticism before the results are read out is always the winner, because there's no chance to moan at them afterwards.

And so it proves to be. Morrisons don't order anything from anyone, possibly because they're just short of cash. Occado order 300 from Evolve and 1000 from Morse, thanks to Jordan's presentation. But Asda swing things by ordering 2500 Pow, on condition that they add some flavour, while ordering nothing from Morse. According to Nick, they thought the product was "just plain wrong," which makes it sound as if it were a moral judgement. Maybe the got confused by Myles dodgy delivery and thought they were actually planning to poison children?

Evolve are sent off to raise some cars while Morse head to the Cafe, where Alex makes it plain to all and sundry that he thinks this is entirely Myles' fault. Back in the boardroom he loses no time in communicating the same to Lord Siral and even insists that he will only bring back Myles into the boardroom. Lord Siral isn't having any of that, so Alex brings back Leah, because her presentation wasn't as good as Jordans. Though, to be fair, she didn't actually deliver much of it, what with the interruptions.

Alex blames everything on Myles, justifying his decision to follow Myles lead by arguing that, as Myles is a parent, he should have a better idea of what children like. Myles still thinks the basic idea is solid, but concedes the execution wasn't up to much. He has to rely on his past record to save him. Leah gets a bit of flak for not doing much for weeks on it, but isn't really of any great interest. But Lord Siral is concerned that Alex has gone through two different businesses and is now starting up a third. He thinks Alex should stick to one idea. Because he didn't start out in computers and move on to property or anything.

 Myles keeps calm

It comes down to a battle between Myles past success and Alex's.. eyebrows? And the fact that he didn't come up with Deadly Dinners, I suppose. But this isn't enough to save him. He gets a "with regret" but Alex is gone. He doesn't look happy, but then he only ever looks happy when pretending to be a Dictator or a pervert.

 Alex puts a brave, if terrifying, face on it

Next Time: The teams are "invited to smell what sells" again, setting up small business's in a day. Sales, incidentally, smell like aniseed with a touch of cinnamon and a whiff of desperation.

Episode 9 - May 16th 2012 - Booze

We begin the episode confronted with the slightly disturbing sight of Stephen in a dressing gown. Once again the Apprenti are being woken in the wee small hours and dragged out to a station, in this case King's Cross International. Though this time they're not expected to crawl around in the sewers like rats. In fact they are meeting at the "longest champagne bar in Europe." This makes me wonder if champagne bars are traditionally quite short. But at least the setting is half way appropriate, as the teams are being ordered to produce a marketing campaign to promote English Sparkling Wine - which has apparently won several awards.

After, Laura's ejection last wee, the teams are slightly unbalanced and so Phoenix are given a free pick from Stirling. This has Adam almost ludicrously excited because he gets to pick Nick. In fact, the entire team are practically falling over themselves at the prospect of getting Nick on the team. I know he's more human than most of the other candidates, but this is a bit much.

Yay Nick!

Phoenix are pretty quick to choose Tom as their project manager, which is brave given that he lost last week, but then he is actually a wine merchant so should know something about the subject. Over at Stirling, all four team members have put themselves forward for the job. They hold a vote and everyone votes for themselves. So they have to go to second preference votes, and then have to explain to Stephen that he can't vote for himself twice. It was electoral systems like this that got Hitler elected. Finally, they manage to decide on Ricky as PM.

Following a brief discussion in which both teams essentially agree that emphasising quality is the way to go, the teams are divided. Two team member will get to work on the campaign website, while the other two will head out to the country to sample lots of wine. Somehow this doesn't feel like a fair division of labour. Still, Ricky, who has nominated himself to go on the research trip, doesn't actually like wine, so no-one can say he's enjoying himself.

The same cannot be said for Tom and Adam who are having a grand old time. Say what you like about Adam, he certainly throws himself into every task, albeit with undue confidence. With Tom deploying wine-speak left and right, Adam decides to join in. He's getting hints of Granny Smith. I sincerely hope he means the apple. Personally, I'm getting a strong scent of blagging with just a hint of desperation..

Back with Stirling, Gabrielle and Stephen have been set to work on marketing material. Stephen thinks they need a word to sum up their campaign and suggests Grandeur. This carries all the right connotations, except for being French. Next up, Stephen re-brands Champagne as Fizzy Plonk. The team next stop off at Tesco's to look at branding. Unfortunately, this particular branch doesn't stock any English Sparkling Wine. Gabrielle decides to make the best of it by looking at the design of champagne bottles. Stephen, however, will not be deterred and goes on a desperate hunt for the in-store Sommelier, a quest that he abandons after about an hour and a half of wandering up and down the bread aisle. Stephen decides to pin the blame for his dismal failure on Gabrielle, suggesting she's happy not to have seen a bottle of English Sparkling wine. Not really a question of being happy Stephen, more a case of recognising that you can't get what you want simply by looking really earnest about it.

 Stephen on an epic quest for a Sommelier

Nick and Jade, meanwhile, are hard at work on their campaign website. It lookas professional, which it should given Nick's background in technology, and seems to convey the right atmosphere. They also have an ESW logo ready to go. But the team are feeling pressured and could do with some help. They get Project Manager Tom on the phone, but he seems to be very busy running a wine tasting for a group of ladies. Be fair guys, you can't expect him to do everything. Karen Brady questions whether the team leader should be having this much fun. Maybe you should go over and kick him in the shins Karen? Actually, this would probably do him some good. Having availed themselves of all the free samples on offer, Tom is now convinced that they are marketing "English Wine Sparkling" while Adam is just giggling to himself in a corner.

The next day dawns along with, presumably, a few hangovers. Adam still seems fine, possibly because the alcohol couldn't actually find his brain. Tom looks pretty subdued, but what else is new? The second big task for the teams is to produce a video advert to show on their website. This leads to a new division of labour, with half the team filming and the other half finishing the website and working on a presentation. Ricky puts Jenna and Stephen in charge of filming emphasising that the finished product must be classy and of high quality. You would have thought Ricky would have learned a lesson about putting other people in charge of videos by now.

Meanwhile, for Phoenix, Jade and Adam are working together. Jade is directing and Adam has, once again, declared himself choreographer. As far as Jade is concerned, this is like giving a small child on a plane a hat that says Assistant Captain. Unfortunately, Adam is labouring under the delusion that he has something useful to contribute and starts interfering in everything from object placement to telling actors how to hold their glasses. Everyone else just rolls the eyes and waits for the sweet embrace of death.

 Not a good idea to put Adam next to so many guns

Still, it's better than the situation for Stirling. Jenna seems to have interpreted Ricky's instructions to keep it classy as "get a massive throne out." The setting is a country-house wedding and the idea is a vignette in which a bride refuses the offered champagne in favour of English sparkling wine. It could work, I suppose, except that Jenna practically has the bride spitting the stuff across the room before starting a fight, which isn't quite conveying the intended atmosphere. At one point Ricky gets on the phone to see how things are going and checking that high quality is still the by-word. Jenna reassures him that it definitely is, suggesting that she has a different understanding of words than most people.

With the video work done, the teams sit down to watch the finished product. Jade and Adam's video shows a group of people sitting around drinking in a gastro-pub with a voice-over. Tom and Nick think it looks a little bit dull. For Ricky, dull is the least of his problems as he suffers the horrible realisation that he will once again be shafted by a video he delegated to someone else. But it's too late to do anything about it now, it's offer to the pitches to a bunch of wine-worthies.

 It's happened again!

Say what you like about Ricky, he gives a good speech. He introduces the website, emphasises the choice of colours designed to suggest luxury and quality and Gabrielle's nicely designed rose-wine glass logo. Then he has to introduce the video, which has the effective of pouring a mass of raw sewage, vomit, bile and filth into his wine-glass and asking that the audience drink it. They are so shocked that the best they can come up with by way of criticism is to ask if any champagne producer would represent themselves in this way. Someone else asks about Stephen's tag line "less fizz more sparkle," which, frankly, the least of their problems. Stephen waffles on a bit without saying anything, but the audience seem satisfied, suggesting they haven't sat through enough business presentations.

With Stirling out of the way it's Tom's turn. He's not as confident as Ricky and his video and website are a bit dull by comparison. But, dull is probably preferable to borderline criminal. The audience think he missed the target market, with a campaign focused on existing drinkers. Plus, they're concerned that the website may prove difficult to update. Tip, if you don't think you can update a website you may not be ready for Internet marketing.

After getting some feedback off the sparkling wine people, Lord Siralan drags the teams back to the boardroom to pick who wins based on whatever he feels like. Neither team seems to be in his good books. Phoenix are in trouble for missing the target market and producing a boring video, but even Lord Siralan would be hard pushed to justify Stirling winning the task after their video. Phoenix win and are sent off to a jacuzzi on a roof, which is less a treat and more a form of torture.

 Oh God my eyes!

Ricky reckons he was the underdog from the start and decides to blame the whole thing on the video, which to be fair is largely true. Jenna claims she took a risk, not quite understanding how risk works. The idea of a risk is that you do something that might go very well or very badly, not just do something incredibly stupid. But she says she "doesn't shy away." Oh God not again. Not being afraid to do something really stupid isn't actually a virtue.

Stephen decides to try his usual plan and blames the the awful video on Gabrielle, who wasn't actually involved in making it. He reckons she didn't do enough. Gabrielle points out that Stephen was more of a hindrance than a help. But Stephen has a defence in place, he keeps interrupting telling her to be "specific." So she describes the incidence in Tesco in detail. Stephen is still saying "be specific, Gabrielle." If Gabrielle described what happened at the sub-atomic level he would still be complaining that the Heisenburg uncertainty principle wasn't specific enough. In spite of his vigorous defence, Ricky still decides to bring him and Jenna back into the boardroom. Stephen pulls his "well it isn't what I would have done face." He is rapidly going from endearingly hapless, to actively obnoxious.

Stephen promises Lord Siralan that if he makes him the next Project Manager he will definitely win the task, and he would put money on it if he had any. Ricky gets in trouble for not going on  the video shoot himself. But of course, if he had, he would be in trouble for not overseeing the website. In any case, I think Ricky has learned not to trust anyone to make a video ever again. But in the end it's Jenna who gets the boot, if the video didn't seal it then her annoying voice would. Jenna sounds quite upset to be leaving, but not as much as Gabrielle, who has lost her best friend. Still, things are looking good for her and Jade, with only two women left it's going to be difficult to loose any more before the final. Oh, and Stephen will be PM next week, which should be good for a laugh.

NEXT TIME: The teams try to negotiate for discounts and end up essentially begging for scraps from unmoving sadists.