Task: Develop and sell (for $2) a celebrity-themed sandwich for Quizno's; no contacts allowed!
Eyes and Ears: Ivanka; Broadway producer Daryl Roth
Empresario: Trace Adkins (PM), Stephen Baldwin
Hydra: Lennox Lewis (PM), Carol Alt, Piers Morgan
Morgan says that except for the birth of his three children, defeating Omarosa was the greatest joy of his life, perhaps greater than that of meeting the Queen. Lewis describes Morgan's kissing Adkins as "Brokeback Boardroom." Alt says in defense of Omarosa, "She's very bright." Morgan continues to crow like... like... like some sort of animal that crows a lot. Adkins confides to us that he's tired of it. Morgan is excited that the next task will be two against three; Baldwin asks, what if the next task is writing a country song?
Morgan tells Trump that Omarosa's firing "was a sad day for America."
Ahahahahaha. Let's get on with the task!
Adkins suggests "Cowboy Club," and that's the end of the sandwich conversation, as far as Baldwin is concerned! They laugh that Hydra's sandwich will no doubt be the Knockout Sandwich or somesuch.
Indeed, it's settled already for Hydra: they're going to call it The Champ Sandwich. Morgan is practically running the task; privately, Lewis says at least Morgan has good ideas. A Quizno's manager shows the team his store's most popular sandwich. Morgan (again, NOT the project manager) decides to simply change the cheese and call it a day. (It's turkey and cheddar, so it's not like it's a stupid change.) They take a picture with Lewis and create a flier.
Trace tells Quizno's the recipe for the Cowboy Club. It's bacon, prime rib, onion, some kind of cheese, some other stuff... honestly, sir, you had me at bacon! Daryl Roth comes over to admire the flier and asks Adkins about his charity, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. His six-year-old daughter Brianna is allergic to nuts, dairy, and eggs.
Lennox and Morgan harass passersby long before lunchtime, before they even have fliers. People don't seem interested. Alt has trouble getting the fliers delivered on time - it's 11:00, when they expected them, and it's not clear that they'll even have them by noon. Morgan plans to blame any possible defeat on her. She blames the problem on traffic. Morgan ridicules her behind her back.
Meanwhile, Adkins finds a local printer and gets more fliers made up for Empresario, even sooner than planned. He and Baldwin hand them around on the sidewalk. Lewis and Morgan, for some reason, have difficulty getting people to accept their fliers when they finally arrive, even though they're working on a much busier corner. (Morgan's mouth may have been a factor.) Adkins and Baldwin, on the other hand, are soon thronged by admirers.
Lewis also finds himself signing autographs and posing for pictures. The question is, is he selling any sandwiches?
Ivanka likes the Champ Sandwich, but Empresario has trouble keeping up with orders for the Cowboy Club. Baldwin rolls up his sleeves and helps assemble them. People are ordering them in bulk quantities - prime rib for $2 (never mind the bacon and cheese) is a pretty sweet deal! Baldwin happily anticipates a win.
Boardroom
Daryl Roth, who observed Empresario, has high praise for both Baldwin and Adkins. Ivanka says that Hydra worked well together. Their totals:
Hydra: 313 Champ Sandwiches
Empresario: 253 Prime Rib Cowboy Clubs
Color me shocked! Again, clever editing delivers a surprise ending... though, admittedly, it was probably a lot easier to slap a Champ Sandwich together quickly, since it has fewer ingredients. Lewis gets $20,000 for the Muhammad Ali Center and goes up to the suite with his team.
Adkins says that he made all the decisions. Ivanka gives him a chance to blame Baldwin for not "stepping up," but Adkins declines. Trump wonders if they lost their competitive edge because they get along so well. Baldwin blames their loss on being one person short - and not just any person, but the heavyweight champion of the world. (Morgan crows in the suite.)
Adkins says Empresario is a disease. They all agree that they hate the name (which was chosen by Nely Galán, who Trump clearly hated). Ivanka suggests that the sandwich wasn't generic enough to appeal to everyone. Also, we're told (contrary to what we saw on the screen) that few people recognized Adkins. (In other words, the admirers we saw on the show were ALL of his admires for the entire task.) Adkins says he made all of the decisions, so it's all on him.
Ivanka asks Adkins which of the two he thinks is a stronger performer in terms of getting money for his charity. Adkins says himself. (Up in the suite, Hydra agrees, since Baldwin sold NOTHING last week.) Baldwin says that the project manager should ultimately be responsible for the result. Ivanka says usually she'd agree, except that Adkins consistently brings in more money than Baldwin.
The irony here is that Baldwin has won twice as project manager, winning I forget how many thousands of dollars for a breast cancer research fund. (I'm going to put up a chart on this site after the last task, so that you can see how much money each person raised.) But it's true - this guy can't seem to sell anything himself. His previous wins were based on his teammates' strengths.
Trump sends the remains of Empresario out of the boardroom to confer with his eyes and ears. Up in the suite, all of Hydra agrees that they'd rather work with Adkins again than with Baldwin. Out in the lobby, Baldwin tells Adkins that he suspects they like Adkins better than him. Adkins comments on Baldwin's nervousness.
Daryl Roth declines to recommend anyone for firing, saying that they were at a disadvantage. Ivanka and Trump feel that Adkins is more impressive. They summon Empresario back to the boardroom. Trump acknowledges that Hydra not only had more people, but a bigger celebrity for the NY crowd.
Trump asks Baldwin how many decisions he made. Baldwin says he "chimed in" when he had something to add.
Trump asks who wants the win more. Adkins says he's there for his daughter. (Baldwin "chimes in" that he has a food allergy.) It's more for her than for himself, and that's why he's shown "restraint."
Trump says that Adkins "doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's something special." (I said the same thing in a recap a few weeks ago; I feel so brilliant now!) Baldwin says he and Adkins made a pact last week not to backstab one another.
Trump says he respects Baldwin and asks Ivanka who she would fire. She says she'd fire Baldwin, because Adkins can generate more money for charity, and that's why they're there. Trump agrees that Baldwin didn't raise much money lately, and Adkins did. He fires Baldwin and congratulates both of them on a job well done.
Adkins gets a warm welcome from Hydra when he returns alone to the suite. But there's not much time for revelry - Trump calls them back to the boardroom. Before the night is over, two of them will be fired... but that's going to have to wait till next week!
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