The Apprentice 3 Episode 9 Recap: Don't Box Craig In

Craig didn't have a box ... he probably does now


Erin, Erin, Erin. It's one thing to flirt with Trump, and sure, he may have liked to watch your golf stroke a little more than a potential boss should. But one must be a bit discreet about these things. Erin was too over the top, so she was fired. Potential future "flirting partners" take note, Trump does not like wiseguys and two winks in the boardroom may be at least one too many.

Lack of professionalism would have been a legitimate reason to fire Erin, but it seems like Trump was grasping for reasons to fire someone else. Chris has a personal habit he dislikes, Angie didn't pick Erin as a presenter ... The former is irrelevant, although it was relevant during the mini-golf task. The latter criticism is off-base. How could Erin have taught a clinic on how to put together the kitchen island? Depending on who you believe, she had either checked out of or just plain sucked at the 'tooltime' portion of the task. Home Depot is icky. Erin teaching people to do a hardware project would be like John teaching a seminar on preventing sexual harassment/hostile work environment.

Chris' anger problem is real, and certainly a reason not to hire him, but it has nothing to do with why Net Worth lost this task. Trump can fire Chris later. Not substantially participating in a task, and having a lousy attitude about it is reason enough to deserve to be fired. Erin was the right person to fire, even before her boardroom performance grew increasingly desperate and over-the-top. Angie argued that Erin's lack of participation in the task effectively put Net Worth yet another person behind Magna. It's a decent argument, but Net Worth likely would have lost even if Erin was a do-it-yourself maestro.

Knowing When to Ignore the Suggestion Box

The Box was a much better idea. An idea need not be fussy or complicated to be good; often the simplest ideas are better. With something like the Box, the simplicity of the basic configuration allows for a lot of variety and creativity in design elements. The chalkboard paint and child's handprints stand out as particularly clever and likely to appeal to a lot of kids, and parents.

Craig took a lot of heat for poor communication skills, but he deserves a lot of credit for coming up with a great idea, and not giving up on it under a lot of pressure. Someone else might have folded, and gone with a teammate's idea. He was also able to rally the troops when he needed to. Whether knowingly or not, he likely turned to his biggest doubters for help when he went to Alex and Bren. This was either lucky or smart. They might have felt important to be called upon like that. They also could have realized if team spirit didn't improve, they might be held partly responsible. Carolyn also felt Craig, along with Tana and Alex, was especially good during the do-it-yourself clinic. He still doesn't seem like Apprentice material, but since the fuse task he has finally started to be impressive.

Oddities and Observations

1. Why did Trump stand around chatting with the Home Depot executives and then ask their names in front of the candidates? Go ahead and learn their names beforehand; it will make you look better.

2. Trump announced the task in the penthouse of Trump Park Avenue, which was under construction. That area is so hazardous that the candidates had to don hardhats just before reaching the penthouse. However, it is not such a hazardous place that they had to wear the hardhats while ascending the stairs, nor is it so hazardous that Carolyn, George, Trump, or Home Depot execs Jose Lopez and Christine McVeigh had to wear hardhats. Are their heads extra-sturdy? Were they standing in a much safer area? If so, why couldn't everyone stand there? Or why wasn't the task be announced in a Home Depot store or office? It almost gave one the idea that the hardhats were just for show!

3. Trump's Business Lesson, "Sell Your Ideas," did not give away who won, or who would be fired. Craig was unable to sell his idea to his team, and overruled their objections to his idea. As a former beauty queen, Erin had no ideas.

4. After years of taking a figurative hammering, "the box" took a literal hammering. Bren noted that if they worked on the decorations on the outside, they're thinking outside the box. Would plainer boxes still have beaten the Net Worth mobile kitchen island? Did Magna actually think both inside and outside of the box? Is this the end of the box analogy or does it only make it stronger?

5. If you're keeping track at home, or perhaps making a chart, please note that Tana is great with children as well as musicians. She is not great with dogs.

6. Future applicants to The Apprentice might want to note how useful Alex's Spanish language skills proved during the Box clinic. Spanish: not just useful on The Amazing Race anymore.

7. Erin said every time she speaks in the boardroom it's "poignant"; she could have meant "astute and pertinent" but I found another meaning more applicable this week: "physically painful."