Episode Report Card Miss Alli: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The [Pepsi] Edge of Reason
By Miss Alli | Season 2 | Episode 12 | Aired on 11.24.2004
We arrive at Trump Place, where my least favorite part of the show -- the "Trump hangs out before they arrive" segment -- follows. Trump is yammering about the great success of the building and chatting with the head of Pepsi, who would like you to know that his company is launching something called Pepsi Edge. You might hear a few more mentions of it in the next 45 minutes or so, but he thought he'd tell you now, in case you miss it. Trump promises that Pepsi Edge will be "very successful," because he personally will have anyone who refuses to drink it bankrupted and driven out of decent society. Or at least the part where Trump lives, so...no more beauty pageants. Trump, the Viceroys, and Captain Pepsi go to meet the candidates, who are just arriving. Trump tells Apex that they have one too many people, and they need to send somebody over to Mosaic. Hey, just like Kelly wanted! Apparently without discussion, PM Kelly says that they'll be sending over Jen. Trump asks why, and Kelly says, "Because, ew." Not really. He actually says that they want to keep the strongest possible team together. So, Trump infers, Kelly thinks Jen isn't the strongest. "I do not think Jen is the strongest," he says. Trump reminds Kevin of his exemption, and then it's time to explain the task.
I don't know if you've heard of Pepsi, but it's this big soft-drink company, and the teams will be traveling to its West Chester headquarters to design a new bottle and a marketing campaign for it. The new product? Oh, it's that Pepsi Edge thing. Have you heard of it? And Captain Pepsi, it turns out, is the chief marketing officer for the company. The team that creates the best new design will win. The other team? Boardroom. Firing. Despair. Horror.
Mosaic welcomes Jen with handshakes, not that they have much of a choice. Apex looks over happily, relieved to be rid of her. Ivana chippers in an interview that she was no longer "carrying this blonde Barbie on [her] back," so she felt much better. Yeah, you're a real martyr, there, Ivana. Ivana then manages to refer to Jen as a "tumor," demonstrating that she really doesn't know when to cut her losses, rhetoric-wise. I love the part where both Sandy and Jen are brushing their hair in the car on the way to Pepsi. And with big honking brushes, too. No purse-sized minis for them. ["Well, really. I don't think I've had as much hair total in my life to date as Sandy has right now." -- Sars] Jen tells Mosaic how happy she is to be on the team, and how much she was hoping to be brought over, because her team is so bad. That would be Jen's Suck-Up Moment Number One. You'll remember that Jen professed only happiness over the presence of Kelly last week, and that Ivana is on Apex only because Jen kept her and chose not to keep Sandy, so her "Gee, I like you guys so much better!" routine is just a trifle hard to believe at this point. Jen interviews that she'll enjoy "stick[ing] Apex with a loss." Wow, I bet she'll work really hard and come up with lots of ideas.