Previously: Eight weeks passed and no one cared. Last week, Trump switched up the teams and made them coed. Then David was fired. In the suite, everyone debates who will come back, blah, blah, OF COURSE it's David. Anand says something arrogant about how he'd actually like everyone gone, to be honest, and there's a reason he's here and the other three are in there. The women come back in and hug everyone. Poppy thinks they'll be a much stronger team (Anand, Stephanie, and Poppy) now, but Clint -- David's biggest hater, if you'll recall -- tells them they have a creative void now, and wonders who will be creative on Fortitude now. They want him to shut his mouth, and I do too. It turns out Clint and Anand hate each other. Because Mahsa and David are gone, and there has to be some drama. Short version of "Money, money, money," which means fifteen seconds of more episodes, and more weecapping for me. Boo!
But, wait! Boardroom time already. They all line up in casual-looking clothes. Trump's already there, and tells them he's just been given some disturbing news, that Anand has been text messaging people and asking them to bring in money. Wow. No suspense or buildup to that at all. He asks Anand if it's true, and Anand says it's not true and he hasn't texted anyone regarding money. Trump tells him that if he did it's a clear violation of the rules and asks again if he did it. Anand again says he didn't do it. Trump: "Want me to read you a text message?" Dude, have these people not learned that you do not lie to Trump in the boardroom, like, ever? Anand smirks and stumbles over himself a little. Trump reads: "It says, 'Come to Trump Tower, from 10 to 1:30 p.m. Bring at least $50 cash. Pretend like you don't know me. Need to buy a pedicab ride from me or one my teammates. I'm project manager, so my ass is on the line. I'm getting close to the top. I won't have my phone with me, so just come by and pretend like we don't know each other."
Trump asks if that's pretty bad, right? And Anand says it is bad, but nobody came. Trump says he doesn't care if they came, but if they didn't it's because they don't respect him. Clint shakes his head a bunch, and Trump asks what he thinks. Clint says he's flabbergasted, because he's come to respect Anand and thought he could compete with him for this job. Trump asks if anyone else knew, and no one speaks up. Trump asks why Anand lied, and he says he wants to stay. He knew what he did was wrong and inappropriate, but he really wants to win and it's stressful being project manager. Trump's all about taking every advantage you can, but Anand crossed a line. He asks if Anand would say that, and Anand says he would say he did now that he's sitting here in the boardroom. Trump says it's thinking like this on Wall Street that's gotten the country into so much trouble. He fires Anand. Instead of a taxicab confession, Anand gets a final interview and apologizes to Trump, and wishes he could do that face to face. He wishes he could go back and erase what he's done. And with two people on one team and four on the other, could it be time for another shuffle?
Not yet, I guess, because they all head back to the suite and discuss this. Clint apologizes on behalf of all men, and Liza talks about how stupid Anand is to lie when they've all been called in to the boardroom. Steuart looks super sad, and interviews that Anand's lying was the kiss of death and it's a different game without him. They wonder what's up, and Stephanie says she knows it's two against four, and that's all. She's just hoping Liza doesn't get added to their team. They line up to meet Trump in the lobby, and Trump singles Clint out again to ask about Anand, then moves Liza to Team Fortitude with Stephanie and Poppy. Liza and Stephanie hate life, but Poppy sure looks happy and smiley. Liza wonders if her role is to get rid of Stephanie. Trump begins that the fragrance industry is a huge deal, and he has Stephen Nussdorf, the head of Perfumania with him (and the Trumplets, of course: Ivanka and Don), the largest specialty retailer of celebrity fragrances. Wow, that's a lot of modifiers. Stephen explains that they have a new Kim Kardashian fragrance, so the task will be to design and construct and in-store display, which they'll then put to work in two locations. Don and Ivanka will advise. Clint and Poppy will project manage.
Fortitude. The women decide to play up sex and hotness. They think they have an advantage because they're women. Then they all look at a picture of Kim Kardashian and talk about how hot she is and how they could put a life-sized Kim in their display and let people get their pictures taken with it. Stephanie says she works well with Poppy, but she has no business experience and "Liza has no brain." Cut to a shot of Liza looking vacant. Sort of perfect editing, actually. Who'd they hire? The Amazing editors? Stephanie says she's with Dumb and Dumber. They're going with the life-sized Kim Kardashian, dangling from a large ring. They all love it, and head out to get started on the construction.
Octane heads to their location first to figure out what their location is going to be capable of. They measure stuff and come up with an idea for an acrylic-looking old vanity that you would find in a starlet's dressing room (Steuart's idea). Brandy doesn't like the idea, but she says she doesn't know what she'd do. She says she's worried because those other girls are more feminine than her. Clint thinks because she was sexily posing last week, she is not allowed to say she's not feminine now. Brandy interviews that she realizes they're not making any decisions without her sign-off, so she's sure if they lose, Steuart and Clint will blame her. They're all frazzled: "I don't know!"
Meanwhile, Fortitude, who should be called Team Pink this week is in the van talking about pink and sequins and bedazzling. Okay, Liza's not part of that talk; she wants it to look expensive and fancy. But she once again says nothing, as Stephanie and Poppy talk about how much they want blinging, gaudy PINK. They meet with their construction team, and leave Liza with them to help guide the construction, while Poppy and Stephanie head out to meet with the graphic designer and go shopping. In the van, Stephanie does nothing but badmouth Poppy, and Poppy does nothing but smile. I'm not sure she's capable of not smiling actually. Stephanie says that, win or lose, she wants credit for what she did, then she tells Poppy she did everything. Poppy says that Liza does sometimes take credit for things she didn't do, so they sort out who did what so Liza can't do that in the boardroom.
Octane. Clint and Steuart meet with the contractor, and Brandy's been sent to meet with the graphic designer. Clint explains that they're already behind, so they needed both men helping the contractors build their display. He tells the construction guys they want to make a "big square donut." I have no idea what that means. Then he tells us he's pretty good at explaining construction because he knows the "verbage." They need to have acrylic something because it's going to be lit up with a bottle of perfume inside. I guess we'll understand when we see it. They get to work, and Clint says he feels as manly as you can building a perfume display. Brandy's with the graphic designer, telling him about the banner, window display, scent strips to spray perfume on, and informational postcard/brochure. Ivanka shows up to monitor Brandy. They act super excited to see each other, like they're BFFs or something. Brandy tells Ivanka it's hard to be the girl on this task, because she feels like the odd woman out. Ivanka feels her pain; probably because she's been stuck with those Trumplet brothers.
Don shows up to check in on Stephanie and Poppy, and Stephanie interviews that he's hot. Then she asks the camera folks to not put that one in: "Edit." They show Don what they're working on and flirt with him. He jokes that it must have worked out well for Stephanie to push Liza out of the group since there's no love lost there, he's noticed. Stephanie says she's not saying anything anymore, but Don's skeptical. He interviews that they're laying her out to dry if they lose. Brandy shows up at Octane's construction warehouse, and sees what they're doing. She likes it, and Clint thinks it's "insanely beautiful." Stephanie and Poppy are also happy with the work Liza's done when they get back to Fortitude's construction. Poppy's like, "Yay, Liza! You did something right. Oh my gosh. I don't have to bitch you out in the boardroom." Then Poppy starts adding sequins to stuff and says she really wants to do something that's classy and says "Kim Kardashian." Do those two things even go together? Anyway, Liza hates it and tells them it looks tacky. They got a bunch of plasticky fake dangly jewelry and ugly white boas. Liza's horrified this is what they've come back with.
Fortitude's display is all set up. The hardware is pretty purple and simple but feminine, but it's covered in tacky boas. So, it's a mixed bag, but it seems like they like it. Poppy loves her details: boas, sequins, ribbon, rhinestones. She says she's prided herself on attention to detail since she was a young girl. Who the eff talks like this? Anyway, executive Stephen shows up, and guess who's with him?! That's right: Kim Kardashian. Poppy says "the one and only," but aren't there, like, three of them? Poppy says it was a great surprise, except it made her nervous to present Kim's product to her. She starts right in, presenting the whole thing to Kim (and Stephen) in second person, all: "You are beautiful. You exude beauty. The beautiful woman we have standing in front of us." Stephanie thinks it's good to stroke someone's ego, but doesn't think you should push it, so she jumps in with something "businesslike" (her words): telling Kim that people can stand by this poster to get their picture taken with her. Kim tells them she loves it; it looks great. Then they leave. Poppy thinks she and Kim have similar styles: boas and rhinestones. Okay, really? Have you ever seen Kim in a boa and rhinestones?
Octane's marveling at their display when Stephen and Kim show up. Steuart says he's sure he was blushing at how beautiful she is. Then Clint starts in to Kim, telling her she's "voluptuous" and saying they wanted to capture consumers walking by. He actually says, TO KIM KARDASHIAN: "We want to lure them in, sort of like a bug light." Should he really be the one making the presentation here? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the female contingent on your team do this one? I am going to predict that's what Trump will say. They lead Kim and Stephen inside to show them the inside of the display and it's not as painful as the bug-luring. Brandy really hopes they end with a win. Theirs definitely looks classier, so it mostly depends on what Kim likes.
Trump meets with Stephen and Kim. He tells her how much he loves her fragrance, and Kim tells him that Khloe says hi. He goes on about how terrific Khloe is (really? Didn't he fire her for not being a good person?), just like Kim. Does a person as rich as Trump have to be this much of an ass-kisser? Trump asks how Clint's team did, and Kim says they were organized and their display really made the bottle stand out with the acrylic background. She thought their display was clean and inviting. Stephen says that he liked that you could take a picture to Kim in Poppy's display. They think that's a fun thing you could use in the store. Trump tells them they liked both teams, but one more than the other, and Kim says that's true. He asks who's the winner, so we cut away.
To the boardroom. They all line up and sit down, then Trump joins them. Trump tells Clint he can't imagine him working with Kim Kardashian, but Clint says he thinks it went very well. Trump asks who the star was, and Clint says the backlit acrylic was the thing that probably pushed them over the top for this task, and that was Steuart's idea (though Clint gives himself plenty of credit for taking it and running with it). Brandy just sits there looking bitchy. Trump asks if Brandy did a good job, and Clint says he was a little disappointed at the slow start out of the gate, and how they were all scratching their heads about a concept. Ivanka asks what exactly Clint expected out of her BFF, and he says he asked for help on several things. She shakes her head and says she delivered completely, and strongly. She says she knew she had to do well on this task, because it was female-oriented and the guys already had a bond. Steuart says that Brandy and Clint were both good, and both responsible for very different components.
Trump moves on to Poppy, and asks how they did. She says they did great, and worked together so well. She tells him they really captured the essence of who Kim Kardashian is: rhinestones and boas, y'all. Poppy and Trump are in total agreement about how voluptuous Kim is. Trump asks how Liza did, and she says she did a very good job, and that Stephanie also did. He asks who was better, and she says she's really proud of both of them. Trump doesn't push it, and instead moves on to have Don and Ivanka show the teams the other team's photo and brochures. They take a look, and Trump asks Liza what she thinks. She thinks they did a great job. Trump basically says, "Oh, snap!" He can't believe she likes it so much. He asks Brandy, who says she prefers theirs, because Fortitude's looks like arts and crafts. Don says that Stephen and Kim thought the display was cheap and kitschy and the sequins and boas were juvenile and conflicted with the brand and sophistication level they were trying to attain. Ivanka says Stephen and Kim loved Octane's clean display. Kim, in particular, loved the pink and lavender backlighting. They thought the sophisticated and understated display resonated with the product. Trump says it wasn't even close, and Clint's team wins. His reward will be to meet Barry Sternlicht of Starwood Hotels. Trump says he'll learn a lot from Barry, who's very smart and a piece of work. Trump sends them away, and reminds Fortitude that someone will be fired.
Then there were three. Trump asks Poppy what happened, and she says that the other team's idea never even came up in their brainstorming. He says that theirs was tacky and not very good. He felt the other one was substantially better, and they're actually going to be using it. Ivanka says Kim's biggest problem was that theirs didn't embody her personality; it was cheesy and overwhelming. I don't like the display, but "cheesy" and "overwhelming" actually would seem to embody Kim Kardashian, wouldn't it? But she hated the boas, glitter, and sparkles. Trump says it was too much. He asks who came up with the sequins and boas. Poppy says that was her. He tells her that was a bad idea, then asks why he'd fire Stephanie over her. She says, "Stephanie?" And he nods. She says that Stephanie backed her idea the entire way. He reminds her it was her idea, but she says it wasn't all hers; it was a collaboration of all of them. Don asks if Liza's to blame since she was there and created the final image. Liza says she didn't create the final image. She says that she can specifically say that she didn't like the little gems that Stephanie and Poppy bought, which were going to be hanging down, so they didn't use those.
Trump says that when Liza saw Clint's, she said it was good, and she says it again. He asks if she agrees with Kim and Stephen, and she says that their idea was fantastic, but it ended up looking high school and sorority instead of looking glamorous. Don asks if she worried when they left her isolated on the production side and stuck together. She says it was a concern in her mind. Poppy interrupts and says that she needed to separate the two of them, because they don't get along, which was part of her tactic as project manager. Trump asks Poppy why they don't get along, and Poppy sort of shrugs. So Liza jumps in and says she has no problem with anyone. Stephanie tries to jump in and says she doesn't either, but Liza's already going: She says that day after day it comes out that she's done something wrong, and it's always Stephanie bringing it up. Stephanie says that Liza doesn't contribute equally, and Liza finally gives up talking.
Trump says the judges did like one thing about the team, and Don Jr. says it was that you could take a photo with the Kim figure. Trump asks whose idea that was, and Stephanie says it was clearly hers. Liza says she thinks it was collaborative, but mostly Poppy's idea. Stephanie and Liza screech over each other and Poppy just sits there. Ivanka and Don tell Poppy if it was her idea in a resounding defeat, she should speak up and take ownership of it. She says she doesn't like to talk over people. Trump tells her to start talking "cause you're going to be fired very soon." SPOILER ALERT! Trump tells Poppy she's the project manager, she did a terrible job, and now she's sitting back and letting them fight. Poppy says she did a great job leading, and both Stephanie and Liza agree, saying they didn't fight during the task. She says she had to separate them, which is why she left Liza behind. She says she trusted her with the design, because they'd sketched it out. She says that, plain and simple, they needed to be separated. Trump says they weren't fighting on the task, so why separate them. Poppy says that in the van, all Stephanie did was attack Liza. Stephanie says that's not true, and Trump asks why she does attack Liza. Stephanie says she doesn't attack anyone in particular, and it's not personal, but she feels Liza doesn't put in as much as anyone else. Don says that they both relegated her to production, so how could she help. Stephanie says that Liza stays quietly in the background.
Don brings up the photograph with Kim again, and wonders why Poppy's still not speaking up about that being her idea. Stephanie pipes up that it's because is was her idea. Poppy says that Liza's supporting her on that, and that was her idea, so if that's the one that was good, she should be safe. Trump tells her that she thought she had a great team two minutes ago and now she's sort of ... not sure. Which is, I think, Poppy's general state: uncertain and scared. Poppy says she had a great team who worked hard and supported her. Trump asks who she would fire if she were him. She says that, on this task, she'd have to say Stephanie, because she supported her completely with the sequins and boas, which they shopped for together. Trump asks if she verified Poppy's wrong decisions, and Poppy says that Stephanie also came up with some of the decisions. Ivanka doesn't even understand Poppy's logic, and tells her she needs to want to win because she's strong, not because someone's weak. Poppy agrees, and says she's stronger because she came up with the one idea that the executives liked. She says the overall idea wasn't liked, and they're all to blame, but she was the strongest player for coming up with that idea. Trump asks if the tacky sequins and boas weren't her idea, too, and she says they were. Trump fires her. Really just so that we could deal with Liza and Stephanie for another week, I'm sure. As if anything on this show will boost ratings at this point. Poppy leaves without a word to anyone else. Trump tells the Trumplets that Poppy was nice, but she was the project manager and they lost.
Taxicab confession: Poppy says that working for Trump has been intense and intimidating because he's brilliant and you have to prove yourself to him. Poppy doesn't know where life will take her . She says, "I love fashion. I love music. And I am also very interested in dentistry." Uh ... what? Anyway, her step: She says she was the baby going into this, and it was an "improving" experience to learn from these people. Now she has a job doing muscle stem cell research. Hey, that's not nothing.