Window Stressing

S12E03

Previously: The ladies' second loss in a row brought out their claws. Dee Snider's own claw got mangled when he fell off his horse. In the end, Victoria Gotti wasn't up to this (or any task), and I'm just saying don't be surprised if Lisa Lampanelli and/or Trump are found at the bottom of a river wearing the latest trends in cement footwear from the runways of upstate New York.

Lisa and Dayana Mendoza return to the apartment and are met by looks of shock from their teammates. Lisa vows not to take on the role of Project Manager again until all the other ladies have had a turn. She interviews that the ladies of Forte need to "suck it up, buttercup[s]. It's time to get down and dirty!" Credits.

The day, Penn Jillette delivers a $40,000 check to Opportunity Village, which helps people with intellectual disabilities function in society. Penn paints with one the Villagers and tears up as he thinks about how, without charities like this, "we throw those people away." Who knew the fire-eating carnival barker was a gentle giant?

Later, the Apprenti reconvene at Trump Tower to learn their task from Trump and his three kids. The teams will each design and operate two living window displays at Lord & Taylor for Ivanka's clothing and accessories lines. Ivanka lays down the criteria: Creativity, brand messaging, and overall presentation. She will judge the competition with a rep from Lord & Taylor, while Don Jr. and Eric will advise Trump. Trump asks who will serve as PMs this go around. Teresa Giudice and both Dayana volunteer for Forte, but Dayana gets the gig and will be playing for the Latino Commission on AIDS. Unanimous nominates George Takei basically because he's a big ol' queen. He tells Trump that, despite his team's lack of design experience, "We will boldly go where we haven't been before." DRINK! George says it would be a very personal win for him (and his charity, the Japanese American National Museum) since he was forced into internment camps when he was a boy. Dangling a possible $20,000 in front of the teams, Trump dismisses them to get to work.

Forte brainstorm. Aubrey O'Day is quick to suggest they use a clock motif for their display, showing their model dressed as different types of women at various times in the day to show that the Ivanka Trump collection is for every woman. Echoing their sandwich shop diva one-upmanship from week one, Debbie Gibson thinks Aubrey is making it too much about herself at the expense of her teammates.

Meanwhile, over in the Unanimous brainstorm, Clay Aiken already has doubts about George when he incorrectly thinks they have to design four windows. Clay essentially takes over the meeting because George is slow to process information and -- as Paul Teutul noted two tasks ago -- not a super-assertive type. The guys want something unusual and unpredictable, so they go with twins. Because that's totally not the fantasy of every man on earth. Way to be really think outside the box, boys! Though the general concept of "twins" is greenlit, more guys (Adam Carolla and Paul, specifically) grow concerned that George isn't as strong a leader as he needs to be.

Ivanka and Scott from Lord & Taylor join the meeting. Dee Snider welcomes their input since the task is admittedly unfamiliar for the guys. To wit, Paul confesses that he's flummoxed that there is more to an outfit than socks, underwear, jeans, and a T-shirt. Ivanka tells them the target customer is a sophisticated, professional, aspirational woman. She moves to Forte's war room, adding that the core age range is 25-35. She also stresses that the concept of day-to-night, multipurpose style. The fact that she mentions time validates Aubrey. Ivanka points out that her signature color for the brand is coral, and Dayana says it's an obvious choice to build their palate around. Scott and Ivanka both warn the teams not to favor flash in their presentations over style that's consistent with the brand itself. So, says Scott, no circus sideshows.

Unanimous. For all his teammates' insistence that George doesn't pick up on things, he certainly has lit on the notion of day-to-night. They want to use their twin models to show the "same" person by day and by night at the same time. Arsenio Hall volunteers himself to style the ladies. George puts it best: "Arsenio has elegance and style, but he also has panache. That man is amazing!" Le sigh, I want George Takei to talk about me that way some day. Adam thinks he and Paul should design the set. Paul offers to get the guys from his motorcycle shop to work up a sign, so they send over Ivanka's logo. Dee has to step away from the task to deal with his finger, which he broke during the last task. He's afraid that his absence will give the others reason to throw him under the bus.

Forte starts choosing models. Dayana and Aubrey are obvious choices. Debbie also thinks she would be a good choice because she's "accessible." Dayana notes that Debbie is definitely outside the 25-35 age bracket, and she says ridiculously, "I play younger on TV." Sixteen years younger? As pretty as Debbie is, she definitely doesn't look like the TV image of 25-35. She looks her age (41), if not a little older because of her thinness and makeup. Whereas Lisa is 50, but she doesn't look that much older. So, uh, yeah... no. Sorry, Debbie. The tasks get divided. Teresa will assist with taking photos that will hang in the display. Aubrey, Lisa, and Tia Carrere will build sets in Brooklyn.

By Lady Lola

The guys of Unanimous (Adam, Paul, Lou Ferrigno, and Michael Andretti) are also in set-building mode. Adam is especially at-home because he used to be a carpenter, but his enthusiasm and self-confidence begin to rub Lou the wrong way. Meanwhile, the ladies of Forte realize that the displays they envisioned and sketched would be overly crowded within the space constraints of their actual windows. They have to change their plans on the fly so the design doesn't look cluttered. They call Dayana for approval, and Debbie immediately notices that the split in locations is creating problems. Dayana is uncomfortable approving a design change that she can't see, and Aubrey thinks she should trust their judgment.

Lord & Taylor. The rest of the guys (Clay, George, Penn, and Arsenio) start with their on-site planning as the ladies of Forte (Dayana, Debbie, and Patricia Velásquez) hit up Ivanka's showroom to style their looks. Soon enough, the guys migrate up there, and Arsenio is pleased to feel like he is providing a sense of style that no one else on his team can offer -- especially Clay and George, who don't concern themselves with women's clothing because they're "not that genre of gay man." Eric pays a visit, and it seems to go smoothly. I must admit I'm kind of distracted because Eric is a giant. Much like Penn, he manages to make Clay (who is 6'1") look small. One notable moment happens when Eric asks Clay about George. An uncomfortable smile crosses Clay's face, which Eric immediately spots, and then Clay makes some comments about "picking up slack," and Clay tries to pretend like he's not trash-talking George but just because you don't say something explicitly doesn't mean you're not sending a message loud and clear. Eric interviews that George needs to lead his team or risk the task falling apart.

Brooklyn. As George gives Adam directions on the colors he wants for the sets, Adam jokes that he wanted to create a third display -- in between the office power pose and the red carpet glamour, he proposed a 2 PM nap panel. Maybe it's a subconscious suggestion because it looks like it's going to be a very long night for Adam and the builder boys. On the other hand, George and his crew basically look at some girls and some suits, and they're done for the day. Adam thinks George would have benefited from driving to Brooklyn to see what the other half of the team has created. This especially becomes an issue when Lou questions George's suggestion to paint the evening/red carpet wall midnight blue.

Forte. Patricia finally utters her first substantial words nearly an hour into the episode. She sees that the clock is ticking down before the deadline to get their photos to the printer, but they're nowhere near finished. She's afraid a time management mess-up like this will come down on Dayana as PM. Teresa says that Dayana never developed a clear vision and that her decisions have been "all over the place." Dayana says, "Wow, being Project Manager is a lot of work!" Uh, yeah. That's the point. This does not bode well for the Venezuelan vixen.

Back to Dee, who is throwing up the horns as he walks into surgery. He refuses to give up on himself or the show but he especially refuses to stop fighting for his charity. Dee drifts into an anesthesia-induced nap as we go to commercials.

The morning, both teams report to Lord & Taylor. The ladies of Forte split into two groups: Debbie and Lisa will pick up the photos while everyone else heads to the basement to dress their set. Dayana admit she's incredibly nervous. Meanwhile, the guys run into some trouble when Paul's designers misinterpreted Adam's instructions for the sign. Adam wanted it to be floating, but Paul's guys constructed two clunky bars to support it. Surprise, surprise, you gave motorheads a task that needed understated elegance, and they gave you back industrial ugliness. Never would have seen that coming! Adam promises to make it work, joking, "It's just that... we may crush a model. But they're a dime a dozen in this town."

With 65 minutes to go until the presentation, Forte's photos still aren't there. Debbie and Lisa are heading back with them, but traffic is thick, and they're terrified the central visual element of their display won't make it up in time. Ten minutes later over at Unanimous, Lou keeps trying to chip in as Adam and Paul work out the issues with the signage. His help is clearly not wanted, and at one point, Paul shoves him out the way and asks in annoyance, "Why you gotta be so big?" Michael sits back quietly making hilariously bemused faces about the chaos unfolding around him. It wouldn't be fair to compare him to Master P on Dancing with the Stars -- no one can suck that bad -- but it's clear that Michael is just filling in for someone who really did want to do the show. He has no interest in the drama, nor the glory. He's just waiting it out until his time is up and hoping that he stumbled into some money along the way.

By Lady Lola

Forte. Just when it seems like things are turning around, the women realize they're missing half of their visuals. They sent off sketches for the first display and photos for the second one. Only the sketches made it from the printer, so the second window is basically empty unless they can figure something else out in the 15 minutes. Aubrey immediately jumps into recovery mode, knowing that Dayana won't be able to think fast enough to form a plan B. Aubrey suggests they replace the photos with live models that symbolize how the "Ivanka" character made her sketches (from the first window) a reality. Lisa is particularly supportive of Aubrey's moxy.

By Lady Lola

Unanimous. The style crew heads to primp the models. Penn, Arsenio, and Clay make themselves busy with steaming and whatnot, while George "supervises" (yes, there is a hearty helping of judgment in that word choice). He intermittently chips in, calling out orders, prompting Clay and Arsenio to roll their eyes. Clay interviews that George delegated himself into uselessness. Speaking of potentially useless people, Dee arrives with a massive cast and sling. He tells the guys he had to get four pins in his finger. Arsenio is surprised Dee didn't remove himself from the competition and wonders how he'll be able to compete with only one functioning hand.

The teams put the finishing touches on their displays, and it's time to go live! On either side of Lord & Taylor's entrance, George, Penn, Tia and Teresa, and Lisa and Debbie drop the curtains simultaneously. For Unanimous, the window themes are clearly spelled out on the signs: Ivanka Trump by Day and Ivanka Trump by Night. In the Day window, Clay plays a boss meeting with the three models. In the night one, Arsenio is interviewing the same girls (really, their model twins) on a red carpet. Clay worries that George won't be able to articulate the concept well for Ivanka and Scott from Lord & Taylor, but I would argue that the organization of the layout is clear enough that he doesn't really need to. One thing Adam immediately notices isn't strong is the midnight blue background in the nighttime display. It has lost its luster in the reflective surface of the window and become dull. George gives credit to his various teammates, explaining that Penn came up with the idea of the twins, Arsenio did the styling, Paul arranged the fabrication of the logo signs, etc. He really steps in it when he says that "most people are like Lou -- they're not involved." I think he meant that he most of the guys were style-minded and was just reiterating that this task was especially challenging, but it comes off like he's insulting Lou -- and Lou takes it as such.

The judges move to Forte's display. Teresa, Lisa, Tia, and Debbie rattle off an awkwardly over-rehearsed bit introducing the concept of their window: Ivanka Trump Timeless Style before clapping for themselves, also awkwardly. Ivanka is lost for words when she looks at the window. The first window is a young girl (meant to be Ivanka?) sitting and looking at Dayana, who is swaying around weirdly while some poor P.A. has to hold a fan on the sidelines for 10 minutes. We get to see him, and he does not look happy. All Ivanka can thank to say is (I'm paraphrasing), "Wow, my dress looks pretty on an already willowy, gorgeous person." I think she's unimpressed (maybe a little embarrassed?), but Dayana thinks she's loving it. In the window, Aubrey is the older version of the girl who has become a fashion designer. She's surrounded by Ivanka accessories and a couple of models wearing clothes from the line. Scott wonders who styled the displays. Lisa says it was mostly Dayana, but Teresa jumps in to say she helped. The judges wonder why Aubrey is modeling. Lisa says she fit the demographic and also points to Aubrey's "classic elegance." If by "classic elegance" you mean Jessica Rabbit hair and hooker makeup, then yes. Seriously? I will admit that Aubrey has been surprisingly resourceful and put-together so far (especially after having seen All About Aubrey), but this is not my definition of classic elegance. Also, stop talking inside the display! (Though she does bring up a good point that the border around their window makes it impossible to see Ivanka's shoe line, which could be a hit against them.)

Trump asks Tia, Teresa, and Dayana who was the weakest team member, and they all refuse to name names. Trump and Don Jr. tag team Dayana (get your mind out of the gutter!) to force her into naming someone. To her credit, Dayana doesn't back down. Trump moves to Aubrey, who gives the most diplomatic, bullshit answer possible. Adam rolls his eyes and says, "Let's just waterboard her to get something out of her! This is killing me." Don Jr. is game for that plan. Yay torture! Aubrey does reveal that her top two teammates are Lisa and Patricia. Patricia speaks up for Lisa's talent and skill. At the lovefest, the teammates joke to Lisa, "Don't cry!" Trump admits he was a little shocked that Lisa got emotional last week. She defends that she only got choked up and insists she was back on her game this task.

Trump turns to Dee, who fills him on the operation. Trump says he respects Dee for sticking it out. Dee laughs that saying yes to the surgery was a no-brainer when the doctor told him he wouldn't be able to throw up metal horns if he didn't. Everyone gives Dee a round of applause and commends him for perseverance, even trying to help under the influence of Propofol.

Moving on, George explains how the task was delegated to Trump. Paul's signs were an especially big hit -- so much so that Ivanka wants some for her shop. Trump asks Clay how George was as PM. Clay hedges that "George did a perfectly fine job." Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Trump brings up the coded conversation of discontent between Clay and Eric. Clay covers his ass by explaining that this was their most difficult task yet. Arsenio says that George's hands-off style worked for him. George spins it that he's not a micromanager. Don Jr. gets to the rub, asking if the team could have lost because of George's lax leadership style. Arsenio says it could go either way.

Now for the feedback. Don Jr. tells Forte the judges appreciated their attention to detail, frequent incorporation of the logo, their dynamic use of people in the displays, and their clear understanding of the demographic. They didn't like the fan and the shoe-hiding borders. Eric reiterates that Paul's signs were a hit, as were the twins, the use of Arsenio and Clay, and the brand messaging. On the negative side, they didn't like the colors of either set, especially the red carpet which was hard to see because of the paint and glare, they thought Arsenio's clothing wasn't as stylish as they would have liked, and considered the display a little too safe on the whole.

Trump tosses each team pictures of the other's windows. Patricia doesn't like the styling. Trump points to her modeling career as a means to justify her comments, and she notes she was the first Latina supermodel. Dayana thinks that Clay sitting at the desk makes it instead of one of the models, and if this is a women's clothing line it should be a woman in power. Clay explains that he was actually playing a subservient role. He was chosen because he's the youngest. Trump wonders why not Lou, for example? George comments that Lou is mature (a.k.a. 60 damn years old) and physically imposing. These are indisputably true statements, but George has already stepped into it enough in regard to Lou. Ultimately, Lisa thinks anything the guys didn't do well can be chalked up to "a rookie mistake" because they're not women. Sexist, maybe? True? Yeah.

The men have plenty to shoot back at the women. They think the pictures are confusing and busy. Adam quips, "As the second Latina supermodel... I couldn't figure out what was going on." Michael doesn't get that the "Ivanka" character has red hair in one scene and brown hair in another. Aubrey explains they were trying to symbolize her more conceptually and make her more of an everywoman. Lou chips in that first window makes him want to go on a picnic. Trump pauses to mull that for a minute, realizes that, yes, it makes no sense, and is all, "Okaaaaaay." But who won? The ladies! They head upstairs to sip on a long-awaited glass of champagne and watch the guys squirm.

It's quickly determined that the lack of visibility (specifically of Ivanka's name) in the second window was a critical issue. Lou acknowledges he had some qualms with the midnight blue background that George instructed them to use but deferred to George's PM status. Don Jr. thinks they should have adjusted the color on the fly, but Adam insists they had no way of knowing what the display would look like at street level since they dressed the set underground before it was elevated to street level. Trump moves on to ask about the styling. Arsenio takes full responsibility and explains some of the less obvious choices (a trench coat on a red carpet?) by saying he wanted to show the range of the line. Lou says, unsolicited, that Arsenio could have done a better job and says he would fire Arsenio. Trump thinks George should have had some oversight on the styling, and George admits as much.

Who would Paul fire? George -- because he wasn't an effective communicator. George tries to defend himself, but Trump is more concerned with the obvious look of discomfort on Clay's face. Clay admits that selling out George is difficult because he has been an icon of Clay's in terms of his coming-out and whatnot. Still, he thinks George didn't so much delegate as sit back while people took whatever roles they wanted. Ultimately, George's lack of take-charge spirit could have hurt them. Trump asks Penn his thoughts, and Penn basically says he doesn't have any because he has zero design or style sense, so he consciously took a step back on this task. Likewise, Dee can't judge because he was in the hospital for 90% of the task. Trump and the men agree that Dee gets a pass.

Trump returns to Arsenio, who essentially offers to fall on the sword for his team. He is quite canny about his self-defense, saying, "I didn't think I could lose by choosing anything from your daughter's collection because it's all wonderful." Flattery will get you everywhere, my man! The ladies aren't impressed, but they're mostly just glad not to be in the hot seat. Trump moves to Adam, who says that he would fire George by default because he was the PM. He insists that everyone loves George, so it's nothing personal.

Trump cuts his losses on this dead-end line of questioning and asks George to pick his two teammates to bring back. Arsenio is an obvious choice. George picks Lou , explaining that Lou is hard to place on a team because he often misunderstands directions. The rest of the men head to the suite while George, Arsenio, and Lou cordially chat and wait it out during the deliberation.

After a quickie, Trump calls them back in. He turns to Lou first. Lou says he basically had to assign himself a role, and he again mentions his qualms with the midnight blue paint. He thinks his suggestions were ignored. George thinks Lou's enthusiasm can be overwhelming. Lou counters that George's easygoing personality made him unsuitable for the PM position and blames him for letting Adam take so much control from him. Moving to Arsenio, who thinks the biggest issue was that the team was split up between two locations. Though at first it seems like a blanket defense, it becomes clear he's laying out an indictment of George for not physically checking in on the other site. Arsenio's line of reasoning has a lot in common with Lou's (basically: George was an overly passive leader), but it's a lot less aggressive. That Arsenio is crafty. He ramps up his attack, though, when it comes to Lou. He points out, as George did, that Lou has to be shuttled around so that he's not getting in the way of his teammates. Arsenio calls that "a huge problem."

Trump takes up the styling issues. Arsenio has a very specific narrative for his choices (the trench coat was worn by assistant, not a star), but the problem is that it wasn't immediately apparent for someone walking by on the street. Don Jr. doesn't think Ivanka was consulted sufficiently, but Trump insists George should have been the point of contact with Ivanka, his client. George says he didn't know he had access, and it basically just proves the point for the millionth time that George wasn't proactive enough, period. Ugh, this is just like kicking a puppy. Except after every kick, the puppy yelps, "Thank you, I deserved that." Make it stop!

By Lady Lola

And so George does by admitting to Trump that he assumes he's going to be fired and can see why it makes sense. Trump says he respects the sentiment and doesn't perceive it as George quitting. With that, George succumbs to the corporate celebreality version of the Vulcan nerve pinch. In the car ride of shame, George admits the experience of being fired was "excruciating" but vows to make his peace with it.

week: A car sales task features sexual revelations from Adam, Tyson the skateboarding bulldog(!), and no love for bossy PM Debbie.