The Apprentice UK Series 4 Episode 7
Posted by Shane on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Because he allowed Jenny to take control of the task and subsequently drive the team right into the ground, Kevin was fired in The Apprentice UK Series 4 Episode 6. Michael’s team managed to win quite easily, despite having spent hours on whether or not to use an apostrophe, though Michael’s attitude in the boardroom didn’t do him any favors.
The contestants will be packing for a two day business trip to French speaking Marrakech, Morocco. They’ve got an hour to pack. It’s the item buying task, and Sir Alan warns them not to accept the first price they’re given.
Jennifer and Michael go to Renaissance. Sara goes to Alpha. Okay, this is getting just a bit silly. Stop switching the teams up every damn week. Once again, the teams are not allowed to pick team leaders, and instead managers are appointed for them, though I can’t say I’m entirely opposed to this since it does seem generally fair. Lee is the project manager of Alpha. Jennifer is the project manager of Renaissance.
Jennifer mostly just wants to get to the market and worry about everything else later.
Lee wants to take a bit of time to plan and will be depending on people who have been to Morocco before, like Raef, who first suggests they should wear local attire (nobody listens). The team starts making some calls before heading out. Lee has decided he wants Sara and Lucinda with him on this task.
Less than two hours after being given the briefing, Jennifer’s team is already set to go. That’s either really good or really bad. It’s obvious they have no plan.
Jenny and Michael don’t like the fact that they have no plan, but Jennifer’s half of the team has stumbled upon the first item, a juicer, one of the more expensive items on the list. The asking price is £75; the target price is half that. Even with the pretending that they’re dating, Alex and Claire are only able to save £1.
Lee’s team goes to buy a green plastic alarm clock. The shopkeeper wants £20. Unable to reach an agreement, they walk away.
Jennifer’s team is now after the white bedspread. This time, she doesn’t want them to follow her previous bad advice of pretending to be a couple, but she does make a move to keep Claire on a leash since it was Claire who too quickly jumped at the previous deal. The shopkeeper offers to sell it to them for 3000 dirhams. Claire again jumps into the sale, but Alex keeps it roughly under control. He gets the price down to 2000 dirhams, which is still 60 quid more than the target price.
Michael tells us he’s an extremely arrogant person. Somehow, it seems he’s proud of that fact.
Jenny and Michael go shopping for the cowhide. They get it for 825 dirhams (£50), 1/3 of the asking price. While this sounds like a great deal, Raef and Helene go to buy one from the tannery, cutting out the middle man. They say they’re willing to pay 600 dirhams. The guy offers to sell it to them for 250 dirhams. I don’t get it, and Raef asks again and again, not believing what he’s hearing. Take the deal and run.
Lee’s team heads back to the same clock guy they met with hours ago. They get it for £10. Their next stop is for a kosher chicken. They go to the Jewish area to get it, whereas Jennifer’s team is in the Muslim heart of the area. Jennifer believes that Muslims have kosher chickens as well but hands the hunt for the chicken to Jenny and Michael nonetheless. They’re made to believe they receive a kosher chicken. Doesn’t appear they have, though. Jennifer doesn’t have any better luck, as she’s gotten a white alarm clock, not a green one. Then they buy some tajine without paying much attention to detail such as the correct brand.
Michael and Jenny arrive at the tennis racket store ahead of Lee’s team and manage to get a deal. While there, Jenny agrees to pay money to sabotage Lee’s efforts, but the woman there won’t agree to her tactics.
Claire remembers the green clock, meaning they have to return the white one and get a green one instead. The store owner refuses to exchange it. So she calls up Michael and Jenny and asks them to find the clock.
As all the shops are closing, Lee’s team is in a race for the final item, the orange juicer. Word spreads they’re willing to pay good money for an old juicer. With time running out, they get one for 1200 dirhams (the other team paid 1100 for a new one).
Jennifer’s team happens to stumble upon a green clock.
Nick thinks Lee did well but that Sara and Lucinda did particularly well. It seems he did indeed pick the right trio to work together. Margaret was unimpressed with the start of Renaissance’s but says they all worked hard to try to get things together.
Alpha bought all items correctly with no penalties and spent £413.61. Renaissance spent £449.60, in addition to penalties on two items, bringing their total to £603.59.
Though there are a couple other people on this team I’d be more than happy to see go home, this task came down to bad leadership.
Jennifer acknowledges she was very hasty. The price they paid for the bedspread is also a problem. The other problem is the tanjine, which was a no name one rather than a specific brand. Lastly, it’s the kosher chicken. Jenny says she doesn’t know what kosher is, though the guy who was with her, Michael, wrote in his CV that he’s a good Jewish boy (or half Jewish anyway).
Alex acknowledges he made a mistake on the pottery but doesn’t believe he was at fault for the bedspread (Jennifer agrees with him on the latter because Claire can’t keep quiet). Michael interrupts this argument to say he did a pretty damn good job during the task. His defense is the cowhide, which he did indeed appear to get a good deal on… just not nearly as good as the first team. Jenny interjects and lies, claiming that Michael, with his Jewish roots, told her that everything was absolutely fine with the chicken. Sir Alan catches her in this lie. Just a few minutes ago, she claimed that she didn’t know that kosher was a Jewish thing.
Following the lie, Jenny (switching from the word I back to we) has to admit to bribery in attempt to sabotage. After this, Sir Alan boots them all out of the boardroom, rather than having Jennifer pick two people to come back.
Going into the boardroom, I was against Jennifer, but Jenny, who was incompetent as project manager anyway, has completely sunk herself in this boardroom and just simply has no chance of surviving. Jenny is fired, but with some time left on the clock, it’s obvious it ain’t over yet. Sir Alan asks: who’s next?
Jennifer admits she didn’t pay any attention to detail.
Sir Alan’s wondering why he hasn’t seen much from Alex lately. Alex wants Claire gone for the bedspread negotation. Claire wants Jen fired for making too many mistakes and not planning. In return, Jennifer wants Claire gone. Michael comes to Claire’s defense since he liked her as a project manager, and he wants Jen gone.
Sir Alan dismisses Alex to the house. The other three remain in the firing line.
Margaret likes Claire but thinks Jen is disorganized and Michael is a waste of space.
Jennifer’s defense is that Claire is quite destructive. Sir Alan doesn’t think she even knew she made mistakes until she was told. Now that she’s heard about the tennis racket ordeal, though, she has apparently decided that she wants Michael gone. I guess.
Michael asks for another chance as project manager. Sir Alan hopes a leopard can change his spots and that it’s just his youth that, like Sir Alan when he was young, is the cause of it. The clock’s ticking on him, though.
Jennifer continues to call Michael a liar for some reason. Lying by omission apparently?
Sir Alan tells Jennifer that Jenny went because she was a snake. We know where this is going. Two Jens for the price of one. Jennifer has also been fired. Both excellent decisions.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Apprentice UK Series 4 episode 8.
Because he allowed Jenny to take control of the task and subsequently drive the team right into the ground, Kevin was fired in The Apprentice UK Series 4 Episode 6. Michael’s team managed to win quite easily, despite having spent hours on whether or not to use an apostrophe, though Michael’s attitude in the boardroom didn’t do him any favors.
The contestants will be packing for a two day business trip to French speaking Marrakech, Morocco. They’ve got an hour to pack. It’s the item buying task, and Sir Alan warns them not to accept the first price they’re given.
Jennifer and Michael go to Renaissance. Sara goes to Alpha. Okay, this is getting just a bit silly. Stop switching the teams up every damn week. Once again, the teams are not allowed to pick team leaders, and instead managers are appointed for them, though I can’t say I’m entirely opposed to this since it does seem generally fair. Lee is the project manager of Alpha. Jennifer is the project manager of Renaissance.
Jennifer mostly just wants to get to the market and worry about everything else later.
Lee wants to take a bit of time to plan and will be depending on people who have been to Morocco before, like Raef, who first suggests they should wear local attire (nobody listens). The team starts making some calls before heading out. Lee has decided he wants Sara and Lucinda with him on this task.
Less than two hours after being given the briefing, Jennifer’s team is already set to go. That’s either really good or really bad. It’s obvious they have no plan.
Jenny and Michael don’t like the fact that they have no plan, but Jennifer’s half of the team has stumbled upon the first item, a juicer, one of the more expensive items on the list. The asking price is £75; the target price is half that. Even with the pretending that they’re dating, Alex and Claire are only able to save £1.
Lee’s team goes to buy a green plastic alarm clock. The shopkeeper wants £20. Unable to reach an agreement, they walk away.
Jennifer’s team is now after the white bedspread. This time, she doesn’t want them to follow her previous bad advice of pretending to be a couple, but she does make a move to keep Claire on a leash since it was Claire who too quickly jumped at the previous deal. The shopkeeper offers to sell it to them for 3000 dirhams. Claire again jumps into the sale, but Alex keeps it roughly under control. He gets the price down to 2000 dirhams, which is still 60 quid more than the target price.
Michael tells us he’s an extremely arrogant person. Somehow, it seems he’s proud of that fact.
Jenny and Michael go shopping for the cowhide. They get it for 825 dirhams (£50), 1/3 of the asking price. While this sounds like a great deal, Raef and Helene go to buy one from the tannery, cutting out the middle man. They say they’re willing to pay 600 dirhams. The guy offers to sell it to them for 250 dirhams. I don’t get it, and Raef asks again and again, not believing what he’s hearing. Take the deal and run.
Lee’s team heads back to the same clock guy they met with hours ago. They get it for £10. Their next stop is for a kosher chicken. They go to the Jewish area to get it, whereas Jennifer’s team is in the Muslim heart of the area. Jennifer believes that Muslims have kosher chickens as well but hands the hunt for the chicken to Jenny and Michael nonetheless. They’re made to believe they receive a kosher chicken. Doesn’t appear they have, though. Jennifer doesn’t have any better luck, as she’s gotten a white alarm clock, not a green one. Then they buy some tajine without paying much attention to detail such as the correct brand.
Michael and Jenny arrive at the tennis racket store ahead of Lee’s team and manage to get a deal. While there, Jenny agrees to pay money to sabotage Lee’s efforts, but the woman there won’t agree to her tactics.
Claire remembers the green clock, meaning they have to return the white one and get a green one instead. The store owner refuses to exchange it. So she calls up Michael and Jenny and asks them to find the clock.
As all the shops are closing, Lee’s team is in a race for the final item, the orange juicer. Word spreads they’re willing to pay good money for an old juicer. With time running out, they get one for 1200 dirhams (the other team paid 1100 for a new one).
Jennifer’s team happens to stumble upon a green clock.
Nick thinks Lee did well but that Sara and Lucinda did particularly well. It seems he did indeed pick the right trio to work together. Margaret was unimpressed with the start of Renaissance’s but says they all worked hard to try to get things together.
Alpha bought all items correctly with no penalties and spent £413.61. Renaissance spent £449.60, in addition to penalties on two items, bringing their total to £603.59.
Though there are a couple other people on this team I’d be more than happy to see go home, this task came down to bad leadership.
Jennifer acknowledges she was very hasty. The price they paid for the bedspread is also a problem. The other problem is the tanjine, which was a no name one rather than a specific brand. Lastly, it’s the kosher chicken. Jenny says she doesn’t know what kosher is, though the guy who was with her, Michael, wrote in his CV that he’s a good Jewish boy (or half Jewish anyway).
Alex acknowledges he made a mistake on the pottery but doesn’t believe he was at fault for the bedspread (Jennifer agrees with him on the latter because Claire can’t keep quiet). Michael interrupts this argument to say he did a pretty damn good job during the task. His defense is the cowhide, which he did indeed appear to get a good deal on… just not nearly as good as the first team. Jenny interjects and lies, claiming that Michael, with his Jewish roots, told her that everything was absolutely fine with the chicken. Sir Alan catches her in this lie. Just a few minutes ago, she claimed that she didn’t know that kosher was a Jewish thing.
Following the lie, Jenny (switching from the word I back to we) has to admit to bribery in attempt to sabotage. After this, Sir Alan boots them all out of the boardroom, rather than having Jennifer pick two people to come back.
Going into the boardroom, I was against Jennifer, but Jenny, who was incompetent as project manager anyway, has completely sunk herself in this boardroom and just simply has no chance of surviving. Jenny is fired, but with some time left on the clock, it’s obvious it ain’t over yet. Sir Alan asks: who’s next?
Jennifer admits she didn’t pay any attention to detail.
Sir Alan’s wondering why he hasn’t seen much from Alex lately. Alex wants Claire gone for the bedspread negotation. Claire wants Jen fired for making too many mistakes and not planning. In return, Jennifer wants Claire gone. Michael comes to Claire’s defense since he liked her as a project manager, and he wants Jen gone.
Sir Alan dismisses Alex to the house. The other three remain in the firing line.
Margaret likes Claire but thinks Jen is disorganized and Michael is a waste of space.
Jennifer’s defense is that Claire is quite destructive. Sir Alan doesn’t think she even knew she made mistakes until she was told. Now that she’s heard about the tennis racket ordeal, though, she has apparently decided that she wants Michael gone. I guess.
Michael asks for another chance as project manager. Sir Alan hopes a leopard can change his spots and that it’s just his youth that, like Sir Alan when he was young, is the cause of it. The clock’s ticking on him, though.
Jennifer continues to call Michael a liar for some reason. Lying by omission apparently?
Sir Alan tells Jennifer that Jenny went because she was a snake. We know where this is going. Two Jens for the price of one. Jennifer has also been fired. Both excellent decisions.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Apprentice UK Series 4 episode 8.
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Category: apprentice uk series 4
