by David McAlpine
 
Last week on The Apprentice, teams were forced to sell ice cream on the streets of New York City. Project Manager David was brash, while Poppy took a more laid-back approach, but both had people to blame in the boardroom: namely Liza and James. The women ended up pulling out a victory, prompting David to bring James and Alex back into the boardroom. James had the heat put on him, but Alex's lack of motivation made Trump fire him instead.
 
This week, James comes back to the suite with mixed reviews and people seem shocked that he's the one that returned instead of Alex. The men all tell him they don't respect him, so James decides to step up for Octane as the next Project Manager (along with Tyana for Fortitude) Their task: run a doggy dare care center and create a value-added incentive to draw in customers. Included in the judges is Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan--flashy!
 
David is determined to ruin James, he even says it outright. It seems like he's willing to throw the task because he's 100% positive James will go home. Meanwhile, James doesn't need anyone to help send him home, he's doing a great job screwing himself. Not only is he refusing to delegate, but he's playing into David's childish antics and he brushes off the store's manager when he tries to train the team. Ouch.
 
The men decide to go with a "red carpet" theme, complete with doorman and, what you would think would be obviously, a red carpet. However, the shoppers come back with a green carpet, so James scraps the doormen, too. Cue David to go nuts, so he tries to work on something else, but that something else requires nails, which I guess Octane forgot at the store. So he gets down on his hands and knees and starts trying to turn a binder clip into a nail. I was only borderline questioning his sanity, but now I really question it.
 
Back on Fortitude, Tyana wants to be on the front desk, but because she says everything 10 times (to anyone and everyone that will listen or looks like they're paying attention), Mahsa makes it clear she worked the front desk at her mom's salon for 15 years. Instead, Tyana sticks her with the big dogs (literally). One problem: Mahsa has an intense fear of dogs. Again, where is the common sense, here?
 
At this point, James is getting fed up with David. He already appeared insubordinate in front of the store manager by uttering an inappropriate word, so now James is threatening to throw him off the task. He can't even put two words together for Ivanka, though, looking completely unprepared. In short, the men offer webcam viewing so the people who would normally take their dogs to one of these places can watch their dogs at work. Aw!
 
The women's package is a little different: Tailwag Tuesdays. Basically, each customer gets a little treat bag and a report card of what they did that day, including a photo of the dog. However, there's one woman who seems to be lagging behind the rest: Liza. Everyone gets the complete training in the store but her, who ends up designing banners all day, only to have them fall apart at the last minute.
 
In the boardroom, Trump has to do very little to spark more arguments. James and David go at it, then Mahsa complains about Tyana not glorifing her salon experience, and everyone else on Fortitude goes after Liza, much to her dismay.
 
Lucky for Liza, the women win again, setting up the epic James vs. David battle. I gotta say I'm with James on this one just because I think David is such a tool, but I'm thinking it's 50/50. James, however, makes a crucial error of bringing Wade into the boardroom, too, just to bring someone else in.
 
The word "respect" gets thrown around a lot, with Wade and David insisting that James never will have anyone's respect on their team again. James says David was disrespectful to him but being difficult. Trump says it comes down to management, which was James' responsibility, so James gets the axe.
 
James, however, is much happier in his new job at the New York District Attorney's office. He'll be the first one to tell you how much better it is than working at doggy day care.
 
The Apprentice airs Thursdays at 10/9c.
 
(Photo courtesy of NBC)
 
Follow David at twitter.com/davidmcalpine
 
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