NBC's The Apprentice - 10/27

Too bad the ratings are so low. After a slow start, the non-celebrity Apprentice has picked up and is reminding me why the earlier seasons were successful. It has many potential winners with a handful of obnoxious candidates there to spice it up.

This week, the men were on a high after they not only beat the women, but crushed them in the last task. Granted, Clint called out David as a "plague" and a "virus" but the men won, so he gets to stick around. The women, meanwhile, need to pull together after rifts were further exposed under the now-fired Kelly.

Next challenge was theater-based. When Trump explains the challenge and asks the women who the project manager will be, no one says anything for three seconds, and then Lizza, the current low-woman on the totem pole, volunteers. Even though we learn she's never seen a musical play before. Steuart steps up for the men. (By the way, have you ever seen a worse way to spell Steuart?)

Priceless it was when Don Jr. came to check on the women's team, and Lizza let Brandy do the talking. She's already looking like toast. Meanwhile Stephanie boasts of having 30 years of music experience, and Poppy points out that Stephanie always claims to have the most experience of whatever the task is.

David, meanwhile, finally has a chance to shine. He comes through on the creative end and his teammates find newfound respect for them. He's still going to be a disaster next week, but...

The women's team loses, and primarily because they put no contact information in their materials for the judges. Now it looks like project manager Lizza is going to be the lamb before the slaughter, particularly since Mahsa and Stephanie have spent the entire task thinking about the pits they've been digging for Lizza. But then, the board room is an unpredictable place. While casually talking about last week's task, it comes out that Mahsa told the men before the board room how much they'd sold. Trump views that as very disloyal. Mahsa tries to defend herself by saying that Clint had told their sales amount first.

The men are already safely back at the suite, enjoying their success, watching events unfold on the TV. When Clint hears this, he storms back to the board room to call Mahsa a liar. Trump believes Clint more than Mahsa, and Mahsa the Abrasive One is fired.

Next week they mix up the teams. Currently I think Clint is the favorite to win this.