EPISODE THREE

BUYING LOW

Sam and Nick returned from Jason's firing to greet their stunned housemates. While Nick returned to the group, Sam plopped himself down in the entryway and said he would "sit at the front door until someone comes over to greet me." So he waited... and waited... and waited. No one came. Meanwhile, coming out of a second devastating loss to the women, the men decided it was time for Sam to put up or shut up. They elected him Project Manager for the next task. The women, on the other hand, who had been succeeding at the weekly tasks were not succeeding in creating a happy team. In fact, Jessie called a meeting to discuss the constant in-fighting. Katrina backed Jessie up and felt the behavior was unprofessional. In the middle of the discussion, Omarosa got up and left the group. Later, Katrina and Omarosa tried to continue the conversation privately, but that only resulted in both of them accusing the other of personal attacks. The confrontation escalated to the point where Katrina almost started crying and told Omarosa to "shut-up."

Donald met both groups at Westchester Airport to illustrate the "art of the deal." After listening to how Donald negotiated a buy for unused planes at a greatly reduced cost, the group learned that their next task would test them on the art of negotiation. Each team was given a list of items and an approximate retail value for each item. Like a scavenger hunt, the teams would have to locate the items and negotiate for a lower-than-retail cost. The team that collected the most items, at the biggest savings, would win the task. The losing team would have one team member fired. When the men regrouped to go over a game plan, Troy compared Sam to Picasso. He said Sam was way out in left field, but he painted a colorful, yet disturbing picture. Would it be enough to lead the men to victory? For the women, Jessie took over as Project Manager and she wisely divided the team into two, smaller groups - separating Omarosa and Katrina. Likewise, the men had a "field" team consisting of Bowie, Kwame and Nick; and an "office" team to call the plays.

As the day continued, the women and men applied different strategies. The women, once again, learned that a little flirting goes a long way - not to mention flat out begging. Nick suggested they call a local dealer. They were instructed, incorrectly, to buy gold late in the day - and consequently wasted their whole morning trying to negotiate their gold purchase. That turned out to be a costly mistake. The field team had just gotten to Chinatown and was about to negotiate at least two other items on the list when Sam called and sent them uptown on a gold hunt. Sam's management style seemed to frustrate the guys, but they continued to follow his direction. The women were much more successful in Chinatown, buying both squid and a leg wax at reduced prices. Back at the suite, Sam, Nick and Troy were in the middle of crunch time when they got a surprise visit from The Donald. Donald asked Sam if maybe the guys elected him Project Manager so they could get rid of him. Then, after Donald told Sam he never realized how short he was, Donald shook his hand. This was obviously one of the biggest moments in Sam's life. Once Donald left, Troy made Sam take a moment to refocus his energy at the still uncompleted task.

At five o'clock, both teams reported back to Trump Tower for a final tabulation. George reported in for the women. The total retail value of the items on the list was $1,379.33. The women negotiated an overall savings of 22%. Carolyn then reported in for the men. Their total savings off the retail value was only 9%. The women had won for a third time! Donald said he was starting to think he may never hire a man again. As a reward for their hard-earned win, the women were treated to dinner at the famed 21 Club.