Last week, Jeff was fired from Team Matchstick for poor leadership and poor decisions. Dawn and Jim returned to the loft, where he received a warm welcome from the other candidates. However, Jim was less than modest about his return, which ultimately annoyed everyone in the loft. It's clear to the remainding 14 candidates that Jim has a hidden agenda towards each and everyone one of the apprenti.

The next morning, both teams received their second task -- to set up a flower shop. Whichever team earns the most revenue wins the task.

On Team Matchstick, David selected Chuck to become the project manager, based on his background of freelance flower work. Chuck suggested on selling a Spring bloom, and not worry about flower arranging; his team agreed. Shawn, David, and Chuck immediately went to the wholesale flower market district, where they ultimately decided to stick to one simple variety -- 2000 Spring tulips, fresh from Holland. However, trouble soon surfaced. Although Chuck was chosen as the Project Manager for Matchstick, Jim took it upon himself to take control of the entire task, which resulted in a quarreling match between him and Bethenny. Because of the constant bickering and arguing between the two teammates, Chuck gets extremely flustered. To make matters worse for Team Matchstick, almost everyone was throwing around marketing ideas that no one could agree with. Unfortunately, Chuck couldn't handle the pressure from his teammates, and ultimately decided to resign as Project Manager and leave the loft for good. His teammates convinced him not to give up, and Chuck immediately took control of the entire situation, by making a final decision on his game plan.

As Project Manager for Primarius, Carrie decided to "swiftly and effectively delegate to people who she felt would get the job done". Jennifer thought that it would be best to focus on selling flowers that were grown by a celebrity florist, and she managed to contact Renee Hoffstead, set designer for "Sex & The City" and for "Oprah".

Meanwhile, Team Matchstick decided to hit the streets to market the grand opening of their flower shop. Marcela, Dawn, and Bethenny relied on their sex appeal by wearing black dresses to promote their flower shop business towards the "eligible" men. The rest of Team Matchstick continued painting, taping, and tarping their shop for their grand opening the next morning. Again, trouble surfaced with Jim... only this time, it was a fighting match between him and Dawn. In the van, Jim continued to express his resentment towards Dawn, and feels that his team would be better off without her. Shawn tried to assure Jim that Dawn shouldn't be blamed for the progress of the task. However Jim is still convinced that Dawn is his obstruction.

The next morning, Primarius immediately went to work by setting up their flower shop, and relied mostly on Renee's equipment to make their place look presentable. Unfortunately, business wasn't blooming for Primarius when they priced their flowers too high. Howie made a suggestion to lower the prices of their flowers. Renee agreed, and business started picking up on their end.

On Matchstick's side, they hired three women, wearing Dutch outfits to promote their tulips from Holland, and it turned out to be a good strategy for the time being.

In the end, Primarius was definitely the team with green thumbs, for they had won yet another task. They had made a profit of $1,186, defeating Matchstick's profit of $969. As a reward, they worked with New York Care, and created a garden for the Hudson Guild -- a community service in Manhattan's Chelsea District, along with volunteers and neighborhood children. Unfortunately for Matchstick, their tulips whithered and died, because they would have to face yet another meeting in the conference room, and have someone sent home.

While Primarius was outside enjoying the gift of giving back to the community, and working with the children, the members of Matchstick discussed their strategy of getting rid of Dawn, with encouragement from Jim. Dawn is clearly aware of the terrible plot against her, and feels that Jim should be the one sent packing. Jim attempts to bribe Chuck into getting rid of Dawn. Unfortunately for Jim, the plan doesn't necessarily sit well with Chuck.

In the boardroom, Martha asks Marcela what she felt went wrong. The cooking instructor from Tijuana didn't hesitate when she said, "the lack of delegation and the lack of communication." When Martha asked her who was at fault for those areas, Chuck immediately took the blame. He felt that because they are the creative team that they have been taking too many tasks that are based on creativity, instead of operating a business. Martha wasn't convinced that Matchstick worked to the best of their ability to invest any creativity. She went on by saying that Alexis thought the shop was cute, and that was it. Martha wasn't at all impressed with their idea on hiring the three women to dress up in Dutch costumes because she felt that they didn't have anything to do with the product. Bethenny then said, "at one point, someone presented a theme that was Dutch, and we had nothing else." She didn't know what else they had in Holland other than windmills and Dutch girls. Martha was appalled by the statement, and assured Matchstick that Holland has a lot of things other than what was mentioned by Bethenny. Alexis was not impressed that not one member of Matchstick had any knowledge about the product, nor did they know if they were marketing on the right corner of the street. Martha thought their strategy was tacky. She then turned to Chuck and asked what he did. Chuck stated that he made some timelines, but at the same time, he confessed to having nervous breakdowns and felt unpleasant throughout the entire task. Flabbergasted by Chuck's statement, Jim chastised the interior designer from Philadelphia, when he said, "I think that it's a flagrant disregard for a team that rallied around you, and did everything they could to make this work for you. How dare you resign!" Chuck stated that he wasn't resigning, and that he was just taking full responsibility for the loss. Charles then asked Jim who he felt responsible for the team's loss. The ad executive from Gilbertsville deviously pointed the finger at Dawn. Dawn immediately defends her corner by saying that she had a list of contributions she made to the team. She claimed that she pulled in 1/3 of the revenue for the team, and sold more flowers in the afternoon. Jim felt that it was too little, too late on her part. Martha suspects Jim of having a hidden agenda; he didn't deny it. She then asks Chuck to choose two people to return to the conference room; he chose Jim and Dawn. Martha asked the team to return to the loft. Before the remainding members of Matchstick filed out, Shawn took the opportunity to ask Martha, "do you have any words of advice for a group of this nature?" Martha stated that she couldn't help them get along, nor help them to communicate well with each other. She felt that the team needed to focus on what each candidate did well on, and to contribute those areas to the team. At the same time, she strictly stated that they can't whine, complain, and above all else can't quit. Bethenny agreed and confessed that she was so ashamed that she was almost moved to tears. Martha assured Bethenny that women in business don't cry.

While Chuck, Jim, and Dawn anxiously waited outside, Martha and her associates all felt that the entire team as a whole is a complete mess. Charles indicated that he felt Jim has a hidden agenda to get rid of Dawn. Martha concurred with his statement, and asked for the three candidates return to the conference room. Martha gave Dawn an opportunity to defend herself as to why she should remain in the loft. The PR consultant from Boston felt that she made a lot of contributions to the team. Jim vigorously shook his head in disagreement. Charles questioned him on that gesture, and Jim felt that it was ridiculous because Dawn is fraudulent. Charles chastised Jim for going after Dawn from the very beginning. Jim defends his corner by saying that Dawn has given the team a list of things that she can do, but when it's time to work on a task, she doesn't do anything. Chuck immediately cuts in by saying, "I may not have the skill set to manage people". Jim is clearly angered by Chuck's statement, and it shows when the ad executive expressed himself with a clenched facial expression. Chuck even admitted that he doesn't manage a big fleet of people in his daily operation. Martha informs him that managing people is part of the executive job. Alexis wanted to know why Chuck brought Jim into the conference room. Chuck states that although it's possible for him to stay or go, he feels that the greatest conflict within the team are Jim and Dawn. Martha makes her closing statement by saying that her company deals with the success of the products, and not by the difficulties within the workers. She said that being a successful leader means never quitting, and she didn't feel that she could keep Chuck as a teamplayer, right after failing at his one chance of being the leader. She wished him good luck, shook his hand, and said goodbye. After Chuck left the room, Martha had words of encouragement for Jim and Dawn about bringing their talents forth. After Martha spoke, Jim and Dawn left the conference room. Charles informed Martha that she made the right decision, on account of Chuck being on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Martha agreed, and felt that she couldn't have that kind of person working for her.

Martha's Letter

Dear Chuck:

In a business like Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, teams work in unison towards a common goal -- success. The project can be simple or complex, but the team makes it happen. There was no teamwork here, and little leadership. I think you are creative, but you are easily flustered in a confusing situation. It is better that you leave now, and concentrate on your strengths.

Most cordially,

Martha Stewart
Good luck, safe traveling

My Opinion: I think Martha made the right decision. When you take a position as the leader your job is to delegate; Chuck didn't do that. At the same time, when you go into that conference room, you want to convince the CEO and his/ her associates that you're good. One of the worst things that anyone can do is to bring themselves down, by saying things like, "I don't have the skill set to manage people." When Chuck said that, he's basically saying that he won't be able to manage people, if Martha Stewart were to hire him. As for Jim, he should be upset, and not over the fact that Chuck was sent home. He should be upset over the fact that he did a lousy job on the task, and that he annoyed, not to mention intimidated his team; he's a snake. I hope someone in the loft will have the gumption to stand up to him and his petty schemes. As for Dawn, I would love to see her become project manager, so she can prove herself to the rest of her team -- whether it's in a good perspective or a bad one.