While they're still roaming the QVC warehouse, for some reason, Bethenny approaches Dawna and Howie about doing a dry run for the presentation, although she mentions something about ad libbing, but the gist of it is that she wants to rehearse the presentation. Now, what's interesting here is that Howie is the first to say that they're "way away" from the point where they can rehearse, and when Dawna agrees, Bethenny hones right in on her as a potential problem. Because I have a feeling Bethenny thought Dawna -- outsider to the "loudmouth" group -- was going to be a problem from the get-go. But right there, she ignored Howie's reluctance to prepare because, I think, she was so focused on Dawna. Indeed, Bethenny interviews how she's unsure if Dawna can "draw people in for ten minutes." Dawna, for her part, interviews about how Bethenny's high-strung management style made her nervous. As they talk out their dynamic, the women form a perfect circle, in which Bethenny is stressed out because Dawna is quiet, and Dawna is quiet because Bethenny is stressed out. Bethenny interviews that Dawna is not a charismatic person. Which is fine. But then she delves into this bizarre argument: "Dawna was not the cool kid in school, it's obvious. She's a bore." A bore? Who says that these days unless they're involved in a discussion that prominently features, like, Lily Bart or Becky Sharpe? What an Emma-re-imagined-as-Clueless sort of argument. Though, in Bethenny's defense, Dawna is dithering pretty hardcore about how she doesn't know how comfortable she'll be in front of the camera because she's never done anything like that before. "That's my issue," says Bethenny. Elsewhere, Matchstick is getting a look at their outdoor set. Ryan's plan is to have Leslie and Amanda serve as the on-air salespeople, while Marcela will work on the set design, and he'll handle the production side of things. Additionally, he wants Leslie to take the lead when she and Amanda are on the air. Amanda: "So, I'm not speaking at all? I just don't like that." Here we go. Amanda interviews that she likes to lead, she's proven her ability to sell, and that people respond well to her. And that may all be true, but she's done all of that good sales work in person, and this task is on television, and Ryan is the PM, and he's made the decision that Leslie would be better on TV, AND there's really no reason to think that's a bad idea. But whatever, Amanda's just confident and wants a chance to prove herself, right? That's not so bad, right? Cut to a small conference room, where Amanda is pleading her case to the team: "What I don't want is to be, like, like out of place [scrunched-up sour milk face] just randomly working the product, when she [Leslie, who is sitting right next to her] and the host could go over and work the product. I mean it looks dumb to have me standing there doing it." In other words, she's too valuable a talent to be wasted on demonstrating the product. Have Leslie do it! Once again, the reaction shots are fantastic, including Marcela looking at Amanda out of the corner of her eye and shaking her head ever so slightly, and Leslie tugging on her earlobe, like she's trying to signal Carol Burnett to bust in and break off a Tarzan yell right in Amanda's stupid face. Leslie responds, and hits the perfect note, too, telling Ryan it's "not about my ego, or five minutes, or sharing -- I don't give a damn." And because Amanda doesn't listen so much as wait for her turn to speak, she agrees "absolutely," even though Leslie pretty much just called her on her massive ego. Leslie says she simply wants to be the "best salesperson" for Ryan. I kind of loved Leslie right there.













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