The Apprentice - Air Date May 29
The final two, Lee and Sean. I haven't seen a powerhouse final two like this on The Apprentice since... Okay, maybe one of the reasons the show isn't doing so hot in the ratings this season is there aren't any stars rising to the top, and even with what we got are people who have succeeded many, many times in giving us reasons to not cheer for them. It's hard to feel for Sean when he failed to stand up to Synergy's cliqueish ability to turn on and alien the less popular members of the team, and Lee, though I feel he has been one of the stronger players, has shown remarkable sexism for one so virginal.
Not that the season hasn't been entertaining. That hasn't been an issue at all, and last night's episode was no exception. I was taken by surprise that they got a call advising them that they're the final two, unlike last season when Rebecca and Randall got a personal visit from Trump, but then Sean and Lee are barely fit to shine the shoes of those two. It wasn't until they got back to the suite from the boardroom that it all made sense, when all the past candidates from this season were waiting there for them.
The past candidates. Here's what I loved about this... Allie and Roxanne were just fired. They were then put into a cab and shunted off to do their little post-firing interview. After that, the cab would have had to turn around and bring them back to the suite. Or so it would appear from the way everything's cut together. But even if the boardroom is in a studio and candidates have to get shuttled back to the suite, I still loved the way that looked.
Speaking of Allie and Roxanne, I'd like to take a moment here to talk about their joint firing last week. The way the boardroom is set up, and the way the candidates are asked questions, everything is designed to breed conflict. Especially with further progress in the competition on the line. You HAVE to speak negatively about those you are up against so that there is a reason for them to be fired. There were enough reasons for the two of them to go that something as disingenuous as "disloyalty" coming from The Donald didn't wash. They came in naively thinking they might be able to avoid either of them being fired, a fireable offense in itself as far as I'm concerned, and they didn't really turn on each other until truly pushed.
I strongly suspect it didn't matter. Trump was looking for any reason to fire the both of them. If they didn't start talking negatively I'm sure their lack of passion for the job would have been the problem. Nope, whichever two of the final four that went to the boardroom were doomed from the start.
If it happened once, I wouldn't be thinking this, but it happened last season too. Before that, the final three would go through a process of being interviewed by executives from big companies. You don't go through two seasons of setting these up and getting the executives put aside their time only to thank them and let them know they won't be needed. No. Instead, you don't plan a final three at all. As far as I could tell, nobody cared for these interviews. After all the challenges leading up to that point, they were pretty damned boring and tedious. But they don't have individual challenges until the final two. So I'd bet the rent that the reason we've seen the final four go down to the final two for two seasons in a row is that the producers just can't think of what else to do in place of the interviews. So really, why bother fighting in the boardroom if you're going in with no chance anyway?
But back to the game at hand! Lee and Sean with a suite full of their fired comrades, needing to decide who to choose for their teams! Sean looked around, interviewed them, and picked Tammy. No surpise, he's like a little British puppy around her. He then picked Andrea, and that made sense. He got on well with her, and though not the nicest human being could be fairly competent. Just don't have her do any graphic design. Finally he went with Tarek. All right, why not? This also means he has a Sandra Bullock lookalike and an Orlando Bloom lookalike on his team, so at the very least he can work that in somehow.
Lee went with Lenny right away. Again, no surprise. He then let Lenny talk him into picking people who would fight for Lee to win, no people who would be competent in the task. Oh, Lenny. Why? As enjoyable as Lenny is, Lee's a much stronger candidate without him around. So Lee picked Roxanne, which actually isn't that bad a choice. Pull her away from Allie and she should be good for your team. He also picked, thanks to that scoundrel Lenny, Pepi. Don't be surprised if you don't remember who he is. Neither did Carolyn and that made for my favourite moment of the whole season when she broke down in laughter after they all left the boardroom because she had no idea who that person on the right was. To put the cherry on this delicious sundae of a great television moment, Trump had to check his notes to see what Pepi's name was, and they tried to guess when it was that he was fired. Ooooouch. Bad enough to be fired early, but to be so completely forgettable? You didn't have a chance, Pepi, buddy. Maybe Lee should have picked Brent. It wasn't like he was hanging around in the creepiest way possible hoping to get picked. Brent, you didn't have a chance of winning this season, but I was horrified at the way Synergy went after you because you were an easy, socially awkward target. Don't make me regret sticking up for you, please!
But enough mirth! It's time for the final challenge! And it turns out that each of the candidates will have to... run an fundraising charitable event! Yes, they do this each season.
Sean gets to put on a Barenaked Ladies concert for charity, Lee gets to put on a charity hockey game. Both have potential to raise big bucks, but that really depends on our final two now, doesn't it?
Well, so far it's looking like it has potential for Sean. From the start, his team got down to business competently, put their heads together competently, had meetings competently. They're looking good.
Lee. Lee. Ummmm... Lee. Damn, man. When others have been putting you down, I've been talking you up all season. You have a 3-1 record as project manager, and when you weren't you still had good ideas that, if not shot down, could have saved Gold Rush a few losses! I don't care from some of the sexist crap you've been known to spout, but as a candidate for a job in Trump's empire, I thought you were the strongest choice in spite of your youth! I blame Lenny. Lenny drags you down, man. Or maybe fundraising and putting together charity events just aren't your thing.
Yeah, Lee's not looking good for winning this task. He has nothing. No great ideas, no coping skills with all the little things that pop up. Nothing. Sean's looking really good as a possible winner right now.
Which brings me to one of my problems with The Apprentice. It's good to be a well-rounded employee, sure. However, nobody can do everything. If someone ends up overseeing the construction of a new hotel, does it really matter if they can organize a fundraising event? I don't think so. That's why I hope that Trump doesn't base too much on wins vs. losses. So party planning isn't something a business graduate is good at. Who cares? The more important factors are things like adaptability, multi-tasking, willingness to face a challenge head-on, you know, things like that. If the candidate loses, as long as the skill set they lost with isn't required for the potential job, I'd like to see points earned for doing as good a job as they can under the circumstances.
That said, there is no reason a candidate can't do a little planning ahead. There have already been four previous seasons with a whole heck of a lot of tasks. Look into this, find out what's worked and what hasn't and adapt it to your task at hand (this also applies to the boardroom, by the way)! Expecially this final task. It's always a charitable event. There is absolutely no excuse by this point at being caught off-guard and unprepared. If you expect to make the final two, have some ideas prepared beforehand. Some or all of them might be unusable for the challenge you face, but at least it shows that you've watched the damned show or are capable of doing some basic research before putting yourself on national television trying to score a high-paying job.
While I thought he had the best shot at winning, by missing out on this simplest of ideas, watch the damned show and learn from it before going on, I'm going to have to go with Sean at this point.
I'm not ruling Lee out, however. Last season Randall appeared to be faltering in the final task but managed to bring it around and win. Lee can still do that too. But either he's going to have to get really lucky or really brilliant.
I guess we'll find out next Monday.
***
I wasn't a big fan of Andrea during her time on the show. Hell, I found there to be much about her there was very unlikeable. That said, I really hope she's doing well. Normally I might make fun of people crying on these shows, as often they are doing so for quite silly reasons. Not this time. A nose bleed is one thing, but coughing up blood before the nose bleed is quite another, and I can imagine just how scary that is. Whatever was wrong, here's hoping it was very minor or very easy to take care of.
Not that the season hasn't been entertaining. That hasn't been an issue at all, and last night's episode was no exception. I was taken by surprise that they got a call advising them that they're the final two, unlike last season when Rebecca and Randall got a personal visit from Trump, but then Sean and Lee are barely fit to shine the shoes of those two. It wasn't until they got back to the suite from the boardroom that it all made sense, when all the past candidates from this season were waiting there for them.
The past candidates. Here's what I loved about this... Allie and Roxanne were just fired. They were then put into a cab and shunted off to do their little post-firing interview. After that, the cab would have had to turn around and bring them back to the suite. Or so it would appear from the way everything's cut together. But even if the boardroom is in a studio and candidates have to get shuttled back to the suite, I still loved the way that looked.
Speaking of Allie and Roxanne, I'd like to take a moment here to talk about their joint firing last week. The way the boardroom is set up, and the way the candidates are asked questions, everything is designed to breed conflict. Especially with further progress in the competition on the line. You HAVE to speak negatively about those you are up against so that there is a reason for them to be fired. There were enough reasons for the two of them to go that something as disingenuous as "disloyalty" coming from The Donald didn't wash. They came in naively thinking they might be able to avoid either of them being fired, a fireable offense in itself as far as I'm concerned, and they didn't really turn on each other until truly pushed.
I strongly suspect it didn't matter. Trump was looking for any reason to fire the both of them. If they didn't start talking negatively I'm sure their lack of passion for the job would have been the problem. Nope, whichever two of the final four that went to the boardroom were doomed from the start.
If it happened once, I wouldn't be thinking this, but it happened last season too. Before that, the final three would go through a process of being interviewed by executives from big companies. You don't go through two seasons of setting these up and getting the executives put aside their time only to thank them and let them know they won't be needed. No. Instead, you don't plan a final three at all. As far as I could tell, nobody cared for these interviews. After all the challenges leading up to that point, they were pretty damned boring and tedious. But they don't have individual challenges until the final two. So I'd bet the rent that the reason we've seen the final four go down to the final two for two seasons in a row is that the producers just can't think of what else to do in place of the interviews. So really, why bother fighting in the boardroom if you're going in with no chance anyway?
But back to the game at hand! Lee and Sean with a suite full of their fired comrades, needing to decide who to choose for their teams! Sean looked around, interviewed them, and picked Tammy. No surpise, he's like a little British puppy around her. He then picked Andrea, and that made sense. He got on well with her, and though not the nicest human being could be fairly competent. Just don't have her do any graphic design. Finally he went with Tarek. All right, why not? This also means he has a Sandra Bullock lookalike and an Orlando Bloom lookalike on his team, so at the very least he can work that in somehow.
Lee went with Lenny right away. Again, no surprise. He then let Lenny talk him into picking people who would fight for Lee to win, no people who would be competent in the task. Oh, Lenny. Why? As enjoyable as Lenny is, Lee's a much stronger candidate without him around. So Lee picked Roxanne, which actually isn't that bad a choice. Pull her away from Allie and she should be good for your team. He also picked, thanks to that scoundrel Lenny, Pepi. Don't be surprised if you don't remember who he is. Neither did Carolyn and that made for my favourite moment of the whole season when she broke down in laughter after they all left the boardroom because she had no idea who that person on the right was. To put the cherry on this delicious sundae of a great television moment, Trump had to check his notes to see what Pepi's name was, and they tried to guess when it was that he was fired. Ooooouch. Bad enough to be fired early, but to be so completely forgettable? You didn't have a chance, Pepi, buddy. Maybe Lee should have picked Brent. It wasn't like he was hanging around in the creepiest way possible hoping to get picked. Brent, you didn't have a chance of winning this season, but I was horrified at the way Synergy went after you because you were an easy, socially awkward target. Don't make me regret sticking up for you, please!
But enough mirth! It's time for the final challenge! And it turns out that each of the candidates will have to... run an fundraising charitable event! Yes, they do this each season.
Sean gets to put on a Barenaked Ladies concert for charity, Lee gets to put on a charity hockey game. Both have potential to raise big bucks, but that really depends on our final two now, doesn't it?
Well, so far it's looking like it has potential for Sean. From the start, his team got down to business competently, put their heads together competently, had meetings competently. They're looking good.
Lee. Lee. Ummmm... Lee. Damn, man. When others have been putting you down, I've been talking you up all season. You have a 3-1 record as project manager, and when you weren't you still had good ideas that, if not shot down, could have saved Gold Rush a few losses! I don't care from some of the sexist crap you've been known to spout, but as a candidate for a job in Trump's empire, I thought you were the strongest choice in spite of your youth! I blame Lenny. Lenny drags you down, man. Or maybe fundraising and putting together charity events just aren't your thing.
Yeah, Lee's not looking good for winning this task. He has nothing. No great ideas, no coping skills with all the little things that pop up. Nothing. Sean's looking really good as a possible winner right now.
Which brings me to one of my problems with The Apprentice. It's good to be a well-rounded employee, sure. However, nobody can do everything. If someone ends up overseeing the construction of a new hotel, does it really matter if they can organize a fundraising event? I don't think so. That's why I hope that Trump doesn't base too much on wins vs. losses. So party planning isn't something a business graduate is good at. Who cares? The more important factors are things like adaptability, multi-tasking, willingness to face a challenge head-on, you know, things like that. If the candidate loses, as long as the skill set they lost with isn't required for the potential job, I'd like to see points earned for doing as good a job as they can under the circumstances.
That said, there is no reason a candidate can't do a little planning ahead. There have already been four previous seasons with a whole heck of a lot of tasks. Look into this, find out what's worked and what hasn't and adapt it to your task at hand (this also applies to the boardroom, by the way)! Expecially this final task. It's always a charitable event. There is absolutely no excuse by this point at being caught off-guard and unprepared. If you expect to make the final two, have some ideas prepared beforehand. Some or all of them might be unusable for the challenge you face, but at least it shows that you've watched the damned show or are capable of doing some basic research before putting yourself on national television trying to score a high-paying job.
While I thought he had the best shot at winning, by missing out on this simplest of ideas, watch the damned show and learn from it before going on, I'm going to have to go with Sean at this point.
I'm not ruling Lee out, however. Last season Randall appeared to be faltering in the final task but managed to bring it around and win. Lee can still do that too. But either he's going to have to get really lucky or really brilliant.
I guess we'll find out next Monday.
***
I wasn't a big fan of Andrea during her time on the show. Hell, I found there to be much about her there was very unlikeable. That said, I really hope she's doing well. Normally I might make fun of people crying on these shows, as often they are doing so for quite silly reasons. Not this time. A nose bleed is one thing, but coughing up blood before the nose bleed is quite another, and I can imagine just how scary that is. Whatever was wrong, here's hoping it was very minor or very easy to take care of.
posted by Tabby at 9:00 a.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home