Scandal rocks The Apprentice

I’m not sure how I feel one way or the other about what happened in the first few minutes of last night’s The Apprentice. Sure I was surprised that Anand got fired before the task even began, but I wasn’t all that taken aback by what he did. Granted we didn’t know specifically that it had occurred, but I wouldn’t have put it past any of these contestants to illicitly text friends for help. Sucks for him that no one showed up, though. See you later, Anand!

Anyway, I think the real competitors left in this game are Brandy, Steuart, and Clint — Liza being shifted over to the other team just made it easier for those three to clear house before going after one another.

This week’s task was marketing Kim Kardashian’s perfume line. It’s funny that her brand followed last week’s task featuring Trump’s brand … I’ll let you ponder why. But it was kind of a dumb task without a sales aspect to it. Why not see what kind of business each display did before determining a winner? Not that I disagreed with Clint’s team’s win — I thought the picture taking idea was bad to start with, so I definitely wasn’t impressed by the middle school bedazzling that Poppy and Stephanie did.

It was interesting that Ivanka got so protective of Brandy in the boardroom. It felt like someone lashing out at a man’s world that has always done her wrong. Am I mistaken, or would she never have experienced that as the boss’ daughter? And I don’t think that Clint and Steuart were wrong to assume — and therefore be disappointed when she fell short — that Brandy should have been able to provide them with a woman’s perspective. I like Brandy, but I can’t believe she denied her lack of contribution in that respect. She did a lot on the task, but she absolutely didn’t deliver when it came to the question of, “Would women be into this.”

I really like this show. I know the story that Brett’s ratings posts tell week after week, but The Apprentice is just a tasty guilty pleasure. It’s so funny, and these characters are so ridiculously entertaining no matter who you’re rooting for or against. Stephanie, who I can’t stand, saying that she thought Don Don was hot, and then asking that the segment be cut from final production (oops); Clint (or someone else on his team) referring to Kim Kardashian as a Hollywood icon — that may have been the funniest part of the season — in their pitch; Kim sending Trump regards from her sister Khloe (see the 2009 season of The Celebrity Apprentice for the irony). It’s not that I want to turn away but I can’t; it’s, “Why would I want to miss this?”

In the end there was no question that Poppy deserved to be — and was — fired. But I have to issue Liza a warning (I realize the season’s been taped already, but still): you can’t keep quiet during a task only to argue vociferously that you disagreed with the project manager’s decisions in the boardroom. You have to lodge those complaints as they come up, then go about your assignment with that objection in your back pocket. The former strategy’s been tried before to no avail … it’s not the way to go.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Nov 12, 2010 @ 15:00 EST5EDT