Picking up right where the show left off last week, last night’s episode of The Apprentice made quick work of determining who’d be squaring off in this season’s finale. When the remaining three contestants were called back into the boardroom, it was clear that the finalist slots were Clint’s and Brandy’s to lose. Did anyone else note that Brandy and Clint talked about what they could add to the Trump organization, while Liza talked about what the job would do for her? I wasn’t sure if that would be a plus or a minus for a guy like Donald Trump.
Fortunately it was Liza getting the heave-ho, leaving a good pair to battle for the “ultimate” prize. And the final task is kind of interesting for a change … well, not the challenge so much as the fact that Clint and Brandy are working different halves of the same event. I think that’s a great idea. What might have made it even better is if they’d been forced to work together to make the two halves meet in the middle.
Brandy determined that the most important decision for her was picking a team, and she went with Liza, Stephanie, and Anand. No offense to her, because I think she’s a terrifically strong competitor, but what a horrible team for so many reasons. Liza was the consensus weakest player for most of the competition; Stephanie’s incredibly annoying and not the most loyal of teammates; Anand cheated and can’t necessarily be trusted (nice zing by Don Don, by the way). And while I understand the concept of second chances, I was kind of shocked to see Trump invite Anand back in the first place. Meanwhile, I don’t see what Kathy Griffin adds to a VIP golf tournament in general, but talk about a terrible choice for whatever it is that they decide to use her for. She isn’t even remotely funny.
Clint, meanwhile, got lucky landing Steuart, who at the very least is someone he works really well with. Mahsa and Clint’s history — Mahsa was fired for sharing her team’s total earnings with Clint after claiming that Clint did the same — makes her the last person he should be entrusting his fate to, and Poppy didn’t go far enough to fully establish her credentials. I’m not sure if the entire field was weak this season, or if the finalists just got the wrong six helpers. Meanwhile, Clint organizing a Liza Minnelli concert should be fairly simple — at least the performance part of things takes care of itself.
The two teams progressed with the usual mix of snafus and confusion, but one incident led me to wonder just how significantly Trump stirs the pot behind the scenes: when the caterer that Clint hired for Liza Minnelli backed out at the last minute. No one who ever wants to be taken seriously would allow themselves to have to back out of an opportunity to cater for a famous singer, on TV, at a Trump organization event. The guy didn’t even give an excuse other than “not being able to commit himself.” I smell a rich guy paying the caterer to cancel.
As for the other technical difficulties, if Clint really missed those typos he’s careless at best and incompetent at worst. Brandy, meanwhile, couldn’t possibly be naive enough not to mention to the photographer what city or state to come to. Yet those two incidents seem a lot more plausible as human foibles. The caterer incident just stinks.
And what’s up with Trump requesting that Liza be in his foursome? I honestly hope that it’s a test to see if Brandy can stand up to power and insist that she needs all of her teammates (she failed, by the way), but I have a feeling it’s just Trump being a little creepy.
Based on what we were told about Liza’s golfing background, I think she was the right person to make the call on the prizes to be handed out. However, she was wrong to make the decision at the store, in direct disregard of the project manager’s wishes. It’s been the same story all season long with her: Liza never voices her opinion in a forum where it would be productive. She might end up being correct, but she had no right to do that on a whim. And Anand was stupid for keeping his mouth shut and bowing to the “expert.”
I’m excited to see who wins this one. I don’t believe it’ll do anything significant for either of their lives (and hearing Brandy’s credentials made me sad that life has come to this for her), but I think that for the first time in a long time, we have a good competition under way. On to the finale!
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Dec 03, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
After watching this last episode, it made me feel even worse. Hearing their education and experience yet they still couldn’t get a job, what hope do I have for finding a job?
These people are not looking for regular jobs, they are looking for an massive opportunity.
I’m so sorry it made you feel worse. I really am. Stay positive. My husband always says he’d rather have the happier, easier going individual, over the well educated sad sack. Godspeed.
*POST AUTHOR*
I think a lot of the contestants were just looking to improve their situations. Some were trying to move on after a failed business, some were looking for exposure for their struggling businesses, and others actually had jobs that they merely wanted to move forward from. I think this is not an example of qualified people struggling to find work. I hope that makes you feel better.