The Apprentice, 11/18

Cafe Society
61

I don’t know if this has been discussed before, but why on earth do they always show the contestants putting their suitcase in the back seat of the cab? The trunk would be much more sensible.

I was amused that we were supposed to buy the idea that both Maria and Wes and their two giant suitcases all fit in the backseat of the cab - like clowns in a volkswagon!

I think Levis would be absolutely crazy not to use the ads with the contestants, they look great but not overly model-y. Real jeans for real people, indeed (or the most real people who will ever show up in a catalog, anyway).

62

I didn’t get this either. This wasn’t his first presentation. It also wasn’t as stressful as facing Trump in the Boardroom. These people were a smiling audience.

He must have been rushing around to get things ready or something.

63

Because they are :wally

64

The visual I have of Maria’s arms sawing through the table is damn funny. :smiley:

And that jacket? I thought she had her hog parked outside. All she needed was some leather chaps and she’s be all set.

65

Why do only the men answer the phone at the beginning? Why not a shirtless Jenn, for example.

I’m just sayin’.

66

Heh.
It’s just a good thing the they didn’t go for a close-up of Kelly’s jeans at that photo shoot.

“Hey. . . isn’t this the cover of a Rolling Stones album?”

67

My recollection, which is confirmed by the synopsis on the NBC site, is that the question Jen jumped in on was “how did you come up with this idea?” That was a question Ivana had the right to answer. Jen’s sneaking in to answer it made it appear that she was the one who came up with it, not Ivana. That’s hijacking by any other name. Ivana was justifiably pissed, especially because it was clearly the Levi guy’s mistaken belief that Jen was the one who came up with the wheel that made him think she was the best one. And led him to say so in front of Trump, who already doesn’t think much of Ivana and kind of seems to think reasonably well of Jen.

I don’t know that I’d agree. Kevin’s perspiration aside, Ivana seemed to have the presentation fairly well in hand.

The Levi’s guy clearly thought that Jen was the one who came up with the wheel, when she was the one at least feigning a lack of understanding of the concept during development. I lost a lot of respect for Jen in this one. She implicitly took credit for something that she didn’t do. At the very least, she should have brought the whole team in to share the credit.

68

And “interface with the cashier.” WTF? What does that even mean ?
“Jane, can you ring up the next customer?”
“No, sorry, I’m too busy interfacing with this one.”

69

I may have missed someone saying this already, but…

Did anyone get that Maria was sex, sex, sex! this week, like she is EVERY week, and someone always tells her to shut the hell up?

And Jenn and Co. won, but Levi says, “Not sexy enough.”

Maria was right for once! :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack:

70

Yay, Maria’s gone! Was anyone else terrified when she was presenting for her team? It was worse than the QVC task, especially in that confined (somewhat) space., what with the blinking and the stiffness and the flailing. Talk about a fembot!

And just to put my 2 cents in, I’ve got to say “Go Jen!” Sure, what she did was pretty shady, but it was more or less necessary. Kevin and Ivana were obviously trying to sabotage her (I don’t buy for one second that this deviously brilliant woman couldn’t grasp the idea of a wheel), and she decided to step up and save her ass. Could we expect any less? Plus, I can’t stand Ivana. There’s a certain bittersweet justice in the fact that the one week she isn’t a useless waste of space who poisons everything around her, someone else steals her glory. Not to mention takes away the one chance she’s had to make up for her earlier failures? Jen isn’t a nice peson, but Ivana really isn’t a nice person. Furthermore, she’s not even good at not being nice.

And I really hate the concept of “busy work”. “Busy work” is what you give school children when you’ve got 30 minutes to kill before lunch. In a project where you have a limited amount of time to accomplish a lot, every task has to have some importance. Kicking Jen to the side was just plain spiteful. I’m more than a little disappointed in Kevin.

Last point: more than anyone else on this show besides maybe Andy, Jen understands when to speak and when to shut the hell up. I’m still rooting for her.

On a side note, I wonder how the Season 2 “Apprentice” crew would do on “My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss”. Heh heh heh…

71

No, it wasn’t. It would be one thing to jump in to answer questions about something she had a hand in, but she specifically jumped in to answer questions about Ivana’s baby, about the Fit Wheel, a project that she didn’t even understand until she saw one of the wheels already made.

If you’re going to speak, speak about what you know. She didn’t have any basis for answering questions about the fit wheel, she was making generic small talk about a concept that she had just begun to understand herself and not only did she not answer the question asked (“What was the origin of the Fit Wheel idea?”) she didn’t have the knowledge to answer it, because it wasn’t her idea.

Ichini Sanshigo, why can’t you believe that Jen didn’t get the wheel? She explicitly said “I don’t get this. Explain to me how this works.” at least three different times. She didn’t get it. Even with a mockup, she was still saying “But how will it work, I don’t understand this drawing.”

72

It was. It was like watching some kind of freakish, blinking, marionette scarecrow.

It was just so awful, the whole time, just so horrible. And because I was not spoiled, I honestly wondered “Wow, will it be Maria for screwing up so bad, or will it be Wes for not stopping her.” (Also, IIRC, on Wes’ last PM job, Kelly ended up taking over for him. Wes was a good contributor, but a horrid leader.)

I still can’t quite like Andy, but his “listening” comment in the boardroom was perfectly done at the right time.

Jenn just pissed me off. I’m not sure what happened, but she was really, truly dumb this week (which is out of character) She did take credit for Ivana’s idea. Bad move. I think Sandy might make the final four. She’s been under the radar, in the early episodes, she didn’t do anything right, but she didn’t do anything wrong either, she got her hands dirty in the dog competition, and she stepped up for the bridal show and when she was PM. She isn’t coming off as impressive, just good compared to the others.

BTW, what is with the two fashion tasks and the bridal task this year? It seems to be weighted toward something, but unless Trump is planning on giving the person a job at his new subsidiary TrumpWear, it is an odd set of tasks.

73

Wheel of Morality, turn turn turn…

Lesson from the task: Show innovation, show creativity, and show the product. Especially good-fit butt shots, for jeans.

Lesson from the firing: As the Don said, don’t lose your cool. And if someone does lose their cool, control them.

Wes deserved to be fired for not keeping Maria under control from the outset. She’s been a loose cannon, and loose cannon need to be kept tied down. She walked all over him at the photo shoot, and everywhere after that.

Maria, on the other hand, deserved to be fired for being out of control. There’s no excuse for her running roughshod over the entire rest of the team.

Had I had to pick only one, I might have fired Wes. I’m not sorry to see them both go. And Maria definitely had some regrets in the cab.

74

My favorite recap line of the night (from this site)

75

The real secret of success both on the show and in the tasks is giving people what they want AND NOT WHAT YOU THINK THEY SHOULD HAVE.

Remember the team that didn’t give the NYPD a heartfelt marketing campaign?

And this week’s team that didn’t give Levi something original that highlighted the diverse line of jeans JUST LIKE WHAT WAS ASKED?

We see the failure to stop and think what somebody else wants in the presentations given to the Levi people: They all (except Jen) launched into a stereotypically over-the-top happy happy bubbly bubbly loud in-your-face “let me tell the officials of Levis what jeans mean” pitch for their catalogues. They didn’t ‘take the temperature’ of the room to see that they were causing the Levi people to alternately roll their eyes and back up in fear. After all, they thought their pitch was wonderful – it was beyond their ability to comprehend that their style of presentation might be off-putting. Only Jen read the situation correctly and stepped in with a low key presentation which they appreciated.

The same goes with Trump. Andy finally learned: Don’t interrupt. Wait for Trump to give you permission to speak. Address Trump’s concern directly… don’t deflect. Andy took to heart all the scoldings the other’s got in various boardrooms and didn’t repeat their mistake in the boardroom. Even in the task, you can tell that Andy has stopped thinking “I have all the answers and I will procede with what I know is correct and perfect regardless of any new information I receive (which I won’t receive, because there’s no need for me to search for new information – what I’m doing is perfect).”

Peace.

76

Yup. What’s even worse is that at the beginning of the show Trump even introduced him as Bill. If that’s what you tell me his name is that’s what I’m gonna call him.

77

Where The Heck Are The Ratings?

78

A day late and a dollar short, but much like Maria’s firing, the Raj Ratings are better late than never. I’ll keep things brief since no one is likely to read these this week anyway. 2 firings brought twice the fun and both seemed well deserved. One observations, pretty consistently this year, when the guys have been fired they have been fairly jovial and able to handle the firing well in the cab. The women have tended towards bland platitudes and pained expressions. Is this a difference between the sexes or just due to the oddball female subset on this show?

Edmund Fitzgerald - or, Gone with no hope of returning
Bradford, Stacie J., Rob, Pamela, John, Jenn C., Stacy R., Elizabeth, Raj, Chris
Maria (Bismarck) – I would hope you have some sense of self-awareness to see just how much of a shrill harpie act that was this week. After lots of screw-ups, your Nurse Ratched like escapades signed your own pink slip. Also, enough with the blinking. Tornados are forming in Italy thanks to those flappers.
Wes. (Stuck in Dry dock) – Here’s what’s funny. Everyone had multiple worse screw ups than you did. Everyone had multiple positive moments than you did. You achieved a satisfactory level of meh which works well in most corporate environs, but not on this show. At least you and Maria should get more screen time on the finale.

Titanic - or, Dead in the water, just waiting for the cargo class to drown
Ivana (no change) - Still, even after that pinwheel idea, which I liked. You had a good week, but unless a lot was cut, you didn’t get much credit for it. You are really better than Titanic this week but with so few left these rankings are based on likelihood of Final 2 and likelihood of winning. You won’t do either. You have to be PM this week and I don’t think it will go well.

Bismarck - or, probably sinking, but it will take a couple more blows
Jenn M. (HMS Pinafore) – I’ve clearly been on the Jenn M love train this whole show and I have thought she would win. Now? Not as much. Next week needs to be a good week to save your hide. I can still see final 4 but not a win.

Stuck in dry dock - or, Who are you? Are you on this show? This level now represents those in transition from weak to strong.
Sandy (Bismarck) - Continuing an upward trend. Another good but quiet week, which isn’t a bad thing really. You have grown on me. I can see Final l4, but no win. I think the interviews would do you in. But, one woman has to make it and you seem well positioned.
Andy (HMS Pinafore) – I think Trump likes you, but like an irritating kid brother. That’s good in life, but not so much here. I still don’t think he sees you as ready to lead a company which means you are his Troy. Great potential, really likable, but in need of more seasoning. He may offer you something else, but not this title.

HMS Pinafore - or, Some singing, some dancing, some tragedy. Overall, not too bad.
Kevin (No change) – You get immunity for another win. You are solid but not flashy and competent but not overly so. I know you can win and I think Trump does too. He will give you the chance to put up or shut up soon.
Kelly (Queen Mary II) – More compliments from Trump (Trumpliments?) and a good week. The other people respect you. Inside track as of this moment, but time will tell.

Queen Mary II - or, Leader of the Pack, vroom vroom
None, but my predicted winner will be here next week.

Next week? A woman goes, just based on editing. Trump won’t hire someone that comes across too poorly (think of Bill and Kwame versus Amy and Nick last year. Who had more warts shown?) So, Ivana, Jenn, and Sandy seem the most at risk, but Ivana is way too shaky to have a proud Trump next to her at the end.

79

When is the season finale? What the heck will we do until next September?!

80

Jen would have gained points in everyone’s favor if she had given props to Ivana rather than accept them all for herself. Instead she just stood there and smiled. As much as I can’t stand Ivana, who does more bitching and complaining than anyone on that team, it was her idea. And Jen snatched away her well-deserved glory. That was so totally uncool.

I think Jen did understand the concept of the wheel, at least more than she let on. I think she feigned cluelessness in order to sabotage Ivana’s idea before it took off, as someone said above. Again, that’s just wrong.

Kevin should have given Jen a bigger part in the presentation. That would have made her feel like she was really contributing to the project, and then maybe she wouldn’t have felt compelled to cut in on Ivana’s spiel the way she did.