I agree, Ichini Sanshigo.
The Verna background was interesting. I’d always credited her with saving the hotel task, but she apparently completely screwed up her part. Puts the whole having to paint issue in a different light.
Yeah, clip shows suck, but this one did have a few interesting bits.
I wish we’d seen the whole scene with Verna and the money in the initial show. It would help explain her breakdown a little more.
Audrey trying to do the accounting showcased her incompetence more than anything else we were shown. There were two sets of skills needed for that job–cash handling and basic acccounting. Now, I’ve counted out more than my fair share of cash drawers, and done the related bookkeeping, and I’ve trained others to do it as well, so I can speak from experience. The cash handling skills come from experience, but there is a big common-sense factor, too. (Like, keep your money where you can see it. Audrey sitting in the car with the bills on the seat beside her–major mistake.) The basic accounting part also comes from experience, but absolutely requires a basic level of competence and comfort with arithmetic. Sadly, there are some folks out there who don’t have this. An experienced cash handler can count up a stack of cash quickly and accurately. An inexperienced cash handler will take a whole lot longer. But if the inexperienced cash handler has common sense and decent math skills, he or she WILL arrive at the correct total.
Okay, that was a lot of words to say: Audrey was a real dodo.
I liked the scene where Kendra got snippy with Erin. I think it was supposed to show that Kendra had a bitchy side, but I think it showed that Kendra is able to restrain herself. I mean, she said her piece, aruged a little, and then dropped it. (Compare that to Kristen’s insistence on continuing her fight with Brian.) Kendra may be one of those people who doesn’t really emerge as a leader out of a group of equals, but given some official position of leadership, like being project manager, leads quite well. That’s not a criticism, btw.
I also liked seeing more of Tana. She reminds me a bit of Troy, with the whole disarming hayseed manner overlaying a strong will. Remember in the casino task when Troy was trying to get some women to go away, and was saying “You’re pretty as a peach!” while herding them off the the side. And when they went to see Russell Simmons, and he totally shot down Kwame, and Troy stepped in, turned up the accent a bit, and saved the day. Tana’s got a bit of that going on. I said at first that I disliked her personality, but I might warm to her. Well, I have warmed to her quite a bit. She’s shrewd, but I think she’s genuinely nice.
The scene with Angie and Chris making up after the boardroom was interesting. I think Chris is probably really a nice guy. He’s a nutter, but I think he means well. He just doesn’t realize how intense he comes off. Maybe watching himself on this show will inspire him to work on that. And Angie is a sweetheart.
Oh, and I’m back to liking Bren. A lot. He cracks my shit up.
Of the remaining candidates:
Erin–won’t have any major screw-ups, but will be fired fairly soon when there is nobody more obvious to fire.
Stepahine–see Erin.
Craig–I agree with whoever said he will be a disaster as project manager. He’ll be fired that week. On the off chance his team wins in spite of him, he’ll be fired for traits that he reveals while project manager.
Chris–dead man walking. He’ll probably have a spectacular flame-out, but maybe not. Just depends how the tasks go. Either way, he’s outta there.
Angie–I don’t think she has the chops to win this thing, but she’s basically competent, and will likely make it to the final 5. Maybe to the final 4 if somebody makes a big mistake.
Bren–if he has another bad idea, he might get fired soon. But he may well make final four. I think everybody likes him, which bodes well for him.
Alex–Just plain competent. No pizzazz. Will make final 4, maybe final 2, but won’t win. Pesky Y chromosome.
Tana–Final 2.
Kendra–Final 2.
I’m not sure who will win out of Tara and Kendra. On one hand, I think the college education is very important to Trump. As it should be. On the other hand, Tana seems to have better people skills, and Mary Kay trains its top people very well. Tana’s ability to talk people into stuff could win the day. I’m looking forward to seeing how they do in later tasks.
This season is just starting to become interesting.
Oh, and to answer Twix’s question–Yes, it’s possible to fill the cast with actual contenders who have likeable personalities. I think you need a few unlikeable and/or colorful folks to create drama, especially in the early episodes, but there’s no reason why those people couldn’t be actual contenders, too. Burnett needs to stop thinking in terms of eye candy, and start thinking in terms of who will maintain the viewers interest. If he can get interesting people who are good looking as well, great. But he should err on the side of interesting people.
I think your assessments are perfect, Green Bean. Chris may be the next Ivanva–The wackjob that lasts until there’s no one else. I agree Erin’s demise will be soon.
I’m surprised that Angie has done so well, considering I liked her at the outset.
After the Dove commercial task, Trump said he was tempted to fire everyone and start over with all new candidates.
Is this the first we’ve heard him say that? Did he say it that week?
I can’t remember if it was a voice-over or if he said it to the teams in the board room.
The other thing I liked – when they did the “corporate restructuring,” and whatshisface tried to pass back the two players he’d just been given. I laughed.