The man’s a dorky cheeseball but he’s cannier than hell. This show has made me reluctantly like the guy. It’s sorta disarming, how much frank enjoyment he gets out of his pretentiousness. He gets a bang out of all that tacky opulence, but makes even that work for his own ends. The guy genuinely seems to have as much zest for the game as all the glitz and bling.
I’ve been pondering a possible Amy/Bill showdown. Both of 'em have played the group politics well but very differently. Both of ‘em are good idea people; pretty equal in skills overall.
Odd, but I’d give Bill the edge. His remoteness is more leaderly. The Nick/Amy fling was an unprofessional and self-indulgent. As the old workplace saw goes, ya don’t shit where you eat. Of course Carolyn wouldn’t put it like that, but she’s been very clear-eyed about the women’s handling of sexuality on the job. This program has been a prolonged job interview. Fooling around might make interesting television but it’s iffy for a CEO. I doubt they’d make it an obvious reason, lest the ol’ double-standard rear its ugly head, but I don’t see how it couldn’t be a factor.
All other things being relatively equal, Bill’s (public) lone-wolf stance is better suited for the rarified heights.
West Coast, stop reading now! spoilers ahead!
Whoa!
Yeah. I have to agree. I used to think that Trump was pretty much a national embarassment for the U.S. But he’s morphing into a slyly self-referential icon for the new millenium, sort of like the Simpsons except with worse hair.
I happened to be able to catch the last Saturday Night Live (when Trump hosted) and I was impressed despite myself. Okay, the man can’t act his way out of a wet paper bag but he’s a good sport. (I thought that chicken-wing thing on SNL, for example, was hilarious. It’s something you can almost imagine Trump doing.) It’s like he knows he’s high camp but he’s that way because he enjoys being that way. Paradoxically, his tacky glitz and outrageous self promotion don’t come off as merely attention seeking. He’s just doing what The Donald does. His egotism is artless.
Worse (or better), Trump comes across as somebody you’d actually like to know. He’s serious but not solemn. He plays the game hard but, regardless of the stakes, it’s still just a game.
Maybe this is all just great editing. I understand that the actual boadroom sessions take about two hours. Maybe the inevitable DVD will have the boadrooms uncut – I’d be curious to see that.
Oma. Rosa.
I cannot freakin’ believe she told the woman to leave her alone while she was eating; I cannot believe she blew off Nick (though Kwame should have jumped in); and I cannot believe that she thought that what was going on was “nothing.”
OMG! Omarosa just lied to Kwame’s face on national TV! What a delusional bitch!
I was giving her the benefit of the doubt when I said she misunderstood and thought the call was “nothing” – whoa. So she lied at that moment, and then lied again up in the suite later. Geez freakin’ louise. “Delusional bitch”? You’re too kind!
Omarosa is the Anti-Christ.
If she had any hopes of getting some kind of job from her Apprentice appearance, out of sympathy or whatever, she blew it with those lies.
The woman simply doesn’t want to DO anything! She’ll meet and talk and schmooze, but DO something?
Poor Kwame.
[spoiler]
Omarosa lying on National TV cannot help at all for future job interests.
I don’t know why Kwame didn’t take her aside for a private one on one after the call in the suite, call her on her bluff of lying and fire her.
If she is an employee, he needs loyalty. She isn’t loyal. She is a liability.
Why couldn’t they ask Jessica Simpson’s Dad/Manager the arrival information? It would have saved a whole lot of time. Sure, you would have slipped up and be seen as an idiot for a short time, but it would save a lot of headache down the road. [/spoiler]
About the First half of the show:
[spoiler]
God, those interview questions were just colon cleaning, huh? Rapid fire ball busters.
I cheered with absolute GLEE when Trumps advisors nailed it right on the head , far better than I ever could, how I felt about Amy and her shallowness and Nick and his …well…all he is a great salesman. [/spoiler]
I am gobsmacked.
That girl has some issue with food. Was she starved as a child? Did the neighbour kids tease her by preventing her from finishing a meal? WHY THE HELL COULDN’T SHE JUST TELL THEM THAT THERE WAS AN ISSUE SHE HAD TO CHECK INTO AFTER DINNER??? She never checked her flight info. That was the only thing she was expected to do, and she couldn’t call to confirm an arrival.
My earlier opinion of her has gone down. I did not think that was possible…
Can’t disagree with the results, but was suprised at how unanimous the execs were in their impressions.
Other stuff:
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the glitzy ad promoting Trump’s Miss America pageant cracked me up. DAMNED if I don’t like The Donald. Who’da thunk that one!
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the way the fired contestants was used made absolute sense in the final task. Once I saw it I couldn’t imagine why I didn’t figure it out sooner.
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Omorosa is the poster child for flaming self-delusion; I mean gonzo, off-the-wall, freakin’ NUTS. She wasn’t satisfied with how far she’d already sunk her reputation on national television?
Don’t you mean Troy?
Shirley: no kidding. I want unedited footage of the interviews and of the interviewer’s comments in the boardroom. Not for entertainment; for educational reasons – I think my own interviewing skills would go up after taking all that in.
And yeah, I didn’t think my opinion of Omarosa could dip any lower. Guess I was wrong.
Could it be possible that Omarosa is intentionally trying to sabotage Kwame’s team? Could she be a “mole” of sorts who’s job is to stir shit in oredr to show how Kwame would deal with an incompetent employee?
I’d like to believe that but Bill doesn’t seem to be saddled with anyone like that.
Kwame should have taken anyone but Assy, anyone at all. Nick would would rounded out a good team. Even Katrina would be miles better than Omarosa. What was Kwame thinking?
Those were some hard-ass interviewers, weren’t they? It was enteratining to watch the contestants get grilled like fish. I knew Nick was all bluster and no substance but I was a little surprised that Amy did so poorly in the interviews.
I’m predicting Bill as the winner but only because Omarosa is going to kill poor Kwame.
Damn, this show rocked. I can’t wait for the next season.
Possibly perfected lying during her years at the Clinton administration (learn from the best - DT)
Helieo, don’t hijack the thread into political directions. It’s rude.
Great points. Obviously Diane (the scheduler) and Leslie (the gold club special events gal) are throwing banana peels in their paths, per DT’s instructions and the need to boost the Nielsens for next season.
Kwame friggin’ blew it when he reconstituted his old team with the two psycho sisters. Especially Amarosa, whom Kwame picked third, not last.
He also should have fired her in the hotel room. AmaRosa has proven she is sabotaging, a pathological liar, unorganized, and has terrible people skills. What kind of moron would assign such a nutcase to interface with the star of the evening–especially when Trump’s right hand man said he would judge the evening a success based on how Jessica Simpson is treated.
You can forgive AmaRosa because she’s a proven teamwrecker, but Kwame for picking this teamwrecker? He has proven himself waaaay out of his league. Hope it wasn’t because AmaRosa is a sister.
Anyone notice how sullen Nick was when working for Bill?
My feeling was: she’s being paid to screw up. . . just to see how Kwame will handle it. Same thing with Katrina and all her boxes. Wouldn’t you put a monkey wrench in the gears if you were Trump?
Nick’s always sullen when working for anyone, with the possible exception of Amy. Haven’t you been watching him at all? I shudder to think what it must be like to work with the man long-term.
My feeling was: she’s being paid to screw up. . . just to see how Kwame will handle it. Same thing with Katrina and all her boxes. Wouldn’t you put a monkey wrench in the gears if you were Trump?
Come to think of it, I’m leaning more this way myself. Even Asaroma isn’t THAT evil, stupid, and sabotaging.
Both are part of Trump’s machine, designed to see how Kwame and Bill will handle the ultimate challenges. Great drama, too. The whole thing is a set-up.