Two bullseyes, Scuba-Ben. Good for you.
After watching this episode again, I think I have some further thoughts about it and perhaps some realizations about how Trump makes his decisions.
I thought there was a very telling moment in something he said to Bradford in the first boardroom shortly after B had offered to waive his immunity. B had said something about how “we shouldn’t be winning the taskes to get immunity,” and Trump said, “no, you should be winning in order to win,” meaning that DT thinks they should always be playing to win the entire game, not just a week or a task.
We’ve all sort of noticed that Trump doesn’t really give a crap about the tasks in themselves and that he makes his decisions on a sort of meta level based on personality traits and game play.
I think I also realized tonight that DT does not see the teams as real teams but simply as groups of opponents. A lot of people in both seasons seem to keep trying to project altruistic images as team players and Trump has never once been impressed by that. In every board meeting he tries to get teammates to trash each other and I think he does that for a reason. part of it is that he likes decisiveness and hates wishy-washy equivocation but another part of it is that he’s looking for someone who wants to win the game. He wants them to see each other as enemies, not as buddies. For some reason, most of the contestants seem to be completely blind to this. Trump doesn’t want these people to asskiss each other and offer insincere praise. For whatever reason, a lot of them are afraid to say that “so and so sucks.”
And it’s not even that Trump cares that much about the validity of one teammate saying another one sucks, he just wants to see that they’re trying to beat each other.
Trump is observing this like a golf tournament where individual contestants may be playing in groupings, but they’re still trying to beat each other.
What Bradford did was like conceding a twenty foot putt on a hole he should have won easily. Bradford sees the concession as an act of sportsmanship but that’s because he has a complete misconception that his pairing for the day is actually a team. That’s why Trump thought it was stupid. Bradford had a competive advantage on his opponents, not his teammates, and he gave it away.
These people need to realize that Trump wants to see them trying to beat each other at all times, regardless of the artificial “teams.” When they look at it as a team competition they are completely taking their eyes off the ball.
I see Trump’s justification for firing Bradford, but there were two more candidates who stunk the place up so badly that I had to conclude the firing was strictly “made for television.” What i think would make great TV is if the “rule change” reference in the ads involved bringing Bradley back after teaching him a little humility having sat out for a week thinking he was finished.
It’d be interesting to see if his style changed a wee bit, after being plucked from the toaster. It’ll never happen, but if it does, you guys all owe me five dollars because you heard it here first. 
Beautifully put, Archive. I was suprised by Bradford being fired but the expanded-boardroom stuff tonight reinforced my initial impressions. Those were: 1. If these people are “the brilliant and the best”, the country’s in deeper shit than I thought and 2. Apparently none of them have ever been through a job interview before.
Fair being fair, there’s a deep layer of television and extended observation going on. But sheesh, I’ve seen scout troops organize and handle themselves better. Consider:
*
It seems a lot of people expect there to be a ‘fairness’ to the order people get fired, but I think that comes from a false assumption. Trump is not at all interested in whether, on an objective basis (if such a thing is possible) Bradford is the 17th ‘worst’ candidate or the 10th or the 5th. He’s not trying to get rid of them in a reverse order of worthiness – he can’t be bothered, I’m sure.
All he cares about is finding the one who is best.
Given that, once he’s decided that a given candidate isn’t the best, he can toss that person overboard whenever the timing suits him. And, yes, I’ll bet things like drama and momentary annoyances play a factor – why not? It doesn’t affect the outcome of this competition. You are either the winner or not, the order in which you are fired doesn’t matter a whit. You either win or lose, no second through 18th place prizes are on offer.
Since he’s said the other three in the boardroom were worse than Bradford, he will undoubtedly eliminate them in future weeks. Stacie, if she proves ‘entertaining’, may survive much longer than you’d expect. No matter: she will be gone before the end, I’ll lay dollars to donut ice cream on that. 
Only if you agree to pay us $5 each if it doesn’t happen.
(See, Mr. Trump, I’ve been paying attention: I don’t give away an advantage if I get nothing in return. )
I absolutely agree. In fact, I was about to start a thread on that very topic just before I saw your post.
Beautifully put, Archive. I was suprised by Bradford being fired but the expanded-boardroom stuff tonight reinforced my initial impressions. Those were: 1. If these people are “the brilliant and the best”, the country’s in deeper shit than I thought and 2. Apparently none of them have ever seriously interviewed for a job before.
Fair being fair, there’s a deep layer of television and extended observation going on. But sheesh, scout troops organize and handle themselves better.
- Pamela publicly snarking at kids-at a toy company–in front of a group of middle-aged execs, strangers all, who might reasonably be assumed to be parents.
- All the Apex meetings, which most closely resembled a sorority sensitivity sessions. Shit, have any of these idiots ever even attended a serious business meeting?
- Bradford hotdogging his macho way into the girls’ team, tacit leader all the way of course; their passively letting him set the tone, even when he gloats about them outselling the opposition by flashing their ‘boobies’.
- The frat party atmosphere at the caviar/champagne reward restaurant. Great way to show you can handle yourself in rarified atmospheres. Ditto w/ Jen (? the discount Audrey Hepburn w/ the kevlar bangs) slavishly watching The Donald for tips on how to eat.
- Wes’s rudeness on restaurant cold calls. Really smooth and professional, jerk. Idiots burn bridges and alienate people lightly.
- The stunning lack of basic common sense, much less composure or thought, in the boardroom. Never interrupt the boss, fer cryin’ out loud. Anticipate the tough questions, and have cogent answers prepared. Don’t fidget, use bullshit sparingly, at least get names right and never resort to excuses. That’s chum in the shark tank, and they’ve survived plenty of feeding times themselves. Have these idiots never learned the basics? Over-prepare when in a tight spot, then force a moment for a calming deep breath before answering nasty questions during the inquistion.
- The drunkard’s fire drill with the ice cream carts. Mind boggling.
- Nobody eats or drinks during The Task! That’ll keep everybody sharp!
I loathe the blatant scapegoating of StacyJ. She probably never was a prime candidate for finalist but she reminds me more of Heidi than Omorosa. Her schtick with the toy 8-ball struck me more as a tension-breaker that fell flat than a meltdown.
I only caught a couple of episodes of Season One, and just saw the last hour of the Saturday night repeat of the second Season Two episode, so I’m really an Apprentice newbie, but…
…did anyone else get an Ernst Stavro Blofeld vibe from the boadroom scene?
In the earlier Bond movies, there would often be a stock scene where the executives of SPECTRE would meet in their boardroom, and the latest failed plan to take over the world would be dissected. Often, there would be a clear scapegoat who was seen visibly perspiring, awaiting his fate. The kicker would be that Blofeld would push the button so that someone else would be electrocuted/dropped into the piranha tank/otherwise disposed of, and give the putative executionee a second chance.
At the end of tonight’s boardroom, I half expected Trump to whip off his toupee, revealing a totally bald head, then for a white cat to jump on his lap, and for him to scream “Now go and this time Kill James Bond!”
I’m still cracking up over the unseen imperial brasses heralding The Donald and Archangels gliding majestically down escalator.
Hilarious stuff, nearly equalling the thunderbolts loosed over Trump Tower just before the board room showdown.
I realized this even in the first year’s show. Most people on this show are no where near the best in the business world. They are probably the most diverse and interesting mix the producers could find. They are drunk on cliches such as “I am a winner”, and “I’m going to give it a 110%” etc etc but they have little common sense and almost no idea of business situations. They are sucked into the notion that exuding confidence and being aggressive automatically equates to success.
Ivana doing the rudimentary sales*price breakdown used in case study analysis was telling. What on earth was that woman doing in the ice-cream factory trying to look curious about the various facets of production? This same woman stunk up the sales on the streets and then boasted about her knowledge of caviar during the victory dinner…how the hell did they find such empty heads? Stacie is calling temp workers while the team is deciding on something and a sorority is choosing an ice-cream flavor until 3:45 pm with a deadline of 4 pm. WTF?
If I were Trump, I would also want to deliberately keep some of the real stinkers around to act as extra challenges for the people still in the running later on - I’m sure he’d like to see how they deal with really crappy coworkers.
Great episode all around. I was really pleased that the team that worked the smartest won because after last season, I figured the girls would charge $10.00 for their ice cream and win.
I still think Bradford’s firing was too harsh, especially if the sole basis for it was Trump’s belief that it was spontaneous. I think it was planned. I can’t remember specifics and I didn’t tape the episode, but there were two moments (one at the apartment and one in the boardroom before he forfeited his immunity) where I thought Bradford hinted at what he was going to do. If he did, I wonder if Trump would have still been so bothered had he known that it was a calculated move and that, at worst, Bradford used a stupid motivational gimmick, but isn’t some impulsive loose cannon?
BTW, am I the only one who would love to see Drew the intern from the second season of The Restaurant on season 3 of The Apprentice? It would be hilarious to see that putz kissing Trump’s ass and alienating himself from the other players. On the plus side for the show, it would be a neat tie-in because both are NBC shows produced by Mark Burnett.
My guess about the rules change is that Trump’s going to fire two people next week. I know there was an ep late in the first season where he fired two people after a round of interviews, but never this early. I have a feeling it’ll be women, but who knows? Maybe that one high-strung guy (No breakfast!) will punch someone or something.
They are afraid to bad-mouth the PM because they don’t want to get taken into the boardroom. It’s as simple as that. When Sandy? one of those RoboBlondes praised Ivana with all that mumbo-jumbo about there being “deeper organizational problems” (I wanted to kiss George for busting her on her obfuscation), Trump said, “You’re very smart. Now Ivana won’t bring you into the boardroom.” The blonde was dumb enough to miss the irony and say, “Thank you!” He sees their ass kissing for what it is-- ass covering. Hence the urge to jump on Stacie, because it’s safe and it’s unlikely she’ll be PM any time soon.
Pu me on the side of the firing was completely justified fo rthe reasons many have already elaborated.
I also agree that these people are far from the best and the brightest. I hate the way these teams make decisions. The women especially in the ice cream task was horrible…throw out a ton of ice cream ideas? The ice cream sdoesn’t have to be that special…like the one dude said…throw a cady bar, throw a donut in soe vanilla ice cream. What do people like…chocolate…caramel…coconut…whatever. What is far more important is how you sell it…and this is why the guys killed the women, but it should have been a lot more money. Why? Because the guys did not even consider bulk selling to restaurants.
Of course another real problem at this point is that there are simply too many people in the teams to be effective. Too many cooks, etc.
I realized last night that Bradford wasn’t fired merely for his decision to give up immunity – he was fired in part for making a high-risk decision on a whim. He completely forgot about risk analysis, management, and reduction. And THAT is the kind of behavior that, as Trump said, kills companies.
As to why give Bradford the axe – immediate feedback is a lot better than delayed feedback. Trump had to deal with the bad decision-making immediately, or the lesson would be lost on us viewers. And you better believe that if the guys lose next week, their PM from this week (sorry but I forgot who that was) will keep his immunity.
Still, Stacie J is a loner and not a team player. She is not long for the show. Trump will fire her at his leisure.
I agree completely with Dio’s analysis.
Agreed. That’s exactly what they’re afraid of, and that’s exactly the wrong way to think about it. If you’re dragged into the boardroom just because you gave Donald useful information when he asked for it, he’s going to be pissed at the person who brought you in, not at you. Jennifer was in exactly that position until she opened her mouth and ruined it. These people seem to think that they’re voting each other out. You can’t be someone who can’t get along with anyone, but you can’t be a CYA wimp either. The best thing to do is be brutally honest without gratuitous insult, show that your intention is to win and that coming into the boardroom does not in and of itself scare you. After all, if you do get the job, you’re going to be in plenty of board meetings with directors raking you over the coals.
That was Pam doing the interested act in the factory and the “in my element” act at the caviar joint. Advice from an heiress, Paris Hilton
Ivana gave her that task, then acted surprized about it in an effort to backstab. Once we saw that in the additional boardroom footage, I was much more sympathetic towards Stacie.
Yah, that’s just what ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY said a couple of weeks ago.
I agree with the decision to fire Bradford.
First: It was flat out stupid for him to give up immunity like that. He had so little to gain from it. Yes, you do have to be a team player–but you’re also competitors for only one slot at the end (as others have mentioned). It’s a more intense version of the normal workplace where you have tradeoffs between being a stand out individual and a teamplayer. The thing is, Bradford had no such tradeoff. No one on his team would have thought less of him for keeping his immunity. If he had totally slacked during this task since he was immune, then yes they would have held it against him. However, before the boardroom he seemed to get respect from people who had previously criticized him pretty harshly. Plus, the way he did it seemed more like showboating than proving to his team he was with them. If the rules were that the winning PM had a choice to skip the next task and get immunity or give it up but work with the team on that next task, it would be interesting to see who picks immunity with the possibilty of alienating your team and who picks trying to stay on the good side of their team but with the risk of being fired. However, that’s not the case here.
Secondly: Even though I think Stacie J* and Ivana are probably much worse fits for the winning slot, it was time to fire Bradford. He demonstrated right then that he wasn’t fit for the position. It’s doubtful he’ll make a similar decision in the future, and it would seem bad form on a TV show for Trump to fire him the next time Bradford is in the boardroom based on what he did this week. Stacie J and Ivana will undoubtedly give him future opportunities to fire them for what they did in their most recent tasks.
- My opinion of Stacie J is still under development. I don’t like the way the other women gang up on her. However, she seems totally unpredictable from the little I’ve seen and not someone I’d want on my team. The Magic 8 ball freak out would really make me wonder about her (it seemed from the footage that playing around with it wasn’t what shocked people so much as her reaction when they didn’t respond to her). It also seemed like the decision to hire temps came totally out of the blue with no discussion with her team. How much do 5 temps cost in NYC? Would 5 temps make up in sales what they cost? It seems even with a lot more salespeople you’d still have the limiting factor of only 2 carts for them to all crowd around (unlike something that doesn’t melt in which case you could send out people with trays). And could you trust temps to collect money? It could be that extra manpower would help. But wouldn’t you discuss it with your team first? Still, the temp thing wasn’t the worst I’ve seen. I imagine it was that on top of her behavior the previous week that leads her team to feel they can’t trust her. I do think it’s not right that they held a meeting without her. That was just catty.
Five temps at minimum wage (which is what-- $6?) scooping ice cream for 8 hours is less than $250 – at best, $400. If they took the place of five members of the Apex, and used the rest of their time as executives to aggressively sell ice cream orders to restaurants – I think Apex would have won handily.