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Live & LEARN

This week's episode named Audrey as the most beautiful woman on this season's cast. She certainly is a gorgeous gal, but in the psychosis dept. gives Omarosa a run for her money. We've all heard of the term "chip on his/her shoulder," Audrey's "chip" is the size of Mt. St. Helens, and akin to the volcano, rearing to erupt. If the tv editing depicts actuality, Audrey's eruptions take place frequently and are so ill-timed that rolling your eyes seems like the prerequisite reflex. As for rags to riches stories and those tales which lend themselves to a weepy violin accompaniment, Audrey's all over those like white on rice. 10 points for the reader who can guess the following accurately. In Thursday's episode, which candidate said the following the in first 5 minutes of the program: "You don't know what it's like to have everything taken from you. To be 17 and living on your own. To have everyone accept you only because you're beautiful. I hated it. I wanted to scar my face." Yes, the trials and tribulations of a messed-up 22-year-old girl who apparently should have attended college because had she attended college, she might have been able to get our all her angst and associate properly with the generic mental disorder of the hour. (Bulimia, Anorexia, Depression, Manic, Bipolar, etc.) If you think I'm being harsh on the gal, you're right. I blame the show's producers. She had no right being on the show in the first place. Beauty+Brains=Winning Combo. Beauty+Emotionally Unbalanced=Disaster. Didn't Omarosa's aftermath teach us anything?

Cry me a River...

I got to be honest here, this wasn't much in this episode aside from dramatics coming to us by way of NetWorth . Audrey and John were fighting up a storm. John was disrespectful of Audrey as PM from the start and while I'm no Audrey fan I can't believe he would have ever treated a male PM with such a patronizing and condescending approach. I lost my feel for John in this episode, especially after he made the "She's just a 22 year old girl, Mr Trump" comment in the boardroom. It was out of line and totally beside the point. I also think he might have written his own swan song, with regards to having this competition in the bag. Both Bill and Kelly (former winners) were the strong, silent type who knew when to assert themselves and voice their opinions and manage not to be too abrasive. Gordon's take: "John was a total letdown in his inability to be a team player. From my own corporate experience, I have had to work with people I don’t like and think are absolutely terrible but there comes a level of professionalism that surpasses not liking an individual to getting a job done. John clearly wasn’t a model for this level of professionalism. He took his personal issues with Audrey out on the mission and used it as a reason for quarrels and ultimately for being ineffective. Clearly, this showed a lack of maturity." Talk about pot calling the kettle black. I concur with you Gordo. John took his emotions and libido into the boardroom and for this, he may have written his own date with disaster.

Another Solid Victory

Looks like that college education is finally paying off as Magna wins their second consecutive mission. The common thread in this season has been that those who put their efforts into marketing the product or the service have been successful in their mission. But then again, that is what this television show has turned into since season one. "The Apprentice" has transformed into an hour long commercial for whichever business has coughed up enough money to have the honor of being the center of focus for Donald Trump’s pledges. The name of the show should be changed from "The Apprentice" to "The Exploiter". Another common thread in this season is that the team you usually see very little activity from the team that wins. As scarce as Magna was in this episode, credit should be given to the fact Magna worked cohesively as a team and supported one another and utilized extensive marketing efforts to get people to play golf in the wild safari.

On a whole, I hear Gordon's take, but I also think that the advertiser/corporation is making a lot of the show. It's a use-use situation. I don't see exploitation going on. I do agree that it's unfortunate that every show since the first season is about branding some corporate product, but I also think its quasi educational. For example, this episode illustrated the importance of forward thinking and implementing cross promotional marketing strategies. Ok, well maybe every episode does that and maybe i didn't have a point after all? Regarding the show's standard sequence/timing of events, it's always been a trend on this show that whichever team gets less airtime wins the mission. People love the drama and dysfunction of losers. How else do you account for the popularity of the tabloid-esque "In Touch"? (aside from the $1.99 value price)

Loser Assessment

The mission was lost on a lack of initiative on the members of the team. It was clear that these guys weren’t putting any effort in to succeed. From Chris’ proud attempts at being a poster boy for oral cancer to John just providing nothing but attitude and resistance in this mission, the members of this team definitely behaved in an unmotivated and apathetic manner. While a good leader can motivate their team, there comes a point when the members of the team have to step up to reach the goal. Their behavior makes you think if this was a coup to get rid of Audrey.

Have to say that Audrey was not the primary reason that these guys lost this mission. The mission was lost on a lack of marketing efforts by her disinterested team. However, the primary mistake that she made was that she only delegated the work to members of her team and didn’t check in to see how the tasks were progressing. She prided herself on delegating alone. As we saw by Todd’s loss in Whopper 101, the manager who is too high level never fares well in this show.

I have to disagree with Gordon on Audrey. While she may have not been the primary reason the team lost, her lack of leadership and inabililty to make decisions didn't help further her team's chances. She was too concerned with being defensive and saving her own sorry little a**. To be completely honest, I wasnt' too crazy with how she had to bring up her sexuality in the boardroom either. It didn't have its place there and then in the cab ride, after her long tirade about how much she despises being validated only for her beauty, she comments how great she feels cause DT said she was beautiful. Oy, vey. Get me the pepto. I think i'm going to be sick....