I called it. Not that it wasn’t totally obvious, but I predicted that either Rebecca or Toral would get canned this week on The Apprentice. I actually felt a modicum of pity for Rebecca, given that she ardently defended Toral, even guaranteeing the members of Capital Edge that they would see the emergence of SuperToral on this week’s task. Two problems with Rebecca’s promise: Toral would never have agreed to don the cape and mask of the superhero version of herself and, as Annette Bening stated in American Beauty, “The only person you can count on is yourself.” Especially in a competition like this, why would it pay to pledge the enthusiasm and kick assitude of another person? Go ahead, honey, and talk yourself up all you want, but let Toral handle her own shameless self-promotion.
Of course, left to her own devices, Toral could only criticize her teammates, whom she didn’t even really see as her coworkers. After Capital Edge lost to Excel on the Dairy Queen Blizzard promotional pitch, Toral said, “I’m happy that they lost!” She didn’t even see herself as part of the group and expressed delight that the likes of Felisha, Jennifer, and Kristi were finally put in their place. Who’s in her place now, biotch? As a self-proclaimed “person of stature and respect,” Toral certainly did a fine job of making an ass out of herself on national television, far more so than if she had just shut up and agreed to wear that silly costume.
And how about that costume? Capital Edge’s creation of Zip, the unidentifiable Blizzard-making creature, was definitely dumb. I was surprised when Alla and the others shot down Jennifer’s initial suggestion to put a DQ t-shirt on Zip and knew that the lack of branding would be the team’s demise. The Excel Corporation probably could have dressed Mark up in a Dairy Queen t-shirt and jeans, pitched him as the Blizzard Beefcake, and still have won the task. Their Ginny the Blizzard Genie character was pretty dumb, but at least they had sense enough to outfit “her” with a DQ belt buckle.
Even though I wasn’t impressed with Ginny, I have to give mad props to Mark, a 35-year-old wealth manager from Louisville, for dressing up as a woman on national TV. I wasn’t sure if I liked him at first, but he really won me over with his enthusiasm on this task. And after getting a chance to hang out with the Mets, Mark even admitted that he’d don the drag again if it meant he’d be able to play catch with the pros. Way to get in touch with your feminine side, dude!
While Mark was off channeling his previously untapped girl power, Clay was getting in touch with his inner bitch yet again. Josh, one of my favorite players on the show to date, hit the nail on the head once again with his observations of Clay as a tyrant. While comparing Clay to Napoleon and Hitler struck me as a little bit harsh, I was a bit appalled at Clay’s management style. I have a feeling that this man was raised in an environment in which he was expected to be seen and not heard and was probably given the strap when he got out of line. His methods of negative reinforcement (i.e. putting “the fear of losing into everyone”) may have been ineffective if the guys had been up against any real competition from the women.
Although Toral was definitely a bad seed and a detriment to Capital Edge, I have to agree with Jennifer in that I don’t think she ultimately led to the team’s defeat. Although the defining moment was only briefly shown, I would say that Alla was really the one to blame, as she was the first to nix Jennifer’s initial idea of putting the DQ logo on Zip. Felisha was OK as project manager, although I think she should have asked someone else to wear the costume, since any fool could have seen that Toral was not going to “lower” herself to do something so degrading. I laughed when the Donald looked Toral straight in the eye and told her that he appeared on Saturday Night Live in a chicken suit. Even though I’ve ripped on Trumpo a lot in the past, I have to give him credit for his sense of humor. He has oil portraits of himself hanging in Mar-a-Lago, but he obviously doesn’t take himself seriously all the time. I like that.
I also like Marshawn. She handles pressure well, as was evidenced by her articulate justification for Capital Edge’s decision to very, very subtly brand Zip. She also did well in the boardroom when Trump asked the team if Toral was the real reason that they won or lost. She stated that Toral was really a nonentity and therefore couldn’t be part of a victory or loss. I’m sure that Marshawn’s experience of competing in the Miss America pageant served her well in the arena of fielding difficult questions in a swift and eloquent manner. Jennifer, who also has pageant experience, doesn’t appear to be quite as adept in this area, probably because she was part of the Miss USA competition, which is far less substantive than Miss America. Still, despite her elaborate coifs and condescending presentation style, I find myself rooting for Jennifer, as I think she has a lot to offer.
However, with glimpses into next week’s episode, it looks like things could turn sour for Jennifer, who was shown butchering the pronunciation of Zanthura, the new picture from Sony that the teams are asked to promote. And given the fact that Jen is shown crying in the presence of some of the men, I would say that the Donald is about to switch up the teams. Things are about to go coed, and I can’t wait to see what happens.
