Well surprise, surprise. Or maybe not. Perhaps I should have been able to predict that Trump would fire two of the four remaining contestants this past week. After all, he did the same thing to Felisha and Alla last season, leaving Rebecca and Randall as the final two. I have to wonder if this is the Donald’s new policy in lieu of putting the final four or three through an interview process with his cohort of CEOs like he did in previous seasons. There certainly wasn’t time for another task before the final two, and it would have been a little silly to have the players working two against one. So it makes sense that El Trumpo would get rid of two in the interest of neatly sewing up another season of The Apprentice.
In any event, Team Synergy, despite its possession of four X chromosomes, was unable to pull out a win on a task that required them to revamp uniforms for Embassy Suites employees. In her cab ride home, Tammy accurately predicted that Allie and Roxanne would “crash and burn” on a task that wasn’t sales-related. I agree with her that the show’s two latest casualties were very good at selling but didn’t necessarily shine in other types of tasks. It’s true that Roxanne was victorious as project manager on the cruise line advertisement project, and she certainly had a way with words in the boardroom, but that wasn’t enough to take her to the end. As for Allie, who has many strengths, she proved in the end that she has some problems getting along with people and does not have a problem getting vicious if she thinks it will get her farther ahead. In case Allie hadn’t noticed, all of the past winners were people who kept trash talk and back-stabbing to a minimum. If Allie had made it to the final two, she probably would have gotten the kind of ass-whupping that Tana endured for being so negative about people in season three.
I’m sure that Trump and Burnett put this double firing on the agenda well before they began taping this season of The Apprentice. However, hats off to the Donald for making it look as though he was making a spur-of-the-moment decision. On the other hand, how could he really choose between the two of them? Although Allie was the PM, both she and Roxanne screwed up enough to take equal blame for their loss. It’s possible that Roxanne could have used Allie’s rudeness with the designer and her decision not to put the front desk people in pants as leverage to get Allie kicked out, but she should have been more vocal about correcting those things during the task.
And so much for the bonds of sisterhood. In a scene that could have been interpreted as poignant or part of a lesbian fantasy, Roxanne curled up around Allie as the two shared a moment the evening after agreeing that they would not tear each other apart in the final boardroom. While that was a nice sentiment, I don’t see how it would have been possible for either of them to refrain from making any negative comments about the other person when they were both fighting to stay in the game. Sure, they could defend their choices, most of which turned out to be bad ones (cough, culottes). However, it was easier for Allie and Roxanne to simply do their damndest to make each other look as incompetent as possible. In the end, Trump was disgusted by their lack of loyalty and canned them both. Was he wrong to do so? Not really.
And thank God for metrosexuals. Sean kicked ass on this task and proved that he had more fashion sense than everyone else on the show combined. I loved the way Ivanka expressed her reverence for his fashion sense, as well as the fact that she revealed that her father wears a pink bathrobe (speaking of metrosexuals). With Lee at Sean’s side, Gold Rush was a well-oiled machine and won handily. I knew that their approach of simply modifying the existing uniforms would be successful. Even if neither Sean nor Lee had known a thing about fashion, they understood that the Embassy Suites employees had to wear the uniforms every day and wouldn’t want something wacky and outrageous. Sean’s assessment of Synergy’s designs was right on when he stated that Allie and Roxanne had really insulted the employees.
It was so sweet to hear Sean wax romantic about Tammy again, dedicating his win to her and hoping to have lots of little apprentice babies. I have to wonder how Tammy feels about that plan. In any event, it would be cute to see them hook up after the show. However, there may not be much time for loving if Sean wins, and I think that he stands a very good chance of doing so.
Yes, it’s down to the final two. I believe that both Sean and Lee are deserving, stand-up guys, but I think that Sean has the edge over Lee. Lee’s reputation as the group politician has made him appear a bit wishy-washy in Trump’s eyes. Sean has stood by his convictions firmly, even when Trump didn’t agree with him, such as when he defended Andrea before she was fired. One strike against Sean is that he can be a bit emotional and has done his share of talking smack during interviews, labeling other contestants as wankers on more than one occasion. Lee tends to be more even-keeled about such matters. However, Trump stated last week in the boardroom that he is a grudge-holder himself and can be very hot-headed when people piss him off, so perhaps he wouldn’t fault Sean for letting off steam about his frustrations.
And although it’s beyond anyone’s control, I think that Sean has an advantage simply because he’s eleven years older than Lee. The youngest contestant ever to win The Apprentice was Kendra at 26, while the youngest player to make it to the final two was Rebecca at 23. Experience and achievements speak for themselves, and even though Lee has done a lot for someone his age, his resume can’t really compete with Sean’s.
The fact that Lee did not participate in two of the tasks this season for religious reasons will almost certainly be mentioned at the finale. The Donald has made it clear that he was OK with Lee’s decision to observe two Jewish holidays, and Sean will almost certainly avoid attacking Lee for that. However, I have to wonder if it could still come back to haunt Lee in some way, perhaps making it look as though he coasted through a few tasks and rode coattails to get to the final two. But I don’t think so. Lee sat in on more final boardrooms than anyone this season and always managed to take the elevator back up to the suite, so he has proved that he can defend himself when his neck is on the line.
Despite their differences, Sean and Lee are evenly matched to go head to head in the final task. A lot will depend on what types of tasks they are given and who they choose to help them out. I’m certain that Sean will want Tammy and Andrea working for him, while Lee could very well recruit Lenny as his right-hand man. As for the others, it’s anybody’s guess. The only certainty is that this should be one hell of a showdown.
