Apr 23 2007
Not a Strong Opening
After a brief introduction by Trump (flanked by kids Ivanka and Don, Jr) telling us that they are live at the Hollywood Bowl, the show goes into a 10-minute long (yes, we timed it) recap of what happened on this show since Day 1. Since we've already recapped the entire season, we're not going to recap the recap.
Amazing What Can Happen in a 'Week'
For some reason, the show continued to persist with the pretense that this all happened within the span of 14 weeks, having Trump refer to the events of 'last week.' We all know this show was pre-recorded and if we didn't, the fact that all the wannabes now look different - Stefani, in particular grew her hair out about 4 inches and changed the color - is a dead giveaway.
Another Recap
We already knew this show was going to be mainly filler until the final moments but having the former wannabes recap their 'greatest hits (or misfires)' was really pushing it.
The Projects
Trump finally got down to business when he introduced the two choices of projects the winning Apprentice would choose from. One was to build yet another set of Trump Towers in Atlanta. The other was to build a golf resort in the Caribbean. The final four selected their 'dream job' along gender lines with James/Frank picking the Atlanta project, while Nicole/Stefani chose the Caribbean project.
Early Firings
We knew Frank/Nicole were toast when both Ivanka and Don, Jr. zeroed in on them early on. Ivanka called them out on their Renuzit ad and said she was 'disappointed,' while Don, Jr. called them out on the fact that their choice of returning teammates showed poor decision-making on both their parts.
Loving the Irony
Trump fired Frank for bringing Surya back (how's that for ironic) as well as making some other errors, while he fired Nicole for bringing Tim back, saying he wasn't a fan of interoffice romances. We really love the fact that the Ticole showmance ended up biting both Tim and Nicole in the butts in the end. Let that be a lesson to all you future showmancers!
George Returns
The surprise guest that was touted from the opening turned out to be former 'right-hand man' George, who basically came out to point out what weaknesses James and Nicole had in order for Trump and his progeny to have something to talk about because there was still time to kill before Trump would finally make his decision. George found that James tended to get lost in the details while Stefani didn't show a lot of leadership skill. Both James and Stefani deflected questions about their weaknesses skillfully.
The Real World
Don, Jr. made a speech about how this was a reality show and 'in the real world' things would be different but we couldn't quite focus because we were thinking how in Don, Jr.'s 'real world' he grew up privileged and wanting for nothing, only to then have a cushy job handed to him by Daddy. If only we all got to live in that 'real world' Don, Jr.!
