The Apprentice 2 Finale: Three Trumptastic Hours

Jen’s team wraps things up at the basketball game and thanks Pamela, Chris, and Lil Stacy for their hard work. George says that the team ended up being more organized than he thought they’d be at first. Jennifer says she feels very confident in her chances of wining and hopes Trump sees her passion.

Kelly thanks his team for a successful event. Carolyn says that the event had some problems along the way, but that in the end, it was a success.

Jen and Kelly get ready for the final boardroom. They think about the big moment that’s about to come and how their lives might be about to change. Kelly says in an interview that he doesn’t respect Jen and is not afraid to go against her in the boardroom. Jennifer says that she doesn’t think Kelly has the drive or ambition to be successful. Wha? There are plenty of things you can criticize Kelly for, but not being ambitious isn’t one of them.

It’s time for the boardroom. Pamela, Lil Stacy, Chris, John, Elizabeth, and Raj enter, and I notice that Chris, John, and George are all sporting Trump fashion statement pink ties. Trump asks Pamela how Jennifer did. Pamela says Jennifer did her best, tried hard, but did not do a good job of prioritizing how to spend her time. Pamela then hits the nail on the head, saying, “I don’t think Jennifer’s style is to go above and beyond the call of duty.” Well put, Pamela, and we’ve seen it in just about every task. Pamela concludes by saying that in the end, it’s congratulations on a job done, not a job well done.

Chris says that Jennifer was good at delegating, but that if he’d been in charge, he would have been more hands-on. Lil Stacy says that Jennifer is sharp and tough. She adds, “She will not take crap sitting down.”

Please take a moment to think about, and laugh at, that statement. I’ll wait.

Ready? Let’s move on. Trump says that Jennifer did a good job of greeting him and getting him situated, but that she then disappeared. Pamela explains that she filled the role of ambassador to the NBA and to the sponsors. Stacy asks Trump if he wants someone who will put in face time or someone who will do the work. Trump says he would prefer for someone to do the work, and Lil Stacy says that in that case, he should hire Jennifer. She believes Jennifer deserves to win.

John tells Trump that Kelly got great results and that it was a job well done. Elizabeth says Kelly’s only miss was not catering better to the VIPs. Trump praises Elizabeth for her hard work and says she was much less docile on this task. Elizabeth thanks him and says it was important to make all of those wealthy sponsors and guests feel posh.

Raj says that Kelly lacks charisma. Trump makes him admit that he doesn’t like Kelly. Raj says that he thinks Kelly would do a solid job working for Trump, but that he wouldn’t be a dynamo.

Trump concludes by surveying the candidates on who they think should win. Stacy and Chris choose Jennifer. Raj, Elizabeth, and John choose Kelly, though John admits that he doesn’t know Jen very well. Pamela is reluctant to choose either of them. Trump thanks them all for their help.

Robin sends Jennifer and Kelly into the boardroom. He starts with Jennifer. He says that he was greeted late, seated at what was, at least, a clean chair, and then Jennifer vanished. Jen says that she was working with Genworth and putting out fires. Trump adds that no one said goodbye to him. Future candidates, take note: suck up to Trump! George asks why Jen didn’t cater more to the sponsors, why she didn’t get in more face to face time. Jennifer actually argues with him and says that she did cater to them. George simply says that Genworth’s perception was that they were not taken care of well enough, which prompts Jennifer to sound very defensive. Carolyn asks her if she focused too much on the minor details. Jennifer says that she gave her teammates each a big focus, but that she needed to be the one to handle all of the little details. George wonders if Jennifer is capable of handling those things that should not be delegated.

Carolyn tells Kelly that although he delegated well, he didn’t motivate his staff. Trump says he heard there was tension on the team. Kelly says that’s true, and tells Trump about Elizabeth’s calling herself Raj’s dictator. Trump says that Raj is not a fan of Kelly’s. Kelly says that after this task, he respects Raj and that he worked hard. Carolyn accuses Kelly of spending too much time behind the computer, causing him to miss some valuable time with the sponsors and guests. Kelly agrees that it was a mistake, and says he should have brought the computer to a place where he could still interact with everyone else.

That’s a major difference between Kelly and Jennifer. George accused Jennifer of not spending enough time with the sponsors, and she argued with him about whether or not that was true. Carolyn accused Kelly of isolating himself, and he listened to her criticism and said he would do things differently. Kelly seems much more willing to learn from his mistakes and to take criticism.

Trump then asks the two candidates what they think of each other. Kelly says that he has not seen Jennifer lead. She interrupts to remind him that they worked together exactly one time. Then, she says that she questions Kelly’s integrity because she has known him to talk about her behind her back. That makes Kelly a gossip, not necessarily dishonest, because I don’t believe we ever saw him be nice to her to her face. He accuses her of eavesdropping and says that other candidates wanted to talk to him about her. Jen says that Kelly is manipulative and that he is trying to be manipulative now. I don’t really see that, but whatever. Neither of them came across too favorably in this exchange.

Jen says Trump should hire her because she’s passionate and driven. She’s willing to stay up late to get the job done, and that she managed to inspire people she’d previously fired. I do believe Trump fired those people, Jen, but we get you. Kelly, she says, does not have that drive.