The Apprentice 4, Episode 8: Fired, You Are

Excel gets ready for the boardroom. Brian says he’s packed all of his bags, noting that Randal doesn’t have to. Randal is about 50 feet taller than Brian, bringing to mind images of Chewbacca and Yoda from Episode III, though again that might just be in my mind. Brian says he’ll fight, but he’s worried. Randal thinks that the other team was more creative, but more importantly, really hit the mark. Randal thinks Brian is responsible for that, as team leader. Brian burns the cookies he’s baking and says in a voiceover that although he bears some of the responsibility, his team let him down. Rebecca talks to him about Marshawn backing out of the presentation. She thinks Marshawn should be fired for dropping the ball.

The candidates head to the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is the Boardroom. Brian explains their good vs. evil concept. Randal admits that is was his idea and thinks that the concept itself was good, thought he execution was not. Trump heard about their missing the meeting and asks about it. Rebecca says that it was Brian’s fault that they were late. Trump says that giving yourself just 15 minutes to get to a meeting in New York is crazy. Brian admits that he lives in Manhattan, and Trump is even more blown away that he thinks it would work to get there in 15 minutes. Brian blames traffic, but Trump isn’t having it. Trump says it would take 45 minutes to an hour to get there.

As soon as this episode ended, New Yorker C. Brian Devinney emailed the staff of RNO to say that’s not the case, that it’s possible to get from Trump Tower to Chelsea in much less time than 45 minutes. I suspect I’ll hear from plenty of New Yorkers with an intimate knowledge of geography in Manhattan, but I’ll say this. Just because you could get there in 15 minutes doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to give yourself so little time to get to a key business meeting. I always leave for meetings well in advance, just in case I get stuck in traffic, get lost, or what have you. I hate being late and find it incredibly unprofessional. Brian should have given himself plenty of time to get there, even if it meant they had to kill some time because they got there early. Showing up late for that meeting was not only rude and unprofessional, but really started a bad domino effect for the team.

Brian says that he was not familiar with Star Wars, though he knew the main characters, and I have still not gotten over my shock at that. Randal says that they really should have met with the executives to get the right direction. Carolyn says that missing that meeting had a profound effect on the task, and Brian agrees.

Out of nowhere, Trump says that he feels like Brian hasn’t stepped up in weeks. Marshawn agrees, saying that Brian’s heart doesn’t seem to be in it anymore. Marshawn probably should have been quiet, because that prompts Carolyn to ask about the presentation. Why didn’t Marshawn do it, Trump wonders. He says that Rebecca did quite well for having so little preparation time. Marshawn says that she was going to do the presentation, but thought Brian would have done better. Trump says that Brian would have been the worst. Brian, seeing a way to take the heat off of him, says that he is a terrible presenter. Marshawn says that she didn’t back out at the last minute, that Rebecca had two hours to prepare. Rebecca counters that it was only half an hour. Either way, that really isn’t good. Rebecca explains that since neither Marshawn nor Brian wanted to do it, she volunteered. Did Randal lose his voice? Anyway, Marshawn says that she doesn’t think Rebecca did better than she would have, but that she did well. Rebecca said she just wanted to get the job done.

Bill now turns to Marshawn and says that at this point in the interview process, she should really try to show her strengths. Why didn’t she take this opportunity to dazzle Trump? Marshawn says she was prepared to do it, but ultimately did not. Trump gets her to admit that it was her idea to not present. Bill thinks she abandoned her team. Carolyn still doesn’t understand why Marshawn didn’t present and demands an answer. Marshawn says that she thought Brian should have done it because it suited his “communication style.” Trump thinks that’s crazy. Bill asks, why take the gamble? Why not have Marshawn, who does public speaking professionally, do it?

The answer, of course, is not that Marshawn thought Brian would do better. In reality, she was afraid they were going to lose and didn’t want to be responsible for anything, near as I can tell. It was a bad tactic to take. Because Rebecca did do the presentation, and did a totally respectable job of it, she wound up being a shining star in an otherwise pitiful task. Marshawn just came across as a shirker.

Trump says that Brian was a terrible leader and should have known better than to leave with so little time to get to an appointment. Brian is fired. And, for good measure, so is Marshawn! He hates that she let her team down. Wow, I was not expecting that at all, since Trump just had a multiple firing. They both deserved to go. Brian’s decision to leave so little time to get to an appointment was a huge mistake. It was rude and unprofessional, and it cost the team the opportunity to learn from the executives. Considering that all of them but Randal have been living under rocks and don’t know Star Wars, they really needed that expertise. Marshawn was also unprofessional, backing down from her responsibility at the eleventh hour. The team has a great public speaker on the team, but she refused to let them use her talents. Up until this episode, I thought Marshawn was really smart, but she sure wasn’t this week.

Trump boots everyone out of his office and says that Brian never stepped up, and that Marshawn disappointed him. Carolyn agrees that Brian should have been fired, and Bill thinks Marshawn should have been the one to go. Hey, everybody wins. Well, okay, not Marshawn or Brian. But everyone else wins!

Marshawn and Brian share a cab, and Marshawn has a lot to say about how Brian screwed up. Brian sits in awkward silence.

I’m hoping for a Randal/Alla final two.

Next week, we’re down to the final six. The candidates will have to write a song for XM Radio, which I love almost as much as I love coffee and Tivo. And one of the candidates will make a fatal mistake. See you then!

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online, which puts her on the RNO Jedi Council. She can be reached with any comments at betsywasser@gmail.com .

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