Next Action Star, Episode 4: Action Star Bootcamp

The auditions are over, the quarter-finals are a memory, and the semi-finals are history. Welcome to the finals, ladies and gentlemen (and Viviana). In this first week of the finals, the producers waste no time in putting the finalists through a hair-raising action sequence.

The episode begins with an explanation (what we in The Biz like to call "exposition") of the upcoming screen test, called "Special Ops." White screenplay-style text magically appears on the screen telling us that the scene we're about to see will take place in the exterior (showbiz talk for the outdoors) during the day. The scene description tells us there are, "Two downed PILOTS, injured and on the run behind enemy lines..." The finalists' mission (and they have no choice but to accept it) is to rescue their teammates, while avoiding enemy fire.

Host Tina Malave welcomes the 14 finalists to their "new Hollywood lifestyle" and opens a pair of 20-foot black wrought iron gates that reveal the Hollywood mansion where the finalists will be staying. Continuing in his role as the show's unofficial narrator, Jared mentions that upon seeing the mansion, everyone's jaws just fell to the ground in shock at the size and beauty of the place. Corinne is psyched to discover that the house boasts an enormous gym in one room.

Of course, no Hollywood Hills mansion would be complete without the requisite Olympic-size pool. Just like no episode of Next Action Star would be complete without some Colombian Mama Drama. Marching to the beat of her own drum, as always, Viviana is the only female housemate to go swimming that day. She didn't bring a bathing suit, but no problem – she'll just go swimming in her g-string and sports bra.

Next up is roommate selection. As Greg mentions, it’s pretty much "whoever happened to be next to you at the time you walk into a room is your roommate.” Linda is elated to be sharing a room with Mae and does the Dance of Joy to prove it. Viviana meanwhile is not as happy to find Jared and John upstairs in the room she claimed to have called dibs on when they entered the house. Mélisande walks in, sees the room is taken and promptly leaves. After swearing and demanding the room, but seeing no way out, Viviana decides to do the mature thing and stick her tongue out at the guys as she left. Of course, being gentlemen, Jared and John eventually give the room to the girls.

On to business, and the first order of the day is an acting lesson with Acting Instructor Extraordinaire Howard Fine at his acting studio. Host Tina Malave mentions that over the next five weeks, Howard will be coaching them himself and will also be awarding Casting Cards. This is the equivalent of a getting a Joker in a deck of playing cards. It allows you to choose the ensemble with whom you'd like to perform, and the role you want for this screen test. As you may have seen in the last couple of episodes of The Apprentice, this kind of choice can be mighty helpful in picking the best ensemble, and by extension how the judges ultimately view your performance.

The finalists are told to bring something of sentimental value to class. This is for an exercise that Howard calls "emotional recall. He asks the finalists to tell the group about their object's significance and what memories it evokes, causing them to relive that memory.

Jeanne's object is a picture of the child she put up for adoption, and the adoptive parents who wanted Jeanne to remain a part of her daughter's life. As Jeanne recounts her memory, not only does she start crying, but so do many of the other women.

Harold's (aka House's) objects – as he has three of them – each represent some kind of growth from the gangsta that he used to be to the person he is today. Howard asks him to recap his lowest point, which involved selling drugs. Harold is so lost in the memory, tears dripping off his face, that he completely zones out. Howard tries calling his name several times in a vain attempt to snap him back to reality, it takes a long time and many attempts, but Harold finally looks up at Howard, lets go of the memory, and returns from his reverie.

Since Howard mentioned he was looking for someone who dug very deeply, he awards Casting Cards to both Jeanne and Harold.

On to role selection, and Tina announces that the finalists will be split into two teams: Alpha and Bravo. Having the Casting Card means that Jeanne and Harold are the Team Leaders and that each gets to pick their team, just like high school P.E.

Team Alpha consists of Harold, Sean, Mark, and Viviana as the commandos who need to work as a team to pull off the rescue, Santino is cast as the Sniper who works alone, and Linda and John are the pilots in need of rescuing. Team Bravo's commandoes are Jeanne, Corinne, Mélisande, and Somere. Mae is cast as the sniper, while Jared and Greg are the pilots.

Notice that the teams are pretty much divided along gender lines with only two exceptions per team. So while Team Alpha has most of the men, Team Bravo has most of the better actors (including all my favorites).

Once rehearsals start, Viviana and Jared have an explosive argument over the positioning of a chair, which ends in Viviana walking out on rehearsals and going up to her room.

The next day starts with firearms training given by Brett McQueen and Scott Reitz, two members of the International Tactical Training Seminars. As Reitz describes it, "We train actors how to look good on screen." No toy guns today. These guns are the real thing with real blanks that are still capable of causing serious injuries. As Jared says to Viviana — who apparently wasn't paying attention when Scott said that safety is of paramount importance — "That's a real gun, sweetheart." John admits that he doesn't want to be near Viviana while she is armed.

This kind of behavior bore out my fears of what I like to call The Omarosa Effect. As you may have seen on the last two episodes of The Apprentice, Kwame Jackson picked Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth for his team, only to have her end up making several critical mistakes that affected her entire team, especially Kwame. The same thing happens here.

The goal of the firing range exercise is to practice for a timed speed test. Each team has to rescue their "injured pilots" while maintaining cover fire and get all team members, including the "pilots" back onto the vehicle as quickly as possible. Reitz mentions that field teams can do this in 10 seconds.

Team Bravo is up first and accomplishes the maneuver in 19.57 seconds, almost double a field team's time. Team Alpha doesn't fare as well, completing the mission in 29.41 seconds. The time difference is in large part due to the fact that Viviana has no idea how to hold and shoot her gun efficiently and safely, thus costing her team valuable seconds.