The Apprentice 2: Why Jennifer C. Lost

The fourth rule is to not be one-dimensional. Frankly, I really didn’t see any dimensions to Jennifer as far as ability or talent. But really, that wasn’t the reason she was fired.

Fifth we have being loyal. In this case, it wasn’t Jennifer’s actions with regard to this rule that mattered, but those of Sandy. Sandy was Jennifer’s good pal. Sandy was loyal. Well, until they got to the Boardroom and Sandy was asked by Trump who she would fire. Guess who? Jennifer! But Jennifer didn’t let that lapse into disloyalty get in her way. She still didn’t bring Sandy to the final Boardroom with her. If she had, then we might have been looking at “Why Sandy Lost” (though I still don’t think we would have, and if we had I think it would not have been deserved). But Jennifer failed to let the disloyalty sink in.

The sixth rule is to not show your hand. Jennifer certainly blew that one, as both Stacy and Elizabeth knew they were going to the Boardroom at the end. This game them both (especially Stacy) time to prepare what they were going to say. And on the flip side, she had assured Sandy that she would not be going, which gave Sandy the freedom to tell Trump that Jennifer should be fired.

Did Jennifer abide by the seventh rule, playing well with others? I think that’s a pretty obvious no. She complained and complained about people throughout the series. She whined about “havoc wreakers.” Etc.

Jennifer also failed in the second half of this rule, which is to stay professional. One example of failing here was mentioned specifically in the rule: “Ereka let Katrina escape the Boardroom because of their friendship, and Trump knew it. … Ereka ended up going home.” Jennifer did the same thing with Sandy – and what’s worse is he did it when Bill Rancic was subbing for George! Bill had seen that very thing happen on his own season, and he was less than impressed. He even lectured her for it! But she paid him no heed. Although décor was rated the lowest and Sandy was in charge of décor, Jennifer chose not to bring Sandy along and instead picked two people who had nothing to do with the loss but were personal enemies of Jennifer’s. Bad move.

Eighth we have the rule to focus on the long-term. This one really didn’t come into play in Jennifer’s firing, so we’ll move on to the ninth rule, which says to think outside the box, but not too far. Jennifer didn’t want to go with a basic Italian restaurant. She wanted something more interesting than that. Fine. But she never bothered to research the area to see if it would fit in. Then, when it didn’t, she blamed the people who were coming to the restaurant! Too far outside the box, Jennifer.

Finally, we have the most basic of rules: Use common sense. Just as Jason in the first series didn’t bother to talk to his client in order to find out what they were looking for, Jennifer didn’t bother to look at the neighborhood to find out what patrons might be looking for. It seems like it should be common sense to see what would fit before just opening a restaurant wherever you please and decorating it a certain way – not to mention having all the employees dress a certain way. Also, I hate to go back to this again but did it really make sense to blame those two old women for their loss? I mean, come on.

Jennifer made bad decisions and believed they were signs that she was getting rid of discord. She blamed other people who had nothing to do with her team’s loss, but failed to put the blame where it properly belonged. She allowed emotions to get in the way of who she brought with her to the Boardroom. And she just would not shut up. There was never really any doubt that Jennifer would be fired this week. Jennifer held herself out to be a great leader, but in fact she was nothing of the sort. That is why Jennifer lost.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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