The Apprentice 2, MVP and LVP: Final Corner Office and Mailroom Assignments

His team has a finite amount of time to put the gig together, and John and Co. are doing wind sprints. Why? Because Kelly hasn't let them do their tasks. He's hovering too much and it's ticked them off. Kelly needs to remember that these people have healthy egos (especially Raj) which were severely bruised by being fired and then brought back to help another win a spot for which they thought they were perfect. It's Kelly's biggest flaw besides his lack of personality – he doesn't size people up well. However, he did close down Jen beautifully during the catfight, and I give him props for that.

What Kelly needed to do and didn't seem to comprehend were three things: (1) Give the group small tasks they can do on their own. Give them some rein and see how they do. That's called management. (2) You have an outdoor event, check the freakin' forecast. (3) Always have a backup plan. Kelly's seems to be prayer. I would try setting up a tent and planning an indoor event in case it was too rainy. Here's hoping he comes up with some alternative.

His team picks were wonderful. His management skills were not. Also, he doesn't seem great at thinking on his feet. I can't give him the corner office for the whole week based on his mixed success, but he can have it for three days – his pick. I'll reconsider the rest of the week after I see how he fixes the polo fiasco.

Jen: Why is she still here? Carolyn looks like she swallowed a lemon whole. I was yelling at my TV. It's not just that Kevin left, but Jen is awful. She's humorless, lacking in personality, and lacking in tact. Her attempt to outyell Sandy just underscored her lack of business propriety. She should have remained calm and stated something to the effect of, "a Princeton and Harvard background have equipped me with the training and skills to have a mature and educated argument about our respective merits. I refuse to get into a screaming match." Instead, she threw herself into the mud pit. And I thought she lost the fight. Sandy is more shrill, to be sure, but she thinks better on her feet. How The Donald could determine that Jen bested Sandy is beyond me.

Then there are her poor choices for her team. Pamela is not the best choice, for many reasons. Pammy prefers to lead and, as we saw in the ice cream task, can be a source of delays and poor performance. The basketball event, more so than the polo event, requires someone with a better people skills than Pamela possesses. I think Chris was an okay choice for the task for that reason, although he is a bit abrasive and is too much of a whiner. Then there's Stacy R. Well, Jen got stuck with her, so there isn’t much she could have done, I guess.

As for her behavior during the first part of the challenge, she illustrated exactly what the "experts" didn't like about her in their interviews. She's lacking in motivation and direction. When she didn't have a plan for the Genworth people, they were ticked. It's one thing to present a plan and make it clear that the client can and should bring up alternatives, but to have nothing to present is pathetic.

Also, as seen in her fights in the boardroom, she needs to work on her people skills. When the clients arrived, she didn't go to meet them. She made them come to her. Bad form. Finally, her yelling at Chris Weber's manager/assistant was awful. I can understand her being upset, but who would be more willing to help fix the situation, one who had been talked to politely but firmly, or one who had been screamed at?

It's been a long time in coming, but Jen, get thee to the mailroom, tout suite. You need to work with the little people a bit and get your nose out of the air. You need to develop a sensitivity to others and an understanding of what real work is before taking on the responsibility for managing others.

That's it. There's no need to tally anymore (:::sniff:::). The show's almost over. Thanks again for listening to my rants and for responding to my quips. Make sure to catch the finale next week!

Mel Ellis is a prosecutor and loves a good debate. Feel free to email her with your thoughts on who should be or should have been mail clerks or apprentice CEO's. You can reach Mel at melzreality@yahoo.com.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Apprentice 2 Episode 14 articles:

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of our recent articles on this show at our The Apprentice page and take a look at our sections on Survivor: All-Stars and Celebrity Mole. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about The Apprentice, be sure to check out SirLinksALot!