The Apprentice 4, Episode 12: Sweet Charity

Randal and his team meet with the CEO of Autism Speaks, Allison. Allison shares with them that one out of 166 children are now diagnosed with autism, a fact that has Josh visibly shaken. Allison sees his reaction and says that they’re most successful when they lead with facts like that. In an interview, Josh says that his wife is pregnant with their first child (congratulations, Josh!), and the idea that the child might have a challenge like autism is sobering. He says that he is now even more determined to help Randal pull of a great event. Allison says in an interview that Josh seems more like the leader of the group. He suggests that they get some megaphones, to emphasize the “speaks” part of Autism Speaks. Randal and Rebecca know of a Radio Shack where you can get nine of them. Randal likes the idea and wonders aloud if they can fit into the budget. This doesn’t please Allison, who thinks Randal is too focused on the operational details and isn’t focused enough on the message.

Meanwhile, Chris and James are really excited because they’re going to dinner with Joe Piscopo. They tell him about the goals of the event, and Joe says it’s for a great cause, so he’s happy to do it. He thinks the two guys are on the right track. They walk back home feeling good. James thinks they formed a good relationship with Joe, which will inspire him to give his all. They join Rebecca and Toral. Rebecca says in an interview that her team is a lot more awake at the moment than she is. She thanks Chris and James for going to the dinner - she figured they could handle it, and she’ll meet with Joe later. In an interview, Chris says he has a lot of respect for Rebecca. She’s done everything Trump asked of her, all on one leg. He loves Randal, but he’s going to work hard for Rebecca. That’s both Chris and James now saying they love Randal, so you can really tell what a well-liked guy Randal is.

On Randal’s team, Mark makes an appointment to meet with their color commentator. Before he goes, Randal wants Mark to go with the rest of the team to Party City. Mark reschedules his appointment, but wonders why all four of them need to go to the party store. Yeah, I’d like to know that, too.

Rebecca’s team orders more chairs and sets up the club. They’re all working really hard.

Randal, Mark, Marshawn, and Josh are all at Party City browsing for what they need. Josh is excited to find plastic megaphones. Mark realizes that he’s running late, and calls the commentator to apologize – he won’t be able to make it. In an interview, Mark says this is the first bad decision he’s seen Randal make.

Rebecca meets with the Elizabeth Glaser people, including Elizabeth’s son Jake. Jake agrees to speak at the event.

Randal and Josh take the limo to the stadium and get excited about the built-in desks. Randal reviews the layout, including the placement of the tents, with the Outback executives. They figure since it’s not going to rain, they don’t need to have all of the chairs set up under tents. The God of Irony starts to giggle.

The Yahoo executives come to the club to meet Rebecca. She reviews the set-up with them, down to the purple and white confetti on the bar. Wenda, one of the executives, questions where that confetti needs to be placed. Wow, that’s some impressive micromanaging. They ask her about food, and Rebecca reassures them that although they’re using a lot of purple in the décor (it’s Yahoo’s color), there will be no purple cake.

As for fundraising, Rebecca says one of the ideas they had was to auction off the opportunity to sit in a special seat for the show. Wenda says that she doesn’t want to press their VIP clients to donate on the spot. Toral asks the question I have which is if they should directly ask for donations that night or not. The answer is no- the executives just want to include contribution envelopes in the gift bags. Wow, that’s way too soft of a sell, as far as I’m concerned, but I’m not sure what Rebecca can really do about it. She says she’ll do as they ask.

Over at Excel, Mark is very hard at work setting up the field. Marshawn observes from their box that Mark’s middle name is “I’ll Make It Happen.” Mark might be working hard, but he wonders what the other three are doing inside. The Outback people wonder too. In particular, executive Ben wants to see Randal working. They won’t have time to set up in the morning, Ben says. Mark doesn’t answer questions about what the team’s doing, but assures Ben that he’ll take care of everything. A moment later, Ben is in the box talking to Randal. He says again that everything has to be set up that night, and Randal agrees. Ben tells him that there better not be any glitches, as Randal is there to represent his brand. For a brand with the tagline “No rules, just right,” Ben’s quite the taskmaster!

Rebecca’s team gets some bad news – Joe Piscopo calls and says that due to union issues, he won’t be able to perform. He tells James he hopes they can work something out with the union. In case they can’t, James asks Joe if he can recommend someone else to do the job. Joe cannot. Chris is very upset, saying that this is a possible failure of the task. Rebecca looks a bit worried as well.

Randal and his crew set up tables and such in the dark. Randal says he’s determined to prove “I can be urgent.” He says that they’re running all kinds of scenarios so they’ll be prepared for the unexpected. Good thing he is, because the God of Irony is totally awake and is calling for rain the day of Randal’s event.

Next week, we’ll see the conclusion of the final task. Can Randal deal with the rain, and what is Rebecca going to do without an MC? Then, the “toughest final two yet” will meet for a live finale, and one will be hired. I still think Randal will pull it out to win at the end, but we’ll soon find out. See you then!

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with any comments at betsywasser@gmail.com