The Apprentice 4, Episode 13: All the Marbles

Mark says that Randal heard Alison’s passion for curing autism and made their focus be fundraising. Chris says that he had never worked with Rebecca before, and that she impressed him. She’s very effective.

Josh interrupts and says that Rebecca did not go above and beyond. Chris disagrees – he respected her and she was a great manager. Trump asks Marshawn, who has worked with both candidates, who is better. Without hesitation, she names Randal. She won’t take away anything from Rebecca, who Marshawn likes, but she thinks Randal is better.

Carolyn says that Rebecca’s event was very well branded, more so than Randal’s. And why, she asks, did they not check the weather? Marshawn says that they did a great job of making changes at the last minute. That shows leadership. Josh agrees with Carolyn that Randal had no plan B, but thinks he faced the obstacles really well.

George asks Josh what went wrong? Josh says they should have had a rain plan, could have stuck the schedule better, and should have checked the weather. George thinks it was a mistake to not put the celebrities on the stage. Mark argues that the even was about raising money for autism, not about celebrities.

Trump asks if Randal is low key. Josh says he has a great resume and is very balanced. But is he tough enough for New York? Josh says yes. Trump says that Rebecca is very tough. Her defense of Toral also showed loyalty. James agrees. Toral adds that even when Rebecca hurt her ankle, she didn’t cry. “I think Rebecca is a better human being than I am,” Toral concludes. Well, that’s not setting the bar very high, is it? Chris adds that nothing fazes Rebecca. She brushed off the MC problem and moved on. Trump sighs, “I am stuck with two stars.” Poor Trump!

It’s time for Randal and Rebecca to go to the boardroom. Randal says he deserves the job because of his record, his being drafted by the other teams, and because of his outside experience and academic record. Rebecca says she’s competed with loyalty and honesty and isn’t afraid to go against the grain. She played well even with a broken ankle.

Randal, Trump points out, greeted him when he arrived, which Rebecca did not do. Trump thinks Randal’s room was bad, but Randal insists that it was the best choice they had. Trump tells him that he raised $11,000, then adds that Rebecca raised no money.

Rebecca explains (for what seems like the billionth time) that the Yahoo people didn’t want overt rquests for donations. George says that they could have done something else to raise money, such as a silent auction. Carolyn asks why Rebecca felt the need to act in Yahoo’s best interests, rather than the charity’s. Trump asks the big question- who was the client?

Randal jumps in that in his case, without a doubt, the charity was the more important of the two. Trump agrees. He tells Rebecca that she should have raised money, and all she can say is that she wishes they had.

Randal is not off the hook yet. Trump says that he has been better in past tasks than he was in this one (and I agree). Trump says that, for example, he would have liked to have seen a list of the items available for bid. George thinks the celebrities should have been on stage where people could see them. Randal disagrees – he liked the dynamic of having them in the crowd. Carolyn asks why on earth he didn’t check the weather. Randal says that he did the day before, and there was a 30% chance of rain. Carolyn says that in that case, he should have had a plan B. Randal tries to say that they had a partially formed backup plan, but George and Carolyn aren’t buying it. Randal argues that, in the end, he pulled it all together well. Trump says that Carolyn is often in charge of events that are affected by weather (remember, she runs Trump National), and she always has a contingency plan.

Trump asks Randal why he should not hire Rebecca. He says that at 23, she’s still young. Her 1-2 record as project manager is unimpressive. And her team didn’t respect her, releasing her as a weak player during the corporate reshuffle.

Trump poses the same question to Rebecca – why should he not hire Randal? Rebecca says that Randal is a great leader and she respects him, but he tends to overthink things. He misses the big picture because of his focus on details. That’s kind of funny, because that same criticism should be said of her on this last task. Randal disagrees. How can a man with a 3-0 record as project manager be a person who doesn’t see the big picture?

Trump asks George what the two candidates did right. George says they did a lot of things right. They had tough circumstances to deal with and rose to the occasion. Both of them are stars and would be great hires. Carolyn agrees that they’re both excellent. She says that they were able to motivate their teams and earned their respect. Rebecca’s event went very well, and Randal managed to pull his together. Plus, Randal’s team raised a lot of money. Trump concludes by complimenting the two candidates and sending them on their merry way.

So, what should Trump do? Both candidates made some real mistakes on this task. Randal was really foolish to not have a rain plan for his softball game. Carolyn is right – with a 30% chance of rain, he should have been prepared. In the end, though, he really got results, and that’s the most important thing in corporate America. As for Rebecca, the fact that she didn’t raise any money for Elizabeth Glaser was a real misfire. She was certainly put in a difficult position by the Yahoo executives. Yahoo was sponsoring the event, and the guests were VIPs invited by them, so it was reasonable for Rebecca to feel she needed to follow their wishes. On the other hand, Yahoo was not her client. Trump said when he gave out the tasks that the candidates would need to please both the sponsors and the charities; Rebecca really only pleased the sponsor. Rebecca didn’t hold a charity event; she held a Yahoo reception with an Elizabeth Glaser banner at it. I’m having a party on Saturday. If I stick brochures in my guests’ coat pockets, does that make it a fundraiser? George made a good point that she could have found ways to raise money besides directly asking for it. Randal’s end result in this task was better than Rebecca’s, so I would give him an edge, but only a slight one.

That leaves Trump to look at the candidates’ records. There is no comparison – Randal far outshines Rebecca. He had a perfect record as project manager, was on more winning teams, and clearly had everyone’s respect. Trump should hire Randal, though if he chooses Rebecca instead, I’m sure he’ll be happy with her.

We’re back at Lincoln Center, and Trump introduces a video reminding us of who Rebecca is. I think we all know by now, right? Rebecca enters the room, sans crutches and looking gorgeous. She greets everyone enthusiastically. Next we see a Randal video, and he joins the group, also looking gorgeous. “Two tough cookies, huh?” says Trump.

Trump decides to ask the fired candidates about Randal and Rebecca. He starts with Toral, who he says was abused, and “deservedly so.” Toral says that as a woman, she is very proud to support Rebecca. She’s smart, honest, trustworthy, and is overall better than Randal. Someone yells, “biased opinion.”

Next he turns to Marshawn. She says that Trump has an easy choice – it’s Randal all the way. He’s got the education, experience, ethics, and esteem of the team. That sentence was brought to you by the letter E!