The Apprentice 5: Why Bryce Lost

Bryce knew that the eighth rule was a problem – it tells contestants to be creative. While one would presume jingle-writing won’t be a big part of the eventual Apprentice’s job duties, this task did show something about who could be creative in general and who couldn’t. Bryce admitted he could not, at least not in this situation.

While Charmaine might have missed on the lyrics and Tarek might have missed on the music, at least they did their best. As I discussed last week, I don’t think people should be punished for putting forth ideas when the rest of the team agrees – that’s what happened here. Charmaine came up with the lyrics and Bryce approved them (plus, it’s really his fault that the lyrics didn’t contain the vital information). Tarek came up with the tune, but Bryce approved it and certainly nobody else on the team disagreed.

So Bryce was not creative enough to tackle the majority of this task himself. However, he recognized that fact and stood up to Trump rather than bringing back the creative minds behind the work they did.

The ninth rule says applicants cannot be one-dimensional. Bryce seemed to understand that, as he flat-out told Trump that if he was looking for a jingle-writer, Bryce was not his man. Indeed, Trump doesn’t need a jingle-writer. He needs a leader who has other abilities as well. Bryce showed good leadership, but he was missing the other dimensions Trump is seeking – at least, he didn’t show them here.

Finally, we have the rule telling people to use common sense. Within the confines of the game, ‘fessing up and taking the blame as project manager is a sure way to get fired. Thus, the contestant who wants to remain on the show would be wise to use common sense and avoid doing this. Bryce, however, was looking more at the common sense taught to him in his upbringing. That common sense told him that if he was in charge, he should step up and take his medicine – and that’s exactly what he did.

There were other elements of common sense in play here as well. For example, the rule specifically says, “Project managers … need to listen to Trump during the first phase of the Boardroom and pay attention to what he says about people.” I think Bryce tried to do this. He knew Lenny was coming, that was a given. But when Trump took a few shots at Lee, I think Bryce saw it as an opportunity to bring somebody else along without much risk. Like Trump himself said in the final Boardroom, there’s no way he was going to fire Lee for observing a religious holiday!

But Bryce didn’t want to give in to Trump when it came to bringing Charmaine and Tarek into the Boardroom. He probably knew Trump would want them in there, but he simply refused. He would not blame them when he had the final approval.

Bryce did something we rarely see on The Apprentice – he stood up to Donald Trump, and he did so forcefully! Even Trump recognized that Bryce has great potential, and I agree. Bryce took responsibility for the loss and shouldered the blame, the way a good manager should. In the real world, most people would admire a man behaving like Bryce. On The Apprentice, though, somebody has to be fired, and if only one person is taking the blame, and that person refuses to point the finger elsewhere, there really is no other choice Trump could make. Bryce effectively told Trump to fire him because he would not allow the game to change what he knew was right. That is why Bryce lost.

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

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: Exile Island and American Idol 5. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

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