The Apprentice 5, Episode 1 Extras: Seduced by Brainpower

Summer tries to use the dinner rush as an excuse, but Carolyn gets her by asking how many people she called. Bryce says that if Summer had called a few more restaurants, they might have won. Summer thinks that they should have used their budget better. Tarek asks if the problem was poor strategy or poor execution. Bryce says it was execution. Summer says that she and Lenny made tasks out of the bad assignments they were given. Bryce says something about calling restaurants between 1 and 3, but the point is lost when Carolyn speaks up that they can’t just blame the loss on strategy. Charmaine says that the loss isn’t just one person’s fault, but nevertheless, Summer needs to go.

Trump points out that Summer was right when she predicted that Gold Rush would lose. Whether the others like her or not, and whether or not they agree with her, she was right. Tarek thinks she just made a blind guess. George tells him to look at the time frame - when she made the prediction, she didn’t know the results. He thinks her outspokenness took courage because if she’d been wrong, she might have alienated herself from the rest of the team. Little does George know that she was alienated anyway.

Dan (who?) says that they can’t commend someone for making a chess move when it was the only move to make. I hate chess metaphors. They’re too easy. Dan adds that Summers’ outspokenness didn’t show until they got to the boardroom. The team didn’t know that she only made one call until the day she was in the blimp. Charmaine says that she was in the room when Summer made the one phone call; Summer took command of the task but Charmaine wasn’t impressed by her sales abilities. Tarek chooses to bring Lenny, Lee, and Summer back to the boardroom.

Carolyn tells Trump that she thinks Tarek led well and Summer should have made more calls. She adds that Lenny couldn’t have contributed much, since he was in the blimp. George reminds Trump that he made Tarek the project manager, so it wasn’t something he volunteered for. He blames Summer as well. When the candidates return to the boardroom, Lee admits that he doesn’t like Tarek very much anymore. Tarek seems to remember Lee complimenting him on a job well done, but Lee says that he only said Tarek did some things well. He notes that Tarek told him he wouldn’t bring him in.

Trump wonders why Tarek brought in who he did. Tarek says that these three were the worst of the team. Trump notes that they all want Tarek gone. Lee says that Mensa Man had no creativity. Summer says that everyone on the team had the ability to do well, but Tarek’s ego hurt them. He wasn’t humble and didn’t ask for help. Tarek says that he always listened to the team, which has nothing to do with what she just said. Trump asks Tarek why he brought Lenny in. Lenny thinks that Tarek doesn’t like him, but Tarek says that Lenny didn’t do anything on the task.

Trump asks Tarek if the loss is his fault. Tarek thinks the team didn’t put forth a good effort, but Trump says that they needed leadership. Some project managers bring people to the boardroom who like them or who will side with them against others. He wonders if Tarek is really as smart as he leads on. Trump admits that he’s “seduced by brainpower,” but Tarek has done some pretty dump things. Carolyn asks Summer what she did on the task, but for the life of her, Summer can’t think of anything. Trump asks Lenny if he would be disappointed if Summer were fired. Lenny would be. Trump asks Lee the same question and gets the same answer. Tarek thinks that Lee is upset because he brought him in the boardroom. George brings up the lack of incentive to come to Sam’s Club, dismissing the dumb gift bags. Summer jumps in, effectively shooting herself in the foot. Trump basically calls her stupid.

After a repeat of Summer’s fantastic kamikaze mission (which is punctuated by a somewhat hilarious moment of Lee hissing at her, “Say you’re sorry, Summer” in an attempt to save her), Trump realizes that Carolyn was right. Summer is fired and Tarek is given a reprieve.

In the cab, Summer says that she’s leaving happy with herself because she stayed true to herself. She didn’t want Tarek to be fired because of a “play on words.” So she didn’t want Tarek to leave because he couldn’t come up with a better gift than a duffel bag. Okay, then. Summer doesn’t regret standing up for Tarek; in fact, if she hadn’t, she would regret that. She’s always out for the underdog. If Trump isn’t impressed with her, she’s okay with that. She would rather have integrity than money. Summer enjoyed learning how far ahead of other candidates she is with character alone. She also thinks she’s smarter than some of the others. So what she’s saying is that she’s too punk rock for this and she’s glad she’s going home. Good to know.

In her exit interview, Summer says that she was a good candidate because she succeeds at what she does and she’s dedicated. She thinks the team lost because of egos and Tarek’s inability to be humble. She brings up the dinner rush again. She says the phone call didn’t go well because she had no pitch. The boardroom was entertaining and she was shocked to see people flip-flopping. She admits that didn’t communicate what she did on the task very well to Carolyn. She also didn’t do very well with showing what she could do on the task. Which is kind of the whole point of the process, so that would be why she was fired.

Summer says that Tarek screwed up, but not with the bags. In defending him, she did what comes naturally to her, and if it got her fired, she shouldn’t have been there. She gets things from working hard, not from being cutthroat. The best part of the experience for Summer as seeing that Trump is exactly who she thought. She left admiring him as much as she did coming into the process. Summer is happy to go back to her restaurant and see her loved ones. She thinks she’ll appreciate them more now. The experience was great and she’s proud of who she is.

In a preview for next week’s episode, Tarek, Lee, and Lenny return to the suite to applause from the other candidates. Tarek is incredibly relieved and tells Bryce that he came very close to being fired. He says that Summer’s mistake is his gain. He won’t make excuses and Trump wasn’t wrong to call him out for what he did.

Next week: I’m guessing either Lenny or Brent will be fired. Just a hunch.

Jenn Brasler is an Assistant Editor of Reality News Online and an aspiring writer from Falls Church, VA. You can e-mail her at luckyjenn@hotmail.com. She thinks that when Brent inevitably goes down in flames, it will be spectacular.

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