The Apprentice 2, Episode 1 Extras: Toy Story 2

On Saturday night, NBC re-ran the first episode of The Apprentice 2. If you missed the first episode, you can read my recap of it right here. If you’re here looking just for the extras, this is the place. What happened in the boardroom that we didn’t see on Thursday night? I’ll hit the highlights.

Donald Trump’s first question, amusingly, is, “Who kicked a hole in my wall?” Kelly fesses up, and explains that he didn’t deliberately kick a hole in the wall, but that it happened by accident when he was playing basketball. Everyone laughs, and Trump tells him, “You owe me a lot of money.” Kelly says he’s working on it.

Trump goes on to say that Bradford made a smart move by volunteering to join the women’s team as the first project manager. Rob says that because Bradford was the one who read the letter, he might have had an extra minute or two to think about the possibility, which gave him the advantage of being the first one to volunteer. Wes says he didn’t volunteer because he believes in “the brethren.” That’s a bit ridiculous unless he thinks Donald Trump is hiring him to run a fraternity, not a business. Andy points out that because the men live in close quarters with one another, there is no real advantage to leading the women. Bradford will always be an outsider on his team. Pamela agrees, saying, “I don’t have a relationship with the women.” Trump tells her that she was smart to volunteer… or maybe not, since her team ultimately lost.

Raj says that he has three sisters, and the initial idea of leading a team of women made him recoil. I bet Raj’s sisters loved hearing that one. He adds that Bradford had more time to get used to the idea. I think this thing the guys are throwing out about Bradford having all this time to think about the idea is a bunch of hooey. Bradford read the letter, and then suggested that they either put it to a vote or draw names out of a hat. It wasn’t until another of the guys suggested that someone might volunteer that Bradford did so.

Kelly says that he wanted to work with the men. Carolyn points out that since he really didn’t know anyone, how would he know that the men’s team would be the better one? He admits that he didn’t. George asks if Bradford has alienated himself from the other men by joining the women’s team. Rob says, “He went against us.” Kevin disagrees, and says that the only effect is that they don’t know Bradford as well as they know each other. Trump agrees. Chris says that he’s not a Bradford fan because he finds him too slick. Raj agrees that Bradford has an “unctuous personality.”

Trump immediately asks, “But Raj, what about you with the red pants and the cane? Do you think everyone thinks that’s wonderful?” Wow, Trump is really hung up on the cane. Sure doesn’t look like Raj made a good impression with that particular accessory. Pamela says, “In a way, he needs the cane.” Raj laughs and says that he has no need for props, but that he likes to “augment my offensive weaponry.”

Trump asks if anyone regrets not volunteering. Rob says that he does. Trump thinks that volunteering would have been the smart thing to do. There is no downside… unless Pamela is about to get fired.

Trump asks if they were impressed with Mattel. Pamela complains that the Mattel executives didn’t give them any real insight? Trump asks if they should have, and Carolyn points out that if this was a disadvantage, both teams were operating under it. Pamela explains that they didn’t have any real impression of the marketing or trends of the company, that this was a purely creative exercise. She says that her team had a concept chosen by 4:00, whereas Apex had “their panties in a bunch” and didn’t come up with anything until 11:00. Raj says, “Underwear or not, they whooped us.” Pamela goes on to say that she was surprised that their product didn’t win, since the designers had more time to work on it. The dossier for the task directed them to come up with a unique and innovative product, and Pamela argues that their product was more unique and innovative than Apex’s. In that way, she implies, the Mattel execs didn’t judge their products by the right criteria. It’s an interesting theory, but just because a product is creative and new doesn’t mean kids will like it.

Wes says he believed in the product. He remembers how, as a kid, he enjoyed pulling the arms off of his toys (and promises that he’s not a sadist). Carolyn asks if maybe their concept was too sophisticated for the age they were targeting. John doesn’t think so. Raj says that even if they’d done a remote control car like Apex did, they still would have lost because their presentation just wasn’t polished enough. Apex, he says, had superior follow-through and execution. Kevin says that he thinks the other team flat-out worked harder. Their toy wasn’t better, but it was more polished. Trump says that he looked at both toys, and he agrees with Mattel’s decision – the other team’s toy was the best.

Trump then puts the players on the hot seat one by one, asking who did the worst job. Most of this we saw in the original episode, so I’ll just hit the new points. Pamela starts by saying that there is no easy scapegoat in this situation. Rob cites Pamela as the weak link, which we saw, but also fingers Kevin. Kevin seems surprised, and points out that another component of their toy was a card game, which he worked on and Mattel seemed to like. He names Rob as the weak link. Chris says that any time a team loses, the leader is partially responsible. Pamela accepts that criticism. Raj says that a good leader either has a superior creative vision or delegates well to a talented team, and that Pamela did neither. He also names Andy as a weak link. John rails against Rob for not stepping up, which we saw on Thursday. He also says that Andy and Chris didn’t contribute enough, and that he’d ultimately fire Andy. Pamela adds that Andy is a “sweet, sweet kid,” who hasn’t yet developed his “business gut.”

Andy disagrees and thinks that his youth is a strength. He loves the name he came up with. He says that he learned from a Mattel executive that product and presentation are equally important, and believes that they came up short when it came to presentation.

Trump notices that no one mentioned Raj as a weak link. Rob says that Raj is brilliant. Pamela says that Raj is bright and opinionated, but is still a team player. Trump continues to give Raj a hard time about the cane. Man, that cane was a mistake. After all, Raj isn’t the only person who wasn’t named as a candidate for firing. No one mentioned Kelly, John, or Wes, either, but Trump didn’t mention them. I think he really thinks Raj might be a bit nuts. Of course, he may be right; we’ll have to wait and see.

Pamela, as you’ll remember from Thursday’s episode, has the option of taking three other people to the boardroom with her instead of just two, but chooses only two. She explains that it’s difficult enough to risk losing two talented team members, and doesn’t want to risk losing – or alienating – a third. She admits to Trump that it was a calculated risk, since after all, she has a greater chance statistically of being fired.

When Pamela, Andy, and Rob return to the boardroom, we see more discussion about Andy’s age. Pamela thinks he’s talented, but needs more time to develop his “business gut.” Carolyn points out that Pamela doesn’t seem to be judging who did the worst on this particular task, but rather who would be worst suited to run one of Donald Trump’s companies. That, Carolyn points out, is Trump’s decision, not Pamela’s. Andy asks, if he’s really too young to contribute, why the team used his name and his toy concept. Pamela says again that Andy has potential and could be a star in ten years or so. Trump thinks you either have “it” or you don’t, but adds that he can’t wait ten years to choose the next apprentice.

In the end, as you know, Rob gets fired. Who will be next? We’ll find out in just a few days.

Betsy is the Associate Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached with any comments at betsyw42@hotmail.com.

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