The Apprentice 2 Finale: Three Trumptastic Hours

Previously, on The Apprentice 2… the entire season happened. If you’re just joining us right now, it just so happens that I know of a great web site where you can find recaps of every episode of The Apprentice 2. And hey, you’re right here! Anyway, where we left off from last week, Jennifer was organizing a charity basketball tournament and just discovered that her master of ceremonies, Chris Webber, was canceling. Kelly was trying to organize a polo match, but it was raining and he had no backup plan in case it rained the day of the match. Let’s see what’s happening now.

We start with Jen. She’s on the phone arguing with Chris Webber’s assistant – if he backs out, it really leaves them in a lurch, and she’s been counting on him. Chris looks on and says in an interview that Jennifer is being really aggressive, and he doesn’t blame her. Pamela agrees. She says, that Jennifer is usually low-key, but that changes when there’s a problem. She adds, “Oh, man, she bitch-slapped Chris Webber’s assistant.” Jennifer concludes the conversation with the assistant by saying that it’s on Chris’s conscience for canceling… which pretty much tells me that she lost this battle. Chris assures her that he did confirm that Chris Webber would do the event, but at this point, Jennifer is ready to move on to plan B. Could another player MC the event?

Kelly’s team is stuffing gift bags, and Raj and John are less than dedicated to the task. They have 400 bags to fill, a job that Raj deems “undignified.” Suck it up and ruin your manicure, Raj – there’s work to be done! John tells him to fill the bags and to throw their trash on the floor as they go along because, “it pisses off Kelly and it’s funny.”

It looks like Kelly isn’t doing a very good job of motivating his team. He has other things on his mind, specifically, praying for good weather. Meanwhile, John opens one of the bottles of champagne and starts pouring. He gets a little goofy from it and starts a slap fight with Raj. Kelly looks up from his computer and suggests that they’d get the gift bags filled faster if they lined them up like an assembly line. Carolyn, who has been observing Kelly, says in an interview that Kelly is not motivating his staff well. “He’s being a little robotic,” she adds.

Back at the basketball tournament, Jennifer and Lil Stacy are planning the VIP seating. That night, Jen stays up late finishing up the details while her team sleeps. Jennifer wants to get some signs printed, but figures it’s important to let her people get some rest. Pamela, however, doesn’t think Jennifer is planning her time wisely. She says in an interview that Jennifer should be figuring out how to manage sponsors and the NBA, not doing little things like printing signs. I have to say, I would love to see how Pamela would do at this task if she were in charge. I daresay she’d be outstanding.

Late that night, Kelly and Elizabeth take off for Kinko’s to get some printing done and quickly get lost. Kelly is not happy that the two of them are taking longer than he’d planned, because it’s important to him that Raj and John get a good night’s sleep. Raj in particular, Kelly says, is worthless if he’s not rested. Back at the polo club, John and Raj move the Genworth display to its proper spot in the tent. The trouble is, they bump it into a pole and it gets bent. It does not look good. Kelly calls the guys and tells them that he and Elizabeth are taking longer than anticipated. In an interview, he says that he wishes he’d mapped the route himself. He’s sure, though, that John and Raj are hard at work.

Well, that’s just the kind of set-up that reality TV show editors love. We immediately cut to John and Raj, lounging on benches, debating whether the animal noises are coming from geese or frogs (they conclude that it’s both, in case you were wondering). The two of them relax on the benches and wonder if they hear Kelly and Elizabeth returning.

The next day, Jen is getting ready for the tournament to begin. In an interview, she says that it was important to her to motivate her team and to give all of them responsibilities they can be excited about. Pamela, for example, is in charge of orchestrating the game. She’ll be handling the players, the halftime show, the dancers, and the NBA personnel. Jennifer explains that she will be working with the sponsors. She meets with the executives from Genworth and shows them the setup, proud of the progress they’ve made since the executives last visited.

And how did she do? George talks to the Genworth execs and learns that they think things look better than they did before, but they’re still not totally reassured. In particular, they’re worried about the fact that there’s no MC. George says in an interview that the Genworth people “still have a lot of butterflies.” One of them, Janice, tells George that Jen didn’t come up with any good ideas, but instead asked them what they wanted to do. She says she’s not impressed.

Elizabeth discovers the bent sign and is not pleased. She argues with John and Raj about whether or not they should move it until the two of them take off on a cart together, leaving her to deal with it. Elizabeth says that she doesn’t want to be passive anymore, hops on a cart of her own, and follows them to the clubhouse. She stands on one side of Kelly, with the two guys on the other side, and declares, “I am dictator Elizabeth,” and demands respect. Kelly is, quite literally, in the middle. Kelly quickly moves to ease the conflict on his team. He tells Elizabeth that she is not the dictator, and she admits that was a bad choice of words. As for the rest of the team, he asks them to be nicer to each other. In an interview, he says he feels like he was mediating a conflict between little kids. He tells the three of them that each of them has a specialty and that they really need to defer to each other. In an interview, Raj admits that Kelly handled the situation very well and, “that is a form of leadership.”

Jennifer meets with one of the sponsors, John from X-Box. They have a lounge set up for the basketball players with big plasma screen TVs hooked up to X-Boxes and big leather couches. As John admires the set up, one of the TVs shorts out. They need more power to run all of the TVs and video games. Jennifer says that the building engineer is coming. John is clearly not satisfied and repeatedly asks Jennifer to take care of the problem. Jennifer explains again her plan to have the building engineer take care of it and asks if there’s anything else she can do. John simply says, “Make the problem go away.” He doesn’t want Jen to send someone else to talk to him; he wants her to fix it. John then tells Jennifer that she doesn’t have enough power to run the neon X-Box signs that are in their contract.

I think Jennifer’s actions were dead-on. Of course she doesn’t know how to power a bunch of TVs and video game consoles, so she needs someone else to help her solve the problem. She failed, though, to adequately reassure John that she was going to take care of the problem and quickly.

Good news for Kelly: It’s a bright sunny day, and the ground is dry enough to paint those sponsor logos. But there is bad news, too – the paint for the Wisk logo is a bright color that will scare the horses, so they can’t put the logos by the goals the way they’d planned. Kelly knows he needs to call Wisk, since they have a quarter of a million dollar contract to have the logos on the field.

Jennifer finds the engineer and learns that they need to rent a generator. They get it set up, and the TVs are up and running again. John is happy, but says it should have been done the day before.

Kelly calls Wisk and gives them the bad news about their logo placement. The representative he talks to has him choose the next best spot. Kelly quickly picks an area on the sidelines and has the logo painted there. He thinks it’s a good location and hopes the sponsor agrees.

Meanwhile, Jennifer has solved her MC problem by asking the basketball commissioner to handle it. The mighty Trump helicopter arrives. In an interview, Chris says that Jennifer should have been there to greet him, but she wasn’t. Trump gets in a golf cart to go to the basketball court, trailing children behind him. Jennifer finally finds Trump and walks him to his seat at center court. After she ascertains that he doesn’t need anything, she takes off. In an interview, Jennifer says she would have liked to stick around to watch the game, but she knows she needs to get some work done setting up the charity event that will follow. She puts Pamela in charge. Jennifer’s putting Pamela in charge of a lot, isn’t she? In an interview, Pamela says that she thinks Jen should have been the one to work the game, especially because her position was so visible.

Jennifer scurries off to the venue for the charity event and says that she put Pamela in charge of the game because she needs to get everything else set up. She explains that the needs to work behind the scenes, but that she asked Pamela to please invite Trump to join them at the charity event after the game. She also asks Chris to remind Pamela to do so. In an interview, Jennifer says that someone has to work behind the scenes, so that’s what she’s doing. That’s all well and good, but she should have taken a minute to invite Trump to the event and make him feel important. Could it not be more obvious that Trump likes to be sucked up to a bit?

The game ends, and Trump heads for the TrumpCopter. Chris tells Pamela too late that she needs to invite Trump to the VIP event. Trump notes, perhaps a little sadly, that no one said goodbye to him. Poor guy. He says that the event went well, but that something was lacking. As his chopper takes off, Pamela comes racing out to invite him to the event, but she’s too late.

The polo event begins, and Raj sends John to greet the guests. Elizabeth tells someone that they don’t have the table assignments ready yet, so she’s working around the problem by doing them after the match is over. Meanwhile, Kelly is back in the clubhouse working on his laptop. Carolyn asks him how many guests are there, and Kelly says that he doesn’t know, and that it’s “a bit of a melee.” Carolyn tells him to get outside and get to work. Trump arrives in the TrumpCopter and learns from Carolyn that things are going pretty well. Kelly quickly spots Trump’s pink tie and goes to greet him. As he walks Trump to his box seats, it dawns on Kelly that he never made sure Trump’s seats were in good condition. As fate would have it, they’re not – they’re dirty, and two of them are broken. Kelly is embarrassed and worried that this will count against him. I’m sure it will, because that’s a real miss.

Jennifer welcomes everyone to the post-game VIP event. They’re selling a variety of items in a silent auction, from autographed baseballs to Waterford crystal. Chris reports that, unfortunately, the auction didn’t go as well as they’d hoped. Bob, who works with the NBA charity, puts a pair of autographed sneakers up for a live bid. Jennifer gets things rolling by bidding $500 from her team. The bids keep on coming, and Chris says in an interview that Jennifer did a great job of creating excitement in the auction.

Kelly enjoys the polo match, then says goodbye to Trump. Then, his team hits another snag – Tony Bennett will be there soon, and the bathrooms where he’s supposed to change are “unsanitary.” Chris from the polo club says that he doesn’t have the staff to spare to clean the bathrooms, so Kelly sends John to clean up the clubhouse. I bet John is regretting his game of throwing tissue paper from the gift bags on the floor now. Raj and John rush to clean things up, ending with a spray of cologne to freshen the air. Tony arrives, and the room looks decent. Over in the tent, Kelly speaks to the crowd about the charity and introduces Tony Bennett. Then, he stands just behind the stage and watches the crowd, happy to see how much they’re enjoying the performance. Kelly thinks it was a home run.

Jen’s team wraps things up at the basketball game and thanks Pamela, Chris, and Lil Stacy for their hard work. George says that the team ended up being more organized than he thought they’d be at first. Jennifer says she feels very confident in her chances of wining and hopes Trump sees her passion.

Kelly thanks his team for a successful event. Carolyn says that the event had some problems along the way, but that in the end, it was a success.

Jen and Kelly get ready for the final boardroom. They think about the big moment that’s about to come and how their lives might be about to change. Kelly says in an interview that he doesn’t respect Jen and is not afraid to go against her in the boardroom. Jennifer says that she doesn’t think Kelly has the drive or ambition to be successful. Wha? There are plenty of things you can criticize Kelly for, but not being ambitious isn’t one of them.

It’s time for the boardroom. Pamela, Lil Stacy, Chris, John, Elizabeth, and Raj enter, and I notice that Chris, John, and George are all sporting Trump fashion statement pink ties. Trump asks Pamela how Jennifer did. Pamela says Jennifer did her best, tried hard, but did not do a good job of prioritizing how to spend her time. Pamela then hits the nail on the head, saying, “I don’t think Jennifer’s style is to go above and beyond the call of duty.” Well put, Pamela, and we’ve seen it in just about every task. Pamela concludes by saying that in the end, it’s congratulations on a job done, not a job well done.

Chris says that Jennifer was good at delegating, but that if he’d been in charge, he would have been more hands-on. Lil Stacy says that Jennifer is sharp and tough. She adds, “She will not take crap sitting down.”

Please take a moment to think about, and laugh at, that statement. I’ll wait.

Ready? Let’s move on. Trump says that Jennifer did a good job of greeting him and getting him situated, but that she then disappeared. Pamela explains that she filled the role of ambassador to the NBA and to the sponsors. Stacy asks Trump if he wants someone who will put in face time or someone who will do the work. Trump says he would prefer for someone to do the work, and Lil Stacy says that in that case, he should hire Jennifer. She believes Jennifer deserves to win.

John tells Trump that Kelly got great results and that it was a job well done. Elizabeth says Kelly’s only miss was not catering better to the VIPs. Trump praises Elizabeth for her hard work and says she was much less docile on this task. Elizabeth thanks him and says it was important to make all of those wealthy sponsors and guests feel posh.

Raj says that Kelly lacks charisma. Trump makes him admit that he doesn’t like Kelly. Raj says that he thinks Kelly would do a solid job working for Trump, but that he wouldn’t be a dynamo.

Trump concludes by surveying the candidates on who they think should win. Stacy and Chris choose Jennifer. Raj, Elizabeth, and John choose Kelly, though John admits that he doesn’t know Jen very well. Pamela is reluctant to choose either of them. Trump thanks them all for their help.

Robin sends Jennifer and Kelly into the boardroom. He starts with Jennifer. He says that he was greeted late, seated at what was, at least, a clean chair, and then Jennifer vanished. Jen says that she was working with Genworth and putting out fires. Trump adds that no one said goodbye to him. Future candidates, take note: suck up to Trump! George asks why Jen didn’t cater more to the sponsors, why she didn’t get in more face to face time. Jennifer actually argues with him and says that she did cater to them. George simply says that Genworth’s perception was that they were not taken care of well enough, which prompts Jennifer to sound very defensive. Carolyn asks her if she focused too much on the minor details. Jennifer says that she gave her teammates each a big focus, but that she needed to be the one to handle all of the little details. George wonders if Jennifer is capable of handling those things that should not be delegated.

Carolyn tells Kelly that although he delegated well, he didn’t motivate his staff. Trump says he heard there was tension on the team. Kelly says that’s true, and tells Trump about Elizabeth’s calling herself Raj’s dictator. Trump says that Raj is not a fan of Kelly’s. Kelly says that after this task, he respects Raj and that he worked hard. Carolyn accuses Kelly of spending too much time behind the computer, causing him to miss some valuable time with the sponsors and guests. Kelly agrees that it was a mistake, and says he should have brought the computer to a place where he could still interact with everyone else.

That’s a major difference between Kelly and Jennifer. George accused Jennifer of not spending enough time with the sponsors, and she argued with him about whether or not that was true. Carolyn accused Kelly of isolating himself, and he listened to her criticism and said he would do things differently. Kelly seems much more willing to learn from his mistakes and to take criticism.

Trump then asks the two candidates what they think of each other. Kelly says that he has not seen Jennifer lead. She interrupts to remind him that they worked together exactly one time. Then, she says that she questions Kelly’s integrity because she has known him to talk about her behind her back. That makes Kelly a gossip, not necessarily dishonest, because I don’t believe we ever saw him be nice to her to her face. He accuses her of eavesdropping and says that other candidates wanted to talk to him about her. Jen says that Kelly is manipulative and that he is trying to be manipulative now. I don’t really see that, but whatever. Neither of them came across too favorably in this exchange.

Jen says Trump should hire her because she’s passionate and driven. She’s willing to stay up late to get the job done, and that she managed to inspire people she’d previously fired. I do believe Trump fired those people, Jen, but we get you. Kelly, she says, does not have that drive.

Why should Trump hire Kelly? Kelly says, “Because I’ve stepped up and delivered every single time.” He says that he seeks leadership, not only when he’s project manager, but also on other tasks.

Jennifer says that she is strong and motivated. Kelly says he wants to be a leader. Jen counters that she is able to see both the details and the big picture. Trump congratulates both of them on making it so far and asks them to leave so he can talk to George and Carolyn.

George says that Kelly is rather wooden, and that Jennifer has more fire. That sounds like an accident waiting to happen, then, seating them next to each other. George admits that he didn’t see Kelly on this final task, but thinks he’s not as driven as Jennifer. Jennifer is, George says twice, abrasive, but he thinks she could be excellent. Carolyn disagrees. She admits that Kelly has made mistakes, but looking at the history, he has stood up as a leader far more times.

Having heard what George and Carolyn think, Trump asks what the audience thinks. One of the walls of the boardroom falls away, revealing that we are live in Lincoln Center for the results. He asks the audience who thinks Jennifer should win and is greeted with mild applause. Then, he asks who favors Kelly and gets a much bigger response. Trump says that last season, he knew he wanted to hire Bill, but this time, he’s undecided. He says that he wasn’t planning on asking for his help until later, but that he’d really like his friend Regis Philbin to come out now to survey the audience. If you believe that this was spontaneous and unplanned, then I applaud your innocent and trusting spirit.

Regis asks Bill, last season’s winner, for his pick. Bill says that Kelly is the best choice. He stepped up, took accountability, and got results. Bill adds that he’s enjoyed working for Donald Trump. Next, Trump’s CFO Allen says that one of the two candidates has displayed leadership and clear objectives, and that’s Kelly. Alan from Unilever is also a Kelly fan – Kelly has shown consistent leadership, has a varied background, and is a good person. COO Matthew doesn’t have much to say except that he prefers Kelly. I think he was nervous. Michael Fraizer of Genworth votes for Kelly too, because of his sense of direction, leadership, and execution.

As all of this is happening, Kelly and Jennifer sit nearby. Jennifer looks very awkward and uncomfortable, not able to look straight ahead. I don’t blame her – the lack of support for her is pretty overwhelming.

Apprentice fans are happy to see season 1’s Troy (who would probably be a better choice than Kelly or Jennifer) in the audience. Troy says that Kelly has the guts and instinct that make for a good businessperson. Also from season 1, Amy says that while she’d like for a woman to win, she thinks Jen is confrontational and afraid of leadership. Kelly is a better choice. Amy is sitting next to season 1 runner-up Kwame, but unfortunately we don’t get to hear what he thinks.

Next, Regis goes for references from past employers. He introduces Lt. Colonel Andrew Hergenrother, Kelly’s former commanding officer. He tells Regis that Kelly has strong values, from his family, the military, and his work experience. He was proud to have led Kelly and would be equally proud to be led by him. Regis then cuts to a bar where Kelly’s fellow West Point alumni are cheering him on.

Just as things are starting to feel disturbingly one-sided, Regis turns to John Carroll, Jen’s boss at her law firm. John says that Kelly is the best. Kidding! He says that Jennifer is tough, smart, and savvy, and that Trump would be smart to hire her. He says that the firm misses having her. In New York, a group of people from Jen’s law firm cheer her on at a party.

Next, Regis surveys some audience members. Josh says that Kelly was a great leader, innovative and inspirational. Lisa also chooses Kelly, saying that he is both educated and motivated. Karen feels like Jen’s lone crusader and says that Jennifer had a quiet power and motivated even people who didn’t like her.

Trump says they weren’t planning on bringing them out until later, but why not bring out the fired candidates now to talk about their choices. Again, if you believe this was spontaneous, I admire your innocence. The candidates file out. Most of the guys are wearing Trumptastic pink ties, but it’s hard to notice anything other than Sandy’s outfit. It’s a black pantsuit with so much white embroidery that my husband wonders if she’s going to a bullfight later.

Trump starts with Ivana, who says Kelly deserves the job. Trump points out that Ivana hates Jen. Ivana demurs that hate is a strong word. Wes says he’d hire Jennifer to work with him, but that he’d hire Kelly to run a company. Although he doesn’t like him personally, he respects him. Andy would hire Raj, but since he’s not an option, he’d choose Jen for her intelligence and passion. Chris thinks Kelly has better experience. John chimes in that they should acknowledge how well Jen did to get to the final two in the first place.

Trump asks the rest of the final four – namely Kevin and Sandy – what they think. Sandy says that Kelly won all three tasks for which he was project manager and that excluding the final task, Jen only led once. Kevin agrees and points out that Kelly’s overall record was 10 wins and four losses, compared to Jen’s six wins and eight losses. Pamela, on the other hand, thinks Jen has outstanding business ethics and “sophistication of thought.”

Regis next introduces a Jennifer clip package. Jennifer reminds us that she went to Princeton and Harvard, then worked for a top law firm. We watch her wash dogs. She says she’ll hold people responsible when they don’t perform. Ivana calls her a fembot. She excels at the QVC task. The Levi executive says she was the best on her team. Ah, memories. Jen joins Trump at the conference table.

Next, it’s time for Kelly memories. Kelly went to West Point, served in the Army, then attended law school and business school at UCLA. We see several clips of Kelly as project manager. Kelly sets the price in the QVC task, then takes a leadership role in the fashion task. Welcome to the conference room, Kelly.

Trump allows Jen to speak first. She says that she has been at the top of every class and every organization she’s worked for, which she doesn’t think Kelly has done. She says she has a quiet leadership style. She came up with the name of their car in the toy task, helped choose the ice cream flavor, did a great job at QVC, washed dogs, and defended underdog Stacie. She has strong integrity and will stand up for the oppressed. Trump asks Jennifer which is a better school – Harvard and Princeton or West Point. Jen says that her schools are the best in the world.

Kelly says that he has the experience and consistency that Trump needs. West Point trains leaders and, Kelly says, his military experience does transfer well to the business world. He can both follow and lead. And, after finishing with the military, he earned his JD and MBA and applied his knowledge to several start-ups. Trump asks Kelly whose college is best. Kelly says that he respects Harvard and Princeton. Really, the which school is better thing is kind of a dumb question. All three are excellent schools, and it really doesn’t make sense to compare the three of them. Kelly concludes by saying that Trump surrounds himself with winners, and that he has a better record on the tasks.

Jennifer says her record wasn’t as good because of the petty bickering on the women’s team. She says she maintained her integrity and was never sent to the final boardroom. Kelly agrees that Jen is impressive in the boardroom. She spits that she is equally impressive in her real life. Kelly says that he stepped up to lead every chance he got. Trump tries to get the two to say they hate each other, but neither of them takes the bait. Finally, Trump declares, “It’s time.”

Freaking finally. There is no reason this thing should have been drawn out over three hours, and I’m willing to bet lots of people tuned out for at least part of this.

Trump says that Jennifer was a strong debater, but had a losing record and was unpopular. He’s still not sure how Kelly will be as a leader. But, Trump says, Jen is fired. Kelly, you’re hired.

Yay! It’s absolutely the right choice. Trump invites his newest executive to join him, Carolyn, and George at the big table. Trump teases him about holding Carolyn’s chair for her.

The Ojays perform the theme song live. Oh, come on! Let’s get this show on the road!

Kelly has the choice of two jobs. The first job is working on the Trump International Tower in Las Vegas. It will be a 64 story building combining luxury hotel rooms and luxury condos. The second choice is the Trump Place land development in New York, which spans 13 city blocks and includes a 21 acre park. After the commercials, Kelly chooses the New York project so he can work more closely with Trump. Trump declares, “I am in love with your answer.”

Regis says that the candidates were under a lot of pressure, which means it must be time for a clip montage. Stacie J. does her thing with the Magic 8 Ball. Elizabeth bursts into tears during the restaurant task. Maria freaks out during the Levi’s shoot. And finally, Elizabeth’s team tries to mutiny against her.

Trump asks Stacie about the 8 Ball. Stacie says that she was just trying to have some fun, and that everyone else was playing with the 8 Ball, too. Trump tells her that she is terrific. Next, he asks Jennifer C. what she has to say. Jennifer C. says she has a lot to say, but then there’s a long pause where she finds that maybe she doesn’t. She says she regrets some of the things she said and that she is not a hurtful or prejudiced person.

Next, Regis promotes the upcoming show The Contender with Sugar Ray Leonard, and I tune out. You are wasting my time, people! I could be in bed by now.

Next, remember all of the fights? In case you don’t, we see clips of Elizabeth and Maria arguing about the marketing budget for the Crest task, Jennifer C. clashing with Stacy after blaming the restaurant loss on a couple of old Jewish ladies, and Raj arguing with John about whether or not they could have breakfast before the ice cream task. Finally, Jennifer and Sandy argue on either side of a bewildered Andy in the boardroom. Andy says he thinks Jennifer and Sandy should be on The Contender. Both women are impressive, and he doesn’t mind losing to them.

Ah, and then there was Raj, the man who loved the ladies. During the tennis reward, Raj hits on Anna Kournikova. Then, when he gets fired, he tries to get Robin’s phone number, which was fabulous. In the audience, Robin admits that the two of them went out for coffee together. Go, Raj!

Regis tells us that Genworth raised $21,000 for charity and donated an additional $250,000.

But enough charity. Let’s talk sex in the Sex Sells montage. In the restaurant task, Chris sends John, the cutest guy, to talk to a table of gay men. Jen and Sandy don matching tank tops and mini skirts to sell M&M’s. And Ivana drops her skirt on the streets of New York.

Regis asks Ivana why, if she refused to use the “sex sells” strategy at the beginning, she decided to drop her skirt. Ivana claims, “I’m a spontaneous person,” and tries to explain that it wasn’t underwear, but a swimsuit bottom. She hopes it won’t be the only thing she’s remembered for. Luckily for her, she’ll also be remembered for her incompetence, I’d say. Trump finally gets her to say she wouldn’t do it again.

Kevin says that as Ivana’s teammate on that task, he did appreciate that she went the extra mile to try to win. He adds, “But I did answer the phone shirtless, Mr. Trump.” Yes, you did, Kevin. And for that, we are grateful.

Everyone’s least favorite season 1 candidate Omarosa says that there is a double standard for male and female candidates on the show. Chris is called aggressive, but Pamela is called the “b-word.” She adds that Jen rocks. I can’t speak for everyone, but I thought Chris was far more obnoxious and difficult to work with than Pamela ever was. And I also think that the midriff baring suit that Omarosa is wearing is a poor fashion choice. Here's hoping that her invitation to the season 3 finale gets lost in the mail.

Season 3 of The Apprentice has already completed filming. This time around, Trump has divided up the initial teams differently: there is a team of people with advanced degrees that Trump calls the Book Smart. They’ll compete against a team of people without college diplomas who are Street Smart. That sounds interesting to me. The new season starts soon, January 20.

Trump congratulates both Kelly and Jennifer and sends Kelly to a limo headed for the after party. In his final interview, Kelly promises to prove that Trump made the right choice. He’s thrilled and gives a big, “YEAH!” at the end.

And that’s it for another season of The Apprentice. Kelly had been my pick to win for weeks, and I’m very happy that he did. He deserves it, for both doing well as project manager and for being unafraid to step up even when he wasn’t in charge. I would have liked to see him compete against Kevin or even Sandy over Jen, but I can’t argue with the results. I can argue, though, that there is no reason that the finale should have lasted for three hours. Two hours would have been more than enough time. And if they hadn’t dragged out Trump’s supposed decision for much of it, they might have had time to talk to more of the candidates. Last time we heard from everyone, even if it was only briefly. Here’s hoping that next time, we’ll get two hours of solid material, not reams of filler.

Thanks to everyone for reading. I’ve had a great time covering this show.

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with any comments at betsyw42@hotmail.com .