The Apprentice 5 Corner Office and Mailroom Assignments, Episode 2

This week’s task was similar to the task last season where the teams had to get people to dial a certain phone number, with the winning team being the one who garnered the most calls. This time around, the teams had to elicit text messages in an attempt to spread word about a new razor, the Gillette Fusion. (After hearing that it had five blades, did anyone else think of that Saturday Night Live commercial spoof about a razor with 27 blades?) This task placed a big emphasis on marketing, as teams that couldn’t grab people’s attentions would get no text messages. It also required choosing the right location in which to grab the attention of the most people.

Gold Rush

Gold Rush managed to recover from last week’s loss by picking a good location for the task (the TKTS line in Times Square), finding a captive audience, and starting early in the morning. This allowed them to beat Synergy by almost a 50% margin. Lee wasn’t the best leader, as he didn’t do a good job of listening to his team, and he’s lucky that Gold Rush won or he probably would have been fired. As it is, I’m punishing him with a trip to the mailroom.

I think Lee’s problem is that, like Tarek, he’s full of himself. He thinks he can do everything, whether or not his team has his back. He probably thinks that he needs to prove himself because he’s the youngest candidate this season, but this has made him too cocky. Lee needs to be taken down a peg, as Tarek was last week. Look at Tarek now – he’s more of a worker bee and less of an egomaniac. Some time in the mailroom may do the same for Lee.

As for the corner office, this week I’m letting three people share it. Leslie, Lenny, and Charmaine really stood out in Gold Rush, not allowing Lee to drag them down with him while making stupid mistakes. They seemed to be the only people on the team who got the point – they needed to get text messages. The right slogan wouldn’t make any difference if Gold Rush didn’t get the action they were supposed to. Lenny, Charmaine, and Leslie stood up to their faulty leader instead of waiting around for him to come to his senses. They started working before anyone else. These three exhibited something Trump always looks for – initiative.

Synergy

I wanted Stacy and Pepi to be fired before Synergy ever found out that they’d lost. Pepi was an awful leader, and though he tried to bench Brent, he handled the whole Stacy/Brent situation horribly. Stacy just handled everything badly – she stirred up trouble, she couldn’t leave well enough alone, and to top it all off, she picked a bad location for the task. As bad as Pepi was, and as much as he deserved to be fired, I’m giving him a reprieve from the mailroom. Not so for Stacy.

I noticed that Stacy wasn’t featured much last week, and maybe that’s a good thing. From the start of this week’s episode, she was a disaster. She took the Brent situation too far. Instead of dragging everyone into the problem, she should have kept it between herself, Brent, and Pepi so it wouldn’t interfere with the task. Instead, she turned into a drama queen, making Brent out to be a villain and calling for a lynch mob. What choice did Pepi have but to try to get rid of him?

In addition, Stacy then couldn’t stick with her own story. She tried to downplay what had happened with Brent and took back what she’d said earlier about being threatened. I’m sure that Trump wouldn’t want a wishy-washy person working for him (so, good for him for firing her). If this lawyer were testifying in court, she would be accused of perjuring herself. As if this all weren’t bad enough, instead of trying to redeem herself on the task, Stacy picked a bad location for her team, a decision which contributed to their loss. She claimed to know New York well, but she couldn’t find a place with more traffic. Then, in the Boardroom, she wouldn’t take responsibility for her bad choices. Stacy was definitely the right choice to go home, and her reward is some hard work in the mailroom.

Only one person in Synergy really stood out to me this week – Roxanne. I’ve liked Roxanne since last week; she strikes me as very smart and business-savvy, and she seems like she’s not afraid of hanging back and doing some of the smaller tasks in order to ensure a win. She examined the Brent/Stacy situation differently from everyone else, reaching the conclusion that Stacy came out of it worse. In the Boardroom, while everyone else blamed Brent for Synergy’s loss, Roxanne spoke out against Pepi, maligning him for handling Brent badly. She stands out because she’s secure in what she thinks and she’s not afraid to say it even if everyone else believes differently. Roxanne can relax in the corner office this week, and I foresee her spending more time there in the future.

Week Two Tally:

Lee is going to have to scramble to redeem himself to me after his poor showing this week. I mean, last week I put him in the corner office, but now he’s toiling in the mailroom. Stacy probably won’t provide much help there with him; I imagine her disagreeing with his more efficient method of sealing envelopes and then telling Trump that he threatened her with a scale. Charmaine, Leslie, Lee, and Roxanne all get to enjoy the corner office, and I’m expecting good things from all of them.

Gold Rush

Corner office: Lee (1), Lenny (2), Leslie (2), Charmaine (2)

Mailroom: Tarek (1), Summer (1), Lee (2)

Synergy

Corner office: Allie (1), Roxanne (2)

Mailroom: Brent (1), Stacy (2)

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Apprentice Episode 2 articles:

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 will happily accept suggestions for mailroom or corner office assignments.

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