The Apprentice: Los Angeles, Episode 6 Extras – “Le Encienden!”

For those of you who don’t speak Spanish, the title of this article may have you confused, much like 50% of the mall patrons that Team Kinetic tried to attract in this week’s task. If you haven’t seen this week’s episode, be sure to check out Betsy’s recap. In addition to all the details of this week’s goings-on, you’ll find a wonderful little extra in the form of a very handy Betsy Lesson of the Week. Sadly, it’s about the only extra that’s worth reporting this week. As was the case last week, we have no juicy deleted scenes, so the best we can hope for is that the “uncut” scenes offer something valuable. And with that, off we go!

As always, we begin with the webisode, which is an abbreviated recap of Sunday’s episode. The webisode starts with Trump’s voiceover, telling us that Surya returns from the Boardroom with newfound determination. Of course, this is likely the result of his having barely escaped firing by the “skin of his ass” on the honey task. We see Surya ranting and raving about Aaron having lied about the delegation of responsibilities. He gives Team Arrow an impassioned speech about his plan for success. In an interview, Tim gives his thoughts on Surya: he is clearly emotional and very vulnerable – not the state you want your PM in. Tim feels that down the road Surya will have some tough spots because he takes everything so intensely. He remarks that the team is very laid-back and that Surya really doesn’t fit that mold.

In another voiceover, Trump tells us that the next day, the teams went to the mall. I’m sure glad for that information. In the planning room, we see Tim giving his pitch to his teammates. He then explains it to the audience in an interview, saying that his plan is to give away a trip every ten minutes, which will create buzz, since there will always be something happening.

Surya wants a timeline. Tim looks annoyed, and in another interview, claims that Surya knows he has to win and thus is micromanaging. It’s becoming irritating. To illustrate Tim’s point, we see Frank giving ideas, only to be cut off by Surya, who tells Frank he wants him to think outside the box. Frank interviews that people have to have a certain spark, and he doesn’t feel Surya has it. Are we seeing a pattern developing? The webisode ends with scenes of the task and the Boardroom; nothing here is new.

Speaking of replayed scenes, this week we get Frank complaining about Surya’s absence, Angela and Heidi wandering the mall speaking English to non-English speaking people, Nicole’s doctor visit, and Jenn and Aimee talking before the Boardroom. Again, nothing new here. Where are the deleted scenes?? Sigh.

There are several clips marked as “uncut,” and though for the most part they are almost exactly what was shown on the network broadcast, there are some highlights that are unique to the web. The first shows the trouble Kinetic has with the language barrier. Angela, who has been canvassing the mall with Heidi, realizes that there’s a good chance the people they are addressing don’t speak English. She wonders if Muna is using her Spanish with the shoppers. We see that she is, as is Derek. It’s no wonder the Priceline executives were impressed with these two; their bilingual status clearly makes them the most valuable members of the team.

Derek interviews that while he is busting his ass (Trump’s new favorite word) helping the Spanish-speaking people enter the sweepstakes on the computer, Aimee is “walking around like Night of the Living Dead.” He does a hilarious zombie-like pose and says, “please don’t ask me a question.” Heh!

Immediately thereafter, we see an interview with Aimee that her perception is completely different. She notes that many of the children are bilingual and thus are translating for their parents as they complete the registration process. The truth is that the children are doing the typing, which is allowed provided the parents are the ones to hit the “enter” key. Aimee says, “As long as we have a smile and seem excited, there’s not a problem with the language barrier.” Poor Aimee – the clue phone rings and rings, but she just won’t pick up. Jenn confirms this by saying that Aimee is a poor leader and she thought so from the start. Pre-emptive strike, perhaps?

The next uncut scene is of Tim and Nicole in the pool. There are two things I’d like to say about this scene. First, I have to say that while Tim doesn’t really do anything for me, those were some really sensual kisses he was planting on Nicole. Between the kissing and his piano playing, I’m betting Nicole had quite a memorable Valentine’s Day, assuming their romance wasn’t just concocted for sweeps week. As an aside, Nicole is an alumna of my alma mater, so I am crossing my fingers that she doesn’t do anything to make me want to disown her. I’m not saying I want her to win; I just want her to go out with dignity. But I digress – again.

The other point I’d like to make about this scene is this: Go to the website, look up this scene, and go to the 1:06 mark; you’ll see Tim whispering sweet nothings to Nicole. Because it is difficult to hear what he is saying, there are subtitles on the screen. Apparently Trump must have dropped a bundle for some new shiny object to put in his apartment, because budget cuts clearly cost a proofreader his job. Tim tells Nicole he likes the fact that she is uncomfortable and embarrassed, only the editors spell it “embarssed.” Golly gee, they musta been “embarssed” to make such a mistake, eh Jethro?

From here, we go to the Boardroom for another uncut scene. We see Aimee blame the language barrier for their loss, even though in the earlier scene, she said that big smiles and excitement precluded it from becoming a problem! We hear Derek call the Spanish language issue a red herring, and says that ultimately, it boils down to the management style of the PM. Trump asks Derek if he likes Aimee, to which Derek responds that she is an extremely hard worker with a hands-off approach. While he appreciates being given more freedom, more people wanted her to be firmer, like Heidi was. Heidi, he adds, set a high bar.

When Trump asks who was a better leader, Angela tries to be diplomatic. She states that Aimee had problems delegating and following through with that delegation. She says she would love to have Aimee in sales and in certain areas she’s tremendous, but as far as leadership goes, Angela was confused. Surya says he would love to hear from Heidi, and the team agrees.

Heidi says Aimee had a problem with seeing the big picture, that the balance was off. As an example, she states that Angela was told she was going to be in charge of marketing, but that responsibility went away. Kristina agrees that Aimee had difficulty delegating and did not follow up. She feels there was a breakdown in communication. She praises Derek and Muna, saying they “stepped up huge,” but feels the team should have had more Spanish-speaking people. Trump asks why they didn’t, and Aimee claims to have been unaware of the demographic.

The final uncut scene is of Jenn and Aimee arguing in the Boardroom. Don Jr. says they missed key things. He specifically cites the issue of Jenn withholding the demographic data from Aimee. Surya agrees, and adds that it could be indicative of Aimee’s style, that the team wasn’t comfortable coming to her with information. Trump asks why everyone is against Aimee. Derek offers that she was absent as a leader and wasn’t assertive enough. This comes as a shock to Trump, who feels if anything, that Aimee is too assertive.

Derek agrees that this must be true in the Boardroom, since Aimee had come back and bragged about it to her teammates. However, he says, in tasks, she didn’t lead them at all. Don retorts that it’s difficult to lead without specific information. As we all know, Aimee is fired. Just in case you didn’t know that was coming, all you had to do was to pay attention to those asinine “Get Rich With Trump” promos. The Powers That Be are so stupid that they don’t realize they’re telegraphing the outcome of the show by limiting the choices to be “sent to Tent City.” As if that isn’t enough of an insult to the intelligence of the viewer, the person that’s fired doesn’t GO to Tent City – he or she goes HOME! Grrrrrrrrrr!

Our final clip is Aimee’s exit interview, in which we learn that she’s 32 and from Chicago (my hometown!). She feels she could have been the next Apprentice, and says, “I’m ridiculously smart, funny, I work hard, I have great ideas, and there’s no situation I can’t handle. I have 100% heart and passion – it’s who I am!” In talking about her final task, she admits noticing the Latino population, but claims she didn’t see the language barrier coming. Had she known Angela and Heidi had been having problems communicating with shoppers in the mall, she would have redeployed Muna or Derek. Ultimately, she says, that’s why they lost, and claims the team she had was not the same team who worked for Heidi. She says she was floored when she was fired; she thought she would be someone who was around for a long time. To have a group of individuals give up and not try, and to throw her under the bus, was the ultimate betrayal.

The best parts of the experience were the tasks themselves, which were amazing, and the opportunity to sit with legends like Hugh Hefner, Wolfgang Puck, and (of course) Donald Trump and learn from them and hear about their success. She also loved meeting Phil Jackson, who she watched back in his days with the Bulls. The whole experience makes her feel so fortunate and she says she has no regrets.

And so we are brought to the end of another recap. The next episode of The Apprentice will air on March 4, so in the meantime, I propose we take a little stroll down Memory Lane. Visit the RNO archives and get reacquainted with candidates from seasons past (including the Martha Stewart installment). Reminisce about all the hirings, firings, and everything in between. From the contestant pool, choose your five best and five worst candidates and e-mail them to me. You can also recognize certain candidates for “Most Entertaining” or any other designation. I will compile the responses and bring you the results. See you soon!

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

Kathy Lonergan is blissfully awaiting the start of baseball season. In the meantime, feel free to send questions, comments, and input for next week’s article to kathy.lonergan@yahoo.com.

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