The Apprentice 5 Corner Office and Mailroom Assignments, Episode 9

This week, Andrea sucked. That’s really all you need to know. Oh, okay. This week the candidates created brochures on Ellis Island and sold them to tourists. Gold Rush, led by Lee, got a jump on sales and cut Synergy off by monopolizing their market. The Allie-led Synergy ended their winning streak, making only half of what Gold Rush did. Andrea was finally cut loose. And it was awesome.

Gold Rush

In past weeks it’s been easy to pick the most pathetic Gold Rush member and stick him or her in the mailroom. (Actually, the problem has been not putting all of them in there.) This time, however, it’s hard for me to decide who did the worst job. That’s not to say that they were all spectacular - no one really impressed me this week, except maybe Lee. The problem is that they’re all so unimpressive that no one stands out as being worse than the others. Instead of sending them all to the mailroom (which I could do, don’t get me wrong), no one will go to the mailroom this week. However, they still have to brainstorm how they can do even better on the next task.

In my last article I said that maybe Lee could put some of his skills from the p’eatzza task to good use and help his team win again. Looks like Lee had the same idea. Sure, he wasn’t that impressive while Gold Rush was making their brochure; he seemed to defer to Tarek rather than use his position as project manager to make sure they had a good finished product. But on the rest of the task, he definitely had the right ideas.

Lee’s New Yorker status finally paid off - he knew where all the tourists would be waiting to go to Ellis Island, and he made sure his team was there to sell the brochures to them. I’m absolutely sure that that’s the reason Gold Rush won the task. Lee’s sell-in-bulk idea also paid off, unlike on the p’eatzza task when he lost out on selling a ton of sandwiches and winning it all for the team. Yes, Charmaine was the one who made all the calls and ultimately sealed the deal, but without Lee pushing and supporting her, it probably wouldn’t have happened. Lee finally found a task he could shine on, and shine he did. He’s rewarded with some rest and relaxation in the corner office.

Synergy

Hmmm… who should I put in the mailroom? I just can’t think of anyone. This is so hard! Let’s see… four out of the five members of Synergy worked hard, got along with each other, and knew going into the boardroom who was really to blame for their loss. The other member whined, connived, and complained both in and out of the boardroom. She also did poorly with selling and failed to mention to her team until it was almost too late that she was apparently the Empress of Selling. When I put it like that, it seems obvious what I should do. Little Miss Andrea can bite me, then head directly to the mailroom.

Once again, it’s hard to find a star on the losing team. I think everyone on Synergy did his or her best to win, but Gold Rush’s monopoly and Synergy’s lesser-quality brochure did them in. Allie was okay as the project manager; she did better on the first task. I don’t think she deserves the corner office. Neither does Sean, who let himself be brainwashed by Andrea even after the others warned him about her. Tammy is still so under the radar that half the time I can’t remember who she is; plus, she failed to keep an eye on the team’s notebook full of ideas, the loss of which could have cost them the task. So once again the honor of the corner office falls to Roxanne. She did her best and once again saw the truth about Andrea. Plus, my girl is getting so used to luxury that it would break my heart to have to take her out of that nice office.

Week Nine Tally:

Now that Gold Rush has finally pulled out another win, they’re in no way safe. Synergy is left with Roxanne, Allie, Sean, and Tammy. The first three are powerhouses and Tammy, though not the best leader, seems to do well working with her team. Plus, now they’re rid of their dead weight, and I see them recovering quickly from this week’s loss to go on another winning streak. Gold Rush is really in trouble, and I’m not sure which of their team members will be able to get them out of it. This week’s PM will probably be either Tarek or Charmaine, and Trump hasn’t been a fan of either lately. If Gold Rush loses again, whoever is PM this week will probably be going home.

Gold Rush

Corner office: Lee (1, 8, 9), Lenny (2), Leslie (2), Charmaine (2, 4), Tarek (3), Charmaine (7)

Mailroom: Tarek (1), Summer (1), Lee (2), Theresa (3), Bryce (4, 6), Dan (5), Lenny (7), Leslie (8)

Synergy

Corner office: Allie (1, 7, 8), Roxanne (2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9), Andrea (3, 7), Sean (6, 7), Tammy (7)

Mailroom: Brent (1), Stacy (2), Andrea (4, 5, 8, 9), Michael (6, 7)

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. Ding dong, the Andrea’s gone!

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