Sam's, huh?

Wow..... Tarek, the losing PM, is pretty. I like him.

Brent has a very Marcus-ish quality.

Charmaine has a Kristi-ish voice.

And the one boy (Lee, I think?) looks like Andy.

How very deja-vu.

Glad he didn’t divide by gender again, but I’m beginning to think Burnette is out of ideas and is just recycling from Survivor!

“That’s the third time I’ve asked.” “It was obvious before that.” Carolyn, I’ve missed you.

Sorry, I thought it was 10.... fast clock.

Well once again proof that I would suck at being on this show. I thought the massage/manicure ideas were stupid and liked Gold Rush’s ideas better. Sams clientele is people trying to save money. That’s what you appeal to. Up to 2% off purchases is more in line with the Sams shoppers mentality than crappy spa treatments in a shopping warehouse, to me. But, the dumb idea won so- what do I know.

I have given up trying to keep the players straight at this point but my first hate of the year goes to the one who said something about “This isn’t Manhattan, it’s the suburbs, the blimp will be an exciting thing.” This person needs to go home now. Anyone who thinks that people in suburbia in 2006 are excited by a blimp just does not belong on this show.

Oh and the fat sweaty desperate lawyer? Also, HATE. He was breaking a sweat just speaking. Obviously he doesn’t try cases or he’d have learned to modulate his voice by now.

Boy Tarek fucked up. He just needed to shut up and throw Summer to the wolves. Then he brought that other guy and they all just kept talking. They’re all stupid. SHUTUP in the boardroom unless you’re being grilled by Trump. The rest of them just lowered themselves in Trump and the Viceroys estimation. They didn't lose by that much and could have come out of there with a little dignity.

Just a few thoughts about tonight ...

How does all the wind blowing prove Trump's hair is real? It still didn't move.

Tarek -- how lovely.

Brent what was that diet you came up with? The Sweating diet? Seriously dude, get yourself a towel and pat dry.

Am I the only one who got a pretty Marth Plimpton vibe off Theresa? Yes? Moving on ...

Synergy? Seriously?

Tarek -- stop talking. Gold Rush? Seriously? You're ruining everything.

Women like to get their hair done??? Errr. Not at Sam's Club. Brent you're a tool. And what was that screeching?

Oh my. Brent in the blimp? I pass. It's too easy.

Helloooooo. Michael? How did you pass me by until now ...

Damn. Synergy won. Not that I have anything against them, but I would've liked to have seen Brent gone before he started squawking again.

God. My love affair with Tarek is over already. Three "step ups" in less than 2 minutes? I hate him.

I don't think Summer could hear Trump's tone through all that hair. Bye Summer! See you at the reunion show!

A lot of beautiful faces this season! Tarek, Michael, Lee, and a few others whose names I didn't catch. Summer seems pretty successful on her own, so it's no loss for her and she doesn't seem to want to be apprentice to anyone anyway. Tarek should have went, but he's beautiful so I can't even complain

I think there's a good reason Brent wasn't selected in many things at school, guy is exceptionally annoying. I'm pleased Allie sent him to enjoy the skies on the Goodyear blimp, I don't think he would have been a help to the team on the floor. His "presence" would have been a bit overbearing and I know would have turned me off as a potential customer. I'm glad they won though but judging my the traffic they had and the way they were interacting with the customers I would have thought it would have been by more than three.

I'm not sure of the double entendre with Gold Rush, for me it just sounds triple stupid and must Tarek mention MENSA every time he's on camera? Wait, wait, I've seen this balcony scene before! The return of the Coven, double entendre style. I liked that TannedAndy (Lee) doesn't seem to be completely into the session, which sadly, means as soon as Summer's gone he's next. With Summer, I think she had a tough sell regardless of the time the phone call was made. If I was a business owner in the area I would be already aware of Sam's Club but it would have been to her benefit if she continued calling people. Even with it being futile she could have shown herself to be persistent.

Is Tarek a little kid? Selecting Lee for the board room because he had the audacity to speak his mind and voice his opinion that Tarek and his top 2% IQ might have been a reason they lost this task. I'm glad Lee didn't keep quiet because of Tarek's threat, but am disappointed that it wasn't brought up. I really think Trump would have not looked kindly on that incident. Summer deserved to be fired for her doing nothing this task but I also think that if she interrupt Trump there was a chance Tarek would have gone for being crappy. Loved Lee, "say you're sorry, say you're sorry." and I think Lenny was selected for Trump to make various Russian references, which have already gotten old.

So the hobbit's team barely beat the elf's team? Sheesh.

A lousy first episode. Very few likeable people seemed to show up for this one, and the irritating people were also rather pitiable, which always puts a ding in my schadenfreude. Summer really did nothing and deserved her firing, but I would have loved seeing Orlando Lite get tossed on his ass in a double.

And Brent on the hobbit's team was just very, very sad. He makes Marcus look like David Niven.

That was totally the right firing, yet Trump made it unsatisfying somehow. In the end, he only fired her because she walked on his ego, as opposed to because she was a useless sack of fluff.

Oh well, at least we kept Tarek. Not much nice male eye candy this season...

The thing about the manicures/massages--they had a captive audience. They were going to provide people with these services in exchange for listening to their schpiel. Tarek's team gave away the ugly duffel bags with no real strategy. The first people to walk through the doors got them, whether they stayed and listened to their sales pitch, or just walked away and kept shopping.

Manicures and massages was also more exciting and interactive, and created a comfortable environment.

Well if I were Trump I would have fired both Tarek and Summer. Summer for making only one phone call, and then having a huge attitude about it (as well as unforgivably huge 80s hair) and Tarek for sucking in general.
"You gave away a gift bag that had nothing in it?" Oh George, I've missed you.
"Summer, that's the third time I've asked." Oh Carolyn, I've missed you.

It usually takes me at least 3 weeks to truly hate an apprenti, but I'm going to make an exception for Tarkek because he sucks so, so, so very hard. "I'm in Mensa. I'm in Mensa. Look at me, Mommy!" And he picked the three people who didn't fawn all over him and placate his overblown ego for the boardroom for the crime of not being impressed with him. Arrogant. Fucking. Tool. HATE.

Whew! I thought Tarek was done for, but he could improve (since he got beat barely). Don't think he'll win it all though.

Being Canadian I wanted to like Brent, but the moment I heard him speak I knew it was all over.

What I'm looking for now is the easy-going, likeable person. If the past seasons are any indication, that will be the one who breaks my heart the least and - eventually - wins.

Except they didn't seem to cast that role this time.

Wow. That was every single Boardroom "don't" in a single, fell swoop.

Tarek: Don't do the alliance thing when there are 6 people on your team who agree with you, one who doesn't ,and two you hate. It makes it "playing a game" which pisses Trump off, since it's all "just business."

Tarek again: Don't bring someone in saying they "didn't contribute" when they did exactly what you asked them to do. It only shows that you don't know how to manage people.

Tarek once again: Don't bring someone in just because they criticize you. See Point One for the reason.

But trumping all of these points is this:
Summer: When Trump's about to fire someone less deserving of the boot than you, don't attempt to piledrive him. Shut up. Don't interrupt the Hair, or its self-importance will eat you whole, swallow you, and reurgitate your ass so fast your curls will have curls.

Trump's Russian "jokes" were offensive. Trump's talk about people being "killed in Africa, horribly" or whatever he said sounded completely ignorant. And Trump's insistence that the private jet was what these people are working for was disgusting.

I think I'm done with this show.

Tarek reminds me of a cuteOrlando Bloom. That's the only good thing about him. He really bugged me tonight. And now he's gone and made enemies that he didn't need to make.

Summer deserved to be fired. If you knew that you shouldn't call restaurants during the dinner rush why didn't you speak up about that more? Why just give up after one phone call? WTF? I loved how Carolyn kept pushing to get her fired. And how Summer got her own self fired by taking Trump's attention off of Tarek. Smart move Summer. Smart.



He makes me want to pop him in the head. He's just so...ugh!

It was a wicked smart move putting Sean, the guy with the accent, on the PA system. And he signed off saying "Cheers!" Dude, I'd upgrade right there.

"Step up" count to date = 4. Plus a "utilize my knowledge my knowledge," which is only mildly less annoying.

Man, the last half-hour was hilarious! I went from admiring the pretty of Tarek to laughing at him along with Lee and Lenny when Trump broke him down. Though, thank god Caroline was there to point out that as much as Tarek sucked, Summer truly was the most useless, and would probably qualify as the most useless contestant ever on the Apprentice.

"Not for long." I'm going to be giggling at that all night. Oh, the drama!

Summer was so stupid. Why did she keep talking when Trump was so obviously ready to fire stupid Tarek who I now hate.

Why did he bring Lenny into the boardroom? Did Lenny not take the blimp over rte. 18? Did he instead take it on a pleasure cruise to Miami? How did he not do what he was assigned?

And why Lee? Because he dared to contradict him in the boardroom? Dude has a serious case of too high self esteem.

I felt for Summer because she was asking people for something, and had nothing to offer them, and cold calling is really hard. But she dumb in the boardroom, so I guess she deserved to go.

Yeah, Tarek is on the shit list. I agree w/ Trump: totally overrated.

I feel like it's going to be a gloriously bitchy season.

I have to say I had quite a crisis of conscience during the boardroom. Tarek= jerk. Hot, hot jerk.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Tarek's "threat" to Lee was just stupid. It was obvious Lee wasn't going to be fired, so that meant Tarek made an enemy for no reason. Good going Tarek.
As I said, if I were Trump, I would have fired Tarek and Summer.
Oh, I hated how Trump kept referring to Lenny as "the Russian." When he was talking about his business being "not so important" compared to things like Darfur I started to like him a little. But he always makes me hate him again by the end of an episode.

Oh Tarek. He's such a dumbass, but I can't fully hate him. He really did get lucky. Bye Summer. You deserve it for pulling a Michael. You should have learned from his mistake and just shut up.

Lee really does look like Andy. He seems smart enough, and he defintley didn't deserve to go into the boardroom. Same with Lenny, but it looks like he's going to get worse next week.

Hello Brent. It's always good to have someone in the first episode.

Favorites right now are Allie, Charmaine (for looks), and the British guy. A couple of the ladies seemed alright, but I can't tell them all apart yet. Oh, and Micheal seemed kind of cool.

Did Trump actually call Lenny "The Russian" several times? Good God, Trump. He's already consider sexist and racist (and a maybe a bit homophobic, thanks to his conversations with Clay). When this show comes to an end, he's going to have offended everybody at least once.

Overall it wasn't a great episode, but it was enough to make me stick around. I'm hooked on this show, and I don't think I'll ever quit.

Really? More so than that crazy bitch that was fired first on the last season?

How do you pick one? There've been so many ...

Funny how Trump's making jokes about the Lenny while on 24 they're trying to save them from death. An indirect sign of the battle between Trump and Kiefer. As for Summer? Whatever.

Tarek is pretty. But Michael is much, much prettier. Much. Answer the phone in his Polo boxer briefs every episode pretty. And Tarek is annoying. However he is not a horrible leader. Once again trump blares an assessment that is so off base as to make you wonder if the next season of TA will be subtitled "The Hunt for WMDs" or "Quail Hunting With Dick". Tarek had an appaling lack of common sense.

Lee sucks. Can't wait for him to get the heave. A suit at Sam's. Did not lend the business authority or gravitas that he thought it did.

How bad was it that no one targeted the small businesses that were buying as regular customers and highlighting the benefits? Synergy seemed to be a bit more proactive in going after each and every customer to the point of targeting the customer who was done to show possible savings. I think Gold Rush might have done that as well, but the editing was a bit tricky.

I'm not sure that the gimmick of manicures and massages truly brought people in. But it might have stalled the customer that might brush off the approach. All in all the blimps were incredibly useless.

Tarek was a fool to go after Lenny for doing exactly what he designated him to do. Idiocy.

Summer was the dead weight. Her bragging about her background giving her insight and even going so far as saying in the boardroom that she knew the product better than Tarek and yet still says she needs a hook? Summer? The benefits of the upgrade are a hook. And the hours of operation for the business member are fine, but the real benefit is being able to order online for fast pick-up for many businesses that the owner is also the employee. I was surprised that never played into it. Then again the prior day marketing was one call.

I do think Summer was admirable for not joining in with Lenny and Lee trying to pile on Tarek for mistakes he didn't make. Leadership was not a problem. No one else came up with a single marketing device that we saw on that team. It was sales execution. Summer failed miserably at the very aspect she claimed was her forte. Lee, I don't care what your team said, wearing suit wasn't what made the sales. And looking like someone trying to sell insurance or upgrade Aunt Sue's casket to a bronze with rose velvet interior? Is not a good tack to take when people are walking in the door.

Did I mention how pretty Michael is?

Damn, Brent is the Canadian?

I loved Carolyn's look at those 'gift bags' that were strangely missing gifts, and I loved it when George brought it up in the board room again, I also loved Carolyn hammering away at Summer's uselessness and the close ups on her as she was asking. I kind of missed this show.

Tarek is soooooooo impressed with his MENSA self...GAG.

Maniacal,
Egotistical,
Narcissistic,
Self-centered
Assholes

To quote the Ig Nobel awards: MENSA people are just people that scored in abnormal levels of psychological exams.

Summer did deserve to leave, but what the hell. Cold calling restaurants to come to Sam's Club during the dinner hour and not having any good reason to give them to do so. Chances are the more people she called, the more people would have put Sam's Club on their list of never do business with again.

A free nylon sack with Sam's Club all over it. Bestill my heart, I think I'll sign up for a $40 membership or an overpriced upgrade for that. At least put a few goodies in it. Buy a pallete of candy if nothing else and stuff them.

Tarek I wanted to like you, but right now, I hope you go home soon.

Brent, get off my screen NOW! I wanted to like you too, I thought it'd be nice to support the underdog. You are annoying and think way too highly of yourself when you are not all that. Killer instinct, hair styles? Shut up!

Why do lawyers keep going on this show?

It's time to make another entry in the "Don't they watch previous seasons to get an idea on how to behave in the boardroom?" I agree with you, geoffrois, that there was a whole lot of stupidity in that boardroom.

And I noticed another one of Trump's inconsistencies. He should have fired Summer for being disloyal, since that seems to be one of his pet peeves. But he fired her for another example of her stupidity, so I guess it all comes out in the wash.

Oh, sweet, hunky, smart, stupid Tarek. Please don't get yourself fired before I get to see you in nothing but a towel. They should have stuffed a picture of Tarek in a towel, in the bags. Now that is a gift.

He had me with "ma-ssages". Yum.

Trump trying to be "humble" and calling Lenny "The Russian" and saying it was like "Siberia" made me hate him even more. Firing the "cute girl" straight off didn't make up for it.

You know, maybe it's the idealist in me, but regardless of whether or not it's a game, telling someone that being honest is stupid just doesn't sit well with me at all. To me, that moment where Summer stood up and tried to say something honest made me like her 100x's more, and Trump just crapped all over that.

And how can Trump continually contradict himself season to season? In past seasons, he HATED when someone expressed disloyalty, yet this time he loved that Summer did.

I really could not hate the man more, and if I continue to watch the show, which I am not sure I will, it will only be due to my lack of life and/or nothing else to watch on Monday nights.

Yeah, she was pretty bad. But even Melissa (was that her name?) did more than make one phone call, right? Or maybe not. Regardless, I won't miss Summer and her awful hair.

I forgot to mention that I thought getting the guy with the accent to speak over the PA was a bad idea, rather than a good one, because perhaps people would have a hard time understanding what he was saying. Even under the best of circumstances, it can be difficult to comprehend what people are saying over a PA.

Carolyn's hair looked very, very good.

I think this show should have been called, "The Summer of Trump's Discontent."

Orlando Bloom .. err... Tarek is an asshole. The guy in the office who think if he smiles at all the girls they'll make his copies and write his reports while having absolutely no redeeming qualities business-wise.

Brent. Guess he's "The Crazy One" this season.

Love AndyLite, Lee. Kid's got character.

I wonder if Summer and her hair took seperate cabs?

What was with Tarek identifying one women he chose for his team as the "beautiful" one? My hate started there and will, I predict, only grow.

The woman with the Texan accent seems liek a frontrunner.

I know! She decided they'd failed even before both teams found out the outcome. Who does that? How can you display zero confidence in your team on the first task in front of Mr. Loyalty?

If Tarek had kept one additional person selling instead of two in the blimp, he might have had his extra sales.

In the show I thought we were seeing membership upgrades sold. In the boardroom, they only counted new membership sales. I don't know Sams- isn't it necessary to have a membership to get in?

Lenny the Russian may be fun to watch.

This episode sucked. No wonder Trump is trying to pick a publicity fight with Martha. He knows its crappy too.

Yes, Tarek is an ass and Summer is stupid. Tarek reminds me of Evil Will from Big Brother....he just isn't as smart as Will.

ETA, you need a membership to shop at Sams.

Geez how many asshats can they fit into one season?

Not only that, but he referred to one of the women as a *girl.* All of the women are at least in their mid-twenties, Tarek-- they are not girls.

He is pretty, but I'll pass.

Few thoughts about tonight

The one thing that bothered me about Tarek is that as one of the smartest people on the frakking planet he thought of GOLD RUSH. Come on. One of the dumbest smart guys around.

I do not for a minute think that Trump was going to fire him though. I had Summer all the way. She just created more drama for it. But if someone had threatened me to talk nice about him or he would bring me into the BR I would have VOLUNTEERED to go in.

I liked how Lenny tells it like it is in the BR. Specifically at the end when he said not for long. He also laughed at the board table when Trump was carving someone up. I laughed at the same time but I don't remember any of the others apprenti ever laughing like that. Just polite laughter not genuine. If you know what I mean.

Again, to my utter disappointment, the girls have been selected with looks as part of the criteria.

Do not like the blond who lectureviewed and ended with "bub-bye"

Edited for spelling (again)

Am I the only one wondering why a psychotherapist (Theresa) wanted to be on the show? I just don't usually associate killer business instincts with psychotherapy. Then again, given how abnormal past and present apprenti have been, it's probably a great opportunity to trawl for long-term clients.

ETA If Tarek's IQ places him in the 98th percentile, that means that one out of every 50 people will be smarter than him. Yeah, those are good odds, but not nearly as impressive as he seems to think.

Rina99



I spent a good five minutes laughing at that comment. Maybe 'cause I'm Eastern European but I could sooo relate to it. Just for that, Lenny has shot to the top of my list. And why did they subtitle Lenny? Was he that hard to understand?

Tarek? Overblown ego much? I CANNOT stand him! Absolute hate!

Also not digging the psychotherapist.

To be fair, though, she never said that she thought they had failed. She only said that she would have done things differently. Which is more a show of low confidence in Tarek. And after the ostentatious mention of MENSA membership and general smarminess, can you blame her?

I think Summer didn't defend herself very well, but it seems that she was fired more for daring to butt into Trump's grandiosity than for her actual incompetence. Yet another firing based on (at least in part) arbitrary reasons. Yes, she deserved to go, but I would have been so very comfortable with Tarek leaving immediately.

Gah, why am I still watching this crap?

But it's a double entendre, one that I am not smart enough to understand.

I concur.

Guh. I was so excited that we might finally have a Canadian apprenti and we could show them how it worked..

..but I guess I'll have to keep waiting.

Even though watching it, I kind of went "Oh god, are they gonna pick the fat kid last? This is High School phys-ed class all over again."


... Can... we make Sean narrate instead of Trump? As long as he keeps talking, I'll buy whatever he sells.

Overall an "eh" episode. I'd like to get back more to the first season tasks. And to be completely honest, I'd never heard of Sam's Club before, and I thought it was like Sam the Record Man... "Oh god, they're selling music?"

/ignorant Canadian

Maybe you have to be a top 2%, MENSA, super genius to understand it like Tarek, because I've yet to come up with an explanation.

I'm thinking that they had to send two people. Stacy is seen on the blimp in front of Brent when it takes off.



But oh so snarkable.



I think it could work either way. Problem is Sean comes off as Joan Collins by way of Boy George more than Kiera Knightley by way of Graham Norton. His accent does nothing for me. And I am usually a sucker for accents. I can sit back and watch BBC news with my eyes closed and feel all warm and tingly inside. Lenny's, oddly, makes me feel a little like Jamie Lee Curtis from a Fish Called Wanda. Thank god Tarek doesn't ahve an accent or I might actually be disappointed when he finally goes. If Lenny says "moose and squirrel" in a sentence, this season will be complete.



This infuriated me as well. How dare she actually point out some truths and disrupt Trump's rewriting for effect and drama? Trump looked like such a stupid douche in that moment. And Summer's response only enforced my immediate sense that Lee will be the crapweasel of the season. He seemed very much the find-the-fault guy without ever offering an alternative. I actually think he should ahve been taken in the CR over Lenny. I find anyone who complains about lack of vision without offering a single bit just as detrimental to a business-team dynamic than Tarek's blunt charge. Motivation clearly was not lacking going by the differences in numbers between Synergy and Gold Rush (anyone glad Trump didn't do his whole "you were crushed" bit he likes to do when the CR commences no matter how slim the lead?).

Another thing, Trump at the end saying Tarek was overrated at the end of the boardroom. What the hell? Trump is the one who picked Tarek to lead because OMG Mensa members, he's sooo smart, OMG. Maybe if this was the middle of the season and you spent all season hyping him up as a star and then said he was overrated, I would have agreed.



Yes! I really don't like Lee. Yes he got screwed by Tarek in the boardroom but still he didn't offer anything in exchange. Oh, he put on a suit. Wow. Later Lee.