What's ridiculous is that they all scoffed at and shot down Brent's idea about putting a guy with shaving cream on his face on the street, to get attention and generate buzz. In fact, that was the comment that Stacy first cut him off at, and which escalated the whole "threatening" finger-waving fiasco.

But just minutes later, Michael suggests the very-similar (equally dumb, perhaps) idea of wearing bathrobes in Times Square to generate attention and buzz. Isn't that really just a slightly scaled-back, and in fact actually less-creative and eye-catching, version of Brent's shaving cream idea? Just like last week's episode at Sam's Club, Brent actually planted the seed of an idea that the team ended up using, but he got raked over the coals for it!

I'm just sayin'.

With the exception of Lenny, I don't think anyone on any team did anything particularly noteworthy or helpful this week. It was one sad week of The Apprentice. I'm all for more Ivanka, but that would mean less Carolyn or George and I'm not ready to make that sacrifice.

When Pepi was going on about how they lost because of Brent's antics, I would have loved for Brent to chime in: "Yeah. And getting up at noon probably did not help either."

Love me some Roxanne. And glad to see the early removal of a toxic Stacy. What is it with this show and women named Stacy?

Don't they usually have a choice of a couple places, not the whole city?

I don't like playing the "feeling threatened" card, but it seems that she didn't want to bring it up in the boardroom, but once it was, she could hardly say that she wasn't feeling threatened without Trump/Bill asking if she could handle Brent. I feel better that she was fired for other reasons. Also, one person's annoyance is another's feeling threatened.


Thank You! Ugh. He barely bearable season 1, but he's become even more so above it all. Ok, we got it, you won the first season, now go do something on your own or have you signed a Wolfram & Hart perpetual contract that reaches beyond the grave?

I hate that "you could have sidelined him" crap. Ok, at the scene, when he was making a spectacle out of himself, they should have put him on the bench, but still, most of the time you don't have that option because you need every available moment. Especially if you're already two hours late. Who was it watching Brent? He should be fired for just standing there gawking and not doing any damage control?

Hmm... I forgot that he was the only who actually brought up the "Brent threaten Stacey" thing. Part of me can't blame him, since he was in the process of getting teared a new one by Trump, and he wanted to get the spotlight off him. But it still was assey and childish.



And everytime they lose, they're going to keep bringing him back. And Trump's going to keep rolling his eyes, and firing more boring contestants, instead of Brent. Actually, I also predict that when Brent becomes PM, he will somehow win, because the opposite team will manage to fuck up royally, letting him squeak by. That seems to happen a lot in this show.

As opposed to the "All Future Hobo" edition that was Book Smarts/Street Smarts?

Brent was simply trying to contribute to the task. Stacy was blocking him at every turn for no good reason other than he probably doesn't party at Bed or Duvet and doesn't wear expensive suits. While I agree that his behavior was awkward, if he had been confronting any of the other guys - save for Michael who's more of a bitch than some of the actual women - then that whole exchange wouldn't have even been an issue.Brent took her aside to talk with her (although I cringed when he said "confront" her) and she was not listening to him. He didn't grab her, he didn't touch her, he shook.his.finger. at her. She decided from the moment she laid eyes on him that he didn't matter because he didn't look the part.

Then she made it worse by yammering on to the other women about how she felt threatened, knowing full well that when they heard that they'd all jump on her little bandwagon and help her put her bony finger at Brnet if they lost. All of those women are weak.

The fact that all those people sat there and actually though the that they lost because of Brent shows me that no one on that team will be Final Two. Except for Roxanne. They had no creativity and no organization or drive.

Heh . . . LOUD and CONSPICUOUS in DC generally means someone is protesting something or another, and since that's a daily occurrence, we just nod and keep walking.

This is a clone of the Shania! task from last season, and Lenny hit the mark. It IS more simple than the whole Earth. It's an inherently obnoxious task; you get in people's faces to make the calls, or type in the message, and in this case, the shorter the word, the better. So good to see the light bulb turning on in young Lee's mind.

Yeah -- nothing Brent said was going to be taken into consideration, b/c the team had already figured he was the one to be the fall guy. B/c he had the tragic idea of suggesting "Killer Instinct" or whatever for their team name. Synergy is such a better, more unique name. Next time, why not just name the team "Outside the Box?"

This was a really stupid task. No amount of entertainment would convince me to send a text to some unknown number that will surely then store my cell number and sell it, ensuring me a lifetime of junk calls.

As annoyed as I am by Brent, I do have to agree that he wasn't the reason they lost. However, he's way too full of himself and aggressive - you could just see him thinking that he wasn't going to be treated this way and was going to nip it in the bud by calling out Stacy. Honestly, how could he have thought he would get the result he wanted (i.e. everyone listening to him) that way? Confrontation doesn't do much good unless you can foresee a positive result. Man is delusional. The way to get people's respect is to have a good idea - especially when you already look a little shlumpy and people are less likely to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Actually, this would have been a short season if I was in charge. I would have fired everyone except Lenny and the two women he was with. They were the only ones that had the sense to realize that the team needed to be down working the streets every available minute.


With regard to Stacey, I'm glad that she was fired. The way it appeared to me is that Brent tried to handle his difficulties with her in such a way as to not detract from the group so that work could continue. However, Stacey had to make it a group issue, immediately stopping all work for who knows how long and made it a "me vs. him" ultimatum. For that part of this show, she was the most unprofessional.

I've kind of gone with BORElando. Or some such variation.

And as for the Lenny/Lee dynamic this week:

That was great. Lee is shaping up to be a truly standup guy. I think there will eventually be a Lee/Lenny showdown when Lenny wants to bury the body somewhere down by the New Jersey shores, and Lee will be pretty sure he's uncomfortable doing business that way.

In the mean time: The way they disagreed and then patched things up is about the most mature behaviour we've seen on this show since Troy and Kwame.

Mmmm... I don't think Brent was "simply trying to contribute to the task." He was also trying to get respect from the other team members that, in my opinion and obviously the opinion of his team members, he hadn't earned. He didn't just want to have his ideas heard; he wanted to have them praised. But they weren't very good ideas. Not that Michael's idea was any better. But if the best you can say is "my idea sucked just as much as his"? Sad.

Now see, I just don't get the Brent hate. Sure he is somewhat excitable at times but I was getting really frustrated for him in the beginning when he was obviously trying to get his ideas out and was constantly interrupted. Stacey seems to me to be an obnoxious blowhard who wants all the attention on her. She cut Brent off many times and when he calls her on it she freaks out? Glad she got canned.

Brent will never win but I think he is getting a really bad edit.

Hee, or "Incentivize"?

I think Trump should have fired Brent too. Stacy sucks so I'm glad she's gone, and Pepi I could take or leave, but Brent? He has no potential at all, and no one respects him. I don't think you can be a good leader in the business world if your main function on the team is to be shrill and do the robot.

ITA. I just watched that part of the episode again, and honestly, she KEPT interrupting him and wouldn't shut up. No one else interrupted anyone else. Why couldn't she wait her turn to talk? What was so incredibly important that also made her not only not wait her turn to speak, but not even listen to Brent? Sheesh. She even looked pissed AT HIM for not immediately bowing down and letting her have the floor.

And as for the "threatening" scene, it lasted about a minute at most, I swear, and his finger wasn't right in her face. AND, as soon as she came in, she made a scene, saying that she was "confronted by Brent" and she used a form of the word "threaten", once in that scene and then again once in the interview commenting on that scene. Then the dumb bitch later on tried to backpeddal? Brent is also right, shame on her for making the incident into something it wasn't, that is so incredibly unprofessional and somewhat disturbing.

This sparked my favoraite moment of the shows, when they cut to Stacy with a "You're not going to just believe me?" look of befuddlement on her face. Which may have actually been "you're not going to just look at the tapes?" but really looked more self-involved than that. And I can empathize...I remember the golden age when I had figured out I could get my brother in trouble by provoking him to "threaten" me or whatever, and my parents hadn't yet caught on to my schtick.

Of course, I was about eleven when I thought that was a good idea.

If there was ever a time for firing four people, this was it. Well, maybe Michael deserved a pass, kind of, but he really gave off a weasily vibe that drained him of all attractiveness for me.

No one who joins in with others like a pack of wolves to take some one down is a real professional--at least no one who acts like that is any kind of leader. No one who engages in that kind of behavior deserves to win. Run of the mill employees--if that--that's all they are. Perhaps the powers that be are keeping Brent and Markus around under the mistaken impression that they are entertaining--but the fact of the matter is, managing them is the true test of leadership. Keep the schmucks around for a long time, I say.

I hate that we don't get more information about the task. Was there a budget? Were they not allowed to give any incentives for texting? Not even a free razor? What a boring, boring task. I am so sick of street selling and "creating a buzz."

Out of the two fired tonight, I think I'm happiest to see Pepi gone. His accent was a little grating (though not more than Lenny's) and with a name like 'Pepi,' I don't think he was going to be getting too much respect.

I'm not a huge fan of Michael, but Trump blaming the guy for his idea, which an entire team went along with and thought was amazing, was ridiculous. On one task Trump will complain because a team didn't use creative ideas, on another he'll say that the idea was stupid, ridiculous, terrible...blah blah blah. How can you ask these people to be creative, and then when they are, stomp all over it?! If the losing team had won tonight, Trump would have blown Michael over his idea. Fucking hypocrite.

And can we not call 'working and helping people' a reward? I realize that it's a nice thing to do to help these men with problems, but I don't consider those things to be a reward. Sure the act may be rewarding in a sense, but does anyone bust their ass on these challenges to go and do more work? Especially when we've seen other rewards that feature free diamond necklaces and watches and flying in helicopters.

Ivanka has a hot body, but her lips make her look like a fish. Scary.

When Andrea was talking, she sounded like a man. She and Michael should switch voices and mannerisms.

Which is why I liked Roxanne tonight. She didn't join in with the mob and attack Brent, but looked at it from an objective standpoint. And she seems incredibly well spoken and intelligent. I can really see her going far.

Perhaps. But I'm going out on a limb and thinking "robotics-as-marketing-tool" was all his own. And his whining and sniveling smacks of desperation and a failure to actually contribute anything of worth or substance. Not that Pepi shouldn't have given him his five minutes in the idea session or shut him down when he got out of hand. And Stacy was just plain stupid. But I'm having a hard time seeing what we have of Brent and imagining that there is a whole lot of cut footage of the man laying out sound principle or rational business modules to pursue per task.

I will say my mind is open to a reversal if it turns out the producers were the ones to convince him the 80's Lesbian Comic hairdo he is sporting was the look to go with.

Of course this is completely sexist and offered in jest, but the only way I would text at the request of a random stranger is if the sexy Brit or Rooskie whispered the request into my ear. While they stroked my hair. For a long time.

IHTA. That task delivery was awkward as all hell. The tie-in didn't tie in. The smooch with Ivanka was steee-range. I kind of felt sorry for Bill, like, no lovin' for Boyfriend Bill.

Also: How great would it have been if, after watching Gold Rush dress up the, you know, three disadvantaged guys [not snarking, not snarking, not snarking] wouldn't it have been really great if Trump had surprised them all with a typical steak and lobster fest, but with the three, you know, other guys.

I'm serious. When Trump showed up at the makeover, I seriously thought he was going to fake them out with a fancy meal or something, but for Gold Rush PLUS the three other guys.

That? I would have loved.

Hee! Or Team StepUp.

I can't blame Michael for bringing up FingerGate in the boardroom. I think there were only a couple of people around when Stacy changed her story, and I don't believe he was one of them. And he's pretty! What?

More pretty: Ivanka is the best Not!Carolyn ever, and I can't believe how gorgeous she is considering her strong physical resemblance to Trump. I guess the Trumpface looks better on a woman, or something?

I'm not a Brent fan (dude IS annoying) but I'm soooo glad Stacy was fired over him. It wasn't Brent's behavior that was eating up time, it was all the handwringing OVER Brent that did it.

I am writing Lenny's name inside of big pink puffy hearts all over my notebook cover as we speak. LOVE him.

Stacey's ploy was contemptible.

Anyone remember the episode where Maria and Wes got fired? Remember her striding up to him quite and literally waving her finger less than a foot from his nose?

She was a hell of a lot more belligerent and threatening than Brent. Sorry Stacey, but playing the 'frail female' card makes you worthy of contempt, not sympathy.

Honestly, I think even in the 'Season of the Coven' fewer people were revealed as being assholes by this point in the season.

Can we just christen these episodes as 'fliers' because really, they are just variations on a theme.

On a more positive note...I'd totally ask Ivanka out for dinner.

Trump should have given those men from thework organization A JOB. That would have been a real help. I nearly thought he was going to say he had arranged interviews for them now that they 'looked the part'.

How about Team At The End of the Day. That would be something new and original. NOT.

The Hell? I'm sorry but is it your point that being a criminal defense attorney makes you some sort of underhanded, shady, awful person? Because if so, that's the most absurd, ridiculous, stupid thing I've ever heard.

That being said, I think Stacy is a total equivocator. Had she not been attacked in the boardroom, she wouldn't have said that she was 'threatened'. But once she was put on the defensive she had to go with that. You could almost see her doing the math before she opened her mouth. There was total pause there and I think she tried to save her ass. Which would be a normal response in all people, not just us sleazy, unscrupulous defense attorney types.

This is me apologising, not only to methespy but everyone else with a JD or an LLB.

I phrased it badly.

I thought I'd drawn a distinction between attorney and unscrupulous attorney.

I am so sorry for offending.

I agree with the firings, but Brent seems increasingly horrible as he defends his own ego.
If Pepi had been able to make sending Brent back to the suite stick instead of backing down, the team would still have lost, but what would have happened in the boardroom?

As would Stacey's behavior in the board meeting. No exec I know likes to have some one constantly interrupt and belittle them in front of others.

She would have been in just as much trouble where I work, no doubt.

I thought that was where it was heading too, but at the end of the day, Trump didn't step up to the plate and think outside of the box. Sorry...Bill inspires the clichés in me.

Other random thoughts...

Synergy? Now that's an oxymoron.

Show two of the season, and the Coven is formed. Right on schedule.

Is Trump bored of his own show? He tells them that he is going to fire two of them ahead of time? No surprises, no shock value? Odd.

Was there a chance to win something if you sent the text message? Usually that gives the incentive for people to do that. I didn't see anything like that. If there is no prize, why bother?

'5' would have been my text message. Short, simple and easy.

While I'm not a Brent fan by any stretch of the imagination, I actually think the loss would have been more lop-sided if it hadn't been for his antics. He at least got people's attention. Frankly, if I had encountered a bunch of people wandering the streets in bathrobes, I would have thought someone had opened the doors to the asylum.

Stacy. Hate.

Pepi. Hate.

Tarek. Hate.

Andrea. Hate.

British Guy. Hate.

Michael. Hate.

Allie. Would hate, but she's kind of cute and in Trump's world that gives you a pass.

Right now, I'm only "rooting" for three people: Roxanne (she stuck up for Brent and went against the coven), Lee (someone on this show finally admits they made a mistake and changes their course of action), and Lenny (just because).

Ivanka. LOVE. Give this girl a show of her own.




Word. Basically, the reward amounted to picking out three suits. I must have missed the career "advice" these guys were suppose to be getting. Heck, surely Trump has three jobs somewhere in his vast organization that these guys could do. I didn't hear any offers forthcoming.

And was it discussed (if so I missed it) whether or not the text was free? Usually texts sent to companys cost money. Even if it were free, how about the age old WIIFM: What's In It For Me?

I think the coven will be surprised when Brent returns. Oh, well, sucks for them!

The whole time, I was like "I can't believe they haven't figured out that ganging up on the crazy guy never works." Why don't they just let the crazy guy flame out like nature intended?

Man, there is a lot of boy pretty in this cast.

I wonder exactly how Brent could have handled that differently. He did wait until she was outside so she could talk in private. If finger waving was grounds for firing on this show... well, I don't know. IMO Stacy did not want to talk and just ignored him and then blew it out of proportion. BUT i think the fault for this becoming a problem lies with everyone else and in particularly PEPI. ANYONE else could have said shut up to both of them (much like sending both to time out). Pepi was cowed into forcing Brent out. That alone showed weakness and a need to be fired.

I do admire Brent for not being sent to his room like a two year old. I wanted him to go though just to see what would have happened. Very well couldn't blame him for the loss if he was sleeping in the room. So the board room would have went like this "So after your fired Brent why didn't you win the task." Would have been interesting.

Brent did notice they needed to do something and did try to get attention (which was below everyone else to do) This was why four were fired in one show last year. They all knew they were losing and did nothing about it.

Loved that lady who would not blame Brent for the loss. maybe we may have a black women who will make it.

Well, it costs me money to send text messages. Why would I do that again? Uh, to hear an ad about a men's razor? Worst task ever.

When Lenny lectured the others about getting on the street and doing the task, my husband said, "When it comes to selling things on the street, listen to the Russian!" And he was definitely right.

I pretty much assumed that Brent wouldn't be fired because of Trump's advice of the week - "don't judge a book by it's cover". If that isn't a dead giveaway, I don't know what is.

And if she replaced Trump (as Carolyn has in he past)? Everybody wins!



What advice would you want from these guys? The Apprenti, I mean. For the most part they seem fairly ineffectual for all the claims to fame they have. As far as Trump offering them jobs....that would certainly have been cool. "You guys look good. Good enough to work for me. You all start (wherever- maybe in the casino in AC?) Monday"

But that would require class...

I'm surprised the out-of-work guys from the reward weren't forced to follow the Donald's "Wear my necktie low enough to touch my junk" technique. I mean, how about a double Windsor every now and then, Trump?

Also, was it just me, or did I see Bill lean in for a smooch after Donald gave one to Ivanka after explaining (read: screaming) the task?

I couldn't tell if he had an accent or if that was just his style of speaking.
Michael annoys me for some reason....and I don't remember any of the people's names on Gold Rush except Tarek and the lovable LENNY.

Wow, I was shocked at how perfect that firing was.

Peppy was a loser. How did they not get out until noon??? And instead of having an extended debate about what to do with Brent, all he needed to say was, "Brent, you need to recognize that just because people don't agree with your ideas doesn't mean they're not listening, and that sometimes you need to be cut off. Stacy and everyone else, let's try to make sure everyone is heard," and I think Brent would've been appeased and the rest could've moved on. And really, the whole task was just poorly done. Peppy had to go. (And yes, I think they spelled it Pepi, but my spelling is funnier).

Stacy absolutely had to go, not so much because of the location thing (um, they were both in Times Square), but because of the complete and total dishonesty. It's one thing to fudge a little on how well you did the task or something, but to go from "I was threatened" to "Wow, I never used the word threatened, I mean, it was just weird" to "Mr. Trump, I crapped myself I was so afraid of Brent's raw animal power" or whatever she was trying to argue in the boardroom, is ridiculous and shows no integrity. The location thing wasn't that big of a deal, but whatever, she was clearly not a winner.

Brent not being fired is totally just. He's clearly partially an idiot, but I find it disgusting the way the sorostitutes and prettyboys pick on him like a third grader instead of trying to channel his weirdo energy into something positive. Plus, on this task, it was extremely clear that he actually managed to do that, his wacky antics actually GOT VOTES. Yes, Stacy, he did it by being a clown. You, the professional businesswoman in her bathrobe, did not act like a clown, which meant you didn't help get votes and contributed to the loss. Seeya.

And Michael, although in some ways very annoying to me, at least didn't deserve to be fired. It was a fairly dumb idea, but it also seemed to be the only idea, and he at least seems to have a pretty good idea of how to conduct himself in the boardroom.

As for the rest of the people, 3 stood out to me as people who looked good this episode.

The first is whoever (I don't think they showed the face) said during the "Brent is an axemurder OMG!!11" discussion said he was not comfortable making medical statements about Brent. Someone has learned the lessons of Stacey J.

The second is Roxanne. I had no idea who she was before, but I love her now. So much integrity in such a short span--waking all those lazy asses up, pointing out and trying to clarify the utter inconsistency of Stacy's stories about Brent, and refusing to join the dogpile on Brent and pointing out that it was clearly Peppy who screwed this task up.

And the third, I am shocked to say is Ivanka. She was smart and surprisingly (and confusingly, given the resemblance) attractive. She kind of reminds me of Paris Hilton, if Paris Hilton were not, ya know, a trashy whore and instead worked for a living (even if it's for her father).

Good episode!

[edited because I can't spelk and didn't finish a sentence]

I was really, really confused by Trump's attitude toward the idea. Obviously everyone else came up with worse ideas, making Michael the most creative on the team. If you're going to fire (or reprimand) someone for not being creative...well, fire someone who didn't come up with the best idea they had!



Eh, I disagree. He wasn't Jay McCarroll-bad. He knows all the crap that people might try to pull to save their own asses and calls them on it. He's fine in my mind.


This whole episode confused me. Trump's Important Lesson was basically "Don't judge a book by its cover." Two big things went against that. 1) The way to fix up those three out-of-work guys was to...give them better clothes. 2) Brent is still described as insane, even by Trump.

ITA that Brent is Stacie J. the sequel. They're trying to make him look insane (which, I'll accept, he appears to be) way more than he actually is. That's textbook Junior High crap. He won't be fired next week: someone will get in trouble for benching then scapegoating him. Although he could have been fired now: cornering someone and shouting at them in front of the whole team is not appropriate confrontation. But, the team needed to move on from there.

"I will always wave my finger in your face!" Ah, a pleasant reminder of Survivor 2.

I saw that too!

Does Trump say that he doesn't watch the tapes from the task? If so I call BS on that. They were all over Stacy right away with her "trumped" (tee hee) up story of being meanced by Brent. Seems to me they already knew that he wasn't threatening in their confrontation.

Also, loving Lenny. The man saw the task for what is really was.

So fat and sweaty is the new black?

eurp

Hee, I would agree with you if this were any person other than Trump, however I'm thinking I could come up with an occasional example here and there of his being inconsistent if I thought about it ;) So I wasn't exactly adjusting my expectations based on that.

I thought the "don't judge a book by it's cover" thing was in reference to Ivanka:
Smokin' hot boss's daughter; but with Brains and Class, too!

(I confess I was expecting a "Paris Hilton".)