I am going straight to hell. The most hilarious moment in TA history (you know, the boardroom scene with Carolyn, Trump and George, and none of them knew who Pepi was)- I've alreaddy watched it 4 times. It never gets old. Donald and Carolyn so owe me a new keyboard; I wasn't expecting comedy and thus was in the middle of drinking diet coke when they started snarking.

Lee's meeting with Liz: can you say "awkward"? By the way Lee, I'm about your age, and I NEVER go into a meeting unprepared. Do I always know every detail- no, but I'm always "prepared". It sounded like she gave them "homework" when they left that meeting. Hee.

At that point in the show, I really felt like Sean/Lee were getting the Kendra/Tana edits (respectivley). I was seriously just waiting for Lee to run off with a bowl of bitches..er... pretzels. I thought his meeting with Pontiac execs went better than it would have with Tana, but not much better.

I can't believe Sean skipped the Pontiac meeting to plan a menu (menu!) with Tammy. It's a task, not your damn wedding, smarmy British man. Also, "In there like swimwear," WTF? I'm sure he thought that was a pretty smooth thing to say.

Andrea coughing up blood? Again, WTF? Where did that come from? It was nice to Sean be so great about it though. I made me like him, a little (very little) bit.

Lee appears to be so screwed.

Stank of manufactured drama to me. Didn't see any blood. How conveeenient. [/church lady voice]

Not clear if that drama is on her part or the producers. We simply must have a forebodeing of failure for each team!

I must admit, I'm kinda done with this show. Never have I cared less about an Apprentice finale.

Carolyn's laughter on now knowing who Pepi was one of the best reality TV show moments ever. She was about to CRY, people!

"I'm in there like swimwear." My, what suave words you talk. Too bad that was it so lame. And creepy.

Unless Lee manages to pull off a hail mary at the meeting, he is so getting the Tana edit. I can't believe didn't give a rat's ass about the meeting.

Well, when we're both in hell together we can rehash it together because I thought I was going to choke on my water. You could tell from the way that Carolyn was slanting her eyes to the side at Pepi that she was wondering who the hell he was...but I didn't expect her to bust out like that. Hilarious!

The rest, including Andrea coughing up blood...pretty meh.

Oh, Lee. You always micromanage the final task. How does he coach Lenny on things to say and not say in the boardroom and he thinks he doesn't need to micromanage? Please.

I still think he'll win, though. They always end the penultimate episode with the losing person. Always. Without an exception I can think of.

A very enjoyable episode. Props to Sean for reacting to Andrea's medical emergency with such grace and genuine concern.

Has Tammy ever indicated that she has "special" feelings for Sean? His edit is making him seema little desperate and the relationship a little one-sided.

Very interesting first part of the final tasks we saw tonight. Surprised Lee took Pepi while Sean took Andrea.

I suspect Sean will still win this whether Andrea is able to come back or not, as Lee was really screwing up in my opinion (and I don't think Andrea's coughing up blood was fake, that is not something you mess around with).

Lee's team is Team of the Blank. They all sit around with blank looks on their faces, waiting for someone to tell them when their fifteen minute break time starts. Lee is waiting for Lenny to tell him what to do.

Sean is only marginally better, and Tammy seems to have ordered only seafood and veggies, which will not satisfy a rock-n-roll crowd.

In all this company, Tarek seems so...sane and competant. Pinch me, someone.

Ah man, no fair making me sorry for Andrea. I think she is a right bitch, but I hope its nothing major.

I LOVED seeing Carolyn lose it at the end when she asked who the hell the guy on the end was. Then Trump had to look at a list to find his name. Hehe.

They certainly were playing up the Sean chose a great team, Lee chose a bunch of idiots. They did something similar to Kendra implying her team would implode and they ended up working really hard.

Either way, they are both making a ton of mistakes and I don't really see anyone as being ahead. Sean is weirding me out with the touchy feely. Why did you need to be with Tammy when she met with the caterer, you're not planning your wedding reception.

Lee these tasks are won by micro managers. You must manage. Take a page from Kendra. Make a list and check it fifty bajillion times til you are sure everything is done.

I'm rooting for a double fire.

My Carolyn love is back. Too funny.

How can Lee say that Liz is "outta control." What a whiner.

Sean and Tammy; Catering and restraining order.








edited because Liz is real, Lynn is imaginary

Ok, about these teams:

Regarding Lee, of course he was going to pick Lenny because of Lenny's sheer loyalty, despite his lack of management or organizational skills. It's one thing to pick Lenny, but it's another thing to RELY ON EVERYTHING LENNY SAYS about picking your other two teammates. I originally thought he might also pick Tarek or Dan, but once I saw them talking to Sean, I knew that'd be a bad idea for Lee. Lenny accused Charmaine and Leslie of being too dramatic, but I think having one of them would have been much better than Pepi, who Carolyn couldn't even identify! Finally, Roxanne was a decent choice, although she'd never worked with Lee. I don't think she had any real problems with anyone else on Lee's team, so she should be fine.

Regarding Sean, I think he was right to choose Andrea, given that she likes him and she's a hard worker with excellent business sense and organizational skill. Hopefully she'll recover next week so that she can be an asset to him. Tammy is a good worker, but Sean might get distracted by her because of his feelings. Having Andrea might help him keep his eye on the ball, but if she stays out of commission, he might have problems. Finally, Tarek seems to have a good sense of the project, but he messed up so much throughout the season that he was an odd choice, although Sean was going on Andrea's advice in choosing him.

Lee, Lee, Lee, you're dying here! I have no particular cares either way who wins, but damn, watching you is painful... seriously, you were almost losing my attention to Back to the Future over on VH1! I agree, you've got to BE PREPARED! (I hope you weren't a Boy Scout, cuz if so, they should come and take your neckerchief away...)


Oh, absolutely... I almost fell off the couch laughing. Also great was Sean's comment on the new Gold Rush, "...It's either really genius, or really stupid." Extraordinary read there, Brit-man.

I admit, GR should've continued to pursue the matching donations thing, but to be honest, the Pontiac guy really kinda diverted attention for it (maybe deliberately?) IMO.

If Lee can pull this off, it will be taking a miracle, and cuz Synergy's likely down a Man(drea). Although now I'm wondering if they're setting up Sean for some kind of Hero edit with this whole situation. It started out wondering if it was going to be some kind of Stealth-GR-comes-together-in-the-end-and-kicks-ass/Synergy-falls-apart-cuz-of-the-Tammy-issue thing. Granted, that's still possible, but still...

viva, I haven't cared less about an Apprentice season. So you can imagine how I feel about the finale. I watched tonight and thought, "Who the hell are these people?"

Lee needed to get his head rapped by Liz the Unhappy. But damn if she didn't get on my fucking nerves--I wanted to say "Shut up! Damn!"

Wait a minute. What just happened? Andrea is tuberculitic? Where's Rodolfo? Has Colline sold his coat?

I swear, I was only in the bathroom for three seconds and suddenly everything has fallen apart.

I only thought I'd disengaged from the show, but now it seems that the show is sinking into the abyss and I'm out of it like some sort of projectile.

It seems like it's Sean's job to lose at this point.

For the first time I felt bad for Andrea. Coughing up blood.... that is SCARY! I think it's probably stress, though.

Trump and the viceroys snarking on the choice of Pepi.... I agree that he was a strange choice since he hadn't really worked for very long with ANYONE, and the snarking WAS funny. But - was it really called for?

What the hell does "in there like swimwear", or whatever the hell he said, mean?

I have to agree with whomever said that Lee was getting the Tana edit this time. Although I don't see Sean getting the Kendra edit, I think the foreshadowing is quite clear. I'll be very surprised if Sean doesn't end up being Apprentice Numero Cinquo.

At first I was shocked by their team choices, then I remembered how everyone sucked this season so there were no good choices anyway.

I for one did not appreciate at all Carolyn and Trump's laughing about Pepe for two reasons.

First, Donald had just gotten through telling them that there were no losers in the room, which implies he's familiar with each one of them.

Second, neither Donald nor Carolyn showed any class there. How's that for loyalty, Trump? Someone applies to be on your show, makes the cut, so can be considered to be the final 18 out of a million or how many people. And you laugh at him? Nice loyalty there, chump.

I know some haven't liked Carolyn lately, but she was KILLING me with her reaction to Pepe. You could see she was trying so hard to find a tactful way to put it, and then just blurted out the question of whether Trump knew who he was or not. Trump made me laugh when he gave that blank stare and said he had no clue who the guy was, and even asked, "Did I ever say, 'Pepe, you're fired!' ?" George was the only one who knew who he was! Carolyn was two seconds from having tears run down her face.

As for Mandrea...WTF? We never hear one cough, then she goes on about how she's coughing up blood?! I see shades of Omarossa (or however you spell it) and the "concussion" from a tiny piece of plaster incident. I know I can blow that stuff out my nose when my allergies are bad and my sinuses are irritated, so I just have to wonder.....

Lee sure does seem to be getting the losers edit right now, but I think that Sean's inability to decide between the piece of ass he wants and the important meeting with the sponsor's exec could really come back to bite him in the balls later.

Haaaa! Carolyn tripping out tripped me out. Haven't had this fun on Monday night for a very long time. Tummy is still hurting.

I don't trust the edits, so I assume Lee will win this? He's having a really bad time of it though, and I think I love Liz. She's awesome with her LeeSmackdowns. But since it seems that Sean has his shit together more (better team, bc come on, Pepi??), I don't trust that he'll get it done right. Especially since he's "down a man" and is getting all shmoopy. Tammy doesn't seem to be requiting his crush, though. Thankfully. Hope that whatever Andrea has isn't too serious, and they just drama'd it up for the drama.

Also, Tarek. Welcome back to my tv screen, pretty.

You know, during the last minutes of this episode, I asked myself, "Do you really think that Mark Burnett and Donald Trump would poison a woman to create drama?"

I believe the answer is yes.

That said: thanks, editors, for insulting me by having the "Oh no, a sponsor is threatening to pull out at THE LAST MINUTE!" for the eightieth season in a row. IT ISN'T FOOLING ME THIS TIME, NO SIR.

Like many, loved the laughing about Lee choosing Pepi in the boardroom. That was probably the most genuine moment I've ever seen on this show.

That said, I am baffled by the team choices. Roxanne? Andrea? I mean, Lee couldn't NOT choose Lenny, but I was surprised at the choices.

Also, the editors seem to hate Brent even though it's been weeks. Because they made him look incredibly desparate.

Sean picked the exact team I thought he would. ( Though I really thought he'd have to fight to get Tarek from Lee ). Lee picked Lenny which was easily predictable, and then Lenny picked two players I never would have guessed. ( Pepe? PEPE? ) Roxanne wasn't much better of a choice. Here's another odd bit. I'm fairly certain that neither Lenny nor Lee ever worked with either of them on a task! Did they pick out of a hat?

Onto the final task.....

Lee looks overwhelmed. He's coming off as too inexperienced and the client looks ready to eat him alive.

Sean on the other hand completely baffled me by choosing to go on a catering meeting! Over a sponsor? Is he mad?

My initial thought is that Sean has the inside edge here. Despite early lunacy he just seems to have his shit more put together than Lee does at the moment. But it could go either way.

I didn't recognize Pepi either! And after Lenny told Lee to pick Pepi, I started to look for him in the crowd and still couldn't spot him. Carolyn cracking up like that? Oh, how I love you, Carolyn!

Who is this really cool guy called Tarek (who bears a remarkable resemblance to Orlando Bloom) and where did Mark Burnett hide him during the show? If Tarek had talked about working at McDonalds the way he talked about being in Mensa, he would've been so much more likeable.

Seeing Andrea again made me realize how much I missed her. Go Andrea! Don't die!

Lee's choices are a little ... unconventional? Sporting of Lee to take the hockey game -- it might have been a good idea to stick Sean with the hockey. Brits of any ilk, let alone Palestinian heritage, are unlikely to familiar with the game. I'm also quite surprised that the "politician" didn't have a boardroom strategy mapped out.

I was delighted by the peek behind the curtain at the Viceroy-DT WTF moment about Pepi. I wonder if it was aired only because it was too good not to, or if Pepi either saves the day or is a "disaster."

Sean's ADTD (attention deficit tammy distraction) is cringe-worthy. Could he sound more like a 14 year old boy with a crush? And then he has a Nigel Tufnel moment, a la "There's a fine line between art and stupidity."

I'm probably going to hell for this too, but I think that in order to not make him look desparate, they would have to not show him period.



I totally forgot about Tammy's response to Andrea. I think I was just so shocked to see Mandrea cry. I don't think Mandrea is a good enough actress to fake the hysteria over coughing blood though. Tammy came off as majorly bitchy.

What about Tammy's response to Andrea's teary confession of coughing up blood? "oh, that's too....can you pick up these groceries while you're out?" At least Sean took it seriously. And I just don't see Andrea pulling an Omarosa; coughing up blood sounds pretty scary.

And I don't have a clue if Lee is getting the underdog edit or the Tana edit. But I am happy to see Tarek back.

I thought the scenes making fun of Pepi made all of them look like assholes - not that this is new for Trump, but it took away any small respect I had left for Carolyn. They have brought back people in previous seasons who were fired around the same time as Pepi. The "who is Pepi?" comments were just a very scripted gimmick and they show again how desperate and pathetic the show has become.

I hope Sean loses. Enough of hearing about his getting the girl (does she even know that she's supposed to be his property forever?), enough of his smugness, enough of his needing to insult other people (first Michael, then Roxanne and Allie, now Lee) to prop up his own ego.

It was nice to see Dan and Bryce again, as hot as ever. And Tarek - always nice to see you.

If Sean stays one man down due to this, it's his hands down, even if there are some minor screw ups.

I like Liz. She hates Lee's BS, and she sees right through it. OTOH, Sean's a tool for showing some affection for Tammy during the final task. Is this The Biggest Loser (and I dont' mean for weight loss), or The Apprentice...so hard to tell.

And last, but not least - Pepi? Who's that? Oh yeah, he's the one that Carolyn and Donald didn't know either. Scripted or not - too funny.

ETA: Lenny said (paraphrasing) They'll will lose so bad that they'll bury the competition. You won't be able to find them for 20 years. Coming from Lenny, I believe him.

I know that expecting continuity within a reality TV show is a moot point....but weren't Roxanne and Ally in a cab after the got fired?!

I guess that it must have been a cab ride around the block, since they were back in the suite when Sean and Lee returned from being told that they were the final 2...

I didn't notice Caroline slanting her eyes! That makes it even better!



I'm 99.9% sure they ended last season's penultimate episode with the crappy weather report for Randall's event.


Now, onto my own thoughts.

If Lee listens too much to Lenny, that will be his downfall. I'm glad that he respects the guy, and it really was one of his smartest moves ever to pick him for his final team, even if just for loyalty alone. However, putting all your decisions into another person does not make you a very strong or capable leader. And Lenny, though I generally like him, has a tendency to hate people for the most arbitrary reasons (like Charmaine's voice). I forgot how much like a little boy Lee is around Lenny, and that's gonna crush him if he's not careful.

Now Sean, FORGET about Tammy. I think she's a great worker and would have hired her myself, but if you're constantly ogling her, you're not gonna get any work done. I mean, you should have sent Tarek and Andrea to plan the menu, or Andrea and Tammy, or Tarek and Tammy. Either way, you should NOT have missed that meeting with the Pontiac executive. Tarek was right. That guy's gonna think that he is the project manager, just like Josh last season on Randall's team. Just remember, the job is why you're on the damn show. That should always come first.

I'll bet a shitload of money that Mark Burnett called up Liz and told her to call Lee while Carolyn was watching. You know, for the drama. I wish I could call producer meddling on Andrea, but I saw the blood on her tissue. The only thing I don't get was if she knew about it the day before or not. Because if she did, she very well should have said something in the sweet while Sean and Lee were choosing.

Lastly, my dream team (in this order): Tarek (he didn't fuck up nearly as much or as badly as Trump thought), Roxanne (was wonderful until recent episodes, and probably just needs to be away from Allie), and Tammy (I really liked her from the hair salon task). No way in hell would I pick a guy who was voted out the second week or Andrea (she would sabotage any PM's efforts and try to take over).

"Who the hell's Pepe??" [/Bart Simpson]

Ok, the interview process was disturbing to say the least. Brent, did you have to keep asking if a decision was made? As if you were on a shortlist. And Dan aka "Kingmaker"? WTF? Lee's an idiot for picking Lenny, loyalty or no.

And while I normally can't stand Sean, I like him better than Lee. And what was up with Tammy's response to Andrea? I don't, in any way, see how people could think she was faking. Sure, I couldn't stand Andrea, but coughing up blood is serious stuff. And I could be mistaken, but I thought I saw some blood out of her nose. I can see people pulling all sorts of stuff, but not that. Come on.

I think Trump should decide to hire no one, unless Sean's task turns out really well, which it might. But hiring Lee would make the show even more ridiculous than it's become.

So Carolyn doesn't care enough about this show to even learn who the contestants are? I remember Pepi, so I guess Carolyn's laughing at me (and you, too). For still giving a damn about this show. Which I no longer do.

I'm probably a little too suspicious of everything I see on 'reality' TV, but based on the past history of this show, I didn't believe Andrea was sick for a second. The whole scene smacked of the "Omarosa moment" from the first finale (Where she got lost, disappeared or walked off the task at a crucial part, I can't remember the exact details...) and/or the "where are the signs??" moment from Bill's task.

Of course, if I'm wrong and she's got hemmorhagic fever, I'll feel a little bad.

Instead of actually casting compelling people who the audience would care about, the producers always seem to manufacture drama.

I really don't care who wins, but I'm hoping for Sean. That's just based on which of the two I'd find more entertaining as a substitute George/Carolyn in future seasons.

Absolutely horrible reaction from Tammy. She just doesn't seem to have any feelings. I hope Andrea will be OK. Very strange, was that the coven trying to poison her?

A double firing followed by a "Pepi, you're HIRED!"

Actually, it's disturbing me a tich that Sean is getting the pre-coronation and therefore will take the beegfall edit... I'm assuming that next week will show him coming thoroughly unglued, merely by the fact that right now he's looking lovestruck-but-competent, whereas Lee is looking incompetant and surrounded by navel-gazers.

But if this is all we're stuck with prior to the onslaught of the weeklong online voting, then Sean will take this in a landslide. Aside from his judgment errors on attending the totally wrong meeting, he's looking compassionate with Andrea (go figure), organized (overplanning!) and is not gathering complaints from the sponsors... yet. Whereas Lee is coming off as lackadaisical, disrespectful, disorganized, and already has two major sponsors unhappy (the car lady was underwhelmed, and Liz O'Leary is quite reasonably unhappy...).

My vote is going for Sean...

WORD. Very well put. I found the whole scene to be in incredibly poor taste.

Plus, I don't recall anyone criticizing Rebecca for choosing Chris last season. Chris was fired in the second episode, so was Pepi this season. Now all of a sudden it's funny? They need to grow up.

Where the hell were Trump's kids anyway? It's good to see George, but Carolyn is not fun to watch after watching Ivanka for awhile. Ivanka is just easier to like.

I have rooted for Lee from the beginning, but I think he made a big mistake by immediately grasping for Lenny. Lee thinks Lenny is all about Lee, but I think Lenny is all about Lenny. I recall Lenny telling Lee, "We want a team that will work hard for us"---us, not you. Then they all sit around like a bunch of mopes, with no ideas or sense of what is required here. This episode showed Lee's youth to finally be a disadvantage, because he just doesn't see the whole picture nor comprehend the enormity of what he must handle for this task. I wish it were an editing "trick," but I really think he seems lost at the moment. As for the woman from the charity, she might be tough but she's just trying to be kickass to raise money for the firemen.

In her defense, Carolyn does have other responsibilites. She also was not around for many of the tasks this season. I'm probably just biased because I thought that boardroom moment was hilarious (though agree that it was not their most professional moment- to put it in context though, Trump had just made a comment about prefering "bare naked ladies" to hockey, which was WAY more out of line).

How is it in one quick moment I can turn against someone. Stunned by Tammy's coldness and perhaps cruelty. Andrea has always seemed strident and rude (" I know I am one of the two smartest here") but I always felt for her because I believed there were depths to her character and she seemed sensitive. Tammy was just out and out callous. Even if responding to Andrea's "I might cry- don't say anything" paraphrase she didn't have to suggested groceries!

I felt sorry for Brent tonight. I'm not a fan, and I found him incredibly annoying while he was on the show. But tonight, my heart went out to him. He actually seemed to think he had a chance to be picked. I guess he wanted desperately to have a last chance to redeem his image. To see him hovering, hoping to be chosen, was sad and pathetic.

I don't think Carolyn ever had a chance to learn Pepi's name. She could have only knew his name from observing him in the first week, which is a hard task in itself considering there are seventeen other names to learn. The next task Pepi was fired, and Ivanka was the boardroom viceroy in that case.

I don't blame her for being worried either. They only have 2 or 3 events a year to raise money and Lee seemed to have no idea what to do. If I were her I would have been freaking out. I'm not a business/sales/marketing person at all and I could think of ideas to throw out there to at least get the idea ball rolling.

This bugged me a bit... if only one person was supposed to be fired that evening, then there would have been three to go on with the interviews the next day (or two). But suddenly all the candidates were back in town, in the quite, and ready to be interviewed in the amount of time it took for Trump to call up to the suite (when Allie and Rox were fired a few minutes earlier), the boys to hastily get dressed, go down, find out they're the final two, and then return to a full roomful of folks? Either I missed a continuity shift, or Trump knew in advance that both girls were being fired? Am I missing something here? Were the other apprenti already sequestered? Had they been brought back earlier than intended "just in case"? Just curious...

I liked when Liz told Lee that if he thought he could just get a keg of beer and call it an event that he was mistaken. Ha! What concerns me the most though is that Lee doesn't seem to think Liz has the right to demand details from him--that he can't be expected to take care of everything. Isn't that his job????

Rowr17 , I don't fault Carolyn for not remembering everything and everyone, but there was a very real vibe of it being Pepe's fault for being so unmemorable, rather than Carolyn being so pressed for time that she just plumb forgot who Pepe is. And they even mentioned how soon he'd been fired. I find them both to be pathetic.

It's such a stupid business decision, besides. If they don't remember the various candidates, why should we? And if we don't, why should we watch? And if we don't watch, then Trump has failed at yet another business venture. He's fired people for much stupider reasons than alienating customers.

I don't think they made him look desparate - I think he is desparate. This is his only chance to redeem himself, even a little bit, in the public eye.

Oh, definitely. The first time we saw him talking with Sean, I thought "Sean canNOT be serious if he's thinking about Brent... oh wait, it's Brent trying to make his case, thank God". And I wonder if the other candidates were ragging on Brent a bit there, without him even really noting it?


You are totally reading my mind, I said the exact same thing when I spotted Roxanne in the background there...


Also, poor George, having to sit there and swallow with a smile Trump's shit about him not being brave...

Tammy did say she didn't want to give Andrea work if she was sick, before she started giving her the list.

I think Lee and his team missed a golden opportunity with Pontiac and the matching funds. Apparantly Pontiac thought they missed out as well. I was surprised, (although I shouldn't have been) to see Sean picking out the food for his wedding reception, I mean event party, with Tammy instead of meeting with Pontiac. Remember them Sean? Your main sponsor? And his remark about her earrings being in his bed...Tarek or Andrea need to take him aside and get him to zip it up until after the event is over.

I find it hard to believe the Taj Mahal doesn't have a doc you can call for a medical emergency. Where do you go to see a doc for an hour where they can diagnose coughing up blood? It takes an hour just to get weighed and your blood pressure checked. The show has showed us so many icky scenes already, the two "snuggle bunny" scenes come to mind, and girls going to the bathroom, surely we could have seen a little coughing blood.

Oh yes, and the moment I decided to root for Sean was when they were picking their teams and Lee said (a couple of times) "I wanted to pick you all. This was so hard. I mean it." So unnecessary and seemed completely insincere. What a suckup politican wannabe.

And I also was saying "who's Pepe?" I genuinely don't remember him. And so far he hasn't exactly become memorable.