'The Apprentice 5' - Ep.12 -or- "Eye-Rolling? Me? @@"

Oh, my...this season is dwindling down to its last few weeks. Oh, whatever will I do? Survivor has ended; The Amazing Race finale is on Wednesday. I might have to hit up my book pile for entertainment going into June. Well, that can be fun, too! Onto the show...

When the girls (Roxanne, Tammy and Allie) saw Lee and Sean returning from the Boardroom without Michael, they all seemed a bit surprised Lee remains in the running for the job. I personally think that no one's more surprised than Lee himself. They all pretty much think that Trump has taken a special liking to Lee. I can't really disagree. He squirms his way out of that Boardroom each and every time he could be fired -- and that's a lot of times! Tammy, of course, was happy to see Sean return. She fluttered her eyes and all. I think she's smitten with the Brit.

This week, it's Bill Rancic and Ivanka Trump who monitor the progress of the teams and report back to Big Daddy Trump. The task looked like fun, but I don't think it's the best challenge they could face. Bigwigs from MicroSoft and Wal-Mart explained that the teams had to create an environment within a Wal-Mart store focusing on MicroSoft's XBox 360™ geared for display and promotion of the product. The envirnoment created had to be interactive and three-dimensional. Now, that seems to be kind of easy. Just with the "360," it screams out full-circle, doesn't it? Use their promo designs and colors and you're there!

Sean and Lee were immediately full of ideas and excitement about the task at hand. Their team, Gold Rush, is down to just the two, so they outsourced almost all of the labor details -- flooring, a roof, the banners, signage and all. "No more Kinkos for us!" Sean was the Project Manager, but they both took on even roles in the task. Both were very familiar with the product, so they knew what could tie in with it as far as goods sold within Wal-Mart. Ivanka peeked in on them and seemed to be very positive about their teamwork and enthusiasm. Their only real downfall was that by sourcing out the work, they lost control on the completion time. That's bad, very bad.

Ah, the after-commercial Trump quote and Forecast O' Firing this week was "Death to Traitors." I think it was a bit over the top, but then I was never good with office politics and backstabbing ways. He lectured about getting rid of those who sabotage your efforts from within. Hmmm...I never was into that either. Since they had already shown Lee and Sean working great together, I knew it had to be the Synergy team. And, it was.

Tammy wanted to be the Project Manager for the task to prove herself worthy or something to that effect. She literally said, "I want this to be about me!" Eep. Her idea was a rather odd red carpet Hollywood ordeal focusing on the entertainment aspect of the Xbox 360™. Okaaay...that's her choice, though certainly not something which would come to my mind when I think of the product.

She assigned Roxanne the sign-making tasks as she's into graphics and, to be honest, I can't recall what she assigned to Allie, if anything. As they shopped for supplies, both Roxanne and Allie were so not into her ideas or her plans that it was super evident. Not only to me, but to Bill Rancic who stopped by to check on their progress. He saw the eye-rolling and disdain wafting out from both Allie and Roxanne. Uh-oh! Traitors! Off with their heads! Oh, wait. Trump didn't say be-head, just generic "death." Tammy was the Rodney Dangerfield of the episode -- "I don't get no respect." I think her main turn-off with the team dates back to her statement that she wanted it to be all about her.

As the time came close, Gold Rush (Lee and Sean) had a super-dilemma on their hands -- no ceiling for their enclosure! They did the best they could with the banner-walls decorated in the product theme, having several related items from Wal-Mart, the specification sheets, and the pricing of the items.

When the Wal-Mart and MicroSoft bigwig dudes arrived, they didn't seem all that thrilled with either exhibit. In the meeting to discuss the efforts of both teams, they went with the Gold Rush effort even though it remained unfinished. They loved the product tie-ins and thought it integrated both companies very well. The reward was a neat one this time around. No stomping grapes, we're talking a private jet trip to California. a meeting with Jeffrey Katzenburg of DreamWorks Studios, and a voice audition for parts in the upcoming movie Over The Hedge. I officially give this one the Best Reward Award! Oh, but it made the Synergy team quite jealous. Plus, of course, they have to go to the Boardroom where one will be fired.

[If you watch the movie, watch for BBQ Barry in a scene where critters run through his barbeque -- that's Sean's voice. And Lee is the voice of Lunch Table Larry, a critter himself.]

Before heading to the Boardroom, Allie and Roxanne moped and whined and then fussed that they wanted that reward. Too bad, girls! Tammy thought Allie gave a half-assed effort in the task. She thought Allie was just following Roxanne who "isn't capable of sabotaging me!"

The catfight in the actual Boardroom pitted Tammy against Roxanne while Allie was smart enough to basically sit this one out. I noticed that she went for the Lee Politician Approach a lot during Trump's questioning. A very wise decision, indeed. Trump thought their task looked like a place where tired shoppers would sit and fall asleep or, as he said, "a cheap third-rate liquor lounge." Well, it did look comfortable enough! Voices were raised! Accusations of eye-rolling or not were um...accused! Trump declared he actually hates some people! Nobody can get along with each other! A lousy idea! A horrible team leader! A shot rang out! The maid screamed!

Ahem.

"Tammy, you're fired."

All in all, the best thing about this episode was the reward. Y'see, I am a firm believer in eye-rolling. I eye-roll a lot at my own writings. @@