Friday, December 16, 2005

Et tu, Randal?

In an unprecedented move in a season full of unprecedented moves (multiple multiple firings, a death in the family, a broken ankle), Donald Trump asked Randal, whom he just hired, if you were me, would you hire Rebecca, too? Rebecca must have been thinking, "Randal, who's your buddy, who's your pal?" A $200,000 salary and the chance to manage the construction of a flagship Trump property were at stake. Would Randal pull Rebecca up from the abyss — or let her drop like a rock?

No way, replied Randal. It's called "The Apprentice," not "The Apprenti."

A gasp was heard from the audience, and my first thought was, "Why you lying, backstabbing..." After all, the second hour of the two-hour finale was filled with scenes of the Final Two sharing a meal, decompressing from their respective challenging final tasks, and declarations of mutual respect. It was a reflection of their previous fifteen weeks of seemingly friendly competition. The pair was popular with fans: in the Yahoo! web site poll this morning, 48% would have hired both candidates. Everybody loves Randal. You would expect something like that more from Alla (who did not disappoint in that regard last night).

Yet, Randal, like every single candidate in four cycles of The Apprentice, came to New York to win. As Michael Corleone said, "It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business." Rebecca was just as willing to leave Randal behind if that's what it took to hear the words, "You're hired." Randal survived the meat grinder and raised $11,000 for charity in his final task. He won.

Like a political candidate who suffers a disappointing election night, Rebecca, sans crutches, will stride into her next challenge with a confident smile, look you in the eye, take command, and she will win.

4 comments:

GOPWingman said...

I watched it too. I can't tell you how angry I became at Randal when he wouldn't let Trump hire Rebecca. What an asshole.

Scholar said...

I was trying to decide why Trump made the unprecedented move of asking an Apprentice on live TV, in effect, for permission to hire the runner-up. Trump doesn't need permission to do anything, especially within his own organization. Was it:

a. To see how "tough" Randal really is
b. For dramatic effect (to boost ratings for Apprentice 5), as if this season needed any more drama
c. Because he truly believes that both candidates are "stars," and he wanted both of them in his organization

Scholar said...

Hmm. The Strib story on this topic, posted to the web at 12:30 pm today by Matt McKinney and Neal Justin, contains a sentence that is almost verbatim of my post this morning (punctuated incorrectly and with Randal's last name substituted):

No way, Pinkett replied. "It's called 'The Apprentice," not 'The Apprenti,'" said Pinkett.

GOPWingman said...

I had a lot of respect for Randal until that moment. Perhaps his true colors shined through.