The Apprentice 4 Episode 13 – The Final Showdown
Each of the finalists must manage a massive charity event: one a celebrity softball game, the other a star-studded comedy show.
The conclusion of the final two tasks; a cast reunion; the boardroom hiring of Trump’s newest employee. Season Finale
It’s Randal and Rebecca.
We’ve finally gotten to the last episode. Both candidates look like they’ve got some trouble.
This show is partly live and partly prerecorded. It starts with Trump, Carolyn and George taking a limo to Alice Tully Hall live on the show. Robin is there and takes Trump’s coat. There’s a packed hall with a really enthusiastic crowd.
Trump says that over 1 million people applied for The Apprentice.
Trump says that last week we saw that rain was threatening Randal’s game and Rebecca was having a hard time with her show.
Trump asks the crowd who they prefer. Both Randal and Rebecca get a loud cheer. Trump says he hasn’t made up his mind yet. I think I actually believe him.
After the intro credits we go to Rebecca, Capital Edge.
Joe Piscopo cancelled at the last minute in the last episode. They are now desperately trying to find new talent for free.
Excel, Randal, gets rain for his event. It’s questionable if they can even play their game. Randal says he should have had a contingency plan. Randal says he will decide whether or not to play at 11:00. Randal is very optimistic. He says it’s drizzle, not rain.
Capital Edge got Pete Dominic from the Gotham Comedy Club, an MC from the club. Pete sounds confident but they are featuring him with bassoon music in the background which usually signifies the person is not great. He sounds ok to me.
Excel gets to the ball club. They are calling for rain throughout. 100% in the morning. 70% in the afternoon. It’s looking bad. Even if they play, the area will be a mess for the VIP’s. So Randal is improvising an indoor event.
They are cutting out the silent auction and have the live auction for Autism Speaks.
This is making for a pretty exciting finale.
“Responsibility”. Trump is live discussing Responsibility. He says a good leader can step up, take responsibility and make the best of it.
Rebecca is getting goodie bags together. Yahoo wants no outright solicitation. So they have put a donation envelope in the goodie bags. It’s not great. But it’s better than nothing.
Randal is meeting with the CEO from Outback and with the commentator, Jim Kerr.
Alison Singer, from Autism Speaks, is concerned how well their messaging is incorporated into the event. That is how she will measure success. Randal feels that Alison is very bothered. She does seem a little high maintenance. I would think she might be a little more grateful for Outback and The Apprentice giving her major national attention. Maybe she feels she needs to play the event a little hard ass. She is probably an analytical type of person. These people are sometimes called “Thinkers” in behavior assessment tests. They hate improvising. This event is all about improvising now. That is likely to not fair well for Randal’s review. Her behavior type is going to be hard to impress. But Randal is doing a good job, considering the circumstances.
Each candidate is having a live party… Rebecca’s in Chicago and Randal’s in Newark.
Trump brings out all of the candidates from this season.
capital Edge: Chris wants the Yahoo sign to “smack them in the face.” Chris is concerned about the signs from The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
Randal feels the event is chaos. Alison Singer is concerned because people are coming in 45 minutes. She is also concerned about losing checks.
Randal says that Mark, John and Marshawn were excellent team members.
Randal is very calm and collected. He says that the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.
Rebecca also looks strong. They have Yahoo-tinis, Yahoo blinking ice cubes. There is only one sign for The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Carolyn is concerned that the event is too Yahoo. She is also concerned that Rebecca will be able to raise any money for the foundation. She has really been given some bad setups. Yahoo wouldn’t let her ask for donations and Glaser gave her one sign.
Randal goes out to meet Trump from his helicopter. He goes over some bullet points he wants to show Trump. This guy is unstoppable. How does he manage to be able to meet Trump, give him a mini presentation all the while, being in charge of running a major event? He is spectacular.
Randal: The event looks fun. Randal gives a presentation about the importance of the autism event. He is an excellent speaker, he is a “rock star for autism.” He’s just a star.
He tells the audience that Trump is a humanitarian. Trump says that Randal has everything well under control.
The celebrities for the event are:
Sugar Ray Leanard
Jerome Williams
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
They hold an open auction event. Alison Singer says that Randal was able to express that autism has reached epidemic proportions.
Rebecca meets with the executives. She is hoping that the donation envelopes will do the trick. Trump calls ahead to say he’s on his way.
Trump discusses “Respect”. “Always treat your boss with great respect.” He sets up the scene to see how Rebecca treats Trump. Trump says the event is hard to find. I kind of feel a bit bad for Rebecca. Some things appear to be out of her control.
Trump told people to go down and get ready for the comedy event. The show is starting a half hour before the event was to happen. The MC and comedians are a bit shocked and off set. Trump thinks the event might be a bit disorganized. Rebecca says that Trump was the biggest wild card of the event… hence the “Respect” comment. I think he was a bit insulted that she insinuated he caused her difficulty. Rebecca should have controlled Trump a bit better, let him know the schedule instead of letting him control the schedule. “Mr. Trump, our event is going to start in 45 minutes, but would you be willing to say a few words to the people here?” That would have done it. But he didn’t know the schedule, so he made it up.
Rebecca’s event is a bit uncomfortable for me. That’s where they begin. Jake Glaser speaks and says that his mother would be happy with the event. Pete Dominic, starts and rips George quite a bit. He is a judge of the event. George says he’s been married for 53 years. The comic also rips George. It seems like he likes it.
Randal’s event raps up and says his teammates really stepped up for him. He hugs them all. He loves his team. That’s the quality of a great leader. He is grateful that they just wanted to see him succeed. Randal says he felt humbled and relieved after the event.
Rebecca’s event raps up. She thanks everyone for coming. They hand out the gift bags at the end. Rebecca feels that the event supported her charity very well. George speaks really highly of the event. Rebecca says she has no regrets. She also feel strongly about her teammates.
Oh crap! I think I didn’t Tivo this right. I might have lost a few minutes. I was behind a bit and my Tivo stopped recording at 10. Sorry if I missed anything too good. I’m at the point where Rebecca and Randal get dressed and head to the boardroom. She feels this could be the toughest boardroom ever.
Rebecca’s hopping is hard to watch. I wonder how things would be if she hadn’t broken her foot.
Their teammates meet with Trump.
Josh says Randal was a phenomenal leader. Trump says Randal’s event raised about $11,000.
Rebecca’s team is trying to support the fact that Yahoo didn’t want them to make an overt request for money. Trump says that if he were Yahoo he would make a major contribution to the Glaser Foundation. Technically, Rebecca’s team made no money. George asks who was running the event. I don’t know if you could have forced Yahoo to let them ask for money. Although, that should have been the stipulation. And Yahoo had never done a charity event before. They might have taken some direction.
Randal’s team says that they were taken in a similar direction with his sponsor. But he was able to get the open auction.
Marshawn says that Randal is without a doubt a better candidate.
Carolyn says that Rebecca handled the event very well. Carolyn says that Randal didn’t handle the event as well. Carolyn says not having a Plan B is a major mistake. George says he didn’t recognize the celebrities. He said they should have been put on stage. Randal’s team says that was intentional.
Trump wants to know if Randal is tough enough to make it in New York. He says that he is very laid back.
Trump says that Rebecca is tough and stood up for Toral against what everyone else said. Trump really like that. Toral says that Rebecca is a better human being than her. Rebecca is 23 and really tough.
Trump says he’s stuck with two stars.
The fact that Rebecca is 23 is really pretty amazing.
Rebecca and Randal go into the boardroom.
Randal says he deserves to work for Trump because he has an undefeated recorded and has really set himself apart. Rebecca is not afraid to stand up for what she believes.
Rebecca didn’t meet him at his car.
Rebecca didn’t raise any money. This is a big concern being that it’s a charity event. Rebecca felt that Yahoo was the client. That might be a mistake.
Trump says that Randal has had better events. Trump wants a list of auction items. Randal says he liked the stars out in the crowd. Randal had no Plan B.
Rebecca has a 1 and 2 record.
Randal is a Rhodes Scholar and from MIT. Wow. Rebecca says he is weak on looking at the larger objectives.
George says that both did a good job. Carolyn says also that they both did a lot right. She was really impressed by how connected they were with their teams.
The Yahoo event was better. But the Autism fundraising was better.
Maybe my mom is right… they both get hired. I’ve never really heard them discuss both candidates so positively.
Now the show is live. Rebecca is a financial journalist. She speaks with a lot of companies. She works with a non-profit called Pivot Consulting (I couldn’t find their web site)
Rebecca comes out without crutches. It makes her look really strong.
Randal went to Oxford and MIT. He now works with BCT Partners. The crowd chants “Randal , Randal”. When he walks out he says, “Let’s make it happen.” He is so cool.
Marshawn says that their has never been an easier choice than Randal. She speaks very eloquently of Randal. Jennifer M. is a Randal supporter. She says that he is a natural leader. Alla says she sees nothing out of Rebecca. Randal is in a different league. That’s rough.
Rebecca is strong. But Randal is unlike anyone I’ve ever seen. Quite frankly, he shouldn’t work for anyone other than himself. Why would he want to work for Trump? I wonder what the reasoning is. Maybe it’s bigger than I think. Condoleeza Rice got her name on the side of an oil tanker. Randal will never get a building named after him as long as he works with Trump.
Dan Rosensweig, Chief Operating Officer of Yahoo says a few words. Yahoo donates $100,000 to be split among both charities. That’s a wise move. They really looked scared by not allowing any fundraising at their event.
These are the projects:
Trump is building Trump Plaza in New Jersey. It’s a $400 million complex.
They are expanding the 3 properties in Atlantic City. This will
Randal wants the AC project and Rebecca wants the New Jersey project. That’s ideal for both of them being hired.
Carolyn can’t believe Randal didn’t check the weather.
“If there is a concrete wall right in front of you, walk right through it,” Rebecca quotes Trump.
Randal says he runs business and Rebecca writes about business.
Randal goes back to the fact that he won all three of his projects where he was project manager. Rebecca’s record was not nearly as good. This is a good point. If that doesn’t play a part of this then why have we sat through the last 13 weeks?
Randal must win. The only question I have is if Rebecca gets to go along too. More and more, I think that’s the path.
Trump says he based his life around really good people. Trump says this is very important for him. Trump is very impressed with Randal’s education. Rebecca too has a great education. Trump is impressed how she handles pressure. The broken ankle was a major hurdle.
Trump says he is dubious of Rebecca’s loyalty. I like the fact that she’s loyal. But who she is tied to.
Trump says Rebecca is outstanding but Randal is hired. Randal says that she is outstanding. Trump asks Randal if he should hire Rebecca. Randal says there is only one Apprentice. And therefore he shouldn’t hire her. So Trump doesn’t hire her. That’s cold. He wants to win. That is really a crazy twist.
It may be ok. Maybe Randal doesn’t think she deserves it. Maybe he feels they wouldn’t work well together.
What do you think?
Comments
20 responses to “The Apprentice 4 Episode 13 – The Final Showdown”
i think Randall showed his true self in the most selfish act I have seen on the apprentice. What would it have hurt to have both in the organization? It would have been a win win.
Randall just had to be the sole star and that to me was a poor business move, letting a equally great employee go our of your own slefish need to be “the only apprentice” I would have fired Randall right then and there and said it wasa poor decision on his part to let her get away and hired Rebecca.
I agree. Never let a good employee go. Randal is showing his true colors. Trumps looses on both counts. He should hire Rebecca anyway.
I am very dissappointed in Randall and his decision concerning Rebecca. She did as well as Randall in the final task and I gave her a slight edge. Randall made many minor errors during the show on different tasks that should have never been overlooked. Examples: Not checking the weather and having a backup plan in the final task. Also, the date mistake in the music task. Didn’t cutthroat Alla notice these things before she tried to trash Rebecca at the end. Where did this hatred come from? Rebecca showed more class and character than Randall and all of the other contestants. Trumps loosing a real gem.
I’m correcting the error I made in the above comment. Randall did not make a date mistake it was a the wrong radio station that was listed.
Randal, Randal…what were you thinking? I’m almost afraid to know! Were you really thinking it would be nice to screw her over like that? Or were you just nervous and not sure the test was over?
And Trump, what were YOU thinking? Were you thinkg “I know who I’m going to hire and this is my company and I’ll run it the way I see fit!” or were you thinking “gee, I guess I’ll let Randal make that decision for me…and maybe on the way home I’ll pick up that album I’ve wanting, the one where the dogs bark jingle bells…and I think I need a new pair of socks, these keep falling down on me, I guess.”
Randall- he seemed like a good guy from beginning to about the last 5 minutes of the show! I hate Donald for putting him on the spot! And I hate Randall even more for being a selfish baby and saying no! I hope Donald trump goes and hires her anyway to do the New Jersey project. I am so disappointed in Randall! Wow, what a freakin baby! I hope I don’t have to see him in any of the future episodes!
I agree, lacey. This was a bad spot for Randal. I now have to rethink everything I once thought of him. Is his team building a hoax? Which was real? The last five minutes or the entire rest of the show?
As Randal came out on the stage we could hear him say, “Let’s get this done.” Maybe he was just in a “win at all costs” mindset. Maybe at this stage he couldn’t think about anyone other than himself.
I’ve gotta think that Randal is a good guy. But it was the live show, and the incredible desire to win. No doubt, he is probably brutally competitive.
I would hate to share the light with another person who I felt wasn’t as qualified to win. But on the other hand, we’re talking about Randal. This guy seemed above it all. It almost seemed like he wasn’t playing even in the same world as the rest of us. That last five minutes was just too human.
I may be playing the race card here, but I believe that this reaction to Randall has more to do with his race. The way this final show was edited made me naucious. They portayed this woman as a heroin, when she was so undeserving. All they kept coming back to was her ability to perform despite a broken ankle (which she said was the worst thing that had happened to her in her life!). Give me a break. Why was there no mention of Randall coming back despite his grandmother dying? This is so ridiculous.
Why should he have to share his title with anyone? Nobody else has ever been asked to do such a thing. If ever there was a situation that deserved such an exception, it was when Kwame was sabotaged by Amarosa. Was one offered then? No.
Randall won by a LANDSLIDE. The goal of the final task was to raise money for charity. Randall raised $11,000 and Rebecca raised $0. Think about that for a second. The most pathetic thing about that is that she focused so much of her time to managing the gift bags. She was directly responsible for the sole means that she decided to use for raising money and failed miserably. Why would you even consider hiring someone who performed that poorly? The only win that Rebecca has was because of Randall. He took charge of her project (when she was unable to do so herself). Just like Alla said at the Live event, Rebecca has shown nothing in this entire competition. Everyone wants to make such a big deal about he loyalty to Toral. It may show character, but when did character equal good business sense? It certainly was not in that situation because she had to recommend that Toral be fired the next week.
Rebecca lost. Randall won. Randall failed to check the weather or have a “plan B.” Rebecca was unable to exploit his poor planning and raised an impressive $0 with her “plan A.” Randall has proven his capabilities in life and on this show. Rebecca has managed to slide by because her team realized she was a weak link and traded her to Randalls team. She would not even be around if she had to compete with Alla. Randall has much more education and experience in business than Rebecca. If this show never occurred and both of them responded to an advertisement for the job, she would have no chance of being hired for it. She has nothing on her resume that even justifies her being paid a six-figure income and being responsible for multi-billion dollar projects. Please be realistic.
It seems that everyone has fogotten that this show is about business and making money. Instead, you want to make decisions based on emotion. If Trump really made decisions that foolishly, he probably would not have a show for us to be debating about. This was not a little league softball game. So, everyone should stop acting like overbearing parents that want all participating children to go home feeling like winners.
And regarding performance on tasks during the season, “anonymous poster” is correct that Randall made minor mistakes. Why didn’t you list the ones that Rebecca made? Probably because you cannot remember any of her performances. She rode on the backs of others and slid under the radar. When you take the risk of leading, you are going to make some mistakes. We will never find out what mistakes Rebecca might have made because she did not have the courage to step up.
She was worthless in every task. She stepped up when Marshawn did not want to make a presentation. That was the only time she really shined in a performance. Don’t feel bad for her, with her final performance showed a great ability to plan parties. Maybe she can throw bachelor parties or company parties one day…..
This was the first decision Randall was given regarding the Trump organization, and he blew it.
He could of said, there is only one apprentice but there are outstanding candidates, and rebecca is one that would be great asset to this company.
I believe if Rebecca won, she would of glady said Yes to Randall.
A poor decision for a very selfish reason…Randall, there have been 3 apprentices previous to you…and others to come.
what limelight would you have lost by allowing rebecca to be hired..
none…i agree with an earlier post, randall should of been fired for making a bad business decision.
I agree with familyguy, Randall won by stepping up and working around mistakes and bad situations… Rebecca was just under the radar. There is no reason why Trump should have put Randall on the spot like that. If he wanted to hire both of them, then say “You’re both hired!”. Dont delegate your hiring decisions to the “New Guy” on your Company.
The question of Rebecca didn’t come up until after Randal had been named the winner so I’m not sure why he thought helping her would take away from that win. I was really disappointed.
You make some really impressive points, familyguy.
I don’t believe that anything was truly racially motivated. But it does look bad that the black guy is the only person ever to be cornered by Trump like that. It should never have come up. Couldn’t Trump have given her a job after the show. In a 13 week competition the winner deserves to win.
All of that said, I am a firm believer in making as many win/win business decisions as possible. Randal was served up his first one in the Trump organization and he stomped all over it.
I don’t slight Randall at all for his decision. Overall, this is a competition. One winner and one winner only. But moreover, not only is the Apprentice an opportunity to work for the Trump Organization and learn more about business, it’s also about establishing a brand – A Brand Called Randall in this case.
Randall didn’t want to water down his brand by co-opting someone else in it. He was out on the stage alone, he’s the one getting the recognition and now it’s about him and not about “the twist at the end” where both were hired.
randall blew his mr nice guy cover by f**CKIng over Rebecca.
why?
because he COULD.
The irony of this is methinks Rebecca will be just fine and dandee WITHOUT being the Apprentice.
BTW, it’s interesting almost 60% of the people preferred Rebecca to Randall per the Apprentice website.
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I think it was very selfish of Randall to discourage “The Donald” from hiring Rebecca who I feel is equally qualified if not better than Randall! Randall’s credentials and experience may be impressive, but he needs to get over himself at some point and put his ego on a serious diet! Did Trump really want to hire Rebecca? You wonder because if he truly was considering it, he should have either discussed it with George and Carolyn (or just done it spur of the moment) instead of suddenly putting Randall in charge of the Trump HR Division! And by the way, Mr. 5 academic degrees from the top schools on the planet—there’s no such word as apprenti!!!!
Black men usually stand behind “brothers” and “sisters.” Had Rebecca been African-American, I have no doubt that Randal would have encouraged Trump to hire her as well. Instead, Randal indulged his considerable racism and revealed himself to be so incredibly and foolishly selfish.
Familyguy,
When I first started the Apprentice 4 I thought that Randall had the most talent in the group. As the show progressed he won projects as the manager. I also saw that Randall was human and made simple mistakes. Rebecca also made simple mistakes and had to deal with weaker teams. Both finalists had outstanding qualities and deserved the job. For the education and experience that Randall had he overlooked details that should have not been overlooked as stated in above comments. There were many other instances of errors that he made. I would share your opinion if he was as flawless with his cridentials, but concidering this he showed me that he is not trained to properly plan ahead and he misses important details as if he thinks they will take care of themselves. This evened the playing feild between Randall and Rebecca. Rebecca on the other hand started out slow, but gained momentum in later episodes to close the gap between Randall and herself. As far as raising money goes. Rebecca followed the instructions of Yahoo executives who clearly stated no open fundraising and if Randall had that task I would think he would do the same. Trump was not being realistic in saying she should have raised money anyway. Yahoo, probably feeling guilty about the fundraiser, donated one hundred thousand dollars to both charities. The following day Yahoo offered Rebecca future projects to work on. Both candidates were outstanding and had great qualities. I would have been great fun if Alla and Kristi were teamates in episode 12 and had to fight it out in the boardroom, but unfortunately that did not happen. I think Randall made a mistake by not offering Rebecca the job, but life goes on.
First things first… I am a black man. Let’s just get that out of the way. Here’s my take on things.
I was very impressed with Randall and his handling of the tasks. I believe both he and Rebecca were even on “outside pressures” (her broken ankle and his grandmother dying). On that aspect, they were tied.
Overall, I felt that he did better on the tasks than she. The key word there is “overall.” Sure, he made quite a few mistakes on the final task, but the funny part is that Rebecca made just as many. True, he didn’t have a contingency plan for the weather, but guess what? She didn’t have a contingency plan for Joe not showing up either. Randal was portrayed as if he didn’t seem to care about Autism. But where was the AIDS signs in Rebecca’s comedy club? On that’s right, there was only one sign. And please feel free to check the deleted scenes on “The Apprentice” website to see a few blunders made by Rebecca that were not shown on the air.
Okay, the final task… I think Randal was less focused than Rebecca, but I believed he also recovered better. And let’s tell the truth, Mr. Trump did say that the goal was to raise money for the individual charities. Bottom line, who raised the money? Randal, not Rebecca. Business is about making a profit.
As an African-American male, I’m proud of Randal’s education. Instead of whining about how he got screwed over by a white culture, he went out and retrieved an education that most of us reading this blog could never hope to have. And he definitely proved that he was a hard worker, a great leader and very, very intelligent. I only wish more minorities strove to be like him instead of crying “race” with every setback. I grew up in the projects and worked my fingers to the bone for an education and a better life (which I am happy to say that I have achieved). Randal deserves everyone’s respect… white, black or otherwise. He deserved to be “The Apprentice.”
HOWEVER,
I thought that he should have allowed Donald Trump to hire Rebecca. And I shall start by saying shame on Donald for putting him in that position in the first place (I, like many others, also thought it was a final test). If he would have agreed to hire her, he still would have won, still would have been the first apprentice and still would be perceived as being more talented than her. He would have lost nothing other than a little limelight. He would have gained HUGE respect from everyone.
I would have hired her. If anything, it would have shown that he was able to put race aside and show his compassion and respect for another human being. For any outraged minority out there, I have but one question… what would Dr. Martin Luther Kind have done?
I’m proud of Randal’s accomplishments, but disappointed in his decision.