As I watched tonight's Apprentice finale, even before the live boardroom began, I found myself convinced that Trump was going to hire both Rebecca and Randall. In a season where he's fired multiple people at once on more than one occasion, hiring two apprentices would have been a fitting end. When Randall asked the other players to stand if they thought he should be the one and only apprentice, it was clear he thought it might go that way too. So I was a little disappointed when Trump hired just Randall. But when he called Randall back to ask if he thought he should hire Rebecca also, I smiled knowingly.
Then Randall's head turned 360 degrees as he began projectile vomitting and speaking in tongues.
Maybe something went on behind the scenes that we don't know about, because he and Rebecca worked closely together for much of the season and seemed to be on great terms. So I can't for the life of me understand why Randall would display a complete lack of class and grace, stabbing a blazing hot dagger into her back on live television. Trump wanted to hire them both, and all Randall had to do was be a mensch, smile a huge grin, and embrace his former partner in a celebratory hug of their mutual good fortune. Instead he chose to puff up and hog the limelight for himself. Not content to merely achieve his own goal, he had to ensure that his rival was utterly squashed in the process.
Trump talks a good game about leadership, but then let Randall make that key decision for him. If Trump doesn't cowboy up and extend an offer-- and an apology-- to Rebecca, he and Randall certainly deserve each other.
Posted by Peter at December 15, 2005 10:59 PM | TrackBackI totally disagree with you. Trump marginalized Randall's win. I could not believe he put Randall on the spot like that in front of national tv. Trump lacks class and grace. If Trump wanted to hire 2 candidates (which I thought he would half way through the show)...he should have without Randall's input....executive decision!!
Mr. Trump has never extended two opportunities in seasons past.
Having said that...I do believe he will still hire Rebecca once the dust has settled.
Rebecca is a very sharp young lady with tons and tons of potential....but she lost.
Let Randall enjoy his victory. He will either rise or fall hard within the Trump organization.
Time will tell.
I have to agree with Tim. Trump has the opportunity to hire Rebecca whenever he wants. He should have given Randall five lousy minutes to celebrate his win before asking him to share it on live TV.
Would anyone want to share such a win? That was Randall's moment. Trump set Randall up to be embarrassed (did you hear the audience boo?). Randall had the courage and conviction not to cave. Not to hem and haw.
He said No. He was right to say No. He has class *and* balls.
Posted by: Stephen Glenn on December 16, 2005 08:02 AMI think Randall and Rebecca are the two best candidates ever. It's a shame that they were up against each other. Either one of them could have easily beat Bill Rancic,Kelly Purdue and Kendra Todd.
The Apprentice "The Game", there should only be one winner. In The Apprentice "The job interview", there can be two people hired for two different projects.
Trump should have just said, "Randall, Rebecca... You're both hired". It was not right for him to let Randall make the decision - he kind of made him look like a bad guy.
I agree that some day, he might hire Rebecca. She won't have title of "The apprentice", but she'll still have her dream job.
Posted by: Jen on December 16, 2005 09:40 AMThe problem here is that if Trump DOES just up and say "You're both hired! It's a tie!" then he completely torpedoes the show.
It's in the freakin' show intro. Trump babbles on about the candidates and about what a hellish interview process it will be, but he ALWAYS ends with the same line: "Only ONE will be...The Apprentice." So to change his mind and make that ONE into a TWO kinda breaks the implicit contract with the viewer, in my eyes. Which doesn't make me inclined to watch the show in the future. It's kinda like the wrestling match that they build up all night that ends in a no-contest because the writer monkeys decide to have someone run into the ring and muck everything up halfway through instead of actually resolving things.
(And I'm with the rest. Maybe Randal's heel turn was crappy, but Trump putting him into that position was even crappier, though unsurpsising. Take a good look, Randal. That guy who threw you under the bus on live national television? He's your new boss.)
Posted by: Chris Lemon on December 16, 2005 12:30 PMI agree that it was inappropriate for Trump to put Randal on the spot like that. Trump's the boss-- if he wanted to hire Rebecca, he should have just done it. But having been put on the spot, Randal's response was selfish and repugnant. At the end, The Apprentice isn't a competition but a job interview. Randal isn't diminished at all by opening the door for Trump to also hire Rebecca.
And even more emphatically, this is not a black/white thing despite what Black Enterprise wants to think. The backlash against Randal isn't "from the white community," it's from the human community.
Posted by: Peter on December 16, 2005 12:40 PMI think he should have told Randal that he won, and then told Rebecca she had also been hired. Let him be the winner, but it wasn't an outclassing by any means. In the end, I guess I don't care, since I don't know them and they could care less about me. But I thought it was very sad that I was right in suspecting that Randal knows how to put on a great show of caring and humanity, but when it comes down to it, he really doesn't give a damn.
And I really don't like the black/white thing being tossed about. What he did was selfish and petty. For the person who said "he's got a heart of gold" I wonder if it matters that she's dead wrong?
Posted by: dave heberer on December 16, 2005 12:55 PMRandal has never been one much for hiding his feelings even when it would be to his advantage to do so. I have been a Rebecca fan for a long time now with the smoldering intensity she would bring to the game, and I don't think she's going to be having a hard time finding good offers for a new job after this exposure.
The final two candidates had a huge advantage this time around for being able to choose their teams (or at least to negotiate them), unlike previous ones, so they automatically end up looking better as leaders than the others. My thinking is that the sponsors and charities were squeamish about the possibility of infighting causing a catastrophic failure of the event, so they eased away from the motif of choosing the bad actors to make a better safety margin.
It was a good season. Unlike the sister show with Martha Stewart, unfortunately.
Posted by: RichM on December 16, 2005 04:58 PMfirst of all i totally agree with Tim, agree that randall should not have made the decision about hiring rebecca and this has nothing to do with race. i do however think that a high percentage of people not only respect rebecca but also like her. id be surprised if randall would have gotten such a backlash like this if it were someone like more disliked like markus or kristy put in rebeccas position. another thing to think about is this....randall did say that rebecca was ''not experienced enough'' to be the apprentice. if he were agree that rebecca should have been hired then he would then almost be denying that rebecca ''wasnt experienced enough''
now theres something to think about