The Apprentice - Week 8

The Donald certainly redeemed himself last night. I really enjoyed the marketing challenge. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but I liked Andy's idea from the get-go. He really redeemed himself, even if he did have to act like a bit of a dictator to improve his image. I think he made the right move by passing on Maria's idea. I didn't quite get her obsession with sex appeal. A Hummer? How would that fit into an ad campaign about joining the NYPD? When Maria called Andy on his cell phone to insist he add sex appeal, I thought he handled it well. Since George was sitting right next to him, that was key. Even though I've never been a huge Andy fan, I was really glad that he stepped up to the plate and won last night's challenge. Yay, Andy!

As for Elizabeth, what can I say? I was totally shocked by her performance last night. I knew she was an overanalyzer and a whiner, but I didn't expect her to have a complete meltdown and give up. When she and Kevin stayed up late working on a better presentation, I was pretty impressed. Then, she totally blew it by letting the team push her around. I'm all for collaborative leadership, but she let them walk all over her.

Last night really made me think about leadership. I was surprised that Apex simply folded after Elizabeth flip-flopped. They mentioned electing a new leader, but they never did. I guess they figured that Elizabeth would be voted off if they lost, so they didn't put much effort into winning the challenge. It seemed like they threw the challenge on purpose just to get her off the team. Elizabeth seemed to think she was being a good leader just because she stuck to her guns. That seems to be the trend this season...project managers assume that if they stick to their guns, no matter how wrong they are, they're doing the right thing. Gee. That sounds kind of like a president I know.

At any rate, I'm excited for next week. Raj blew it again last night with that ridiculous military idea...will he get the boot next? I can't wait to find out.

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