Martha Stewart's Apprentice - Week 6

I almost fell asleep during last night's conference room scenes. I can't figure out who was the dullest: Marcela, David, Martha, or Alexis. Martha should have just fired both Marcela and David to give us all a break. David seems like a nice enough guy, and I'm sure he's smart, but he's too timid to be a good leader. Charles hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that David's speech in the conference room was better than anything he ever contributed during the task. Not only did he bow out of the negotiations altogether, but he also blew it by typing during the meeting with Merv Griffin! I don't blame Merv for being annoyed. I guess David's teammates are partly to blame: If they had taken turns doing the negotiations, as they've done in past auction episodes, he could have proven himself either way. It was weird to ask one person to sit there doing nothing.

Marcela wasn't much better. She also seems like a nice person, and, as her teammates are quick to point out, she's a great chef. But she's not management material. In fact, I think she would be miserable in a leadership role. Amanda, on the other hand, becomes more of a stand-out each week. She did a great job negotiating with the celebrities last night, and she's already proven that she's an inspiring boss. She's definitely one of my picks at this point.

The best part about last night's show was clearly Jim's over-the-top performance at the team dinner. He really cracks me up, but there's no way I'd ever work for someone like him. He's scary. It's a shame, because he's clearly very creative and talented. Last night, he generated a lot of good ideas and was fine during the negotiations. Then he blew it, as usual, by acting like a total nut at dinner. If he could only tone-down his behavior, he could be a contender. But it would take more than a little self restraint to make Jim Martha material. It would require a lobotomy. Still, I'm glad his team won the challenge. Without him, this show would be a lot less entertaining.

No one else really blew me away last night. The problem with these "celebrity auction" episodes is that they don't require much from the candidates once the negotiations are over. Besides, the deck is clearly stacked in their favor. These celebrities already signed up for the auction. And who doesn't want to do everything they can to save homeless dogs? Even so, it's nice to see a reality TV show giving something back to the world for once. And I liked the fact that Martha emphasized the important of charity to the contestants.

Apparently the kids will be hawking Tide next week. Judging from the previews, it looks like someone's going to don a super hero suit and get a little nutty. Then Martha's going to fire two people. Jim seems like an obvious choice, but I can't figure out who the other person might be. I guess we'll find out next week!

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