SECOND PART
Week 7 & 8
Posted By Clay Aiken
April 1, 2012 11:00 PM
Dee was able to present a SUBSTANTIAL check to March of Dimes as a result of his win, but he couldn't celebrate too long because our next task began immediately! Upon meeting Mr. Trump for our "task delivery" he surprises us with the news that he will be switching up the teams!! Lou, Dee and Penn move to Team Forte. Aubrey and Teresa take their place on Team Unanimous. I was actually surprised that Penn and I were separated. I mean... it seemed that he would probably continue frustrating the hell out of me, and that might have made for great TV. But we were rescued from each other, somehow.
Immediately, Team Forte got to work designing the concept for their "live health segment" for Walk with Walgreens. Though Lou was the project manager for the team, Dee and Penn were the ones who brought the working style of the former men's team to the Forte war room. They focused on trying to make sure everyone got along, and it seemed to work.
But over on Unanimous, Aubrey brought the "style" she was used to over on the former women's team: "Aubrey's Way." Aubrey quickly stepped up with some great ideas, but she seemed to steamroll over Arsenio, the project manager, on several occasions. In fact, Arsenio tried several times to "convince" Aubrey to do things his way (as opposed to "ordering" her to), yet Aubrey insisted on making the membership kit box her way, not Arsenio's. As a participant and observer, it certainly seemed to me that Arsenio was going OUT OF HIS way to encourage an environment of collaboration and camaraderie. In fact, there were several times when I privately asked him why he wouldn't just tell her to be quiet or listen to him. Yet, he insisted to me that he wanted to make the transition to our new team members as smooth as possible.
By the time we got to the Boardroom, Arsenio had spent all his energy keeping the peace within the team, and I think he felt proud of himself. Paul and I certainly believed he had achieved his goal.
What you didn't see in the Boardroom scenes this week: The first thing Mr. Trump asked each of us was how we felt about Arsenio as project manager. I spoke highly of him (as televised). Teresa spoke highly of him, as did Paul. When Aubrey was asked, she gave a very lukewarm "eh... he was only okay." This shocked me and appeared to be posturing. I am pretty sure THAT is what set Arsenio off on Aubrey. After days of trying to guide the team to work together AND of allowing Aubrey to steamroll large parts of the task, Aubrey threw Arsenio under the bus... and so he started swinging. It was a contentious Boardroom to say the least.
Aubrey felt that Arsenio and I were ganging up on her. Paul agreed with us that she should be fired, and even when Aubrey turned to Teresa for support, she only got a tacit response. If one person has a problem with you, it could be their problem. But when three (and maybe four) people do, you probably ought to take a look at the way you are doing things.
It turned out not to matter who Unanimous believed should be fired, because we won, and Team Forte was on the hot seat. PM Lou brought back perennial Boardroom favorite Dayana and Dee Snider.
At one point, Lou seemed to accuse Dee of spending time wooing Dayana, which I must say is one of the most preposterous accusations I have ever heard! Ha ha. I love Lou, but he was clearly grasping at straws to try to point the blame on someone else. And it must have worked because Lou ended up being safe. Dayana, the most resilient contestant in Apprentice history, escaped the ax again. Dee, who had designed a membership kit that displeased the Walgreens executives, took the elevator ride to a waiting car.
Make sure you DO NOT miss next week's episode to find out how Lisa reacts when she discovers that the two team members she despises the most are still in the game! That alone is worth tuning in for! But there's a LOT more excitement and "entertainment" in store in next week's episode... you may even see Paul Sr. as you've never seen him before... in a sweater vest!
