Well OK now we are into December (and I have been a bit unwell the last few days) and I thought I would finally get around to doing a post on the most recent episode of The Apprentice, episode 8 which saw the two teams take on another task that would see one team emerge as the winner and in the other team another victim of the process being shown the door. So let's give this one a look....
So this episode's task saw the two teams having to choose and sell two items for the Royal Bath and West show and both these items had to be ones that had never been sold there before and also secure another item that has had previous success at the show. So team Tenacity, lead by Felipe, decided to opt for a handbag that was made out of two flatcaps sewn together and also a trailer that provided a child seat for a bicyclist. Team Summit, lead by James, also wanted the trailer item as well as another item but James vetoed both of the them, without even seeing the items or without even properly consulting with his team members and chose to got for wellingtons and a hanging chair. Both teams however wanted to sell the hot-tubs as the high ticket item that had great previous success at the show, and the vendor decided to go with team Tenacity, particularly after James made the mistake of calling the vendor "Derek" twice instead by his actual name, Anthony. James then decided to not tell his team about the decision (much to Roisin's disapproval) and opted to just tell that he decided to go with selling the lawnmowers.
So on the day of the sales for both teams things did not go too smoothly particularly for Tenacity as Felipe ended up having a big argument with Daniel after he revealed that he wanted Mark to sell the hot tubs with Katie rather than him, despite the fact that Daniel had secured getting the appointment with Katie. This then lead to both Felipe and Daniel arguing loudly while they failed to sell much at their stall with the handbags. Meanwhile however Mark and Katie did very well with their sales of the hot tubs as Mark at one point managed to secure seven sales alone to one buyer. On team Summit however things did not go as well as James struggled in trying to sell the lawnmowers as his lack of preparation and knowledge on the product came over and they only sold two, whereas James's subteam didn't sell too well with the other items.
And the next day it was boardroom time where the two teams met with Lord Sugar and in the meeting James revealed that he had lied to his team about not securing the hot tubs (much to the chagrin of Sanjay). And also Daniel yet again expressed his dismay at Felipe's lack of assertive and decisive leadership skills. But that all put aside both teams numbers were added up and it was team Tenacity that came away with a great win as they secured £30,000 in sales as opposed to Summit's £5,000, which saw Tenacity get a treat as they got a boxing lesson from Olmypic bronze medalist, Anthony Ogogo (and in the lesson Mark and Daniel seemed to fianlly ditch some pent-up rage over one another (or it is love??? ;-)).
After this the losing team, Tenacity, were brought back into the boardroom where James came under fire for not telling his team about the hot tubs and he also came under fire from Roisin for his poor decision making and his aggressive managing style, where he wouldn't listen to anyone. This partly prompted James to bring back in Roisin and Sanjay, who he felt had contributed very little to the task. Roisin who had been fairly quiet up until now in the boardroom spoke up for herself and made her points on how James wouldn't listen and caused problems for the team by not listening to them when it came to the items they had selected as well as not listneing to her and lying to his subteam about the hot tubs. James tried to defend this by saying he felt he wanted to keep his team in good spirits and decided that he felt it wasn't the right time to tell them and he went on to make an impassioned plea to Lord Sugar to try and keep himself in the process. However in the end it was a plea that fell on deaf ears as Lord Sugar, while he recognised that James had some good qualities, he also felt he had "alot to learn" and as such probably too much hard work to take under his wing, so he finally decided to fire him from the process (albeit with regret).
Well I think its safe to say that Lord Sugar made the right decision this time no question as James's time in the show had really run its course. James's arrogant and loud mouthed attitude throughout the process certainly at times put him at odds with the other candidates and it was about time that he was finally let go. James however was not without some good qualities as he did show some great energy and enthusiasm for his work and when he was let go he wa quite gracious and humble in defeat and when he was on You're Fired, he came across quite an affable guy who realised his time in the show at that point was numbered. But the bottom line with James is he was too soon to always butt in and not let other people be heard and he didn't know when to shut up most of the time and his project managing skills were more like as Bianca one week put it more like a "dictatorship" where he wasn't really prepared to give his team a say. It also didn't help matters that James decided to lie to his subteam about not getting the hot tubs and then blurting it out in the boardroom to the rest of the team, who just laughed out of amusement when he revealed that he got the vendor's name wrong! So in the end James was right to get the chop but regardless he still did provide some moments of entertainment along the way as well some moments of sheer cringe inducing hell also!
As for the other candidates left well this is where things are really started to hot up as the process is starting to get to the deep end. And I'm actually quite surprised that Sanjay for one is still in the process especially given how little he has sold in the process so far and Lord Sugar made it quite clear that he wanted to see something from him in the following week. As for the others well Roisin is looking like a strong and credible candidate as is Katie, who is very well organised and level headed and Lord Sugar even resorted to calling her "mommy" at one point when it came down to Felipe and Daniel arguing at one another like two brats. Daniel however in my eyes is on borrowed time just now and he might last another week or two or even get to the interview stages but he certainly won't get past that in my opinion. Felipe also while he is a pretty decent candidate he doesn't actually have much in the way of a real spark to him as he is a bit flat and one note in his manner and personality, but despite that though I still think he is something of a puppet master in the show as he once again was influential in securing the project manager role, as he overrode Katie's request to do it, proving again whilst he is the quiet man, he is also pulling the strings!
And then there is Mark who I think is actually one of the strongest candidates in the process, but my problem with him is that he is a rather smug and cocky git, who always seems to overestimate his abilities. And Mark can also never resist giving some smug comments to the camera as well as using puns and anologies to make himself sound so clever. And Mark had another example this week as he clearly influenced Felipe into making him one of the sellers for the hot tubs and he said to the camera at one point "You don't leave your prize pony in the stable when the race is on!". So whilst Mark is without a very capable guy he is also quite manipulative as well and even at one point in the boardroom where Felipe acknolwedges that he is a "nice man" that Mark says "I think we are now getting down to the stage where the nice guys are no longer going to last" basically meaning "I'm an arrogant shit and I am going to step over anyone to get this job!". And this is a tactic which Mark will need to watch out for and be careful with as Lord Sugar will no doubt have little time for game players, so whilst Mark is a strong candidate, Lord Sugar can fire him any time he sees fit.
Right so that's it for now and my look at the latest episode of The Apprentice and the next week is on tomorrow night, which should be fun and will get to soon.
Until the next one, bye for now!
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