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The Apprentice US Season 2 discussion

hownwbrowncowhownwbrowncow Posts: 6,188
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No spoilers past episode 9 please!

Basically I was quite disgruntled at the start - the first 3 firings were all BS! In Week 1 Pamela should have gone, Ivana in Week 2 and Elizabeth in Week 3.

I genuinely don't like any of them either :D Of the remaining guys, Raj is a clown and the rest are a bit boring, and out of the girls, they're all either bitchy or annoying haha!

I also don't like how late they left the team reshuffle - 4 is acceptable but 6 weeks of boys vs girls is silly.

This thing they're doing in Episode 9 of bringing back past candidates seems a bit random!

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    itscoldoutsideitscoldoutside Posts: 3,190
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    I think the US version gets extra so he can fire loads in a row.
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    hownwbrowncowhownwbrowncow Posts: 6,188
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    Extra what?

    Only one person chose to bring 3 people in so far and even then they were prompted by Trump. It's not a bad idea, but no one wants to do it!
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    hownwbrowncowhownwbrowncow Posts: 6,188
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    \Just seen the Week 11 double firing.

    Wes was probably my favourite and Maria was great for entertainment value so I think perhaps it'll be a bit boring now?
    Here are my opinions on the Final Six:
    Kelly has been a good leader on both occasions. He works really well in the teams and is a good pitcher!
    Andy was also a good leader but he is too meek and easy to sit back on any other task.
    Kevin is lucky to still be in the game.
    Jen has been pretty UTR but seems competent.
    Sandy has been UTR the whole time and I can't believe she has reached this stage.
    Ivana has put her head on the chopping block, but has also made mistakes - she had a very lucky escape in Week 2. I felt bad for her in the last task though!

    I feel like they have had a lot of duplicates of the Season 1 candidates: Stacie was Omarosa, Ivana was Tammy, Sandy was Katrina. I'm sure there are others but I can't think of them right now.

    Carolynn is so bitchy! :o
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    Will_BeeWill_Bee Posts: 1,567
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    Was this not on TV about 8 years ago? Or is this a new series you are talking about?
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    hownwbrowncowhownwbrowncow Posts: 6,188
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    Will_Bee wrote: »
    Was this not on TV about 8 years ago? Or is this a new series you are talking about?

    It was on TV ten and a half years ago :D But I've never seen it .
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    Sherlock_HolmesSherlock_Holmes Posts: 6,882
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    \Just seen the Week 11 double firing.

    Wes was probably my favourite and Maria was great for entertainment value so I think perhaps it'll be a bit boring now?

    That cab ride was my favourite moment of the series :D
    Here are my opinions on the Final Six:
    Kelly has been a good leader on both occasions. He works really well in the teams and is a good pitcher!
    Andy was also a good leader but he is too meek and easy to sit back on any other task.
    Kevin is lucky to still be in the game.
    Jen has been pretty UTR but seems competent.
    Sandy has been UTR the whole time and I can't believe she has reached this stage.
    Ivana has put her head on the chopping block, but has also made mistakes - she had a very lucky escape in Week 2. I felt bad for her in the last task though!

    She also has an interesting moment still to come :D

    Personally, I watched it on first broadcast (on the BBC) and I was actually rooting for Jen M.

    It reminded me a bit of the last UK series, in that some of the bigger characters (aka most of the women :D) were booted off quite early on.

    I feel like they have had a lot of duplicates of the Season 1 candidates: Stacie was Omarosa, Ivana was Tammy, Sandy was Katrina. I'm sure there are others but I can't think of them right now.

    Perhaps in terms of looks, but not really in terms of personalities. Think that Stacie, Ivana and Sandy would get eaten alive by the others (and not just because they are s2 candidates vs the s1 candidates; for instance Kirsti and Jessie would not survive in s2).
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    hownwbrowncowhownwbrowncow Posts: 6,188
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    That cab ride was my favourite moment of the series :D



    She also has an interesting moment still to come :D

    Personally, I watched it on first broadcast (on the BBC) and I was actually rooting for Jen M.

    It reminded me a bit of the last UK series, in that some of the bigger characters (aka most of the women :D) were booted off quite early on.




    Perhaps in terms of looks, but not really in terms of personalities. Think that Stacie, Ivana and Sandy would get eaten alive by the others (and not just because they are s2 candidates vs the s1 candidates; for instance Kirsti and Jessie would not survive in s2).

    Seen episode 13 now. How she thought that was a good idea is beyond me! That is one of the worst decisions I've ever seen there or in the uk!

    I too like Jen now . She is very level headed and professional. The other Jen was vile wasn't she?! :o

    How can you not agree that the 3 are similar?! Omarosa and Stacie were both borderline psychotic, happy to alienate their teams and erratic. Both tammy and Ivana could be quite bitchy but maybe I didn't think that pair through very carefully :D Katrina and sandy are very similar though IMO. Both quite catty, whiney and very lucky to get as far as they did. They were also both the last in their respective series to be PMs iirc?
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    hownwbrowncowhownwbrowncow Posts: 6,188
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    What is season 3 like, with it not being divided by gender at the start?
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    Sherlock_HolmesSherlock_Holmes Posts: 6,882
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    What is season 3 like, with it not being divided by gender at the start?

    Pfftt...........been a while since I watched it. I do remember that some of the female candidates got a bit stressed out due to the pushy nature of alpha males.

    Think it is actually my favourite season (only watched the first 3 US seasons), even if the candidates aren't as bright (=comical) as in season 2 and the calibre of candidates isn't as high as in season 1.

    It also features an unique event, though it might have been repeated elsewhere (not in the exact same fashion in the UK version, but even there my memory is hazy on the earlier series).

    Will not say who the winner reminds me of (in terms of UK version), as you would guess it a few episodes in.

    Here is the opening trailer for season 3 (see if you can spot the winner :D):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZzoxFheKz0

    (obviously don't scroll down for the comments section)
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    hownwbrowncowhownwbrowncow Posts: 6,188
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    Pfftt...........been a while since I watched it. I do remember that some of the female candidates got a bit stressed out due to the pushy nature of alpha males.

    Think it is actually my favourite season (only watched the first 3 US seasons), even if the candidates aren't as bright (=comical) as in season 2 and the calibre of candidates isn't as high as in season 1.

    It also features an unique event, though it might have been repeated elsewhere (not in the exact same fashion in the UK version, but even there my memory is hazy on the earlier series).

    Will not say who the winner reminds me of (in terms of UK version), as you would guess it a few episodes in.

    Here is the opening trailer for season 3 (see if you can spot the winner :D):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZzoxFheKz0

    (obviously don't scroll down for the comments section)

    I'm actually now up to episode 6 (on a bit of a marathon :blush:). I quite like the street smarts vs book smarts theme. I wonder if they'd ever try thst here? The rivalry would be so intense as education can be quite a contentious issue! I think LS wouldn't want to do it though as he wouldn't trust himself not to favour the 'street smart' team!

    I can't figure out who Kendra is supposed to remind me of :confused: Unfortunately I know which 2 candidates get to the final!
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    TXF0429TXF0429 Posts: 2,161
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    All I'll say is Elizabeth and Andy were absolutely robbed.
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    BigDaveXBigDaveX Posts: 835
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    I can see where you're coming from with regards to Andy - though I doubt he complained too much, since Trump actually hired him in a different role after the season ended - but Elizabeth? Her second turn as a project manager was a complete trainwreck.
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    hownwbrowncowhownwbrowncow Posts: 6,188
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    BigDaveX wrote: »
    I can see where you're coming from with regards to Andy - though I doubt he complained too much, since Trump actually hired him in a different role after the season ended - but Elizabeth? Her second turn as a project manager was a complete trainwreck.

    Agreed, she was awful! Sandy should have gone in week 12.
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    TXF0429TXF0429 Posts: 2,161
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    Elizabeth Jarosz is one of those wonderful candidates who I love but everyone else seems to hate. I was being a tad facetious - she probably did deserve to go in Week 8, but overall I think she was absolutely battered by the edit.
    Basically I think she was one of the best - if not the best - woman of Season 2 and had the misfortune to be in THAT pack of vultures. In the first few weeks she the de facto leader (by that I mean that she was subtly leading and guiding the group, not that she was necessarily the PM). She was driving the brainstorm in Week 1 and both Bradford and Ivana heavily relied on her in their stint as PMs. I may be misremembering but I think she was a big organiser of the women in the Ice-cream task as well. In Week 3, she was a great PM, in control of that horrible pack of women all task long and came up with the better idea (according the executives) but Ivana and Maria cocked up the budget and cost Apex the task.

    This next part is hard for me to articulate but I'll do my best. Basically, from task 1, the whole Apex dynamics centered around Stacie J. ALL women saw an easy scapegoat and actively or passively were involved in a certain amount of bullying. The most active participants (that I recall) were Ivana and Maria. The most passive were Elizabeth and Jenn Massey (in particular). Because of the team dynamics, in my opinion ANY woman would have tried to scapegoat Stacie J after losing the third task (Jenn M may not have, but well never know whilst Elizabeth wasn't initially going to bring her in until Stacie J started attacking her unnecessarily). Obviously Stacie J got fired for Task 3 (partially because, I suspect Trump knew very little of what was going on and partially because Trump probably didn't want Omarosa v2 so soon).
    Anyway, when it emerges she got fired for being 'crazy', Kevin speaks up of how appalling it is and Jenn M, worried about being labelled with a bullying tag (I suspect) starts attacking Elizabeth for being the PM when Stacie J was fired. Because of this, the dynamics shifted with Elizabeth being thrust into the Stacie J role. It's no surprise Jenn C (vile woman) goes after her in Task 4, whilst had Apex lost Task 6, the women would obviously have targeted her (particularly with Maria as PM) Pamela is an obvious exception, partially because she was thrust into a new team with new dynamics and she was likely above such tactics (she would rather get fired than scapegoat others)

    I've gone a tad off tangent but my basic point is that Elizabeth got targeted just as much as Stacie was in the end. Now I think Elizabeth is very competent but someone who has a fragile confidence and feeds off that confidence. Once she started getting targeted, she couldn't handle it (See: Breakdown in restaurant task) and her performance notably dipped because of it. In spite of it, she was largely right in her criticisms in Task 6 and actually was almost back to her old self in Task 5, being the PMs right hand man. In fact had Pamela stayed, I think Elizabeth could have gone a lot further also.
    Now: task 8. Yes, she was an awful PM, yes she didn't remotely lead well and yes she was horribly wishy-washy. But she was dead right. All task long. She didn't want a military theme all task long and the military theme cost them the task. And because of the team dynamics noone (except Kevin) was willing to give her the time of day or the chance to let her run the task her way. Yes, of course she should have said "Sod you all, I'm doing the task my way" but her confidence was waaay to poor to allow it.

    Ultimately what I'm saying is that her confidence got absolutely shot to pieces by the vile bullying women in Season 2 and it ruined one of the most promising candidates that series. This for me was proven by her excellent performance for Kelly in the final where not only was she the best and hardest working candidate across both teams but she also took on a leadership role and shined with the pressure off. One of the most underrated candidates of all time for me. I did a ranking of all US Apprentice candidates from seasons 1-4 and the first celebrity apprentice and I ranked Elizabeth 8th.

    As for Andy Litinsky, I'll save that for a later post (this one has gone on far too long) but I will say I think he was one of the best young candidates I've seen in any format and was the true epitome of an apprentice.

    One thing I'll ask Tom is why do you think Elizabeth should have been fired in Week 3? Week 8 I totally get, honestly, but Week 3? Maria or Ivana should have gone (obviously Maria since she was in the BR but you get my point)

    And I hope you enjoy Season 3! It's one of my favourite seasons, not least because of Kendra Todd, quite possibly my favourite candidate in any format across the world.
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    george.millmangeorge.millman Posts: 8,628
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    TXF0429 wrote: »
    Elizabeth Jarosz is one of those wonderful candidates who I love but everyone else seems to hate. I was being a tad facetious - she probably did deserve to go in Week 8, but overall I think she was absolutely battered by the edit.
    Basically I think she was one of the best - if not the best - woman of Season 2 and had the misfortune to be in THAT pack of vultures. In the first few weeks she the de facto leader (by that I mean that she was subtly leading and guiding the group, not that she was necessarily the PM). She was driving the brainstorm in Week 1 and both Bradford and Ivana heavily relied on her in their stint as PMs. I may be misremembering but I think she was a big organiser of the women in the Ice-cream task as well. In Week 3, she was a great PM, in control of that horrible pack of women all task long and came up with the better idea (according the executives) but Ivana and Maria cocked up the budget and cost Apex the task.

    This next part is hard for me to articulate but I'll do my best. Basically, from task 1, the whole Apex dynamics centered around Stacie J. ALL women saw an easy scapegoat and actively or passively were involved in a certain amount of bullying. The most active participants (that I recall) were Ivana and Maria. The most passive were Elizabeth and Jenn Massey (in particular). Because of the team dynamics, in my opinion ANY woman would have tried to scapegoat Stacie J after losing the third task (Jenn M may not have, but well never know whilst Elizabeth wasn't initially going to bring her in until Stacie J started attacking her unnecessarily). Obviously Stacie J got fired for Task 3 (partially because, I suspect Trump knew very little of what was going on and partially because Trump probably didn't want Omarosa v2 so soon).
    Anyway, when it emerges she got fired for being 'crazy', Kevin speaks up of how appalling it is and Jenn M, worried about being labelled with a bullying tag (I suspect) starts attacking Elizabeth for being the PM when Stacie J was fired. Because of this, the dynamics shifted with Elizabeth being thrust into the Stacie J role. It's no surprise Jenn C (vile woman) goes after her in Task 4, whilst had Apex lost Task 6, the women would obviously have targeted her (particularly with Maria as PM) Pamela is an obvious exception, partially because she was thrust into a new team with new dynamics and she was likely above such tactics (she would rather get fired than scapegoat others)

    I've gone a tad off tangent but my basic point is that Elizabeth got targeted just as much as Stacie was in the end. Now I think Elizabeth is very competent but someone who has a fragile confidence and feeds off that confidence. Once she started getting targeted, she couldn't handle it (See: Breakdown in restaurant task) and her performance notably dipped because of it. In spite of it, she was largely right in her criticisms in Task 6 and actually was almost back to her old self in Task 5, being the PMs right hand man. In fact had Pamela stayed, I think Elizabeth could have gone a lot further also.
    Now: task 8. Yes, she was an awful PM, yes she didn't remotely lead well and yes she was horribly wishy-washy. But she was dead right. All task long. She didn't want a military theme all task long and the military theme cost them the task. And because of the team dynamics noone (except Kevin) was willing to give her the time of day or the chance to let her run the task her way. Yes, of course she should have said "Sod you all, I'm doing the task my way" but her confidence was waaay to poor to allow it.

    Ultimately what I'm saying is that her confidence got absolutely shot to pieces by the vile bullying women in Season 2 and it ruined one of the most promising candidates that series. This for me was proven by her excellent performance for Kelly in the final where not only was she the best and hardest working candidate across both teams but she also took on a leadership role and shined with the pressure off. One of the most underrated candidates of all time for me. I did a ranking of all US Apprentice candidates from seasons 1-4 and the first celebrity apprentice and I ranked Elizabeth 8th.

    As for Andy Litinsky, I'll save that for a later post (this one has gone on far too long) but I will say I think he was one of the best young candidates I've seen in any format and was the true epitome of an apprentice.

    One thing I'll ask Tom is why do you think Elizabeth should have been fired in Week 3? Week 8 I totally get, honestly, but Week 3? Maria or Ivana should have gone (obviously Maria since she was in the BR but you get my point)

    And I hope you enjoy Season 3! It's one of my favourite seasons, not least because of Kendra Todd, quite possibly my favourite candidate in any format across the world.

    I don't watch the US series, but the way you have described this Elizabeth sounds very similar to Sara Dhada, right down to minor details. If Stacie is the Lucinda figure (not in terms of how far she got, in terms of Sara's role in that story in the early weeks) and Jenn C being her namesake. I felt that Sara was an extremely promising character and in the early weeks seemed really vivacious and slotted into a natural leadership role, before the rest of the group turned on her and she was pressured into being a lot quieter.

    Is this a fair comparison, from someone who hasn't seen this series at all?
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    BigDaveXBigDaveX Posts: 835
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    I think Sara and Elizabeth are alike insomuch as they both showed some levels of skill, but wouldn't have worked out in the longer run for Sugar or Trump. With Elizabeth, I think the problem was that she was a creative type, but didn't pay all that much attention to the financial side of things, as evidenced by the fact that during the Week 3 task she didn't even find out that the team had blown way past their budget until the same time that Trump himself did. Trump's very much a numbers person, so she was likely always going to be on the back pedal after that happened (and the fact that she led so badly on a creative advertising task sealed her fate).
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    Sherlock_HolmesSherlock_Holmes Posts: 6,882
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    I don't watch the US series, but the way you have described this Elizabeth sounds very similar to Sara Dhada, right down to minor details. If Stacie is the Lucinda figure (not in terms of how far she got, in terms of Sara's role in that story in the early weeks) and Jenn C being her namesake. I felt that Sara was an extremely promising character and in the early weeks seemed really vivacious and slotted into a natural leadership role, before the rest of the group turned on her and she was pressured into being a lot quieter.

    Is this a fair comparison, from someone who hasn't seen this series at all?

    No, you should see Elizabeth more as a Jadine type. Like Jadine, she had her supporters but on the show she had a mental weakness in terms of handling the pressure (Sara might have been bullied in her series, but she never really crumbled; heck, Sugar fired her because of her stern voice :confused:).

    Or perhaps a Laura Moore type, even if she was a bit more on the childish side (instead of grown woman having a tough mental moment, that was more throwing a few tantrums).

    This is her:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yR6umjWj0E

    (at 0:08 you see the women's team, except for Ivana and Jen M I think??; both of whom appear later in the same clip)

    EDIT: LOL, totally forgot about Pamela :D 18 contestants in season 2 :o
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