The Apprentice

Into The Stretch (2)

Season 3, Episode 17, Aired 5/12/05

Episode Summary

Kendra completes her task with the ultimate video game tournament and Tana completes her task with the NYC 2012 commitee. However, Tana had a harder time supervising her team made of Michael, Kristin, and Chris. The two have a final boardroom. The episode ends when Trump asks to see all of the previously fired employees.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Donald Trump

Himself (the boss)
Kristen Kirchner

4th Fired
Carolyn Kepcher

Herself/Trump's assistant

Fan Episode Reviews (1)

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Night and Day: Kendra Shines in her Task while Tana’s left in Dark

5.0

"Mediocre"

By theaterguy007, Jun 19, 2005 Report Abuse

Night and Day: Kendra Shines in her Task while Tana's left in Dark

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Last time, on The Apprentice, Craig was fired in a round of grueling interviews. Later, Kendra and Tana were introduced to their final tasks. Kendra was instructed to organize and run the Video Game World Championship sponsored by EA, Best Buy, and Playstation, and Tana was told to orchestrate the campaign for NY 2012, an event much like the Olympics that attempts to bring the Summer Olympics to New York in 2012. We were left off with Tana trying to control her team and Kendra in a pickle with the Playstation lady because the Playstation gaming area looked like crap.

This week, we pick right up with last week's problems. Kendra's still with Aimee Duall (the Playstation lady), trying to soothe her into not withdrawing the Playstation sponsorship. Kendra makes it a top priority to redo the room and make it better and more exciting. Over at Chelsea Pier where Tana is stationed, she seems to have begun trusting her team when she allows Kristen to do the brochures, to give to everyone who's coming to the event, on her own. And then we see that that's not really what's happening, and that the team of Chris, Brian, and Kristen are still fighting. Chris refers to Kristen as "such a spaz" (look who's talking!) and Tana believes that Kristen is hard to work with and selfish. In fact, she says, "people who are selfish and can't get their ass out the door infuriate me," the next morning when Kristen can't get her ass out the door to get to the event. Speaking of the next morning, Kendra works up a sweat making the boxing theme of the video game, Fight Night 2, come to the life by creating a huge boxing ring in Webster Hall, where the event will be held that night. She makes sure to please all of her sponsors and proves herself as a good negotiator and a positive leader and role model.

Apparently, conflict thrives better in reality television than peace, which is why we get a half hour of Tana's task and fifteen minutes of Kendra's. Tana's teammates have caused lots of trouble for her; she even goes so far to say, "the problem was that I had to depend on these three idiots for my success." By the way, this episode really made Tana out to be the villain, showing her as a manipulative, lying, fake, and mean woman, which is perhaps a way of Mark Burnett setting up approval for Donald Trump's imminent "you're hired!" so that viewers cannot say that DT will not choose a candidate who does not have a college education. If Tana is portrayed in a terrible light, viewers won't like her and won't be rooting for her to win. Conspiracy theories aside, Tana really dropped the torch on the task, shown by her failure to delegate properly and unique ability to piss off everyone in a five-mile radius of Chelsea Piers. From Vinnie, the man from Governor Patacki's office, to Amy Stanton, the spokeswoman for NYC 2012, to the athletes, Carloyn, and all of the other important people who rely on her for information and guidance. Tana acts really bitchily towards everyone, snapping at Vinnie and trying to smooth things over with everyone ineffectively.

It's slip-up after slip-up after slip-up for her on this very important task. The brochures that she trusted Kristen with turn out to be embarrassing and offensive due to Kristen's inability to rewrite athlete summaries provided by NYC 2012. The summaries that are printed include offensive and classified information about the athletes, like who was hard to work with, who was bitchy, and who wasn't really as good as everyone thought. Even when speaker Bruce Jenner introduces Governor Patacki, something goes wrong. In the marching procession of flags, an American flag is not included (well, she thought there was one, but found out that it was Puerto Rico). There is a lack of communication between Tana and her team the entire day, and her constant blaming of Brian, Chris, and Kristen did little to make Carolyn see why she should be The Apprentice. Still, at the end of the day, Mrs. Tana Gertz is very confident. "I have this job," she says. "You're looking at the next Apprentice." While I would have agreed last week, this episode really changed my mind about her and her chances of winning.

And now, the more positive side of the final task Kendra. Her tournament, despite a rocky start, turns out to be a big success, with "well-known" rap artist (I've never even heard of the guy) Fabulous (one of the lost Queer Eye guys? Think again), a gory video game (there's blood oozing out of everyone's face in Fight Night 2, and perhaps a boost from subliminal messages from producer Mark Burnett (the video gamers wear boxing robes yellow and blue just like the ones in Burnett's The Contender. At the end of the night, after Trump has seen his way around the successful evening, Kendra says goodbye to her employees, who truly do seem to love her and want her to win. The group of four hug and are a complete team, making Kendra cry because she "almost forgot what it felt like to work with people who believe in me." Tana, on the other hand, hates her team and goes on a little ego trip midway in the episode, especially when the four Apprentice candidates leave from Chelsea Piers. "I'm the executive," she says, "they're the employees. I did this on my own. I can't wait to hear the words 'you're hired.'" And then, as all country girls gotta do, she tacks on the unavoidable: "We're not in Iowa anymore." Of course not.

Back at the suite, Kendra comes home from her task to meet a gleeful Tana. This is where fake Tana comes into play, with her too-happy smiles and too-fun laugh that can't be real. The two experiences that Kendra and Tana had with their final tasks were completely opposites like night and day, with God making Kendra her own Garden of Eden and basically taking a crap all over Tana's house and then striking her dog dead with a bolt of lightening. Poor thing.

And then dun, dun, dun! the boardroom, something I didn't think we'd see until the next episode. Trump, Carolyn, and George assess the two job applicants, and have positive things to say about both, but only question the negative aspects of the task. First, Tana is asked why she talked to her team so condescendingly, which she answers with a response that basically says "they're idiots and I hate them." Good answer. She didn't proofread the brochure with the offensive comments because she trusted Kristen to use common sense and not copy NYC 2012's source word for word. She didn't have the American Flag during the march because she assumed that it was in the box of 100 world flags. Valid point. When it comes to Kendra, she says that she loved her team, that there were no disagreements or arguments, that the meeting mess-up (in last week's episode) wasn't entirely her fault, and that, overall, she deserves to be The Apprentice.

Trump shifts gears to education, and wonders if Tana thinks her choice to not finish college was wise and will benefit her. Of course, she says. "My education is the street." Kendra disagrees (duh!). "You should finish what you start," she argues, jabbing Tana for only attending three years of college before quitting due to a move and to pop out some babies. Trump's not bothered by that. "Having babies supercedes education." Viewers are taken aback. I thought he would have said "getting married three times supercedes education." Whatever. When Kendra and Tana leave the room Carolyn and George share their thoughts. Both believe that both are very strong-willed women, but Carolyn thinks that Kendra is a good leader and that Tana is very nice. But bitchy. George, as always, agrees. What is he even there for? At least his stand-in the one week was hot!

And of course, as it is 9:56 by the time the Carolyn finishes up her thoughts (and George finishes up his head-nodding), we are left with a "cliffhanger," with the employees entering the boardroom to chat it up with Ali and Jack! No, I'm just kidding. Jack's dead and Ali went to prostitute herself elsewhere. They're just going to lay out the facts to my main man DT.

Next week, as we all know, is the season finale of The Apprentice 3, where the first woman will be hired on the fairly new reality series. Everyone's like "He's finally going to have to pick a girl!" even though the show's only been on for a year now (three seasons, but still just one year. And a half). Get a life, TV Guide! And stop dissing Kelly Perdew's girly name. At least his mom didn't name him Lynne! Or Meredith! If you're confused, check out my The Amazing Race reviews at www.mediafiends.com, and if you're still confused, pick up an issue of TV Guide and look on page one. And now I'm gonna stop talking. But seriously, go Kendra. Or else.

- Adam Polaski

- Email me. Emails are free. My "services" are not. It's 1-866-IDOLSA-07, as in 1-866-I-Dig-Our-Lovely-Sarcastic-Adam-07. Actually, don't call that. You may be charged. With perjury. Like Lil' Kim. Once again, I'm gonna stop talking again. Hit me next time, P.
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
ADD TRIVIA
- Trump's Boardroom with the previously fired contestants is never shown in this episode. Edit
- This is the first time in which the end of the final task and the live finale have aired in separate weeks. Edit
- NBC advertised this as the season finale, although the actual finale is next week. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- No one is fired in this episode. Instead, Tana and Kendra are shown working on thier final tasks. Despite no one being fired, there is a boardroom, where Trump discusses the tasks with the final two candidates. Edit
Quotes
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- Tana: My team is the three stooges. Edit
- Kendra: This is like running the longest marathon of my life. This is it. This is my moment. Edit
- Tana: I'm the executive. They're the employees. I did this on my own. I can't wait to hear the words, "You're Hired." Edit
Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS
- The boxing robes the finalists wear at the Fight Night 2 competition are blue and yellow, which are the same colors of the robes worn in NBC's The Contender, another reality show created by Mark Burnett. Edit