Bizarre twist at the end of The Apprentice 4 does disservice to worthy winner Randal
The Apprentice 4 was easily the best Apprentice since the original, with good tasks, interesting dynamics, and abrupt mass firings. Some of the episodes brought valuable lessons, none more so than the Final Four showdown where Alla and Felisha enthusiastically illustrated the term sub-optimization. Both were so eager to not be seen as weaker than the other that they spent almost no energy on trying to actually win the darn challenge. It instead became a cake walk for the supremely talented, cohesive and confident Randal-Rebecca duo, prompting Donald Trump to can both of the Battling Blondes.
But it was the partially live finale that created the most controversy, and it did so needlessly and for no good reason. Moments after telling Randal he was hired, Donald Trump asked him how he felt about Trump also hiring Rebecca. Randal clearly stunned Trump by saying he felt there should be only one winner, and Trump went along with that, leaving Rebecca doubly defeated.
Viewers have reacted strongly and lines have been drawn.
First off, did Randal at all deserve to win?
Yes, he did, hands down. Both contestants had been tasked with organizing a chairty event. Randal’s event brought in $11,000+, Rebecca’s zilch.
As a Project Manager, Randal’s record was a solid 3-0, while Rebecca’s was a shaky 1-2 (her only victory coming with Randal at her side).
On top of that, both teams picked Randal whenever it was time to even out the numbers.
In fairness to Rebecca, she was a good quarterback on a bad team and she clearly deserved to be in the final showdown. Also, it was her Yahoo contacts/handlers who led her astray - which, on the other hand, was her problem, not Randal’s.
While Rebecca aquitted herself well in spite of hobbling around on crutches for most of the contest, her decision to at least continue to compete didn’t strike me as particularly noteworthy, but rather something one should be able to expect out of a competitive go-getter - or eben just somebody who needs to bring home seven bucks an hour to pay rent. Likewise, it didn’t seem like a big deal that Randal stayed on after his grandmother’s death, although his ability to stay focused and not give himself to self pity or doubt was impressive.
Was Randal wrong to reject Rebecca as co-winner? Even though he has apologized for his decision, I don’t think he was wrong to claim the title for himself.
All this moral outrage around the web about how he “showed his true colors” by “selfishly” asking that he alone should be the winner is hooey.
He was the best contestant and he deserved to win. If Trump wanted to hire Rebecca, he should have done so without making Randal have to do it for him. Randal had signed on to win, just like the other 17 contestants. Win he did, fair and square. He was in the midst of celebrating his hard-earned and well-deserved vicory (with the people who helped him win it) when Trump out-twisted himself by calling Randal back to the “board room” and ask him about him hiring Rebecca.
If anything, Randal was right in not diluting the Apprentice by making it The Apprentii, as he said. He did the show a service, he did the viewers a service (we really didn’t want the last two episodes to prove pointless, did we?), and above all, considering who’s the boss, he did Trump a service by nixing a shared victory (a shared victory? What is this? A college football conference?).
It has been argued that perhaps Rebecca should have been given the nod over Randal since she is so much younger, and has less experience and less education than Randal, yet took him right down to the wire. I admit that I have this nagging feeling that perhaps Randal’s post-Rhodes accomplishments come across as a tad underwhelming, but that should have no bearing on who won the contest. Chances are Rebecca will be more successful at 33 than Randal was, but last night Randal was the right pick.
One thing I liked about Randal was his management style throughout the contest. Rather than obsessively micro-manage everything, he’d largely trust his team to carry the day for him. Some see that as a weakness, as an unwillingness to make decision and take responsibility, but I think it’s a mature approach that can be very effective in many circumstances. I’ve seen it both work and fail at the same time, in the same place, in a warehouse operation where the white-collar staff lapped it up while the blue-collar supervisors felt they’d been abandoned by management.
Race and sex (that’s gender, for you academic types): I would never present myself as either race or sex blind, but I didn’t see any noteworthy racial or sex angles in The Apprentice 4. Randal and Rebecca were quite clearly the best contestants, in my opinion, based on what I saw in the obviously heavily edited show, and that’s pretty much that. There seemed to be much more racially tinged tension and animosity in the finale of The Apprentice 1, when Bill narrowly bested Kwame. It’s a little disappointing perhaps, and it sounds naive, but, seriously, it really just seemed like a meritocratic process and outcome. (I hope Randal becomes a bit of a pop-celebrity among African-Americans, and I also hope that what young blacks take away from the show is not how he “dissed” Rebecca but how he performed and carried himself throughout the process. The “dissing” was an after the fact detail of little or no importance. And, yes, white kids would also do well to learn from Randal’s example - Hah! I did it! I managed to work in a racial angle! I’m so proud of myself! I want to thank… well, I have the feeling nobody really wants to be associated with this moment…).
Black Enterprise has a great interview with Randal, where he seems to distance himself from his own apology for not advising Trump to hire Rebecca:
10. BE: Now that there has been some backlash from the White community about you denying Rebecca the opportunity to join you at the Trump organization, do you have any regrets on that decision?
PINKETT: I’m satisfied with the decision I made and I’m pleased with the arguments I presented. As I said last night, ‘in a competition there is only one winner.’ You wouldn’t ask the gold medalist in the Olympics to share with the silver medalist. Unfortunately for those that wanted to see a double hiring or see Rebecca win, I ended up being the bearer of bad news. However, at the end of day all I did was give Mr. Trump my recommendation. It was ultimately his decision to not hire Rebecca.
Good for him. He Has nothing to apologize for.
On a side note, Yahoo deserves a kick in the butt. First its dazed and confused executives (or perhaps they were mid-level managers) basically took the chairty out of the charity event it sponsored, only to grandstandingly kick in $100,000 for the two non-profits to share during the live finale. So first it made rubbish out of Rebecca’s event, and then it made rubbish out of Randal’s which had raised a not overly impressive but still $11,000+. If Yahoo had had any sense, it would have given $11,500 to that Glaser pediatric AIDS foundation, roughly matching what Randal raised for Autism Speaks. Yahoo should apologize to both the foundation and to its shareholders.
Here are some other blogger reactions:
Black blogger Screaming Twixie sticks up for Randal:
I would have also been okay, if Trump decided that, he couldn’t choose between the two, because they were both awesome in their own way, and went ahead and hired both of them on the spot. I would have been cool with that.
What I am mad about, is the fact that he announced Randal as the clear winner…. and the man was elated and basking in his glory- which he very well deserved…. then Trump comes out and poses the question as to whether he should also hire Rebecca– I felt that was low.. And to do that, is to take away from the dude’s win.
Angela Diane thinks Randal was the clear-cut winner:
While I agree Rebecca pulled off her EVENT well she SUCKED at pulling off the task. If people feel like sending in an envelope they will…. Have you ever gone to a FUNDRAISING event where they didn’t make an ask? There is a reason you haven’t. Her client wasn’t YAHOO it was the AIDS Foundation who probably had fun at the event, but wasted their time. They could have been pan handling on Broadway with that time to get some money since Rebecca wimped out with the Yahoo executives who were selfish. Her response to them saying don’t make an ask would have been fine how much are you donating to the charity.
It pissed me off they didn’t harp on that more. That was unacceptable. The event was to pull of the task which was to raise money for the foundation. She flat out didn’t do it. PERIOD.
George Curry of Washington, D.C., wonders why Randal should have supported Rebecca:
No one on the show had been nicer, more respected or more coveted as a teammate than Randal. Let’s not forget that even though Randal had been extremely supportive of Rebecca, she double-crossed him in the boardroom, apparently in an effort to get rid of her strongest competitor. Even after that, Randal was loyal to Rebecca, helping her win when she was team captain instead of sabotaging her efforts. In the end, he had no obligation – or reason – to change the rules initially established just so that the runner-up could also be declared a winner. In the three previous episodes, there had been only one winner and even though the competition was close this time – it always is – the best person won.
Evil Office Politics applauds Randal:
Trump, in a plotted move, attempted to pull the “everybody feels good” stunt when he inquired to Randal about Rebecca, prodding him to admit that she, too, was deserving of a position with the Trump organization. Randal, in all his post victory glory, was having nothing to do with this sad display. He shut her, and this lame exploit, down tout sweet. And with a chorus of boos ringing in his ears, Randal made it known that there was room for only one apprentice, him. As he put it, “this was The Apprentice, not The Apprenti.” And with that, Randal stood, and extended his arms wide in victory. No one was going to dim his spotlight, not the production crew, not even Trump.
Bravo, Randal! Bravo! You, my friend, have shown America the way, the Evil Office way. For this I can only smile, and nod in approval.
Upon Further Review thinks Randal did the right thing:
I don’t see any reason why sharing a fake job is any better than having it by yourself. Especially when it is pretty clear that Randal was the better choice, I don’t think anyone would have seen it as a tie. I do think it was a little unfair to put Randal in that position.
MIT alum Kimpoissible Strikes Again was turned off by Randal’s closing act:
We had over 700 students and alumni come to cheer on Randal, TV crews, and a lot of fun (but a late night…didn’t get home till close to midnight). The show was great…except maybe the last 3 minutes when the classy, smart Randal made some fairly jackass comments. But overall, the event, and the alum are a huge success.
Blog For Books has harsh words for Randal:
…it was a great episode up until Randal blew it with his total selfishness.
I was rooting for Randal the whole season - why? Because he is a good leader, charming and apparently pretty smart. But he was up against Rebecca who was a formidable opponent, and even though I didn’t initially like her as much, I was hoping that Trump would hire both of them - and he would’ve if Randal didn’t show his true colors and deny Rebecca the honor of winning too.
Shane Adams liked Rebecca:
I thought that Rebecca showed incredible poise in the final boardroom and, in my opinion, should have won. Toward the end, Randal got a little cocky and a little complacent. He allowed his team to do most of the work while he sat back and got all the glory (I hate hate hate people like that). Rebecca came into the boardroom with fire, but she refused to make the boardroom about the weaknesses of Randal. Even when she was asked what his biggest weakness was, she turned it into a compliment, stating that Randal just tends to overthink things.
For an entire season he had talked about his loyalty, his good faith in Rebecca, his belief in his teammates and at the last minute to snuff it all out by back stabbing Rebecca when he could have easily said bring her on Trump and shown that he had good graces and loyalty he said no. Shame on you Randall. That shows you are no different from any other prestige hunting consultant and smarmy business man out there that only cares for his own advantage. All of the respect I had for you through the entire season was snuffed out in ten seconds. I had hopes that you were a man of integrity and loyalty like Rebecca but I was wrong.
Bob Christian? Not happy with Randal:
From day 1 I have been saying “Randall, Randall, Randall!”
Tonight, at 10:57PM Eastern I regretted that decision. RANDALL IS A SELFISH JERK WHO THOUGHT ONLY OF HIMSELF! HE HAS ALREADY FAILED THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION BY LETTING A GREAT POTENTIAL CO-WORKER SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS! There, it is off my shoulders.Randall went from this great, loveable, wonderful, and educated businessperson to this blithering adolescent “I won and you aren’t stealing my thunder” little brat. He and Rebecca got along so well, were such good friends, right up until this episode where Randall got cocky and arrogant and selfish.
Count The Median Sib to the anti-Randalites:
He said the title of the show is “The Apprentice”, not “The Apprenti” (I THINK that’s what he said instead of “The Apprentices.”) Either way, he blew it.
I respected him up to that point, and then he showed his true nature - which is greedy and disloyal. I’m no longer one of his fans.
Finally, L.A. Cowboy hurls an unbelievable slur in Randal’s direction:
Randall - the new Omarosa!
