Make you buy cars, make you cut cards, make you fall hard in love.
Anywho, this entry is my weekly 5 Thoughts About The Apprentice (because as much as things change, they also stay the same), so if you’re waiting on a torrent then stop here. If not, there’s more, after the jump
Crosses “after the jump” off the list of things he’s always wanted to say.
1. It’s been a while since I used a comparison with the Apprentice USA as a stick to beat you all over the head with as to why this show is so good. Anyway, in the US Apprentice, when they had this exact same task, the teams a) didn’t design the sweets themselves, and b) blatantly didn’t have to make them themselves either. Also the British teams managed to get through the day without flashing their knickers at anybody. Which is frankly a relief after last week. I’m extra glad those elements are included by the way, because this version of the show needs to paddle extra hard some times not to just become about selling.
2. Thank God Lohit finally made an appearance for the very first time this episode, so we can get the actual competition under way, rather than the preliminary rounds where you know some people are safe simply by virtue of their non-existence. And a very well-rounded and welcome addition to the cast he is. It’s nice to have a born salesman on the show who doesn’t conform to the swaggering masculine stereotype of a Paul Torrisi, or a Paul Tulip or a Ruth Badger.
3. It was also nice (I’m in a very positive mood about the show this week for some reason. Lack of whoring maybe?), after the parade of “How Not To” Project Managers over the past 3 weeks (Andy, Rory, Tre, Naomi, half of Jadine) to have two PMs who, whilst not being perfect and making their own individual humdinger mistakes, at least broadly seemed to know what they’re doing and just getting on with it with an air of authority. Sometimes it’s hard to discern competence when both teams do well (£1900ish of profits between them) but I wouldn’t mind Adam going forward, and Ghzal being given a little bit more time to show the practical skills that she’s lacking.
4. It’s kind of hard to think about Dr Sophie Kain now without seeing the three true faces of Dr Sophie Kain that had been hidden from us prior to this episode : one, the “cool kid” petulance at not wanting to work late, two, the “oh God having to walk up to people in the street” face of selling, and three the “KEEP IT TOGETHER SOPHIE” face of despair when Siralan decides he doesn’t like the first two faces and shit cans her forthwith. They’re all heartbreaking in their own individual ways. I know she deserved it but Natalie was so all over every fault with that task and so egregiously annoying, that she would have been my pick. So Siralan and I are 3 for 5 on firing decisions so far.
5. The Firing Show this week was a wake for Dr Sophie Kain, with the added bonus of her being sat on the sidelines giggling and interrupting and saying what I was thinking and clearly thinking what I was saying the whole way through. Which made such a nice change from the usual Five Minute Hate for Jadine that I almost could tolerate the presence of Vanessa Feltz. Almost. Although she was still embracing the same old awful “I HATE EVERYONE! THEY’RE ALL AWFUL! I WENT TO CAMBRIDGE YOU KNOW FAW FAW FAW FAW!” attitude she always brings to the programme. So screw her.
Next week we rehash series 1s art task, but with photography instead of paintings. There are a lot of designated “roles” to fill in that sort of episode, so I look to forward to seeing where the cards fall.
