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April 22, 2005
The Apprentice
The Apprentice - Week 13
Posted by Nadine Heintz at 2:18 PM
I can't stand Craig. And it really annoys me that Tana keeps her mouth shut during his arguments with Kendra. He was totally out of line last night. I realize she and Craig have some kind of "street smarts" alliance, but come on.
Craig had nothing to do with his team's victory last night. Anyone could have played the disorganized desk jockey during the presentation. During the important part, the market research, he wandered off to play with office furniture. Then he had the nerve to treat Kendra like an idiot, when she and Tana came up with the winning idea in the first place!
Obviously, Alex and Bren blew it by not meeting with the Staples team. Alex said they were just the judges, not the customers, which doesn't make any sense. Weren't the products being designed for Staples, after all? Duh. And it amazes me that they didn't think to do market research with customers at a Staples store. Geez. They really blew it. If they had met with the Staples execs, they would have figured out that the store was interested in a simple idea, like the padlock with a combination based on numbers rather than words.
Instead, they went crazy designing a big piece of furniture to supposedly cut down on clutter. I don't know what kind of offices they've been working in, but my cubicle would be pretty crowded if I wheeled that thing in. And the fact that the drawers didn't slide out was totally absurd. What a disaster.
So it's all come down to Tana and Craig (street smarts) versus Kendra and Alex (book smarts). I'm guessing that Alex will be the next to go. The only reason he didn't get the boot last night is that he argued more skillfully than Bren. The Donald seemed particularly impressed by the fact that Alex had studied in Israel. I felt kind of bad for Bren. But it seemed like he had enough of the Apprentice. He said as much in the cab ride confession.
I'm looking forward to the final showdown. I still think Tana has the best chance to win. Kendra has potential, but she needs to grow up. Enough with the pouty face! If it comes down to Craig and Tana on the final task, he'll never be able to hack it. He's been riding on her coattails for a while now. If he wins, I'll be really disappointed. I guess we'll find out soon enough!
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I agree with you assessment of Craig. I see his problems stemming from insecurity. He is trying so hard to have some control over this process he has NO control over so he's taking it out on Kendra. I wish her reactions were more appropriate to his comments... she really should just laugh at him! I think Tana is just trying to keep any mud stains off herself.
I'm hoping they do interviews next week instead of a task. I think Alex and Craig will continue to fail at tasks, but it would be interesting to see how they would fare during the interview process. Alex could possibly do o.k..... I think Craig would bomb.
Actually last night I was laughing the whole time and Alex and Bren. What a pair!!!
Craig? Fail? I beg to differ. First of all, I agree his act with Kendra is so beyond tired, it's pretty much comatose. And her lack of grace in dealing with it is making her look bad. Tana is doing the right thing. It is a competition after all. Let the two of them kill each other and she'll stay on top. Besides, it's clear she's got it over both of them anyway. But Craig is no slouch. No, he won't make it to the top. Yes, his communication skills are awful. Yes, he treated Kendra like a child and that reflected poorly on HIM, not her. But what he is is creative. While he didn't follow them to do the focus group research, he didn't need to. The two of them were enough. He was looking at what was in the store and letting his creative thoughts flow. For many creative people, that's the process, folks. Because he said nothing doesn't mean he wasn't thinking and it was obvious to me he was. He is the King of Boxes, as far as I'm concerned. His team didn't believe in him before and the simplicity of his idea is what won them the task that day. Kendra and Tana came back with stackables but it was Craig who turned it into what? A box! That product was a compilation of ALL THREE of them. Say what you will about Craig, but he's got ideas. He's just poor at communicating them, which is why he can't be The Apprentice. He probably works best alone.
And the antithesis of creativity was Bren and Alex. Bren hasn't been trying for awhile. He's got strength. You can see it, but I was beginning to suspect he didn't want this and the cab ride confirmed it. He simply didn't try. He wanted to be fired. Kinda hard to judge him accurately, I think, when he pretty much gives up. Alex did a superb job of defending himself, proving he probably is a really good lawyer. But how stupid can you be?! You are supposed to invent something to clean up office clutter. So you design ANOTHER piece of furniture that looks just like the kind people have in their home offices, except not as functional. Plus they stay in the war room the ENTIRE time?! Clearly marketing is not their forte but even if it's not, it's just dumb that they got this far without learning the importance of focus groups and marketing. I thought Alex would know this. Wasn't he the one who, unlike Tara, asked the neighborhood people what they wanted in a graffitti ad? He was lame and deserved to go too but since Bren gave up, Trump had no choice. If he had tried even a little, I think Alex would have gotten axed.
So Tana seems to be the best of the lot, hands down. It's just pretty remarkable how these ideas are being picked up by the companies. I assume they don't get rights, based on what Trump said to Alex, but I sure hope they get PAID!
I agree with Monica's assessment of Craig. He does have ideas and they do win. I think that he and Tana make a good team because they understand each others styles. I wouldn't underestimate Craig if it comes down to he and Tana being the final two. He's stepped up before and he'll do it again. Tana is looking like the best one for the job at this point.
Without Kendra with him at the interview, I fear Craig will start to attack the interviewers instead. Problem is they wouldn't know what the heck he's talking about.
His remark to Kendra about having to talk down to her like one of his children, was his total undoing. He's finished, and he did to himself.
When you wrote "padlock with a combination based on numbers rather than words," I think you meant words rather than numbers.
I thought at one point Trump was going to fire both Bren and Alex.
Craig gets my vote to win. He didn't seem like a good candidate at first, but look at him now. He seems to know what appeals to customers. His box at Home Depot was a really big hit. And, without his suggestion to make a 4-sided pocket thingy, Kendra and Tana's research would have been useless. He's very creative, a methodical thinker, and knows how to keep it simple. Too bad he and Kendra don't get along. They'd make a great creative team. Tana has contributed little. If she wins, it will be based on personality, not creativity. Alex is overrated. You'd think he and Bren would have learned from the failure of the auto project. But no. Trump should have fired them both.
I hope Craig and Kendra are the finalists.
Maybe it is the way they are portraying him, but Craig seems like a real tool. Tana was rude and a quitter on Kendra before, but at least she tried to keep it professional.
I think Craig may have some good ideas and creative thinking, but his people skills would make him someone known as tough to work with and "should be avoided". I think (hope) the interviews will demolish him.
Bren was fired because he asked for it. I think he was tired and ready to bow out and also not that interested in the job anymore. It seems by his comments that this perspective gave him a new view on life, and bless him for that.
I still would like to see a Kendra/Tana matchup. However, Kendra versus Alex in an interview is unlikely to go well for her. The interviewers look for what average interviewers look for, and Alex's polish, education and accomplishments will outshine Kendra's less than perfect poise. She could be good and is accomplished, but Alex can definitely take her in the polish category. And Tana will win over the New Yorkers as a "fresh breath of air" with her midwestern ease and openness.
If Craig stays in to the end, I will lose it. I'd be interested to see any of the other three duke it out, as long as Craig is sucking puddle water as the taxi dumps him down the street.
i like the solstice
Not being a psycologist, I can't put a descriptive medical term on Craig's problem, but it's clear that he has one.
I was listening to a radio show and Angie was the guest. Craig has been doing this all along. She says the only tapes they have of him for weeks are of him verbally attacking one of the ladies.
We saw a little of it at the beginning of the season when he and Audrey were doing the Harlem ad and he was finding fault with her painting between the lines. Now we skip to him doing the same thing to Kendra.
Whatever his problem is, it's well documented on the tapes that we haven't been seeing, per Angie.
The man just can't stop himself. His taxi ride is forthcoming.
>And Tana will win over the New Yorkers as a "fresh breath of air" with her midwestern ease and openness.
I think Tana is just so smarmy with that phony pasted-on smile. But smarmy and phony may be what Trump wants.
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