Quick Episode 4 Recap

In the wake of Theresa's surprise firing, Charmaine seized control of Gold Rush to reclaim her good name, which had been tarnished when Tarek returned from the boardroom and repeated

Trump's assessment: "Theresa got fired because she didn't bring Charmaine in." Things were only slightly more settled for Synergy with Tammy stepping up as PM. Trump tasked the corporations with creating billboards to promote new Post Grape Nuts Trail Mix Crunch cereal. Initially emotional, Charmaine quickly regained her poise and led Gold Rush to create a bold and effective poster. Tammy coped with significant disruptions from Brent and steered Synergy ably. But in the end, Synergy's billboard did not impress and Post execs deemed Gold Rush the winner.

Their reward was a day of cooking in the kitchen with world-class chef Jean George, while Synergy faced a different sort of grilling in the boardroom. Most of Synergy sang the praises of PM Tammy, with the exception of Brent suggesting that Tammy's leadership "stank." Brent's rude manner and inability to get along with his colleagues shocked Trump, George and Ivanka, prompting the Donald to dump Brent even before the final boardroom.

After a brief teary interlude, Charmaine rebounded from the second-hand boardroom blame game and resolved to lead Gold Rush to victory. Meanwhile, Tammy stepped up for Synergy, a corporation that seemed to be on a more even keel despite the ongoing rift between Brent and his colleagues.

Gathering the candidates at the Trump Tower Buffet and Grill, Mr. Trump assigned the corporations a vital marketing mission. They would get a look inside the $6 billion annual U.S. cereal industry with one of the world's best-known brands, Post. The task: "To identify the 'new face' of Post Grape Nuts Trail Mix Crunch cereal and present a vertical billboard campaign using your 'new face' to Post executives."

Charmaine's positive leadership kept Gold Rush moving throughout the task. She received brainstorming input from the others but forcefully made decisions even when her strong-willed colleagues wanted to extend debate. Bryce's creative thrust for the corporation's billboard was bold yet simple: an attractive woman pouring an avalanche of Post Grape Nuts Trail Mix Crunch into her mouth. Tarek found the perfect girl-next-door model in no time on the streets of Manhattan. But when the photo shoot images weren't as stellar as they initially appeared, Bryce started second-guessing his concept. Once again, however, Charmaine decided what they had was indeed good enough and pushed forward.

Synergy highlighted the new Grape Nuts by pairing a forty-something dad with a twenty-something daughter. In their brainstorming session, Brent had suggested a weight-loss theme but was overruled by the group. When he subsequently pressed to make the presentation, Tammy tactfully declined, implying that Brent's plus-size image might send the wrong message. Ivanka observed of Synergy that, "They're trying to manage Brent by having him do absolutely nothing. It's just not going to work." But then again, Brent's off-message suggestions to the graphic designer weren't working either, which led Tammy to clear the room and cede graphic-design oversight to Andrea. Even without distractions, Andrea faced a challenge in visually presenting Synergy's complex message: "Try the next generation of Grape Nuts. Finally, the cereal for everybody."

Sean's stammering presentation didn't help Synergy, but the Post executives clearly favored the bolder and more immediate poster created by Gold Rush. Their reward was a day with world-class chef Jean George at his restaurant in Trump International Hotel & Tower,. "Jean George is so successful in his kitchen because of his creativity and I think that overall is what made us winners," said Charmaine. Equally inspired was Bryce, whose day with the chef made him wonder, "Why waste a single day not doing exactly what you love?" As always, Lenny did it his way, adding his own finishing dash of cayenne pepper to an already finished meal, which caused the chef to half-joke about Lenny, "I don't like him as a customer. Au revoir."

Meanwhile, someone from Synergy was due to hear the same message from Mr. Trump in the boardroom.

Synergy colleagues that, "I'm a nuclear weapon in that boardroom." But he had an unexpected meltdown when he faced Mr. Trump and the mogul's trusted associates George and Ivanka. Having been marginalized by the rest of Synergy, Brent seemed to have dodged a bullet--since he had no vital task, he bore no direct blame.

Despite the loss, most of Synergy had nothing but praise for project manager Tammy. (Roxanne even irked Andrea by saying Tammy had been their best P.M. so far.) But when asked by Mr. Trump to assess the PM, Brent was surprisingly hostile and said that Tammy really stank as a leader. The unprovoked attack shifted the focus to Brent. "How come you can't get along with anybody?" Trump asked him. Brent maintained that the others were ganging up on him, but Trump wasn't buying it and decided to save everyone the trouble of bringing Brent back for the final boardroom formality. "Brent, you're fired," said Trump. "Out. Over. Go!"

Lee is Current Favorite on Bodog.com

Yes, as of March 14th, here are the current odds, courtesy of Bodog.com

Lee 3/1

Andrea 4/1

Sean 9/2

Allie 11/2

Dan 6/1

Roxanne 7/1

Michael 8/1

Charmaine 8/1

Theresa 10/1

Bryce 12/1

Lenny 13/1

Tammy 15/1

Leslie 15/1

Tarek 20/1

Brent 22/1

Orthodox Apprentice

Episode 3. Lee Did Not Participate in task, but was still in the show. Read Below.


The episode starts with Brent returning to the suite with greetings of "Happy New Year! Shana Tova!" Interesting that the show's first reference to the Jewish holiday is from someone who does not (overtly) observe the Jewish New Year. It's also Brent's only reference to the holiday (shown in this episode). An earlier post has some information on Brent's background in Judaism.
Lee and Dan call a team meeting to inform their Gold Rush teammates that they will be observing the Jewish holiday over the next two days and will not be available to contribute to a task.
Lenny raises objections. To Bryce's surprise, Lenny announces that he is Jewish (as reported here last week), but will not use his religion as an excuse to not contribute to the team. If the team loses, Lenny says, Dan and Lee will take the blame.
Dan tells Lenny that he will observe the holiday as he chooses to, without room for negotiation. This is just the way it's going to be.
In a private interview, Lenny comments that the Israeli army does not shut down on holidays. (As if The Apprentice was as important as saving lives.)
We watch Dan and Lee walk together to shul (synagogue). With matching yellow ties. (You heard it here first.)
The teams meet with Mr. Trump to learn about the next task. Trump first points out that Gold Rush is down two people since Dan and Lee are observing the holiday. Lenny is not happy when Mr. Trump explains that George is also observing the holiday and that he respects their decisions. "That's life," he remarks.
Lee and Dan are absent for the entire task - running a retreat event to introduce the 2007 Chevy Tahoe to Chevrolet dealers.
Gold Rush loses. Someone will be fired.
Theresa, the project manager, first places the blame on Lenny. Then she shifts the blame to Tarek. Lenny blames Dan and Lee for their absence. Then he blames Tarek and Bryce. Anyone but himself. Tarek puts the blame on Andrea.
Lenny asks if Mr. Trump knows that he is Jewish too. Mr. Trump is aware of that. Lenny says that he could have skipped the task, but he chose not to let the team down. Since Trump expresses his respect for Dan's and Lee's decisions, Lenny says that he'll take off the next holiday. Interestingly, no one but Lenny blames Dan or Lee. Some other dialogue could have been edited out, but we'll never know.
In the boardroom, Trump first asks the Orthodox candidates how their holiday went. Dan and Lee both respond that it was very nice.
Trump thinks that Lenny is very funny and is not at fault for losing the task. Mr. Trump places the blame on Charmaine, but since she wasn't brought back to the boardroom, Theresa is fired.Some thoughts:
Kudos to Dan and Lee for having the foresight to prepare the team by openly discussing the issue in a meeting, rather than surprising their teammates when the two leave for shul.
Kudos to Dan and Lee for firmly stating what they will be doing and not leaving the issue open to negotiation.
Shame on Lenny for comparing The Apprentice competition to defending a country at war. (Lenny fought in the Soviet army against Afghanistan so he understands the signifcance of war.)
Brent announced Shana Tova, but did he observe the holiday at all? We don't know.
Donald Trump showed a tremendous amount of respect for the Jewish holiday. At that one moment, any Orthodox Jew would have wanted to have him for a boss.
This episode was truly the kiddush hashem that we were hoping for. Some people will surely agree with Lenny and say that Dan and Lee should not have sacrificed the team for their religion, but the popular reaction from the general public should be that they did the right thing and went about it in a very respectful manner.
The show handled the issue very well. Both sides were shown - Lee and Dan on one side with Lenny on the other. The rest of the team was in the middle, but appeared to be very understanding. The Orthodox Apprentice candidates were not portrayed negatively in any way. It helped that George was off for the holiday too.
Four candidates have been fired, but the five Jewish candidates are still in the game.

EPISODE 2 RECAP

The 17 remaining candidates met Trump, former Apprentice Bill Rancic, and Ivanka, Trump's daughter, to receive their next task: they were to work with the Gillette Company to promote the "Gillette Fusion razor system" through a text-messaging marketing campaign. Whichever team got the most cell phone customers to text message a key word to Gillette, would win the task. Lee, Gold Rush's project manager, held a brainstorming session of his own. Without Lee's approval, Lenny left the meeting early and took Charmaine and Leslie with him to start promoting the product in Times Square. Lenny called the team and demanded that Lee and the others join his group immediately. Lee wanted to rendezvous at the suite to go over their game plan, but Lenny was insistent that they all had to get together in Times Square at that moment. The conversation ended when Lenny hung up on Lee. The next day, Gold Rush was already out the door and on the job before Synergy even woke up. While Synergy was still eating breakfast, Gold Rush was setting up in Times Square. The teams arrived in the boardroom to receive the results of their promotions. Ivanka thought that Gold Rush was "smart and impressive" ? they received 683 text messages compared to Synergy's mere 458.

Weeks on Winning Team: 2

Weeks as Project Manager: 2

Times in the Board Room: 1

Lee Bienstock

Lee Bienstock is the man.


Here is his NBC Biography:


Lee, 22, graduated from Cornell University with a 4.0 grade point average, where he received a B.S. in policy analysis and management. While attending Cornell University, he won business plan writing and marketing competitions, and served as a teaching assistant for courses in entrepreneurship and management. He worked for Merrill Lynch, researching emerging markets, creating portfolios and compiling business plans for high net worth clients, including an investment banking deal with an estimated value in excess of $100 million. Previous experiences outside of corporate America include working at a day treatment program for the mentally ill, volunteering at soup kitchens and teaching fourth grade children in an inner-city school. Lee draws his inspiration from his grandfather who emigrated to the U.S. penniless and uneducated, yet through hard work and determination was successful through investing in real estate. At age 22, Lee became an analyst for one of the largest business/consulting firms in the world. Today, Lee works with some of the biggest companies and government agencies in the country to devise business strategy and information technology systems. Lee currently resides in New York City.