‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: Under African Skies
As she waits in the Trump Tower suite to find out which member of her team, Gary Busey or Stephen Baldwin, will be fired by Donald Trump, Lisa Rinna is clear-cut in who she’d prefer be let go. “We need people that work,” she says of Busey’s severe lack of skills in that department. But in walks Busey, safe for another week. Rinna shakes her head in disbelief. She’s not alone in her disappointment: the actress’ only other remaining teammate, Penn Jillette, now declares his Team Plan B “heavily out-gunned.”
With Plan B on the ropes, the remaining tasks should now prove to be far more evenly matched. This week, the teams are tasked with creating an interactive experience to promote South Africa’s Department of Tourism. In addition to two executives from said department, 15 travel professionals will also visit each team’s “experience” to judge the task. Oh, and Bret Michaels is back after being eliminated in Week One. (No, he’s not here to serenade the teams with a version of “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” as he recently did to promote free credit-checks. He’s on hand to advise Mr. Trump for the task).
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Despite never having been to Africa, Jillette steps up as project manager on the suddenly outmanned Team Plan B. Brande Roderick is project manager for Team Power. The teams must choose whether to focus their interactive experience around South Africa’s “Adventure” or “Romance” element. After a coin-flip to decide, Roderick’s team gets “Adventure” and Jillette’s is left to highlight South Africa’s romantic charms.
“We’re not taking on a product, we’re taking on a country,” Roderick informs her team early on in a moment of intelligence on par with the entire show. To that end, the former Playboy Playmate insists they “go beyond the safari,” and emphasize other adventure-related activities of South Africa: golf, surfing, zip-ling, et al. She also makes it clear she’s relying heavily on teammate Lil Jon for this task; after all, he’s the only team member who’s been to South Africa.
Jillette’s team collectively scratches their heads as to how best showcase South Africa’ romantic allure. Busey, per usual, is doing his team no favors when the executives come to visit. “I heard people being murdered in Johannesburg,” he tells the executives when relaying his experiences in their native country. “All I could do was try to get [Busey] to shut the fuck up,” Jillette responds in horror. Despite spending most of the task walking in circles, throwing chicken bones, cradling a bushel of bananas and generally acting like his three-year-old self, Busey feels Jillette is underestimating his skills. “Penn doesn’t’ know the depth of my power and creativeness,” he says. Jillette, well, he says Gary is doing “almost nothing” and he might as well be on a two-person team with Rinna.
Roderick’s squad decides on a slogan for their interactive presentation (“You + South Africa = Adventure”), and plans to set up five different booths, each one highlighting a different adventurous activity. Trace Adkins will wield a putter and man an artificial green to showcase golf, Marilu Henner will push attendees on a desk chair in an attempt to simulate zip-lining and Lil Jon, he’ll be in a cage as someone in a shark costume pretends to attack him to demonstrate shark-diving. Not surprisingly, Adkins is fearful his team’s entire interactive experience is far too juvenile.
Dealing with Busey is proving challenging for Jillette and Rinna. But thanks to Jillette’s social connections, they’re headed on the right track. The magician manages to wrangle in authentic South African zulu dancers, a masseuse, as well as a five-star chef from New York’s premier South African restaurant for their interactive experience. “I feel like I am with a rockstar!” Rinna says of Jillette.
The interactive experiences for both teams are well-received by the South African executives. Roderick’s team demonstrates the good-times nature of the country, and Jillette’s experience, while more restrained, by comparison comes off as more elegant and well-conceived.
But which team would ultimately nab the win? In the board room, Trump questions both about their respective project managers. “Is she a leader or just a stressed-out bitch?” he asks Team Power of Roderick, in a typical moment of sexist piggery. Roderick’s team, though, is behind her. Jillette’s is more divided: when asked if Busey was a good contributor to their overall effort, Rinna just looks away. “You have something special,” Trump tells Busey, to which Jillette responds, “There’s no doubt about that!”
Only one team can win, of course. And this week it’s Plan B. The executives, Trump explains, felt Roderick’s team’s presentation was too juvenile, as Adkins had worried it would be.
Someone on Team Power is about to be shown the door. Roderick says she has too much respect for Lil Jon to keep him around. So Trump lets the rapper exit, leaving Roderick, Adkins and Henner vulnerable to his wrath. Trump wastes little time with this decision. “You’re with two people that don’t deserve to be fired, don’t you agree?” he asks Roderick. She nods. “You know what that means,” he continues. “Brande, you’re fired!”
Before Roderick leaves however, Adkins begs Trump to at least donate some money to her charity – she hadn’t earned a dime for it. Being the generous guy he is, Trump obliges in the form of a $20,000 check. What a good guy that Trump is.