The reason this part of the series works so brilliantly is because it's the only challenge that the vast majority of the audience can empathize with. If you're over-16, chances are you've had a few job interviews in your time. We all recognize the stress, the anxiety, the tension, the fear, the nerves, the questions, the struggle to look composed, to keep eye contact (but not too much!), and trying to be clear and concise. It's nerve-wracking, but The Apprentice takes everything to the nth degree by transforming the experience (which is designed to be helpful, as the employer wants interviewees to relax and come across well) into a savage character attack. So relax school-leavers, it's not really this awful in real life. Usually.
Let's breakdown how each candidate coped with the pressure:
James
Oh dear, oh dear. Poor James. He was like a rabbit caught in the headlights throughout, wasn't he! A nice guy, but he clearly crumbled under the pressure and essentially just sat there with a gormless look on his face (see above) -- beautifully echoed by an embarrassing photo in his CV, too! That was almost a gag straight out of Airplane! Jimbo didn't do himself any favours, either, as his CV was ripped apart by everyone for being crammed full of acronyms and lingo nobody outside of the Telecomms biz would understand, claiming he brings "ignorance to the table", and mentioning "spunk"! I almost folded myself inside-out with the cringing. Did you see him sitting outside the office like a shell-shocked survivor of D-Day? Poor bloke.
Debra
Y'know, I can't believe she's 23, either. She looks and acts like a 34-year-old, if you ask me. I expected her to do well, and she certainly coped under the strain. I can't remember too much tripping her up, but the rod eventually used to beat her back was her references -- which were resolutely terrible. Considering the fact YOU get to choose your personal referees, this wasn't a good sign! It seems Debra is hated by her peers, which is easy to believe. The team-working element has always been Debra's flaw.
Yasmina
Generally, she did well. It helped that she was the only candidate with an entrepreneurial background, despite concerns she risked her mum's security by making her re-mortage her house to help her buy a restaurant. While Yasmina did quite well, she was the victim of the episode's most stinging attack -- when it was proven she'd bent the truth in her CV about her business' finances. The look on her face when it was revealed her restaurant's accounts were in the interviewer's possession (and didn't tally with her CV overview) was by far the most cringe-worthy moment on TV this year. And, like Yasmina, it surprised me that a potential employer could get access to information like that, because it's in "the public domain". So, can I get my hands on the annual accounts of my local McDonald's if I wanted? A common issue on The Apprentice was also raised with Yasmina here: if she's so successful and independent, why does she want to work with Sir Alan?
Kate
I expected Kate to be good, but she was very good. Almost too good, as a few people mentioned. It's funny, really -- Kate's extremely composed and serious in certain situations, but you expect her to be very lighthearted given her smiley demeanour elsewhere. I'm not sure who the REAL Kate is: a stern businesswoman trapped in a beauty's body, or a fun-loving lady doing a brilliant impersonation of a calm and collected entrepreneur? Maybe she's both, but hasn't found a way to merge those two aspects of her personality together yet. There wasn't much anyone could criticize Kate on, beyond labeling her "robotic", which felt like they were grasping at straws. After all, Sir Alan's four associates are expected to throw some shit at everyone, for entertainment's sake at least. She got off very lightly.
Lorraine
Finally, Lorraine faced a lot of criticism. The interviewers picked up on her being difficult to work with and lying on her sparse CV by extending her employment dates by a year (a typo, she claimed). I didn't really expected Lorraine to do that well, so her failures weren't really a shock to me. I actually felt that the interviewers went easy on her, as they clearly preferred to push the real competitors (Kate, Debra, Yasmina).
In the boardroom, after Sir Alan had debated the interviews with his four associates, the candidates were called in and told three of them would be fired. The first to go was, inevitably, "village idiot" James. This actually caused one of the boardroom's most memorable moments, as the poor guy was so obviously gutted to be shown the door at the last hurdle -- so he lingered, with a parting "it's been brilliant" that left the remaining candidates sniffing back tears! So much so that Sir Alan had to let them take a break to compose themselves. Awww, the softie.
Next to go was Lorraine, rather obviously. No tears for her. It's rather extraordinary that she got this far, mainly by playing the victim and exaggerating her "intuition". This left Yasmina, Debra and Kate as the final three. Almost immediately, Sir Alan told Kate that she's through to the final, to her squeals of delight. It was a toss-up between Debra and Yasmina to join her in the final week, but... while it was close, Debra was fired for having too much of a bad attitude. Commendably, she left with very good grace and an honest smile, and even earned a parting comment from Sir Alan to "stay in touch." Was that a come-on? No, no, don't put that image in my head...
And there we have it! An all-girl finale between Yasmina and Kate. I've predicted Kate to win from very early in the competition, and Yasmina also started to feel like a likely finalist from around Week Six. So, no big surprises, although it could easily have been Debra in Yasmina's shoes if she was just a touch more likeable.
Did Sir Alan get it right? Should Debra have been given a place in the final? Will Kate win as most people expect, or will Sir Alan feel Yasmina's a shrewder businesswoman? A part of me still wants Kate to win, because she's by far the most personable finalist for ages, but... my head tells me Yasmina would be a more valuable asset. Either way, we won't get an undeserving apprentice this year.
And, just a brief mention, but I bothered to watch The Apprentice: You're Fired straight after, and it always amuses me how the fired candidates look and act much better in a different context. In particular, Debra looked quite hot and came across very well, and even Lorraine did herself some favours by ditching the black glasses and blood red lipstick!
Remember: The Apprentice Final is on BBC1 this SUNDAY @9pm, brought forward from next Wednesday because it clashes with 22 men kicking a ball around.
3 June 2009
BBC1, 9pm
