TVSquad

(S05E11) Ah, Rutgers; my old alma mater. The parties, the drinking, the pretty cheerleaders, nights of debauchery, days of hanging out with your fraternity brothers or sorority sisters, throwing up in the alley behind the student center.

Well, at least that's what I've heard: I spent most of my time working at the university's radio station. Still, they were some of the best years of my young life and I don't regret going to one of the largest (if not the largest) public university's in the state of New Jersey. So, I headed into this episode of The Apprentice with a bit more excitement than usual as I looked forward to seeing the New Brunswick campus obtain a bit of national glory, and to watch the Synergies and the Goldy Rushies try to sell as much food as possible during the Homecoming game.

And now, the crappy college food that is known as The Apprentice.

As our story began, the ladies or Synergy were still pissed off at our bloke Sean for allegedly turning on Allie two episodes ago. So much pressure and estrogen was being put on him that he willingly volunteered to jump over to Gold Rush when Trump asked for someone to fill the gap left by the departure of Charmaine and Tarek last episode. So, it was girls versus boys for this week's task: work with a famous steakhouse with a Australian outback theme to sell as much food as possible during the Rutgers Homecoming game.

Gold Rush, led by Lee this time around, jumped right into this testosterone-driven task by planning a big event with a eating contest, cash machine, and exclusive rights to the Rutgers cheerleaders. In fact, the cheerleaders were the feather in their cap and Michael was credited with getting the gig. The only minor snag was when Michael pretty much agreed to allow some of the cheerleaders to go over to Gold Rush. However, that was quashed by both Lee and Sean (who called Michael a wanker again). This seemed like a minor glitch, but would come back and bite the team later.

The Gold Rush boys seemed to be way ahead of Synergy (led by Roxanne this week) throughout the event's planning stages.  While the ladies were sampling some of the steakhouse's fine cuisine the men were passing out flyers at a pep rally. While the ladies were getting copies made, the men were promoting their tailgate party at the fraternity houses. It looked like a clear win-win situation for Gold Rush. Or, maybe not (Ooohh, foreshadowing.). 

During the Homecoming game (with a Rutgers football team that went to a bowl game this year), Gold Rush pulls in thousands of tailgaters and game attendees with its events and low food prices. Synergy, whose team members dress like Rutgers cheerleaders to take place of the original, come up with the concept of tent-to-tailgate delivery and a fixed price of five dollars for all menu entries. While delivery seems like a money maker, the Gold Rush team was definitely getting more traffic to its tent. However, when all of the money was counted, Synergy actually made several hundred dollars more than Gold Rush. Synergy wins again, and Gold Rush loses for the kajillionth time. The reward for the ladies was to tour a vineyard and make their own wine with grapes squished by their feet. Eww.

Back in the boardroom, something interesting happened. At first it seemed that Lee was finally going to be booted; he was the one who planned the event and didn't focus enough on sales. But then the attention turned to Michael and his initial decision to hand over a few cheerleaders to Synergy. In fact, Carolyn was almost obsessive about the way that portion of the task was handled. Michael tried to defend himself with the fact that he brought this decision to Lee and Sean first, but Trump, Carolyn and George weren't buying it. So, in the end, Michael was shown the door.

Personally, I thought that was the right decision. Even though Lee was the one who came up with the whole scheme Michael was the one that could have brought it all down with his agreement. Michael was lucky on his task as project manager because of his team, not because of his skills.

Oh well, another one down, five to go. It looks like Sean is a leader next week. We'll see if Lee is still bulletproof then. T.T.F.N!