The Apprentice 3: Season Finale
By: Patrick Vu | Category: Show Archive | 05/21/05 | 12:12 AM
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 Grade for the Season: A- |
Genre: Reality Television
Summary: Obviously, Donald Trump has quite a bit of business savvy and is able to make smart decisions. However, choosing Kendra as his lasted Apprentice was a no brainer, which made his job so much easier.
"Kendra, Your Hired!" The sweetest words that this season's sure thing could possibly hear were finally spoken as Kendra Todd became the first woman from The Apprentice series to be hired by Donald Trump. After 16 weeks of business minded missions, 18 contestants were narrowed down to just one person most fit to take over one of "The Donald's" companies.
Was it any surprise? Kendra, a successful real estate entrepreneur who initially seemed to be "under the radar," shined during her last weeks of the 17 week interview and proved to everyone, without a doubt, that she is the best candidate for the job. |
Just as it was in last season's finale, the final decision became very one sided. Even Trump said that runner-up Tana, owner of several start-up companies, was in an "uphill battle" against her opponent, Kendra. Tana has always been a star and stood out from the rest giving her the right to be one of the final two in line for the job. However, we saw a very ugly side of Tana during the last mission that painted a portrait of an egocentric manipulator unworthy of the respect she thought she deserved. From the way she talk behind her employees' backs in front of sponsors, for whom she worked, to the unorganized chaos that miraculously worked itself out, Tana changed a lot of opinions and turned away many fans. She's smart, sassy, and a great people person, but ultimately wasn't any match for Kendra.
Kendra, on the other hand, was an ideal prospect for the Trump organization. Her brains and tenacity pushed her in front and gave us no doubts that she would soon triumph. When Trumped asked Kendra if her tears (of happiness for winning a previous mission) in the boardroom were a sign of weakness, Kendra boldly answers, "Mr. Trump, I've seen 300 lb linemen cry holding up the Super Bowl trophy. [It definitely isn't weakness]." Her response was the perfect answer that had the audience cheering. It's just further evidence that she can hold her own while working a crowd. Sure, she may have gone unnoticed in the beginning weeks of the competition, but who's to say that it wasn't her strategy? Just go out and do your job and let the spotlight shine on those that will inevitably drop the ball. Eventually, Kendra got noticed for her marketing skills and hard work, and it was her invaluable ideas that were the reasons Magna won its missions in the first place.
Towards the end of the finale, you could see that Tana was in a hole that she just couldn't climb out of. It was amusing to see her desperately giving herself credit for a passed mission that Kendra practically performed alone. The task was to create an "emotional" and attention grabbing brochure to help sell the Pontiac Solstice. Yes, Tana may have come up with the unique shape, but on the contrary to her narcissism, it definitely wasn't the reason her team won the mission and why Pontiac is currently producing that same brochure themselves. It was Kendra and her up-all-night work ethic and creativity that gave them the win, while her team, Tana and Craig, gave up and went home to sleep.
Obviously, Donald Trump has quite a bit of business savvy and is able to make smart decisions. However, choosing Kendra as his lasted Apprentice was a no brainer, which made his job so much easier. It really wasn't about "Book Smarts" vs "Street Smarts" or man vs woman. It was about whom was the best candidate for job, and Kendra showed that she has what it takes to make herself into a success.
This season's Apprentice was another hit for "The Donald" who will return for a fourth season while also sharing his recipe for success with his friend Martha Stewart, who will head up her own Apprentice type show. This should make for an interesting team and ratings giant.
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