The Apprentice: Los Angeles, Episode 5 Extras - Honey, I’m Home by Kathy Lonergan -- 02/15/2007 This week’s Apprentice Extras are short on new material, but writer Kathy does her best to make up for it with puns. This recap is a real honey, so read on to find out what the buzz is all about. I’m going to come right out and say it: this episode is rife with good pun material. While the last one may have given us chicken suits and the Bravado Bowl, it just can’t compare with the apian goodness of this week. That said, let’s move on. Hey-- you’ve been warned, people. This week’s webisode, and the Extras in general, didn’t offer much that was new or exciting. I guess it will be up to me to make it worth your while to read this, eh? As you know from reading our recap, this week’s task required the teams to harvest, market and sell SueBee Honey at Ralph’s Supermarkets. (Generating buzz?) As expected, the team with the greatest revenue would be declared the winner. Despite an unusually even performance by both teams, the webisode focused completely on Team Pathetic… er, Kinetic, rather -- and their hapless leader, Aimee. We begin with Aimee using one of the most clichéd phrases on this show as she tells us how, as PM, she wanted to “step up” and show leadership. She explains that her objective is to develop a marketing plan. We see Aimee and Jenn in what appears to be a brainstorming session, but it seems more drizzle than storm. The rest of the team concurs with me, as they return from whatever tasks they may have been doing, only to find that nothing has been accomplished by Jenn and Aimee. In an interview, Kristine uses the term “complete disaster” to describe the state of their situation. A voiceover from Trump transitions us to Kinetic’s arrival at their Ralph’s location. We see two very different scenes intercut: a carefree Aimee meandering through the aisles with her shopping cart, remarking that there are still twenty minutes until the registers open, and a frantic Muna and Angela, feeling unprepared by the fact that pricing has not yet been determined! In an interview, Derek says that no one knows the plan, that they are all tired, with no direction, and that it is very depressing. Derek, tell us how you really feel. Sean arrives to check out the site. He notes the presence of a banner hanging on the store which reads, “Today Is Honey Day”. I can’t help hearing him say to himself, “Darling, every day is honey day when you’re with me!” in a really cheesy, James Bond-wannabe fashion. But I digress. Inside the store, Sean asks Muna and Angela about Aimee’s performance as PM. Muna says Aimee’s having a hard time, while Angela adds that they’re not sure what each person should be doing. Angela adds that if she could use only one word to describe Aimee, it would be “directionless.” Ouch. That stings! In an interview, Sean is critical of Kinetic, saying the doors are open and the team should be selling, yet they’re still setting up. He disapproves of the eagerness with which Aimee’s teammates criticized her leadership. He says he doesn’t care if they’re having problems with their PM; just sell the product! Looks like a sticky situation. Trump treats us to another voiceover, in which he comments that in order to sell the product, Kinetic tried interesting tactics. We see Derek outside in his hazmat--er…beekeeping suit, showing customers his war wounds, and to great effect, I might add. Apparently nice-looking man + spaceman costume + bee stings = sales. Who knew? He also demonstrates an interesting technique by capitalizing on what he calls his female teammates’ “feminine wiles”; he approaches male customers and encourages them to impress the Kinetic girls by buying honey from them. When the guys approach the girls, they play up the flirtatiousness and nail down the sales. Sweet! We also see the team exploiting Angela’s status as an Olympic medalist in order to generate sales. While this tactic seems to have worked for them, I can’t help but think it could have been that much more effective had they thought of it prior to the day of the sale. They could have had Angela wear her medal, or sign bottles, or have her take pictures with customers who bought the honey. Perhaps they could have targeted marketing toward local high school or community sports programs to lure shoppers. Or wait! Maybe a guy in a chicken suit could have stood outside, holding a tray of chicken wings with SueBee honey dipping sauce. Better yet, they could have utilized Derek in this capacity; he could call himself “Bravado Bee” and could … oops, wrong week. Speaking of Derek, I have to say he was really impressive this week. In an interview, Jenn says the best thing Kinetic did was to rally in the end. She says they were absolutely explosive. They wanted to get out of the tent, back into the house, and not have to worry about the Boardroom—which is exactly what happened. We see a replay of Sean on the phone, recapping the sales totals to Trump, followed by scenes from Kinetic’s time spent playing with the Lakers. Derek interviews that the reward was the best thing for the team; it was such a fractured team at that time. What brings the team together is covering for each other’s weaknesses, which is what he feels they were able to do. He feels the win built the team back up. Aimee adds that the reward was an unbelievable experience, and thus concludes our webisode. As I mentioned at the top of the article, this week’s coverage contained no deleted scenes, much to my chagrin. We do get to see a number of scenes labeled as “uncut”, but overall it doesn’t seem that the new material is of much value. One exception is the uncut scene in which Stefani overcomes her fear of the bees. While the original broadcast made it clear that she was none too happy about harvesting the honey, the uncut version adds her very candid thoughts on the matter: “If I freak out, the bees will attack me, my team will think I’m a chicken, we’ll have no honey to sell, and I’ll probably end up in the boardroom.” She goes on to say she’s going to have to pull out all her willpower and make it a case of mind over matter. She says for the moment, she’s doing what has to be done. If it means standing in a bee field, then that’s what needs to be done. As someone who freaks out amid bees, I can totally relate to her fear. I have to say, Stefani continues to impress me. Despite the fact that my husband thinks she’s totally hot, I am rooting for her. Some of the replayed scenes include Surya being “Mr. Business Jargon 101,” Surya stepping on Stefani’s toes at her sales station, and Aaron’s lack of enthusiasm at his own sales station. By far the best replayed scene is the one of Lucy and Ethel, er—Tim and Frank- at the honey processing plant, if for no other reason that to hear Frank say “There definitely was no honey-bottling class at Harvard.” It seems like Frank has really grown on people over these past few weeks. Maybe instead of “Frankie Suits,” we’ll have to call him “Frankie Fungus.” Ew. Then again, maybe not. We see the Boardroom again, with the only interesting addition being Trump’s apparent interest in the danger level of the bees. He asks several candidates about the bees, but knowing Stefani’s fear, he is particularly interested in what she has to say about the honey harvesting process. He asks about the suits and how well they protect the wearer from being stung. “Are they vicious bees?” he asks, adding, “If a bee gets in (the suit) you’re in deep sh**, right?” It’s good to see that there’s more to Trump’s vocabulary than “ass.” Finally, we see Aaron’s exit interview. He says that he feels he could have been the apprentice because he is well-rounded, but adds that everyone there has skills. He says that living in the tents has caused his teammates to develop much stronger relationships than those of the members of Team Kinetic. Through their struggles, they have developed strength. He feels that while strong, he does not think he is in a position to boss others around. His teammates are all brilliant, Type A personalities, and he feels he led through strategic direction. He feels Surya should have been fired, but says he could see the writing on the wall when he was in the Boardroom. “As much as I don’t like the decision,” he says, “we’re all expecting it. I just caught the wave and rode it in.” He defends his lack of input in the Boardroom when Kinetic lost its task, saying, “If someone’s gonna ask me to talk just to talk, it’ll be nonsense coming out of my mouth.” He concludes by saying that he’s going to miss his teammates, particularly James and Stefani, who he says are truly “A” players. He says he had a good time, but the worst part was not getting to go to the Playboy Mansion. He’s going to have a hard time explaining that one to his buddies back East. Aaron says he enjoyed being in L.A. and felt comfortable in the California environment. He would consider relocating if the opportunity presented itself, and for now, is going to see where the wind takes him. I, for one, enjoyed Aaron. He seemed like a nice guy, and I wish him well. In case you get to missing Aaron, you can always see him on the Yahoo page, where he looks eerily like Howard Dean. (Is it just me?)