No one is fired on Celebrity Apprentice - Trump accepts Vincent Pastore’s resignation instead
I have to admit that this week’s Celebrity Apprentice had me intrigued. The promos shown last week on the show had Vincent Pastore saying he was a rat and went to the women’s team. Never did I think that it was a setup- the way the promos ran led us to believe that it was of his own free will and no mention was made to the fact that he was sent there by his project manager.
The task this week was to work on an awareness campaign sponsored by Crocs (the shoe company). Their program is called Soles United, and what it does is recycle used Crocs into new shoes that are distributed to people in need around the world. The task is to create a receptacle for the used shoes. Trump suggests that Carol be project manager for Empresario (which the team agrees to do) and Piers is project manager for Hydra.
The teams are put in very close quarters for their war rooms – in fact, they are right next to each other and if anyone spoke loudly it could be heard in the other room. Piers thinks he sees one of the women spying on them, so he decides it’s time to send a spy into their ranks. Calling Vinnie their Luca Brasi, he orders him to go and be a rat. An argument is staged and Vinnie goes out into the hallway. Vinnie goes into the women’s war room and states that he no longer is able to work with Piers and wants to work for the women. After a vote the ladies decide to take him on. The men think this is a sign of weakness and will be interpreted as such by Trump.
Vinnie gets into the strategy with Empresari and jots down some notes. When he is ready to go to the construction area with Marilou he tosses the page to Stephen. Stephen refuses to pick it up, saying that he thinks this whole spying thing is a joke taken way too far and not right so he calls on
As time goes on, Vinnie starts to realize what a crappy thing he was asked to do and starts to really pull for the women. He says that he isn’t just a character that is played on tv – he has a really good mind and he was going to use it for the benefit of the women. He comes clean to Marilou in the cab and asks her not to tell nyone else about it.
Ivanka comes to check up on Hydra and Piers and Stephen come right out to say what they are doing with Vinnie. I was surprised to see that Ivanka kind of agreed with it, saying she had no problem with a little bit of sabotage. Donald Jr. goes to check on Marilou and is surprised to Vinnie. Vinnie fesses up to him about being a double agent and asks Don to not say anything to anyone except his father. Don agrees.
By the way is Don Jr.’s hair looking more and more like his father’s or is it just me?
Piers and Stephen go out to the photo shoot for Carol’s poster and try to unnerve her. Nely is there too. Carol is one cool player, having been in so many photo shoots in her life that nothing around it can bother her. Nely realizes that the men know everything they are planning to do and they conclude that Vinnie is a spy.
After some back and forth Omarosa calls Vinnie. She asks him straight out if he betrayed their trust and he tells her to trust them. He admits he told Marilou and she makes it clear that she did not know that he told them their secrets. Omarosa fired him and Nely and Carol are right there supporting that decision. Vinnie pleads his case to Marilou and she can’t get over the fact that he gave up their secrets. Vinnie knows he is dead in the water at this point – the women won’t trust him, and will the men really take him back? He still is, in his mind, supporting the women as he says straight out he hopes the men lose and Piers gets fired.
Vinnie goes back to the men and is praised as being a victor. Vinnie says that if this was the real world he would be chopped up in a suitcase on his way to Ki-wait because the rat always gets killed, but Piers says he is confusing a bunch of women celebrities for the mafia characters in the shows and movies he has been in previously.
When the men get together the next day Vinnie wants no part of helping out. He tells Piers that he was the creative force behind their concept and that Piers was stupid for sending him there. Piers tells him to leave and Vinnie says that he has wanted Piers off the show since day 1.
The women give a great presentation with their slogan “Share the Love”. They created a super sized green Croc as the receptacle for the used shoes. The men have a more simple box but a stronger slogan – “Wear them, share them”. The executives thought the women had a great presentation and liked the fact they had back up information in the form of pamphlets and t-shirts, but thought the super sized shoe could be difficult and expensive to replicate. Their criticism of the men had to do with the fact they did not have a lot of back up or supporting materials for the campaign.
The boardroom is so interesting, and this is even before we find out who wins the competition. Piers has an awful lot of disdain for Vinnie, and I think this disdain is for everyone else in the competition and perhaps in the world. He sits there so sure in himself and his success that he is bragging about the sabotage plot (not an espionage plot, mind you, because in his words espionage infers there is something to be gained and he said there is nothing of value to be gained from the women). He’s questioned about the fact that he sends Vinnie, a person he does not respect or trust and whose loyalty is in question and he said that it was a successful decision – not only did it disrupt the women’s team, but it also got Vinnie out of his hair. Trump goes back and forth with the women and the men over this and Don Jr. asks Stephen if one person has to go – Piers or Vinnie –who should it be? Stephen said he would feel more comfortable if Vinnie was to continue. Trace said he would keep Vinnie.
Trump tells the two teams that Empresario was the winning team, that it wasn’t even a contest as far as the executives were concerned. On behalf of Carol Alt Crocs will donate 10,000 pairs of recycled shoes to impoverished children in
Vinnie tells Trump that he was happy the women won and that he would resign from the show. He did not want to endure the stress any more. Trump tells the women to leave that he did not want to do this in front of them. On the way out the door Omarosa tells Vinnie that he does not have to quit.
The Trumps tell Vinnie that resigning before The Donald decided who to fire was a tactical error. Two out of three of the other team members said they would rather have Vinnie than Piers. Trump asks Vinnie if he would stay if Piers was fired. Vinnie said yes. Trump said then your problem is with Piers not the competition. The girls start going crazy in the hopes that Piers will be fired. Trump tells him that you can’t take it back if you say you resign.
Trump asks Stephen for his opinion. Stephen said integrity was key, and that he would rather have less success and a good name. He said that he would let Piers go. Piers calls him a hypocrite and the only reason he wants him to be fired is that with Piers gone Stephen stands a better chance of winning the competition.
Ultimately Trump accepts his resignation. He says he is not fired, but that he is accepting a resignation. Then we hear the Journey song “Don’t Stop Believing” and I have no idea why this song is playing. Has there ever been a song played like this before? I don’t think so. The show fades to black and we don’t even get a taxi cab interview of Vinnie.
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