[AUK] A Soap Opera

TV Programme: The Apprentice (UK)
Season: 5
Episode: 4
Date I watched this episode: 22/04/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 14 days.

Team Leaders: Paula (Em-1) and Noorul (Ig-2)
Winner: Ignite
Empire Boardroom: Paula, Yasmina, Ben
Fired: Paula
The One That Got Away: Noorul

Well this episode proved how completely wrong I was about a number of things. Mostly about Noorul who I pegged as a great candidate from the start. He is actually literally the worst Apprentice candidate ever (and I’m including Ifti, Lohit et al in that). He was completely laughable this week and almost cringeworthy. He talks a good game but there is just nothing there. I actually feel really sorry for him because he seems like a really nice guy. I like him, but he isn’t cut out for this show.

Most of my impressions were admittedly taken from the offline VT pieces which admittedly are not quite so pressured. Noorul claims that he “loves the sound of his own voice” but he hardly said anything this week. Also, he says he is a natural leader and drives people…but to be honest I’m sceptical he’s ever been in a business situation or had to manage people before.

Phillip and Kim butted heads this week and Kim had Lorraine to back her up, but to be honest I think Phillip made a lot of sense. The team did need to be forceful with Noorul especially about important issues, and Kim’s approach just wasn’t working. I wonder how Noorul is feeling now after Sir Alan has told him he was not responsible for the success? The rest of the team almost seem to be consoling him during the treat.

Anyway none of this actually mattered because of the absolute travesty that was Empire’s costings. To be honest most of the blame has to rest with Yasmina, as she was very convincing when discussing it. I think Sir Alan was very unfair on Paula, indeed he seemed to change his mind at the last minute. Maybe he fell for Yasmina’s logic, which didn’t actually make sense to me by the way.

Having said that, I was rooting for Ben to get fired once we got down to the final three. Yes, Ben, who I was praising last week so much (I really am very fickle when it comes to this show)! Especially with his comments about how he wanted to brutally murder everyone, there really is no place for that in business and it shows to me some misplaced anger. He ran so far away from that costing task he was barely visible on the horizon, and it seemed a deliberate ploy. Despite Yasmina’s error, I think she has a lot more to give, and to be honest she is also quite hot! However she did admit coldly to having screwed Paula over which I didn’t appreciate.

As for Paula, she really impressed me. She had so much dignity and integrity, something businesses should value more than they do. She kept a smile on her face and was very good at motivating. I really don’t think she should have been the one to go. The only bad thing I would have to say about her was that she immediately looked for someone to blame when the costing error became apparent – she seemed to panic there. This was quite out of character for her.

I was quite surprised actually that Nick intervened at all; he obviously held that back for a while. Just imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t intervened and they had had this shock in the boardroom!! Altogether this episode had more than enough to keep me entertained.