EPISODE SIXTEEN

THE BIG FINALE

Kendra, who was in charge of the Best Buy Video Game Championship, had a big potential problem looming. PlayStation, one of the event's main sponsors, was considering pulling out of the tournament. Amy, the company's representative, was not happy with the basement space where all of the PlayStation kiosks were located. Kendra said she completely understood why Amy was upset. The basement "smelled like feet," Kendra admitted. Kendra put Michael in charge of transforming the space. He had a lot of work ahead of him and would be busy setting up displays, signs and gaming stations to save the sponsorship. Michael told Kendra that he had the situation under control.

Tana was in charge of the NYC2012 Athlete Challenge, an exhibition to help bring the 2012 Summer Olympic Games to New York. Tana delegated tasks and put Kristen in charge of the programs, which would include the schedule of the events along with bios of the Olympic athletes who were set to compete in the exhibition. Tana said that the program was important. "We can't screw this one up," she warned. Tana told Brian and Chris to put up banners that represented the Olympic events and countries involved. But Brian and Chris hadn't thought through their process and someone pointed out that the banners weren't hanging quite right. Brian brushed off the comment and declared, "Close enough for government work." In order to match the banners they had just put up, Brian told Chris to take the remaining ones and "…kinda just scatter them around." "We're not going to make them perfect. That way it doesn't look like we screwed up," Brian reasoned. But when Kristen saw how the banners were placed, she tried to take charge. Chris immediately complained to Tana. Brian said that Kristen could take over the banners if she wanted to and he and Chris would go get some sleep. Tana was unable to keep the peace and worried that she couldn't count on her employees during this critical task.

Sleep didn't seem to change things for Tana's group. Early the next morning, Tana got up and tried to rouse her weary troops. But they were too slow in getting up for Tana's liking. When Tana was ready to leave the suite, not all of her employees were - and that infuriated her. Eventually, Tana dragged all of her employees out of Trump Tower and down to the piers.

Under Kendra's leadership, Webster Hall had been infused with a cool, video game atmosphere. In addition, there was a full-size boxing ring being constructed right in the middle of the main ballroom! Kendra said it was a mad rush to please a lot of people in a short amount of time. One of the people Kendra had to please was Amy, who had come by to check out how the PlayStation area had improved. Michael and others had come through and brought the basement area to life. Amy was pleased with the improvements. Kendra also told Amy that they would make sure all of the gamers in the main ballroom knew about the PlayStation area - they would make announcements every five minutes for players to come down to the PlayStation section and there would be signs showing the way. Amy said that Kendra had done a great job; PlayStation would not be pulling its sponsorship.

Final preparations were underway at the Chelsea Piers. The scene was a bit chaotic and Chris told Tana that she had to delegate more responsibility - he said it wasn't clear who was in charge of what. In an interview, Tana said her main problem was that she had to depend on "three idiots" to help her. On the move, Tana met Vinnie from Governor Pataki's office. The Governor was set to make an official appearance and help kick off the event. Vinnie wanted a detailed schedule of the exhibition and a timeline for the Governor. But Tana could provide neither. She admitted that the program with the schedule wasn't ready yet. Vinnie asked when he could have it and Tana told him he'd get a copy when she got it. Vinnie didn't seem satisfied with the answer. Later, Vinnie caught up with Tana and told her that the Governor had just arrived. Tana still didn't have the schedule and Vinnie was not a happy man. Vinnie said the Governor was just waiting around. Tana asked, "Does he want a doughnut and a cup of coffee?" No sooner had Tana ditched Vinnie than one of the NYC2012 representatives pulled Tana aside and said they had a serious problem. The program that Tana had been waiting for was finished and being distributed - but the distribution had to stop immediately. It turned out that Kristen was given personal information about the athletes - not meant to be seen by anyone else - and she had printed it all, verbatim. Tana, much like one of the athletes, literally ran the track to stop the distribution. The NYC2012 representative said that clearly no one had proofed the program. She called the mistake "embarrassing." The representative felt that things were completely out of control.

Trump arrived at the NYC2012 Athlete Challenge and did some hobnobbing with famous Olympic athletes including Michael Phelps, Bart Conner, Justin Gatlin and Nadia Comaneci. Because the Governor hadn't been prepped on what he was supposed to do, Tana filled him in as they walked. Tana told Governor Pataki that he would lead a procession of children, who would be carrying flags representing countries from all over the world. The Governor asked if he could carry the American flag, but no one could find it for him. The Governor and Trump took center stage and Pataki told the crowd that the Summer Games would come to New York. Finally, he declared, "Let the games begin!" The gathered athletes wowed the crowd as they participated in gymnastics, swimming and beach volleyball. Later, the Governor pointed out to Trump that during the procession they had 100 flags from different countries - but no American flag. Trump called that a "big mistake."

According to Carolyn, Tana's group was hampered by miscommunication. Carolyn also observed that Tana would blame her employees when things went wrong. The NYC2012 representatives said it felt like many of the athletes were wandering around at certain points, not knowing what to do next. They also felt that people in the crowd might have left because they didn't know what was happening next. Tana, however, thought the event went spectacularly. She even told Bruce Jenner: "I think you're looking at the next Apprentice."

Under Kendra's leadership, Webster Hall had been transformed into a hip, vibrant, video game haven. Amy told Carolyn that things were going great. Trump arrived in style and introduced the emcee for the night, rapper Fabolous. Fabolous explained that there were sixteen gamers in the Best Buy Video Game Championship, all playing the Fight Night Round 2 boxing game. The crowd watched the competition, had drinks and played games of their own. In the last leg of the competition, the two finalist vying for the championship title sat in the boxing ring and duked it out… onscreen. The winner defeated his opponent and took home $5,000 from Best Buy! Trump congratulated Kendra on a job well done. But perhaps an even higher compliment was paid by one of the executives, who told Kendra that if she ever wanted to work in the video game industry, his company would love to have her.

Late that night, when the Athlete Challenge was over and the arena was empty, Tana and her employees said their good-byes. Tana thanked them for all of their hard work. But once they had gone, Tana called her employees "knuckleheads" and said that she had done the event on her own. When Tana left, she snuck into her limo to avoid seeing Brian, Chris and Kristen again. By sharp contrast, Kendra's good-bye with her employees was a tearful love fest. Everyone hugged and Kendra said that she was proud of them all. Kendra called her final task the most amazing experience of her life. She admitted that while she had her differences in the past with Michael, Erin and Danny, she couldn't remember what any of those differences were.

Back at the suite, Kendra returned with tears still in her eyes. Tana noticed and asked if Kendra had been crying because the task was so hard. Kendra told Tana that she had been crying because of how great her team was - how passionate they were and how hard they had worked. Tana later admitted that she was disappointed that things had gone so well for Kendra. She was hoping that Kendra had been crying because her event had gone badly.

The next day, the final two candidates met Trump, Carolyn and George in the boardroom one more time. Trump noted that what had begun as a team of Book Smarts - those with college degrees - and a team of Street Smarts - those with only a high school diploma - was ending with one college educated person versus one high school educated person. It was the final showdown between Book Smarts and Street Smarts. Tana said that she had done well with a team that was difficult to manage. But Carolyn noted that Tana had really slammed her employees when talking about them, calling them "The Three Stooges" and "Dumb and Dumber." Carolyn thought that was unprofessional. Trump said that Brian had very negative things to say about Tana as a boss. Tana shot back that she would have fired Chris and Brian if she could have. Trump brought up the programs that were distributed with the personal information about the athletes. Tana said she had entrusted Kristen with the program. But Trump got Tana to admit that she hadn't bothered to proof the document. Trump then questioned Tana on the missing American flag. Tana said she assumed that the American flag was with the other world flags. Trump then turned to Kendra and said that her employees loved her. Kendra said she felt that Erin, Michael and Danny had worked harder for her than they had before. But George took Kendra to task for leaving Danny in a room with her three big sponsors. Trump said that wasn't a good move, calling Danny a "loose cannon."

Trump then brought up education, one of the sharp differences between the two candidates. Tana said she got her education in the real world while creating successful businesses. But Kendra said she believes that you should finish what you start. Under questioning from Trump, Tana admitted that she didn't finish college, choosing to start a family instead. But Trump said that having a family supersedes education. Trump then asked Tana if she really believed that she could handle the hardened business people of New York. Tana said yes: "I'm a shark but I'm in a goldfish costume." Kendra said that she works with people from the Northeast all the time. Then Kendra brought out the statistics. She said that she had been Project Manager three times and had won in all three tasks. In addition, Tana's loss as Project Manager had come against her, Kendra said. But Tana pointed out that Kendra was one of the last candidates to become a Project Manager. Tana said that she had stepped up early to be a leader. Trump told the two final candidates to wait outside. The Donald turned to George and Carolyn, who agreed that both women were very strong candidates.

In the waiting area, the elevator doors opened and in walked all of the recent employees - Brian, Kristen, Chris, Danny, Erin and Michael. They moved past Tana and Kendra and entered the boardroom, ready to discuss their bosses behind closed doors.

In a live event from New York University's Skirball Center in front of a packed house, Tana and Kendra returned to find out who would hear those magic (and rare) words: "You're hired." Under questioning from Trump, Tana admitted that she had made a mistake by judging her employees and calling them "The Three Stooges." Tana said that she had personally apologized to Kristen, Brian and Chris. Tana added that she always learned from her mistakes. But Trump interrupted and was brutally honest. He told Tana that she faced an uphill battle to become The Apprentice. Trump turned to Kendra and, referring to Kendra's tears as she said goodbye to her employees, told her he didn't like crying and saw it as a sign of weakness. Kendra said that she had seen 300 pound linebackers cry as they raised a Super Bowl trophy in victory - so she was not ashamed. Kendra said that she cried out of great joy and pride. Even Trump admitted that as crying goes, it was a nice moment.

Trump then laid out the two projects that his new Apprentice would have to choose from. The first was to work with The Miss Universe Pageant, dealing with potential host cities and then organizing the event. The second project was to oversee the renovation of Palm Beach Mansion, a 68,000 square foot oceanfront property in Florida. Tana said that if given the choice she would, without a doubt, select The Miss Universe Pageant. Kendra, just as passionate about her choice, said she would take the Palm Beach Mansion project.

Trump then turned to a few others for their input. Kristen praised Tana, but Chris said that he was disappointed with how Tana had insulted her employees on the final task. Chris even went so far as to say that he felt Kendra would be a better fit in the Trump Organization! Erin called Kendra inspiring. Carolyn thought that both candidates were spectacular. However, she was not happy with the way that Tana had talked about her employees. Carolyn was impressed with how Kendra had performed on the final task, but was disappointed that she had waited so long to become a Project Manager. George weighed in and echoed Carolyn's criticism of Tana. But he added that Tana had many brilliant ideas and tons of raw enthusiasm. George criticized Kendra for staying under the radar for so long, but admitted that when Kendra stepped up to the plate, she hit the ball out of the park.

Trump called both candidates winners. But unfortunately, he could only choose one. The Donald told Tana that he didn't like the way she had treated her employees, but he thought that she had truly been a star in all of the previous tasks. Trump was keenly aware of how long it took Kendra to take a leadership role, but thought that she was terrific during the last two weeks - what he called "crunch time." And even though she had cried, Trump was impressed with how Kendra had inspired her employees during the final task. So, the magic words were spoken and Trump said: "Kendra, you're hired!"