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EPISODE FIVE

CRUISE LINE

 

Freestyle Cruise Control

Gathering the candidates aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's luxury flagship the Norwegian Jewel, Mr. Trump set the corporations to their latest task: to produce a 30-second television advertisement for Norwegian Cruise Line. Norwegian is a leader in the $10 billion industry and the candidates were assigned to accentuate the brand's innovative concept of freestyle cruising, a flexible approach that lets cruise passengers pick their own mealtimes and completely customize their shipboard activities.

Dan took the helm of Gold Rush, hoping to steer the corporate vessel to victory. And Roxanne captained Synergy, aiming to right their ship after throwing Brent overboard. Amping up the intensity, the rival corporations had only three hours to shoot their commercial footage aboard the Jewel before the ship set sail.

High-Speed Scenario: Plan Overboard!

Because PM Roxanne had criticized Andrea in the previous boardroom, the two Synergy colleagues got off to a bad start and the tension between them simmered throughout. Roxanne complained that, "Being bossy and taking over is what Andrea does." Andrea meanwhile criticized Roxanne's organizational skills and said, "She's not a strong leader, she's a strong follower." Despite some early chaos, however, Roxanne pulled together a solid effort that contrasted competing cruise lines' dull offerings with the thrill of Norwegian freestyle.

Gold Rush's production schedule was chaotic, with Lee, Charmaine and Leslie all feeling underutilized. "Dan took it upon himself to do everything," said Lee. Still, during the brainstorming session, it was Lenny who offered the concept of a shipwrecked castaway rescued by the cruise ship. Tarek endorsed Lenny's concept as, "Not that bad of an idea," and the group agreed. In the editing, Tarek took control of the visuals, but he refused the advice of his colleagues who suggested that the text-heavy ad needed voiceover.

Diamonds and Dust

Gold Rush's hard-to-understand shipwreck scenario and the lack of voiceover narration prompted Norwegian Cruise Line execs to award victory in the task to Synergy.

For their reward, Synergy was spirited away to an undisclosed location: the top-secret Brinks Diamond Vault. There they ogled Michael Greene's collection of $100 million in sparklers and got to leave with $30,000 worth of the precious stones. Given a gem tweezer, each member of Synergy chose his or her diamond, but the stones often slipped from Synergy's grasp. "Diamonds are slippery little buggers—oops, there goes a million dollars," joked Sean. PM Roxanne modeled a $4.5 million dollar tiara, and Allie smiled and noted that diamonds are indeed a girl's best friend and that "size matters."

Clearly, the promotion aboard the Norwegian Jewel turned out to be a real gem for members of Synergy. But things weren't exactly sparkling for Gold Rush in the boardroom.

Lenny's Shipwreck, Dan Overboard!

Asked by Trump why she was so "under the radar," Leslie complained that Dan's leadership kept her from utilizing her broadcast production experience on the task. Dan and Tarek said she didn't even mention her expertise, which prompted a crazy eruption of chaotic chatter, finger-pointing and recrimination that caused Carolyn to ask, "Do you know how ridiculous you all sound right now?"

Bill criticized Tarek's decision to have onscreen text but no voiceover in their ad and Trump told Tarek that he'd "never seen a genius make so many mistakes," and added "I think the Mensa people should change the test, because there's something wrong." Trump asked Dan whose lousy idea the shipwreck was, and he said it was Lenny's. Yet when it came time to bring candidates back for the final boardroom, Dan set Lenny free. Even when Trump offered the option of bringing back three people, Dan chose only do-little Lee and mistake-prone Tarek.

Back in the final boardroom, Trump wasted little time. He again slammed Tarek's weak performance, and swiftly turned his attention to Dan's decision to shield Lenny. "The concept was bad, the concept was Lenny," said Trump. "You should have brought him back to the boardroom. Dan, you're fired."


 

LESSONS LEARNED