December 1, 2005

"You're talking a lot. But you're not saying anything."

I like the way Martha Stewart shot down her most recent victim (on "The Apprentice") with nearly a verbatim recitation of that line from "Psycho Killer." She encanted a series of things "we know" at Martha Stewart: we know what is right and good and true and beautiful at Martha Stewart. She made an intriguing juxtaposition: "We need substance. That's what make my life interesting." Don't we all feel like saying that sometimes? But it would be pretty rude to say it in real life. Still, it's tempting! Who likes empty yammerers? And shouldn't other people be attending to the project of making my life interesting.

And then there's Jim. Dear, sweet, adorable Jim. Jim, who made me kind of love him last week, when he gave Marcela the pep talk that kept her from crumbling into a little pile of defeat. This week's show begins with Jim gloating about his brilliant strategy of telling the weakest player how to defend herself, so she'd be around and easily defeatable on the next task. Ah, Jim is evil. And Marcela is weak. She survived again this time, but we saw her barely able to hold herself together. Martha chided her for always slouching, and then Marcela couldn't motivate herself to straighten up even for just that moment.

12 comments:

Scott Ferguson said...

People who lead fascinating lives, podcast.

chaipo said...

Is it just me, or is the only one left that has any chance of winning Dawna?

Ann Althouse said...

Lori, you're right. By contrast, Donald's final four Apprenti are all very strong.

Rick Lee said...

We missed the MS Apprentice... does anybody know when it's on CNBC? This information is surprisingly difficult to find on the Internet.

Finn Alexander Kristiansen said...

Yea Jim has no shot. Too abrasive and I think she keeps him in there to stir the pot.

As for Trump's show, yea, it's a strong group and I am just hoping Rebecca or Randall pull it out. Either one and I am happy. My gut feeling tells me Rebecca, and that Trump just likes her integrity.

knox said...

Dang it, every time I read these, i wish I was watching this show. It's her stoopid daytime show that made me not give it a chance.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

I often wonder how much of the video The Martha and The Donald have at their disposal before they decide who gets canned each week. Do they rely solely on their corporate pals or do they see for themselves? The reason I wonder is this: if Martha saw all that Jim does, why would she still keep him around?

I reiterate: He's a conniver on the order of Richard Hatch of the original Survivor. I think a poison pen letter is in the offing for him.

SippicanCottage said...

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

Pete said...

Thank you, dear Ann, for the Martha Stewart Apprentice blogging.

Hey, what about the weird post-script Martha added to the her letter, about her daughter also sending her best wishes? Like her daughter is an after-thought. If Martha had erred, she could have easily edited the segment to include her daughter in the main part of the letter but she didn't. Man, there's some kind of passive-aggressive mojo working there.

Ann Althouse said...

Pete: Yeah, I notice that too. Very strange! The daughter didn't SAY anything either, but just sat there like a waxwork.

Pete said...

Sorry, I know this is fast becoming an old blog post but I thought of this on the way to work this morning (Obsessed? Moi?) and didn't have a chance to post it.

Of course, Jim is evil. During the reward dinner, he couldn't resist doing what all evil doer, er, do: He was monologuing. (A term I first heard in the movie The Incredibles. All bad guys do this, conveniently spilling their plans to the good guys so that the good guys can defeat them.)

Unknown said...

Jim is just plain nuts. His behavior is completely erratic. Who on earth would go to dinner with a CEO and blabber on about his juvenile strategy in this freaking game?? I think he will be lucky to retain his present job, much less survive another week with M. Sometimes his ideas are good, but his personality defeats him every time.

However, I must say the other team is absolutely laughable. A car going to dinner with its owner? I would have died, literally, when the ad execs walked in and saw that display.