Thursday, December 9, 2010

Post Falls man could become the next 'Apprentice' tonight

Posted By on Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 6:10 PM

In the first season of The Apprentice, viewers got a chance to root for Troy McClaine, a 1989 graduate from Mead High School, in a little Washington town called Spokane, Wash. But, tragically, he was fired in the round before the semi-finals.

Now, nine seasons later, the Inland Northwest gets another chance at redemption. One of the two remaining candidates, Clint Robertson, is a resident of Post Falls, Idaho.

The Couer D'alene Press details Robertson's religious motivation, his economic struggles during the recession (his title on the show is "Struggling Property Owner") and his future, (he's not going to live in Post Falls much longer — his home is in Texas.)

I'd love to give you an Inlander TV critic's perspective on Robertson this season, but I haven't seen an episode of the Apprentice since senior year of high school, when we watched most of Season One in Mr. Ortega's Marketing Class.

So instead, I contacted Adam Wright, critic for TVDoneWright.com, for his take: 

Wright on Robertson's role this season:

Clint was the underdog from the start. He came into the game as the Southern/"blue-Collar" guy. He wasn't "posh" like the rest of them and he wasn't "cultured" as the city folks. But we saw through the game that he was super intelligent and savvy. There was a reason why he was so successful before the recession. He's become the guy you want to root for.

Wright on Robertson's memorable moments this season:

The first one involves Trump himself telling Clint to wear a tie in the board-room. The conversation went like this:

Trump: So why don't you wear a tie, Clint? See, everyone else does.

Clint: Mr. Trump, if you want me to wear a tie in the board-room, I will! I will do anything to get this job.

And he did put on a tie.  

Another memorable moment was when Moasa told Trump that Clint gave her information on his team (which would be against the rules). So Clint stormed in and defended his honor. Trump was really impressed by this. A lot of the times he was in the background, because he was so cool and collected compared to the bigger personalities.

I did see the second-to-last episode, and found Wright's assessment largely correct. Robertson, with his drawl and his attitude, seemed a marked contrast from the intense, power-tie-clad lawyers. And, tellingly, two of his remaining opponents said they believed Robertson was the strongest candidate.

For the final challenge, his last opponent chose to put on a golf tournament at Donald Trump's golf course, while Robertson — playing gutsy — chose to put on Liza Minnelli's wedding.

Robertson, however, made the embarrassing mistake of spelling Minnelli's name wrong. That's a bit hard to come back from. Can he do it? Or will Donald Trump tell him, "You are the weakest link. Pack up your knives and go"?

Watch the season finale of The Apprentice at 10 pm on NBC tonight.

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Daniel Walters

A lifelong Spokane native, Daniel Walters was a staff reporter for the Inlander from 2009 to 2023. He reported on a wide swath of topics, including business, education, real estate development, land use, and other stories throughout North Idaho and Spokane County.His work investigated deep flaws in the Washington...