Sean Yazbeck is the new Apprentice, baby!

(S05E15) Well, all right! I admit it, I was partial to Sean winning this season's The Apprentice. Although he was quiet during the early weeks he really stepped up to the plate after the herd had thinned out a bit. In fact, during the last two tasks before the final project, when he was teamed with Lee on Gold Rush, Sean really was a shining star.

Granted, Lee Bienstock was no slouch, either. For someone who I thought would be a 'hanger-on' to anyone who seemed to be a winner in Gold Rush (and, believe me, they were few and far between) he really came into his own when all of the chafe was sorted out. By the end of the series you could really see some newfound maturity in the young man. Pretty impressive for someone who had recently graduated college.

Well, now that we know who the winner is, let's go back in time and find out how our Tammy-loving Sean became Donald Trump's newest employee on The Apprentice.

We last left Sean and Lee in crisis situations. Sean's Synergy team, which was in charge of a World Wildlife Foundation benefit concert, had just become one short after Andrea rushed out of the Trump Taj Mahal to find out why she was coughing up blood. In the meantime, Lee and his Gold Rush team, who were working on a charity celebrity hockey tournament, were about to be brought to task by the director of the Leary Firefighters Foundation (the beneficiary of the event), who wanted to see a walk-through. 

Turns out Andrea only had a burst blood vessel in her sinuses; emergency averted. So, it was back to business for Synergy, with Sean walking the commercial sponsor of the concert through some of his ideas, which included Donald Trump and a panda-suited lead singer of the Barenaked Ladies sitting in one of their cars. Needless to say, the panda-suit idea went right out the window. For Gold Rush, the emergency was not averted, as the charity director was unimpressed with Lee's ideas, including having Lenny meet the celebrity hockey players. Considering the fact Lenny mixed up Michael J. Fox with Jamie Foxx, I would be concerned as well.

Event time arrives for both teams and it seems that Gold Rush is carrying on its traditional losing ways. The team has another meeting with a representative of the Leary Firefighters Foundation and it does not go well at all. When the rep asks Lee how they would get actress Jamie Presley (My Name is Earl) out onto the ice when introduced he says, 'We put her in skates'. Synergy has its tensions as well, as Tarek expresses his disappointment with Sean's lack of visibility as the concert time nears and they almost lose the music CD of one of their sponsors.

I don't know if it was they way they edited the piece, or if Gold Rush was that inept, but it just seems that Lee's team members were junking his chances without him knowing it. Lenny was the liaison between the celebrities and his team, but was never to be found. People like Jason Priestly couldn't find their way to the locker room, and Jamie Presley had no idea what she was going to do or where she was going to go. Lee didn't meet Trump at the door, no one was bidding during the silent auction, and what the hell was Roxanne doing during all of this time? It just didn't seem like a very successful event (although the Leary Firefighters Foundation director thought it was).

Back in Atlantic City, things went as smooth as they could. Other than the lack of a particular sponsor's signage at the pre-concert party, all seemed to go well. Synergy earned more money for the WWF then they thought they would, and everyone seemed to enjoy the concert. Sean even met Mr. Trump on the heli-pad when he arrived. I have a feeling that Donald made his decision even before the live show.

In the first boardroom, Trump, Carolyn and George had some questions for Lee. Mainly, why the hell did he pick the team he had? They were all very curious as to his decision and Lee's answer really didn't satisfy them. As for why they thought they could be the next Apprentice? Sean felt that his maturity and years of experience would be a perfect fit for the Trump organization, while Lee thought that his spunky youth would allow him to go farther than Sean had.

Not much happened during the live boardroom, which was held at the Orpheum Theater in Hollywood (to promote the next cycle of The Apprentice, which is to be held in Los Angeles). The only item of interest, other than the announcement that Sean had won, was that he was in love with Tammy. Well, we kind of knew that already after several weeks of gushing commentary by Sean.

Some final thoughts:  I never understood the 90-minute finale setting for the end of the season. I guess they tried to emulate shows like American Idol but it doesn't really fit in this environment. There was just too much filler until we got to the hiring. Also, if you're going to have the fired candidates up on the stage with you, use them a lot more than window dressing. Finally, Brent cut his hair and looked thinner. Maybe he saw himself on TV and went 'Holy s*$#! I need to lose some weight!'

Kids, it's been fun, and I hope you enjoyed my reviews of The Apprentice, season five. Have a good summer.