by David McAlpine

Last time on The Celebrity Apprentice, Donald quickly narrowed the field from five to two. Clint, Brande and Jesse were cut, leaving the two powerhouses of the season, Annie Duke and Joan Rivers, to fight it out for victory.

The night starts with the boardroom set up in true Trump style in the American Museum of Natural History. Does Trump this is is considered natural history? Considering the two finalists are going at each other's throats like it's the jungle, I'd say it might qualify. Ha! Just kidding, that was a terrible joke.

Of course Trump lets us all know there will be a third season of the Celebrity Apprentice, so we'll have more crazy antics from celebrities, many of which a majority of America has never heard of. The crowd is going wild for the showdown between Annie and Joan, and it seems like each has garnered the support of half the room.

After last week's boardroom, Annie tries to sit down with Joan and talk to her about the things her and Melissa have been saying, but Joan refuses to talk. Annie keeps pleading for Joan's respect, which I don't get because Annie keeps saying how terrible Joan is, and Joan will have none of it.

The two finalists meet Trump, Ivanka and Trump, Jr., as well as Dennis, Tom, Clint, Herschel, Brande and Melissa. Annie wins the coin flip and chooses Brande. Joan, surprisingly, picks Herschel. At least, it was surprising until we find out that her and Melissa planned to pick Melissa last. Annie takes Dennis and Joan, again surprisingly, takes Clint. Annie finishes with Tom and Joan takes Melissa.

The final task is for Kodak and Cirque du Soleil, where each team has to throw an event, a silent auction and raise as much money as possible. In addition, after the event, all of the teams' guests will be attending a Cirque du Soleil show, so the teams must sell all of their tickets at face value. The criteria for winning was cumulative: product branding, starpower present, guest experience, charity visibility and fundraising.

Flashback to the live finale, where Trump welcomes back some familiar faces: Andrew, Scott, Claudia, Brian and Jesse. NO KHLOE? Madness. Andrew acts odd, Jesse acts uncomfortable and Claudia says she's proud she got to do more than open a briefcase on television. Congrats, Claudia.

Back to the show, where Melissa voices her disappointment with Clint. Joan starts calling in favors, citing the fact that Annie is the devil. Annie tries a different approach, trying to compliment Dennis and Tom into submission. Dennis then hands her $20,000 from the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Lakers, giving her an immediate leg up on Joan.

Kodak's CEO sits down to meet with Joan's team, where he stresses the importance of people getting their own Kodak moments at the event and how much they feel like a VIP. Clint tries to make a joke and fails, which Joan doesn't find amusing. During Annie's team's meeting, Tom is very disruptive and pisses off Annie, making everyone unsure of what to do or say.

Joan starts to divvy up the tasks and Clint seems to not want to do anything. He claims he has no more contacts in New York nor does he have any more friends that can donate, angering Joan. Herschel gets angry, too, wondering why Clint was here.

Pause the action for a self-plug by NBC: CNBC's Jim Kramer! He gives us the "Mad Money" rundown of Annie and Joan. His analysis: Annie is the person to invest in for the short-term haul because she's all guts and no emotion. He claims that Joan, however, is the pick for the long-term because she works better with people. But his verdict? Trump has a hard decision ahead of him. Thanks, Jim.

Annie starts rallying her fellow poker players against Joan, letting them all know that she called them trash and the mafia. Joan and Herschel are struggling with Clint not doing much on the team, trying to figure out what to do with him. The stress is added as Annie and Joan meet with the event planners, attempting to transform their rooms into event spaces. Annie feels confident with her event planner's idea, but Joan is worried that her's isn't doing a good job.

Since the whole idea of this show is to benefit charities, Annie and Joan each get to do a 10-second "The More You Know" commercial for NBC. Both Joan and Annie do a great job, prompting Ivanka to remind us that their performance on this task will probably determine the winner.

Melissa comes up with the idea to capture people "sharing" Kodak moments in Times Square with their Kodak camera. She takes several interesting pictures, including a couple getting married.

Annie and her event planner are getting along very well, sharing their ideas and bouncing off of each other. She also learns that all the vendors will be able to give her whatever she wants, which satisfies Annie. Meanwhile, Joan gets flustered with her event planner and his assistant ends up calling Joan, which pisses her off even more. her event lanner calls her back and gives her a plan, which she swiftly rejects. Joan instead insists that her event planner work with her friend, after which the event planner quits.

Consequently, Annie's event planner won't answer her calls, so Annie drops by the firm to check up on her. The cameras are shoved out of the room by a woman and Annie is told to leave, but she opts to talk to someone in private. She comes out fuming that Joan's event planner caused the whole company to quit the show. Since it's after Friday at 5, everything is closed and Annie feels like Joan screwed her over.

Both Joan and Annie scramble to find someone that can help them out. Annie tracks down several people while Joan reaches out to her charity. Several people show up from God's Love We Deliver, and, with their help, Joan's room begins to come together. Annie's friends also show up and begin to pull together an idea of what they can do with her space.

At this point, almost everyone's celebrities have cancelled because of the short notice. Herschel recommends that Joan's team hire a bunch of celebrity look-alikes, which Joan loves. Tom starts to piss off Annie more and she gets increasingly demeaning towards him. Tom starts standing up for Joan and Annie just ignores it, insulting him left and right.

Joan has trouble finding celebrity impersonators, so she calls up her friend who happens to be at his mother's funeral. He enjoys her call and hooks her up with the best impersonators in the city. Melissa works on her photo slideshow while Herschel shoots Clint explaining each of their auction items. Annie tells Tom to cut the video for their charity to put on the Kodak digital picture frames, which he has no problem with. However, Annie thinks he did it wrong, so she yells at him. Tom gets upset, and Annie realizes she made a mistake, apologizing to him.

Joan is mad that there's a video of Clint Black in front of every item. She says it's too much Clint and takes him out. As Joan's impersonators start to arrive, Annie gives Tom the task of taking the behind the scenes picture for the frame they must present to the CEO. Joan comes up with the idea of having the guests walk through a picture, because that's the only way they'll create their own "Kodak moment."

Outside the event, the Joan Rivers impersonator and Dennis Rodman in drag greet their guests. Joan and Annie begin working their respective parties when Cirque du Soleil performers crash the fun. Kathy Griffin shows up, as well as the cast of "Chicago." Finally, Donald and the CEO of Kodak arrive, who are both impressed with each party. After the party, everyone gets to enjoy Wintuk, the new Cirque du Soleil show, and unwind from their strenuous day.

In the boardroom, Trump praises both Joan and Annie for their efforts. Trump points out that Annie may have raised more money, but mos of Annie's donors were her fellow poker players. Everyone on Annie's team has nothing but praise for her, as does everyone on Joan's team.

Joan and Annie start to get into it about Joan pissing off the event planning company, and Joan comes out like a wild woman. Annie tries to defend herself but Joan won't hear any of it. The results of the task are as follows:

Joan's team: $150,830 raised
Annie's team: $465,725 raised

Annie also wins in charity integration, because Joan neglected to brand God's Love We Deliver as much as Annie did with Refugees International. Joan, however, won in the other three categories, which Donald finds impressive.

Joan and Annie's teams join Donald on stage and engage in a little bit of banter. Issues from the past season, such as Melissa's meltdown, are addressed and everyone airs their dirty laundry. Turning back to the other players, Jesse selects Annie to win, while Scott picks Joan as the winner.

After introducing their charities, Donald welcomes Joan and Annie onto the stage, as well as Piers Morgan and Trace Adkins, last year's finalists. Joan argues that she was honorable and charitable, something that Annie did not embody. Annie claims that she raised way more money and won more, which makes her the clear winner. She also criticizes Joan's lack of professionalism, while Joan keeps calling Annie dishonorable and not trustworthy.

Donald compliments both of them on their efforts, as well as Ivanka and Donald, Jr., neither of whom give a clear answer of who they want to win. In the last moments of the show, Donald turns to Annie, who gets that momentary look of happiness on her face. But it's all gone when he tells her she is fired and Joan is given the title of the second Celebrity Apprentice

(Image courtesy of NBC)

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