by David McAlpine

Last week on the Celebrity Apprentice, it was the first part of the season finale, pitting Holly and Bret in an all-out match to see who can create the best new Snapple flavor and market it effectively in a print ad and TV spots. It was a showdown of Compassion Berry versus Trop-a-Rocka, autism against diabetes and, ultimately, Holly's ability to fundraise versus Bret's untamable creative mind.

Before any of the task is completed, it's to the live boardroom where Trump confirms that, yes, Bret Michaels is alive and well in the building tonight, ready to compete as a Celebrity Apprentice finalist.

Back to Bret during the task, who's worried about filming both of his commercials, as well as getting the dolly to film one of them. Of course, there's nothing to worry about in the end, because everything gets done and Bret heads into editing. Of course, not without his script, which he almost forgets.

Cut to Trump, who promises appearances from all the celebrities including, since we hadn't heard it already three time, finalist Bret Michaels. Let's just say that Trump is doing a poor job of trying to compete with the finale of LOST by using the ailment of one of his C-list celebrity faux-helpers.

Back to the task, where Curtis tries to duck out for dinner with his buddy who's getting married, and Maria is somewhere unknown. So much for Holly's helpers, eh?

Live boardroom time! All these jumps are making my head spin, you know. Everyone comes back including the one and only Rod Blagojevich, who is completely in debt to Trump for making him slightly famous again. Maria apologizes for her comments about Curtis (even though she could have apologized when she said them at the final 5).

Cut back to the task, where it's presentation time. Holly is up first and her presentation goes amazingly well. She knows everything she wants to say and she definitely delivers with a point. Her commercial is very well done. Then it's Bret's turn and, just like the creator, his commercial is just a little off, but still well done and, if I must say, does the job just as well as Holly's.

The audience at the presentation, however, is overwhelmingly in support of Bret and his commercial. It must be something about his mind, but he really knows how to connect to the average person. Of course, now Bret has gone through a ton of medical trauma and he still managed to show up…at this point I'm betting he's got the win in the bag.

In the boardroom, Trump goes through the motions, asks everyone the questions about who was a better Project Manager, why, what did they do right, what did they do wrong, and so on. Oh, and Darryl gets awarded $25,000 to his charity for coming back since he never won anything in the first place. Hmm, isn't that because he practically quit when he lost?

Back to the live finale, where Holly comes out all classy, then Bret comes out to a standing ovation and a teary-eyed Holly. Even her son is rooting for him, according to her, which is like a neon arrow pointing to his name for the win.

But, before we can get to the winner, we have to feature the real star of the season: Ms. Cyndi Lauper. In true Cyndi fashion, she sings us her new single while dancing on the boardroom table. You can't help but love her!

Finally, it's results time and, according to Trump, there is no "loser," because both Holly and Bret did such a good job that each of their charities get $250,000. Really? Are we going to go down this path? Is Trump taking the easy way out? I mean, it's a nice way to end the season, but it's still a competition. In an anti-climactic ending, he fires Holly and Bret, the underdog from the beginning, ends up winning it all and the title of Celebrity Apprentice.

(Photo courtesy of NBC)

Follow David on Twitter: @DavidMcAlpine

For more Celebrity Apprentice links, visit SirLinksALot.net.