"Three Hours With Mark" - September 13
Last week, we met billionaire Mark Cuban, a man of
principle. We also met sixteen people, three of which -
Rich, Laurel, and Grayson - could not live up to Mark's
principle in a single night. What unexpected wrenches
will Mark throw in to the remaining 13 as they venture
for $1,000,000 of his money?
We begin day 2 in the
control room as Mark watches the rest of the players
feel each other out to figure out which one exactly has
a good shot of being a millionaire. Mark emerges from
the control room to single out Linda, Dominic, and Shawn
for... picking teams for today's test. Mark Cuban life
lesson #4: "It's not whether the glass is half-empty or
half-full, it's who's pouring the water. The greatest
responsibility comes with controlling someone else's
destiny." The idea: Linda, Dominic, and Shawn are great
team players, but haven't stepped up to bat in the
leadership role. Will that change with today's test?
Oh, and lest we forget
to mention... the last person picked is going home.
Linda's team: Chris,
Kevin, Spencer
Dominic's team: Tiffaney, Femia, Christine
Shawn's team: Latane, William (the loud mouth from last
week), Mario (citing sacrifice)
So like that, Kathy is
left out in the cold. Mario now says he owes Shawn a big
one. Shawn says that this is part of her strategy to be
the last catty woman standing. "You put me in a room
filled with men and I will beat every one."
Leading us into Mark
Cuban life lesson #5: Your most valuable possession is
time. Each team will get three hours of Mark's time and
$2500 to do with what they wish. Linda's team will get
him in the morning, Dominic's team will get him in the
afternoon, and Shawn will get the evening for her squad.
Mark leaves the teams with one piece of advice. "Do not
waste my time."
The next day (I know
this because the little captions tell me), Team Linda
(Linda, Chris, Kevin, and Spencer) start things off with
a little breakfast, where Kevin admits to his Oprah-fixe.
He breaks out the picture, which, of course, is blurred
because she in her evil mindset didn't get clearance
forms from ABC. But on the other hand, the lady is
paying off dividends for Kevin personally. Additionally,
the team goes with Mark to a hospital to drop off toys
to sick kids. What the kids didn't know... it's not
Mark's first time. Mark's taking notes...
... Which he will share
with the team now. Mark wasn't pleased that a) no one
asked if he'd been there before, and that b) no one
really shone there. The team regroups and thinks about
how they could've done better. Truth of the matter...
they couldn't have done ANY better.
It's noon, and time for
Team Rockstar (Dominic, Tiffaney, Femia, and Christine)
to have some fun with Mark. First thing... the limo,
where Mark is now thinking about a book. Title: "No
Balls, No Babies." The team arrives in an arcade. Mark
is fired up over skeeball and Daytona USA. The plan: if
they won the game, they choose the next game. Mark's
choices: some horse shooting thing and a DDR/Exceed
dancing stage.
Evaluation: "I would pay
somebody to force me to do this. That's how much fun I
had." They stepped it up. Mad props.
Finally, it's time for
Team Shawn (Shawn, Latane, William, and Mario) at 5pm.
They pick up Mark in an SUV... which compared to the
limo version is an SUX. William starts asking Mark what
advice he would give to the winner... with some rubbing
from Mario. From there, it's off to Malibu Speedzone.
See above comment on not having enough time to do it but
sorely wanting to. Mark came in first on the race ahead
of Mario. It was personal. So they head to the drag
zone. Again, Mark comes out on top. "They did NOT let me
win. At least I hope so."
One more thing...
Bungeeball! "There ain't no f(^_^)ing way." Mark's
deathly scared of heights. Immediately the team
scrambles for a backup plan. Not there... Not good... So
they end up going home early... with nothing to do but
veg. He doesn't waste their time (told you he was a man
on principle), and lets them know that he did enjoy the
things he never got a chance to enjoy, BUT in terms of
time management... not good.
Decision time, as Mario
reveals that his bags are packed. Mark will eliminate
two people. But first, he reveals that Team Shawn was
least effective in this task. So they will be drug into
his office. All will be chewed up, but only two will be
spit back into the game.
Analysis: Linda was
going for strength. Dominic was going for ease of
comfort. Shawn was going for three people that she could
manipulate. But how will that stack up against...
... three academically
advanced privately-schooled second graders? Enter Mark
Cuban life lesson #6: Sometimes road blocks come from
the unlikeliest of sources. These three - Stuart, Katie,
and Mary - will interview each player, and Mark will
return with a full report. The two they don't like are
going home.
William is asked about
sports, plans for the million, space, and candy.
Interesting. Latane gets the same questions, including a
mosquito question that isn't really related to anything.
Mario likes video games as a sport and has two Star Wars
tattoos... Okay. Shawn, still the teacher, has the same
questions. If she was to get cut, this would be the
ultimate retribution.
Everyone seems to be
"good with kids". But who were the kids good with?
William was "weird and nerdy". Latane was "awesome".
Mario was "odd". Shawn was "pretty over the edge" and "a
Mash fan."
Mark lets the kids go
with the promise that he'll choose one of them to run
one of his companies. Hmm.. Funnier than when Andy Dick
did it, really. Then Mark comes back to the grownups
with his decision... Mario and William... are gone.
Shawn was THIS close to being eliminated as well. Latane
learns from the early candy episode and Shawn from the
Mash episode Mark Cuban life lesson #7: Luck plays a
role.
As for Mario and
William, Mario was losing his grip, and William had a
charade going on. But he's still confident that one year
form now, he'll have more money than the winner of the
show.
Yeah, good luck with
that. We leave the remaining players with dinner at
Chili's as the others are pleasantly surprised (Tiffaney)
and pissed (Linda) at seeing Latane and Shawn. "Here's
to the top 10!"
Next week, the game gets
more cutthroat as the friends-not-friends get their
first individual challenge: 12 hours and $1000. |