One man's heart was full to bursting .. his good friend's sang with generosity
A powerful episode. Both teams faced the prospect of essentially a cash raising objective, for the shows which had to be given, and therefore required some attention, were the subject of no appraial at all in the boardroom. This in itself was hard as they had all been to the well on previous tasks, but all set to work calling in what favours they could muster. Most significant I thought was that with NeNe's departure. missing in in-action, and Meat's move to ASAP we watched two teams working constructively, without squabbles or the usual to camera undermining of fellow contestants.
LaToya worked well managing the process, and inherited a team who needed little direction or motivation, but considering her family and connections I was surprised at the difficulty she had in raising sizeable donations. John Rich was again the biggest fundraiser in his team, and still managed to make the unprecedentedly generous offer in the boardroom that, should Backbone win, he would personally raise whatever Meat had called in, to go to Painted Turtle. The emotional attachment Meat has with his charity has been obvious throughout, but never more so on this task. It clearly astounds Trump, but with John it showed imo the depth of friendship he has forged with Meat as well as his own generosity. Backbone's first day was somewhat distracted by NeNe's disappearance without a word and the wall of silence she erected around her cellphone. However, how much of a financial contribution she might have made is an unknown, and an absence of NeNe was probably less of a distraction than her presence would have been, even though the team clearly felt ther initial optimism at being one player up in a fundraising task had been kicked away.
As to NeNe .. when she finally realised that bluster and verbal haranguing weren't going to do it, like most bullies she quit. Her attempt to depose Star the previous week had failed, and left her pretty clearly rattled throughout the task. In last night's episode I think she had identified at the outset that she was outclassed and out-manoevred, and with only a quiver of Johnny-one-note arrows which weren't going to work with JR, JL or LaToya, she did what bullies finally do when they realise that the only thing they have won't work. In my view a product of her environment and the show that brought her the "fame" she enjoyed, and a walking example of how the bullied can become in their turn bullies, seeing that behaviour the only way to win .. she walked away, finally empty-handed, and the loser
Meat started strongly, mobilising his team to call in favours. Jim referred later to his "empowering" style, and concern to make each of his team feel good and play a role, which is what we've seen throughout. Clearly one who will give 'til it hurts, Meat is far less comfortable asking others. Much of his fundraising was with contacts who have a close affilation with his charity, and as it came home hard to him that should he lose their donations would go to the other PM's charity, and not to the children he cares about so deeply, his feelings of angst and worry began to overtake him. Marlee was very supportive, in fact it was her suggestion they should ask Trump to allow each PM to take what they had raised for their respective charities, whoever won .. just as had been the case for the painting task when she had been PM. Star was less impressed imo (gave the only really negative on-camera of the episode) and although she offered to argue the case with Trump, I was surprised that someone who keeps reminding us that she's a lawyer, failed to make the point to Trump that most of the donations Meat called in were from people affiliated to Painted Turtle, and that he was concerned about this as well as his charity losing out. I know the program is edited, but I sensed no editing out of this useful argument. It may well not have changed Trump's decision, but was surely important. So I felt she was going through the motions of support rather than genuinely giving it to the extent that Marlee did. I also was surprised she seemed to make no attempt to get her major US comedy circuit performer to the show in person (although he may well have been available, and this could have hit the cutting room floor) but I thought her taped interview was pretty weak .. perhaps showing that humour is not a strong suit
As far as Meat's evident distress and anxiety is concerned, I guess either you get him or you don't
Yes, it distracted him, but didn't stop him getting in donations, nor going out on stage and delivering an excellent performance on the night; focused, funny, and totally effective. The editing was imo meant to show him in rehearsal as rambling and still distracted, although imo that "thinking aloud" patter is simply what he does as he tries out :) In the boardroom he struggled for coherence, clearly still almost overwhelmed by the wholly genuine emotions he was feeling, but he struggled for and achieved it, and at one point gave a clearly delivered and perceptive analysis of Star, couched in terms that modelled good feedback skills. Perhaps the real depth of John's kindness was that his offer, whilst it added to the emotions, because Meat was so deeply touched, also relieved his anxiety. His genuinely heartfelt thanks to John, and his thanks to Trump, not only for the news ASAP had won but also for the opportunity to learn about himself and want to beome a better person was truly touching, and clearly so for everyone in the boardroom, even the hard-nosed-hard-assed Jim. To me it indicated the strength of the very personal journey Meat was making during the show from the very first task, and is further explanation of how close to the skin his emotions were throughout, and why they surfaced so very strongly in this task.
Thus far I've not seen the actual "firing" though I understand it was LaToya, who seemed as the recording I watched ended to be about to take responsibility for the failure. She isn't a bad manager, but is outclassed by JR and LJ, the former raising the bulk of the money and calling in Jimmy Fallon to appear on their comedy show. She was disappointed that she'd failed to pull in some real big hitters, and I suspect probably went quietly and with some dignity.
Trump's firing of NeNe in absentia had occurred earlier and was fairly brutally worded imo. His twice repeated comment that she had been kept in at Star's expense because they "thought she had more potential" amused me, as I was certain they'd made that decision way before the last boardroom, .. yes, potential for ratings!!
.. and he seemed to me pissed because he'd hoped for one last opportuity to mine that particular seam. Nor did he disappoint expectations when he asked Jim to look at Lil John with "Those teeth are worth a fricking fortune!!" Thanks Mr Tacky.
My remembered comment will be from the man with guts enough for an army and heart the size of a planet as he left, the winner with his team ..
"Thank you dears" 
Caryl