The Rebel Billionaire Episode 10
Faith Restored - Somewhat
By Eleanor Meilinger
January 6, 2005
How I wish Sir Richard Branson had begun this series like a classic British detective, assuring us that in the end "All will be revealed." With that promise, I would have spent less time questioning motives and worrying that the man I had defended so staunchly in the beginning had lost his marbles somewhere along the line. Tonight's episode cleared up a lot of those nagging doubts but it also raised some new questions, foremost being "Was this recap episode intended from the start or was it pieced together due to the outcry of the few remaining loyal followers?" At this point, I don't care. I'm glad to have so many things cleared up and sorry that the series never received the treatment it deserved. I had to watch many Fox shows over the past week and was dismayed to find that they had completely ignored the final two episodes of "The Rebel Billionaire" in favor of the premieres of new shows.
They even threw a lot of support behind "House" in hopes of securing an audience once "American Idol" returns on the 18th. Our "rebels" have been abandoned by all but the die-hard among us. That's why I was so happy to find that our loyalty would be rewarded in the final two hours…well, not quite.
The first seven minutes of this week's episode is spent showing the last five minutes of last week's with a bit of further commentary plus the resolution of the conflict. To refresh your memory, we left the teams of Sara and Shawn and Heather and Gabe somewhere over the coast of Florida, encountering turbulence while experiencing a Zero-G flight. Erica was accompanying them, acting as Richard's surrogate. When Heather began to suffer the side-effects of the flight more severely than the other passengers, Erica put aside her feelings and stepped in to comfort Heather. It was becoming apparent that Heather was suffering a complete "melt-down" and she wanted to have the plane land. Gabriel struggled to complete the assignment of filming an additional 15 seconds of footage to complete their commercial for Virgin Galactic by himself. Sara, whose life-long fear of flying is being put to the test under the most extreme circumstances imaginable, seems to have pulled herself together and totally conquered her phobia in order to complete the challenge.
She and Shawn had been the first team to film their segment and they support Heather's desire to end the flight. Gabriel enlists Virgin Representative Frankie to fill in for Heather in one of their planned shots but he has little faith in their chances now that Heather has succumbed to the negative features of space travel. Learning that the plane had been nicknamed "The Vomit Comet", I won't take time to belittle Heather's very real discomfort. Erica holds her hand throughout the rest of the turbulent flight and convinces the others to support Heather's demand that they abort the mission. I hope that after seeing how Erica was able to exhibit her true nature when separated from Nicole, many of her detractors reassessed their opinions. She was not blameless in the trouble that was stirred up by the "BBB" but she at least had an opportunity to redeem herself. I think that the fact that Nicole stuck by her choices and never apologized for anything she may have done or said, speaks volumes and will only benefit her as she furthers her career. I know whom I'd what on my side in a courtroom. Erica, on the other hand, needed the chance that Richard gave her to clear up any misconceptions. It's really too bad that Candida was never afforded the same opportunity.
With the support of all of her fellow players, Heather is granted her wish to have the plane land. Once back on terra firma, she rallies and as the others try to console her she seems happy with the fact that she never vomited during the entire flight -apparently many of the others did but we were thankfully spared the gory details -something the producers of the upcoming episode of "The Amazing Race" felt the need to air in graphic abundance! Gabriel seems to feel that he would have fared better if the teams had been divided differently at the beginning of the challenge and he had been teamed with Erica who had now proven herself to be a trooper. I hate to say it but, the outcome was already predetermined and nothing would have changed it short of Shawn and Sara being accidentally jettisoned during one of the of the flights parabolas. Sorry Gabe, you performed really well as a team player but you need to work on your public speaking skills in order to become a really successful leader - especially on a corporate level.
Gabe would be a terrific "go-to" guy but he lacks the charisma to head a Virgin Enterprise. Heather didn't lose because of her panic attack. She played a good game and out-lived many of the others through clever manipulation. If she had any chance it was forfeit when she got embroiled in the Nicole lynching. She wanted to call her failure to stand behind her opinions "tact" and "clever strategy" but in reality it showed a lack of backbone and unwillingness to stand behind her own convictions. However, like Gabe, she was not slated to move on to the finals so it was convenient that she provided such a plausible excuse for being cut.
Erica, Frankie and Georgia join Richard to view the outcome of the footage the two teams were able to complete. Richard is disappointed with both entries - I am not sure what more he expected given the setting and circumstances - and he vows to ponder long and hard before making this, the toughest decision yet (Audible Groan!) "The time has come, the plane is fueled and a decision has to be made…"
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