Originally aired on Monday, 05/31/2007

Episode Rating: * (1 star out of 5)

Episode Overview: The sixteen modern-day pirates take to the seas in the premiere episode of Pirate Master.

Episode Highlights:

• In the surprisingly lackluster first entry in the new reality show, our pirates get their sea legs and get acquainted.
• The first treasure chest is found by one of the pirate teams, but the divvying up of the booty leaves some feeling resentful.
• One pirate makes an attempt at mutiny.

Advance opinions seem to be split: will Pirate Master be another interesting reality entry from producer Mark Burnett like his other successful shows, or a total cheesefest? Tonight, we find out.

The sixteen wannabe pirates set out in a longboat to their ship – the Picton Castle. The host, Cameron Daddo, greets them and puts them to work immediately. The pirates grab hold of a rope and begin heaving in a large chest from the water.

Daddo informs them this is the “Chest of Zanzibar” and it contains the maps that lead to the treasure of the pirate Captain Henry Steel. The legend is that he split his treasure into fourteen parts, one for himself and the rest for his crew, and then buried the treasure in scattered areas. The pirates will hunt for the treasure, and what they find will be theirs to keep – even if they are voted off that episode.

After the introduction, the pirates have a chance to get to know each other. Louie Frase, a bearded Rupert Boneham-type, is getting a lot of screen time so far and seems to be a jovial sort, and he makes friends with Christian Okoye, a former NFL football player originally from Nigeria. Cheryl Kosewicz gets noticed by some of her fellow pirates for her tough demeanor. She doesn’t tell them this, opting to keep her real life private, but she might have developed her tough demeanor through her career as a district attorney. John Lakness – whose succinct personal description is the best ever: “Scientist/Exotic Dancer” – is also friendly, but his efforts at chatting up the ladies just seems to leave them annoyed.

The next day, the pirates set sail and really get moving on the water. This is not good news for Joy McElveen, as she becomes quite seasick. Jay Hatkow is not impressed as he works and she stays curled up in the fetal position – when she’s not throwing up.

Next the pirates have to split up into the black and red teams and head out on their first challenge. Each team has its own boat, and row up river to the first destination on their treasure maps. The black team, which includes Joe Don "J.D." Norton, John and Ben Fagan, gets an early lead but nearly loses it when Ben’s shoe gets stuck in some mud. John does his part to keep the team ahead by quickly handling a multipart lock that reveals their next clue. They make it to their final destination – the Crocodile’s Lair – first, and begin searching in the water for the treasure. The red team, however, catches up, despite the roadblock the black team was able to put in their path, and begins their own search. Joe Don tries to organize his black team to search, but it’s John who is actually able to find the treasure on his own. He’s pleased with his performance, but disappointed that his fellow pirates weren’t closer to his own skill level.

Back on the boat, host Daddo has the black team count up their booty. All told, the treasure chest yielded $40,000. Next, he tells them to elect a captain. Despite John’s contribution to the success of his team, he is also disappointed to find that Joe Don is nominated for the post, and everyone but John confirms the nomination. Daddo tells Joe Don to pick two officers, and he selects Ben and Cheryl.

Daddo lets them all know that as captain, Joe Don will receive a fifty percent share of the treasure, $20,000. The two officers will each receive $5000, and each remaining pirate gets $2,000. Additionally, the remaining pirates' taste of victory is over; there no longer is a winning black team, and all but the captain and two officers must rejoin the other pirates.

The captain and his officers, on the other hand, now can make their way to their swank new captain’s quarter. Captain Joe Don starts rubbing the others the wrong way, as he shuts them out of the quarters, and ominously warns that he will be making some serious changes around the ship.

In private meeting, Joe Don tells his officers that due to his military background, he wants to start running a tight ship. He tells them to tell the others to do “what they’re supposed to do or there would be consequences.”

Up on the deck, this doesn’t go over too well, and Louie says that he will do what is needed but he doesn’t like to be told what to do.

Later, the captain and officers learn that they need to nominate three of the others to receive a “black spot” and be voted on by the others to be cut loose from the ship. The danger, though, is that during the vote, the others can rise up and mutiny against the captain himself.

The three decide upon John, Louie and Joy to receive the news via letters that are given out to the crew. Joy is upset, but John has a plan – he steals the ship’s compasses and plans to use them to help convince the crew to mutiny.

At pirates’ court, each of the black marked pirates has a chance to speak their piece. Louie and Joy appeal to the camaraderie of the ship. John, on the other hand, shows the group the compasses and warns them they will lose all their navigation tools if they vote him off. He makes a play for mutiny, and Joe Don retorts that he can navigate using the sun or stars. John asks him to figure out where north is, which Joe Don is unable to do using the night sky. He does, however, reassure the others he would have no trouble in daylight.

And the others seem convinced, as they cast all their ballots for John. He’s sent off in a ship by himself, and Joe Don lives to reign over the others another day.

-Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist

(Images courtesy of CBS)