Episode Overview: Now that Azmyth Kaminski has returned to the position of Captain, and made two of the stronger male players his officers, he's created a "triad" of physical power that can dominate in the quest for treasure. Meanwhile, the weaker players like Joy McElveen and Kendra Guffey find themselves under scrutiny for their lack of physical prowess. Has the new regime made Pirate Master simply a game of brawn? Or can the other pirates use their brains and will to bring about a change in leadership?
On the last episode of Pirate Master, Nessa Nemir spent nearly all her cash on the royal pardon that she wound up not needing. Of course, it wasn't all her money. Joe Don Norton chipped in some gold to boost her bid. Since he was holding the pardon, the money came right back to him, so it wasn't a loss. But why was Nessa the happy recipient of his largess when there were other pirates who could have also used his help? With a demure smile, she says she "must have made an impression on him." Looks like all that flirting she was eager to throw around over the past few weeks has finally found its target.
Captain Azmyth is also smiling; the ouster of Sean Twomey in the last Pirate's Court fit neatly into the plan he hatched with his officers Ben Fagan and Jay Hatkow. Now the three are sitting pretty; with only two other men left, and with the challenges so far on the show being all physical, they feel confident they can win the next expedition and stay in power.
The women make some noise about wanting to take down this boys' club. Unfortunately for them - and any female fans routing for the lady pirates - thus far several of the women have seemed to falter during the expeditions. With only the brute force of Joe Don and Louie to try to shore them up, the women's dreams of taking over might not be able to make that happen.
And it's not just the gender issue at work here. Joe Don isn't thrilled with Azmyth's leadership either, especially when Azmyth sleeps in as the others work.
After more tedious Chest of Zanzibar rigamarole, the pirates leave on their next expedition. It's Captain Azmyth and his officers on the black team, along with Christa DeAngelo, Joy, and Laurel. The other team is Louie Frase, Kendra, Jupiter Mendoza, Joe Don and Nessa. As usual, Kendra slows down her team as they swim from the boat, but the red team is still able to land on the shore a few seconds ahead of the black.
The black team pushes to close the gap, and they do catch up. The teams arrive at a point where they need to collect a heavy and unweildy rope ladder, and then carry that to the next stop. At this point, the black team is able to get a small lead as the red team struggles with burden. The black team decides to not even attempt to use Joy for the physically-challenging piece. Instead, they direct her to navigate, leading the team with the map.
Even without the burden, though, she can't keep up, and falls behind to direct from the back. She wants to stop for water and her team is starting to resent her slowness. Christa, whose physical performance is strong, warns her she might be on the chopping block if she doesn't get it together.
The teams have to use the a rope ladder to retrieve a key, and cross a rickety rope bridge to get to the final destination. The black team pulls ahead and finds the treasure first. That's right: both the other pirates and the viewers of Pirate Master will now be forced to endure Azmyth's on-again, off-again British accent for at least another week because there will be no new captain. No doubt many viewers felt about as bummed about this prospect as the red team was at losing the treasure.
Back at the ship, host Cameron Daddo warns Nessa that she will need to auction off her pardon, and ergo she will not have the pardon option for this Pirate Court.
The black crew might have gotten the gold again, but this time, Azmyth seems to be drifting further away from his "sharing is caring" ethos. Oh sure, he's going to give more gold to the pirates on his team...just not as much as the totally equal portions they previous received. Even on a reality television show: power corrupts previously-held values.
As he acquires a newly conservative policy on treasure division, Azmyth seems to also be shedding his man-of-the-people persona, now exchanging cocky self-congratulatory cheers with his officers about how they have backed the other men into a corner.
Joe Don isn't worrying about it, at least not right now. Primarily because he is occupied making time with Nessa. The two cuddle on deck and eventually kiss.
Once the captain has passed out the new proportion of loot, Azmyth has to assign and pass out the black spots. This week, he and his officers decide on Joy and Kendra - both for their physical limitations - and Joe Don - because of his strenghth and position as a potential threat.
Once the letters are distributed, the battle begins for hearts and minds. No one is sure what to do. Joe Don seems to think he is entitled to stick around, mainly because he's one of only two men not with the captain and officers. Joy is slow, but well-liked. Kendra knows she's not as popular as Joy, but thinks she has outperformed her in challenges.
Louie is conflicted: he doesn't want to vote for a woman, but he doesn't want to vote for Joe Don either. Nessa's not sure what to do, but when Jay tries to obliquely threaten her into voting as the captain wants, she feels resentful at being backed into a corner. And no one knows what is going to happen with the bids for the ryoal pardon.
At Pirate Court, Azmyth defends his choices, talking about Kendra's pace, Joe Don's strength, and Joy's "slowerness" (note to CBS: if you are going to ask your reality show contestants to make speechs, maybe get some that have more than a passing acquaintance with public speaking). Joy, in return, appeals to the pirates' hearts, which, considering these are supposed to be pirates, seems a little misgudied. Kendra is actually slightly articulate and thought out in her response, pointing our her track record in challenges. Joe Don happily admits he is a threat to the captain...but for that, he should be a source of hope to his fellow voters. Touche!
None of the voting pirates is very happy about placing their votes, but they do. Daddo counts, and but first announces who got the pardon. It's Joe Don, who bid a seemingly unnecessarily whopping $12,000 to the others bids of less than $1000. Of course, that money now goes to his new special friend, Nessa. Nessa has a big smile on her face, which seems slightly disturbing considering the man she just got physically involved with is now giving her a large sum of cash. There's a name that can be associated with a person involved in such a transaction and it's not usually "Pirate Master." Nevertheless, she seems to find this flattering as opposed to incredibly awkward. Maybe the order of things was changed in edit.
It turns out, though, that Joe Don didn't need it: he received no votes. No votes for mutiny either. It's Kendra and Joy only, and Joy received three votes to Kendra's two, and so Joy is cut loose.
Azmyth and his officers have seemed to use their position well to stack the deck in their favor. Are the producers planning a change in format next week that will help give a leg up to the folks outside the leadership circle? And how will Joe Don and Nessa's budding relationship change the game? Will the producers please change up the format of the dang challenges finally? One hopes the questions will be answered in next week when Pirate Master moves to Tuesdays.
- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of CBS)