Here we go with week 4 on Pirate Master, CBS’ new Survivor meets Pirates of the Caribbean reality TV show. Last week we saw Alexis set adrift due to her lackluster attitude and willingness to pull her own weight aboard the ship and on the competitions. We also saw a new captain come into power, Azmyth, after the tyrannous Joe Don was dethroned. There are a few unresolved issues from last week that we’ll need to get worked out tonight, like Sean going back on his bribed vote and Jay turning his back on JD by trying to vote out his partner in crime, Cheryl. Let’s see who gets burned by the Pirate fire this week on Pirate Master!

Well right off the bat we’re into the Sean and Jay argument. Sean apologizes profusely for going back on his word, but he doesn’t give back the $1000 of gold that Jay gave his as a bribe. I can’t believe Jay didn’t demand that back! All we get out of Jay is that Sean is dead to him now. I just can’t believe he didn’t want his money back! I wonder if this is really the last we’ve heard of that issue or not.

The Zanzibar Chest
It’s time for Captain Henry Steel’s treasure chest again! This time the treasure our Pirates will seek is from the ship’s master craftsman, a Frenchmen, who was a bit vain. Host Cameron Daddo implies the vanity issue could come into play for this hunt.

Black Crew: Azmyth, Jay, Jupiter, Laurel, Christa, Cheryl, and Joe Don (that means JD won’t get the chance to take back the role of Captain no matter who wins)
Red Crew: Louie, Ben, Joy, Kendra, Nessa, and Sean (Louie is psyched to get to go against JD)

The first leg of this treasure hunt will require the pirates to first row to shore, follow a trail into the jungle (like always, of course). Along the path they’ll find a sabotage point that looks less complicated than last week’s but more dangerous. Making their way past this obstacle the crews will head toward the landmark of the Croc Heads to find the clue for the second leg of the journey.

Red crew takes an early, but small lead by reaching the shore first. The Black crew is close behind though and quickly overtakes them. Reaching the sabotage point the Black crew lets loose a flood of softball sized rocks right on top of some of the Red crew. Of course Joy is trampled by the rocks and as she put it, the rocks got the best of her. Joy is like a flower, a delicate, delicate flower. Breathing on Joy puts her in danger. How she’s survived living on that ship, much less surviving Pirates Court, is a mystery to me.

Black crew keeps moving and reaches the Croc Heads point first and recovers the next clue. The teams are instructed to “travel back to a nearby canyon cave where your map fits in a slot. A treasure concealed will be revealed when X marks the spot.” Well that’s a little vague and the crew is left a little confused, but hopefully not for too long as the Red crew isn’t too far behind anymore.

The Black crew heads off as Joy comes limping in to the Croc Heads on the arms of Sean, again. Wasting no time the Black crew quickly locates a cave within a small canyon with JD leading their pack. It’s nice to see JD actually doing some work and being a team player. Azmyth rushes in as well and places the map upon the cave’s mirror (ahh, here’s the vanity aspect for ya) which reveals a spot of sunlight laying an X upon their treasure map. It looks like they’re heading back to the anchor point where they first landed (how frustrating!).

At this point the Red crew is way behind and Ben points out this is Joy’s fault, although he’s a lot nicer about it than I’d be! Azmyth is leading his team as they arrive back at the beach with a healthy lead. While they’re wandering all around we get some funny bits from Louie and Vanessa. Louie reveals his plan is to never be the last crew member in line. He just keeps running through the jungle and if he gets to look at Vanessa’s behind it helps him forget about his surroundings! To cap off that whole commentary from Louie when Vanessa asks him, “Did you just grab my ass?” To which Louie replies, “Yeah I did. You slip. I’ll do it again.” Well well well Mr. Louie.

So now both teams are back at the beach with little success. The Red crew has begun digging around the actual anchor itself while the Black crew discusses going all the way back to reinspect the canyon cave clue. Jay points out that no one but Azmyth inspected the clue in their rush to win the race. Finally the entire Black crew decides the best option is to leave the beach behind and head all the way back to the cave. Now that’s a daring move as these locations didn’t appear to be too close.

The Black crew reaffirms Azmyth’s initial reaction and decides the treasure must be back at the anchor. Obviously the Red crew had zero luck during all this time while Black was away. Now both crews are frantically digging around the anchor and Christa shouts that she’s found the treasure. Oops, unless the treasure is a rock she didn’t find it after all. The digging continues until… Red crew finds the treasure buried deep beneath the anchor. Well that’s good news for Joy as she would have been the top pick for the plank walk tonight, just like I had predicted.

The Booty:

Back on the ship the Red crew starts digging through the treasure chest and the results are disappointing to the team. Only $5K in gold this time around is pulled from their effort. Before the treasure can be divided the pirates must elect a new captain. Here I was fully expecting Sean to take over as he is my current predicted winner of the season. Instead, the Red crew elects Louie, their Viking as Sean puts it. Louie responds, “I don’t even like being the captain. I like being the thorn in the captain’s side.” He gives in though and accepts, choosing Sean and Vanessa as his officers.

Now for the exciting part of the chest. Cameron Daddo reveals what was buried beneath the treasure, the Royal Pardon, which is just like it sounds. The complicated part of the Royal Pardon is how it is used. The Pardon goes to Louie who will sell it to the highest bidder just before the votes at Pirates Court. If the winning bidder doesn’t use the Royal Pardon that pirate must sell it to someone else before the next Pirate Court. Phew, got all that? Hmm, I’ve got an idea of how this will turn out tonight. Let’s remember who Louie really wants out of the game. Now also recollect who has the most money and therefore the most able to purchase the Royal Pardon. Yep, the same guy, Joe Don. I suspect this will throw a wrench in Louie’s big, big hopes of setting JD adrift tonight. Let’s see if I’m right.

Oh yeah, Louie and JD are at each other’s throats already. They’re bickering in front of everyone about who has won more. Louie makes it clear that JD has the most money because of his greedy sharing style as captain. In more desperate moves JD starts to lean on Jay in the hopes of keeping off the black spot list. Jay accepts this as their deal is off and he’s not too happy about it.

Black Spots:
1. Azmyth
2. Cheryl
3. Joe Don (Louie jokes that JD got all 3 black spots)

Joe Don explains that he’s not surprised by the black spot result and plans to do everything he can to win that Royal Pardon. I can’t imagine anyone on the ship has more money than him. Now he’ll just have to carefully weigh how much to bid so he doesn’t giveaway too much of his earnings. Cheryl is pretty upset and feels she was unjustly targeted just because of her role as officer under JD’s rule as captain. Several of the other pirates share this same view.

The Pirates Court:
Each of the black spot pirates are given a chance to defend themselves and Azmyth starts it out very well with more nonsense, sans English accent though. Daddo points out that his team lost him his spot as captain, but Azmyth states their loss wasn’t really a loss. He believes the memories and experiences they gained on that treasure hunt were “more priceless” than the treasure. The rest of his crew rolls their eyes. Now Cheryl defends herself and is angry. She believes she is there only for associating with JD. Vanessa refutes this claim and says that more pirates than just Louie were set off by her attitude. Jupiter takes Cheryl’s side and agrees this situation isn’t fair. Joe Don gives another hilarious Pirates Court moment as he uses finish sentences like “man” and “dude”. Best of all is when he tells Louie, “I love you man.” He’s trying to show that he’s a peace, love, and harmony as Azmyth.

All of the crew cast their votes, but before the reveal Daddo puts the Royal Pardon into play. There were five silent bids for the pardon and it goes to, of course, Joe Don. His winning bid of a mere $7K puts the pardon in his hands, whether he uses it tonight or not. The first pirate safe tonight is JD in a vote of 3-4. This means he spent $7K for nothing and must now get rid of the Royal Pardon before the new court session. I think he can sell it though, so maybe he’s not out the full amount he spent. So now it comes down to Cheryl and Azmyth with the ax falling on… Cheryl. Not a big surprise there.

Cheryl’s voyage has ended as she has been cut adrift.

A lot happened on tonight’s show. Azmyth fell from grace as captain by second guessing himself. Louie took over as captain and really let his anger at JD be known (as well as his attraction for Vanessa’s behind). JD bought himself the first Royal Pardon for nothing. And Cheryl was set adrift. Oh but at least she feels she’s the better person for not back stabbing and going after the pardon. Wait, she means the “poorer person”, right? Ah well. If it helps her sleep at night.

Next Week:
On the next Pirate Master: Vanessa and Sean are getting on each other’s nerves and start having public fights. Sean declares to the camera that he’s going to “get her gone.” Then once again we get JD buying off another pirate, this time it’s Vanessa. Wow, she’s all over this next episode, huh? JD gives her $2500 in the scene we are shown. Hmm, I wonder if his intent is to have her buy the Royal Pardon from him with his own money and then give it back to him. I don’t think that could work, could it? We’ll find out in just another week.

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