This is Part 2 in the two part series covering the series finale of Pirate Master. If you haven’t had the chance you’ll want to go back and read part 1 to see what happened in the first hour of this two hour episode. Those details include an intense treasure hunt, the best sabotage point ever, and an incredibly tilted landslide vote against one of our pirates. You can find the recap of the Pirate Master Series Finale Recap - Part 1 here.

Today on Pirate Master we’ll finally discover who will be the one and only Pirate Master as this 2 hour episode is the series finale! We’re now up to the second half of the finale episode. At this point we’ve seen Ben capture Captain Steel’s first mate’s treasure, securing a spot in the final race. Then at the Pirates Court the “ghosts” returned and voted heavily against Jay with 12-1 sending Jay to the jury while Christa moved on to the last leg of the hunt.

Following the court session the jurors argue over who they think should win the prize. Jay is ticked off as he says he came to play “Pirate Master, not Princess Master.” Joe Don wants to see a “female beat a male.” Ugh, JD is still doing his creepy stoner voice. Nessa thinks Christa will win because she’s a faster swimmer (Christa came in last swimming behind Jay and Ben) and because she’s faster with the puzzles (Christa didn’t even bother trying to figure out the puzzles, she just followed Ben). I think it’s anyone’s game at this point, but I won’t be surprised to see Ben outreach her in the end.

The next morning arrives and Ben is in charge of the ship. It doesn’t sound like the ghost crew cares too much for their new leader. Laurel takes his coat and starts yelling that she’s the “ghost master” and then starts yelling at Ben that she doesn’t want to hear his voice anymore. In a sidebar Laurel says she doesn’t have any respect for Ben, that he’s a big “faker.” Ah yes, no respect for Ben who lives in a van down by the water, oh no wait, that’s Laurel. Nevermind. Ben keeps calling Laurel his “pirate secretary” which likely serves its purpose of pissing her off as she throws down the coat and stomps off to complain. Nessa, Alexis, and Laurel decide they won’t be working without getting paid. Jupiter wisely decides to step up and help her new captain as she thinks there might be a chance yet to earn some gold.

Louie is thrilled to be back on the ship as he points out you never know how long a ghost pirate gets to stay aboard. I’m still enjoying Louie as he’s always high spirited and just a good guy. Thankfully some good things happen to good guys in this game. Ben pulls Louie aside and says he’s still upset with his behavior in that sabotaged race. As such, Ben asks Louie if he would take all the gold he earned in that part of the competition. Louie immediately agrees and pockets an additional $12,000. While I’m thrilled Ben did this I’m still amazed by how willing people are to just throw around money in this game with things like this and purchasing the Royal Pardon. Maybe things don’t seem so real when you’re dealing with fake gold coins in lieu of real hard cash. Either way, I’m glad to see Louie make out with some more earnings. Ben says this makes him feel a lot better as it has cleared his head so he can focus on the next step.

We return to the Pirates Court with an interesting twist. This time around the jury is fighting for the right to play in the last round as each captain, Christa and Ben, will get to select three pirates to join them. Surprisingly nearly everyone states they want to play for Christa and Christa alone. Yikes! Ben is excited to be posed as the underdog and says it has put a fire under his feet. Now things get pretty intense. Ben says that he knows a lot of these pirates don’t like him much, but he’s going to make this fight worth their time. He offers the three pirates who join him the chance to take his entire earnings up to this point. That means should Ben’s team win the half million dollars then he’ll give them the $80,000 he has in his satchel now. Smart move Ben!! He explains that he’s a winner with 11 straight wins, which would have been 12 wins if he wasn’t such an “a@*hole” with Louie. I don’t see how Christa can top that speech. Christa makes a similar offer to the pirates with her satchel of $70K. Personally, I’d rather be on Ben’s team as I think he’s got a better shot at this.

Ben and Christa each pull out three cards to determine who they want on their team. Host Daddo sorts out the requests and announces them. Ben’s team will be: Cheryl, Azmyth, and Nessa. Christa’s crew will consist of: John, Jay, and Nessa. Looks like there is an overlap. Nessa will get to make her own decision for which team she wants to be on. Ben offers Nessa a stipend of 10K, win or lose. Christa offers Nessa her entire satchel should they win as Jay and John both offer to run with her for free. What is up with these pirates?! Geez! How about you just send me your money if you feel you don’t need this gold. Nessa decides to go with the big money and picks Christa’s team. As a replacement Ben selects Jupiter.

Looking at these selections I think Christa is sitting pretty over Ben’s team. I’m a little surprised by his decisions, but let’s see. Christa’s choices were rather good as I remember how John nearly won the entire first competition on his own. Jay is another solid selection as we already know he’s a leader in this fight. Nessa isn’t too bad of a choice either and she was always a strong member of the crew. Regarding Ben’s team, I don’t remember Cheryl or Jupiter being that overwhelming. Azmyth is a very solid choice though as he rocked these races each week until getting tripped up by his own Triad alliance members Ben and Jay. Let’s see how these choices play out in the final treasure hunt for Captain Henry Steel’s gold.

The ghost pirates join Ben and Christa aboard the ship as Daddo explains the set up with the teams and the clues. The red crew is Christa’s team: Christa, Jay, Nessa, and John. The black crew is Ben’s team: Ben, Jupiter, Cheryl, and Azmyth. Both teams load up in the sideboats and begin their race as they row into shore. The first clue will be found atop the island inside a set of caves. The red team, Christa’s crew, reaches the cave first and Jay bashes threw the boards to gain access. Here they have to take a Chinese puzzle box, which is very heavy, uphill to an artillery point to find the key to unlock one compartment in the box. In the first compartment they find a deck of cards and have to sort them to reveal the first clue, “under cannonballs.” The black crew gets it first and heads inside and starts pulling all the cannonballs around and find the next clue first. Christa’s red crew is still struggling with the cards so Jay decides to jump ahead and watches what the black crew is doing. Now both teams are heading up the trail carrying a ship’s steering wheel.

Ben arrives at the top of the mountain first and has to mount the steering wheel on a device in Captain Steel’s office which will reveal the next clue. Christa arrives as Ben is just a few steps ahead in the puzzle. After they both stare at the puzzle for several minutes Ben finally deciphers the clue, leaving the Christa behind. What to know what the clue said?! Oh man, this is great. The big clue here says the treasure is hidden in… the Chest of Zansibar!! All this time the treasure has been sitting right there under their noses in the main treasure chest!! The pirates must now get back to the Picton Castle where they’ll find their very last clue in the chest.

Once again Ben and his black crew are in the lead, but as always Christa with the red crew is just a little behind. Here the captains must leave their ghosts behind and fight through to the end on their own. Ben climbs aboard and starts pulling out small brass pieces from the main chest which are aligned to reveal the final clue. Christa jumps on deck just a few moments behind and gets to work. Bit by bit the combination to the chest is revealed leading to a small silver key which unlocks Captain Steel’s treasure for… Ben! Ben is the one and only Pirate Master. Congratulations Ben. What an exciting conclusion to this amazing race! We hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as Walt and I have and we’ll always hold out hope for a return of this greatly entertaining and smart reality show. Wise up CBS! Let your voice be heard if you’re going to miss this show too by commenting below.

On a sad note, the series concludes with a dedication to Cheryl who took her own life just last month. You can find more details on that situation here.

Check out the rest of our Pirate Master coverage.

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