Bye Bye Joy

Well, I guess you can't argue with the rationale that the "weakest" Pirates must be cut adrift. But if Kendra is taking bribes from the officers (as seen in the Next On preview), then Joy's loyalty to the remaining crew will be sorely missed. Not to mention Joy's ability to sustain morale and keep the downtrodden upbeat. Even if she was physically slower, her spirit was a key ingredient to keeping the crew in the fight. She even got applause from her crew mates as she stepped off the boat. She's the first to receive such honors. Even Captain Azmyth paid his respects.

Which brings me to an important point. Some of you are asking why the worker bees aren't calling a Mutiny against the current reign of terror. Well, there's one sticky issue -- in order for a Mutiny to be successful, the Captain's officers have to support the insurrection. So essentially, the only way the Red Crew can get some female officers in place is if they win an Expedition.

How can they do this? Well, they have to make a pact to have whoever ends up on the Black Crew sabotage the Captain and his officers during an Expedition. They could do this by dragging their feet, or maybe throwing away a crucial map. Then once they are in power, they would have to split the Three Strong Men down the middle by putting all of them up on the plank.

-Mr. Horatio

The Dream Team

That may be all the three strong men ever are, a dream. They haven't won the big treasure yet. And what if they do lose an Expedition? They will be squashed. Throw all three on the chopping block and they will sell each other out. Ben could still have a pact with Joe Don, who could sway the votes to save him. If say, the rest of the crew then votes for Azmyth and Jay, Azzie will most likely win a Pardon, and Jay will be history. Then Azzie will be left in the cold. There will be no allowance for butt cracks then.



How might this happen exactly? There are any number of possibilities. If Kendra betrays her bribers or Laurel makes the Black Crew lose the next Expedition, or say, the Red Crew wins by virtue of smarts, strength and luck, we would have a very different game on our hands. Then a Mutiny would not be far off with the next round of infighting, bribing and pacts leading us toward a desperate climax.

Of course, this may never happen and the three bandits could win it all by checkmate, "Goodbye mate."

Still, it's nice to dream.

-Mr. Horatio

The Deadly Dreadlock Duel

You might be forgiven for thinking Azmyth has a crush on Laurel, with his failed attempt to regain her affections in the Pirate kitchen. While Laurel milked the faucet for water (who needs that when you got loot!), Azzie's "courtship" reminded me of that scene from the movie "The Princess Bride" when the blond farm boy courts the blond farm girl.

Of course, this is not the same movie unfolding on the Picton Castle. While the Dread Pirate Roberts eventually reveals himself as the beloved farm boy of brighter bygone days, it seems Azzie is unwilling to shed his fake accent for Laurel's favor. But that doesn't stop him from trying.

"Everything I said I immediately backtracked that night," he says of his actions the previous night. Hmmm, it seems "backtracked" is a poor word choice here. Don't you mean, "took back and apologized"? Well no, because all Azzie did was backtrack. And backtracking is not an honorable thing. It simply means you say what you don't mean after the fact.

"I have no respect for that fool right now," Laurel says of her fellow dreadlocked Captain. "When he's in the blue coat he's a totally different person, he puts on an accent. He's a super freak in a blue coat. He talks a lot of nonsense. He needs to go." And again, later, she restates her position, "I look at him as a greedy idiot who needs to go home."

Well, Laurel looks at him this way, but maybe she doesn't feel this way ultimately about her dreadlocked Azzie. Even so, if she gains the upper hand, I think his days are numbered. If this is the case, and surely it must be, we'll have the answer to an age-old question...

Are blond, dreadlocked Pirates incompatible when money is at stake?

-Mr. Horatio

A Certain Winning Ratio

After seeing three votes for Joy and two for Kendra, it made me wonder if the close call was not made for effect. That is, what if the Pirates agreed on their votes early on and voted to make it seem more split to keep the officers guessing. Think about it. This would be an effective way of playing with the officers' heads.



Even before the Expedition, it seems the crew was already discussing and devising a strategy. "The women need to step up, win against the captain and be able to have an all girls officer group," Laurel says. "Then the girls choose who's going to go home."

Like I said, if they can give Ben, Jay and Azmyth black spots, the balance of power will shift significantly. In fact, who knows what kind of storm would ensue. And if you think the crew is beaten down, think again. You could see all their faces light up when Cameron revealed they had only found $165,000 so far: "There's a lot more out there." You think they're just going to roll over and die?

Well, they may play dead, but they are still in this race. A key pact could be forming now between Louie, Joe Don, Nessa, Laurel and Jupiter. That leaves Kendra, who is being bribed by the officers. But is she really their pawn? The dive master come office worker could have some tricks of her own.

If Joe Don and Louie can become allies, anything is possible on this ship. "Joe Don is my closest ally in the fight against the Black," Louie says. Indeed my fellow Elvis fan.

-Mr. Horatio

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