The show began with host Cameron Daddo calling the “pirates” in to show them the “Chest of Zanzibar”. We got to meet some of the folks. We certainly expected Louie, who must be sick by now of reading the Rupert comparisons, to get a lot of face time. He just seems like a big, fun-loving lug out there. Of course, Christian, the former NFL running back, got his face time. We unfortunately got to see Joy’s face time, spent getting seasick before eventually throwing up overboard.
The pirates were split into two crews, a red team and a black team, which would be given a compass and map in which to find the first treasure. Despite a couple of attempts to make it interesting (like one poor soul who spent too much time digging his shoe out of a mudpile), the fact that the red team lost a lot of time rowing to the island from the boat meant the black team has total command. Add to that a sabotage point which saw a net put up to slow the red team down, and it was only a matter of time before the black team got the treasure, thanks mainly to the work of John, who seemed to be the only one who really knew how to get to the treasure.
The treasure contained $40,000 in gold coins. Cameron then asked for the black team to elect a captain. All but John chose Joe Don, who got half the treasure. Joe Don chose two officers, Cheryl and Ben, who split the rest of the money, and assign work to the crew.
There was one more duty for Joe Don. Pirates Court. Joe Don was asked to nominate three people to be set adrift. He chose John, who he really wanted out and never meshed with, then chose Louie and Joy, the latter he really didn’t want out but was concerned that the others might get rid of. And those of us who are Big Brother fans know all about the dangers of putting a pawn up.
The nominated three could not vote nor could the captain and officers. So it was up to the other ten. The twist is that if all ten decided to, they could mutiny Joe Don and he would be the one to be cast adrift. Louie and Joy stated their cases for staying in a humorous tone. There was no way they were going.
John took a different tack. He stole, and therefore had control of, both compasses. He threatened that if he was cut adrift, they would go adrift too. After some somewhat silly banter between John and Joe Don, it was time to vote. The ten would slam their vote onto a dagger.
It turned out to be a unanimous vote. Joy and Louie were sent back with their tribemates. So the only suspense left was whether this was a mutiny or the unusual personality of John would be sent home. It was John, who boarded a small raft which was dislodged from the ship left to float away.
Next week, the captain lets power go to his head. Who would have seen that coming?
