Pirate Master 7/12

I am so easily manipulated by reality television. As you start getting to know the people you of course start to develop favorites, but depending on the editing that can of course change. But then I also have a tendancy to root for the underdog, whomever that is, I love a good comeback from behind. And at the end of the day, all I really want is some good entertainment. So I root for the people I like, the underdog, and the ones that are just fun. Often that means several different people at once.

I think the basic premise of the show is flawed, as the three strong guys seem to have created a lock on winning. The openly call themselves "The Triad", a kind of cockiness which on any other show would get them into trouble. But since every single challenge is near identical and always favors the physically strong, and since they can force the competing team to do chores like scraping barnacles off the underside of the pirate ship in the hours leading up to the challenge (simply to tire them out) and deny them much food, well, how exactly are they going to be beat? Survivor is great at mixing up the challenges so that sometimes the strong win, sometimes the light little girls win, sometimes the puzzle people win, you never know what asset you will need on your team. Here it is always strength (mixed with a bit of luck.) I still think Jay is the best player, since he is just about the only player to really embrace the pirate code and actively manipulates the game. But now he is kind of floating through, which is more boring. The other players all seem to want to be "nice", which 1) is boring, and 2) is boring. There is always the specter of mutiny against the captain, but the bar is set so high that it seems impossible to achieve. So the last three episodes have been virtually interchangable, with the "Triad" picking off the people they don't want around.

This week it was Joe Don's turn. I don't particularly like him, like at all. However he has become the underdog (and represented the losers best hope at ever winning anything), and also he is so weird he is good tv. So even though I don't personally like him, he hit two of the three requirements for me to want him to stick around. His speech at the end was priceless. He zeroed in on one of the weak girls (who the triad had spared because she wisely told them she would be their pawn and do whatever they wanted her to do, which was vote for Joe Don) and told her "Remember the other week when we had to swim to shore, and you were struggling, and I stayed behind and helped pull you to shore? I kinda feel like I saved you man. And tonight I kinda feel like you have to save me." Now, he did pull her to shore, mostly because he was in a hurry and wanted to win the challenge. But to turn that around and say "I saved your life, you owe me" was just awesome. As a bonus he called her "man", a quirk of his speech patterns that annoy and delight me. And the best part is she fell for it! Better yet, she was the *only* person that didn't vote for him, which means that not only did Joe Don still go, but now she has double-crossed her protectors for no reason. So the end was a bit delicious.

I'll keep watching because, well, pirates you know. But the show needs a major overhaul as far as the rules go. The good news is I still get tingles everytime the host guy says "Let's see what you've done." heh heh