Pirate Master: Episode 5

Sean shouldn't have been surprised when there were consequences for not keeping his promises.

Cheryl's ouster at the end of the last episode of Pirate Master brought the tension that had been building between Sean and Nessa to a head. Nessa called Sean "two-faced," and Sean said that Nessa was too flirtatious.

Out of nowhere, Jupiter popped in the room and offered her own opinion of Nessa: "She's a bitch."

The bickering took a backseat the next morning when it was time for another treasure hunt. Captain Louie and his officers, Sean and Nessa, were joined on the Black Crew by Joe Don, Christa, and Joy. The Red Crew was made of Azmyth, Laurel, Jupiter, Kendra, Ben, and Jay.

The crews rowed to shore and beached their boats next to a giant anchor. Then they ran through the woods to a forested area where they searched among the trees for a playing card of a particular suit (Black had clubs, Red had hearts).

The Black Crew was able to find their card quickly; hidden with it was another clue and a spyglass. The clue instructed them to run back to the beach and use the glass to find a "heart" on one of two nearby islands.

On the way to the beach, the crew crossed a small stream. In the process, Capt. Louie got the spyglass wet, rendering it useless. As Sean and Joe Don stood around complaining, the Red Team emerged from the forest.

Finally, Christa pointed out that, since there were only two islands and they were right next to each other, they should just start rowing out to them, looking for the heart. When they got closer, they'd be able to see the heart (which turned out to be a wooden shape nailed to a tree) without the aid of the spyglass.

Logic won the day and the Black Crew got its meager lead back. On the island, they were first to find another clue which directed them to look under a specific palm tree for the buried treasure.

The Black Crew was already digging when the Red Crew showed up. Christa stopped digging in one spot and moved on to another, and Jay took over looking in her original spot. There, he found the treasure, giving victory to the Red Crew and unseating Captain Louie.

The only positive outcome for the Black Crew was that Louie officially ended his season-long feud with Joe Don, stating, "No longer is there vengeance in my heart."

The Red Crew recovered $40,000 in gold coins (which they divided evenly), and elected Azmyth captain for a second time. Azmyth realized that his best bet to win the next challenge was to choose the two strongest people for his officers, so he picked Ben and Jay.

That evening, as the pirates decided whether or not to bid on the Royal Pardon, Nessa spied on a conversation between Sean and Jupiter. Both were determined to outbid Nessa for the pardon, and Jupiter had nearly $15,000 at her disposal.

Nessa told her pal Joe Don about the conversation, and said she planned to bid around $6000. Joe Don didn't think that would be enough, and he gave her $2500 of his own money to up her bid -- not a bad idea since she had to buy the Pardon from Joe Don anyway. He'd get the money back and gain an ally.

The next morning, Azmyth, Jay, and Ben talked about who should receive the Black Spot and be eligible to be cut adrift. Louie was an obvious choice since he'd asked to get one in the event that he lost his captaincy.

Nessa's name came up next, since she'd been obsessing about securing the Pardon for herself. Just because of that, they decided not to give her the Black Spot. They gave it to her enemy, Sean, instead.

Finally, Jay suggested that the last Spot go to Laurel. She didn't seem to be playing the game strategically, and that made Jay uncomfortable. If he couldn't predict how Laurel would vote, he couldn't adjust his game plan. Azmyth and Ben didn't have any better ideas, so Laurel got the Spot.

At Pirates Court, Azmyth -- minus his former fake accent -- explained that Louie was in danger per his own request, Sean had been trying to "play both sides," and Laurel hadn't chosen a side.

When she was given the floor, Laurel said that she didn't know there were sides. Azmyth answered with an incoherent explanation in which he had to admit that there weren't actually two groups acting in opposition to each other. But he said that Laurel needed to take more initiative around the ship.

The votes were cast, and Laurel didn't receive any votes. Sean received four more votes than Louie, so his fate depended on whether he had outbid the $9000 Nessa offered for the Pardon. He hadn't, and Sean was cut adrift.

Next time, Joe Don and Nessa get extremely friendly.