Legends Episode Ranking System - COMPLETE

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Wow, seriously? You almost fell asleep watching Ahmed Baba? It is a pretty boring episode, it's pretty much in the same tier as Snake Bracelet and Dr. Livingstone for episodes I forget are even a win due to how unexciting they are. You can take Nostradamus, and I'll review Dolley Madison sometime. I might even rank that one next after you finish with Nostradamus. Speaking of Blue Pearl, didn't you want to rank that episode too? I know you had that episode in mind months ago, but it hasn't been reviewed yet. I'll let you take that one too.

[The Red Jaguars]

And here is yet another episode review completed! We have been on a roll with them lately. I enjoyed doing this episode very much and it was definitely a welcome change to "Alhambra". The Orange Iguanas were a fun team to watch. Definitely my most favorite Iguana episode next to "Atocha".

THE LEVITATING DOG LEASH OF NOSTRADAMUS

MOAT: 7/10

The teams had to cross the moat by swinging across a rope and reaching the other side without falling into the water. The first player had to run out into the moat to grab the rope, give it to their partner, and then swing across. The second player would then have to cross the same way. The only team that got across the moat the first time without falling in were the Silver Snakes. Both the Orange Iguanas and Purple Parrots struggled immensely cross, but they were the third and fourth teams to make it respectively.

LEGEND: 7/10

Nostradamus was the most well-known and famous astrologist and prophet of all time. He was able to predict many famous events, like the second World War and San Francisco earthquake. The Queen of France turned to Nostradamus one day because her dog went missing. Nostradamus told her that her dog was out being lead by a Levitating Dog Leash. The Queen of France found her dog and platted the entire Dog Leash in gold, and gave it to Nostradamus as a token of her gratitude. On the night that Nostradamus died, it boarded a ship to Olmec's temple...

This episode featured a very quirky and unusual artifact and legend. It was definitely interesting to listen to and Nostradamus is definitely a familiar figure to most people. The only lame part about this legend was the ending where the Levitating Dog Leash took a ship to Olmec's temple. What did I just hear? That part brought the legend down a little bit, but it was still an interesting view.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 9/10

Both the Purple Parrots and Orange Iguanas were a smart team during this round. Only 6 questions were asked this whole round and both teams answered them correctly. The Purple Parrot boy was very impressive and he answered all three questions correctly without any of the answers being revealed! This had to be on of the fastest Steps rounds on the show, it was nice to see both teams dominate.

TEMPLE GAMES: 7.5/10

The temple games featured Elizabeth and Jason of the Orange Iguanas against Karen and Christopher of the Purple Parrots. Like any matchup that involves Orange-Purple, the Orange Iguanas came out on top victorious. It was frustrating to see the Iguanas constantly beat the Purple Parrots, but this was one of the better episodes of this color combination. The highlights of this episode was the dominance of Christopher of the Purple Parrots, enthusiasm of Elizabeth, and the tiebreaker at the very end where Orange wins. The overall performance of the temple games were fun and featured a good selection of temple games. Kirk was also having fun with the Nostradamus jokes too.

Temple Game #1 - Fountain of Forgetful Waters

The first temple game was a luck-based game where Elizabeth and Karen had to put their plugs into one of the five correct holes in order to prevent water from squirting them. If a player is not squirted, then they will receive a point. The entire game was lucked-based and there was no sort of strategy involved at all. Orange Iguanas win the first game 3-2.

Temple Game #2 - Stars in the Sky

Both the male players in this game had to jump up to the ceiling and stick a star at the top of the ceiling. The star had to stick at the top in order for it to count. The player that had the most stars at the top wins. I have to say, this temple game was awfully executed on the producers parts. Both players had trouble sticking the stars at the top because they kept getting tangled or knocked down when the players went up to the ceiling to grab a new star. Jason kind of struggled judging up to the ceiling though. Purple Parrots win this game 7-1.

Temple Game #3 - Pre-determined Paths

In the final temple game, the both players on each team were on a trapeze and had to work together by transferring a ball from one player to the next. The second player had to grab the ball from their partner and put it into the bucket. The player that had the most balls at the end of 60 seconds would be the winner. This temple game came down to a tie, which forced a tiebreaker. This temple game is also memorable for the "Groundhog Day" reference made by Kirk too.

The final tiebreaker question was "Which of these did Nostradamus find for the Queen of France?" Elizabeth chimed in without any answers being revealed and said "her lost dog" as the correct answer. The Orange Iguanas enter Olmec's Temple with 1.5 pendants.

TEMPLE RUN: 8.5/10

The Orange Iguanas didn't have many good temple runs, but this was probably one of their best wins next to "The Lucky Medallion of Atocha". Even though the temple layout was pretty simple, Elizabeth and Jason were still good players. Elizabeth's time in the temple was short-lived, but she made good progress and even pointed out the half-pendant for Jason. Jason was a solid contestant himself, and moved along the top of the temple at a good pace. When exiting the temple with the Levitating Dog Leash, he uses the Leash to reach the rope in the Pit of Despair. This was a very clever move and it actually saved him some time avoiding the Ledges. He definitely wouldn't have been able to reach the other side without the Leash and rope. He manages to pass through the gate and win with some time on the clock!

This temple run was definitely a memorable experience. Jason and Elizabeth were a good team, and their enthusiasm made this run more exciting. You might not be a big Orange Iguanas fan like me, but you got to love this temple win. Definitely one of their best wins on the show!

FINAL VERDICT: 7.8/10

This episode featured two strong and very fun teams to watch. The episode itself was very memorable and a good watch from the start to end. The highlights of this episode include the quirky legend, the very fast Steps of Knowledge, and the competitive temple games. The temple run was also a very well-earned win and Jason and Elizabeth were an outstanding team. I would definitely recommend this episode in a heartbeat, even if you are not a huge Orange Iguanas fan. This is probably one of their best episodes next to "Atocha". Don't miss this one at all.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Nostradamus was an awesome episode from beginning to end. I can definitely say this is my favorite Orange Iguanas victory next to Atocha. You're totally right about this being one of the very few Orange/Purple episodes I even like. Even though the Parrots choke yet again at the tiebreaker here, the Iguanas totally deserved it more. The Steps of Knowledge were yet another double sweep, just like Icarus was. That's something else having two consecutive double sweeps in a row. Enough has been said about the temple run except it was a solid performance. Especially for Jason's usage of pulling of the Pit rope over to him via the Dog Leash. This was also the only team victory the Orange Iguanas had.

Great review like always, I think I'll do Billy the Kid next. It's about time we get another Purple Parrot review in here, especially an episode with PP Pwnage! And yes, we have been on a roll with these lately. Even if it means we're the only ones who are gonna be doing this.

[The Red Jaguars]

Billy the Kid is an excellent choice and I find that episode very memorable. The Purple Parrots could use more reviews anyways, even if there aren't many Purple Parrot episodes. I know that we have been the only two posting, but I have seen other people read them at least. And it is pretty much like that in the Player Rankings Thread too.

As for my next project, I will probably do Mummified Hand since I have been saying for ages that I would be doing that one. Then I am going to knock out a couple of the forgettable episodes from S1. Maybe Stone Marker since I watched it recently due to Keeli's interview.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

What about Blue Pearl? Didn't you want to do that one too when you first started this thread? I would love to do Billy the Kid next, I should have it done later today. I'll probably do Belshazzar after that, since I've seen that one recently.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Okay here it is, my review on "The Snakeskin Boots of Billy the Kid."

THE SNAKESKIN BOOTS OF BILLY THE KID

MOAT: 7/10

The moat crossing for this episode involved the contestants crawling under a series of inner tubes. I always liked these moats, even if they did take a while, and it was a creative moat. It looked hard to do though, imagine Gareth or Kristen from Lucky Pig trying to maneuver through that.

LEGEND: 8/10

The legend revolves around the mean spirited Billy the Kid, who would shoot people for snoring too loud and shoot around peoples feet just to see them dance. He even killed over 21 men, one for each year Billy the Kid lived! One day, he was looking for trouble in Lincoln, Nebraska, and found it in an encounter with Pat Garrett. None of Garrett's posse wanted to fight Billy, so he ended up going alone. When Garrett rode back into town, he was wearing Billy the Kid's snakeskin boots. The boots were kept by the sheriff until Billy died. I liked this legend a lot, I always like legends that have to do with the Wild Wild West. It could've been a little more detailed, but it was still an interesting legend.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 8/10

Tony swept the steps for the Purple Parrots and were on the final step in a heartbeat. The Green Monkeys eventually joined them, after a total of 8 questions were asked in this round. All in all, it was a decent round. There weren't many wrong answers, which is always good.

TEMPLE GAMES: 9/10

This was an awesome round and a great sequence of games used. In the first game, Tony and Adam had to put balls between their feet, and swing out and drop the balls in a 3x3 grid. Tony ended up beating Adam 6-4. In the second game, Kelly and Stacy had to climb up Billy the Kid's horse while water spits at them. Kelly was a BEAST in her game. She climbed up the horse/slanted log in a very quick fashion and never touched the ground once. Seriously, she climbed that thing like it was nothing. Stacy on the other hand, sucked at the game. Kelly had turned the head around 3 times before Stacy even touched the head at all. In the end, Kelly beats Stacy 5-1. In the final game, the teams had to knock over the columns/posse by using cannonballs and a slingshot. Kirk was so annoying in this game. It was like he WANTED the Green Monkeys to come from behind and go to the temple with 1 pendant. He literally says three times in this game "If the Green Monkey win, we go to a tiebreaker." Stop bringing the Parrots down, Kirk. -_- At the end of the game, both teams knocked over 2 columns, each earning them a full pendant. But, Purple ends up winning a trip to the temple by winning 2 full pendants!

TEMPLE RUN: 8/10

The Purple Parrot were such a strong team all day, and it showed in the temple run. Kelly was removed from the temple very quickly, being removed in the Laser Light Room with 2:12 remaining. Tony absolutely blazed through the bottom floor, and even picked up the Boots with 52 seconds remaining. Tony delayed quite a bit exiting the temple, but THAT SHOULD NOT detract from his progress, nor does it make him a bad player at all. With 5 seconds left on the clock, the Purple Parrots at long last score their first ever victory. And let's get real here, they should've won a long time ago. There are a number of episodes that would've been wins if Purple went to the temple instead.

FINAL VERDICT: 8/10

Can you say PP Pwnage? The Purple Parrots were first in the moat, swept the Steps of Knowledge, earned 2 pendants, and won! Very few teams can say they've accomplished this, and Kelly and Tony were by far the strongest team on the whole show. Also, I don't understand the hate for this win at all. Everyone seems to hate this win and calls it undeserved just because the layout was too easy and just because of Tony's exit plan. Just because Tony makes one little mistake, doesn't make him a terrible player. Yes Jason from Icarus did the same thing, but he sucked the whole time he was in the temple. Tony only made one mistake at the end, and at least he knew what he was doing. I don't understand why people compare this win to "Robin Hood and Marian's Ladder" and call it the "Silk Ladder of Season 2." And that this team only got a win handed to them on a silver platter just because they had zero objectives. I don't know why people call this run "rigged" and a mediocre performance. If Shane gets showered with praise just because he entered 9 rooms, and Joel gets praised for scaling the whole central shaft, Tony should get praised too. Plus, I like Billy the Kid much better than Ahmed Baba and Babe the Ox. I thought this win was very exciting and very memorable the whole way through and it's by far the most underrated win ever. If it's any win that doesn't get any credit at all and doesn't get praised enough, it's this one. On a more shallow note, does anyone else think Kelly looks like Kimmy Gibbler from Full House? I always thought so, especially in the picture above when her and Tony are celebrating their win. Overall, I definitely recommend this episode, whether you're a Parrot fan or not.

[The Red Jaguars]

Billy the Kid was another classic S2 episode and every Purple Parrots fans favorite episode too. I like the Babylonian moat crossing also. If Garrett or Kristen used that moat, the rings would probably fall from the ceiling.  The legend for this episode was pretty mature compared to the other legends on the show. Especially when it talks about killing and death. And Billy the Kid was such an interesting name that you want to listen to the legend. 

The Purple Parrots were also very dominant in this episode, which is a nice change for once. They got their very first Steps of Knowledge sweep by Tony. The Green Monkeys were not match for Kelly and Tony either. I definitely remember Kelly's dominance in her individual game because no other contestant owned it like she did. I mean this same temple game was used in "Iron Nose Ring", and the final score in that one was like 2-1. But 5-1? That is amazing. And Kirk can be such a troll sometimes in the temple games. He is either too blunt sometimes or gets carried away with his lovefest for another team. I am glad though that the Purple Parrots got the tie and didn't force another tiebreaker. It would've been awesome if they won that team game alone and swept the steps. Then they would've had back-to-back temple game sweeps! 

And I can't believe anyone would ever give the temple run a hard time. It was a very exciting and memorable win. The temple layout was simple, but it was also very exciting and the ending came down to the wire. It was also very fun to actually watch the Purple Parrots win in the temple for the first time! This win is definitely not "Silk Ladder"   material at all like some people compared it to. The Purple Parrots earned, and they did it in dominating fashion.

I agree with your final score too. I find this episode to be pretty underrated and people don't appreciate it that much because the players didn't face a "Mussel-Shell Armor" type layout. I actually find this to be an exciting and one of the Purple Parrots best episodes. I like "Freydis" a little better, but this one still ranks up there. I am sure this is your longest write-up yet too. But it was probably worth it, considering "Billy the Kid" was one of your all time favorite episodes. It is also one of my all time favorites too. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, people just don't appreciate this win just because it wasn't a Mussel Shell Armor layout. I don't understand how anyone can say this win was boring and/or undeserved. Nor can I understand why everyone seems to hate it. I thought it was very exciting and MUCH more memorable than say.... Very Tall Turban. I mean, Shane gets praised for adding extra rooms to his path and everybody loves him. But Tony has a less than stellar exit plan and he's a bad player? It just doesn't make sense to me. And yeah, Kirk's commentary can be rather annoying sometimes. Especially when he'd say things like "Oh, you almost had it, but you just had to slide down at the last second." Basically rubbing it in their face that the said player lost the game.

And I didn't even realize this was my longest write up yet. Maybe it's because I had a lot to say about what an exciting and great run this was in the final verdict. But it was definitely worth it, this was a great episode. The Purple Parrots dominated this whole episode, and they really deserved their win in the end. In my opinion, I like it better when a team dominates everything rather than a team that barely wins each round.

[The Red Jaguars]

Your episode review makes me want to write-up one for "Catherine the Great" since its my all time favorite episode on Legends for my favorite team color. I definitely won't write a review for that one now and save it for a later time when we are need of a good review. But yeah, I get carried away with my episode reviews too if the episode in general is good. And I would definitely take Billy the Kid over Ahmed Baba anyday. It reminds me of a thread I just recently read where everyone was calling Tarrah, Tiffani, Paula (which was accurate), and Mitchell (which was accurate too) overrated. Someone even said that Shane didn't deserve criticism because he handled all those objectives. Makes me think he is even more overrated.

My next project I am going to post tomorrow will most likely be "Mummified Hand". And after that, I want to knock a couple of the forgettable episodes out since I'd rather get the out of the way. I am thinking Stone Marker and Mata Hari would be the next ones. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, I remember that thread. Where everyone called Shane an "amazing" player and how he had "the hardest layout in the shows history" and that his run was so groundbreaking and breath taking. I echo your sentiments that all that praise Shane gets makes him even more overrated and makes me dislike the run even more. But Tony is just a bad person just because he makes one little mistake at the end.

And you should totally review Catherine the Great next! I have that episode screencapped with the Nickelodeon logo too. I could PM you some screencaps for you to use to illustrate your review even more. But you should definitely stick to your review of Mummified Hand next. When it's my turn again, I'll review Belshazzar next. It'll be interesting to see how Mata Hari ranks too when you get to that.

[The Red Jaguars]

Well, here is my review for "Mummified Hand" after saying for months that I would complete it. It was a pretty interesting episode, and I enjoyed it for the most part. I will let the write-up explain the rest.

THE MUMMIFIED HAND OF THE EGYPTIAN KING

MOAT: 6/10

The moat featured on this production day and was a pretty tough challenge for the teams. The teams had to cross the moat by standing on the lilypad and pull themselves across using the vines on the ceiling. If they touched the lilypad with their knees or fall into the water, they had to start over again. Slowly each of the four teams made it across the moat. Considering how tough this moat was, it wasn't surprising to see it longer than usual.

LEGEND: 3/10

Pharaoh Khufu (Egyptian King) was one of the greatest Egyptian rulers of his time, and was the individual responsible for building the Great Pyramid at Giza. According to legend, he didn't like the color of the pyramid and dismissed his Master Builder. The Master Builder uttered a curse to Khufu stating that his hand will drop off his body and HE will never rest until he finds it. Centuries later, two grave robbers named Achmed and Nachmed enter King Khufu's tomb and clumsy Nachmed knocks over kHUFU'S coffin. Nachmed tried to give Khufu a "hand" but the King's hand came off and Nachmed ran off with it. Some say that King Khufu is still looking for his hand to this day...

This was one of the lamest and worst legends ever used on the show. The entire plot used for the legend felt like it came from an episode of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?". The legend is hardly believable and the voice acting used IT for so lame. And don't get me started on the names Achmed and Nachmed. Those names were pretty racist considering both of the grave robbers were Egyptians. Although not as bad as Ring Ling and Wing Ding in the "Imperial Wizard" legend. Overall, this was a bad legend and I am shocked they even used a hand as an artifact.  

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 8/10

Not much to say about this Steps of Knowledge round, except for that it was very quick. Only six questions were asked altogether and they were both answered correctly by the Blue Barracudas and Green Monkeys. The Green Monkey boy in general was very smart and answered all the questions for his team.

TEMPLE GAMES: 6/10

The temple games featured Maggie, who liked to play basketball, and Josh, who liked to play drums, of the Blue Barracudas facing Alexandra, who wanted to be a Vet, and CJ, who liked traveling back and forth to Guyana. The featured temple games pertained mostly to Olmec's legend about the Great Pyramid at Giza and mummies. In the end, the Blue Barracudas beat the Green Monkeys 1.5-0.5.

Temple Game #1 - Knock Over Mummies

In the first temple game, the male contestants had to knock over the mummies on their opponents side of the line with the giant boulder. At the same time though, they had to make sure their mummies weren't knock down. The player with the most mummies remaining would be the winner. The temple game was very close, but the Blue Barracudas won with a score of 1-0.

Temple Game #2 - Steal the Treasure

In this temple game, the girls had to run under a large boulder and collect various treasures. They must not get hit by the boulder or else they would be forced to start over again. The player with the most treasures collected would be the winner. Alexandra of the Green Monkeys was able to collect all four pieces of treasure with no problem. She got lucky on her last treasure where her boulder shifted left and gave her a clear opening to her bucket. With Green winning, but players had 0.5 pendants a piece going into the final temple game.

Temple Game #3 - Build the Pyramid of Giza

The final temple game had the teams strapped to a wall. On one side of the wall, the player must collect a boulder and throw it over their head. On the other side, their partner must collect the boulder and throw it into their team's bin. The temple game required team work though and if one player moves too soon, then the other player might not have a chance to complete their task. The Blue Barracudas were more synchronized during this temple game and won with a score 4-2.

TEMPLE RUN: 6.5/10

The temple run is pretty infamous for a mishap that occurred during the beginning of the run. When Maggie was in the Pit of the Pendulum, as she was swinging to knock over the column in the center, her Pendant of Life comes off her hand somehow in the Pit. When she enters the Tomb of the Headless Kings, she encounters her first temple guard. When she realizes that her Pendant of Life is gone though, Josh immediately runs off into the temple. Somehow Josh is able to find Maggie's lost Pendant in the Pit.

He decides to take a different path than Maggie. With 1.5 pendants on hand, he uses the upper floor of the temple. Along the way, he encounters a temple guard in the Room of the Ancient Warriors and has one of the fastest Silver Monkey assemblies on the show. However, his run ended in triple capture when he entered the Room of the Secret Password. Even after finding Maggie's Pendant, the team still encountered all three guards. Because Josh took the upper route, he missed the half-pendant in the Chamber of the Sacred Markers. Now, before you say it was dumb for Josh to take a different route with less than 2 pendants, you can't really blame him for it if you think about it. The upper floor was a shorter route for Josh and with a full pendant in his hand and one temple guard out of the way, you can't fully expect to encounter that third guard. But still, this outcome would've been avoided if he sticked to Maggie's path. Overall, this temple run was pretty memorable for the Pendant dropping quirk and for Josh carrying more than one full Pendant. The team itself wasn't bad, but the outcome was pretty disappointing. Not much they could've done to win with this tough layout either.

FINAL VERDICT: 5.9/10

"Mummified Hand" was an interesting episode to watch for sure, but the overall quality was just average. The Green Monkeys and Blue Barracudas were good teams from the double sweep at the steps to the Blue Barracudas temple run performance. The one thing that hurts this episode's score the most was the lame and nonsensical legend. The overall plot felt like it came from some old B-rated horror movie or something that came out of Nickelodeon's very own "Are You Afraid of the Dark?". The producers must've been desperate for an episode plot because this legend was among the worst that was used on the show. The temple run was pretty quirky too from the Pendant drop to the disappointing outcome. You can't really blame the loss on the players either way since they put up a good effort. This episode is definitely worth your time, but don't expect to take it seriously in some parts. It definitely is also worth rewatching too from time to time. Definitely keep an eye out for this one.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Mummified Hand was an interesting episode. Definitely worth a rewatch, even though the episode is pretty average. The legend was beyond ridiculous, it sounded like it came from a cheesy horror film. And what kind of name is Nachmed and Khufu? You can definitely tell the legend hrurt the overall score. The temple games were a decent round, but Kirk was just downright annoying. After he asks if the teams are ready, Kirk sarcastically replies "Oh yeah, me too!" Which goes back to my previous point of annoying commentary I mentioned in my Billy the Kid review. Also, right when the Blue Barracudas win the final temple game, there's this strange voiceover where Kirk says "Great teamwork guys!" And then he says something like "I had rocks in my mouth" afterward. Oh Kirk. -_-

The temple run is an infamous one, and I certainly don't blame Maggie for dropping her pendant. The elastic on the pendant probably rubbed off her weird when she was trying to get back on the platform. Methinks it was Maggie and Josh's plan to stick to the top floor all along, but Maggie just couldn't get back. Such a shame, both seemed like pretty good players. And I always thought it was a mistake for Josh to abandon Maggie's bottom floor path. It may have been time consuming, but at least he would've found the half pendant and then the triple capture wouldn't have happened. But I do agree that nobody can really except to get triple captured in that situation. Plus, with an artifact in the Dark Forest, and a lengthy path no matter which route they took, victory was slim anyways.

Overall, great review. This episode probably would've scored higher if it wasn't for that stupid legend. As for me, I'm probably gonna rank Belshazzar next. Which I believe was paired up with Mummified Hand back in the pre production order Nick Gas days. I might do Cosa Rara somewhere down the road too, now THAT had a ridiculous legend.

EDIT: PS, Josh ran into a temple guard in the Room of the Ancient Warriors, NOT the Shrine.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, I noticed Kirk was a little annoying during the temple games too.  In addition to his sarcasm, he also made some snarky comment to the Green Monkey boy after their first temple game. And the "I had rocks in my mouth" quote made no sense at all either. I am assuming it was a reference to the team game, but it was still out of place. -_- I also finally realized that this episode had the introduction where both Kirk and Olmec spoke a little French. I was looking forever for the episode that happened in. The legend was definitely what brought the score down for the episode the most. Horror-themed legends really don't work well on this show and come off a little childish. Although I do think Khufu was actually a real historical Pharaoh, but the names Achmed/Nachmed were definitely made up. 

And I could never understand how people could the whole Pendant drop against Maggie. It's not like she was thinking "Let me drop my Pendant in the temple so I can be taken out as soon as possible." When she encountered her guard in the Tomb of the Ancient Kings, you can tell she is even surprised her pendant was gone. As for Josh, he should've stayed on the bottom floor of the temple. But he probably would've been forced up the central shaft anyways. That temple layout was very lengthy though and if the team stayed on the bottom floor, they had no prayer in reaching the Mummified Hand. Too bad, but that whole Pendant drop is what screwed up everything. Still, I find this episode better than most triple captures on the show. And I fixed the Shrine/Ancient Warrior mistake for Josh too.

And have fun with Belshazzar. It will definitely be an awkward episode to rank due to the layout change and being one of the first episodes taped ever. If I ranked that episode, I probably would've been a little more generous towards it than usual. Same with Dead Man's Hand too. I am thinking of doing "Mata Hari" next because I am interested in how the temple games will hurt the episode's overall score. And have fun with "Cosa Rara", you know I hate that one. The legend in that one is definitely worse than "Mummified Hand" and very laughable. It was probably the worse legend on the show next to Snow Cone.   

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, Maggie did look surprised that her pendant was gone. She probably didn't feel or see the pendant fly off her. The elastic on the pendant just rubbed off weird, like I said above. Good thing Josh found the pendant though, he must've seen it fly off her wrist. And yeah, Belshazzar isn't a bad episode at all, and it should be interesting to rank with all the first episode quirks. I don't think many of the rounds will rank low at all, not even the temple run, which had a ridiculous dead end. It had almost the same path as Blackbeard, only this team made MUCH better progress than Sabrina did.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Here's my review of "The Golden Cup of Belshazzar." It's about time we get another Red Jaguar episode in the mix.

THE GOLDEN CUP OF BELSHAZZAR

MOAT: 6/10

In this moat, the players had to use "King Tut's Staff" to pull themselves across the moat while kneeling on a raft. Once they crossed, the players had to put the staff on the raft, in which the second player reeled it in so they could cross the same way. I personally like this moat, sure it was too easy, but I thought it was a neat idea to use for a moat. The moat round in this particular episode though, wasn't too exciting. It was like almost all the teams were taking their sweet time just getting across.

LEGEND: 6/10

The legend was about Belshazzar, who was being told a fortune by a guy named Daniel. The fortune revealed that Belshazzar was a thief, and that his empire was about to be destroyed. It should also be noted that Belshazzar stole "his" Golden Cup from a Jerusalem temple, so he was in complete denial about being a thief. Infuriated by this revelation, Belshazzar kicked Daniel out. As it turns out though, the writings on the wall (where Daniel told the fortune), were true, and the Persians surprise attacked Babylon. Pretty decent legend in my opinion. Most fortune telling legends *coughGoldenPepperonicough* tend to be lame, but this legend was good at not drifting into ridiculous territory.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 5/10

I didn't like this round honestly. It seemed like every team was getting a wrong answer, and two questions had to be thrown out. The Red Jaguars eventually got to the final step first, with the Purple Parrots following suit not long after.

TEMPLE GAMES: 7/10

The temple games were a great match, and featured some close competition between the Red Jaguars and the Purple Parrots. In the first game, Sean and Keith had to attach a sign to their shirts, climb up the cage/mine shaft and spell out "Corrupt Babylon will fall." Both guys were VERY fast in spelling out the message, but Keith just barely edged out Sean and finished the game with 25 seconds left. In the second game, Katherine and Leslie had to climb up the ramp and pull down three water buckets. It was another neck and neck match and both girls moved very quickly in the process. In the end, Katherine won the game with 18 seconds left on the clock. In the third game, the teams used the oh so tired up and down pulley game by putting Babylon back together. This was done by putting rings on a poll, a method that was used a lot in Season 1. While it was a close match between both teams before this game, the Purple Parrots blew their load big time here. They couldn't get a good rhythm down all game and could only get two rings on the poll. The Red Jaguars on the other hand, got all 8 of their rings on the poll, finishing the game with 9 seconds left on the clock. Which earned them a full pendant and a trip to the temple. Overall, this was a neck and neck round until the Parrots' humiliating defeat in the third game, where the Jaguars beat them 8-2. Oh well, at least the Purple Parrots scored the first ever half pendant of life. And all three games ended just before time ran out, which is a pretty impressive feat. Also, is it me, or does Leslie look like Karisa from Enormous Feather? They look so much alike, only Leslie is shorter.

TEMPLE RUN: 6/10

We now go from Layout 1 of the Season 1 temple, to Layout 5. So instead of the Wall Climb, the Throne Room, and the Room of the Golden Idols in place, we get the Wheel Room/Troubled Bridge, the Room of Harmonic Convergence, and the dreaded Treasure Room instead. And this temple run here featured a cruel dead end and a VERY difficult layout. After encountering some bad luck in the Room of Harmonic Convergence, Katherine had to go all the way back to the Cave and up the top floor of the temple. When she reaches the Treasure Room, she's removed from the temple with 54 seconds remaining. Sean just couldn't make up for lost time. He eventually makes it to the Treasure Room, where the chest doesn't open AGAIN, and his time runs out there. I'm pretty sure the Room of Harmonic Convergence was NOT supposed to be a dead end. When Katherine tries one of the steps, you can here the "objective completed' noise, but no doors open. I doubt the production crew would ever make a layout this hard, nor would they make the team do all that backtracking. What rotten luck, it's always a shame when production errors cause teams to lose. And Katherine and Sean seemed like a good team, they were just stuck with a difficult layout.

FINAL VERDICT: 6/10

This was a very quirky episode. From the layout change, to the devilishly difficult layout. You can definitely tell THIS was the first episode ever recorded. It featured the "King Tut's Staff" moat, Kirk delivers his utterly cheesy "Actually, it's Olmec's temple" and "return to its rightful owner" lines, and the teams are wearing black water shorts instead of their khaki shorts in the temple games. Also, Katherine and Leslie are NOT wearing their colored windbreaker jackets for the water bucket temple game they did. Maybe the jackets were a late shipment? Since the teams in Galileo's Cannonball and Dead Man's Hand were wearing their colored jackets in their respective episodes. It would also make sense that the temple run was pushed back to Layout 5 since filming was running so late that the kids were too exhausted to run through the temple. Furthermore, Kirk said in his radio interview that the first episode ever recorded took 18 hours to film. And they only filmed that one episode, being this one. There was also no pilot ever filmed according to Kirk, so Blackbeard couldn't have been "the pilot episode." Just because Blackbeard was labeled "Episode 1" doesn't make it "the first episode ever recorded." First episode edited maybe, but not the first recorded at all. That honor goes to Belshazzar, who's pre temple rounds were filmed in Layout 1, where as Blackbeard's entire episode was filmed in Layout 5. As for the episode itself, I still recommend it. Especially for all its early episode quirkiness, and competitive temple game rounds.