Legends Episode Ranking System - COMPLETE

[The Red Jaguars]

I've noticed that we have covered 57 episodes so far. 20 S3 episodes are left, 21 S2 episodes are left, and 22 S3 episodes are left. If you do Leonardo Da Vini, that will give us 21 S1 episodes. Since I am going to do Annie Oakley, that will be 20 episodes left for S2. And I am thinking right after I am done with Annie Oakley, then I will do a review on Lawrence of Arabia or another S1 episode. So once we reach the 60 episode mark, each season will have 20 episodes remaining. And once we reach the 60 episode mark, then I will some statistics about all the episodes covered.   

And from that list right there, I will definitely do Polynesian Girl. I have that whole episode memorized and it was a very exciting episode to watch.  Sultan Saladin is another really good episode too, but it has been a while since I have seen it though. But I don't remember many bad things about it. William Tell... is a pile of crap though. It's been a while since I have seen that episode, but it was NOT a good episode though. All of the teams were bad in that episode and the temple run is annoying.  Good luck with that one. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

You mean 22 episodes left from Season 1 right? You put down Season 3 twice.

And I'll definitely wait a long time before I even touch William Tell. I'm certainly not gonna do that one right away. You can have Priceless Portrait, since you have that episode memorized, and I don't have it screencapped. It's a great episode, and I know it will score high. We should be right at the halfway mark sometime this week, depending on how many episodes we decide to review. And it'll be interesting to read about the statistics from all the episodes too. Assuming you're referring to the episodes in general.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Here it is, my review of "The Paintbrush of Leonardo Da Vinci."

THE PAINTBRUSH OF LEONARDO DA VINCI

MOAT: 3/10

For this moat, the players had to pull themselves across the moat with the rope in front of them, all while sitting on a tube. Once across, the first player must toss the tube to their partner, so they can cross in the same manner. This round was just terrible. It was like most of, if not ALL the teams struggled to get across. And some of these players just couldn't toss that tube if their lives depended on it. Furthermore, the editing was absolutely atrocious. It kept cutting in awkward places, and after Kirk announced which teams get to advance, instead of showing the four teams standing around, it shows another clip from the moat. Whoever edited that moat should've been fired. Regardless, the Orange Iguanas, Green Monkeys, Blue Barracudas, and Red Jaguars got to advance to the Steps of Knowledge.

LEGEND: 5/10

This legend centered around Leonardo Da Vinci, and how he was such an amazing painter, sculptor, etc. He was a very harsh teacher, and graded his students harshly. If he didn't like their paintings, he's paint a big red "X" on it. When Leonardo died, one of his students kept one of his paintbrushes, and it eventually made its way to the temple. Interesting legend actually, though I would've liked it a lot better if it wasn't so short and lacking in detail, like most Season 1 legends. Furthermore, Leonardo Da Vinci sounds like a real jerk. Who paints red "X's" on someone elses paintings? Methinks he had an ego problem because of his fame as a painter. Plus, the artifact is really lame too. For such a legendary figure, I'd expect more than just some wooden paintbrush with spots all over it. Interesting legend, though it was hard to take seriously because of its silliness.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 10/10

The Steps of Knowledge were the staple of this episode. I gave this round a perfect rating because everything went so flawlessly. There was not even a single wrong answer, and it came down to a rare four way tie on the second to last step. This would also occur in "The Missing Eye of David," only there were a lot more wrong answers in that particular round. In the end, the Blue Barracudas became the first team to qualify for the temple games. And the Orange Iguanas followed suit immediately after, creating the rarest temple game pair on the show. (Blue vs. Orange only occurred four times on the whole show). I wish more Steps of Knowledge rounds were like this, especially in Season 1.

TEMPLE GAMES: 6/10

The temple game featured both a unique set of games, and a unique way of how the games were played/executed. I would've ranked the round higher if the teams were more coordinated and performed better though. In the first game, Roberto and Chris had to climb up the ramp and pull down the paint buckets. Roberto had yellow paint, and Chris fittingly had blue paint. Both players seemed to struggle climbing the ramp, but when the ramps are riddled with paint, can you blame them? In the end, both players ended up pulling one bucket down. In the second game, Katie and Ansie had to place a red "X" on each of the two paintings on their side of the soapy mat. Katie was a BEAST in her game, and finished putting "X's" on both her paintings with a whopping 32 seconds left on the clock. In the third game, the teams had to use the same tired up and down pulley game to construct a helicopter. The Blue Barracudas struggled immensely with this game, so that naturally helped the Orange Iguanas win the game. Giving them the full pendant, and access to the temple with 2 full pendants!

TEMPLE RUN: 5/10

This temple run featured a very difficult layout, where a dead end and devilish path really do the team in. Katie runs into a dead end in the Swamp, where she not only meets a temple guard, but no doors open upward. As if that wasn't bad enough, she's forced all the way up the central shaft. A second temple guard removes her from the temple with 33 seconds left on the clock. Roberto had no prayer of making up for lost time, and it didn't help that he ran up to the Gargoyle Room, and didn't try all three tongues. He ends up in the Wheel Room where time runs out. Tough luck, and the producers suck so much that they used this exact replica of a temple layout in "The Stone Marker of Leif Erickson." Where of course, the results were the same, disastrous due to impossible layout.

FINAL VERDICT: 5.8/10

This episode ranked a little higher than I thought, but high 5 range is still fitting. The strong point of this episode was the Steps of Knowledge by a long shot, with very smart teams and the rare four way tie. The weakest point was the moat, where none of the teams did an impressive job crossing and for its terrible editing. While I prefer this episode over the utterly forgettable Stone Marker, this episode isn't very exciting either. However, it's MUCH better than most Orange Iguana episodes, and I still recommend a re watch of this episode.

[The Red Jaguars]

I actually had a feeling that Leonardo Da Vinci was going to finish with a higher score than Stone Marker. There was more good things about that episode than Stone Marker. I didn't really like the moat they used in this episode. It was like the S1L8 moat where the players had to throw their ring across to their partner. It definitely wasn't easy to throw that ring across, that is for sure. And I forgot about how short the legend was.  Which is too bad, because Da Vinci is a famous artist and they would've gave him a better story in later seasons. Also, a Paintbrush to associate with Da Vinci? Talk about uninspiring.

And the highlight of this episode was definitely the Steps of Knowledge. I think the only other Steps round that was as close as this one was "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress", which was just as exciting as this one. What's more amazing is that there weren't any wrong answers with the four way tie. So at that point in the Steps, the next team who got the answer right would go onto the temple games. Definitely a nail biter round. I don't remember much about the temple games, except for the first temple game where the players had to pull their buckets of paint down. I remember how messy the ramps were in this temple game. The Orange Iguanas did good overall and earned their first temple appearance ever. 

The temple run is very "meh" though. But I hardly blame Katie and Roberto for the final outcome of it. I don't expect S1 players to not know that the direct path usually didn't work for them. For the Iguanas, I definitely don't hold the direct path against them. It's not like their strategy was like Joe from "Golden Ship" who though he could reach the artifact in 3 rooms. The dead end in the Swamp was a double whammy with a temple guard. And when no doors were opened, Katie was forced all the way up to the Observatory where she was taken out. Roberto was smart for trying the Gargoyle Room and he might've actually added progress if he tried all three tongues. But his time ended in the Wheel Room. This wasn't a bad team at all, they got shafted by a crappy layout. I love how the producers rehashed this exact same layout for the Stone Marker run.

Overall, I think this a good score for Leonardo Da Vinci. If it wasn't for the Steps round, I am sure this episode would finish with the same score as Stone Marker. But this episode definitely had better moments than that episode. In fact, this is probably the best episode from S1L5. Yup, that whole day was lackluster. But Da Vinci was above average for the most part. Good score, and I am kind of glad that this episode finished with a score that high because it wasn't totally bad or anything. 

So that means Annie Oakley is next for me and that will be episode 59. And for episode 60, I will try and post Lawrence of Arabia right after Annie Oakley.   

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Dead Man's Hand was the first Orange Iguana run, not Leonardo Da Vinci.

And yeah, Leonardo Da Vinci was slightly better than Stone Marker, mostly for the Steps of Knowledge round. You're totally right that if it wasn't for the steps, this episode would barely make a 5 average, like Stone Marker did. Either way, I look forward to your review on Annie Oaley. PP Pwnage!

[The Red Jaguars]

The crappy part about the Leonardo Da Vinci and Stone Marker episodes were that those temple layouts were very bitchy. I mean the teams did sort of bring the dead end onto themselves, but you can't really blame them because they didn't know better. It makes me wonder if Shaka Zulu was suppose to mimic these two layouts? At least in that run though, the Treasure Chest was open so Bobby wouldn't have been forced up the central shaft like Keeli and Katie were. But then again, he wouldn't have won if he had the Da Vinci or Stone Marker layout.

I can't believe I forgot Dead Man's Hand either. That layout was exactly like Leonardo Da Vinci, except even more bizarre. Man, these Season 1 teams had it tough. Even the Amelia Earhart team, as bad as Kristen was, were forced to enter every room. I can't wait until I review Annie Oakley and I hope to have it up by tomorrow. I definitely could do this episode in one sitting and not force myself to watch it like Bent Shaving Pan. I remember most parts about this episode too, so hopefully my memory can type most of it up.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, Season 1 had a lot of impossible layouts. Even Lucky Pig's layout was impossible, since Kristen wasn't granted any shortcuts of any kind. Not that it detracts from how awful the temple run was, but she still had it hard. And Stone Marker and Leonardo Da Vinci had even worse layouts. Why couldn't the production crew just utilize the Swamp/Treasure Room passage way? I sure would've made for some interesting layouts. I mean, yes Katie took a direct path (which I don't hold against her), and Keeli didn't try all three Gargoyle tongues. But, I have a feeling they still would've lost even if it wasn't for all those mistakes.

Also, if you're gonna review Annie Oakley next, are you gonna take an extra "turn" and rank Lawrence of Arabia right after? If so, that's fine by me, since we'll have 20 episodes reviewed from each season that way. Then you can post your statistics. Just wondering though, what exactly will your statistics cover? Like, what kind of things are you gonna keep track of?

[The Red Jaguars]

Here is our 59th episode review, which is "The Leopard-Skin Cloak of Annie Oakley".   Even though I remembered a lot of details from this episode, I rewatched it anyways because it is really worth the watch. One of my favorite Purple Parrot episodes on the show.  

THE LEOPARD-SKIN CLOAK OF ANNIE OAKLEY

MOAT: 7.5/10

MOAT: 7/10 (PPF)

In front of the six teams were a series of ancient hanging rings. The first player had to cross through the rings by crawling through them in order to reach the other side. When the first player reaches the other side, then the second player had to move across it the same way. The first four teams that made it across the moat will move onto the Steps of Knowledge. I liked the moat crossings in Season 2 that used the hanging rings. This moat round was pretty competitive too and didn't have many flaws. Moving across the rings was definitely a challenging task, so I can understand this moat being longer than others. It was a good moat round overall.

PPF's description:

For this moat, the players had to traverse through a series a hanging innertubes. Once the first player makes it across, their partner would cross in the same manner. This was one of my favorite moats ever. I always liked the concept of climbing through a bunch of innertubes. I liked the challenge behind it, and these moats usually took a long time to finish. As for this moat, it was a decent round. It wasn't the most noteworthy, but one of the teams did particularly bad. At the end of the round, the Purple Parrots, Blue Barracudas, Green Monkeys, and Silver Snakes advanced to the Steps of Knowledge in that order.

LEGEND: 8/10

LEGEND: 8/10 (PPF)

When a tiny woman entered the ring of Buffalo Bill's West Show with her fringe skirt and long red hair flowing, the crowd cheered wildly. She was Annie Oakley. Even in Germany, they have heard stories about Annie being able to shoot a dime out of a man's hand without grazing it or hit an Ace of Spades dead center from 90 feet. Crowned Prince Vilhelm of Germany tested Oakley out by asking her to shoot a cigarette from his mouth. He thought that she would back down. No sooner as he placed his cigarette in his mouth, Annie Oakley shot the burning tip of the cigarette right off. The Prince was startled and the crowd went wild. Legend has it that the Prince's friend, the King of Senegal, was so impressed by Annie Oakley that he gave her a Leopard-Skin Cloak that she cherished for years.

This was a very interesting legend, and I liked legends about historical figures with strong women. It was also different from those countless stories about love or war that is always featured on the show. I liked all the details the producers used to describe Sharp Shooter Annie's skills. They detailed perfectly how amazing of a shooter she was. I would've liked to hear a little more about her and the Wild West, but this was a solid legend overall. The only strange part about this legend was that the Leopard-Skin Cloak literally had nothing to do with it. Most of the artifacts had something to do with their historical figure, but the Cloak was totally irrelevant. It was like the producers were desperate to find something to associate with Annie Oakley.  

PPF's description:

This legend centered around Annie Oakley, who was a tiny woman who wore a fringe skirt and had long red hair. The crowd cheered wildly for her as she entered the ring of Buffalo Bill's West Show. Annie Oakley was so talented she could shoot a dime out of someone's hand without trouble, and could hit an Ace of Spades in dead center from 90 feet. A Germany Prince by the name Vilhelm wanted to test Annie Oakley by asking her to shoot a cigarette from his mouth. Instead of backing down, Oakley shot the burning tip of the cigarette right out of his mouth. The Prince was stunned as everyone in the crowd cheered wildly for her. The King of Senegal was so impressed with Oakley's sharp shooting that he gave her a leopard skin cloak that she cherished. The cloak eventually made its way to the temple. This was a great legend, and I liked the Wild West theme the producers were going for. I liked how Annie Oakley was depicted as a sharp shooter and a strong woman who wouldn't back down from anything. One nitpick I have, is for the artifact itself. It was an ugly looking leopard skin cloak had nothing to do with Annie Oakley whatsoever. It was clear the producers thought "Let's see, we have this ugly looking cloth here. What artifact can we make out of it?" It has got to be by far the most random, most irrelevant artifact selection ever to be featured on the show.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 7/10

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 7/10 (PPF)

This was a close Steps of Knowledge round, but there were too many wrong answers given out by most of the teams. There were 4 questions in total that were incorrect. The Green Monkeys would've made it to the temple games if they didn't get two easy questions wrong. The Purple Parrots were the only team to not get a wrong answer and they made it to the temple games first. The Blue Barracuda shortly followed after that. On a side note, there were two choices that were possible answers about historical figures that Legends covered in earlier seasons - Elizabeth the First and Wild Bill Hickok were two choices for two different questions.

PPF's description:

This was an alright Steps of Knowledge round. I would've ranked it a lot higher if it weren't for all the wrong answers the Green Monkeys gave out during the round. Actually, every team except the Purple Parrot got an answer wrong. Nick of the Purple Parrots answered all the questions for his team, and him and Chandra were the first team to qualify for the temple games. The Blue Barracudas joined the on the final step not long after. The Green Monkeys got two questions correct, and the Silver Snakes only got one correct. Overall, it was a close round, but the multiple wrong answers drag this round's score a little bit.

TEMPLE GAMES: 8/10

TEMPLE GAMES: 8/10 (PPF)

The two temple teams featured Rose and Shane of the Blue Barracudas and Chandra and Nick of the Purple Parrots. The temple game sequence used in this episode was very entertaining to watch. All of the temple games pertained to Annie Oakley's skills as a sharp shooter. I enjoyed the different variety of temple games they used too, especially the second temple game with the trapeze. The Purple Parrots were a very good team in this episode too and even swept the temple games for the first time.  

Temple Game #1 - Annie Oakley's Horse

Some say that Annie Oakley rode a horse so well that she would never fall off of it. In this temple game, Chandra and Rose had to ride one of these horses. They had 60 seconds to ride their horse and if one of the players fell off, then the other player would be the winner. The player that held on the longest after 60 seconds would be the winner. Both female runners did a solid job holding onto their horses, but Rose fell off with 9 seconds left and giving the Purple Parrots their first half-pendant.

Temple Game #2 - Shoot the Ace of Spades

Annie Oakley was famous for being able to shoot dead center the Ace of Spades card from someone's hand. In this temple game, Nick and Shane had to take a rock and toss it into the center of their Ace of Spades car while holding onto a trapeze. The player that got the most rocks into their Ace of Spades will be the winner. In the end, the Purple Parrots were more accurate in their shooting an earned their second half-pendant, putting them up 1-0.

Temple Game #3 - Sharp Shooter Annie

Annie Oakley had to take a lot of practice in order to become a good sharp shooter. In the final temple game, the teams had to launch a ball at their targets and knock down all four of them. The team that knocks down all four targets first or the team that knocks down the most targets after 60 seconds will be the winner. In the end, the Purple Parrots knocked down 3 of their soldiers and complete their first ever temple game sweep.

PPF's description:

The temple games featured TOTAL domination by the Purple Parrots, and an excellent match all around. While the pendant score was one sided, it was still a close match and featured a great set of temple games used. In the first game, Chandra and Rose had to hold on to the spinning horse for as long as possible. I believe this was the last episode to feature this particular temple games. This was a solid match as both girls held on to the horse for almost the entire round. However, Rose of the Blue Barracudas fell off the horse with 9 seconds left on the clock, giving Chandra the half pendant of life. In the second game, Nick and Shane had to place a ball between their legs, fly out on the trapeze, and toss the ball into the Ace of Spade. Shane kind of struggled with this game, while Nick was more accurate with their shooting. This helped Nick win the game, and earn another half pendant for his team. This put the Purple Parrots ahead of the Blue Barracudas 1-0 going into the final game. In the third game, the teams had to take turns knocking over the soldiers. The Purple Parrots once again came out on top and won this game, giving them the full pendant, and earning themselves a trip to the temple with 2 full pendants! This marks the first time the Purple Parrots outright shut out a team in the temple games.

TEMPLE RUN: 8/10

TEMPLE RUN: 8/10 (PPF)

The Mine Shaft elevator was responsible for quite a few teams not winning in the temple. In this temple run, the Mine Shaft cost Chandra and Nick a legitimate chance at a temple victory. Both Purple Players were a solid team though and moved pretty fast. Chandra made great time in all of the rooms she entered. After meeting her first guard in the Laser Light Room, she makes it all the way to the Mine Shaft with 1:45 left on the clock. Unfortunately, Chandra fails to try the Mine Shaft-Shrine ladder and instead takes the slow elevator. She is forced to complete the Room of the Secret Password as a result. Do note that the Secret Passwords for this temple run were inside the cabinets themselves and not on separate tablets like in Season 3. She is taken out one room away in the King's Storeroom with 53 seconds left. Nick follows up Chandra's path and actually takes the Shrine ladder from the Mine Shaft. By the time he enters the King's Storeroom though, time expires for him as Nick awkwardly places the King's Storeroom key in the front of the room.

Overall, this temple run was very exciting and is easily the Purple Parrots' best temple loss. There was nothing wrong with the players in this run, it was a matter of not taking shortcuts and the one room away guard that hurt their chances at winning. But in a temple layout much similar to "The Very Tall Turban of Ahmed Baba", Chandra and Nick put up a better performance and still lost due to an unfair temple guard layout. When you compare this run to "Ahmed Baba", it shows you how lucky Shane got with his path. This was still an exciting loss though and a good team effort too.  

PPF's description:

This temple run exemplifies why it's always important to take as many shortcuts as possible. Chandra goes in first and she movespretty fast. She moved very swiftly throughout the whole bottom floor, but she does make one mistake. In the Dark Forest, instead of looking for a key to enter the Shrine, she busts through the wall and takes the Mine Shaft elevator. This move ultimately decided the runs fate. Chandra enters the Room of the Secret Password with about 1:30, where she shouts "Long Live Olmec!" twice before entering the Shrine. This also makes the only time the Room of the Secret Password objective is completed in Season 2. All with Kirk humorously butchering the name of the room repeatedly in the process. By the time Chandra enters the King's Storeroom, she's removed from the temple with 53 seconds left on the clock. Nick goes in and he moves pretty fast as well. In the Mine Shaft, he smartly uses the Shaft/Shrine passage to save time, instead of waiting for the elevator to come back down. It's during that time you can clearly see Chandra running back over to Kirk. By the time Nick makes it to where Chandra left off, time is running very low. Time runs out as Nick places a King's Storeroom key in an awkward place in the room. All in all, this was a solid Purple Parrots temple run, and easily their best temple loss on the show. Chandra and Nick would've had a MUCH better chance at winning if Chandra never took the elevator. Darn elevator.

FINAL VERDICT: 7.7/10

FINAL VERDICT: 7.6/10 (PPF)

"Annie Oakley" featured a very strong and dominant Purple Parrots team, and it was a very entertaining episode to watch. Chandra and Nick finished first in every single round of the temple. Unfortunately, they were just one room away from winning it all for the first Purple Parrot victory ever. This is the type of temple run where you want the temple team to win really bad. The temple run was still exciting though as was the whole episode. There was no real flaws in any of the rounds of this episode and they were all entertaining to watch. I would easily recommend this episode as it represents the Purple Parrots very well. The good part is that the next episode after this one features a very strong Purple Parrot team to actually win it all ("The Snakeskin Boots of Billy the Kid"). So if you are looking for a good set of Purple Parrots episodes to watch, I highly recommend this one and "Billy the Kid" back-to-back.  

PPF's description:

Overall, Annie Oakley was a solid episode from beginning to end. From the interesting legend, to the temple games, to the temple run, this was a very fun episode. The Purple Parrots dominated EVERY pre temple round, but unfortunately came up short in the temple. If Chandra had not taken the elevator, they would've won for sure. This temple run also proves why "The Very Tall Turban of Ahmed Baba" is not that impressive of a temple run. Shane had the exact same layout, yet he completely lucked into his path by NOT running into a temple guard in the King's Storeroom. But since the Purple Parrots never get lucky, Chandra gets removed in the King's Storeroom one room away. This just goes to show that Shane just lucked into his win, where any average player could've won with his layout. And it just proves that Shane is overrated, while Chandra moved MUCH faster than Shane, and made better time than him in a HARDER layout. But back to Leopard Skin Cloak, which is the definition of PP Pwnage, only to be followed up with "The Snakeskin Boots of Billy the Kid," taped right after this episode. Unlike Chandra and Nick though, the Purple Parrots in Snakeskin Boots actually WIN, and dominated every pre temple run in the process. This was a solid episode with no real flaws in it, and I recommend this episode to anyone.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

First of all, the first temple guard was in the Laser Light Room, NOT the Dark Forest. Also, Chandra had 53 seconds left on the clock at the time of her removal. You might want to fix that.

Second of all, this episode was PP Pwnage all the way. I also liked the moat in this episode with the hanging inner tubes. They always took a while, and the mist would be close to disappearing too. The Steps of Knowledge were sort of annoying with the Green Monkeys guessing any old thing. I would've ranked that round a little lower, but it was still a close match. The temple games had a unique sequence, and almost featured the exact games as Billy the Kid. Only the spinning horse game was used instead of the spitting animal game. Plus, I'm pretty sure this is the last episode to feature the former game. Either way, the Parrots smashed the Barracudas 2-0 and made it to the temple! The temple run was great, Chandra made solid time. I honestly prefer this episode over the overrated Ahmed Baba. Chandra had a harder layout (Jester's Court instead of a measly Swamp) AND made better time than Shane did. Only difference is Shane enters the King's Storeroom and still gets to keep going. But since the Parrots hardly ever get lucky, so when Chandra enters the King's Storeroom, she's taken out one room away. This just goes to show Shane was just lucky with his layout and he lucked right into it, and gets WAY too much credit because of the "objectives he had to face." His layout was way too easy, but Chandra had a much tougher layout. Though Chandra would've won if she hadn't taken the elevator. Shane's temple run was not "the most impossible layout in the shows history" or "the most groundbreaking, most breathtaking win ever" and it was just luck, not skill. I like Leopard Skin Cloak much better, it was a lot more exciting.

Overall great review. You can go ahead of rank Lawrence of Arabia next, so we'll be at the halfway mark for all the episodes we've reviewed.

[The Red Jaguars]

Fixed those two mistakes. Ahmed Baba was an okay win in my book, but I don't care for it as much because the run was so dull and Shane got very lucky with his temple layout. Considering he was the only temple win that ran through 10 rooms enroute to the artifact. And two of those rooms were avoidable too. I wish other teams were lucky enough to have this kind of layout. This team was boring in general. Even Iron Nose Ring was more exciting and enjoyable than Ahmed Baba.

And I am going to have Lawrence of Arabia up by tomorrow or the day after.  Once I am done with that one, I am going to post statistics about the first 60 episodes that we cover. The stats will include the average record for each episode by team and other various stuff. And after Lawrence of Arabia, I will probably do Poseidon or Golden Stallion to get those out of the way since I had them claimed for a long time.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Didn't you want to review Blue Pearl at some point? But never listed it in the OP "to do" next. Either way, can't wait for your statistics and review of Lawrence of Arabia next. I have a feeling that episode is gonna rank high, maybe even higher than Lucky Pillow and Catherine the Great.

[The Red Jaguars]

Here is our 60th episode review, "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress".   The Green Monkeys are such a spoiled team for having amazing episodes like this, Mussel-Shell Armor, Emiliano Zapata, and Pirate Captain. This is my second favorite episode in the entire series and I was glad to be the one to review it.            

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA'S HEADDRESS

MOAT: 8/10

MOAT: 9/10 (PPF)

Each team had to cross the moat by using the chain of innertubes that connect the one end of the moat to the other. They must pull themselves across the chain of innertubes "army style" in order to reach the other side. Once one player reaches the other side, then the other player must cross the same way. The first four teams to cross will move onto the Steps of Knowledge. This was a very competitive moat crossing and all four teams that made it across were strong. The biggest highlight though was David of the Green Monkeys crossing it in like 3 seconds. I don't recall many moats being this competitive in Season 1, but this one was sure fun to watch.

PPF's description

For this moat, the teams had to cross a chain of golden innertubes that span all the way across the moat. Once the first player is all the way across, then their partner must cross "army style" in the same manner. This was a very close, exciting moat. Very few teams struggled and it wasn't too obvious who the four teams were gonna be. David was a BEAST crossing the moat. He RACED across the tubes like it was nothing and was across in seconds. That has to be a record. At the end of the round, the Green Monkeys, Orange Iguanas, Red Jaguars, and the Silver Snakes advanced to the Steps of Knowledge in that order.

LEGEND: 8.5/10

LEGEND: 9/10 (PPF)

Lawrence of Arabia was an Englishmen that traveled to Egypt to study archaeology. During World War I, he dressed up like an Arab and fought behind enemy lines. Legend has it though that dressing up like an Arab wasn't his idea though. One day he and Hussein, his faithful Arab servant, saddled up their camels for a day trip to an oasis. Half-way there, a sudden sandstorm brewed and they lost their way. One the dust settled, they were face to face with enemy troops. Hussein pulled out a cloth and put it around Lawrence's head like a traditional Arab headdress. He fooled the enemies with the headdress and they did not attack him at all. He loved the headdress so much that he wore it for the rest of the war.

This was a very detailed legend when it came to Season One plots. The producers used a lot of details about how Sir Lawrence when from a student to a war hero known as Lawrence of Arabia. They also gave a back story on the Headdress too instead of just throwing a random prop at the end as the artifact. I enjoyed this legend very much and it intrigued me a lot.

PPF's description

This legend centered around Lawrence of Arabia, who was an Englishmen who studied archaeology in Egypt. During World War I, he dressed as an Arab and fought between enemy lines. However, it was not his idea to disguise himself as an Arab. One day, him and Hussein saddled up and rode their camels through an oasis. They were halfway there when they were caught in a sandstorm, getting lost in the process. As the sandstorm subsided, they came face to face with enemy troops. Hussein pulled out a cloth, and tied it around Lawrence's head like a headdress. This fooled the enemies as they rode away, not attacking him. Lawrence liked the headdress, and wore it for the duration of the war. The headdress eventually made its way to the temple. This was a great legend, one of my favorites ever on the whole show. It was very detailed and interesting, something you rarely saw in a Season 1 legend. The legend also did a great job talking about both Lawrence of Arabia and the headdress in question. I wish more legends were like this.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 10/10

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 9/10 (PPF)

This was probably one of the most exciting and closest Steps of Knowledge round on the show. Just like in "The Paintbrush of Leonardi Da Vinci", all of the teams eventually made it to the second to last step (not at the same time like "Leonardo Da Vinci" though). It was one of those rounds where it made you wonder what team will move onto the next round since it was so close. And despite the close competition, only one wrong answer was given out too. Plus, the enthusiasm at the end with Candace of the Green Monkeys and Angel from the Red Jaguars who let's out an "Oh my God". This was a very close round filled with smart teams.

PPF's description

Like the moat, the Steps of Knowledge was a very close and exciting round. Very few wrong answers were given, and it was like any of the four teams could've advanced to the temple games. I especially liked the "on its hump" answer Candace of the Green Monkeys gave. The Red Jaguars advanced first from the Steps, and the Green Monkeys followed suit not long after. They just barely beat our the Orange Iguanas and the Silver Snakes, who each got two questions correct. All in all, it was a very close round and all the teams on the Steps were exceptionally smart.

TEMPLE GAMES: 8/10

TEMPLE GAMES: 8/10 (PPF)

The temple games featured the Green Monkeys facing off against the Red Jaguars. The Red Jaguars consisted of Angel, who was 14 and played the trumpet in a band, with his partner Brittany, who was 12 and liked to dance. The Green Monkeys consisted of David, who was 13 and liked to play a lot of soccer, and his partner Candace, who was 14 and liked to write plays. This episode used one of the funnest temple game sequences in Season 1. The first two temple games were some of my favorite ones used from that season. And the last temple game was pretty decent also. I would've given this temple game round a higher score, but it wasn't as competitive since the Green Monkeys dominated it. But still, this was an entertaining round and much better than most Season 1 temple game rounds.

Temple Game #1 - Eye of the Nile

In the first temple game, David and Angel had to take their needle and thread and climb to the top and put it through the first eye. Once they did that, they had to climb back down and thread the eye at the bottom of the wall. They had to climb back up and thread one more eye before being complete. The player that threads the most eyes or the player the furthest along after 60 seconds will win. The temple game was pretty close, but in the end David was further along as Angel dropped his needle at the very end of the temple game.

Temple Game #2 - Crossing Enemy Lines

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In the second temple game, Candace and Brittany had to burrow through one of the Dragon tunnels full of debris and grab the Turban tail and put it on their head. Once they have reached the Turban tail, they had to cross back to the other side and pull it through the tunnel. The first player that pulls their Turban tail through the tunnel completely or the player furthest along after 60 seconds will win. Candace was very strong in this temple game and beat Brittany handily, putting the Green Monkeys up 1-0.

Temple Game #3 - Recreate a Pyramid

Lawrence of Arabia came to Egypt to study the pyramids. In this temple game, the Green Monkeys and Red Jaguars were about to recreate the pyramids that he studied. Each player on each team had to take turns pushing a block of the pyramid up the ramp. They had to use their backs though to push the piece up. Once the first player gets their piece up, the second player must do the same thing. The team that got the most pyramid pieces up will be the winners. In the end, David and Candace had one more piece than the Red Jaguars, giving them the temple game sweep and the right to enter Olmec's temple.

PPF's description

The temple games featured some great competition and an excellent set up of games. It felt a tad one sided though since the Green Monkeys shut the Red Jaguars out in this round. In the first game, David and Angel had to climb up a wall and thread a needle "through the Nile" twice. Angel dropped one of his needles at some point during the game, giving David a window of opportunity, winning the game being furthest along. In the second game, Candace and Brittany had to climb through the dragon tunnels, attach a turban tail to their helmet, then burrow all the way back to the starting point. Brittany struggled with this game, but Candace was very strong in this game. She won the game, giving the Green Monkeys won full pendant going into the final game. In the third game, the teams had to take turns pushing a block up a watery ramp. Candace and David won this game, giving them the full pendant, and earning them a trip to the temple with 2 full pendants!

TEMPLE RUN: 10/10

TEMPLE RUN: 10/10 (PPF)

This was the first temple run ever aired on Nickelodeon and boy did the producers choose a good one to air.  Rarely, a temple run from Season 1 had such high quality where it was on par with the usually better temple runs in later seasons. But in this episode though, the Green Monkeys achieved one of the best wins on the whole show. Candace started off by entering the Cave of Sighs and meeting her first temple guard right away. After being forced up into the Room of the Royal Gongs, she is eventually taken out in the Room of Fallen Columns. With a little less than 2 minutes left on the clock, David follows Candace's path a little too closely in the temple. He detours into both the Cave of Sighs and Fallen Columns even though both were avoidable. He starts making great time though in the Treasure Room. In the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, he has one of the best Silver Monkey assemblies ever too. Basically, he grabs all three pieces of the Silver Monkey at once and puts it together like there was nothing to it.  

With time winding down, David takes the Shrine-Tomb shortcut and enters the Holes of Python and grabs the Headdress with 28 seconds left. Now, here comes the most amazing part of this temple run. David hauls ass all the way out of the temple and scores an amazing last second win. This had to be the best temple exit on the show. David demolished the bottom floor of the temple and climbed the Wall Climb wall instead of using the ladder in the Wheel Room. He basically jumps out of the Cave of Sighs and scores the one second win.   This was a very exciting episode and the ending was a real nail biter. David was one of the best players to ever appear on this show and this was an awesome temple win. This was a solid choice by the producers to open our favorite show up with.  

PPF's description

This was a solid Season 1 temple run. Candace enters the temple and does a decent job. After being forced up to the Royal Gong room from the Cave, she makes her way up to the Observatory, and then into the Room of Fallen Columns, where she's removed just a minute into the temple run. David takes over soon after, and he moved very fast. He swiftly makes his way across the top floor, assembles the monkey in very quick time, and smartly uses the Shrine/Tomb passage. With 28 seconds left on the clock, David reaches the headdress, and with artifact in hand, he REALLY hauls ass to exit the temple! He sped out of the temple like a bullet, and smartly climbs the Wall Climb portion of the Wheel Room, instead of taking the ladder. Why couldn't more exit plans be as good as this? With one second left on the clock, David crosses the temple gates and scores an amazing Green Monkeys win! Temple runs don't get any better than this. This was also the first episode Nickelodeon aired back in September 1993. And boy did they pick a great first episode to air!

FINAL VERDICT: 8.9/10

FINAL VERDICT: 9/10 (PPF)

"Lawrence of Arabia" was one of the best Legends episodes ever featured on this show. Every round was entertaining and competitive, and there was not a single bad moment at all. The highlight of this episode is the very exciting temple win though. David was an amazing player in the temple (and all day too) and the way he ended this win was very memorable and bad ass. Legends of the Hidden Temple chose this episode to be the very first episode to air, and I think we can all see why they did so.   There is nothing more to say, but this episode is easily a must watch. I can guarantee that you will most definitely enjoy this episode after you first watch it. In fact, this is my second favorite episode in the whole series. Do yourself a favor and watch this after reading this summary.  

PPF's description

Overall, Lawrence of Arabia was an excellent Season 1 episode, where every round was both exciting and close. The moat was close, the legend was interesting, the teams were smart on the steps, the temple games were close, and the temple run was spectacular. David was simply put, THE best player of Season 1, and he did a commendable job in the temple. This episode was flawless and I'm glad Nickelodeon picked this episode to air first. I strongly recommend this episode to anyone. You'll be missing out on A LOT if you skip it.

[GreenMonkeys#1]

No wonder why Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress is a favorite here on the forum.  This is the episode that defined Legends and Nickelodeon chose to air the best one first. David's moat crossing was super fast, even Kirk didn't believe it. TBH, I'm not sure if Candace should've gotten away with the lump/hump answer. If that was incorrect, it would've been Orange vs Red and David & Candace would've never been hailed as greats. The Green Monkeys were dominating in the Temple Games and there was no chance for the Red Jaguars. Now, for the run. Candace did blow the opportunity for a solo run, plus 30 seconds were wasted in the Cave of Sighs. Then David just demolishes the entire Temple. Either him or Mike from Thornwood Gavel has the best Silver Monkey assembly. Once David grabbed the Headdress, he hauled ass out and scored a one second victory!  This is my favorite episode and is always worth watching more often than every episode.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, I was kind of surprised that the producers accepted the "Lump/Hump" answer too from Candace. Especially since the producers were very strict when it came to the Season 1 Steps of Knowledge. But then again, she corrected herself right away too and I think the producers realized it was the "Hump" answer she was going for. I would've definitely accepted it too. This is also one of the few episodes where I don't mind the Red Jaguars getting a beatdown either.  I remember TMH use to make fun of the Red Jaguar boy for his name being Angel. I like David's Silver Monkey assembly the most on the whole show. He grabbed all three pieces at once and didn't struggle with them at all. Unlike people like Jeremy from "Robert the Bruce" that fumbled the pieces all over. With an 8.9 score, Lawrence of Arabia and Mussel-Shell Armor now have the highest rated episode score.        I think there is one more episode that might beat those two, and of course it is a Green Monkeys episode too. 

And since we are at the half-way point, I am going to post some stats a little later about each rated episode. I also claimed a few more episodes on the list too - Silver Saddle Horn, Buddha, Two-Cornered Hat, Useless Map, and Lost Taj Mahal Turban. Of course, I am going to complete Golden Stallion and Poseidon as my next projects though.    

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Great stuff like always. I knew Lawrence of Arabia was gonna rank high.