Water Bottle Episode

[Frogger49]

In this episode, the water bottle was in the Heart Room, the Wheel Room/Troubled Bridge was in play, and the Green Monkeys had 2 pendants.  The male member of the team ran in first, went up, ran into a guard in the Observatory, went around the horn and met a guard in the Room of Harmonic Convergence.  Based on the known outcome (yes, I know hindsight is 20/20), do you think that it might have been a better choice (given the known circumstances) to send the girl in first, have her lose her pendant immediately in the Cave, climb up into the Room of the 3 Gargoyles, cross the bridge, go up to the Observatory and get removed?  I only say this because in the first season (depending on the player), you could get into the Room of 3 Gargoyles/Room of the Royal Gongs by going through the Cave of Sighs almost as fast as going up the stairs.  In addition, the girl (if she was smart) would know that she would have to go all the way up because left was a dead end.  Using the above strategy would get the girl eliminated in about 27 seconds, allowing the boy (who was faster, if I recall correctly) with another pendant with what amounted to free reign over the premises.  I think that had he not missed the Shrine/Tomb connector, victory might have been possible.

[tss1011]

(if she was smart)

Even if the team was smart, this strategy would assume that they knew things in advance that we as fans now take for granted (where the dead ends are, where the temple guards are, etc.).  That said, I think it might have worked if, somehow, they had this knowledge.

[The Purple Parrot]

No. The only way this team had a chance of winning was if the entered through the Cave where the other templeguard was. The frontrunner (no matter who it was) would have been taken out in the Observatory and the second runner would have had a really good chance.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

and the Blue Barracudas had 2 pendants.

It was the Green Monkeys that went to the temple. But they did go against the Blue Barracudas in the temple games. And yes, this team would had a better chance of winning if they had started in the cave instead of the Gargoyle room.

[Frogger49]

and the Blue Barracudas had 2 pendants.

It was the Green Monkeys that went to the temple. But they did go against the Blue Barracudas in the temple games. And yes, this team would had a better chance of winning if they had started in the cave instead of the Gargoyle room.

Sorry about that, it's fixed now.  By "known circumstances" for this episode, I include the Heart Room location for the artifact, and the Wheel Room/Troubled Bridge setup.  Unfortunately, the 3rd known circumstance that most teams didn't know about (at least in the 1st season) was that show was not going to just "give away the grand prize" (Note the number of contestants trying to open the door to Medusa's Lair or the Room of Harmonic Convergence from the Pit of Despair when the artifact's in there).  Had they started in the Cave, the first player actually trying to open the door to the Wheel Room would have been another example of this.
A possible 4th circumstance of the episode was the guard in the Cave of Sighs.  I only say that because of the ground level entry in Season 1.  The contestants might have been able to see the guard in the cave before their run, but I'm not sure about that.  That may have made the contestants apprehensive of going in there.