Individual Ranking System

[The Red Jaguars]

I don't remember John's temple game myself, but it is possible I am not remembering it correctly. Either way, he still lost to a girl. I don't hold Missy's temple game lost against her since it was pure luck like you mentioned. Although she did have terrible luck IIRC and got squirted the whole time.

And yeah, the Cricket Cage will be kind of painful to review. But it will be interesting also since I haven't seen 3 of those episodes in ages. Golden Ship isn't too bad either, with the temple game goof and temple run will be easy to evaluate due to how short it was. And at least Map to the Lost Gold Mine is at the very end.

And I am not sure why "Map to the Lost Gold Mine" gets picked on. It seems like that one and Annie Taylor get picked on the most. I guess it does have to do with the popularity of the episodes. People use to do that with "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress" and use to call David just average. I don't see anyone pick on that run much anymore, thankfully.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

To continue with this thread, I'm going to do the Harriet Tubman/Dr. Livingstone filming day:

THE WALKING STICK OF HARRIET TUBMAN

Chris:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 8
Temple Run: 6
Overall: 6.8

Ryann:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 3
Overall: 6.2

James:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 10
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 8
Overall: 8

Erica:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 5
Overall: 6.25

NOTES:

Well, what do you know? James of the Blue Barracudas ranks by FAR the highest out of the four players here. And he didn't even make it to the temple! And he was a beast during the Steps of Knowledge. He answered all three questions before the choices were even revealed. But then again, just about all of the teams did this. Fortunately, they weren't as obnoxious about it as they were in the "Electrified Key" episode. Chris ranked pretty high too, not getting anything lower than a 6. As for the episode itself, it's still a decent episode despite the temple run. The temple games were pretty competitive, and I liked the sequence they used. I especially liked the creativity of the second temple game. Where the guys have to stick the mini walking sticks on the cubes, while avoiding the swinging obstacles. All while wearing brown/colored velcro shirts. I don't think I've ever seen a temple game with that objective before. It was a close match, but Chris just barely edged out James at the last second. In the third temple game, James did great catching the balls, but Erica sucked slinging them over to him. Chris and Ryann had little to no trouble, and thus won the temple game and a trip to the temple!

The temple run unfortunately, is pretty disappointing. One thing I'd like to make note of is the Forest/Shrine passage was ALWAYS open. Even during the temple rundown, both doors were open the entire time. So I suppose that's what added to Chris' confusion. I still had to dock off points though, because he wasted unnecessary time in the Dark Forest. And we all know about Ryann. I figured giving her a "1" for the temple run would be a little harsh, since she really didn't last long at all. But still, you should always follow your partner's path with less than 2 pendants. I figure giving her a "3" for the temple run would be fitting, since she blew it, big time. If Chris hadn't wasted time in the Dark Forest, the team probably would've beaten Golden Ship's quickest loss record. Regardless, it was still the quickest loss of Season 2, and the third overall quickest loss in the shows history. Overall, this was a pretty good episode besides the temple run. It does feature a rare Blue vs. Orange pair, and the temple games were competitive. What really drags it down was Ryann's choke job in the Crypt.

THE LOST LOVE LETTER OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH

Derrick:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 7
Tiebreaker: +1
Temple Run: 6
Overall: 7.45

Whitney:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 6
Temple Run: 5
Overall: 6.2

Tatyana:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 6
Team Game: 6
Overall: 6.5

George:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 5
Team Game: 6
Overall: 6.5

NOTES:

Just an average episode here. Derrick was clearly the strongest player out of the four. The rest were just average. The temple games, like Harriet Tubman, featured a unique sequence and were pretty competitive. Derrick did great in his game, while George struggled. The temple games came down to a tiebreaker, where Derrick rang in correctly and won. The temple run wasn't that exciting. I gave Whitney a rather low score because she moved much too slowly. And there was no excuse whatsoever to pass up that half pendant. It's not THAT hard to spot a half pendant on the inactive King's Storeroom actuator. Though with a mere 26 seconds left on the clock, even if she did grab the half pendant, I doubt she would've reached the Lost Love Letter. Not much else to note except that Whitney is one of two contestants (the other being Tony from the "Stone Head" episode), to assemble the four snake Medusa's Lair. The only difference is, Whitney's completion wasn't an epic fail like Tony's attempt was.

THE DIARY OF DR. LIVINGSTONE

Tabitha:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: N/A
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 6
Overall: 6.75

Brett:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 9
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 6
Overall: 7.2

Adrianne:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: N/A
Team Game: 6
Overall: 6.7

Sean:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 5
Team Game: 6
Overall: 5.75

NOTES:

Yet another average episode. Nothing really stood out except for the temple games, which is the only episode in Season 2 where all four players had to wear their windbreaker jackets for the wet temple games. I did not score the girls for the squirting game. Since like "Lucky Pillow," it was luck based and therefore I couldn't score it. It's kind of funny how "Bagdad" was spelled incorrectly too. The second temple game is by far the quickest temple game I have ever seen. It only took Brett around 7 seconds to put a jewel on the hood of the spitting animal head. It would've given him a 10, but since it was only one jewel he needed, I only knocked him down to a "9." To me, the second game was way too easy. But in defense, it had to have been the first time the spitting animal head game was used. So naturally, the game was made harder in the other episodes it was used in. In the third game, it could've been a tie. But, Brett knocked off one of the balls on the wall, and it wasn't counted against him. Nonetheless, the Blue Barracudas were gonna go to the temple with 2 pendants. And the temple run was just unexciting. I get it was the exact same layout as "Metal Beard," but it's hard to get into a run where the players are just average at best. The only thing I can remember about this run is Brett's detours into every single room of the temple. Which is the very same thing Randy did in the "Metal Beard" temple run. But, I suppose it's a better run than the previous two triple captures before it.

THE BONE NECKLACE OF THE BLACKFEET CHIEF

Leah:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 6
Overall: 6.6

Brandon:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 9
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 7
Overall: 7.4

Holly:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 6
Team Game: 6
Overall: 6.75

Jay:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 6
Team Game: 7
Overall: 6.5

NOTES:

Out of all the episodes on this filming day, this is probably my favorite. Even though this episode is on the average side as well. The moat was okay, the Purple Parrots moved pretty slowly. The Silver Snakes fell in the moat, giving the Parrots the opening they needed. During the Steps of Knowledge, both Brandon and Holly were great with the buzzer for their respective teams. Neither Leah or Jay attempted to ring in, but I refuse to give someone a "1" for not giving any response. For the temple games, the Purple Parrots were VERY strong, and managed to beat the Red Jaguars in the temple games 2-1. Marking the only time Purple ever beats Red in the temple games. And trust me, there were A LOT of episodes that would've been better if Purple had beat Red more often. The temple run was pretty average. The problem was: speed. Leah was a painfully slow runner. I know it seems like a contradiction to give her a "6" but Whitney a "5," but I just felt like Leah was a stronger player. Brandon moved a tad faster than Leah, and even assembled the monkey in pretty quick time. So I gave him an extra point there. And he grabbed the Bone Necklace with 12 seconds to go. On his way out, he went into Medusa's Lair, and down into the Throne Room, where time ran out. During Brandon's descent into the Throne Room, the Throne wall rotated, which is one out of the two times the wall rotates counterclockwise. The other episode being "The Luck Medallion of Atocha." Either way, this is the last of two episodes (the other being "King Tut's Cobra Staff") where the Purple Parrots reach an artifact, but don't bring it out. If these players had moved faster, this would've been a win for sure.

Overall, this was an average filming day. There's no amazing episode, but there's no terrible episode either. It's also worth noting that on this filming day, Orange beat Blue, Blue beat Purple, Purple beat Red, and Red beat Orange in the temple games. Making for a curricular rotation of which team made it to the temple games, and which team got beat. Also, I should note that I did "Dr. Livingstone's" rankings from memory, so if my rankings for that episode are inaccurate, feel free to correct me. The rest I've seen pretty recently, with Harriet Tubman I've seen today, so those rankings should be just fine.

[The Red Jaguars]

Awesome choice for a production day. No one has really reviewed any of these episodes yet. I remember I did Blackfeet Chief along time ago, and your score was about the same as mine for Leah and Brandon. Here is how I see it:

HARRIET TUBMAN:
It's always fun to watch when a contestant answers a question in the Steps before Olmec reveals any of the answers. But getting three in a row without Olmec revealing a single answer? Give this guy a medal. The Blue Barracuda boy was definitely attentive throughout the legend. Or maybe he knew Harriet Tubman well from school? But yeah, Harriet Tubman had some creative rounds before the temple run. Like the one where they had to climb the vines and punch the cubby holes. That one was hardly used in S2. And of course, we had the rate Orange/Blue temple games.

Man, that temple run was painful to watch though. Chris did pretty good in the temple, aside from trying the direct path to the Walking Stick. He made it to the Shrine with 1:30 for Ryann to work with. Unfortunately, her run ended in the Crypt and she only lasted like 4 seconds in the temple. Talk about inattentive. But I agree, I don't think she deserves a 1 either. She never really got a chance to prove herself. For all we know, she could've been an Elisa or Jessica. Too bad though that it ended this way. But that's why you should always follow your partner's path.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH:
Here is an episode I reviewed in my Episode Ranking thread. The episode was decent IMO, but it wasn't anything special. I liked how the legend talked about the real story behind Pocahontas. The temple games were close, and I liked the one where Whitney and the Orange Iguana girl climbed up the vines and found ears of corn to put on the scale (like the game used in "Harriet Tubman". The Red Jaguars finally win a legit tiebreaker (unlike Alhambra ). The temple run kind of sucks, but they wouldn't have won if Whitney found her half-pendant. The only real notable thing was that Whitney had to put four snakes into Medusa's head. She didn't struggle as long as Tony did, but she still lasted a long time in that room. And your right, she should've saw that half-pendant. But I doubt she would've reached the Dark Forest with that pace she was moving at.

DR. LIVINGSTONE:
This episode was pretty average despite the team winning. It seems like Brett was the better player through according to your rankings. It's been a while since I have seen this episode, but I do remember the quick temple games. Brett's temple game completion was pretty insane also. But I am surprised that the producers only allowed one jewel. Tabitha's game was lucked-based, so there was no real way to rank her. Too bad as it kind of brings her score down. The temple win was average and pretty boring. Tabitha moved slow and the only real objective they had to complete was the Viper's Nest. Brett got lucky with his temple exit also. I am not sure why he took such an unusual way out of the temple. "Egyptian Queen" is much more exciting because at least TJ and Randy were fast and that one came down to the wire. This one made you wonder if they will make it past the finish line. It was a decent episode and better than the above two, but there are better episodes and wins on the show.

BLACKFEET CHIEF:
I agree, this is also my favorite episode from this production day. I do remember the moat for the Purple Parrots barely making pass it. But they turned it around and dominated the later rounds. Brandon was particularly good at the Steps of Knowledge. I also love the faces he makes throughout the whole episode. The temple games were pretty much in favor of Steve and Leah. This was the only time the Purple Parrots beat the Red Jaguars. And I agree, the Purple Parrots would've done better in some episodes for Purple/Red (Golden Ship and Frederick Douglass comes to mind.) The temple run was kind of boring due to the player's speeds, but it wasn't a bad one at all. Leah was so damn slow though. Don't these players know that they are racing against the clock? Good thing she got taken out in the Dark Forest. Brandon was slightly faster and he had one of the fastest Silver Monkey completions on the show. He even grabbed the Bone Necklace and made it to the Pit with it before time ran out. They didn't win at the end due to Leah's slow speed and Steve's awkward exit plan. Other than that, this was a good episode and it's not as bad as people make it out to be.

Overall, I think I would rank the production day like this:
Blackfeet Chief > Dr. Livingstone > Harriet Tubman > Captain John Smith

[Purple Parrots Fan]

First of all, it's Brandon, not Steve.

But yeah, the Blue Barracuda boy from "Harriet Tubman" was amazing. He did better than those teams who actually swept the Steps of Knowledge. As for the girls temple game, the one with the net and cubby holes was used A LOT in Season 2. And also in Season 3, so it's really not an uncommon game at all. And yeah, I remember your episode review for the Lost Love Letter episode. It ranked pretty well actually, but the temple run brought it down. As for Dr. Livingstone, Brett was definitely the stronger player. It seems like there was at least ONE strong player in each of the four episodes on this day. But even then, the win was just not exciting. And Bone Necklace was definitely the strongest episode of the day. It's pretty much the only Red vs. Purple episode I even like. The rest are either boring, or just suck. Though I disagree about Golden Ship being a better run if Purple won instead. Yes, Joe and Gabby lost in the quickest time ever, and Purple would've won 2 pendants in the temple games. But it's not like either team was impressive anyways. Smashed Printing Plate, Nzinga, and maybe Golden Goblet, definitely would've been better if Purple won instead.

By the way, are you still gonna do rankings for the Cricket Cage/John Sutter filming day? I'm not rushing you or anything, but I would be interested to see how they rank compared to THK's rankings on those. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure THK ranked the Harriet Tubman filming day just before the database crash last year. I don't remember his rankings on that though.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, THK definitely ranked some of the Season 2 episodes. I know that he did the Butch Cassidy and Golden Stallion production day. I don't remember if he made it to the Blackfeet Chief day though? He also did the S1L8 day (King Tut day) and S1L9 day (Anne Bonny day), but those got lost in the crash too. Too bad also. But I do remember he gave David from "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress" an 8 in the temple. 

But yeah, Golden Ship/Map to the Lost Gold Mine is definitely my next project. Since we are ranking "Lost Hammer" tomorrow in GM1's thread, I might as well start off with that one. Then I will brace myself with Golden Cricket Cage and Golden Ship. At least I have Map to the Lost Gold Mine to top it off. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Hold the phone, an 8 for the temple?! He deserves a 10! Even though I haven't ranked his episode before, I certainly remember the temple run. I swear, I just don't understand his rankings. =/

And thanks for spoiling it for me which episode we're gonna rank come tomorrow night. If it's any consolation, at least Lost Hammer will be fresh in your mind since we're all rating the episode. And it'll be easier for you to rank. When you find the time to do it of course.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, I definitely would've gave him a 10. I can understand a 9.5 or even a 9 just for the detours into the Cave of Sigh and Heart Room. But other than that, David's performance was amazing and that temple exit he pulled off was awesome. Not many contestants could've done on what he done.

I think some people like to look down on the S1 contestants like Jennifer, Jammin John, Lea, and David because their victories were from Season 1. Some people (no one specifically) are like "Well if you give Jennifer and Damian the Mussel-Shell Armor layout, they would be eaten alive by the Season 3 temple". I don't think it's fair to compare a S1 contestant to a S3 contestant. The S1 contestants knew NOTHING about the temple. It was a big learning curve for them when they ran it. For S2 and S3 contestants, they had past episodes to look at to get an idea of the temple. Yeah, the S1 contestants beelined for the direct path and didn't use many shortcuts. But they didn't know any better and the whole temple was like a learning experience for them. If they got a second shot at the temple, I am sure most would do better. I don't mind when people compare wins from the same season (like Jeremy and Erika failing in the Map to the Lost Gold Mine layout). But it makes no sense to compare a S1 to a S3 win when there is a whole of difference between the two seasons. Even the producers were more helpful to the contestants in S3.

And sorry for spoiling Lost Hammer for you, I knew you were waiting your whole life for that episode to come up. Just kidding. Bu I think I have only watched the whole episode once or twice IIRC. Maybe I can get the rankings up by the weekend since the S1 episodes are not that hard to rate. And the episode itself probably isn't too bad either. I mean Kim and Billy both won their individual games and two pendants altogether. They can't be that bad before the temple run.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Exactly. You can't say a Season 1 or Season 2 player would do badly in a Season 3 temple. That's not a fair comparison at all, though there are some exceptions to that rule. If Missy, David, and Jennifer were each given a Season 3 temple, I'm sure they would do just fine. They would still win the same way they did in their actual layouts. And yeah, I've only seen the full episode to Lost Hammer only twice. I remember Billy and Kim being first in the moat and winning 2 pendants in the temple games. It's Kim that screwed everything up. Oh well, you like that episode as much as Cricket Cage. So I bet you're looking forward to ranking it. If I ever rank a Season 1 layout, I'll probably do the S1L4 filming day. Geronimo and Great Seal (the latter I've rewatched recently), I can do from memory. Since I've seen both episodes numerous times. Magellan and Lucky Pig I'd have to rewatch, and I certainly don't look forward to watching either episode.

And I almost forgot, here's how I'd rank the first S2L2 episodes:
Blackfeet Chief > Dr. Livingstone > Captain John Smith > Harriet Tubman

I ranked them in almost the same order you did, only switch Captain John Smith and Harriet Tubman.

[The Red Jaguars]

I did the first half of S1L2. So far, I covered only Lost Hammer and Golden Cricket Cage. I will post the other two tomorrow. These first two episodes were painful to sit through, but otherwise the first half is done. I will definitely get to Elizabeth I and Map to the Lost Gold Mine tomorrow. I can't wait until I cover the Gold Mine team either.

But for now, you guys get the two crappiest episodes from that day.  

JOHN HENRY'S LOST HAMMER

Kim
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 6
Temple Run: 1
Overall: 5.60

Billy
Moat: 8
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 8.5
Team Game: 5.5
Temple Run: 5
Overall: 6.80

Julia
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 7.5
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 5
Overall: 6.62

Walter
Moat: 7.5
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 5
Team Game: 5
Overall: 5.10

NOTES:
Honestly, this episode was pretty good up until the temple run. A lot of mediocre temple runs had mediocre rounds prior to them (like the next episode that I am going to cover), but this one seemed like a normal episode up until the temple run. This episode showed switched dominance between the Silver Snakes and Orange Iguanas. Both the Silver Snakes and Orange Iguanas were neck and neck in the moat. The Orange Iguanas swept the Steps in this episode, while Billy and Kim got one answer wrong but eventually bounced back by answering consecutive correct answers.

Billy and Kim shined in the temple games though. Both players won their individual temple games and they both looked like good players out there. Billy pretty much smoked the Orange Iguana boy in his individual game where they had to climb the shaft and place rocks at the top. It seemed like the Iguana boy gave up at the end. Both teams were struggling in the team game though and the Silver Snakes got very lucky to tie it in the last couple of seconds or else they would've forced a 1 pendant tiebreaker.

Now, the temple run is where everything gets ugly. I absolutely have to give Kim a 1 though for the temple run. What went wrong with her? She was the only player that did not know how to press an actuator and she even was knocking on the doors and expecting them to open up that way. This same problem occurred in the Heart Room too! Because of this, I had to give her a 1. While Billy was guilty of wasting time in the Spider's Lair, I wasn't so hard on him because he sort of redeems this run in a way. If he didn't climb the Spider's Lair webbing, I think they would've come close to the Lost Hammer. But the run was lost when Kim didn't know how to push an actuator.

It was a mediocre episode, but everything else about it wasn't bad at all. The Silver Snakes were doing fine until the temple run.

THE GOLDEN CRICKET CAGE OF KHAN

John
Moat: 4
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 5
Team Game: 5
Temple Run: 1
Overall: 4.40

Tia
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 3
Team Game: 5
Temple Run: 1
Overall: 4.40

Michelle
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 4
Overall: 6.00

Mike
Moat: 3
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 6
Team Game: 4.5
Overall: 5.38

NOTES:
Unlike "Lost Hammer", this episode was a disaster. The moat in this episode seemed to give more teams trouble. John was halfway across the moat and he struggled majorly getting across. Yet, he somehow managed to chime in first. The Purple Parrots finished last and it was painful to watch these teams struggle.

The rest of the rounds were just mediocre. The temple games were pretty embarassing and the Purple Parrots really should've gone to the temple. How did the Silver Snakes win? Well Tia tied her game and they barely won the last temple game. Also, John looked like a fool and got beat by a girl in his temple game.

The temple run... I think we all know how bad it is. Unlike THK, I gave John a 1 in the temple. This kid wasted over a minute trying to get to the Heart Room and this includes backtracking all the way to the Cave of Sighs. Who knows how far he would've made it if he wasn't taken out in the Heart Room? Tia was even worse (if that was possible) and this whole temple run was a load of crap. These two made it through 4 rooms in 3 minutes and there is nothing good to say about it. At least "Lost Hammer" had Billy who sort of redeemed that run.

The Purple Parrots would've done much better than these two losers. Even though I wasn't impressed with the myself, they still performed better than John and Tia. No doubt in my mind they would've had a better temple performance. This whole episode is laughable and John was such an annoying loser also.

ELIZABETH I'S GOLDEN SHIP

Joe
Moat: 7.5
Steps of Knowledge: 8.5
Individual Game: 5
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 4
Overall: 6.40

Gabby
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 7.5
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 4
Overall: 6.70

Mike
Moat: 6.5
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 3
Overall: 6.38

Andrea
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 8.5
Individual Game: 5
Team Game: 5
Overall: 6.38

NOTES:
Another episode that is pretty infamous around here. Except, this one was sort of better than the ones above. The moat in this episode was much better than Cricket Cage, and Gabby and Joe made it across first. The Purple Parrots finished close behind them and both teams were first and second respectively. Both teams were good in n the Steps. During one of the questions, Joe was unsure of the answer and says "What was it again?" real loud that you can hear him. He still got the answer right though.

I have to say the first temple game was a terrible idea. The ships that the guys had to put on their heads kept falling off. Mike did a pretty good job at keeping his ships on his head, but Joe kept knocking them off. The way Joe was moving through the dragon tunnels was pretty unorthodox also. So I gave him the lower temple score. The second temple game is infamous for the "wig incident" where there were only three wigs when there were suppose to be four. Why were there only 3? I guess the producers dropped the ball and forgot one. Gabby was doing a good job in that temple game though and if that last wig was in the bin, she would've easily beat the Purple Parrot girl. But the Purple Parrots looked REALLY bad at the team game though. The Purple Parrot boy was struggling trying to get his flag piece from his partner. meanwhile, Joe and Gabby had good chemistry and did a good job. In the end, the Red Jaguars win and got to the temple.

Not much to say about the temple run though. Gabby and Joe only lasted four rooms and it was the quickest loss. The temple guard placement was unfair and we never see their true potential. But boy were these two slow. I had to give them a 4 because there is no reason to cover four easy rooms in 1:30 time span. That is all I have to say about this temple run.

JOHN SUTTER AND THE MAP TO THE LOST GOLD MINE

Damian
Moat: 9
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 9
Overall: 8.00

Jennifer
Moat: 8
Steps of Knowledge: 9
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 8
Temple Run: 9
Overall: 8.40

Perry
Moat: 7.5
Steps of Knowledge: 7.5
Individual Game: 5
Team Game: 7.5
Overall: 6.88

Brook
Moat: 6.5
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 6
Team Game: 7.5
Overall: 7.00

NOTES:
If you didn't know already, but I love this episode. Seriously, it's such a fun episode and not only was the best episode of S1L2, but it was also one of the best episodes on the whole show. Luckily, they saved the best for last.

If you didn't know already, Jennifer and Damian were in "John Henry's Lost Hammer" as the Blue Barracudas. They didn't make it past the moat though in that episode. That is alright though, because they kicked ass though and had a strong return in this episode! They went first in the moat, first in the Steps, won two pendants in the temple games, and won their temple run. Not many teams share that same stat line, but they were the first to do this.

THK originally gave Damian a 0 in the Steps of Knowledge. I don't agree with this score at all. Even though Damian didn't answer any questions, that doesn't mean he didn't know any of the answers. Giving him a 0 makes him look worst than he really performed. iO always give a player at least a 7 even if they don't answer a qestion. Jennifer was the one that was chiming in and she did an amazing job in the Steps. She was attentive and even got an answer right with any of the choices being revealed. I am not sure how the Silver Snakes made it to the temple games though. They barely advanced by the moat and now they just barely advanced by the Steps.

The Blue Barracudas were pretty strong in the temple games too. This biggest highlight of the temple games is the miscount of the first temple game. In the first temple game, the contestants were pushing pieces of gold through the dragon tunnel. In the end, Kirk miscounted the final score. The Silver Snakes actually had more pieces of gold than the Blue Barracudas. But he called it a tie. It didn't matter, because Damian was moving much faster than Brooke and would've won anyways if he had a couple of more seconds left to put his other pieces of gold into the bin. Jennifer had bad luck in her individual game where she dropped one of her sacks of gold. She was doing better than the Silver Snake boy and would've won if that sack of gold didn't drop on her. But at least they still tied.

For the last temple game, I noticed something that I have never noticed before. During the team game, after the players had to slide down the slope, they were suppose to run back through the middle of the slides in order to reposition themselves again. Damian kept running on the wrong side of the slides because he was suppose to run through the middle. I don't really call this cheating, but I deducted a point from him for not following the rules. But Kirk clearly stated they had to run through the middle. The last team game was a nailbiter though but the Barracudas won.

The temple win is very exciting and I can't understand why people think Jennifer's temple performance was so flawed. Yeah, she hesitated in a couple of rooms of the temple, but many S1 players did that. I am not sure on what basis that THK gave her a 6 in the temple. She didn't seem clueless to me at all. Even though her strategy didn't work out, it didn't throw her off at all. She moved very fast in the temple and brought the Map to the Lost Gold Mine out with quite some time to spare. Pretty good considering she had to move through 8 rooms. I gave Damian a 9 also because his speed was unbelievable and who knows how far he would've made if he wasn't taken out early? If Annie gets a lot of praise, he should also receive recognition. 

This was a great episode and team and I am not sure why THK ranked these two players so low. A team that wins first in every round is definitely not a fluke. I loved this episode and it was a nice way to cap off an otherwise miserable production day.

Overall, this production day was pretty sucky up until the very last episode. Those first three temple runs are among the worst in the series. But Map to the Lost Gold Mine on the other hand was one of the best. This is how I rank the episodes overall:

Map to the Lost Gold Mine >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Golden Ship > Lost Hammer > Piss and poop > Golden Cricket Cage

[Purple Parrots Fan]

At long last, the S1L2 episodes! I'll hold off on commentary until you finish the other two episodes. Which I assume you'll just edit your post.

[The Red Jaguars]

I finished my rankings for Golden Ship and Map to the Lost Gold Mine and placed them in the post with Cricket Cage/Lost Hammer. The Lost Gold Mine one is a pretty long read, but it was worth it. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Alright, comment time!

Lost Hammer was an okay episode, at least until the temple run. Kim totally blew it in the temple, as we already know. How do you NOT know how to press an actuator? Did she see the Wall Climb doors opened when teams tour the temple in the pre temple rounds, and assume it was supposed to stay opened? That's the only logical conclusion/theory I can come up with. -_-

Cricket Cage.... god I can't imagine sitting through that episode. I've only seen the full episode literally once, so I don't remember the pre temple rounds. Did the male Purple Parrot really do THAT bad in the moat? I noticed you and THK ranked him low on that. I remember it being a really long moat, but again, I don't really remember. And the Purple Parrots for sure should've gone to the temple! Come on, they couldn't possibly have done that worse, according to THK. They totally deserved to go to the temple, I know for sure they would've done a better job. This is one episode I will never, ever watch again. This is permanently on my black list and I will ALWAYS skip over this entire episode when watching on YouTube. Just like I do with trash episodes like Bifocal Monocle, Cracked Crown, and Smashed Printing Plate.

Golden Ship is a pretty mundane episode. Aside from the "wig incident" in the second temple game, nothing really happens. And not much else to say about the temple run except, if they had moved faster, I can imagine how much time would be left on the clock. I would've given them both a 5 for the temple run, instead of a 4. But, it really shouldn't take you 1:30 for two teams to enter four rooms. Even if they were allowed to keep going, they still wouldn't have reached the artifact.

And the best for last, John Sutter! Unlike the other three episodes, I've seen this one a bunch of times, and with a good reason. Anyways, I love this episode. This is my favorite Season 1 episode, either this or Lawrence of Arabia. Jennifer and Damian were first in the moat, first in the Steps of Knowledge, won 2 pendants, and won with 17 seconds left on the clock! They both did great with their second chance, considering they lost at the moat in the Lost Hammer episode. And might I add that I completely agree with both PP319 and your rankings much more than I do THK's rankings. Damian did not deserve a 3 for the Steps of Knowledge. I know there are smart people out there, but not everyone is gonna sweep the Steps of Knowledge before Olmec reveals the choices. Not every contestant is Silver Snakes from Icarus smart or Blue Barracuda boy from Harriet Tubman smart. Just because you don't ring in with any questions, doesn't make you stupid. This is why I like your rankings better, you're much more generous than THK and you don't count points off for silly reasons. The temple games were great too, though the Blue Barracudas should've gone to the temple with 1.5 pendants, if it's really true the first game was miscounted. If that had happened, I assume the producers would've pulled an "Anne Bonny," and hid the half pendant on the Throne Room ladder. Especially considering the run before them lost so quickly. Either way, the Blue Barracudas excelled in their temple games, and the Silver Snakes were no match for them whatsoever. To quote Kirk, "That's the problem with Snakes they don't have feet!" The temple run was just amazing. Damian was very fast in the short time he was in the temple. Though I probably would've given him a "7" or an "8" for the temple run. We never got to see what he was made of. I would've given Jennifer at least an "8." She may have gotten confused at times, but that doesn't make her a terrible player. She did a wonderful job, she was very fast and knew what to do in every room despite minor confusion in some places. Furthermore, her slip on the floor was not only hilarious, but it just made it that much more memorable. I don't understand the hate for this run at all. And I certainly don't consider it overrated. This team deserved to win, I have a feeling THK used to pick on this win just to pick a reason not to like it. And just because of all the praise it gets and just because everyone else likes it. I MUCH prefer this win over Shaka Zulu. Now that was one of the worst wins ever.

Overall, this was a terrible production day until our "Gold Mine" (pun intended) came around. I've only seen Lost Hammer and Golden Ship twice, and Cricket Cage once. But John Sutter I've seen a bunch of times, because it's just an amazing episode with amazing players. One other thing I want to note is, what was with the Steps of Knowledge ring in sound in all the episodes? It was way off key and high pitch. It wasn't like that in any of the other episodes. It just sounded.... bizarre. Like always, great rankings and ALL of the players ranked significantly higher than when THK ranked them. If I had to choose a Season 1 layout to rank, I'd probably do S1L4's filming day, like I said I would earlier in this thread. And you wanted to do Apanuugpak's filming day as well. If you do rank them, it would be interesting to see how Kimberly and Gator rank in their respective episodes. And LOL at your overall rankings. Mine would go like this:

John Sutter >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Golden Ship >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Lost Hammer >>>>>>>>> Cricket Cage

[The Red Jaguars]

Thanks for the feedback as usual. 

I think I have watched and talked about Lost Hammer so many times now that I might as well do an episode review on it. I will probably do that in the next couple of days.

The moat for Golden Cricket Cage was pretty laughable and bad. None of the other episodes that day had teams struggle in the moat. The Purple Parrot boy's problem was that he kept dangling in the middle of the moat trying to align his paddle board. But then again, every other team seemed to have this problem too. Even John had trouble for the same thing, except that he crossed first. I don't think it was possible for any team to do worse than John and Tia. It is very hard to think of a way to trump these two losers. Even Sabrina made more progress than both players in the temple. The Parrots would've 99.99% done better than the Silver Snakes.

Maybe I will change Joe and Gabby's temple score to a 5. I mean their only problem was that they were really slow. But yeah, I don't think they would've won even if they didn't meet all three guards.

And Lost Gold Mine is my favorite S1 episode too after Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress. As for the temple game miscount, I didn't really hold that against the Blue Barracudas at all. It was a mistake on the production team and nothing Damian did wrong. Although it makes me wonder if Damian had 5 golden nuggets in his bin also because he only completed one trip like the Silver Snake girl did? I have to rewatch that temple game again. Perhaps there was no miscount after all and Kirk just didn't look closely enough at the number of nuggets in each bin?

Maybe I will lower Damian's temple score to an 8 just because speed doesn't mean everything and his temple appearance was short-lived. I think Jennifer's score is fitting (maybe an 8.5 might be more suitable for her). Her only flaw was she wasted time in the Torch Room. Other than that, she moved fast and didn't get turned around at all. Either way, it was an amazing victory. And the fact that anyone considers Shaka Zulu is an amazing win makes me wonder if that was the only temple victory they watched. It's kind of cool for the fast victory and production error, but at the same time is really lame and nothing accomplishing about it at all.

And I love your idea of an episode black list. In addition to the ones that you mentioned, I would add Snow Cone, Nzinga, Enormous Feather, Snow Cone, Amelia Earhart, and Jean Lafitte to that list.      If those episodes disappeared over night, I won't shed a tear at all.

And yeah, I keep setting the Apanuugpak rankings back. I swear I am 3/4 done (Lily-Crested Crown, Apanuugpak, and Poseidon) are already completed. That should leave me with just Gwalior or Belle Boyd  or whatever that last episode was.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Red Sash was the first episode of the Apanuugpak day. Gwalior and Belle Boyd aren't until much later in the season. But seeing that you're 3/4 done with those rankings, it shouldn't take you long to put it up.

And yeah, maybe you should do Lost Hammer for your next "full episode" ranking. I doubt you'll have to rewatch it yet again though, considering you've already watched it for this particular thread. As for Cricket Cage, I'm 100% confident that the Purple Parrots would've done a better job. I don't understand how "they didn't deserve to win anything," even if their pre temple performance was less than impressive. And I'd definitely take John Sutter over Shaka Zulu any day. Like you said, speed doesn't mean anything. Which is why it is so mind boggling that Bobby is a better player than Jennifer because "he moved fast and got lucky with his path." How people say Shaka Zulu is "the best temple run ever" is beyond me.

Hah, and I just randomly coined the term "black list" out of nowhere. Those are just episodes I absolutely REFUSE to touch, no matter how many times I go on YouTube to rewatch an episode. Basically episodes like Cricket Cage, Lost Hammer, Alhambra, Blackbeard, Missing Weather Maps, Dried Apple Half, Kilimanjaro, etc. are episodes I never intend on watching ever again. By the way, you mentioned Snow Cone twice on your list.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Here are my next set of rankings. And this time, it's the S1L4 filming day:

THE LOST LOGBOOKS OF MAGELLAN

Robert:
Moat: 8
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 9
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 6
Overall: 7.2

Jessica:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 5
Individual Game: 3
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: 5
Overall: 5.2

Charles:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 5
Overall: 6.5

Jennifer:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 6
Overall: 7

NOTES:

This was a decent episode, albeit uneventful. If you couldn't already tell by the rankings, Jessica sucked. On the Steps of Knowledge, Jessica was VERY hesitant in answering questions. She kept on whispering her responses. She was so delayed at one point the Orange Iguanas rang in and stole her answer. And she sucked in her temple game. She couldn't even get a spice bag from the top of the ramp. The second temple game was pretty competitive. Both Charles and Robert were VERY fast with the Mr. Bubbles game where they had to put ships on all four corner of the world. Robert just barely edged out Charles, but it was still a close game. Neither team did well in the third game, and the Orange Iguanas in particular struggled. In the end, the Blue Barracudas beat the Orange Iguanas 8-6 in the final game which is an impressive score despite their struggling. The temple run was kind of unfortunate. It's kind of weird how the temple rundown music replayed when Kirk was giving instructions for the temple. Anyways, the team lost because of the dead end in the Room of Harmonic Convergence. If they had avoided that room altogether, they probably would've at least reached the Logbooks. But with Jessica's painfully slow speed in the temple, I doubt they would've won. Furthermore, Jessica's assembling of the monkey was by far the slowest, she assembled it in 33 seconds. Overall, it's a typical episode, and you're not really missing anything. Though it does feature a rare Blue vs. Orange match up, where this is the only episode where Blue beats Orange.

THE MOCCASINS OF GERONIMO

Mitchell:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 6
Temple Run: 5
Overall: 6.4

Emily:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 6
Team Game: 6
Temple Run: N/A
Overall: 6.25

William:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 5
Team Game: 4
Overall: 5.25

Erin:
Moat: 6
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 5
Overall: 6

NOTES:

I've seen this episode so many times I know it like the back of my hand, so these rankings were done from memory. Anyways, this episode was pretty much average. Neither team was impressive at all, and the Silver Snakes were pretty subpar. Especially in the Steps of Knowledge, where they rang in wrong TWICE. Then again, the Blue Barracudas rang in wrong at one point as well. Emily whispered the wrong answer in Mitchell's ear, even Mitchell was like "WTF?!" Nonetheless, they still finished first, and Mitchell got the last question right without Olmec revealing the three choices. So his score on the Steps was a little higher there. The temple games weren't much better, and the Silver Snakes performed even worse than they did on the Steps. Both William and Erin especially struggled in the last temple game, where they kept knocking down their ti-pi's. Also, is it me or does William look like Jonathan from the Battle Flag episode? And we all know about the temple run, where Mitchell got lucky with the treasure chest. I do not in any way, shape or form think Mitchell planned this at all. It's called dumb luck, and he was just lucky that the chest just happened to open that day. And when he grabs the Moccasins, he tries to assemble the monkey! Overall, an undeserved win and way overpraised.

HENRY VIII'S GREAT SEAL

Shay:
Moat: 8
Steps of Knowledge: 8
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 8
Temple Run: 6
Overall: 7.4

Nick:
Moat: 8
Steps of Knowledge: 9
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 8
Temple Run: 7
Overall: 7.8

Jordan:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 7
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 6
Overall: 7

Annie:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 6
Overall: 6.5

NOTES:

Now this was a great episode! Both Shay and Nick were such a strong team. They blazed through the Steps of Knowledge and were down to the final step within four questions. Now I have to strongly disagree with THK's rankings of Annie during the Steps. He gave her a "1" and said she didn't attempt to ring in once. First of all, SHE DID answer all the questions, it was her partner Jordan who hit the buzzer. Second of all, I refuse to give a "1" to a contestant who doesn't ring in. Were THK and I watching the same episode? =/ Anyways, Jordan was very hesitant during the Steps, much like Jessica from Magellan was. He hesitated so much at one point the "3 seconds" buzzer went off, but he still got the question right. The temple games featured a very interesting temple game sequence. And the round was very memorable too, especially with Kirk slipping in the Mr. Bubbles when trying to help Nick up. Shay and Jordan's game featured the rare Bamboo Forest game. Interestingly enough, they both had to wear REALLY oversized colored jackets to represent Henry VIII's weight gain in the legend. And Kirk makes a comment "My, have you gained weight." You're a prince, Kirk. -_- Anyways, both Shay and Jordan did well in their game, but Jordan was faster, so he ended up winning. The third temple game was a good competition as well. But in the end, the Silver Snakes did better in the game, and won. The temple run was awesome, even though this team got triple captured. If they hadn't beelined for a direct path, they would've won for sure. We all know about the temple guards in this episode, which you can totally tell frazzled Shay. She did a decent job, but she did move a tad slow. She was so startled by the Heart Room's temple guard, she nearly retreated down the ladder. And of course we have Nick's memorable exit. Both players did a decent job in the temple, their only mistake was using the Cave of Sighs entrance. Even then, this was one of the best Season 1 episodes, and I can see why Teenick played this episode twice.

THE LUCKY PIG OF AMELIA EARHART

Kristen:
Moat: 5
Steps of Knowledge: 5
Individual Game: 4
Team Game: 6
Temple Run: 3
Overall: 4.6

Scott:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 8
Team Game: 7
Temple Run: N/A
Overall: 7

Annie:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 9
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 7
Overall: 7.5

Brad:
Moat: 7
Steps of Knowledge: 6
Individual Game: 7
Team Game: 5
Overall: 6.25

NOTES:

Wow, take a look at Kristen's score. You know you don't deserve to go to the temple when you can't even make a 5 average. Seriously, she was a worse player than I thought when I was ranking her. As for the rest of the episode, it was pretty decent actually. At least until the temple run. On the Steps of Knowledge, Annie was a beast with the buzzer. She got at least one of the questions before Olmec even revealed the three choices. The Blue Barracudas kind of sucked in the beginning, but they eventually came from behind. It's funny how both Kristen AND Scott got an answer wrong in unison. The temple games were another unique sequence, and it was the exact same games from Great Seal. In the first game, both Scott and Brad were fast in their game where they had to put pig figurines in the four corners of the world. Scott ended up winning, since Brad was starting to slow down at the end. The second game was the Bamboo Forest game, and both Annie and Kristen kind of struggled here. But, Annie ended up winning since she did move MUCH more quickly than Kristen did. In the third game, Brad sucked because he kept trying to put airplanes on his head. He already had one on his head, and he didn't even realize it! Annie did a solid job grabbing the planes from Brad's head though. If there's one positive thing I can say about Kristen, she also did a decent job grabbing planes off Scott's head. It was the solid lead the Barracudas had throughout the game that helped them win a trip to the temple. And the temple run was just pitiful. While it was a devilishly difficult layout, Kristen was WAY too slow to be first. First of all, she couldn't climb the Wall Climb walls to save her life. Second of all, she wasted an immense amount of time in the Dungeon. Both shrugging her shoulders AND not knowing how to bust through the wall. Thanks to her, Scott never even had a chance to go in. Yet another example of "Why you never send the slow witted player first in the temple." And it's such a shame he never got a chance to enter, since he was by far the strongest player. Furthermore, he carried the team throughout the episode, it's because of Kristen the team barely scraped by from round to round. Scott definitely should've gone in first, no doubt about it. And by looking at the rankings, Annie and Scott's higher scores just strengthen my view on how THEY should've been paired up. I was rooting for the Parrots in the temple games.

Overall, this was a rather subpar filming day. Great Seal is the only episode I recommend for re watching. Not even Geronimo is even that great of an episode. Though by comparison to my rankings and THK's rankings for this filming day, my grading is MUCH easier and much more generous than his was. Even then, this still doesn't save this filming day from being worth watching.

My rankings on all four episodes:

Great Seal >>>>>> Geronimo >>>>> Magellan >>>>>>>>>>>> Lucky Pig