Wild Bill Hickok and the Dead Man's Hand

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Wild Bill Hickok and the Dead Man's Hand was the second episode of the game show Legends of the Hidden Temple. It was also the first time the Orange Iguanas went to Olmec's Temple, and the first episode whose Temple Run resulted in the failed acquisition of an artifact.

1 Episode Summary
2 Quotes
3 Trivia
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Episode Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

At the moat, "one player from each team is kneeling on a raft and in his hand is an ancient staff of King Tut". They would brace the staff on the rope hanging above to get across. Once across, they would throw the raft and staff to their partner. Then, the second player would do the same. Once across, they would "run, staff in hand, over and hit the gong". Four teams would go on to the next round, and two would be eliminated. The Blue Barracudas, the Green Monkeys, the Orange Iguanas and the Silver Snakes moved forward to the Steps of Knowledge.

In this episode, Olmec's legend was about the death of Wild Bill Hickok. When he was shot, he was holding three aces and two 8s, which became known as the Dead Man's Hand. The Dead Man's Hand was in the Mine Shaft. Then, Olmec would ask the teams questions. To answer, they would have to stomp on the ancient marking in front of them. When Olmec asked, "Which of these men was a friend of Wild Bill and later fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn: General Grant, General Custer or Colonel Sanders?", the boy on the Silver Snakes answered, "Colonel Sanders!" The audience then burst into laughter. Needless to say, the Silver Snakes were one of two teams that did not go through to the third round.

The Green Monkeys and the Orange Iguanas went to the Temple Games, where they would compete to win Pendants of Life, which would come in handy when the winning team goes to infiltrate Olmec's Temple. The first Temple Game was called Dead Man's Hand. The male contestants had to retrieve the cards that made up the Dead Man's Hand (three aces and two 8s) from the top of a slippery ramp, and put them on a board. The first game ended in a tied score, so each team won a half Pendant of Life. In the second Temple Game, Shootout, female contestants threw balls through a ring. Kirk incorrectly called the second Game a tie, but the Orange Iguanas won. It didn't matter in the end, however; for the third Game, worth a full Pendant, was the one where female contestants threw balls at their teammates, and the Orange Iguanas— named Josh Sullener and Sarah Beckmeyer— scored the most times, giving them a total two Pendants between the three Temple Games.

Olmec then told the Orange Iguanas the objective of every room, and the different paths to take in order to reach the Mine Shaft and grab the Dead Man's Hand. This episode used Layout I, so Olmec's rundown was as follows: "You could start by running to the Room of the Three Gargoyles. Push in the right tongue, and a door might lead you down a staircase into the Wall Climb. Here you must choose your next path. You could race up to the Observatory, spin the sundial, and pass into the Room of the Golden Idols. Once there, push down on their bases to release the doors. That may take you below or lead you into the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Assemble the Statue there, and you may be headed for the Torch Room. If the elevator is up, you could jump in the elevator and descend into the Mine Shaft. Next, you could climb up the ladder or plow through the stone wall. Find the key, and it may unlock the Tombs of the Ancient Kings, allowing you to enter the Swamp. If you escape, you might have a chance to sit upon the Throne of the Pretender. If the correct door is unlocked, you could crawl through the Pit of Despair and, finally, make your way through the Cave of Size/Sighs and back to the Temple Gates. The choices are yours and yours alone. GOOD LUCK."

The team had won 2 Pendants in the Temple Games, so there was no possibility of the Temple Run being terminated by the third Temple Guard. Josh wanted to start by going through the lower floor, but he met his first Temple Guard in the Cave of Size/Sighs and fell backward out of shock. After getting back up and handing his Pendant to the Guard, he made his way to a crawl tube into the Wall Climb, from which he passed into the Throne Room. He sat down on the Throne and looked around to see if the door to the Swamp opened. (Unfortunately, he didn't notice that the door was indeed open a crack; the camera-left side of the room was not well lit at all, unlike in later episodes.) He then climbed up the ladder into the Heart Room, where the second Temple Guard was waiting.

Josh didn't have any more Pendants, so then Sarah had to go in and try to retrieve the Dead Man's Hand. She followed Josh's path all the way to the Heart Room (completely ignoring the door from the Throne Room to the Swamp) and tried the door into the Room of Golden Idols, but that didn't open. She tried to go back into the Wall Climb from there, but changed her mind and went up into the Observatory— which she eventually found out was a dead end. Sarah mostly spent time moving up and down throughout the three rooms in the center shaft, but she then realized that the door into the Swamp was open and she headed into the treacherous Swamp— where she met the third Temple Guard while holding a full Pendant of Life— with only 15 seconds left. When she got to the other end of the Swamp, she found out the door into the Tomb of the Ancient Kings wouldn't open either! Apparently the correct path went up into the Room of Golden Idols from the Swamp, but before Sarah could turn away from the locked door and start climbing up, time ran out. However, Josh and Sarah still won a LoneStar Singalodeon each as a consolation gift.

[edit] Quotes

Kirk: Olmec, are you ready?

Olmec: ROCK ON!

Olmec: Which of these men was a friend of Wild Bill and later fought in the battle of Little Bighorn: General Grant, General Custer or Colonel Sanders?

Silver Snakes: Colonel Sanders!

Olmec: That is incorrect!

(audience then bursts into laughter)

Kirk (During the third Temple Game, when the girls are throwing balls at their teammates and Sarah hits Josh in the gonads): "You don't want to shoot there, you want to shoot a little higher."

Kirk: "Each of you won two Pendants in the Temple Games." (Actually, Josh and Sarah had a total of two Pendants between them, not four.)

Kirk: "We've already seen both Temple Guards." (Of course, there are three Temple Guards assigned to protect Olmec's Temple.)

Kirk (During the post-run interview): Josh… (laughs) I wish everyone got to see your face when you got… uh… scared by the… uh… Temple Guard, right?

Josh: (unintelligible response)

Kirk: You might wanna take that mouthpiece out (laughs).

[edit] Trivia

The Dead Man's Hand was located in the Mine Shaft, the leftmost room on the lower floor. The closest the team got to it was the Swamp— only two rooms to the right.
The physical artifact was incorrectly referenced. The dead man's hand actually consists of the two black aces and the two black eights, along with an unknown fifth card. But the artifact used on the show was made up of three aces and two eights of both colors. Also, the show's host, Kirk Fogg, said that the Dead Man's Hand consisted of three aces and two eights during the description of the first Temple Game, where the players had to retrieve the cards which made up the Dead Man's Hand.^[1]

This was the second episode of Legends to finish production, completed after "Galileo's Cannonball."^[2] However, for a long time it was rumored that this episode was the first produced. Information which supported that popular belief is listed below:

Kirk miscounted the final score in the first and second Temple Games. (Kirk declared each a tie, although he should have given the second one only to the Orange Iguanas. It didn't really matter, however, as the Orange Iguanas won the third game and got the chance to enter Olmec's Temple.)^[1]
In the interview just before the Temple Games, Josh and Sarah gave both a first name and last name.^[1] (Contrary to popular belief, however, they weren't the only players to do such.)
The Temple Run music ended at an unusual time in this episode^[1]— but then again, it did in the episode "Galileo's Cannonball" as well.
Kirk referred to the last two teams as "Green Team" and "Orange Team," not "Green Monkeys" and "Orange Iguanas."^[1]