Hmmmm, what was I saying last week about expecting another episode that takes place in Southeast Asia? Didn't take long, but Josh will be flying all the way back to Thailand to investigate the Thai Tree People also known as the Naree Pons.

The word Naree means female and the creatures, according to legend, were created by the God Indra when he made a forest for Buddha. The fruit of the trees is said to resemble the female figure and one great hoax that was going around in 2008 showed fruit in the shape of perfectly formed female figures growing on a tree in miniature. I sure hope this is not what Josh is investigating. If it is, he should probably get Bill and Austin and the rest to come help.  The legend goes back well before 2008, though, so there is something to investigate other than the hoax.

Instead of having to abandon vehicles and ride motorcycles when the road again narrows, this time they abandon their elephants and walk. So I suppose Ryder can always still just fall down so we can eat up some more time while she's patched together.

The purpose of the elephants in this episode is for Josh to do another imitation of Indiana Jones, this time re-enacting the elephant trip to Pankot palace from Temple of Doom.  This is pure speculation, but I am guessing that these are Indian elephants which, as we found out, are more expensive to rent than the African variety, so DT's budget must be holding firm.

Josh also gets to show us his repelling skills although it's much less impressive when you realize that the cameraman is already at the bottom (having carried more gear than Josh) and filming his descent from below. It's also less impressive when it looks like the rock face they have to climb down is simply just a big rock that they probably climbed on top of moments before just to rope down. Ah entertainment!

For the other part, he and company are off to Cyprus looking for a confused reptile-like sea monster that would rather attack fishing nets than the more tasty people in the boats. This creature is said to look something like a porpoise and a dragon and has been called to filiko teras or "the Friendly Monster."  It must get it's friendliness from the porpoise genes rather than the dragon side of things. I cannot say for certain, but my best guess is that this was filmed during the last full week of November, 2010.

Interestingly, MANY websites are claiming that Crete is the destination for this episode but I am choosing Cyprus based upon legend and geography. That's what happens when people don't do their RESEARCH!

Some depictions of this creature have it with many dragon-like heads, calling to mind the creature of  mythology known as Scylla, the counterpart of Charybdis. but, if memory serves, Scylla was not friendly. The Hydra is another similar creature, but that one was not friendly, either.

Other depictions have a more "familiar" single-headed dragon and an overall aspect very similar to the creature of  Loch Ness fame and some stories even put the creature in a reservoir created by the Kouris Dam, much like our friend Ray.

It is a beautiful area so we should at least be treated to some nice island and ocean shots before they begin their investigation.

Revenant said:

Maybe even more impressive than the tree people was the name of the monk who had them.  How long was that name? 

You mean good ol' Prakrukosolwiriyakit himself?

I still want to know how you set up an electronic perimeter fence using line-of-sight devices that are (in this episode) barely two feet off the ground over any decent distance when things are that vegetated.

I like watching scenes of an investigator hacking his way through a dense thicket with a machete…filmed by a cameraman who somehow already found his way in front.

I like seeing Josh pretending he's jumping off some cliff as the only means of getting down to the water…and having his splashdown being filmed from under the water by a cameraman already under the water who obviously did not jump off the cliff with rig gear.

I like seeing Josh "leading" his team up a slippery cave slope…filmed by a cameraman who already made his way up above without incident…carrying more gear than Josh.

I like that they flew west to Los Angeles from Bangkok rather than going the much shorter direction of EAST.

I would like to have seen the rest of the IR camera footage that allowed them to make the insect determination.

I truly did like the fact that we finally had a crossover-free night!