Previously on Treasure Hunters, well, here’s my recap. The announcer (different from last episode’s voiceover guy at the beginning) promises that “everything is about to change.”
State Capitol Building, Lincoln, Nebraska. All the teams realize that there’s more to the game than they realized. Laird Mcintosh tells them what they already know – there are ten teams in the competition. For the next half of the stage, teams will pair up (one each from Alaska and Hawaii) based on the order that they got their clues, meaning that the pairs are:
Ex-CIA and Air Force
Southie Boys and Fogals
Young Professionals and Geniuses
Wild Hanlons and Grad Students
Miss USA and Browns
For the rest of the hunt, their laptops will also have access to a travel booking site, where they will make all of their travel arrangements. Don’t know what happened to their credit card, but whatever. Each pair of teams will be traveling by bus to their next destination.
Laird calls the teams by rank, and they board their buses and head off.
Once the buses drive off, Laird calls the teams and tells them that they’re headed in the wrong direction. But the drivers will not change course until they’re told the correct destination. The answers are found using the final clues each team got in Alaska and Hawaii (which looks to be a cryptogram), and where they have been (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln). Based on that, they’re probably either heading to Mount Rushmore or Washington, D.C. Laird’s voiceover confirms this (kinda), but the twist is that the driver will accept one of two destinations, and only one of those destinations contains the first of seven artifacts leading to the treasure.
Browns and Miss USA figure out that it says “Mt. Theodore Roosevelt”, which would seem like Rushmore to me. Geniuses and Young Professionals also decipher the clue. Meanwhile, Southie Boys and Fogals are debating the locations. Browns and Miss USA decide to head to Mt. Rushmore. Is it correct though?
The Feds and Southie Boys/Fogals also head to Rushmore, while the Geniuses/Young Professionals also figure that it’s Mt. Roosevelt (in Washington as opposed to North Dakota) and head there, while the Wild Hanlons/Grads are heading to Rushmore, 45 minutes behind the first bus.
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The Geniuses/Young Professionals are headed to Mt. Theodore Roosevelt, and they’re having doubts that they’re heading to the right place. Meanwhile, the Browns/Miss USA team are the first team to arrive at Mt. Rushmore. They get a call telling them that the first of seven artifacts is indeed hidden there. Inside Mt. Rushmore is a hidden chamber with a time capsule holding copies of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Clues to this chamber are apparently located in plain sight. Similar time capsules are hidden on the mountain, and from here on out, it’s every team for themselves.
Their clue is to take the Presidential trail, then hike to the view where you can just see two. They’re told to “pay attention to the natural order of things” but to remember that “history has a way of changing that nautral order”. There are only nine artifacts on the mountain, so the hunt will end for one team here.
Team Miss USA quickly head out, while the Browns are having trouble finding the trail. Ex-CIA/Air Force are now at Rushmore, 18 minutes behind the lead teams. They get their message and head out.
Fogals and Southie Boys arrive 25 minutes behind the lead bus and are off to the trail. Fogals seem to have taken the trail the Browns deemed the “wrong one”. Miss USA are at the view where they can see two. Now they’re trying to decipher the message Laird gave them.
37 miles away from Mt. Rushmore is Mt. Roosevelt, and the Geniuses/Young Professionals are 1.5 miles away. The caption tells us that they have “forboding instrumental music” as they disembark and run up the trail. They find an anamorphous painting of Theodore Roosevelt, and this is meant to tie into the painting on the back of the Maui map. By placing their painting in the cylinder in the center of the painting, Mt. Rushmore is revealed. Yeah, that’s not cryptic at all, and unsurprisingly, the 6 competitors are stumped.
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Back at Mt. Rushmore (and 45 minutes behind the lead bus), the Grads and Wild Hanlons arrive. We hear Laird’s clue again, and the teams head out. The Hanlons look around at everything. The Browns are gassed from the steps as other teams pass them. But Miss USA comes back down and say that the path was blocked off, and everyone is pretty much bunched up now.
Meanwhile, the Fogals find an area where they can see two, but everyone else (except the Browns, Grads and Wild Hanlons, it seems) have caught up. The Southie Boys are in first, and it seems that they are pretty close to the time capsules.
Back at Mt. Roosevelt, the Young Professionals try to call some of the other teams. They manage to reach the Wild Hanlons, who inadvertently let them know that they’re in the wrong place. They call the Geniuses and head back to the bus.
Smart move, using the cells to call other teams.
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Back at Mt. Rushmore, Southie Boys, Air Force, Fogals, ex-CIA, and Miss USA arrive at the time capsules, and Laird calls to tell them that they must figure out the combination to open them. One beep means the answer is wrong, two is correct and the capsule will open – but not all the capsules contain artifacts. The combination is apparently right in front of them. And again, we are reminded that one team will be eliminated here.
The teams seem to be on the right track, going with variations on the four presidents. Meanwhile, the Browns head up the trail to the capsules, while the Wild Hanlons head down into some caves. The Grads are getting closer to the viewpoint.
Meanwhile, Air Force and Southie Boys get the idea of using their laptops to find the answer – and it works!! It turns out that instead of entering the presidents in order of their presidencies (Washington – 1, Jefferson – 3, Lincoln – 16, Roosevelt – 26) it’s the order of the heads on Mt. Rushmore (Washington – 1, Jefferson – 3, Roosevelt – 26, Lincoln – 16). Slick. The Air Force finds a legit capsule first, and inside is the first artifact – a map. Of what, we don’t know, but the treasure is hidden at a location somewhere on the map. They’re told to get some rest at camp and await further instructions.
Ex-CIA open a box, while the Fogals are having trouble opening the box. Geniuses/Young Professionals are headed to Rushmore, while the Browns are still climbing. Miss USA are the third team to find a map – they’re still in this. The Browns finally make it up to the top, while the Fogals get a map. Soon, ex-CIA find a map as well. Grads make it up and they start trying to open capsules. Both teams appear to be stump.
The last bus arrives at Mt. Rushmore, and the Young Professionals decide to hustle. Meanwhile, the Wild Hanlons are still running around and on a whim, they decide to head up. The Grads and Browns are still having issues, but the Grads get a map. They’re team number six. The Browns look frustrated.
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The Wild Hanlons have reached the peak and get a call from Laird. They have no idea what to make of the clue. After some deliberation, the Browns try a combination – and it works! They’re through to the next stage. The Wild Hanlons, meanwhile, can’t even figure out the number of digits in the combinations.
Geniuses have found the capsules, and they decide to work together with the Wild Hanlons to find the code. The Wild Hanlons try the code and find a map. But the Geniuses, for some reason, either can’t figure out how the numbers work, or how to reset. Two of them decide to look for another capsule, which seems silly to me since clearly there’s something in the one they have. Regardless, the Young Professionals are at the capsules and start trying to crack the code.
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There’s a lot of tension going on, but it’s the Geniuses are the ones to find the last map. The Young Professionals are the first team to be eliminated, and Drew is devastated. “We beat ourselves.”
