Previously on Treasure Hunters, ten teams began their quest for a hidden treasure worth millions. Teams went from Alaska and Hawaii to Nebraska to Mount Rushmore, where Team Air Force finished first, and the Young Professionals were the first team to be eliminated. This week, teams must crack the code of Lewis and Clark to find the second artifact. Who will be eliminated, and who will be one step closer to the treasure?
Opening Credits
Blue Coyote B&B, Rapid City, South Dakota. Teams have gathered here to camp and rest. They toast one another and get some rest, as Air Force Brooke tells us that their next clue could come at anytime 6 to 24 hours from now. At 2:20am, the phone rings. And apparently the Wild Hanlons have only slept for a couple of hours. Laird Macintosh makes his appearance. The teams are told that they must follow in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark – the pioneers who charted a course across the American West. They apparently buried information as they went along in case they didn’t make it.
But the next clue for the teams is 620 miles away in the Lexington Mines of Montana. To get there, they have to grab a key from downstairs and drive in the provided trucks located somewhere on the premises.
You know, there’s been some overt advertising on The Amazing Race (a certain gnome comes to mind) but so far Treasure Hunters has blown them away with the product placement and name dropping.
Anyways, the teams are off and beeps can be heard everywhere. But the Wild Hanlons aren’t exactly rushing. And apparently getting there won’t be too hard for some teams, as some of them appear to have packed a GPS unit. Not the Wild Hanlons though. Ben tries to give directions, Pat is having none of it, which leads to this conversation:
Ben: “I’m a real simple kind of guy. I’m a college graduate, and I’ve been all over the f—–g world”
Pat: “Ben you’ve been to Europe one time and went to Amsterdam and got wasted. 1500 beers at the same time so you probably don’t remember.”
Awesome.
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We see the sun rising, and the Air Force in first place after what we’re told is a nine hour ride. Miss USA is close behind, followed by the Fogals. They all get a call from Laird, who tells them that 10,000 feet inside the mountain is a hidden chamber with their next clue. And because the passageways are tight they have a choice of leaving one team member behind.
All three teams enter the mine and they start searching for the chamber. Team Air Force (minus Brooke) are meticulously searching until they come upon a bucket under some lights. That bucket happens to be in a pit full of snakes, and has a clue saying “Bend the Light”. There’s a silver orb in the bucket but they can’t make any sense of it. They press on as the other two teams find the bucket as well. But they can’t figure out the clue either.
And then, Matt R. figures it out. Water refracts light, so they go back to the bucket and fill it with water. They’re rewarded with a clue: “Wood Bottom, Missouri River, Montana”. They run away and head back up. At 1:30pm, team Air Force is heading out. They get a phone call and Laird tells them to drive 150 miles to the Wood Bottom campsite, and canoe 20 miles along the Missouri River. Said canoe MUST be moored at dusk.
2:30pm, and the Grads, Geniuses and ex-CIA arrive at the mines. They head down as the Fogals figure out the clue. They thank Jesus and leave, without getting rid of the water. Well, that was silly. And unsurprisingly, the Miss USA girls find the clue and leave.
3:20pm, and the middle three teams have teamed up to get the clue. I’d say that they’ve made up a LOT of time though.
The last three teams (Southie Boys, Wild Hanlons and Browns) arrive and they start looking around. The Southie Boys are not happy to be in last, but they’re happy to be with some perceived “weaker” teams. The Hanlons continue their method of taking everything they see as a clue, reminiscent of contestants The Mole. The Browns find the bucket and quickly determine what to do. They meet up with the Southie Boys to get out of there ahead of the Wild Hanlons. What they probably don’t know is that it probably won’t matter.
5:40pm, Wood Bottom campsite. Air Force get a phone call telling them that they MUST camp after 5:30pm, so the trio realizes that their lead is gone.
7:30pm, and the Fogals have arrived at the camp. Yeah, that was a huge lead gone up in smoke. Miss USA, Grads, Geniuses, ex-CIA, Southie Boys and Browns all get to the camp before 10pm. But apparently Brad Fogal called the Hanlons and Josh and Ben are still in the mine. Cut to the mine, and it’s been 11 hours and the Wild Hanlons are still looking around.
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We’re still at the mine as Pat says a prayer for his family. Ben is seeing all the pieces but he can’t make them fit. Finally he tries filling the bucket on a wild guess, and he finds the clue! They’re off, and thank Texas. Which, if they weren’t Texans, would be a little odd.
It’s 3:30am, and the Wild Hanlons finally pull into the campsite. They try to get some sleep.
2.5 hours later (that’s 6am), the teams are off canoeing. They get a message from Laird telling them that they’ll travel 20 miles, where they will see 14 stars. Forty paces directly behind that 14th star is their next clue (which we’re shown is a tree).
Teams start canoeing. Air Force note that they’ve “only” gone 1.5 miles in 15 minutes, so it’s a long, long ride. Still, teams are making good time. Except for the Browns, who are only 1.5 miles in and have capsized their canoe. Keith, remember, can’t swim and it’s gonna take a while for them to get anywhere.
But we’ve only seen 8 teams. That ninth team are the Wild Hanlons who are just getting up at 9:30am, and I can’t really say that I blame them, since they’ve been pretty sleep deprived over the last couple of days. They set off, four hours behind first place.
10 miles downriver, Air Force pass the seventh star. Matt R. notes that the only thing to do is portage – and it’s a three mile portage. They wonder how Miss USA are gonna portage the boat.
The obvious thing to do here is segue, and two hours behind, in seventh place, is Miss USA. The girls are talking about food, their mamas and chick flicks.
Ex-CIA, Fogals and Southie Boys all hit the portage, and while trying to move the canoe, Kayte breaks down. The Southie Boys give them a hand, trying to curry favours for later.
Meanwhile, three hours behind the Air Force, Tonny’s trying to motivate Keith. And it works, and Keith decides to do it again. At this point, you have to figure that barring another bunchup, they’re just in it to finish the stage.
Meanwhile, the Wild Hanlons pass the Browns.
45 minutes behind first, the Geniuses start the portage. The Grads portage fifteen minutes behind them. But as they’re running, Jessica steps in a hole and twists her ankle.
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The girls have no quit to them and Kat and Melissa take to moving the canoe and Jessica in stages. Good on them.
In the lead, Air Force have reached the fourteenth star. The Matts pull their canoe up and Brooke counts off forty paces. They start digging, almost randomly. Meanwhile, 25 minutes behind the Air Force are the ex-CIA, Fogals and Southie Boys. Brad Fogal thinks that they should dig at the thirteenth star before heading to the fourteenth star in case they missed a star. So the teams agree to do that, and after the Southie Boys and ex-CIA get out, the Fogals take off!
Needless to say, the 6 men are a wee bit pissed. But don’t worry, karma will come back to bite the Fogals in the ass in due time. In the meantime, the men come up with a new phrase – “Fogaled”.
Team Air Force are still digging around randomly, when they see the other teams and simultaneously notice the fire pit behind a tree about forty paces behind the star. They dig, and find a box with some papers as the Fogals land. They get a phone call and find out that they’ve found a key that Lewis and Clark used to encrypt their messages to Thomas Jefferson. They also have pages that describe their next destination – Tower Rock.
The Fogals find the box, grab their papers and take off as ex-CIA and Southie Boys arrive. In the truck, Brad wonders if the men thought that they would wait for them (Um, YEAH. YOU suggested stopping). Margie rationalizes that they were too far ahead to stop. Kayte, to her credit feels bad. Margie suggests praying for the other teams, but well, you’ve alienated yourselves from two more teams now. Too little, too late.
Oh wait, I was wrong, she’s praying for the FOGALS. Weavers, step aside. We’ve found ourselves a new “most hypocritical family in Reality Competition”.
Back at the portage, the Grads are really worn down. But lead show medic Scott arrives to stabilize the knee. And like any good doctor, he recommends no more physical activity for Jessica. The girls, of course, don’t want to quit and we’ll probably see that they press on after the
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We’re now in Tower Rock State Park, Montana, and team Air Force are using the laptop to try to understand the code (which we’re told is a double substitution code) and find the second artifact. They get a call and Laird tells them to find the second artifact, of which there are only eight. For one team, the hunt ends here. They find the code and start trying to determine what it says.
Back on the Missouri River, the Geniuses have reached the fourteenth star and even before they drive away they’re trying to crack the code.
Which brings us back to the Air Force, who have solved the code and find out that it says “Follow close and to the right. Look ‘neath a rock as dark as night.” They head out.
The Fogals have arrived and start trying to determine the code. Southie Boys and ex-CIA arrive, and surprisingly, Miss USA are now in fifth. The Fogals crack the code as the three other teams head towards them. The Air Force are searching and find a dark rock, and the second artifact – a compass. Laird calls them, congratulates them, and tells them to head to camp and get some rest.
The Fogals find the trail and are the second team to retrieve a compass. In short order, the Southie Boys, ex-CIA and Miss USA find their compasses. They’re through. Later, the Geniuses find their compass.
Wild Hanlons are now in seventh, and are trying to figure out the code.
Browns have reached the fourteenth star and are still in this. The Grads (with Jessica on crutches) are soldiering on, and they’re off to Tower Rock.
Four hours after they arrived at Tower Rock, the Wild Hanlons are still trying to figure out the code. Physically, they’re arguably one of the best teams out there, but when it comes to puzzles, they’re definitely not strong, but they do tend to pull it out in the end. And I’m thinking that eight hours of sleep over about 72 hours doesn’t help either. They decide to go for food. Josh can’t believe that they’re taking an 80 mile round trip for food. Neither can I, Josh.
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We’ve got a three way race between crazy, slow, and hobbled. The Browns are 40 miles from Tower Rock, while the Grads are 55 miles away. Wild Hanlons? They’re at the drive-thru getting burgers. Browns arrive at Tower Rock and are searching around. Grads arrive and try to figure out the clue. Wild Hanlons are back and Josh deciphers the clue. Browns find the clue and solve the puzzle. Grads are at the dark rocks and find a compass! Wild Hanlons are at the rocks with Browns heading that way, but the Wild Hanlons find the compass!
The Browns get a phone call and Laird tells them that they’re the second team to be eliminated.
