Previously on Treasure Hunters, the remaining seven teams continued their journey through the swamps of South Carolina, where the Geniuses chose not to eliminate Sam, and the Browns continued without Keith – at the cost of a six-hour time penalty. That six hour penalty proved to be too hard to overcome, as the Browns were eliminated for the second time.
Opening Credits
Magnolia Hall B&B, Savannah, GA. Teams are packing away the latest artifact – a mask. The next day, Laird calls and tells them that their next clue pertains to the man behind the mask, and that this will take them to Paris, France. You have to figure that they’re talking about the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask. Well, him or Destro, but I doubt that even the Treasure Hunters producers would try to work that kind of product placement in.
Anyways, once in Paris, they are to take the Metro to the entrance of the underground catacombs. Teams use their laptops and the travel booking website that doesn’t feature a gnome to book their flights. Francis is psyched because he’s never been outside the country.
Paris, France. All teams appear to have taken the same flight from Atlanta, and are at Charles de Gaulle… where they can’t figure out the Metro system. They eventually figure out which train to take (actually, there’s only the one train going to the airport) and are off. The Fogals find two Americans living in Paris who give them the exact directions to the catacombs. Air Force, Fogals and Geniuses get off, and Martin of the Southie Boys notes that this could be a huge turning point on this leg of the Hunt. Brooke (or was that Kayte) thinks it’s silly for the other teams not to follow, but the heavy hand of irony lays the smackdown on those three teams as Miss USA, ex-CIA and the Southie Boys are the first teams to arrive at the Catacombs.
Laird calls and tells them that the next destination is a gold-lined bridge somewhere in the city. But to find it, one team member must head into the catacombs to find the plaque commemorating the man in the mask, who created the French flag.
Air Force, Geniuses and Fogals are now lost. The girls that were “helping” them have to leave, and Sam uses the laptop to find the location.
Ad Break
Air Force, Fogals and Geniuses are maybe 8 stops away from the Catacombs. Meanwhile, the other three teams find the plaque. It reads:
Awaits upon the RIGHT BANK of the SEINE
sword raised
A friend to America
A friend to Washington
Face him to find your fate
The teams now have to figure it out. Meanwhile, the other three teams have arrived at the Catacombs and team members (Matt Z, Charles and Brad) head in.
The lead three teams are heading to a bridge that they think is correct. The trailing three teams have found their clues. The lead three teams have found the next location. The statue is of the Marquis de Lafayette – who is idententified as the man in the mask, although this site would seem to indicate otherwise – a Frenchman who served as a spy for one of America’s founding fathers. The teams must now seek his American contact, and Lafayette has left a clue to help them – they must face the Marquis to find their fate.
The teams note that the mask in front of the statue is broken, and they take it to mean that the clue is inside their masks. They break one open, and sure enough there’s a coin that says “Dover Castle, the arrow points the way”. They then get a phone call telling them that THIS is in fact the fourth artifact, and that the ship on the coin will help them find the final treasure. They’re now heading to Dover.
Meanwhile, the other three teams are trying to figure out where they’re headed. Air Force have gone off on their own and are lost. The lead three teams are boarding a ship to take them to Dover, which we’re supposed to think is heading straight from Paris, but a quick check shows that there is no such boat. Instead, you have to travel 290km to Calais to get the ferry to Dover, which is what I remember.
Geniuses have found the statue and are headed to Dover. Fogals manage to luck out and find Lafayette, but can’t figure out why the mask is broken. Their indecision have allowed Air Force to catch up, and when they do break the mask, Air Force is right there to see it. They’re off to Dover.
Ad Break
Dover, England. Southie Boys, Miss USA and ex-CIA are at Dover Castle, and are looking for an arrow to point the way. They can’t find anything. Meanwhile, the Geniuses have arrived and start looking around. Fogals and Air Force are talking on the ferry, and Air Force aren’t sure if they should trust them.
Meanwhile, the lead three teams head up to the roof (helpfully pointed out by an arrow) to see what they can see. Matthew sees that the castle itself forms a kind of an arrow, but Jacob of the ex-CIA dismisses that idea. Mark also isn’t sure.
Air Force and Fogals have arrived and the teams split up to look around. Fogals head up and apparently the teams have an understanding to signal one another if they find anything interesting. Martin has finally convinced the other eight members of his group to follow his hunch, because they don’t have any other ideas. It turns out to be right, and they find a parchment. Laird calls them and tells them that the parchment will lead them to the fifth artifact. The parchment has an address leading them to the Samuel Palmer Printing Press in London. Somehow, this connects to Benjamin Franklin, and at this point the producers have produced some sort of massive historical (not to mention geographical) retcon so I’m just going with it. The three teams are off to London.
The other three teams are still looking around, and the Fogals seem to have missed the “arrow”. Geniuses are now arguing amongst themselves as we head to an
Ad Break
Fogals are still upstairs, and Kayte sees the “arrow”. They tell the Air Force. Margie, apparently, was all for leaving without telling them, but apparently they’ve finally learned. Geniuses are still looking around. They look at a map of the area again and finally see the arrow.
London. The three teams are tired. Fogals and Air Force find the parchments. Geniuses also find the parchment and all three teams are off to London.
St. Bartholemew’s Church, London, England. Ex-CIA, Southie Boys and Miss USA have arrived. The fifth artifact is here, at a Printing Press at the back. To reveal the location, the teams need to discover one of Benjamin Franklin’s encoding methods. They head to the back, and start looking around. They figure that the message on the parchment is what they need to encode. They start looking around for the key to crack the code.
Meanwhile, Air Force, Fogals and Geniuses are heading to the church. The lead three teams have been searching the church for three hours, and they think that they might be in the wrong place. 37 minutes later, they still have no clue. They figure they’ve blown their lead, and it’s now that we get a clue sponsored by an insurance company – “In burning light, the plan is laid.”
Ad Break
It’s been 4 hours, 19 minutes, and Todd of the ex-CIA thinks that maybe burning the parchment would yield a clue, and they find a message, showing “x”s on the blueprints of the church. Those “X”s lead to boxes with a key – the fifth artifact. They can now rest.
It’s morning, and Air Force and the Fogals have arrived at the Church. They start looking, as the Geniuses are now in London, and arrive at the Church. Francis: “Man, do I hate Fogal-Force”. They’re all looking for clues using fire, and Geniuses are the first to uncover the clue, but are trying to hide it from the Air Force and Fogals. They’re successful, and are the fourth team to find the fifth artifact. And they realize that they’ve eliminated one of the two very strong teams.
Ad Break
Back at the church, and both teams uncover the map. Now it’s a race to see who can find a key first – although to be honest the Fogals don’t seem to be looking that hard. Ultimately, the Air Force find the last key and the Fogals are eliminated. Hugs all around as Air Force say goodbye to the Fogals.
