Treasure Hunters (TV series)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Treasure Hunters'' is a
reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
series on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
(US) and
Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
(Canada) in which ten teams of three solve puzzles and complete challenges in hopes of solving the ultimate puzzle and winning the grand prize. Teams travel across the United States and Europe in search of seven "artifacts" which when assembled will "lead to the key. Find the key, and find the treasure." The challenges and puzzles are spliced with American history, and the ultimate goal is to find a hidden treasure, leading the show to be compared on various occasions to the film ''
National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...
''. The value of the treasure in the series was revealed on the season finale to be $3,000,000. The two-hour premiere episode aired on June 18, 2006 and beginning June 26 the series moved to its regular Monday night timeslot. The season finale was broadcast live on August 21, 2006. The Hunt is similar in format to ''
The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...
''. Key differences include: * Teams consist of three members as opposed to ''The Amazing Races usual two * The start location of each leg is not necessarily the end point of the previous leg * Teams start each leg at the same time; ''Amazing Race'' teams have staggered starts based on previous leg finish order * ''Amazing Race'' teams may take no electronic devices with them; ''Treasure Hunters'' teams are provided several pieces of electronic equipment, including: ** a
Motorola RAZR The Motorola Razr (styled RAZR, pronounced like "razor"; codenamed Siliqua) is a series of mobile phones by Motorola, part of the 4LTR line. The V3 was the first phone shown in the series and was introduced in December 2003 and released in th ...
cell phone, by which they receive messages and information from host
Laird Macintosh Laird Macintosh (born June 27, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the host of the NBC reality television program ''Treasure Hunters''. Among his credits is the television series ''Hannah Montana'', on which he portrayed ...
; ** additional phones they may use to call other teams and each other; ** a laptop computer with "special access" to
Ask.com Ask.com (originally known as Ask Jeeves) is a question answering–focused e-business founded in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, California. The original software was implemented by Gary Chevsky, from ...
and
Orbitz.com Orbitz.com is a Travel website#Fare aggregators and metasearch engines, travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine. The website is owned by Orbitz Worldwide, Inc., a subsidiary of Expedia Group. It is headquartered in the Ci ...
; ** a
Garmin Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...
GPSMAP 60C
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
unit * The show focuses more closely on the solving of clues and tasks, which are much more difficult and cryptic than in ''The Amazing Race''; ''The Amazing Race'' uses comparatively simple clues, and focuses more closely on the interpersonal relationships within the teams. * Clues sometimes offer multiple solution methods, and false solutions are incorporated into them.


Teams and rankings

*A red placement indicates the team was eliminated. *A dark red placement indicates the team withdrew for medical reasons. *An +Team Grad Students dropped out after Leg 2 because of injury; Team Brown Family was brought back to replace them. * §Teams Air Force and Southie Boys were both eliminated at the same time at the end of Leg 8 once Team Geniuses found the treasure. * Leg was shown over two episodes.


The Hunt


Leg 1 (Alaska/Hawaii → Nebraska → South Dakota)

Ten teams started the hunt split into two groups of five, with each group of teams unaware of the other's existence. Five teams started at the Independence Mining Camp in
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
and the other five started aboard a ship identified as the U.S.S. Jefferson (although the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
currently has no ship by that name), off the coast of
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. The first clue for both sets was in the form of a
Morse Code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
message which teams had to decipher. Although none of the teams knew Morse Code offhand, there were guidebooks scattered around the locations. The Alaska teams headed to
Matanuska Glacier Matanuska Glacier is a valley glacier in the US state of Alaska. At long by wide, it is the largest glacier accessible by car in the United States. Its terminus feeds the Matanuska River. It lies near the Glenn Highway about north-east of Ancho ...
where they had to locate a block of ice. The words "Stillwater Washington" were etched on each block, and a map with various destinations was contained inside it, along with the word "dig." Teams had to figure out where to go next by associating the etched clue with a place on the map (the answer was Lake George, Alaska), and tell that location to one of the five awaiting helicopter pilots before they could commence. At Lake George, teams had to dig for a cylinder and a clue directing them to the capitol building in
Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
. The Hawaii teams were led by their Morse Code clue to a dive site ( Hāna Bay) where they had to locate a metal box containing a pilot's log with the coordinates of the next location,
Black Sand Beach Black sand is sand that is black in color. One type of black sand is a heavy, glossy, partly magnetic mixture of usually fine sands containing minerals such as magnetite, found as part of a placer deposit. Another type of black sand, found on ...
. There, the teams had to look for the Monticello crash site, where they had to find a locked box among plane wreckage. A key concealed within a
Jeffersonian cane Jeffersonian refers to several fields upon which the U.S. President Thomas Jefferson had an impact: *Jeffersonian architecture *Jeffersonian democracy * Jeffersonian Bible *The Democratic-Republican Party were called ''Jeffersonians'', among many ...
would open the box, but it would not work until assembled along with the handle segment of the cane. Inside the box was a coded map, with a painting on the reverse, and teams received a message to head to Lincoln. When teams reached Lincoln, they learned that there were not five but ten teams. Each team was paired with one from the other starting point based on their order of arrival in Lincoln. Each pair of teams boarded a bus, which headed ''away'' from their next destination. By combining the cylinder found in Alaska (which had a cipher alphabet engraved on it) and the coded map found in Hawaii, teams had to determine their next destination and relay this information to their driver. The decoded message, "Mount Theodore Roosevelt," could be interpreted in two ways: literally, leading to the incorrect location of Mount Theodore Roosevelt, South Dakota; or along with a clue given in a message to consider where the teams have been - Lake George (Washington), USS Jefferson, Lincoln, Nebraska - along with Mount Theodore Roosevelt together point to the four presidents carved on
Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota ...
, the correct destination. Unbeknownst to – and undiscovered by – the teams, if they had put the two clues together in a different way (by placing the cylinder in the middle of the painting on the back of the map), an image of Mount Rushmore would have been revealed. All teams deduced or guessed the correct destination except for the Young Professionals/Geniuses. After a fruitless search at Mount Roosevelt eventually the Young Professionals/Geniuses called the Wild Hanlons, who gave away the correct destination. At Mount Rushmore, the teams, no longer working in two-team pairings, had to find a spot on the Presidential Trail where only two of the four presidents could be seen and then follow a smaller path until they found locked boxes containing the first of seven "artifacts" necessary to find the treasure. In this instance, the artifact was a map. The boxes opened with a combination. Teams were earlier given a clue message telling them to pay attention to the natural order of things, but that sometimes history has a way of changing it. This clue referred to the fact that the heads are not in the correct presidential order;
Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...
and
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...
are reversed. This led to the correct combination of 1-3-2-6-1-6 (each number referring to the order in which the given President – based on their location in Mount Rushmore – was in office). Team Young Professionals and Team Geniuses raced for the last artifact with the Geniuses eventually finding it.


Leg 2 (South Dakota → Montana)

Leg 2 was based on the
Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
. Beginning at about 2:20 am, teams travelled over 600 mi (965 km), from South Dakota to Lexington Mine in
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
. Teams travelled 10,000 ft (3,050 m) into the mine and searched for the clue, a bucket (which was covered with snakes) inscribed with the words "bend the light." Teams discovered that by filling the bucket with water, the words "Wood Bottom Missouri River Montana" became visible by
refraction In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomeno ...
. Team Southie Boys never found this clue, instead allying with Team Brown Family to leave the Wild Hanlons 11 hours behind them in last place. Teams travelled to the Wood Bottom Recreation Area, from where they would have to canoe in search of the next clue. Canoes could not be in the water after 5:30 pm and no teams arrived at the campsite early enough to launch, so all teams camped there overnight. The next morning, teams canoed along a 20 mi (32 km) stretch of the Missouri River (including a 3 mi (5 km)
portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
), following a trail of stars in search of the next clue buried 40 paces behind the fourteenth star. Team Brown Family capsized their canoe, nearly drowning for the second time in as many legs. While portaging, Jessica of Team Grad Students stepped in a hole and injured her ankle. The production team intervened with medical assistance and the team was able to continue with Jessica alternating between crutches and being carried by her teammates. Team Fogal Family misled Teams Ex-CIA and Southie Boys into believing the Fogals were going to stop with them at the 13th star but instead kept paddling after those two teams had docked, which led to contempt for the Fogals (and the expression, "You've been Fogaled!") by the other teams – especially since the Southie Boys had helped the Fogals portage their canoe earlier. Buried within a fire pit behind the 14th star teams found a table and code key for a double substitution
cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode i ...
devised by
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
and used by Lewis and Clark, and journal pages describing their next destination, Tower Rock, Montana. At Tower Rock, teams discovered an encrypted sign, which when deciphered read "Follow close and to the right. Look 'neath a rock as dark as night." This led teams to the second artifact, a compass, hidden under black rocks. The Wild Hanlons spent four hours trying to decipher the clue before Ben decided that they would go get some food. After making an estimated 80 mi (130 km) round trip to a
Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...
restaurant, Josh quickly deciphered the message and they were able to find the artifact ahead of Team Brown Family.


Leg 3 (Massachusetts)

Leg 3 of the Hunt focused on the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
and started from a
bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. It is not explained how the teams travelled from Montana to Boston. Prior to the leg, Team Grad Students bid a tearful farewell to the other teams, having been forced to withdraw because of Jessica's injury on the previous leg. Team Brown Family was brought back in their place, to the consternation of Team Wild Hanlons. All teams travelled to the Old Burke School in search of their first clue for the leg. Everyone followed Boston natives Team Southie Boys except Team Air Force and Team Brown Family. Team Fogal Family called Team Geniuses, who misdirected them. Team Air Force arrived at the school first and discovered a sign reading "Look until you can see no more." In a classroom, they discovered a chalk board with Revolutionary War facts and decided to go to the location of the "
shot heard 'round the world "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" is a phrase that refers to the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which began the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States of America. It was an ...
." All other teams except Team Fogal Family and Team Brown Family arrived at the school and discovered the sign. Josh Hanlon noticed light switches in the chalk board and flipped them. This caused the main lights to go out and
black light A blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp that emits long-wave (UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. One type of lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separat ...
s to come on, revealing two hidden messages. One read "Go to the
Old Newgate Prison Old New-Gate Prison is a former prison and mine site on New-Gate Road in East Granby, Connecticut. It is now operated by the state of Connecticut as the Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine Archaeological Preserve. Previously closed for restoration ...
and search the darkness to find the way to the light." The other read "Go to the Wentworth House in Strawberry Banke and find what the
Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...
left behind." All teams present were instructed to pair off, with one team from each pair going to each destination. Messages hidden at each destination would when combined reveal the next destination. As the five teams were departing, Team Fogal Family again called Team Geniuses, who again misdirected them. Team Brown Family arrived at the school shortly thereafter and joined with the other five teams. Team Ex-CIA, Team Southie Boys and Team Wild Hanlons went to Wentworth House and Team Brown Family, Team Miss USA and Team Geniuses went to the prison. Team Wild Hanlons were partnered with Team Brown Family, but when the Browns called the Hanlons for a status update the Hanlons pretended they had bad cell reception, tried to mislead the Browns and finally hung up on them. Team Air Force realized that the clue was at the school and headed back. They located the two black light clues and called Team Fogal Family. Team Air Force went to Wentworth House and Team Fogal Family went to the prison. As teams arrived at the two destinations, a Motorola message informed them they were searching for hollowed-out bullets with messages hidden inside. Team Air Force arrived at Wentworth House after the other teams had found the clue and realized that all six remaining teams were allied against them and Team Fogal Family. The Fogals managed to arrive at the prison ahead of the other teams and found their bullet. Combined, the messages, referring to Paul Revere's famous midnight ride read: Teams determined they needed to head for the cemetery at the
Old North Church Old North Church (officially, Christ Church in the City of Boston), at 193 Salem Street, in the North End, Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. This phrase is related ...
. Once there, they discovered two lanterns in the church steeple, thereby determining that the next destination was
Boston Light Boston Light is a lighthouse located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The first lighthouse to be built on the site dates back to 1716, and was the first lighthouse to be built in what is now the United States. The c ...
. Teams raced to Pemberton Pier, from which ferries departed for Boston Light, and grabbed tickets to determine their order of departure the following morning. Ferries left fifteen minutes apart and could accommodate two teams, which gave teams with earlier departure times the option of sharing their ferry with a later team. Team Southie Boys got the first ferry slot, followed by Team Ex-CIA, Team Air Force, Team Wild Hanlons, Team Fogal Family, Team Miss USA, Team Geniuses and Team Brown Family. The next morning Team Southie Boys departed first, allowing Team Geniuses to go with them. Team Ex-CIA departed next, inviting Team Miss USA along. Team Air Force left third, bringing Team Fogal Family with them. Team Wild Hanlons were next to depart but they refused to allow Team Brown Family to go with them, leaving the Browns in last place by 15 minutes. As teams arrived at the lighthouse they were informed that seven artifacts were located in ten lockboxes scattered around the island. Team Southie Boys and Team Geniuses noticed rocks laid out in patterns and team members climbed the lighthouse. From above, the rocks formed
Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
which revealed the combinations for the two locks on each box. The combinations were IX II LIII, or 9253, and I III IV I, or 1341. The third artifact was an engraved box. Team Wild Hanlons and Team Brown Family were the last two teams with one artifact left. Team Brown Family solved the Roman numerals but Team Wild Hanlons couldn't figure out the correct value for L. Team Wild Hanlons unsuccessfully attempted to spy on the Browns to get the combination, but ultimately Team Brown Family prevailed.


Leg 4 (Massachusetts → New York → South Carolina → Georgia)


Part One (Massachusetts → New York → South Carolina)

Leg 4 sent teams along the
Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
. Teams woke up to find a facsimile copy of a ''
Brooklyn Times The ''Brooklyn Times-Union'' was an American newspaper published from 1848 to 1937. Launched in 1848 as the ''Williamsburgh Daily Times'', the publication became the ''Brooklyn Daily Times'' when the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburg were u ...
'' newspaper. In the paper was a story written by
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
, directing teams to the
Atlantic Avenue Tunnel The Cobble Hill Tunnel (also known as the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel) is an abandoned Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) tunnel beneath Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, running through the neighborhoods of Downtown Brooklyn and Cobble Hill. ...
in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Team Miss USA was the first in the tunnel, the only entrance to which was a
manhole A manhole (utility hole, maintenance hole, or sewer hole) is an opening to a confined space such as a shaft, utility vault, or large vessel. Manholes are often used as an access point for an underground public utility, allowing inspection, m ...
. They found
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
artifacts and lyrics to the slave song
Follow the Drinking Gourd ''Follow the Drinking Gourd'' is an African-American folk song first published in 1928. The ''Drinking Gourd'' is another name for the Big Dipper Asterism (astronomy), asterism. Folklore has it that Slavery in the United States, enslaved people i ...
written on the tunnel walls. Among the artifacts were bundles wrapped in cloth, which Team Miss USA discovered but ignored. All other teams as they arrived recognized that the bundles were clues, consisting of a Don't Tread On Me flag, a copy of the Drinking Gourd lyrics and special glasses. The glasses revealed the words BENEVENTUM and GEORGETOWN SC in secret printing on the flag. The next destination was Beneventum Plantation in Georgetown, where the "Don't Tread On Me" flag was created. With the discovery of the destination, teams received a Motorola message that a $30,000 treasure could be claimed by the first team to reach an upcoming location. Team Miss USA realized their mistake in not taking a bundle and returned to the tunnel. Through it all a
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
man performed the song at the tunnel entrance. After well over a 14-hour trip to arrive at Beneventum, teams located a key and a
quilt A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, a ...
with a map hidden in the
embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...
, like those used by escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad. Combining the symbols on the quilt with the lyrics of the song would lead teams through a
swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
to several locked boxes. Each box bore a symbol from the quilt map and contained the key for the next box and teams had to locate the boxes in order. As teams struggled through the swamp, Team Fogal Family and Team Southie Boys allied but Kayte of Team Fogal Family became hysterical. At the third box (the "old man" box) a twist was thrown at the teams. Teams were given the option of at any time eliminating one of the three team members if they felt that the two-person team would be stronger. From the third box teams had to travel by boat but only two could travel at a time. If teams chose not to cut a member, retrieving that member would cost the team a three-hour delay. A distraught Kayte insisted that her parents leave her behind, but like all other teams who reached that point by the end of the episode, the team stayed together. Team Ex-CIA claimed the $30,000 treasure in
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
coins, which they had to carry with them for the rest of the leg. With the coins was the instruction that the leg would end at the "safe house with the American flag." Well behind the other teams, Keith Brown fell in the swamp, injuring himself. He had to be removed by ambulance. With teams having the option to cut a player, it appeared that the remaining Brown Family members would be able to continue. At the end of the episode, no teams had completed the leg. Team Geniuses members Charles and Francis were in the boat, still contemplating whether to cut Sam, and Team Brown Family had not yet reached the boats.


Part Two (South Carolina → Georgia)

Part two picked up where part one left off, with Team Geniuses deciding whether to abandon a team member and Team Brown Family dealing with Keith's injury. Team Geniuses decided to remain together. Team Brown Family was informed that because of Keith's injury they could either quit the Hunt or continue, skipping the
swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
but incurring a six-hour penalty. The remaining Browns, after consulting with Keith, chose to continue. As teams arrived at the "safe house with the American flag," they discovered that the house was filled with
quilt A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, a ...
s and gourds, and the word FREEDOM was written on the wall. Teams searched through the quilts until they found one with a pouch sewn onto it. The pouch contained a quilt panel with the message "I believed that in America most all men loved freedom and would rather go to their grave free than live their life as a slave." Followed by "This warrants some
reflection Reflection or reflexion may refer to: Science and technology * Reflection (physics), a common wave phenomenon ** Specular reflection, reflection from a smooth surface *** Mirror image, a reflection in a mirror or in water ** Signal reflection, in ...
.
Dock Street Theatre The Dock Street Theatre is a theater in the historic French Quarter neighborhood of downtown Charleston, South Carolina. History The structure, which was built as a hotel in 1809 and converted to a theater in 1935, occupies the site of the first ...
, Charleston." The letters R, E and D in "FREEDOM" written on the wall were in red. Team Geniuses was the only team to figure out that by donning the red-lensed glasses retrieved from the
Atlantic Avenue Tunnel The Cobble Hill Tunnel (also known as the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel) is an abandoned Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) tunnel beneath Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, running through the neighborhoods of Downtown Brooklyn and Cobble Hill. ...
, a star became visible on the quilts holding the message panels. Team Brown Family was the last to arrive at the safe house and served out the penalty. The team was then advised to go to the theatre without having to locate the quilt panel and were verbally apprised of the reflection portion of the clue. At the theatre, teams found a number of mirrors hung on the walls. Teams discovered that by breathing on the mirrors, a picture of a flag, a fort and the words FORT PULASKI appeared in the condensation. This led teams to
Fort Pulaski National Monument Fort Pulaski National Monument is located on Cockspur Island between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. It preserves Fort Pulaski; during the American Civil War, the Union Army successfully tested rifled cannon in combat in 1862 there, the succe ...
near
Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
. At the fort, teams discovered a room displaying a number of variations of the
United States flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...
. Brooke of Team Air Force noticed a plaque that explained how soldiers hid messages in the
finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...
s of flag poles. Unscrewing the finials yielded maps of the surrounding area. Following the maps led to the location where the fourth artifact was buried. The artifact was a reproduction of the
death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...
of a hero of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
. Although he was not identified by name either to the teams or on-screen, a portrait of the
Marquis de La Fayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
was shown. Teams were instructed to dig for the artifact, advised that there would be no indication of how deeply it was buried. All other teams discovered the artifact before Team Brown Family arrived at Fort Pulaski.


Leg 5 (Georgia, USA → Paris, France → England: Dover → London)

Leg 5 led teams in search of the identity of the man whose death mask they retrieved in Leg 4. From a bed and breakfast in Savannah, teams were instructed to book flights to
Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and find the
Catacombs of Paris The Catacombs of Paris (french: Catacombes de Paris, ) are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris's ancient stone quarries. Ex ...
. All teams arrived in Paris together and took the
RER B RER B is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its Île-de-France suburbs. The RER B line crosses the region from no ...
(
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
RER) to the Catacombs. Following the advice of two locals, Team Fogal Family, Team Geniuses and Team Air Force got off the subway five stops before the other teams, at
Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...
. Team Southie Boys, Team Ex-CIA and Team Miss USA stayed on the train, which was the correct choice, and got off at Denfert-Rochereau. These three teams arrived at the Catacombs tied for first place. One member of each team descended into the Catacombs in search of the remains interred in 1789, the year the
Marquis de La Fayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
designed the tricolor
Flag of France The national flag of France (french: link=no, drapeau français) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue ( hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the ''Tricolour'' (), although the flag of Irelan ...
. A plaque near the remains read "The Hero Of Two Worlds Awaits upon the RIGHT BANK of the
SEINE ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...
sword raised. A friend to America. A friend to Washington. Face him to find your fate." This led teams to the "Children's Statue of La Fayette" sculpted by
Paul Wayland Bartlett Paul Wayland Bartlett (January 24, 1865 – September 20, 1925) was an American sculptor working in the Beaux-Arts tradition of heroic realism. Life Bartlett was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Truman Howe Bartlett, an art critic a ...
, located at the ''Cours Albert 1er''. Upon their arrival teams were finally apprised by Motorola message of La Fayette's identity and his work as a
spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
during the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, and that they are seeking the identity of La Fayette's American contact. Near the statue was a broken replica of the
death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...
. Teams decided to break their copies of the mask, within which were concealed the true fourth artifacts, a medallion engraved with an unknown ship and the words "
Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is the ...
The Arrow Points The Way." Teams took a
ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
to
Dover, England Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
. Team Southie Boys realized that the arrow referred to a portion of Dover Castle itself. The three lead teams followed the arrow to a
cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
of stones which concealed
parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of ...
scrolls. The parchments included the words "1725
Samuel Palmer Samuel Palmer Hon.RE (Hon. Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers) (27 January 180524 May 1881) was a British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in Romanticism in Britain and p ...
Printing Press
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
." This led teams to the identity of "America's first spy,"
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, and the location where Franklin apprenticed as a printer, the Church of
St Bartholomew-the-Great The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, sometimes abbreviated to Great St Bart's, is a medieval church in the Church of England's Diocese of London located in Smithfield within the City of London. The building was founded as an Augustin ...
. Southie Boys, Ex-CIA and Miss USA remained tied for first. Team Geniuses initially broke away in fourth place but Team Fogal Family and Team Air Force passed them at the castle when Kayte figured out the arrow. The three lead teams arrived at the church together and began searching. Todd of Team Ex-CIA suggested heating the parchment over some of the many burning candles. This caused a message written in
invisible ink Invisible ink, also known as security ink or sympathetic ink, is a substance used for writing, which is invisible either on application or soon thereafter, and can later be made visible by some means, such as heat or ultraviolet light. Invisible ...
to appear. The message was a map of the church with the five locations of the fifth artifact, a key, marked. Each of the three lead teams found an artifact. Team Fogal Family and Team Air Force arrived at the church together but spent so much time searching that Team Geniuses was able to catch up and locate an artifact ahead of them. Team Air Force found the last key, eliminating Team Fogal Family.


Leg 6 (Kent, England → France: Nice → Peille/Saint-Tropez → La Turbie → Paris → Normandy)

Teams were sent in search of the headquarters of a
secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...
whose membership included many of America's Founding Fathers. Teams departed from Eastwell Manor in
Kent, England Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...
for
Nice, France Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
, in search of "where
Via ferrata A via ferrata (Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and languages except n ...
ends," which led them to
Peille Peille (; oc, Pelha; it, Peglio Marittimo) is a commune perched on a rock between Monaco and Menton in the Alpes Maritimes department in southeastern France. It overlooks the River Peillon. Higher still than the village are the ruins of a c ...
. In Peille, teams were advised that a
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
50,000 treasure awaited the first team who located an "inverted rose," symbol of the secret society. To find the next clue, teams were told to search a cave in
Peille Gorge Peille (; oc, Pelha; it, Peglio Marittimo) is a commune perched on a rock between Monaco and Menton in the Alpes Maritimes department in southeastern France. It overlooks the River Peillon. Higher still than the village are the ruins of a ...
, accessible by climbing several rock faces and crossing three
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
s. All team members were required to make the climb, but teams were given the option of an alternate route. Team Air Force, Team Southie Boys, Team Geniuses and Team CIA scaled the cliffs and found a ring of keys and a picture of a castle with the French words ''Retire la Pierre''. This led the teams to Peille Castle. Team Air Force broke away in first place and discovered a scroll hidden behind some loose rocks in the castle wall ("retire la pierre" translates to "remove the rock"). Team Southie Boys, in second place, tried the keys on the castle gate, unsuccessfully, and Team Geniuses and Team Ex-CIA caught up with them. The three teams searched around the castle grounds up to two miles away before returning to the wall and discovering the scroll. The scroll read "The Ancient Roman Ruin crumbles on the hillside in
La Turbie La Turbie (; oc, A Torbia; in Italian "Turbia" from ''tropea'', Latin for trophy) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. History La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the large monument, the Trophy of Augus ...
." The alternate route, taken by Team Miss USA, involved driving 150 miles (240 km) to
Saint-Tropez , INSEE = 83119 , postal code = 83990 , image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Saint-Tropez-A (Var).svg , image flag=Flag of Saint-Tropez.svg Saint-Tropez (; oc, Sant Tropetz, ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Al ...
and locating a statue of
Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
. At the base of the statue was the castle picture with instructions to return to Peille and locate a marked path. From the path the team spotted the castle and located the scroll, managing to pass Southie Boys, Geniuses and Ex-CIA. At La Turbie (the Trophy of the Alps), Team Air Force, well in first place, spotted a placard on the ground with an "inverted rose." Searching around the area turned up a box with $50,000 in
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
coins and a portfolio containing a partial street map of
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
with the
Champ de Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the ...
marked. Air Force flew to Paris and headed to the park, and were instructed to climb to the second level of the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...
and look West for "a classic symbol of American freedom." They spotted a model of the
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...
and traveled to it. Near the statue were buckets and a plaque reading "They hid beneath the streets of Paris. Clean the streets of Paris to find your path." Brooke figured out to wash the street map, revealing the name of the secret society, the
Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...
Order. Also revealed were the words "To the rose through the cross, to the cross through the rose. In this and everything is a resurgent jewel," along with the name of the Rosicrucian headquarters, the Chateau d'Omonville in
Normandy, France Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. All the other teams diverged from this path. Team Miss USA arrived at the Eiffel Tower after dark and actually discovered the Statue of Liberty on a souvenir picture postcard. Southie Boys, Geniuses and Ex-CIA discovered the hidden Rosicrucian message on the subway travelling to the Champ de Mars and so were not required to ascend the Eiffel Tower or visit the Statue of Liberty. At the chateau, the keys teams found earlier at Peille Gorge unlocked a cabinet in which there were locked boxes containing the sixth artifact, a
cryptex The word ''cryptex'' is a neologism coined by the author Dan Brown for his 2003 novel ''The Da Vinci Code'', denoting a portable vault used to hide secret messages. It is a word formed from Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden, secret" and Latin '' codex' ...
. Teams Air Force, Geniuses, Ex-CIA and Southie Boys retrieved artifacts. Team Miss USA struggled with the cleaning clue and were eliminated just as they were about to leave for Normandy.


Leg 7 (Bronx, NY → Philadelphia, PA)

Teams returned to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and spent the night at the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze ...
. The next morning, each team received a Susan B. Anthony dollar along with a clue directing them to the
Hall of Fame for Great Americans The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of Bronx Community College (BCC) in the Bronx, New York City. It is the first such hall of fame in the United States. Built in 1901 as part of the U ...
on the campus of
Bronx Community College The Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (BCC) is a public community college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. History The college was established in 1957 through the eff ...
. At the Hall of Fame, teams located a
bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...
of
Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...
, and by following her gaze, located a bust of La Fayette. Attached to a fence under La Fayette was a mailbox containing keys, labelled "Gould Library," which led teams to the
Gould Memorial Library The Gould Memorial Library (GML; also nicknamed Gould) is a building on the campus of the Bronx Community College (BCC), an institution of the City University of New York (CUNY), in University Heights, Bronx, New York City, United States. The bu ...
, designed by
Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in additio ...
. In the library, teams received a message that their next clue was hidden in one of the paintings and that " in this case, art imitates life." Team Geniuses discovered a painting called ''Today'', depicting a scene of the Gould Library with a light shining on a particular sculpture. They located the sculpture and found a switch for a spotlight, which caused the sculpture to cast a shadow of a sailing ship. They located a painting featuring the same ship in shadow entitled ''Sailing to Philadelphia'', which was labelled as being owned by the
Land Title Building The Land Title Building and Annex is an American early skyscraper located at 1400 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. History and architectural features This ...
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, for which they quickly departed. The other teams discovered the sculpture and painting clues shortly thereafter, and headed to the same location. At the Land Title Building, teams were advised to send one member to a suite on the 22nd floor in search of the next clue. With one team member headed up, the other two were told that their teammate needed to find a plaque on the ledge outside the 22nd floor. The member on the ledge had to work with the members on the ground in order to find the plaque, which was visible from the ground but not readable. Outside the suite, the team member who went up received a text message reading "Bird of peace holds the code to this door. If your credit had wings you'd find the answer for sure." This lead teams to enter the
card security code The card security code is located on the back of Visa, Discover Card">Discover, Diners Club, and JCB credit or debit cards and is typically a separate group of three digits to the right of the signature strip file:CIDSampleAmex.png, On America ...
from the back of the show-provided
VISA credit card Visa Inc. (; stylized as ''VISA'') is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded cred ...
to unlock the door. Charles from Team Geniuses arrived first and entered the suite. Todd from Team Ex-CIA was second but didn't have his card, so he was delayed until Matt R. from Team Air Force arrived and unlocked the door, admitting John from Team Southie Boys and Todd. As only one person could go out onto the window ledge at a time, the order was determined by the order they got into the suite. The plaque read "Founders Hall Girard," which all teams other than the Geniuses, who were in the lead, determined correctly to mean
Girard College Girard College is an independent college preparatory five-day boarding school located on a 43-acre campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school was founded and permanently endowed from the shipping and banking fortune of Stephen Girard upon h ...
, where Founders Hall is located. Francis of Team Geniuses, who is from Philadelphia, thought that Girard referred to Girard Avenue, and by the time they finally ended up at Girard College, they were in last place. Teams were informed upon arrival that the code to open the cryptex was a seven-letter word, found in multiple locations within the hall, and that some of the rooms have secret entrances. Revealed to the television audience but (apparently) not to the teams was that the solution is hidden in a secret room, but that other items including record books and
model ship Ship models or model ships are scale models of ships. They can range in size from 1/6000 scale wargaming miniatures to large vessels capable of holding people. Ship modeling is a craft as old as shipbuilding itself, stretching back to ancient t ...
s also contain the solution. Team Air Force located a shipping record book and after trying the names of a number of the ships, stumbled across the word "LIBERTY" in the book. They dialed the word into their cryptex and it opened, revealing a parchment reading "
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
," which they are advised is the location of the final artifact, as well as a smaller cryptex. Team Southie Boys arrived at the college second, but twins Martin and Matthew nearly came to blows. John finally defused the situation, and after receiving the Motorola message, they began searching. The team began guessing seven letter words that have to do with Philadelphia, finally getting the right answer (from the
Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...
) and advancing to the final round. Teams Ex-CIA and Geniuses were left to find the answer to the cryptex, and be the last team to move on to the final. While Ex-CIA began dialing in names of model ships and words from posters on the walls, Team Geniuses found the secret room behind a portrait of
Stephen Girard Stephen Girard (May 20, 1750 – December 26, 1831; born Étienne Girard) was a naturalized American citizen, philanthropist, and banker of French origin. He singularly saved the U.S. government from financial collapse during the War of 1812 b ...
and discovered a large model ship named ''Liberty''. Team Ex-CIA found an old street map of Philadelphia and tried street names from it. Finally, each team entered the correct word into their cryptexes, with the Geniuses getting it first to move on. Todd of Team Ex-CIA stated in the season finale that Team Genius's margin of victory was two seconds.


Leg 8 (Philadelphia, PA → Washington, D.C. → Baltimore, MD)

The three remaining teams spent the night at a bed and breakfast in Philadelphia. In a message, host Laird Macintosh reviewed the artifacts the teams had already collected and informed the home audience that the previous artifact, the cryptex, contained in addition to the parchment a smaller 5-character cryptex. Teams were directed to seek the final artifact at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
and advised that they could no longer use their computers. Teams headed to
Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
Team Southie Boys were first to arrive at the Library of Congress, followed by Team Geniuses and Team Air Force in third. Teams were advised to seek one of three specific books (titled '' Poltroons & Patriots'', ''
Official Histories An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
'' and '' The American Flag: Of Stars and Stripes'') each of which covered the final artifact. Team Air Force headed for the
card catalogue A library catalog (or library catalogue in British English) is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A catalog for a group of libraries is also c ...
, followed by Team Southie Boys. Team Air Force was the first to find the artifact, a leather-bound book detailing the history of
The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...
. Within the book were semi-transparent maps with
chevrons Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * ''Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock lay ...
which, when overlaid, marked the various destinations teams had previously visited. The book included a notation that it had been printed on the Library's old
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...
and Air Force went in search of the press. In the press room was a template into which the box, key, medallion and compass fit. With the blank map inserted in the press, the artifacts printed a map to
Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack b ...
in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. Team Geniuses apparently stumbled onto the artifact largely by chance and printed the map. Team Southie Boys, having temporarily given up on the card catalogue, searched for a while then returned to the catalogue to locate the final book. They too printed the map. Team Geniuses were the first to arrive at the Fort McHenry docks and hired a boat to take them to the
Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland, who wrote the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". Key observed the British bombardment ...
Truce Ship. On board and below decks, they located a mounted glass pane with a duplicate map engraved on it. Behind the map was a box containing another map and a token embossed with a star on each side. The map read "The treasure is not here. The answer is right in front of you." There was also a key and the word "Lazaretto" printed on the map. By Motorola message the team was advised to seek the site of
Lazaretto Battery A lazaretto or lazaret (from it, lazzaretto a diminutive form of the Italian word for beggar cf. lazzaro) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings ...
. Team Air Force was second at the ship and Team Southie Boys was third. Back in the boat, Team Geniuses searched the harbor for the battery site. They spotted a factory named "Key Industries" with a duplicate of the Star Spangled banner flag on it and headed there. Upon arrival the team was advised to locate a hidden chamber to find the solution to the second cryptex, and that what was inside would point them to the treasure. Team Geniuses located a hidden entrance inside a pipe and headed down into the chamber. There they located a sliding door with a slot into which the star token would fit. Dropping the token into the slot caused the door to slide open, revealing the "treasure chamber." The walls were covered with
hieroglyphs A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonis ...
and other symbols and panels were embedded into the floor. The team searched the room for possible solutions to the cryptex. As the episode came to an end, Team Geniuses were searching the treasure chamber and Team Air Force and Team Southie Boys were still looking for the pipe entrance.


Finale (Baltimore, MD)

As Team Geniuses continued to try to solve the cryptex, Team Southie Boys discovered the secret door in the pipe. Before they could solve the chamber door, Team Air Force located the pipe door and joined them outside the chamber. Matt R. figured out to drop his team's star token down the slot and all three teams were together in the secret chamber. Team Air Force noticed that of the symbols on the walls, there was only one star, but were unable to determine its meaning. All three teams continued to search the chamber and try various word combinations on the cryptex. After eight hours, Francis, citing "a vision," tried FSKEY (for Francis Scott Key) and opened the cryptex. Inside was a metal pointer engraved with symbols matching some of those on the large octagonal plates embedded in the floor. Inserting the pointer into the center of one of the plates, Team Geniuses spun the pointer. It landed on the star symbol. Francis punched the star symbol on the wall and was hit in the face with a blast of gas. A panel slid back, revealing a final secret room. Team Geniuses entered the room, discovering a cache of gold coins. Team Geniuses claimed the treasure, valued at $3,000,000.


Home viewer game

* Each episode included a historical trivia question related to the subject matter of the episode. Home viewers answered the question via
text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...
. One winner was selected at random from those who correctly answered and received $10,000.


Genworth Financial Treasure Challenge

* Over 400,000 home viewers competed in an online version of the TV show. After successful completion of each challenge, they were given the opportunity to guess the final location of the online treasure. Out of 37,000 people who correctly guessed the location, 10 were randomly chosen to receive a $10,000 prize and competed in Washington, D.C. in a "mini-hunt" for an additional $100,000 grand prize, which aired August 21, 2006 during the season finale. The grand prize winner was Scott Gray, an environmental scientist from Brandon, MS.


Public Reception

Pre-show reviews seemed optimistic about the fact that ''Treasure Hunters'' would be an intense, stepped-up version of ''The Amazing Race'', in the wake of two lackluster seasons the latter show had just aired. It premiered to ratings of approximately 6.9 million viewers on June 18, 2006. The show's main criticism as it progressed, however, seemed to be that it was just simply too similar in format and style to ''The Amazing Race''. Many were also irked by the stiff, robot-like persona of host
Laird Macintosh Laird Macintosh (born June 27, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the host of the NBC reality television program ''Treasure Hunters''. Among his credits is the television series ''Hannah Montana'', on which he portrayed ...
, who appeared live and in-person to contestants only on two occasions: the premiere and the finale (for the rest of the season, he delivered clues and instructions to teams via video-message on teams'
Motorola RAZR The Motorola Razr (styled RAZR, pronounced like "razor"; codenamed Siliqua) is a series of mobile phones by Motorola, part of the 4LTR line. The V3 was the first phone shown in the series and was introduced in December 2003 and released in th ...
cellular phones). The season finale aired on August 21, 2006 to approximately 5 million viewers.Team Geniuses wins Treasure Hunters
Retrieved January 9, 2007.


Genworth Financial "Hints"

Along the course of the hunt,
Genworth Financial Genworth Financial is an S&P 400 insurance company. The firm was founded as The Life Insurance Company of Virginia in 1871. In 1986, Life of Virginia was acquired by Combined Insurance, which became Aon plc in 1987. In 1996, Life of Virginia was ...
sponsored several messages shown to home viewers and possibly the teams. *Leg 1 - "Rush to where the treasure stands." This hint was on a road sign on the way to the
Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota ...
artifact. *Leg 2 - "Look on water for it is inspiration." This was on the way to Lexington Mine. It was a clue for teams to pour water in the bucket they found in the mine to reveal their next clue, by way of
refraction In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomeno ...
. *Leg 3 - " " This was located on the Genworth Financial blimp above the Old Burke School. It was meant for teams to turn out the lights in the classroom, which revealed the clue in
blacklight A blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp that emits long-wave (UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. One type of lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separat ...
. "In dark times, the words form" On a flag in the old burke school *Leg 4 - "Match the tune with an early drinking song." On the way to Beneventum Plantation teams found this. *Leg 7 - "Independence for the People" The hint was on the blimp over Founders Hall at
Girard College Girard College is an independent college preparatory five-day boarding school located on a 43-acre campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school was founded and permanently endowed from the shipping and banking fortune of Stephen Girard upon h ...
. It was meant to define liberty.


References


External links


Official WebsiteView TrailerOnline game
* {{IMDb title, 0472981, Treasure Hunters


Team websites


Team Fogal Family Official WebsiteTeam Geniuses Official Website
NBC original programming 2000s American reality television series Puzzle hunts 2006 American television series debuts 2006 American television series endings Television series by Imagine Entertainment Television shows filmed in Alaska Television shows filmed in Hawaii Television shows filmed in Nebraska Television shows filmed in South Dakota Television shows filmed in Montana Television shows filmed in Massachusetts Television shows filmed in New York (state) Television shows filmed in South Carolina Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state) Television shows filmed in France Television shows filmed in England Television shows filmed in Pennsylvania Television shows filmed in Washington, D.C. Television shows filmed in Maryland