Name: National Treasure: Edge of History episode 3
Director: Monica Raymund
Released: 2022-12-21T13:30:00

‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ episode 3 follows Jess and company, as well as Billie and her entourage making big strides towards getting close to the treasure.

Recap

Jess and Liam find a cassette at the secret library and run off to Oren’s place where they can play the cassette. The woman giving a speech to several men in the audience is Jess’s mother.

Through her speech, the show lazily delivers more exposition as Jess translates her mother’s words to her friends. It’s revealed that the indigenous women who hid the treasure were members of a group dedicated to protecting and safeguarding the treasure and history of their people.

Their group was called “Daughters of the Plumed Serpent” and they all wore necklaces with the same symbol that Jess wears. When one of the men in the audience challenges her research and mansplains her, Rafael drops in to defend her wife.

After Jess watches, with tears in her eyes, the beautiful relationship that her mother and father had, Ethan arrives and she explains everything. Ethan agrees to embark on the adventure as well.

However, later on, he does envious of the growing intimacy between Liam and Jess and goes to meet the former and talk to him about being careful with Jess, since she’s brash.

When Liam says it’s not his place and that his situation is similar to hers, Ethan slips up and reveals Jess is undocumented, which he later apologizes to her for.

Earlier, the group decides to solve the clues to the third relic box and their search leads them to the Elvis museum where they perform a series of daring heists and Jess finally manages to extract some evidence.

Later on, Jess discusses her DACA status with Liam and how it’s the only thing people (even her well-wishers) think about first. She says she’s more than that and wishes to crack the puzzle of her family, which she can only do when she finds the treasure.

Meanwhile, Billie and her associates crack the relics’ puzzles and head off to the ‘White Woman Mountains’. In the caves, Nate ends up succumbing to one of the traps and falls into a well, and to his death.

While Billie and Kacey mourn him during their retreating flight, the former plays the same tape of Elvis’s vinyl that Jess recorded.

Review

‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ episode 3 is a similarly bland and uninspired slog as its preceding two-episode premiere was.
The hunt for the treasure achieves the purpose for the characters, and to a stupidy high degree, but none for the viewers, who don’t get to relish the same excitement as Jess and friends because the clue-gathering and solving is almost second nature for the protagonists.
This gives rise to a huge blockade when trying to suspend one’s disbelief and while it’s all absurd and stupid like the ‘National Treasure’ films, ‘Edge of History’ doesn’t retain the same level of campiness or charm of its predecessors.