‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ Episode 8 Recap – “Family Tree”

By
Alison Helms
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National Treasure Edge of History Episode 8
Lisette Olivera, Zuri Reed, and Jordan Rodrigues in Disney+’s ‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ episode 8

With just two episodes left in season one of Disney+’s National Treasure: Edge of History, things are really heating up. Episode seven ended with Jess concluding she needs to break her father out of a prison in Mexico. Episode eight picks up with Jess’s dad, Rafael (Jacob Vargas), in for a shock when he sees Billie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) has come to visit him.

Billie accuses him of killing her brother and Rafael denies it, insisting it was Salazar who killed her brother. Billie demands the last relic or else she’s going after Jess. “You’re about to find out how it feels to lose the person you love more than anything else in the world,” warns Billie.

Oren (Antonio Cipriano) desperately tries to talk Jess (Lisette Olivera) out of breaking her father out of prison. When Oren asks for Ethan (Jordan Rodrigues) and Tasha (Zuri Reed) to back him up, they refuse. They are all in with Jess.

Oren’s shocked that he’s the one being the voice of reason, but Jess knows she must do this or Billie will kill her dad. Odd man out, Oren decides to return home.

Tasha and Jess go over the prison layout to prepare for the jailbreak. Before Oren leaves, he tosses them a helpful tidbit. Prisons have large drainage areas in case of flooding.

Meanwhile, Myles (Dustin Ingram) spills Billie’s secrets to Liam (Jake Austin Walker). He thinks they need to get one of Billie’s security team’s phones in order to have access to all the trackers Billie uses. That should help them locate Jess.

Rafael says a prayer to Jess’s late mother and vows to keep Jess safe. He’s interrupted when new shoes suddenly arrive that he ordered a while back.

Ethan and Jess have a heart-to-heart, and Ethan confesses he wishes that Jess would let him do the breaking-in. There will be fewer consequences if he gets caught. Their talk is interrupted when Tasha reveals she can hack the system to make it think there’s flooding going on. The system will react by lowering the water levels, giving Jess about 10 minutes to get in and get her dad out.

As the audience hears Tasha explain to Jess what she needs to do in order to get in and out of the prison, we see Jess doing all those things. Jess is in for a shock when she makes it to her dad’s cell only to find the door already open and her dad gone.

A guard comes in, and Jess hides in her dad’s bed. When the guard discovers her, Rafael jumps on his back and chokes him until he’s unconscious. Jess admits she’s there to break him out because Billie’s going to kill him. In turn, Rafael admits the cell door was open because he was going to break out and rescue her because Billie’s going to kill her.

National Treasure Edge of History Episode 8
Lisette Olivera and Jacob Vargas in Disney+’s ‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ episode 8

Time for a new plan because Jess’s original escape route is filling up with water. Rafael knows of a way out.

The police find Tasha and Ethan and want to see their IDs.

After making it outside, Rafael informs Jess that he’s tried to escape many times but never made it past this part because it takes two people. He’s going to try to hinder the guard’s vision in the towers with a mirror while she runs to cut the fence. Hopefully, she won’t get shot at.

Tasha and Ethan are told to move along because it’s a restricted area. At the same moment, the guard that Rafael choked is waking up. When the alarm starts going off, Jess makes a run for it. The rest of the scene plays out in slow motion as Jess gets shot at, but the bullets miss. The guard then turns his gun on Rafael which causes him to drop his mirror.

It appears Rafael has accepted his fate and waits for the final bullet to take his life. But suddenly someone shoots the guard instead, and Jess and her father make it out of the prison and into the van.

Oren has made it home and is talking to himself, wondering if his friends are safe, when Agent Ross (Lyndon Smith) arrives unannounced. She welcomes herself in and wants to know safe from what. He lies and says he doesn’t know where his friends are, and Agent Ross goes over everything that has transpired since Jess and Tasha showed up and claimed he was kidnapped. Oren refuses to give her any information.

Myles informs Dario (Darri Ingolfsson) that Liam isn’t dead and he didn’t call a clean-up crew because he figured he would want to question him. Liam pretends to be tied up and Myles quickly injects Dario with something that knocks him out. The clock is ticking because Dario brought a friend.

Myles unlocks Dario’s phone and Liam sees a phrase on it that sounds familiar. As Myles looks for the tracking information, Liam grabs a book his grandpa left for him with the same phrase written on it. When he opens the book it reads: “The Book of Famous Lost Treasure.”

Agent Ross speaks with her boss, Agent Hendricks (Armando Riesco), about the information she has on Jess, even though she’s having doubts about Jess being Peter Sadusky’s killer. Hendricks starts the paperwork to extradite Jess and suggests Ross should stop second-guessing herself.

Jess says goodbye to Tasha and Ethan because they need to get home right away. Rafael swears he’ll be able to get Jess across the border.

Liam can’t find tracking on Jess but does spot a familiar name – his dad, Jack. Billie has apparently been tracking him for years, and the last day he was alive that tracker places him nowhere near the river where he supposedly drowned.

Kacey (Breeda Wool) is on the tracking system and notices Dario is on it too, and that he’s in the Sadusky file. Billie calls Dario’s phone, and out of anger, Liam answers it. Liam confronts her about killing his grandpa and accuses her of killing his dad too. Liam warns her he’s going to come after her.

Billie knows Myles is helping Liam now, and Myles smashes the phone in a panic.

Dario’s friend enters the house and Liam and Myles lock him and Dario up in the secret room. Unfortunately, the friend gets off a shot that hits Myles. The cleaning crew shows up, and Liam is forced to flee, leaving a dead Myles behind… but not before grabbing that book.

Rafael began keeping a journal after he met Jess’s mom, and he’s hidden it in an old tree. He explains he went to her mother to get information on Malinche. He also reveals his mother was a Daughter of the Plumed Serpent and gave him the necklace that Jess wears.

Tasha and Ethan make it across the border and are met by the FBI.

Oren returns home to a waiting Liam who demands to know where Jess is.

Jess shows her dad the map from the relics. She thinks X marks the spot in the map, but he says X is a Mayan symbol for the sky. Jess realizes it’s a map of the sky and the Daughters of the Plumed Serpent are showing the location of the treasure with the constellations. The river is the Milky Way, and the dots are the stars.

One star in particular called “God of the Morning Star” was essential for the Daughters of the Plumed Serpent to navigate. After using an app, Jess figures out it’s pointing to a spot near the Mississippi River called Devil’s Swamp.

The long-haired, bearded man shows up and claims he doesn’t work for Salazar. He throws Jess and Rafael for a loop when he says Salazar isn’t one man; it is a mantle. He clears up that head-scratching announcement by explaining a “Salazar” is always the leader of a group of treasure hunters dating back to ancient Egypt.

Just then Kacey comes zooming up in a vehicle and shoots the bearded man. Jess manages to escape, but Billie grabs her dad. Billie attempts to lure Jess out by telling her she helped them escape. She paid off the guards, put a tracker in her dad’s shoe, and Kacey shot the sniper guard. She claims she heard everything and is always one step ahead of them.

Jess not only gives herself up to Billie, but she also hands over the backpack. And with that episode eight draws to a close.




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