Season 1

Season 1
Season	1
Episodes	10
Premiered	December 14, 2022 - February 8, 2023

Season 1 of the streaming series National Treasure: Edge of History premiered on December 14, 2022 on Disney+ with the two episodes "I'm a Ghost" and "The Treasure Map" respectively. The season consisted of 10 episodes ranging from 44-60 minutes. It ended with the episode "Treasure Protectors, which aired on February 8, 2023.

Synopsis

Jess Valenzuela’s life is turned upside down when an enigmatic stranger gives her a clue to a centuries-old treasure that might be connected to her long-dead father. Jess has a knack for solving puzzles, and her skills are put to the test as she and her friends follow a series of clues hidden in American artifacts and landmarks. But can Jess outsmart a black-market antiquities dealer in a race to find history’s greatest lost treasure and unbury the truth about her family’s past?

Cast and characters

Main

• Lisette Alexis as Jess Valenzuela
• Lyndon Smith as FBI Agent Ross
• Zuri Reed as Tasha Rivers
• Jake Austin Walker as Liam Sadusky
• Antonio Cipriano as Oren Bradley
• Jordan Rodrigues as Ethan Chao
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Billie Pearce

Special Guest Stars

• Harvey Keitel as Peter Sadusky
• Justin Bartha as Riley Poole

Recurring

• Breeda Wool as Kacey Hasler
• Dustin Ingram as Myles
• Salena Qureshi as Meena Mishra
• Darri Ingolfsson as Dario
• Armando Riesco as Agent Hendricks/Salazar
• Tommy Savas as Dr. Dr. Zeke Hudson
• Joseph David Reitman as Maddox/The Bearded Man

Guest

• Chris Browning as Matty
• Patrick Brennan as Nate
• Alejandro Edda as Young Rafael
• Jacob Vargas as Older Rafael
• Vannessa Vasquez as Manuela Rios
• Kathleen York as Gina Sadusky
• Charley Koontz as Joe
• Ben Taylor as Stan
• Collin Shephard as Petty Officer Sullivan
• Tevin Marbeth as Agent Reynolds

Episodes

#	Image	Title	Writer(s)	Director(s)	Airdate	No. in series
1		"I'm a Ghost"	Marianne Wibberley Cormac Wibberley	Mira Nair	December 14, 2022	1
22-year-old Jess Valenzuela’s life is turned upside down when she meets a mysterious stranger who holds a clue to an ancient treasure linked to her long-dead father. With the help of her friend Tasha, Jess uses her knack for puzzle-solving to try and crack the clue. But they both soon realize they’re in way over their heads when Billie—a ruthless black-market antiquities dealer—joins the hunt.
2		"The Treasure Map"	Rick Muirragui	Nathan Hope	December 14, 2022	2
With their friend kidnapped by a rival treasure hunter, Jess and her best friend, Tasha, hatch an elaborate plan to get him back, leading to a ransom exchange on a WWII warship, where Jess realizes this treasure hunt is too dangerous to continue. But will all that change when Liam Sadusky lets her in on one of his own family secrets?
3		Graceland Gambit	Monica Raymund	Gabriel Llanas	December 21, 2022	3
After Jess discovers her late mother’s involvement in the treasure hunt, Jess becomes even more determined to unravel the secrets her mother never told her about their past. She enlists the help of her friends and Liam. This newly formed team of treasure hunters bonds as they decipher a clue handed down by the Masons and embark on a risky mission that sends them to a mansion once owned by an American icon.
4		Charlotte	Cormac Wibberley Marianne Wibberley	Antonio Negret	December 28, 2022	4
For the first time ever, Jess finds herself in a puzzle-solving slump when she can’t crack the clue found in the last episode. Her personal life isn’t any less confusing as she tries to figure out if she and Liam have romantic feelings for each other. At the wake for Liam’s grandpa, Jess and her friends meet famous treasure hunter Riley Poole (from the National Treasure movies) and enlist his help. Jess’s puzzle-solving skills are put to the test when she and Riley get caught in a deadly trap.
5		Bad Romance	Sasha Stroman	Laura Belsey	January 4, 2023	5
Trust no one on a treasure hunt. Jess begins to wonder if this is true as she suspects someone close to her might’ve leaked an important clue to Billie, but she doesn’t want to believe it. While Tasha uses her tech skills to ferret out the mole, Jess realizes the key to the next step in the treasure hunt is locked in the Rare Books Room at the Governor’s mansion, leading Jess and her friends to plot a caper during the Governor’s Ball, where Jess’s trust in her friends will be tested.
6		Frenemies	John-Paul Nickel	Kevin Alejandro	January 11, 2023	6
Not knowing who’s good and who’s bad, Jess works with Billie and deciphers a hundreds-year-old clue that points to a famous 18th century landmark, and together they plan an impossible heist during an historic reenactment to retrieve the next piece of the treasure map. But things don’t go as planned, and Jess is ultimately faced with the most difficult decision of her life.
7		Point of No Return	Paola Villegas Soruco	Sherwin Shilati	January 18, 2023	7
Jess sacrifices everything to confront her dad’s killer to find the last piece of the map. But that meeting rocks her world as she learns that nothing is what’s expected on a treasure hunt, propelling her to make a dangerous decision that could land her in prison for life.
8		Prison Break	Dwain Worrell	Sherwin Shilati	January 25, 2023	8
It's a matter of life and death when Jess and her friends embark on their most impossible caper yet. Meanwhile, Liam teams up with his grandpa’s home care nurse, Myles, in a desperate attempt to bring down Billie and her secret organization before they harm Jess.
9		A Meeting with Salazar	Diya Mishra Maura Milan	Brad Tanenbaum	February 1, 2023	9
After getting captured by Billie, all hope of saving the treasure seems lost for Jess. Tasha, Oren, Ethan, and Liam try to track Jess down using Tasha's tech skills. Meanwhile, Liam finds a hidden cypher left behind by his grandpa, which holds the truth about Billie and the mysterious Salazar.
10		Treasure Protectors	Teleplay by: Rick Muirragui Story by: Gabriel Llanas	Nathan Hope	February 8, 2023	10
Jess and her allies try to outwit Billie using Jess's knowledge of puzzles and history to escape and protect the treasure.

Production

Development

In early May 2020, Jerry Bruckheimer revealed in an interview with Collider that a National Treasure television series was in the works for Disney+. The series would follow the same concept as the films with a younger cast. The script for the pilot was completed, with plotting for the story continued for the rest of the episodes. In March 2021, Disney officially greenlit the series. The series's title was revealed in July 2022, ahead of its panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

On December 19, 2022, Lyndon Smith stated that she read for the part of Agent Ross it in September 2021. Initially Smith didn't know the franchise was going to be made into a series. She also states that she didn’t hear anything for probably a month. Then she got a call that the Wibberleys and Mira Nair, the director for the first episode, wanted to do a Zoom meeting with her. Then right before Christmas that they officially extending the offer.

While the first season doesn't feature Nicolas Cage, Cormac Wibberley has revealed that they already have a plotline in mind if it becomes possible to bring Cage back as Gates, which is to make him the Tony Stark Olivera’s Jess needs in a potential season 2. Which is something that by July 2022, Marianne Wibberly reiterated by stating that, "If we get a season 2 we will beg to get him".

Casting

In October 2021, Lisette Alexis was cast in the lead role. In January 2022, Lyndon Smith, Zuri Reed, Jake Austin Walker, Antonio Cipriano and Jordan Rodrigues were added to the cast, with Catherine Zeta-Jones joining the following month. In April 2022, Justin Bartha joined the series as a guest star to reprise his role from the films. On July 21, 2022 during San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that Harvey Keitel would also be reprising his role as Peter Sadusky, the head FBI from the first 2 movies.

On December 28, 2022, there was a Page 47 reference, which is something that Justin Bartha threw in there when they were filming.

Filming

Principal photography began on February 12, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Filming then moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico in late June.

Gallery

Promotional stills

BTS

Promotional Videos

Teaser - National Treasure- Edge of History - Disney+

National Treasure Edge Of History Trailer

Scavenger Hunt - National Treasure- Edge of History - Disney+

Behind-the-Scenes Featurette - National Treasure- Edge of History - Disney+

Gold Carpet Featurette - National Treasure- Edge of History - Disney+

'National Treasure' Panel - SDCC 2022 - Entertainment Weekly

The Cast and Creators of 'National Treasure- Edge of History' - D23 2022 - Entertainment Weekly

Uncovering the Secrets Behind National Treasure- Edge of History

Jerry Bruckheimer Interview- National Treasure Edge of History

Catherine Zeta-Jones talks new show, ‘National Treasure- Edge of History’ l GMA

Jordan Rodrigues, Antonio Cipriano, and Jake Austin Walker Talks National Treasure- Edge of History

Catherine Zeta-Jones Loved Playing the Villain in National Treasure- Edge of History

National Treasure- Edge of History Set Tour With Catherine Zeta-Jones!

Talking National Treasure- Edge of History with Star Lisette Olivera - What's Up, Disney+

National Treasure- Edge Of History Cast Interviews

Meet the Cast of 'National Treasure- Edge of History'

Jake Austin Walker talks about National Treasure- Edge Of History on Disney+ and much more!

Zuri Reed talks about National Treasure- Edge Of History on Disney+ and much more

National Treasure Edge of History Interview- Meet Zuri Reed

Trivia

• On December 4, 2022, seven new character posters with each character having their own trait associated with them. Billie’s “The Truth Keeper”, Jess’ “The Truth Seeker”, Tasha’s “The Specialist”, Liam’s “The Wild Card”, Ethan’s “The Skeptic”, Oren’s “The Believer”, and Ross’ “The Law”. To the naked eye and the uninitiated these are just normal descriptors, but the motion posters add a new layer to these images. Clues to a much larger message with certain letters underlined in each poster. For example the “TR” in truth is underlined for Billie while the “U” in truth is underlined for Jess. The Letters in question, in the order the posters are in, are “TRUSEERA”. However, when you unscramble them, they spell out “TREASURE”.
• Benjamin Franklin Gates is neither seen nor is his name spoken in I'm a Ghost, the series premiere, but he is indirectly referenced.
  • First when Jess seeks out Peter Sadusky, the same FBI agent who apprehended and later befriended Gates in the National Treasure Franchise.
  • Later, Sadusky is impressed by Jess' proficiency with puzzles and determination, and he notes that he "knows somebody" like her, meaning Gates without outright saying his name.
  • Peter then directly quotes Gates when he says, "I've known men like him. Men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right".
• In The Treasure Map, the second episode, Jess and Tasha turn to the FBI after Oren is kidnapped by Billie. Agent Ross thinks their wild story and obviously fake aliases are a prank, but later her curiosity is piqued and Ross consults Agent Sadusky's file.
  • There, Ross finds redacted reports about the events of the films.
  • Ross later confides to Agent Hendricks that Sadusky "arrested the guy who stole the Declaration of Independence," unaware that Hendricks worked with Sadusky.
• In the episode Graceland Gambit, Jake Austin Walker revealed that as he was practicing the Elvis song he played at Graceland, the extra actor that was working with him grabbed the guitar off, but it wiggled off his back. So the guitar Walker was supposed to use shattered, during rehearsal, completely busted.
• In A Meeting with Salazar, Agent Hendricks turns out to be Salazar, who killed Billie’s brother.
  • Thus, the agent who didn’t believe Benjamin Franklin Gates when he reported the possible theft of the Declaration of Independence is the leader of the treasure destroying group.
  • In addition, it appears that the person who caused Peter Sadusky trouble in the first National Treasure film, is seemingly confirmed to be his murderer twenty years later.
• By January 28, 2023, it was mentioned that props from “National Treasure: Edge of History” are now on display in Walt Disney Presents at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, replacing the “Disenchanted” costumes that have been displayed since November 2022.
• When in I'm a Ghost the President of the United States was hinted to be Joe Biden on the fake FBI badges, in the mid-credit shots Jess is shown meeting a president who now is a woman.
• There is an unintentional homage to the classic film Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, when Billie's henchmen are forced to start using poles to push the boat along.
• Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley confirmed that, it was Hendricks who poisoned Sadusky in the premiere, making it look like he died from natural causes, mere moments after delivering Jess the clue that starts the whole chase.
• From his post within the FBI, Hendricks has been actively dissuading the search for lost history since before he dismissed Benjamin Franklin Gates’ warning that Ian Howe(Sean Bean) would steal the Declaration of Independence in the original film.
  • Series creators the Wibberleys, who also wrote the first two movies in the franchise, stated that the Hendricks twist was born out of early conversations about how to bridge the films and the series with something more consequential than a fleeting Easter egg.
  • While Disney+ hasn’t officially greenlit Season 2, the Wibberleys are already brainstorming the next hunt, which is teased in the final moments of the finale.
    • Without giving anything away, the Wibberleys teased that they would love to go West and international. Especially since in the first season, they went South for this show, but both admit that there's so much history out there, like California for example.
• The Wibberleys also said that they have been in contact with the producing team for the potential “National Treasure 3” to ensure they don’t double dip on clues. Someone within Disney was even designated to read scripts for the series to make sure they didn’t encroach on possible big-screen storylines, and vice versa.
• Additional easter eggs would have taken place in the episode Charlotte, where the Wibberleys had initially gone even further to implicate Cras Est Nostrum in the events of the films. Particularly, a scene in which Billie is confronted by a boardroom of financial backers, which originally included dialogue that confirmed the group was also behind the search for the Templar Treasure in the 2004 film. Originally, they actually had something in there along the lines of ‘We can’t have another Templar Treasure,’” Marianne says. “And Billie responded, ‘That was Ian Howe’s fault, not mine.’ We tried to tie all that in, even though things always end up on the cutting room floor. But we did think about how if it was all rewatched, it would fit together.”

External links

• Season 1 on the Internet Movie Database
• National Treasure: Edge of History on Wikipedia
• Watch National Treasure: Edge of History on Disney+