Escaping the police, Jess (Lisette Olivera) wonders why Billie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) saved her from being arrested. Billie tells her that if she had known that Jess was the daughter of Rafael and Manuela Rios, then things would have started off differently. Billie then shows Jess a medallion just like Jess’ and Billie says that she is also a member of the Daughters of the Plume Serpent. Billie tells Jess that she and her parents started the search for the treasure together. Billie offers to buy Jess dinner and tell her everything that she knows, or a free ride home.
Oren, Tasha, and Ethan (Antonio Cipriano, Zuri Reed, Jordan Rodrigues) are searching for Jess and wondering why she won’t answer her phone. A short text message to the group tells them that she is fine and that when she returns, Jess will explain everything.
At a fancy restaurant, Billie proves to Jess that she knows everything about her. Looking at the medallion, Billie vocalizes Jess’ skepticism, and then shows Jess a picture of her father with her brother Sebastian. Billie begins to tell the story that Salazar killed Jess’ father and her brother. Billie warns Jess that Salazar is out there looking for the treasure, and that together they can protect the treasure from Salazar and validate the work of her mother.
Billie proceeds to tell Jess that Liam has been working for Jess for quite some time and offered to steal the journal for her. Billie proposes that she and Jess join forces to protect the treasure from Salazar. (Zeta-Jones is really good in this scene, and believable, but you just know that Billie will go back on her word.)
On board her yacht, Billie shows Jess her operations and Jess meets Kacey (Breeda Wool), who impersonated an FBI agent to follow Jess earlier. Jess is shown the journal and reveals to the group that Sacagawea made the journal entries. A broken word puzzle left by Sacagawea offers a clue to the next site, which turns out to be the well at the Alamo. (A clue at the Alamo, please tell me Davy Crockett is going to be included. Have I mentioned I love this show? God, I love this show.)
Billie shows Jess the Aztec and Maya piece of the maps, and Billie believes that the two boxes will help them bring them to the Incan piece, using the magnetized lodestone in the boxes will help lead them to the next piece at the Alamo.
Tasha is waiting all night for Jess to return, and when she does, Jess starts in on how Liam stole the journal. Tasha tells her to forget him, and rather than planning with her friends, Jess tells Tasha that she wants to do this on her own. Tasha doesn’t take this well and storms out of the apartment.
Jess is looking through her mementos of her mom and thinking about what to do next. Tasha has made her way to Oren’s place and is talking about her fight with Jess. Oren tries to make sense of their fallout and offer advice on what to do, via watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The next morning, Oren is excited by a rekindle of his relationship with Tasha, when Ethan walks in and wonders what’s going on.
Ethan goes to Jess’ door with coffee, and they talk about the previous day’s events. Jess is concerned about how dangerous things are getting, and tells Ethan that she could have got everyone in trouble, including herself. Liam is missing, and Ethan tells Jess to go look for him.
At Liam’s home, Jess enters the clue room and sees the secret room in disarray. Someone has ransacked the room, and Jess is surprised by an assailant, the same one who followed them to Graceland, and was staking out the funeral of Peter Sadusky. Kacey enters the room, and the madman jumps out the window.
Kacey is surprised by Peter’s clue room, and while she scans the room, Jess wonders why she’s there. While Jess holds on to doubts about Billie, Kacey assures her that she understands her doubts, but Billie isn’t the bad person in this story. She proceeds to tell a compelling story of Billie taking her in from the street, paying for her education and saving her life.
Agent Ross (Lyndon Smith) lays out her suspicions to her coroner friend. Ross believes Peter Sadusky was killed over clues to an ancient treasure and then shows her photos from the USS Kidd where the kidnapping exchange took place. Ross is encouraged to contact her DC contacts for help, but Ross is not willing to because she has a tainted past. (Of course, Ross has a difficult background. Why else would she be assigned to the Baton Rouge office.)
At the Alamo, Billie, Kacey, and Jess are at the well, and trying to avoid the rangers and tourist cameras. A re-enactment of the battle would allow the three to get into the well without being seen. Jess returns home and leaves a note for Tasha, that prompts her to search for her friend.
Ethan breaks up with his girlfriend, only to discover that Liam (Jake Austin Walker) has been in the hospital the whole time. On board Billie’s plane, Jess is starting to connect with Billie, and learning more about her mom. Kacey outlines the plan for what they are going to do during the Alamo search. Dressed in costumes, the three blend in with the other participants, which allows Billie, Jess, and Kacey to access the well without being bothered.
Liam wakes up to Ethan at the hospital, and he confesses to stealing the journal to keep it from Billie who he saw at the governor’s ball. He describes being attacked at the ball by Kacey and being dumped into the river.
Jess climbs up from the well with no results. She is unable to find the next clue box, and Billie isn’t willing to take no for an answer. She takes the satchel with the other clues down into the well. Jess traps Billie in the well, and escapes from the Alamo.
Attacked by Billie’s many minions, Tasha races into the crowd to help Jess and they escape together with Oren driving them to safety. Jess shows Oren and Tasha the treasure map from Billie, and that the next clue isn’t at the Alamo, but in a town could Alamo in Mexico.
Back at the Alamo, Billie is being arrested while Kacey makes a mysterious phone call to Peter Sadusky’s nurse who delivers a USB drive to Agent Ross. The nurse makes the accusation that Jess murdered Peter Sadusky.
Tasha explains that the well in the town of Alamo is real, but a bank was built on top of the well. Twenty years ago, a bank robber blew a hole in the bank and found the well. The worse news is that the robber was Diego Salazar. Jess plans to speak to Salazar and explains to Tasha and Oren that Salazar killed her father, and now she wants to confront him. Jess believes that Salazar is the key, and that speaking to him would require her to go to Mexico.
Oren points out that because of her DACA status that if she went to Mexico, she would never be able to come back. Jess informs her friends that her bags are already packed.
Bills Perspective:
The action has picked up, the treasure hunt is progressing, and Jess is finally putting her safety on the line in the interest of protecting the treasure. This is the moment that comes perfectly in the series. At the halfway point in the series, Jess is finally willing to put herself on the edge to stop the forces of darkness from finding this hidden treasure. All great heroes need to have this moment, and Lisette Olivera makes us believe her character’s growth. She is not only perfectly cast but continues to develop Jess into a formidable opponent against Billie.
Catherine Zeta-Jones is simply diabolical as Billie Pearce. She runs through the show with her cutthroat attitude and aggression that is easily forgotten when Billie applies the charm to Jess. Of course she wasn’t a real ally to Jess, but Zeta-Jones makes us believe it for a moment, which makes the story so fun to watch.
A treasure hunt needs to bring people to different places and having the show head to the Alamo was perfect. I just wish there was more.