The Checklist: Relic Hunter (S1 Ep12) “Emperor’s Bride”
Unlike the treasures on the show, Relic Hunter is not difficult to track down if you find yourself in the mood for the classic action adventure series starring Tia Carrere. Relic Hunter is currently streaming on The Roku Channel, Tubi and Freevee.
Now I have covered Relic Hunter here on the site in the past and both times the randomizer gave me episodes from the show’s second season… so this time around I decided to limit my selections to the first season of the show and I landed on Episode 12 entitled “Emperor’s Bride”…
#1. Did the show open with a flashback?
While not done “cold open” style like the Season 2 episodes I previously covered, the first scene of “Emperor’s Bride” was in fact a flashback to the Huang River in China in the year 1000 B.C. It is there we see the Emperor laying his bride to rest, including adorning her with a beautiful necklace before sealing her white jade sarcophagus.
Some bandits show up, a sword fight ensues and while the Emperor stands his ground the numbers game allows the bandits to steal the sarcophagus and load it on to their boat. All the heartbroken Emperor could do at that point is vow to be reunited with his bride some day and we now know the relic that will be hunted in this episode. 1/1
#2. Were there any notable guest stars?
Sydney Fox (Tia Carrere) is paid a visit by Dr. Chen and his niece Katie… Dr. Chen found an online article about a piece of white jade that was found in Alaska… we learn that the Bandits boat was set adrift (on memory bliss?) way back when and ended up in what is now known as Alaska. Dr. Chen has surmised from the photograph that it is very likely that the piece of white jade was part of Empress Xia’s sarcophagus and he wants the famed relic hunter Sydney Fox to recover the sarcophagus and return it to China so the Empress can finally be reunited with the Emperor. So it is off to Alaska for Sydney and her trusty assistant Nigel Bailey (Christien Anholt).
But when they get there they find out they aren’t the only relic hunters in Moose Bay, Alaska inquiring about the story the local newspaper ran… Dallas Carter, a Great Value version of Indiana Jones, beat Sydney and Nigel there and is already doing some research. Dallas Carter was played by John Schneider. Schneider achieved his greatest fame on The Dukes of Hazzard, but he is no stranger to action movies starring in Cocaine Wars and Ministry of Vengeance. I’ll always think of John Schneider as Jonathan Kent on Smallville too. Dallas isn’t just a fellow relic hunter, he and Sydney were also lovers in the past so that complicates things a bit, but things are about to get even more complicated…
Another relic hunter and former Sydney lover, Kurt Reiner shows up on his motorcycle… Reiner was played by Thomas Kretschmann, who also appeared as Reiner in Episode 6 of Season 1. 2/2
#3. Did Sydney find herself in any romantic entanglements?
You would think with two former flames involved on this quest, Sydney would find herself in a romantic situation… add in the fact that Nigel, going off some erroneous information from Sydney’s secretary Claudia, thinks that Sydney may in fact be interested in him and it really seemed like there was going to at least be some smooching going on… but alas, it never happens. Instead the battle lines are drawn and Sydney and Nigel are trying to out maneuver Dallas and Kurt, who have no intentions of sending their findings back to China and instead plan on profiting from this hunt… but Dallas and Kurt aren’t the only greedy ones! 2/3
#4. Did Sydney get to kick some ass?
The trapper who first found the white jade was in cahoots with Ferguson the newspaper editor and Conor, the woman who runs Moose Bay’s “general store”… Conor eliminates her partners and is looking to do the same to the relic hunters! And this leads to a Sydney vs. Conor battle in the Alaskan wilderness… reminding us that Sydney has brawn to go along with her brains! 3/4
#5. Did the show end on a light hearted note?
As the show closes, Dr. Chen and Katie visit Sydney and inform her that Empress Xia’s sarcophagus made it back to China and now sits next to her husband’s sarcophagus at a museum where they can now be together for all eternity. And while Nigel finds out he has no shot with Sydney… he does score a date with Katie! 4/5
- Final Score = 4/5 (80%) “Emperor’s Bride” felt overly complicated… Did we really need two former lovers/relic hunters? I think one would suffice, especially since you had the greedy locals involved too… plus, why even have the former lover aspect when you are doing the Three’s Company-esque misunderstanding where Nigel thinks Sydney wants to be more than just co-workers!?!? Not horrible by any means, but I’ve definitely seen better episodes of Relic Hunter.
