Treasure Quest: Snake Island
Created byMark Kadin, Will Ehbrecht, Anuj Majumdar
Directed byDavid Carr
Presented byJeremy Whalen
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes21 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Joseph Boyle
  • Mark Kadin
  • Anuj Majumdar
  • Will Ehbrecht
Running time60 minutes
Production companyMAK Pictures
Original release
NetworkDiscovery Channel
ReleaseJuly 17, 2015 (2015-07-17) –
October 6, 2018 (2018-10-06)
Related

Treasure Quest: Snake Island is an American reality television series produced by MAK Pictures for the Discovery Channel. The series follows a crew of treasure hunters led by Jeremy Whalen (including champion freediver Mehgan Heaney-Grier) as they search for the legendary trove of Incan treasure known as the Treasure of the Trinity throughout South America.

Overview

Season 1 (2015)

The crew focuses the search on Ilha da Queimada Grande sometimes referred by its nickname "Snake Island" located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.[1][2] The treasure hunt is fraught with extreme danger because the small island is home to thousands of deadly golden lancehead pit vipers with one snake per square meter. Additionally, the team has to contend with armed black-market snake poachers, bullet ants, inhospitable terrain, and hazardous coastal waters populated with sharks, jellyfish, and roaming pirates.

Season 2 (2016)

This section about season 2 relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this section about season 2 by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Treasure Quest: Snake Island" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The crew searches various locations throughout Paraguay and Argentina. Land dangers include venomous snakes such as the jararaca pit viper, venomous spiders and insects, man-eating jaguars, drug traffickers, highway bandits, rival treasure hunters, and jealous locals; river dangers include low-visibility waters, unpredictable currents, fast-moving debris, pirates, caimans, piranhas, vampire fish, and stingrays.[3]

Centuries-old map markings discovered on Snake Island during the previous season lead the team to their first site of interest, a long-deserted Guarani village along the bank of the Paraguay River in Paraguay.[3]

The team moves to the second site in Paraguay, the remains of the former Trinidad Mission founded by Catholic Jesuit missionaries in the early 17th century.[4]

Information provided by a black market dealer leads the crew to the third site, the former Jesuit mission of Santa Ana in the neighboring country of Argentina.[5]

Season 3 (2018)

Shawn Cowles, Technology Specialist Jeremy Whalen, and Demolition Expert Jack Peters went to Bolivia in search of the Sacambaya Treasure, which has an estimated value of $2 billion.[6]

Broadcast

Season 1 premiered in the United States on July 17, 2015.[7] Season 2 debuted in the U.S. on November 4, 2016.[8]

Season 1 premiered in Australia on September 1, 2015, on Discovery Channel Australia.[9]

Controversy

In 2018, Season 1 and 2 expedition leader Cork Graham released the book So You Want to Be a "Reality" TV Star: Everything I Learned About Sex, Drugs, Fraud, Rock and Roll, and Vipers as Team Leader of Discovery Channel's Treasure Quest: Snake Island[10] In it, he alleges that most of the episodes were heavily scripted and most discoveries were faked or planted, including the climax find of Series 2. What was explained to be a mask of the Incan sun god valued at $250,000 was in fact a plastic model that was distressed to appear genuine. He alleges that a co-star physically assaulted him during filming, leading to him suing the Discovery Network.[11]

Episodes

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
16July 17, 2015 (2015-07-17)August 21, 2015 (2015-08-21)
27November 4, 2016 (2016-11-04)December 16, 2016 (2016-12-16)
38August 25, 2018 (2018-08-25)October 6, 2018 (2018-10-06)

Season 1 (2015)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleOriginal air dateU.S. viewers (millions)
11"What Lies Beneath"July 17, 2015 (2015-07-17)2.001[12]
22"Into The Nightmare"July 24, 2015 (2015-07-24)1.689[13]
33"Strikes Back"July 31, 2015 (2015-07-31)1.556[14]
44"Heart Of Darkness"August 7, 2015 (2015-08-07)1.716[15]
55"No Exit"August 14, 2015 (2015-08-14)1.576[16]
66"Fortune's Doorstep"August 21, 2015 (2015-08-21)1.831[17]

Season 2 (2016)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleOriginal air dateU.S. viewers (millions)
71"The Trail Of Blood"November 4, 2016 (2016-11-04)1.294[18]
82"A Cursed Fortune"November 11, 2016 (2016-11-11)1.369[19]
93"Treasure Found!"November 18, 2016 (2016-11-18)1.432[20]
104"Brush With Death"November 25, 2016 (2016-11-25)1.347[21]
115"Jaguars Gold"December 2, 2016 (2016-12-02)1.50[22]
126"Cappy's Curse"December 9, 2016 (2016-12-09)1.48[23]
137"Striking Gold"December 16, 2016 (2016-12-16)7.9[24]

Season 3 (2018)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleOriginal air dateU.S. viewers (millions)
141"Death Road to Fortune"August 25, 2018 (2018-08-25)N/A
152"Break In"September 1, 2018 (2018-09-01)N/A
163"Death Trap"September 8, 2018 (2018-09-08)N/A
174"Blast Away"September 14, 2018 (2018-09-14)N/A
185"Closing in on The fortune"September 21, 2018 (2018-09-21)N/A
196"Hot on The Trail"September 29, 2018 (2018-09-29)N/A
207"Payday"October 6, 2018 (2018-10-06)N/A
218"Big Risk, Bigger Reward"October 13, 2018 (2018-10-13)N/A

References

  1. ^ Bibel, Sara (June 24, 2015). "NEW DISCOVERY CHANNEL SERIES 'TREASURE QUEST: SNAKE ISLAND' SETS OUT TO FIND LEGENDARY TREASURE IN ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST DEADLY PLACES". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  2. ^ Magilo, Tony (July 17, 2015). "Discovery's 'Treasure Quest: Snake Island' Crew Explain How to Fight Pirates: Spearguns, Molotov Cocktails (Exclusive Video)". The Wrap. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Treasure Quest: The Trail Of Blood". discovery.com. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  4. ^ "Treasure Quest: A Cursed Fortune". discovery.com. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  5. ^ "Treasure Quest: Treasure Found!". discovery.com. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  6. ^ "From coins under the foundation to treasure in Bolivia". Athol Daily News. August 11, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  7. ^ "Treasure Quest Snake Island on Discovery". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  8. ^ Maglio, Tony (October 13, 2016). "'Treasure Quest' Season 2 Sneak Peak: They Actually Found Something (Exclusive Video)". The Wrap. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  9. ^ Purcell, Charles (27 August 2015). "New This Week (Aug 31): Empire, Dallas, MTV Music Awards, F1, the US Open and live sport". The Green Room. Archived from the original on 28 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  10. ^ Graham, Cork (2018). So You Want to Be a "Reality" TV Star?. Rigel Media. ISBN 978-0970358028.
  11. ^ Frederick "Cork" Graham v. Discovery Communications Inc. July 23, 2018. Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Maryland. http://corkgraham.com/docs/Discovery_Lawsuit.pdf
  12. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 7.17.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  13. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 7.24.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on July 29, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  14. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 7.31.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  15. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 8.7.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  16. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 8.14.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  17. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 8.21.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  18. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 11.4.2016". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  19. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 11.11.2016". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  20. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 11.18.2016". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  21. ^ Metcalf, Mitch. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 11.25.2016". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  22. ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 12.2.2016 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  23. ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 12.9.2016 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  24. ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 12.16.2016 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

External links

Discovery Channel original programming
Categories