6.6/10223 votes#1 - Buddha's Bowl
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/1999
Event: NEPAL 523 B.C. Sydney and Nigel go to Nepal searching Buddha's bowl for villagers building a shrine to Siddhartha, the original Buddha. But Sydney's rival, Stewie Harper, is also searching for the artifact. Hired by a banker, Michael Chan, who needs the bowl to save his family's bank from financial ruin, Stewie will stop at nothing to beat Sydney, and it takes all her resources to make sure the bowl ends up in its place.
Director: Ian Toynton
7.3/10172 votes#2 - Smoking Gun
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/1999
Event: CHICAGO 1930 Sydney is persuaded to locate Al Capone's diamond encrusted gun by the grandson of a man framed for murder 70 years ago, which he hopes will clear his grandfather's name. Sydney uncovers a lot more in a Chicago hotel formerly frequented by Capone, while Nigel gets interested of Lori. With Capone's fabled lost bunker booby-trapped to keep its secrets, it takes a lot for Sydney, Nigel, and Lori to escape.
Director: Ian Toynton
Writer: Frank Encarnacao
6.9/10158 votes#3 - The Headless Nun
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/1999
Event: NOVA SCOTIA 1600'S Sydney crash lands at a convent in Nova Scotia, while returning from an expedition. The Sisters of Mercy ask for help in finding the remains of Sister Evangeline, whose body has been missing for over 400 years. Enlisting Nigel's help, Sydney finds there is more than a person seeking the body of the murdered nun and discovers that the Sisters are guarding lost jewels and pirate treasure.
Director: Ken Girotti
Writer: Rob Gilmer
6.8/10153 votes#4 - Flag Day
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/16/1999
Event: CALIFORNIA 1846 Sydney and Nigel see an old photo of the Pioneer's Bear Flag of California, believed to have been destroyed during the struggle to control the state in 1846. Tracking the flag to Larivee, California, they meet an old miner, Jake Whitney, claiming to know where the flag is. When Sydney and Nigel find him dead in an abandoned gold mine, they suspect that he was murdered while trying to capture the flag. They must unearth the banner before meeting Jake's fate.
Director: David Wu
Writer: Ian Toynton
6.8/10147 votes#5 - Thank You Very Much
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/23/1999
Event: GERMANY 1960 A musician appeals to Sydney to help him find his lost guitar given to him by Elvis Presley. The three head first to Nashville, then Germany. Sydney fans an old flame for information, and discovers that the guitar has more than sentimental value for interested parties, including a Cold War spy.
Director: Don McCutcheon
Writer: Jurgen Wolff
6.9/10148 votes#6 - Diamond in the Rough
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/30/1999
Event: FENWAY PARK, BOSTON 1946 Arrogant baseball star Frank Newhouse hires Sydney to find the magical glove of former baseball great Jimmy Jonesboro, stolen more than 50 years ago. Sydney and Nigel track the glove to the sewers of pre-Revolutionary war Boston, while unwittingly being tailed by Sydney's former rival, Kurt Reiner.
Director: Don McCutcheon
Writer: Rob Gilmer
6.9/10154 votes#7 - Transformation
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/1999
Event: SALZBURG, AUSTRIA 1946 A military officer persuades Sydney and Nigel to join him on an undercover mission to locate the Paracelsus scrolls, fabled to contain the formula to turn lead into gold, in Peruvian jungle. With minimal information, Sydney and Nigel find themselves caught in the crossfire between two government spies, claiming that the other is a rogue agent. Sydney must make a decision that could get her and Nigel killed and allow the alchemist's secret to fall into unsavory hands.
Director: Clay Borris
Writer: Bill Taub
6.8/10135 votes#8 - Etched in Stone
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/13/1999
Event: NORTHUMBRIAN COAST 935 A.D. Stewie Harper shows up at the university posing as a visiting professor. He's got a lead on an ancient fortune but needs Sydney's expertise. Sydney, Nigel and Stewie head off to Sweden to find the pillaged booty of legendary Viking marauder Jann the Bold. But Stewie's not telling the whole truth, which becomes clear after an encounter with the Swedish Society of Vikings, determined to stop them.
Director: John Bell
Writer: Bill Taub
6.8/10132 votes#9 - The Book of Love
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/20/1999
Event: CASANOVA'S HIDEAWAY, ITALY 1749 Sydney and Nigel are persuaded by soccer player Roberto Giannini into launching a search for Casanova's Book of Love. Sydney begins to suspect that the Roberto's best moves are reserved for the field and Roberto's real passion is his agent Kate Crowley.
Director: Paolo Barzman
Writer: Jurgen Wolff
6.9/10135 votes#10 - The Myth of the Maze
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/27/1999
Event: ATHENS, GREECE 3000 B.C. Stavros dangles an ancient trinket in front of both Claudia and Sydney in Athens. Stavros claims that the marble charm is the key to the fabled Minotaur's Maze. Sydney, Nigel and Claudia land in the middle of a family feud between Stavros and his crime boss father, both wanting to find the Maze and its mythical ball of golden twine. With 2000-year-old blueprints, the hunt is on to unearth important archeological find and to make it through the legendary labyrinth alive.
Director: Graeme Lynch
Writer: Rob Gilmer
7.0/10127 votes#11 - Irish Crown Affair
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 2/5/2000
Event: IRELAND 1000 A.D. Sydney's former classmate Molly fears the life of an online acquaintance is in danger and begs Sydney to help. Sean Bolger discovered an ancient scroll that could lead to the lost crown of the last King of Ireland, Brian Boru, but Sean has since dropped out of sight. They and Nigel go to Dublin to investigate the O'Donnell clan entrusted with dying King Boru's crown, swore allegiance to the King of England. It turns into a search for the truth, as they uncover a family secret that will rewrite history.
Director: Paolo Barzman
Writer: Jurgen Wolff
7.1/10135 votes#12 - The Emperor's Bride
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 2/12/2000
Event: HUANG RIVER, CHINA 1000 B.C. Sydney and Nigel investigate a Chinese antiquity that washed ashore in Alaska, more than 3000 miles from its origin being lost over 3000 years. In legend a Chinese Emperor carved a sarcophagus for his bride, who wore a necklace of gold, even in death. But bandits raided the funeral and stole the coffin. In Moose Bay, Alaska, Sydney and Nigel find that two rival Relic Hunters and former beaus of Sydney's are on the case. They'll have to outsmart the adventurers and a local intent if they want to return the relic to its rightful place.
Director: Stefan Scaini
Writer: Julie Lacey
7.0/10120 votes#13 - Afterlife and Death
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 2/19/2000
Event: EGYPT 1425 B.C. Sydney and Nigel go to Cairo to chase down the real tomb raider, when Sydney's old friend Bruce Farrow is framed for plundering the tomb of Thutmose III and pocketing the Pharaoh's diamond. The theft of the gem, believed to have fallen from the sky inside a meteor, lures mercenary Avery Ko, a rival Relic Hunter, from the shadows. The trail leads to Amsterdam, where the stone is to be cut and sold. Sydney, Nigel and Bruce discover that the rock is not a diamond, and if cut by laser, will unleash a force that could cause major destruction like the tomb's hieroglyphs described.
Director: Don McCutcheon
Writer: Bill Taub, Rob Gilmer
7.0/10131 votes#14 - Nine Lives
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/26/2000
Event: EGYPT 1895 Elizabeth Ruckeyser, the curator of New York's Crawford Institute, summons Sydney and Nigel to track down a ancient Egyptian relic, the sacred statue of the cat goddess Mafdet that Sydney found and returned once before. An age-old curse on the golden figurine claims that anyone who steals it will die by the claws of the cat. The hunt delves into Manhattan's ring of art thieves, turning up dead bodies covered with marks. Is Mafdet seeking revenge, or is someone fulfilling the prophesy?
Director: Paolo Barzman
Writer: William Gough
6.7/10122 votes#15 - Affaire de Coeur
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 3/4/2000
Event: SCOTLAND 1430 Sydney and Nigel head to the Scottish Highlands searching the missing half of the twine-ing rings that belonged to lovers from the 15th century. In legend whoever wears the rings will find everlasting love together, and their employer, who's got one of the two, is anxious to test the myth. Sydney faces more than a decaying castle and secret passageways, when she discovers that her own lost love, rival Relic Hunter Francois du Marier, is also in pursuit of the ring for far less romantic reasons.
Director: Steve DiMarco
Writer: Rob Gilmer
7.3/10115 votes#16 - A Vanishing Art
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 3/11/2000
Event: BUDAPEST 1897 Magician Rex Rolands seeks out Sydney's expertise to locate a jewel-encrusted staff that belonged to the Hungarian royal family, Hungary's Cursed Scepter. The journal of a Scotland Yard investigator brings Sydney, Nigel and Rex to The Magic Mansion in Atlantic City. Someone on the inside clues into their search and is determined to stop Sydney and Nigel, while they navigate the mansion's secret passageways, labyrinths and hidden chutes.
Director: Ian Toynton
Writer: Naomi Janzen
6.9/10111 votes#17 - A Good Year
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 4/22/2000
Event: PARIS 1792 The discovery of a hidden scroll sparks a mission to recover the lost crown jewels of France. The message points Sydney and Nigel to a winery, Chateau Halezan founded by Jerome Halezan, long considered as Marie-Antoinette's lover. It's possible Halezan hid the jewels in a wine bottle. The treasure hunt winds through a Parisian black market and the city's famed underground catacombs, in addition to pitting Sydney and Nigel against thieves and crime lords.
Director: Paolo Barzman
Writer: Martin Brossollet
7.3/10119 votes#18 - The Last Knight
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 4/29/2000
Event: PARIS, FRANCE CIRCA 1300 Sydney and Nigel are off to Paris to authenticate both the find and the legend behind, after monks deliver a Knights Templar medallion to Dr. Jaebert, curator at the French Institute of Antiquities. In 1307, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, trusted the future of the Templars to his aide by commanding him to hide sacred documents and the Grand Master's sword, believed to make the Grand Master invincible, from their enemies. Sydney and Nigel and an unlikely expert rush to puzzle the ancient clues together, before a greedy Relic Hunter can beat them.
Director: Ian Toynton
Writer: André Jacquemetton
7.5/10113 votes#19 - Love Letter
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 5/6/2000
Event: A SMALL VILLAGE SOUTH OF PARIS 1789 Sydney and Nigel's graduate student Nicole Chamfort is convinced that young lovers from her ancestral hometown in France, were secretly married on the eve of the French Revolution, moments before the happy groom was murdered by revolutionaries. If true, the bride's illegitimate son would be the rightful heir of the de Bourdin family. With the imminent sale of St. Agnes Sur-Loire to land developers, the race is on to Sydney and Nigel to conjure up centuries-old church records believed to have been burned by anti-clerics during the Revolution. The land developers will go to any lengths to stop them.
Director: Jean-Pierre Prévost
Writer: Elizabeth Baxter
6.9/10120 votes#20 - Possessed
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 5/13/2000
Event: LIBYA 1300'S Sydney and Nigel rush off to Brussels to search for Zeus' sacred sundial, at the request of Sydney's old friend, author Eric Dalt. Eric is convinced that his girlfriend is a vampire descended from Zeus' lover Lamia, a lamae. In Greek mythology, Hera turned Lamia into a serpent to keep her away from Zeus. Since, her descendants have mesmerized their men. The spell can only be broken by the great god's sundial. In Brussels, Sydney and Nigel discover lamae, one of whom has set her sights on Nigel. Sydney must take on the female coven - alone.
Director: Jean-Pierre Prévost
Writer: Rob Gilmer
7.4/10109 votes#21 - Nothing but the Truth
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/20/2000
Event: THE BARBARY COAST 1534 Sydney's former mentor, Professor Chandler, passes away before finishing recovering the Ruby Chalice of Truth, his life's work, a long-fabled relic imbued with truth-inducing powers. The chalice eventually fell into the hands of a French diplomat. Sydney, Nigel and Stewie Harper, track the goblet to a cooking academy in Paris, with a parchment written in Berber and the professor's notes. As students, the three chef it up during the day and scourge the school by night. A masquerading rival and students at every turn, the threesome must fulfill Professor Chandler's life mission.
Director: John Bell
Writer: Bill Taub
7.5/10103 votes#22 - Memories of Montmartre
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 5/27/2000
Sydney's grandmother Isabelle's trunk of things sparks a trip into the past for Sydney, who's been fascinated with Isabelle who once sang at Paris' Moulin Rouge. Falsely accused of stealing a locket actually given to her by her lover, Isabelle lost everything. Her paramour, Philip Ashcroft, believed to be an English secret agent, smuggled a tiara, the Heart of Europe, out of Russia, but was murdered in Paris before it could be delivered. It was never recovered. Setting out to find the locket and clear Isabelle's name, mission uncovers clues to an international intrigue, turning into a dangerous hunt for a relic.
Director: Paolo Barzman
Writer: Bill Taub, Rob Gilmer
The Best Episodes of Relic Hunter Season 1
Every episode of Relic Hunter Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Relic Hunter Season 1!
Sydney Fox is a professor and globe-trotting "relic hunter" who looks for ancient artifacts to return to museums and/or the descendants of the original owner....
Genres:Sci-Fi & FantasyMysteryAction & AdventureDrama
Network:Syndication
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Buddha's Bowl" is the best rated episode of "Relic Hunter" season 1. It scored 6.6/10 based on 223 votes. Directed by Ian Toynton and written by Gil Grant, Bill Taub, it aired on 9/25/1999. This episode is rated 0.7 points higher than the second-best, "Smoking Gun".