Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croftmanaged to not only win fans of the recentTomb Raidergame over, but also proved to be popular enoughto warrant a second season. A large part of this was due to how the series explores Lara’s reaction to a tragic event, but also because of how itperfectly captures the globetrotting elementsthat make Lara’s adventures so engaging. WhileTomb Raiderfans wait forThe Legend of Lara Croft’ssophomore season, there’s another television series with a female archeologist that they should check out:Relic Hunter.Relic Hunterstands out from the pack of ’90s-era syndicated shows,both in how it approaches the concept of a “treasure hunter” and for how it was constructed around its star.
What Is ‘Relic Hunter’ About?
Relic Hunterchronicles the adventures of archeology professor Sydney Fox (Tia CarrerefromWayne’s World). When she’s not teaching archeology or anthropology classes at Trinity College,Sydney is traveling the world to locate rare artifacts– usually accompanied by her timid teaching assistant, Nigel Bailey (Christien Anholt). Sydney’s quests bring her into conflict with rival hunters, or even supernatural forces like vampires and the actual Fountain of Youth; but in a rare twist from adventurers like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft,she seeks to return the relics to their rightful resting places. This helped endear Sydney to the audience; after all, who doesn’t want to root for a protagonist who wants to do the right thing?
The other major draw – and another departure from treasure hunter tales – isthe dynamic between Sydney and Nigel. Usually it’s the dashing Brit who tends to be the hero, while the main female character is usually his love interest or the damsel in distress. InRelic Hunter, that situation is reversed: Nigel is usually the one who finds himself in danger, while Sydney saves him. Anholt wouldexpand upon this during an interview:
“Poor Nigel is out of his element…When he arrives in the States he finds things quite different from what he expected. Of course, he’s not all that good at ‘the hunt’ and doesn’t cope terribly well with all the danger that goes along with it. Having said that, I think Nigel has gotten a bit better at handling himself."
In a behind-the-scenes video, the producers and Anholt also talk about how much ofSydney’s character was tailored to fit Carrere’s personal interests, including singing and martial arts. Sydney has at least one fight per episode, with Carrere doing her own stunts. Though it was rare for a character and an actor to be that much in sync, it works – Carrere perfectly embodies the bold, beautiful and brainy treasure hunter that Sydney is meant to be.
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‘Relic Hunter’ Marked the End of an Era in Television
In addition to flipping the script on archeologist adventures,Relic Hunterwas also one of the last genre shows that became prominent during the ’90s. Most of these shows were built for syndication, and covered a wide range of genres– though they mostly landed in the science fiction, fantasy, or superhero genre. It was an era that gave rise to iconicshows, includingHercules: The Legendary Journeysand its spin-offXena: Warrior Princess, along withBabylon 5. Though the era of streaming had yet to take off, television was changing more towards long-form storytelling – especially onceLostaired.Relic Hunteractually got to end on its own termsinstead of being canceled, as the show was originally built for only three seasons.
OneRelic Hunteralum would actually end up on another series that shared a similar premise.Lindy Boothportrayed Sydney’s bubby office manager Claudia in Seasons 1 and 2, sometimes joining Sydney and Nigel on their adventures. Years later, Booth would joinThe Librarians, another globetrotting series centering around a group of highly skilled people. Her character in that series, Cassandra Cillian, is the complete opposite of herRelic Huntercharacter; while Claudia filled the role of the “bubbly blonde,” Cassandra is a brilliant musician struggling with a brain tumor that could kill her.
Even if it was short-lived,Relic Hunterwill definitely fill theTomb Raider-shaped gap in your viewing schedule with its badass female lead, while also serving as athrowback to the days of cheesy genre television.
Relic Hunter
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. She is aided by her linguistic assistant Nigel and occasionally by her somewhat air-headed secretary Claudia. She often ends up battling rival hunters seeking out artifacts for the money.
Relic Hunteris available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
Watch on Prime Video
