The Secret of Macho Grande

**The Secret of Macho Grande** is the third episode of Season 1, and the third episode overall of the *Blood & Treasure (TV Series)* on CBS. It aired on June 4, 2019.

## Premise

*An unlikely ally reveals to Lexi that an Egyptian official has files which could lead her to Farouk. But in order to get to the information, she must enlist Danny in a dangerous plan while lying to him about the source of her lead. Also, Farouk takes a risk to get back the items he stole from the Pyramids, which he needs in order to fund his operations.*

## Plot summary

In Bavaria 1944, some Nazis are celebrating the arrival of Cleopatra and claim she will rise again. A photo is snapped and bombs begin to go off outside the castle.

In the present day, Danny is looking at photos of castles to try to figure out where the picture was taken. Father Chuck arrives at his place slightly hungover. When Lexi comments on his state, Danny notices how ‘chummy’ they’ve become. Lexi replies that they bonded over making fun of Danny.

Back at the Carabinieri, Fabi goes to see Karlsson and asks if she still thinks Farouk has a mole in the government. Karlsson is certain of it. She tells him that she found a contact of Farouk’s, Taj, and she is sending agents to Libya to track him down. Fabi leaves and makes a phone call, saying he needs Libyan military credentials.

Eventually, Danny figures out which castle the Nazis were hiding Cleopatra in and where the picture was taken. He asks Father Chuck if he wants to go to the castle, but Father Chuck stays at home. Later, there is a knock at a door and an older woman answers. A man asks the woman if she’s the girl in the photo and she’s surprised that he has the photo. He says he is a doctoral student doing a research paper on Egyptian antiquities and she lets him in.

Meanwhile, Fabi is with soldiers entering a place where they expect to find Antony, but he is no longer there. There is a man that Fabi recognizes though. Max Najjar asks how Fabi found him and Fabi says that the Brotherhood has been looking for him ever since the attack on the pyramids. He survived the attack and the Brotherhood suspects that Farouk saved him when they saw he was accepting payments. Fabi asks what Farouk wants with Antony and Cleopatra, but Max says that he doesn’t know. Fabi kills him and takes the necklace he was wearing, which is another one of the green pendants.

Back in Castle Schadelberg in Bavaria, Danny and Lexi take a tour of the aforementioned castle. They ask about World War II, but the tour guide tells them that all Nazi iconography was removed. The tour continues, but Lexi pulls Danny in a closet. They wait for the tour to leave, so they can look around the castle.

Back in Rome, the Carabinieri ask Dr Castillo to come down to the headquarters to see if she knows who Max Najjar is. She says he was killed in the pyramid attack with the rest of her team. They inform her that he was recently found dead and working with the terrorists, but she doesn’t believe he would that.

Danny and Lexi begin to search the castle. Lexi finds a goblet with jewels, but Danny warns her not to take anything. He finds a painting of the original castle and compares it to the map of the current castle. Danny thinks the Nazis got rid of the chapel to make room for the hidden section. They find a room with a marking of a black sun on a door. While Danny gives Lexi a history lesson, she thinks like a thief and figures out how to open the door. Inside, Danny thinks the room is a replica of Cleopatra ‘s tomb.

He finds a wall where there is Greek mixed in with the Egyptian hieroglyphics and takes pictures. Lexi finds a projector that shows the castle being attacked and the Nazi’s moving Cleopatra. He finds the Kreisau Circle which explains that they were the good guys and that they protected stolen treasure. They find a hidden code near the circle and think Father Chuck and the Vatican library might be able to help them.

In the Anbar Province 2014, Danny was still in the FBI and he lead a team to recover stolen artifacts. He also found archeologist Stephen Hardwick who was captured and held as a prisoner by Farouk.

In present day Rome, Stephen Hardwick has a prosperous business selling artifacts. Fabi and Karlsson visit him and ask him about funding Max Najjar. He said he didn’t realize that Najjar was working with Farouk. He also gives them the name of ‘Brotherhood of Serapis.’ Max tried to sell him the medallion and suggested they look into the group because Max was working for them.

Back in Bavaria, Danny and Lexi stay the night while Father Chuck looks into the pictures Danny sent him. The hotel only had one room available which adds to the sexual tension between the two. Danny fizzles any romantic gestures when he mentions that he wants to take Farouk alive. Lexi still wants to kill him as revenge for her Father.

The next morning, Father Chuck calls Danny with news about the pictures. As he reveals the news, he tells them about the bible placed near the circle and that the code spells out, ‘Sauber Depot Garage 18.’ He says that it’s a military base not far from the castle.

Danny wants to talk about last night, but Lexi suggests that, ‘You’re you. I’m me. It’s best we accept it’ and they go off to the base. Danny feels they are ahead of Farouk, but as they are leaving, someone is in fact watching them.

When they reach the garage numbered 18, they find a freight elevator. They reach the bottom to find gold and a statue that was on top of Cleopatra’s tomb. At one point, Cleopatra must have been there. Lexi is disappointed that they didn’t find anything and goes back up to the ladder. As she reaches the top, Farouk is there holding a gun to her. He asks who she is and if she is part of the Serapis. He removes her gun and Danny sees it drop to the bottom of the elevator shaft. She tells Farouk who she is and he realizes that she is Reza Vaziri’s daughter. He feels she betrayed her people to become a Westerner. He pushes her down the elevator shaft and closes the door. Danny heroically grabs her and saves her life.

He grimly realizes that they have no way out, but Lexi optimistically feels that they will find a way. Danny then references *Airplane!* but Lexi is clueless about the movie. He explains that Macho Grande was that thing you can’t get over, thing you hold on to, even when you should let it go. Chuck thinks that Lexi is Danny’s Macho Grande. Lexi reaches the top and asks if Chuck is right. Danny doesn’t get the opportunity to answer as the rusted ladder snaps from its hinges and falls.

Luckily the ladder was long enough to reach the other side of the shaft, but Danny is left hanging. Lexi is about to go help, but two men grab her and take her away. The shaft doesn’t hold the ladder and Danny slides down to the bottom, crashing through the floor. He survives the fall, but is trapped now.

## Cast and characters

### Main

* Matt Barr as Danny McNamara
* Sofia Pernas as Lexi Vaziri
* James Callis as Simon Hardwick
* Katia Winter as Gwen Karlsson
* Michael James Shaw as Aiden Shaw
* Oded Fehr as Karim Farouk
* Alicia Coppola as Dr. Ana Castillo
* Mark Gagliardi as Father Chuck Donnelly

### Co-Starring

* Antonio Cupo as Captain Bruno Fabi
* Tony Nash as Omar
* Mohamed El Husseini as Max
* Dirk Plönissen as Col. Steiner
* Daniela Barbosa as Monique
* Federica Pala as Elke
* Joan Gregson as Elke/Old Woman
* Alex Bisping as Hotel Clerk
* Martin T. Haberger as Decorated General
* Marit Nissen as Tour Guide
* Christian Cardinal as Hotel Lobby Man #1
* Aidan Moreno as Hotel Lobby Man #2

### Uncredited

* Fajer Al-Kaisi as Marwan
* Francois Hubert Fiola as Delta Sergeant

## Trivia

* Father Chuck references the Nic Cage movie, *National Treasure*, but neither Danny nor Lexi laugh.
* Danny also references the film *Airplane!* when talking with Lexi.

## Gallery

### Videos

Blood and Treasure 1x04 Sneak Peek 1 "The Secret of Macho"Blood and Treasure 1x04 Sneak Peek 2 "The Secret of Macho"Blood and Treasure 1x04 Promo "The Secret of Macho Grande"Blood and Treasure 1x04 Sneak Peek 4 "The Secret of Macho"Blood and Treasure 1x04 Sneak Peek 5 "The Secret of Macho"

## External links

* Watch *Blood & Treasure* on Paramount+
* The Secret of Macho Grande on the Internet Movie Database
* Blood & Treasure on Wikipedia
* Blood & Treasure (CBS) (@bloodandtreasure) on Instagram
* Blood & Treasure CBS (@TreasurePPlus) on Twitter