Alaska : La ruée vers l'or

I found season 1 interesting then it became more obvious it's aim was to become reality tv over documentary style. Which is fine, but too much utter rubbish happened, saying there's 8 in the USA then they stumble on the exact part down the road, I get it's mining country but come on.

The narrator is an imbecile, every day every slight issue will ruin their whole season, destroy the machine or something overly dramatic, fixation on saying there's 1000km distance between mines, it just added nothing and really just made it a bit cringe.

But the biggest problem so far is Todd, I hate to use this word, but the guy is utterly retarded, he has a team of pretty normal, intelligent good guys with real good skills, he can't lead, doesn't listen and has the weirdest conversations ever, I get he owns part of the show and he's made money but the guy is so dumb it's unreal and I can't understand how in the real world anyone would follow this weirdo.

He shouted at Dave about getting dirt, when Dave explained it was frozen Todd just got angry like it's Dave's fault , I didn't like Dorsey but in episode one where the winch snapped and he said someone could've died, Todd shouted at him , honestly the guy is so dumb, he says I believe.... Followed by ridiculous statements based on nothing, saying there 500 ounces here, or when the golds in front of him saying there's 12 ounces when they've counted 6 and there's literally flakes left! His dads just as thick and dangerous encouraging him, I get the dads old but his disregard for safety is ludicrous.

Last bit on Todd , I know he loads, which is the easiest job, how does he not understand he's in charge and it's his dig makes no decisions, blames everyone else, does literally the least work and moans at everyone else! I literally hate him, he's so lazy, so incredibly dumb, the other guys, if they had a good leader they'd have been loaded at both mines! Yet the follow this colossal tit.

Lastly in between series when they say they're skint they somehow get operations or new machines, it kinda ruins the narrative that they're desperate like they keep saying. They say they are going home with no profit etc, yet come back? Poorly written.

Love the show and the information I pick up along the way is nice. Tony has his family crew together as a side gig for tv, so he doesn't try too hard. His real outfit is not part of the show. Smart guy. Rick Ness crew is entertaining to watch, Karla is a rock star. Parker is the star and it's fun seeing his empire continue to build and we can actually see a lot of gold at the weigh ins. Fred Lewis... great guy, liked him on Parker's Trail spin-off. Can't stand watching his crew, especially knowing it's taking air time away from Rick mostly, but everyone is getting cut to work him in. It's boring and forced and the post-military angle is really forced. Can his crew, put him with Rick for extra help. Bring back the Dakota boys.

I've watched Gold Rush since day one. Always a favorite until the last couple of years. The Lewis crew story line is by far the most scripted and the hardest to watch out of all the crews. Besides his stupid looking hair cut, the constant mention of Fred's military service and Green Beret status, and lately, his overly dramatic wife interjecting herself into the mix has dragged the rest of the program down into stupid reality show territory. No wonder Parker and his team are hardly seen any more; not enough drama I guess.

The "5" is for the part of the show illustrating the gold mining.

If I was grading on the amateur acting of the Hoffman and Schnabel crews, it would be a fat zero.

I do enjoy the Beets portions without criticism - honest workers, no drama.

Schnabel - petulant spoiled brat, perpetual smirk on his face, an idiot that only looks successful due to the hard work of his employee - of which he is a real prick to every episode. What a goof!

Shows like this has an audience not for the fake drama, but just to watch the machines working, illustrate repairs and improvisation, and the final product. It doesn't need anything else! Just like "Ax Men", another great show that the producers ruined by the fake drama, this series is also going to eventually fail, if they keep up with the soap opera scripts.

EDIT/ADDED:

I've just finished watching S08 ep 20, and have to amend my review.

Todd and crew are pathetic, portray themselves as bumblers that have traveled North and South America mining for gold, and obviously don't have a clue about mining, nor understand the machines they use in the show. I see them as a bunch of aimless idiots!

Tony Beets has joined in the soap opera scripts, it seems - behaving like a greedy a-hole that resents anyone else operating a mine to the point of sabotaging others' operations?! Yes, what he does, obstructing the lawful movement and development of another business is criminal, *and if this was real acts of interference* he would be arrested and lose all the rights to his claims - forbidden from mining, himself...but it's fake, so he continues to just behave like a goof for the cameras.

Parker is still a tyrant brat that continues with his own fake crisis, fake feud with Beets, and fake drama.

*All these lands are owned by the State/Province/country, and mining rights/prospecting rights are permitted by the grace of these government jurisdictions*. All the show characters are only temporary guests of the land.

With contempt toward the show producers, that have lost focus on the gold mining, I've reduced the five-stars to a one...because zeroes aren't permitted.

This show is starting to bore the hell out of me!

I love this show and have watched every season, always looking forward to the next. But this season is just way to scripted. Heavy winds with not a single tree swayin. Clear "acting" by new miners. It's becoming more cringing to watch than exciting. Yes, just the mining may not have the drama factor but it does have the realism factor which is what I'd much prefer to sink my time into.