Bering Sea Gold - General Discussion

[Liberty]

Wonder about the break-in at the "Reaper", for a bit thought it was a setup by the father, but not certain what really happened after watching it all.

 

Looks like that was this season's last episode?

[Liberty]

Am not enjoying the new season's reliance on Pomrenke bickering.  Combine that with the Kelly's and it may be too much.

 

Liking the High Noon crew.

 

Vern Adkison begins another season demonstrating his shortsightedness.  Probably counts on money from Discovery to stay in the game.  What a doof.

 

Thinking Daryl will not last long on the Eroica, and anxious to see how Discovery crossover reality star Nick McGlashan does.  Is not on two (BSG and Deadliest Catch) Discovery shows airing at the same time?

[qtpye]

I always am surprised this gets renewed for another season.

[clod]

it's probably very cheap to film.

[oakLeaf]

Father's Day episode

 

Although I am still interested in the gold mining (husband and I are going to Nome soon to do some public beach mining), this show makes me so sad.

 

When it first started, I really didn't like Sean at all (DUIs, anger, etc.). After watching the way Steve treats him over the past few seasons (and apparently the way Wally treats Steve), I'm actually much more sympathetic. It is heart-breaking to see how desperately Sean begs for any scrap of kindness from Steve. If Steve basically says "Sean, you don't suck as much as I thought you sucked," Sean's eyes just light up with gratitude. I'm glad to see that Sean is at least trying with his kid to break that cycle even though I'm sure he's having to work through a lot of anger issues.

 

And Brad is such a giant douche canoe, but his boys keep trying to earn some recognition from him, too. Brad left his kids/wife pretty badly it seems and hooked up with younger chick (btw, men seem fairly plentiful in Nome; is Brad really the best she could do?) to pop out new kid. There's clearly a lot of hurt around that, and Brad really seems to not give two shits about his boys. When Kris threw his tantrum, I was hoping maybe THIS time he would really stay away, but he went crawling back to Brad yet again. Then Brad basically kicked him when he was down and made him grovel even more.

 

I don't think any of these folk are good enough actors to be putting on these feelings (sure, some of the fight may be staged, but the pain in the eyes looks real). I do think Disco is pushing for these folk to continue to work together for the drama of it, and it feels so much like they are exploiting all these very broken people. And then I hate myself for continuing to watch and give Disco ratings.

 

(but I will continue to watch because I think the High Noon looks like a good design, and I want to see it succeed)

Edited April 22, 2016 by oakLeaf

[SRTouch]

it's probably very cheap to film.

Not only cheap to film, but at least for a while longer the state of Alaska gives incentives to film in the state - hence all the "Alaska" shows. The incentive idea, as I understand it, was originally meant as a way to use some of the oil money to jumpstart a new industry. The way it actually worked was to start up a bunch of "reality" shows, which a lot of Alaskans feel do not show the state in the best light. Anyway, the current governor has already announced the incentive program will not be renewed when the current funding runs out.

Only reason I know that is because I read about it in an Alaskan Bush People forum. Seems some Alaskans hate the way that the Brown family portrays the people living in the state, and take exception to the fact that their tax dollars help pay for the show.

[Fig Newton]

Mr. Gold is kind of hot.

In like........ a disgusting, dirty, skanky, bad ass, gnarly, unkempt kind of way.

[Happy Belly]

Fig Newton, just between you and me, I felt the same way about Scott Meisterheim...lol

[Subrookie]

I've watched every episode of this show since it started both winter and summer. And while I usually enjoy it, what I've had a hard time with lately is just how staged it seems. You keep hearing people talking about how they are on "1/2 oz an hour" dirt when they're dredging. And, since the show gives you a running total of how much each dredge has, it's hard not to catch that they must not be dredging much. I did some basic math assuming 1/2 oz/hour, 8 hour dive time and working lets just say 30 days. That comes to 120 oz or (assuming $1300/oz) $156,000. Nobody seems to be doing that well or working that much. 

We're almost through the winter season and this is how the "scoreboard" totals look:

Wild Ranger 33.58 oz

Clark 15.46 oz

Reaper 1.75 oz

High Noon 19.61 oz

What seems more likely is that most of the crews don't work all the time and work only when the camera crew is scheduled to be there. I do think that Sean and his dad likely are full time miners, they may be the only one. 

[SRTouch]

2 minutes ago, Subrookie said:

I've watched every episode of this show since it started both winter and summer. And while I usually enjoy it, what I've had a hard time with lately is just how staged it seems. You keep hearing people talking about how they are on "1/2 oz an hour" dirt when they're dredging. And, since the show gives you a running total of how much each dredge has, it's hard not to catch that they must not be dredging much. I did some basic math assuming 1/2 oz/hour, 8 hour dive time and working lets just say 30 days. That comes to 120 oz or (assuming $1300/oz) $156,000. Nobody seems to be doing that well or working that much. 

Let's not forget those jokers on the Clark are supposedly running 2 dredges. With the cost of living in Nome I don't see any of these people even breaking even - except as you say, the Pomrenkes. The Reaper... those jokers have been in the red since they have been on the show, and the only reason Shawn let them onto his claim was the show. Really, would any reasonable businessman let these fools mine on their claim for shares when Brad's made a TV career out of stealing from his son's, other miners, and conning that dude who bought his worthless claim. Nah, the only way to let that crew mine your claim is if you have a way to monitor their operation 24/7.

I FF through the Kelly segments - though I did stop to watch them roll around on the road that time. 

[Subrookie]

They must have scaled the budget back in this show. The other guy with a barge like Shawn and Vernon aren't in this season. 

[Liberty]

Vernon was quite entertaining.  Based on how much gold Disco reported he mined, he definitely would need the Disco money to stay in business.

[Subrookie]

20 hours ago, Liberty said:

Vernon was quite entertaining.  Based on how much gold Disco reported he mined, he definitely would need the Disco money to stay in business.

I like Vernon too. I remember a couple, three seasons ago they tried to say that he had a fleet of 20+ dredges. I think that was the episode his daughter was one one dredge and he was on another trying to mine the same spot. That's the part of the show that passes me off. Like when they led you to believe Shawn was going to buy some big ass barge at the end of last season and take it to the bluff. He's spent the entire season this year on a skiff.

This has been a really bad season so far, IMHO. 4 shows in and no one is really getting much. I'm no geologist but even I could tell you Sledge Island was a waste of time. 

[fusan]

This season it's more obvious than ever that these people are only there for the show (except maybe Shawn). They are not even trying anymore.

[Jenkins]

Completely agree.

Shawn is the only one with money backing him to do the mining properly and the only one with the actual skill to do it.

Emily and Zeke are there for drama and to be "reality" stars.

And the Kellys are just outright FAKE. Gnome has a tiny population of 3800 people. If they truly stole and cheated like they did, they would be 100% shunned in that town, NO ONE would work with them. And who cheats and steals on camera, smiling the entire time?

Heh, not even sure why I watch this...but I guess I can say that about most of the reality shows I watch.

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, Jenkins said:

Completely agree.

Shawn is the only one with money backing him to do the mining properly and the only one with the actual skill to do it.

Emily and Zeke are there for drama and to be "reality" stars.

And the Kellys are just outright FAKE. Gnome has a tiny population of 3800 people. If they truly stole and cheated like they did, they would be 100% shunned in that town, NO ONE would work with them. And who cheats and steals on camera, smiling the entire time?

Heh, not even sure why I watch this...but I guess I can say that about most of the reality shows I watch.

Absolutely agree with both of you. Quick look of cost of living and gas prices, Shawn and the Christine Rose were the only ones with a chance of banking anything. Not even sure about that operation. Yes, it looked like he was making money, but with his expenses and initial investment? I don't know heavy equipment costs, but a quick Google check tells me the diesel for that excavator is three times what it is here in Oklahoma. I figure that's why the other barge/excavator dude is gone, more gold, but expense would blow through the gold fast. This year Shawn is at the Bluff with a two man crew... I don't see him banking much, certainly not enough to buy this big claim in the storyline. Early on, I was a fan of Zeke and Emily, but now they're as big a joke as the Kellys, just a different script, and no longer worth watching.

That said, I imagine the locals are still making money off fools coming to try their luck. Nothing new there, I guess, haven't the people selling to miners pretty always come out ahead. Just stop and think about getting any supplies to Nome - no roads and iced in months out of the year. All the fuel and most supplies come in by barge, and that closes down every winter. I'm just guessing, but I figure, for just myself, I'd want to clear three or times what most boats get at the end of the season. And they split that between multiple crew and pay expenses off the top?!? Nope, quick road to bankruptcy.

[ketose]

Remember Season 1 Emily Riedel wanted to bank some money to study opera singing? Now her life's dream is to be a captain of a pontoon boat.

At this point, the Bering Sea has been effectively dredged. Plus, Alaska changed the system for fishing so it sin't as dangerous anymore. Discovery should call their channel The Observer Effect. Everything they film is eventually changed because they try to add fake drama to it. 

[fusan]

Not an ounce of gold mined in this last episode. It's really slim pickings this season and I don't see how they can scrape together another one. Even the Kellys and their antics are boring now. It's the same old same old. I enjoy watching the show in a train wreck kinda way but maybe it's time to call it.

[clod]

they can move the show to Canada and do it all over again.

:)

Edited March 10, 2017 by clod

[Subrookie]

I watched this last season mostly out of habit, but it was by far the worst season this show has had. I don't know how much more I can take of the fake emergencies, trips to places at a creek mouth "no one has ever mined before" (sure...) or nobody actually finding gold when they've been screaming "we're on the gold!" for half the show. 

[Rock knocker]

Although it has been inactive for about two years, this is an intersting blog which details some of the likely truth that we certainly don't see on the show.  

http://safonatt.com/category/gold/

 

Comparing what Andrew Lee says to the price of gold, and then watching the show brings up some dichotomies.

http://goldprice.org

 

Edited May 7, 2017 by Rock knocker

[Subrookie]

On 5/7/2017 at 10:42 AM, Rock knocker said:

Although it has been inactive for about two years, this is an intersting blog which details some of the likely truth that we certainly don't see on the show.  

http://safonatt.com/category/gold/

He's got a link on that blog to an AMA he did on Reddit. He mentioned he was the owner of the Eroica and sold it to Emily. Some interesting background about Zeke there as well. 

[Subrookie]

I've been watching this show since it started. But, I finally gave up this season when I saw the preview for the episode Sean went to Vegas. I didn't watch this show to see a bunch of gamblers who wanted to invest in a Nome mining operation sitting in a ballroom in a casino. So, I am finally out. I dealt with the contrived storylines where no one was finding gold at "The Bluff" and all the other nonsense as the show showed less mining and more of the not so interesting characters. 

Bummed this is what this show has become. 

[Passing Strange]

It turned out to be not so bad, really. I didn't know there were mining conferences, so it was interesting to see a little of the one Shawn attended. The people he met with were investors, not gamblers. In other words, the same type of people he would have seen if the conference had been in, say, Chicago or Miami. Altogether we didn't spend much time in Las Vegas and it was nice to see another aspect of the mining business.

I agree that too much time is spent on the not so interesting characters. For instance, the Kellys are ridiculous, boring and bad actors to boot. I'm tired of the only female dredge owner failing every season. Kudos to the guy in the wheelchair for getting it done, but watching him I'm just as uncomfortable as his brother. I'll still watch, because I love this show, but I wish they'd drop the fake drama and get back to fake mining.

[Happy Belly]

Anyone watching the new episodes? looks like just about everyone is going to have a successful season this time. Oh yes, forgot to mention I really dislike the new dredge guy. He has no other conversation in him other than how he will take the Pomrenke’s down. 

[Passing Strange]

On 4/10/2018 at 1:58 PM, Happy Belly said:

Anyone watching the new episodes? looks like just about everyone is going to have a successful season this time. Oh yes, forgot to mention I really dislike the new dredge guy. He has no other conversation in him other than how he will take the Pomrenke’s down. 

I'm watching and I agree, looks like a successful season for all coming up, so we know that can't happen. I'm looking forward to the creative glitches production will dream up, especially for Emily and the Kellys. BTW, I believe the show may have hinted that Emily is Nome's only female dredge owner and captain.

I'm not liking the new dredge guy, either. It's not like it would be a surprise if his dredge, which dwarfs the Pomrenke's, gets more gold. I guess this is an important plot; the new dredge makes it imperative that Shawn finish the mega dredge. Ooh, tension. Not.

As much as I sit and bitch all the way through it, I love this show.

[Happy Belly]

I may be the only one left, but it returns next Tuesday, September 17 on the Discovery Channel!

[SassyCat]

4 hours ago, Happy Belly said:

I may be the only one left, but it returns next Tuesday, September 17 on the Discovery Channel!

Yay! You're not alone!

[Happy Belly]

My observations so far.....

1. Ken Kerr is an ass. 
2. I miss the old days of just the small dredges being out there with all their goofy, homemade contraptions and equipment fixes. I hate these huge ships. 
3. Even though I said what I said in #2 above, I hope Shawn gets his project done before this show gets cancelled. I wanna see it.

[SassyCat]

I'm wondering if there's an Emily Reidel bobblehead doll out there, just like Emily who can't seem to keep her head from wobbling back and forth when she's doing the talking head portion of the show. Talking about the "getting gold in the box" being the important part of what she's doing out there. Yup, we know that. No need to remind us of what we're watching season after season. 

[PaperTree]

Ken Kerr drives me nuts.  I can't say what I think about him because I don't want to banned from this fantastic forum, so I will STFU.

Emily, your dad is an asshole and will always be an asshole.  Trusting him is dumb.

IANAL, but what he did to that diver should be criminal.  Reckless endangerment.  I was waiting for the diver to pull himself up and whack Steve upside the head, but Emily came to his hypothermic rescue.

Happy to see her toss him over the side.

Kris Kelly needs to kick his toxic family to the curb as well.  Sean too.  I did it years ago.  No regrets.  His dad is like mine was.  Nothing I did was ever good enough.

 

[SassyCat]

38 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

Ken Kerr drives me nuts.  I can't say what I think about him because I don't want to banned from this fantastic forum, so I will STFU.

Emily, your dad is an asshole and will always be an asshole.  Trusting him is dumb.

IANAL, but what he did to that diver should be criminal.  Reckless endangerment.  I was waiting for the diver to pull himself up and whack Steve upside the head, but Emily came to his hypothermic rescue.

Happy to see her toss him over the side.

Kris Kelly needs to kick his toxic family to the curb as well.  Sean too.  I did it years ago.  No regrets.  His dad is like mine was.  Nothing I did was ever good enough.

 

I agree with all you said. I cannot believe what an idiot moron Steve, Emily's father is. How dare he put that diver in jeopardy trying to get him to work harder and faster to try and keep his own body temperature higher. I'd have come up and punched his lights outs if he ever pulled that crap on me. Then he was singing "I'm the king of the world ", or universe, or whatever. He acted like he was drunk or drugged. I can't believe Emily tried to cover up for his intentional lawbreaking of endangering the divers life, by saying be was a good person, if you knew him better. 

I agree Kris Kelly should ditch that toxic father whom I wouldn't trust with a flake of gold. I'm sure he's the kind of father that would steal gold when no ones looking.

Shaun too. His dad is a bully and an ass.

I can't stand Ken either. I'm praying Shaun beats him in gold this year.

I like Verne. Missed him tonight.

[azprimadonna]

That whole scene with Steve was so fake.  While Steve has always been a hopped-up goon, this was over the top and screamed scripted interference.  We can put this scene into the BS Hall of fame along with almost everything the Kelly boys do.  

[Happy Belly]

The show has returned to tv. There was a new episode last Friday

[azprimadonna]

I may be watching this season alone.

 I love Shawn's optimism.  It seems he and has dad have been able to work together towards the old man's retirement plan.  Shawn has made and lost more money than any of us will ever see, so I hope that he really is successful with his grand plan.  He has matured since his first seasons when he could hardly stay sober enough to work.   

Emily is the same with bad equipment and iffy divers.  I am glad she didn't knuckle under to Darrell's demands, even though he was her best diver.  Her dad is still a disaster and I hate that the show is trying to make him relevant yet again.  I fast forward through all his stupid!! segments.  

The Kellys are the same grifters and losers.  I do like the youngest Kelly, who is like your screw-up nephew with  big heart.  For his sake, I'd like to see Chris find some gold.  The boat captain is the best part of that team, giving me a chuckle now and then.

Zeke is back with an entourage of burnout friends and relatives.  His sailboat dredge is funny and they will maybe make enough gold to keep them in good pot. I used to think he had the brightest future of al the original miners. He wants to make pentagrams to sell to rappers????

Vernon--wash, rinse, repeat.  He is my least favorite dredger with his impractical grand schemes.  He reminds me of a gambler who can never win at cards.  Nothing better than diving for gold in a one-foot creek.

 

 

 

 

[PaperTree]

14 hours ago, azprimadonna said:

I may be watching this season alone.

I'm with you AZP :) 

I totally agree with you, except Vern's failing grandiose schemes make me laugh.  Caught an old episode with him and Scott Meisterheim.  Comedy gold!

I like Emily's assertiveness.  I wish her well, she had to overcome Steve.

[Happy Belly]

I’m watching too, but I think maybe I missed the first couple of episodes. Last we saw Shawn, he was fervently constructing that new dredge. Then, I watch what was my first new episode last week and he’s fixing the Myrtle Irene with that guy (first name escapes me) last name Young who has that brother in a wheelchair. Doesn’t make sense. I have to go check Discovery +  and see what I’ve missed.

ETA: I took my own advice and checked out Discovery+ and yes indeed, I missed some episodes so I’m catching up. But I still have yet to hear about the dredge Shawn was building for the last couple of seasons.

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Happy Belly
Because I checked the streaming service and yes, I missed some episodes as I thought

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

This show was my guilty pleasure last summer when I was furloughed. I thought Shawn was cute, early on we meet his fiancé and then find out he has 8 kids, god only knows how many baby momma's...then he boinks Emily, fiancé is never seen from again or mentioned. ( I hope she dumped his ass)...But this year, my hotness attention meter has gone to Cody.

Edited June 1, 2021 by Mahamid Frauded Me

[Happy Belly]

Bering Sea Gold returns October 26 at 9 pm! Maybe we can find out what happened to that dredge Shane was building prior to his merge with the Myrtle Irene folks.

[SassyCat]

Oh boy, I wonder who was the one who is thought to be the first physical aggressor in the fight between Shawn and Andy. Looks like Andy came right up on Shawns body with his. That was wrong of Andy to keep trying to make Shawn fall smashing into the boat. Now I wonder if Shawns bad back is going to have added damage to it from that falling into the skiff. I really don’t like that this has happened. Who is in the right? Is that Shawns bought and paid for area in the Tom Codd claim? I knew that Chris is a tick that hangs on the ass tail of other miners, picking up their missed crumbs last season.... but he asked if it would be ok last season, and got permission. He seems to be losing it because of his extra mouths to feed. I didn’t like him siccing Andy back on Shawn either. 
I hope Shawn is ok.

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

I wonder if this is going to be the last season, in the past it was just a 1 hour show and now its cramming 2 hours in. 

[SassyCat]

On 1/17/2023 at 4:03 PM, Mahamid Frauded Me said:

I wonder if this is going to be the last season, in the past it was just a 1 hour show and now its cramming 2 hours in. 

I hope not! I did see a picture of Emily and her new baby girl. An Absolutely Adorable child. Now that shes got Jane there to help with the dredge, hopefully her Eroica can carry on into a next season too, and all the rest of them, tho it looks like someone sinks this week. The Kellys? Yes, the two hour shows are a surprise this season.

[Happy Belly]

I subscribe to Emily and Alex’s newsletter. Yesterday I received my weekly newsletter and Alex says new season starts this coming Tuesday at 9:00 pm on Discovery. I checked my channel guide, and, yes, it’s there for Tuesday. Enjoy!

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

It's back and the shenanigans of the Kelly klan. We get Chris Mccully now along with his team of Wilson who I believe was on that Race to Alaska show with his brother and won.

 

[primadonna]

Just one comment--Emily's baby is the cutest tv baby I have ever seen

[qtpye]

Lord, in hindsight, this show almost feels wholesome...