Gold Rush Fans Were Shaking Their Heads Over The Ignorance Of Fred's Crew In Season 13 Episode 16
To say that "Gold Rush" fans have a bit of a grudge against miner Fred Lewis is a bit of an understatement. Since his arrival, the up-and-coming gold miner has received an absurd amount of hate and backlash from fans online, many of whom consider him to be among the worst miners in the entire series.
Indeed, the majority of this fan hatred is directed at Lewis' failure as a gold miner, with fans criticizing his leadership skills, questioning his incompetent crew, and bemoaning the series' constant references to Lewis' military history. The hatred for the "Gold Rush" star has gotten so bad that he actually took to Instagram to defend himself and call for a stop to the constant harassment and bullying he has received. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this criticism is going to stop anytime soon, as another recent gaffe from Lewis' crew has fans on Reddit rolling their eyes.
Lewis' crew made a major blunder with the washplant belt
Specifically, fans are upset by a moment in Season 13, Episode 16 in which Fred Lewis' crew grossly mishandled one of Lewis' machines. After one of the belts in Lewis' washplant snaps, the crew (as well as Lewis' mechanic) decided to simply reload another belt without inspecting for errors – leading to another lost belt and plenty of angry fans.
"So why did no one take time to look at what was causing the belt issue on Freds machine, while it was down, when one of them was away getting new belts?" wrote u/The-Scotsman_. "Why put a new belt on, have it come off, and THEN look to try to find the cause? Complete and utter muppets." "Fred's crew are idiots," echoed u/BobtheReplier. U/PrestonTheCat24 observed that they were screaming at the television for somebody to check the pulleys in the washplant, and found the incompetence regarding the snapped belts to be extremely cringeworthy.
Although much of the criticism regarding Lewis and his crew appears to be blown out of proportion, this particular incident is certainly one to note — not only because of how it set Lewis' crew back but because of the inherent danger of mishandling this dangerous machinery. In any case, it's clear that the criticism of Lewis' crew was well-deserved, and they ought to be more cautious with their machinery in the future.