Gold Rush Fans Agree S13 Marks The Show's Decline (Despite Continuing To Watch)
Many reality TV shows come and go. And sometimes, it's even an accomplishment for them to make it past the first season. That's why when looking at the longevity of Discovery's "Gold Rush," it's hard not to be impressed. Discovery has consistently struck gold in the ratings with the hit series. But with 13 Seasons under its gold prospecting belt, is "Gold Rush" experiencing a decline in quality?
Fans within a Reddit post are exploring that dire possibility as some find Season 13 the least exciting season the series has offered thus far. As some fans highlighted in the post, unlike their constant search for the precious metal, Season 13 of "Gold Rush" isn't exactly breaking new ground in its episode formula. In addition, drama in the form of predictable machine breakdowns and the less than warm reception of more recent cast like Fred Lewis hasn't impressed longtime fans. But surprisingly, that doesn't mean everyone is completely tuning out. As one highly upvoted comment from u/gr0hl may have put the consensus best with, "Boring? Yeah, pretty much. Am I still tuning in each week? Absolutely."
Some fans just can't say goodbye
With many fans in the Reddit post decrying Season 13 as the worst or just becoming repetitive, it's no surprise that some have found watching "Gold Rush" more of a chore than actually any fun anymore. "I haven't seen the last six episodes. I've watched every episode of every season within the week of air date up to now," u/egg663 posted. "Feels like a job to have to watch them." Some fans noted that what makes the current season of "Gold Rush" particularly frustrating is that the series could easily breathe new life into itself by shifting its focus to underrepresented and unexplored aspects of mining. For instance, u/VOODOO285 commented that exploring land reclamation, crew safety, and more of the business side or mining operations are easy additions that could make for some more worthwhile content.
Those are solid ways to change up the "Gold Rush" format. However, Discovery may have stuck to its exact formula for the reality series because it hasn't noticed a significant enough hit in its ratings. And that's likely because, as some fans on the post admitted, no matter how bad the quality of Season 13, they still can't fully manage to drop the series altogether. After all, it's hard to leave a show you've already invested so much time in or is the only one that scratches a specific TV itch. "The only reason I ever come back is out of complete boredom, then I am back to watching it again until once again I get fed-up [Maybe I should consider it being Fred-Up]," u/ericquig posted.
Other fans think Gold Rush is still doing just fine
Many fans may have admitted that they seemed stuck with continuing to watch "Gold Rush" despite it no longer hitting the heights of its earlier seasons. And at this point, it sounds as if they're stuck in a stale relationship, still limping along due to boredom. Yet some fans of the reality series are just fine with how Season 13 has progressed. For instance, u/Freakin-Lasers looked on the bright side of the show still being on the air. They wrote, "I'm going to stand out and say it is adequate, not award winning, but at least we have something to watch, and it could be worse, look what happened to 'Deadliest Catch.' I will continue to watch to the bitter end come hell or high-cut water."
u/gibbsalot0529 offered another interesting perspective on why the show is technically acceptable as is. While comparing gold mining to farming, they commented that everything being "boring" means that the operations aren't encountering any tremendous problems, which equals good business. And perhaps they have a point, as one of the most satisfying aspects of "Gold Rush" has been seeing the crews finish the seasons with record gold hauls. So even if the show isn't as entertaining as it used to be, the miners are still showing the successful side of their profession.