The Gold Rush Crew Member That Has Fans Fed Up
Discovery's "Gold Rush" has an intrinsically intriguing premise. A bunch of miners are sent out into the frontier to search for gold. They've invested a ton of money into manpower and equipment, so the crew leaders have to come up with a massive score in order to turn a profit. There's a lot on the line, but arguably, the thing that keeps fans coming back is the larger-than-life personalities that make up the miners.
"Gold Rush" has been going strong for well over a decade at this point, and many of the crew leaders who are there now were on the frontlines at the beginning of the series. Parker Schnabel had a chance to lead a team for the first time in Season 2, and fans quickly became entranced with his hot-tempered attitude. Todd Hoffman was on the series for a long time before he spun off into various other series. He's clearly a favorite, seeing how many "Gold Rush" shows he's popped up on over the years. However, there's one miner on the show that fans could do without if social media chatter is anything to go off of.
Fans find Fred Lewis' scenes cringey
All you have to do is go onto any "Gold Rush" subreddit, and you'll find one post after the next of fans complaining about Fred Lewis. Recently, one Redditor, u/quayleman8969, got a conversation going by posting, "Anyone else skip pass Fred lewis parts of the show. Such cringe. The hoffmans weren't even this bad." Others were quick to hop on the "hating Fred Lewis" bandwagon with comments pouring in like "No way! I use that time for bathroom breaks" and "I wish discovery could see me fast forward. Worst part of the show in multiple years. I feel like they are low on content this year."
There appear to be a couple of reasons why people find his portions of the show lackluster. The first seems to be the overwhelming number of times that Fred Lewis says he's a combat vet on a single episode, to the point where u/watkins1515 mentioned, "I was in the military. What I saw last night made me roll my eyes so hard they almost stuck. I'm not watching anymore. I can't take it." Another point of contention appears to exist with Lewis' leadership skills, with one person writing, "Drop the guy in a rock truck with no training, ask him to navigate a narrow site through thick mud, and then pin his fate on a team vote. Sure hope it's made for TV drama, because it sure is p*** poor leadership."
To be fair, Lewis has a fair share of supporters in this thread, as well. It really seems to be a matter of personal preference, so here's hoping Lewis and his team find plenty of gold going into the last batch of episodes for Season 12.