The Charles Moment That Went Too Far On Curse Of Oak Island
The title of History reality series "The Curse of Oak Island" references centuries of treasure hunters trying and failing to find long-rumored valuables on Oak Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. Amidst these various efforts, a number of treasure seekers have died, hence the notion that the island is cursed.
"Curse of Oak Island" hosts Rick and Marty Lagina created their TV series in order to chronicle their attempts at putting to rest the mystery surrounding the island and its treasures. In doing so, they hired and continue to collaborate with a number of experts in various professions, like history, archeology, geology, and other relevant fields. Charles Barkhouse is one of their key team members, working as a tour guide for visitors to Oak Island when he's not aiding the Lagina brothers on TV.
Over the course of the eight seasons and counting of "The Curse of Oak Island," however, viewers have criticized its central investigation team on numerous occasions. For example, a number of viewers took issue with a perceived lack of safety regulation enforcement during the operation of heavy machinery. Charles himself has become the subject of various criticisms as well, including in a scene where his behavior was widely mocked among "Oak Island" fans.
Charles wearing a Freemason hat was a bridge too far
One ongoing conspiracy theory amidst "Curse of Oak Island" fans purports that Charles Barkhouse is purposely prolonging the Lagina brothers' investigation into Oak Island in order to protect Knights Templar secrets. For example, one particular Reddit post links to a theory that Charles sabotaged a dig site to prevent the "Oak Island" team from getting too close to some sort of hidden Templar treasure.
In light of this and other, similar theories, a number of Reddit users openly mocked Charles when he wore a hat emblazoned with the Knights Templar-adjacent Freemason logo on-screen. Commenter OldDriller, for instance, described the moment as being "as close as any Templar is allowed to giving us, the CoOI audience, the proverbial finger." Meanwhile, one of their fellow commenters, with the username KinkyQuesadilla, argued that Charles wore the hat "so when the fellowship of the dig discusses possible Freemason involvement, Barkhouse is like 'Hehehe, look at me! I'm a Fremason!'" in order to cover for a lack of relevant knowledge.
Another thread, titled in part, "I think Charles REAAALLLY wants us to know that hes a Freemason," is similarly critical of Charles' hat. Ultimately, then, wearing a Freemason logo on-camera caused viewers already critical of Charles to feel like he was openly flaunting his shortcomings — though what those might be and how they're reflected in this scene seem to depend entirely on the beholder.