Most Pause-Worthy Moment On Gold Rush: The Dirt

As is the case with virtually every other reality show, plenty of viewers of Discovery's gold mining series "Gold Rush" have doubtlessly questioned on at least one occasion the extent to which its on-screen drama is genuine. According to Jimmy Dorsey, who was featured on its first season, many of the show's biggest moment are, in fact, scripted. That said, Dorsey also characterized a physical fight between he and fellow cast member Greg Remsburg as organic, suggesting that a typical episode of "Gold Rush" is comprised of both prewritten and unscripted material.

Fan-favorite "Gold Rush" spinoff "The Dirt" is likewise an avenue through which viewers can glean some insight into the machinations behind the scenes of TV's premier gold mining realty show. In the model of aftershows like "The Talking Dead" before it, "The Dirt" typically airs after episodes of "Gold Rush." Its looser atmosphere means that viewers get to witness the main series' cast members in a more natural environment than usual.

Because of its candid nature, "The Dirt" can sometimes reveal more about its subjects than regular episodes of "Gold Rush," including in a scene that might be the most pause-worthy moment in the spinoff series' entire run.

During his time on "Gold Rush," miner Todd Hoffman famously clashed with series stalwart Parker Schnabel. While "Gold Rush" itself contains plenty of scenes of the two personalities at odds with one another, an episode of "The Dirt" from 2016 features a contentious talk between Hoffman and Schnabel, chronicled on the Discovery YouTube channel, focused primarily on the fact that Hoffman argues that his crew has more heart than Schnabel's. Their discussion stemming from this claim quickly escalates into hostile territory.

Also present is Schnabel's mentor Tony Beets. When Schnabel counters an accusation that he doesn't care about his crew's wellbeing by characterizing Hoffman's point-of-view as privileged, the camera pans to Tony Beets, who's smiling widely during Schnabel's retort. The footage of Beets is easy to miss, but sparked considerable discussion in the comments section beneath the video on YouTube. User Robin Sawyer, for example, wrote, "The look on tonys face and his smirk/smile laugh just you know he agrees with what Parker is saying 100% while thinking to himself I taught you well." Meanwhile user BlueFeet simply replied, "love Tony's reaction to this."

Beets implicitly siding with Parker without saying a word is easy to miss, so viewers may want to hit the pause button for a better look at Beets' reaction.