Sunday, January 14, 2018

Curse of Oak Island - A Mid-season Analysis

This is going to be rather short because there is really nothing new to report here. The Laginas boys are still digging up the island, but now they have another new, high-tech piece of equipment that will create a relatively huge hole in the island. This will make access to the bottom easier and maybe a little safer for the divers
Boring operations a long time ago... and yes, I said
"Boring operations," for a very good reason.
who will be going down into it but won’t yield anything of importance. We’ve been down this road so many times that it is beginning to look like the boy who cried “Wolf!”

Sure, they have made some interesting finds, but none of them actually suggest a treasure on the island. There were the two bone fragments, one apparently from a person of European heritage and one from someone from the Middle East. That doesn’t put a treasure on the island, but apparently it was enough to move us back to the idea that the Knights Templar had a hand in all this.

For those who don’t know, the Knights Templar were organized as a sort of military force (think Jedi) who became quite rich and powerful. Those not engaged in combat operations, organized a system of early banking (think Iron Bank). King Philip IV (think Lannisters) of France, heavily in debt to the Iron Bank… I mean the Knights Templar, ordered most of them arrested on the night of October 13, 1307, and eventually executed (didn’t that happen to the Jedi?).

The point is that the Knights Templar had accumulated massive wealth, and it is now suggested that in the nearly two hundred years before Columbus (yes, I know the Vikings had landed in Canada long before this and nearly every educated person knew the world was round), made their way to Oak Island to hide much of their wealth. With that, they’re off again, meaning the Laginas, to France to begin their quest for more knowledge of the Knights Templar, even though that had been explored in the past.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy seeing the interiors of those old buildings and a look at that cities of Europe, which is why I watch The Amazing Race. You get a good look at life in other parts of the world, but with Oak Island, we’re supposed to get a look at the treasure and not some new excuse for touring parts Europe.

At this point, with History telling us every chance they get that Curse of Oak Island is the number one rated cable show, we know they’re going to stretch it out as long as possible. This is why we keep coming back to points from the past that seemed to go nowhere and its why little reference is made about the provenance of documents and debris they have found, unless it fits into their narrative. Yes, the bones were from people who lived in the decades before the treasure hunt began in 1795, but they are also from a period in which travelers from around the world were finding themselves on the North American continent. Without some sort of context, the Laginas’ discoveries don’t actually lead anywhere. The narrator asks, “If such is true, then couldn’t this mean that such is also true,” which might be the case, but probably isn’t.

Given all this, I predict that there will be no major discovery this season. While the ratings remain high, they’ll just keep milking this for all they can. When we reach the end of the season, they’ll have drilled down to a reasonable depth and there will be hints of greater things to find… but we won’t get those results just yet. We’ll have to wait to see what was found with hints that it is extraordinary.

The problem here is that we’ve been through all that before. Remember the gold object and the treasure vault they seemed to have found just as one (the third, I think) season ended? Yet in the next, they were still looking for that vault and they couldn’t find that gold object even with a diver in the shaft looking for it.

Yes, I will be tuned in each week, trying my best to stay awake while they wander around with metal detectors, stand on the surface and watch as more drilling takes place and sitting around in their high-tech war room where they discuss the “exciting” finds of the week or the month or even seasons passed.


And next season, I’ll hope they make some progress in finding actual treasure rather than a few old coins, bits of wood, iron nails, and a cap gun from the 1950s. And yes, it seems that I’m writing this season off, but what have the found, really, that has any relevance to finding a treasure. I fear we’ll have to wait longer to learn any truth about the Curse, but then, I guess that’s why we all tune in. 

11 comments:

TheDimov said...

I simply fail to see how you cannot be excited by this series, Kevin. I mean firstly its a show where with tremendous anticipation and excitement they get WOOD. After the interest of this dies down a bit they suddenly BONE UP, to everybody's great surprise. Now the heat really rises when they find they are inserting a HUGE SHAFT down an IMMENSELY DEEPENING HOLE, and finding the anticipation almost unbearable, just as their viewers are!

I mean this simply blows away Game Of Thrones, don't you think, I cant even believe they televise this stuff!

I think you need to re-assess, Kevin, because I don't know about you but I just cannot wait for each and every instalment, because I cannot imagine what might just happen next!

Mr. Sweepy said...

One thing the show hinted on is a separate entrance tunnel. If the main treasure shaft was covered over with dirt then logs every ten feet, the suggestion was on the past couple of shows was that there was another tunnel to the main treasure chamber. I think this is why they are looking with the metal detector in part. Sure, they want old coins and trinkets but for their theory to work, they need another entrance. Personally, I don't think they will find it.

Last, they could have had a expert say what part of the two human bones were, leg, arm ribs or whatever. They didn't check? Why? Yes, they have a age range and regionality test but not what part of the bones come from.

Gal220 said...

There is no reason to hate on this show, maybe they find nothing, but they are trying. All the bore holes they did around money pit area was a good step towards targeting the treasure(if there is one).

I dont think anyone can stand that narrator, I bet he even gets tired of all the "what ifs" he spews out on this show and Ancient Aliens.

Despite the awful narrator, luckily the show does have good ratings, so they get the funds to keep at it. All that heavy equipment they have out there isnt cheap.

couldbebetter said...

The Dimov, Your comments were juvenile, sadly, my type of humor. I have to say it is the funniest thing I read all week. The show actually fills a need that most (mainly men) have,
the need to hunt,or search, for treasure, whatever that might be. For some it might be a 12
point buck, or a 5 lb. largemouth bass, a gold nugget, or a valuable coin. That is why I think shows that offer the prospect of finding treasure are so popular. Shows about pawn
shops, or abandoned storage bins, or gold/gem mining, keep us intrigued, we live through the
people the show is about. Now about that show Alien Hunter...

David From AU said...

"the need to hunt,or search" . . . you left out of your list aliens, bigfoot, cryptids in general, but I don't want to be HARD-ON you . . .

KRandle said...

Okay all, this is getting a little out of hand here (so to speak), so let it go and we can concentrate on Oak Island.

Coalmonkey said...

Love the curse of oak island and watch it every week when it’s on. But they drag out every episode and repeat some much information.
They should of split it up into two programs, the history of oak island and the search of oak island. Can be a little frustrating sometimes hearing about Samuel ball every week and his bloody cabbage farming x

Lance said...

Do you accept, Kevin, that it is quite likely that there never was a treasure?

Thanks,

Lance

KRandle said...

Lance -

It always seemed to me that the engineering problems were too complex to overcome by 17th century technology, especially when that technology had to be dragged across the Atlantic and those digging the pit wouldn't have been able to do it. But it was an intriguing mystery for two centuries...

But given Joy Steele's explanation, and the fact that these guys have dug up the island with no real results, and given that their finds do nothing to support the idea of a treasure on the island, I don't think there was ever anything there. What we have is hype, those who made money by forming companies to dig on the island, and planted evidence to keep the hype alive.

My Psychic Solutions said...

I love the soak Island Mystery. I actually have another take on things. I feel as if they are stalling the announcement of any significant find, because if they announce it they will have to increase security all over the island from Theives! I feel like they have to have everything excavated before they admit they found it.

Hand said...

I've been watching the show for the past three years. At first, it was interesting. Then it became intriguing, now it's just plain BORING!
They are dragging it out way too much. to much repetitive information. They find a nail and the commentator says" A nail, from a chest or a coffin. Could this be the missing link to the treasure? Or does Mr Holy Conoley have a hole in his pocket that every now and then he slips something down his leg only to be picked up by his geigercounter! It's time they speed things up or I'm switching to something more realistic like the BACHELOR.........lol!!!!!!