Well were you or weren't you? I was disappointed Fred won the bet even though I kind of like him and felt bad about him losing his house. He really did screw the Hoffman's. They deserved that gold, as stupid as they are they, worked their asses off to get to the point they were at. It's nice to see that Todd spent some money on a good recovery system. It seemed like mostly gold dust and I don't think they wouldn't have gotten what they did had they not had that equipment. 6400 bucks per 1000 yards of dirt is not a bad ratio. Looks like they actually did it.
Fred deserved everything he got, in my opinion. He didn't screw them, the Hoffmans allowed themselves to get put in a situation to be "screwed". And while the Hoffmans seem to have pulled a whack of gold out of their first 1000 yards of dirt, I don't see them ramping that haul up or being consistent in their operations for very long. They've fucked away more than half the season getting to where they are, and my guess is that they pull some gold out of the ground, but nowhere near enough to even break even.
How did the Hoffman's get into a position where they have this kind of capital to spend on mining? Todd and his father seem like complete blooming idiots who lack the ability to plan or possess forethought. It seems as though they will fail. again. For some reason, I'm sure they will find a way to be back next year to slog it out again. Does Discovery fund these little expeditions?
I too find it difficult to believe they're not being funded by outsiders (ie. selling part of their airfield was pure BS). I love how fucking miserable they always act, though. They needed something like 1.x ounces/day to break even, which they got. Then when they did that 18hr day and doubled their gold/hr income, they all acted like someone just shot their dog. Also, I wonder what it took to get the inspectors out there this season, since last time they needed to go chase some down if I remember correctly. This show is starting to drift a bit. The constant end of times narration was bearable when the characters were bringing the funny. Now it's just getting boring. Not enough crazy-beard-guy and too much shit getting done. I do not watch this show to see the Hoffman crew succeed.
We just got the second season here, and a promo had an interview with Jack. How is it that in a controlled studio environment he seems even crazier?
I actually found this to be really interesting. How primitive their mining operations there are compared to the large mining operations in Alaska or the Klondike. It sucks for the workers who are using Mercury to bind the gold with their hands. Probably don't even know how bad it is for them.