Firstly, I would like to offer sincere, public condolences to the friends and family of Dan Blankenship, who passed away in March of this year (2019), and devoted the larger half of his life to solving the mysteries surrounding Oak Island. That is no small feat, for any team, let alone one man. Such dedication and commitment is truly inspiring. And among other things, this show has at least done that man justice, in the form of bringing his life's work to a fair level of public attention. Can you imagine for a moment, what it must feel like, at the age of 90+ years, to have determined people like the Lagina brothers come to the place you have worked on for so many years, and finally have the means to help you really try to further your work, and bring it to the public eye? Just think about that for a second. Dan Blankenship lived there, Oak Island was his life.
Here we are in the age of information and smartphones and 30 second attention spans. I am 31 years old, and it's truly astounding to think that this man has spent more time trying to solve the Oak Island mysteries than I have spent being alive. And the Lagina brothers have very obviously been good friends to him, and numerous others who have worked on the island, and lost friends and family of their own. If you stop whining about the show long enough to look closely when Dan is in an episode, you can see that Rick and Marty go out of their way to bring anything they find directly to his hands so that he can examine it, and be a part of a potentially important discovery. I was raised to respect my elders, and hard work. And I find those scenes to be very touching. Because you can see the emotions on Dan's face, and that's real. Even the History Channel editors cannot take that from him. Even near the end of his life, that man got to witness possibly the most important thing to anyone who's worked that hard for anything could wish for; some people caring enough not just to tell his story and the story of others, but to include him in the process.
The Lagina brothers have done the late Mr. Blankenship a great honor, with their own dedication and hard work, and most of all, the extreme expenses necessary to do what they have done. Millions of dollars spent to try and solve this puzzle. They come off as very kind people, very genuine, and family oriented. Seeing as they have found many ways to include young Alex Lagina in the work along side them. Rick is certainly the more fact and results oriented treasure hunter here. He's always the first one to look at anything they find with all important scrutiny. Found an old crusty spike in the swamp? Ok, good, Rick might say. But it cost a small fortune to get permissions to drain that swamp and excavate it, and bring experts out to search it. Before he gets all excited about a guy with a metal detector suggesting it may have come off a Spanish Galleon, he wants it sent off to experts. He has a real level of calculating intelligence to him. As much as a man can muster under the title of "treasure hunter."
I respect the Lagina brothers for what they have done, truly. Many people would do anything to be able to do the things they have. Especially Dan Blankenship. So, it's a little bothersome to me to read some of the negative things said about the Lagina brothers and their team, and especially about Dan. That's really not fair to them. These people have worked harder, and dreamed about doing the things done on that show, longer than most of us have been alive. Not to mention spent more money on their dreams than many of us will ever possess in our lifetimes. Have some respect. If you can't spend your hard earned money on chasing your dreams, what's the point?
Now, the show. And The History Channel... the ONLY reason I give this show 9/10 stars. Before this summer I didn't have access to cable TV for about six years. I didn't know this show ever existed. I guess you could say I sort of lived under a rock. I did read a book several years ago, titled "Riptide," which was a fictional thriller, based upon the Oak Island treasure. It was a good read, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that a show about the actual island had been airing since 2014. Between Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, I have binge watched every episode in every season, and watched the the first of Season 7 live. Which prompted me to say all this. Because, clearly, when you watch it without having to suffer through commercials, and the BS network that airs the show, it's much more bearable.
It's also WELL worth pointing out how shocking it is to see what The History Channel has been reduced to... I agree with every single negative comment here about the network and the narration and the commercial breaks. It begs the question of whether or not Dan Blankenship ever had watched this show live, because if that were me, I would have been upset. What an affront to this mans work. Last time I focused on the History Channel, they seemed largely interested in airing NON-fictional programs, that certainly had no script or fake drama. Now, I can't find a single show on the network that comes close to that. It's beyond pathetic, beyond words. They should not even be legally allowed to title themselves as a "History Channel," it's disgusting. Not as bad as what we Americans call "The Learning Channel," aka TLC. I won't even get started there, all I can say is Honey Boo Boo... Really, all of television seems to have turned into a lot of garbage over the last decade, having the unique point of view that I do, with that several year gap. The commercials are louder and longer than they used to be, there seems to be no more 10:00pm "watermark" for the more adult programs and content. I'm still shocked at some of the things they allow on daytime TV now, and I'm 31! Any kid who gets home from the school bus before their parents do, has access to some serious garbage at all times of day, and people wonder what's wrong with the younger generations, wow... Saying that makes me feel incredibly old, but is it not true? And what the heck is wrong with Cartoons? What a mess...
Anyways, I think I'll drop cable again, and just stick to streaming what interests me. Television has become so much more trash than I ever thought possible. And one of the biggest disappointments to me this year, has been realizing how terrible the History Channel, of all networks, has painted the the story of a really intriguing part of... North American history, with The Curse of Oak Island. So sad. Go ahead and hate them for that all you want, but respect those who have have worked to chase their dreams. That's fair. But maybe they wouldn't have been able to get as much funding for the treasure hunt without getting the story on such a network, I do not know. I just really hope something is discovered, after all these years.
Here we are in the age of information and smartphones and 30 second attention spans. I am 31 years old, and it's truly astounding to think that this man has spent more time trying to solve the Oak Island mysteries than I have spent being alive. And the Lagina brothers have very obviously been good friends to him, and numerous others who have worked on the island, and lost friends and family of their own. If you stop whining about the show long enough to look closely when Dan is in an episode, you can see that Rick and Marty go out of their way to bring anything they find directly to his hands so that he can examine it, and be a part of a potentially important discovery. I was raised to respect my elders, and hard work. And I find those scenes to be very touching. Because you can see the emotions on Dan's face, and that's real. Even the History Channel editors cannot take that from him. Even near the end of his life, that man got to witness possibly the most important thing to anyone who's worked that hard for anything could wish for; some people caring enough not just to tell his story and the story of others, but to include him in the process.
The Lagina brothers have done the late Mr. Blankenship a great honor, with their own dedication and hard work, and most of all, the extreme expenses necessary to do what they have done. Millions of dollars spent to try and solve this puzzle. They come off as very kind people, very genuine, and family oriented. Seeing as they have found many ways to include young Alex Lagina in the work along side them. Rick is certainly the more fact and results oriented treasure hunter here. He's always the first one to look at anything they find with all important scrutiny. Found an old crusty spike in the swamp? Ok, good, Rick might say. But it cost a small fortune to get permissions to drain that swamp and excavate it, and bring experts out to search it. Before he gets all excited about a guy with a metal detector suggesting it may have come off a Spanish Galleon, he wants it sent off to experts. He has a real level of calculating intelligence to him. As much as a man can muster under the title of "treasure hunter."
I respect the Lagina brothers for what they have done, truly. Many people would do anything to be able to do the things they have. Especially Dan Blankenship. So, it's a little bothersome to me to read some of the negative things said about the Lagina brothers and their team, and especially about Dan. That's really not fair to them. These people have worked harder, and dreamed about doing the things done on that show, longer than most of us have been alive. Not to mention spent more money on their dreams than many of us will ever possess in our lifetimes. Have some respect. If you can't spend your hard earned money on chasing your dreams, what's the point?
Now, the show. And The History Channel... the ONLY reason I give this show 9/10 stars. Before this summer I didn't have access to cable TV for about six years. I didn't know this show ever existed. I guess you could say I sort of lived under a rock. I did read a book several years ago, titled "Riptide," which was a fictional thriller, based upon the Oak Island treasure. It was a good read, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that a show about the actual island had been airing since 2014. Between Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, I have binge watched every episode in every season, and watched the the first of Season 7 live. Which prompted me to say all this. Because, clearly, when you watch it without having to suffer through commercials, and the BS network that airs the show, it's much more bearable.
It's also WELL worth pointing out how shocking it is to see what The History Channel has been reduced to... I agree with every single negative comment here about the network and the narration and the commercial breaks. It begs the question of whether or not Dan Blankenship ever had watched this show live, because if that were me, I would have been upset. What an affront to this mans work. Last time I focused on the History Channel, they seemed largely interested in airing NON-fictional programs, that certainly had no script or fake drama. Now, I can't find a single show on the network that comes close to that. It's beyond pathetic, beyond words. They should not even be legally allowed to title themselves as a "History Channel," it's disgusting. Not as bad as what we Americans call "The Learning Channel," aka TLC. I won't even get started there, all I can say is Honey Boo Boo... Really, all of television seems to have turned into a lot of garbage over the last decade, having the unique point of view that I do, with that several year gap. The commercials are louder and longer than they used to be, there seems to be no more 10:00pm "watermark" for the more adult programs and content. I'm still shocked at some of the things they allow on daytime TV now, and I'm 31! Any kid who gets home from the school bus before their parents do, has access to some serious garbage at all times of day, and people wonder what's wrong with the younger generations, wow... Saying that makes me feel incredibly old, but is it not true? And what the heck is wrong with Cartoons? What a mess...
Anyways, I think I'll drop cable again, and just stick to streaming what interests me. Television has become so much more trash than I ever thought possible. And one of the biggest disappointments to me this year, has been realizing how terrible the History Channel, of all networks, has painted the the story of a really intriguing part of... North American history, with The Curse of Oak Island. So sad. Go ahead and hate them for that all you want, but respect those who have have worked to chase their dreams. That's fair. But maybe they wouldn't have been able to get as much funding for the treasure hunt without getting the story on such a network, I do not know. I just really hope something is discovered, after all these years.