I deliberately waited before doing a review as Oak Island's curse may also extend to reviewers trying to make sense of this complicated show.
My notes, humbly made available for interested parties:
* notwithstanding the massive success of "reality shows," the very term "reality show" is an oxymoron, and, as will be reflected by historians of the future, represents viewer rejection of the formulaic nature of dramatic TV.
* as an oxymoron or paradox, it must work on rules are entirely internal to the show. In other words you are getting NEITHER "reality" NOR a "scripted show." Something in the middle. And, aside from the occasional lawsuit filed by angry subjects from reality shows long past, you are never told what is what
* ironically, dramatic TV has become much better since about 2005. But as long as there is a penny of profit left in reality TV, it will continue
* an argument can be made that this is the best reality show ever produced. Ever. The basis of this argument is that, when the producers made their original deal with the Legina Bros, (which HA HA indirectly subsidizes the cost of the dig and attracts top-ranked, free, help from around the world) they had NO IDEA where the story would go. But the story behind the island has a life of its own and just keeps moving. So the "real" treasure so far has been found by the producers, not the brothers. They hit paydirt
* an argument can also be made this is one of the most contrived reality shows ever made, because clearly (DUH) the producers know in advance what (if anything) has been found by the end of shooting so they fill, promise, stretch, AND BASICALLY USE EVERY TV TRICK IN THIS HISTORY OF THE MEDIUM to buy time and build suspense to keep viewers hooked until the "reveal" at the end of a season. This is viewer manipulation on a scale that is truly historical. (PUN!) The techniques used to fill time in this series may be taught in film school years from now. They are right on the edge of "brainwashing."
* the Legina Bros may think themselves "normal", just regular folks, two brothers that look alike and think alike, one a regular guy, one a millionaire, but, as most viewers have figured out, they are anything but, they are "naturals," they are made for TV, they should get their own show, the really big "reveal" is that someone should explain this to them since they don't seem to have a clue about how good they are. Once again, the producers struck paydirt with these guys.
* another irony is that the story itself is fascinating. I have seen every episode and am GOD HELP ME actually becoming convinced that, among other things, the original Money Pit mimics the Templar fascination with the Enochian Design; that engineers with extraordinary skills built tunnels at impossible depths; and that the original Shakespearian publications may in fact reference Oak Island (In fairness to the reader, the controversial works of Shakespeare, whose published name in the very first printed portfolios, was hyphenated, as in SHAKE-SPEARE, suggesting a code or anagram, has been a hobby for years, so I had more information on this topic than most, prior to watching this series).
The ultimate irony for this season is that the folks in the chat groups are annoyed and they have no right to be. Leaving the above criticisms aside, the show this season was hypnotic. And the weight of evidence suggesting there are multiple stores of treasure is becoming overwhelming.
Even the so-called "reveal" (see above for comments on how the producers are pulling the strings of the viewer) was not bad. Using the most recent, and very tiny, bore hole to sneak in a state of the art sonar camera is ... brilliant.
The only thing missing from this show is a professional psychic. Clearly neither the producers nor the Leginas ever read Dr. Goodman's book "Psychic Archaeology" which shows that for certain digs, intuitives can successfully narrow the area to dig and describe what will be found. There is a WiKI on Dr. Goodman and his Falstaff dig, if anyone is interested.
Fascinating. Just fascinating.
My notes, humbly made available for interested parties:
* notwithstanding the massive success of "reality shows," the very term "reality show" is an oxymoron, and, as will be reflected by historians of the future, represents viewer rejection of the formulaic nature of dramatic TV.
* as an oxymoron or paradox, it must work on rules are entirely internal to the show. In other words you are getting NEITHER "reality" NOR a "scripted show." Something in the middle. And, aside from the occasional lawsuit filed by angry subjects from reality shows long past, you are never told what is what
* ironically, dramatic TV has become much better since about 2005. But as long as there is a penny of profit left in reality TV, it will continue
* an argument can be made that this is the best reality show ever produced. Ever. The basis of this argument is that, when the producers made their original deal with the Legina Bros, (which HA HA indirectly subsidizes the cost of the dig and attracts top-ranked, free, help from around the world) they had NO IDEA where the story would go. But the story behind the island has a life of its own and just keeps moving. So the "real" treasure so far has been found by the producers, not the brothers. They hit paydirt
* an argument can also be made this is one of the most contrived reality shows ever made, because clearly (DUH) the producers know in advance what (if anything) has been found by the end of shooting so they fill, promise, stretch, AND BASICALLY USE EVERY TV TRICK IN THIS HISTORY OF THE MEDIUM to buy time and build suspense to keep viewers hooked until the "reveal" at the end of a season. This is viewer manipulation on a scale that is truly historical. (PUN!) The techniques used to fill time in this series may be taught in film school years from now. They are right on the edge of "brainwashing."
* the Legina Bros may think themselves "normal", just regular folks, two brothers that look alike and think alike, one a regular guy, one a millionaire, but, as most viewers have figured out, they are anything but, they are "naturals," they are made for TV, they should get their own show, the really big "reveal" is that someone should explain this to them since they don't seem to have a clue about how good they are. Once again, the producers struck paydirt with these guys.
* another irony is that the story itself is fascinating. I have seen every episode and am GOD HELP ME actually becoming convinced that, among other things, the original Money Pit mimics the Templar fascination with the Enochian Design; that engineers with extraordinary skills built tunnels at impossible depths; and that the original Shakespearian publications may in fact reference Oak Island (In fairness to the reader, the controversial works of Shakespeare, whose published name in the very first printed portfolios, was hyphenated, as in SHAKE-SPEARE, suggesting a code or anagram, has been a hobby for years, so I had more information on this topic than most, prior to watching this series).
The ultimate irony for this season is that the folks in the chat groups are annoyed and they have no right to be. Leaving the above criticisms aside, the show this season was hypnotic. And the weight of evidence suggesting there are multiple stores of treasure is becoming overwhelming.
Even the so-called "reveal" (see above for comments on how the producers are pulling the strings of the viewer) was not bad. Using the most recent, and very tiny, bore hole to sneak in a state of the art sonar camera is ... brilliant.
The only thing missing from this show is a professional psychic. Clearly neither the producers nor the Leginas ever read Dr. Goodman's book "Psychic Archaeology" which shows that for certain digs, intuitives can successfully narrow the area to dig and describe what will be found. There is a WiKI on Dr. Goodman and his Falstaff dig, if anyone is interested.
Fascinating. Just fascinating.
