Review: 'Bering Sea Gold: Under The Ice' - 11/08/2013

There seem to be about fifty gold-hunting related television shows on the air right now, but Discovery's "Bering Sea Gold" has always been one of my favorites. While the drama of the show threatens to overwhelm everything at times, it has an overall nice mix of personalities and emotion. As well as a story arc that works well over the course of the season.

Trying to find gold on land is an insane enough idea, but dredging for it underwater amps up the craziness even more. It's a dangerous idea and luckily for viewers danger seems to attract an even more irrational group of gold miners than is the norm. It makes for some compelling episodes and some surprising twists from week to week.

"Bering Sea Gold: Under The Ice" is a somewhat spin-off that follows some of the same crews from "Bering Sea Gold" as they attempt to dredge for gold underneath the ice of winter. Think of ice fishing, except that after you cut the hole you jump into the water to try and vacuum gold up off the seabed. It's a crazy idea and one that has only been possible in the past few years, thanks to advances in technology.

The season premiere centers primarily on a couple of familiar crews, although it's edited in a way that makes the show easy to drop into without knowing all the back stories. Zeke Tenhoff had another tough year last season, ending with the suicide of his best friend and a meltdown argument with longtime crush/friend/rival Emily Reidel. Zeke is back with a new crew and a new attitude towards Emily. He says his focus is entirely on making money and while he's still a bit edgy, he is also super-focused on the challenging tasks ahead.

Emily's father Steve Reidel is also back with his own crew after being fired three times from the Wild Ranger by owner Vernon Adkinson. He does manage to get his crew out on the ice, although in typical Steve fashion he begins celebrating and gloating about his gold-finding ability even though he has yet to actually find any this season. And gold mining's angriest man Scott Meisterheim is also back after burning investors and his crew last season when he checked himself into rehab in the middle of the season. There's also a brief appearance by father-and-son team Shawn and Steve Pomrenke at the end of the episode, although so far Shawn hasn't even found a spot to dredge.

Last but not least is Vernon, who has spent $70,000 on a huge set-up with which he hopes to mine at least 100 ounces of gold in five weeks. He doesn't seem to be having much success so far with the gold, but he does manage to fire someone before the first mining shift is over.

It takes the episode a bit to hit its stride, which is often the case in season premieres. Producers are having to update everyone's story in a way that doesn't confuse new viewers and while "Bering Sea Gold" does a good job with that, it does slow down things a bit. But the episode is overall entertaining and still delivers that mix of angst, anger and passive/aggressive behavior. This episode also illustrates that while her diving skills might be suspect, the addition of Emily in the show brings a much-needed female energy to the typical gold mining testosterone fest.

"Bering Sea Gold" is one of my favorite reality shows and I find the editing to be a lot less intrusive than what you'll find on sister show "Gold Rush." Most episodes are a fun and unpredictable ride and that makes it a great way to unwind and ease into the weekend.