Gold Rush Fans Weigh In On Mike's Fallen Wash Plant Debacle

In "Gold Rush" Season 13, Episode 20 ("Washed Out"), Mike Beets is seen on the road to Dominion Creek, transporting a 25-ton wash plant on the back of his lowboy trailer. As he makes a turn, the wash plant comes crashing off the trailer, kicking up dust and debris.

The camera crew is again subjected to Mike's wrath: "Film that, and you might lose the f***ing camera. I'm dead serious." When Tony Beets arrives on the scene, it's bleeps galore when he takes in his son's latest predicament — and the $300,000 worth of equipment lying on the ground. Tony says, "That looks like a screw-up." Still, Mike insists that he wasn't driving fast.

According to a Reddit poll by u/Only_Name3413, "Gold Rush" viewers overwhelmingly believe that the incident was caused by Mike driving too fast, not a broken chain or some reality TV magic.

U/Pretend_Detective558 said, "As a driver that hauls loads chained down every day, he was driving way too fast. They'd be crazy to stage that..." U/morph1973 added, "Mike knew he had done f***ed up. That's why he asked them to stop filming. If it was an equipment failure, he would be saying, 'did you get all that on film' not 'turn off the cameras.'"

On Twitter, fans took notice of how, despite Mike's destiny to someday inherit Tony's mining business, he might not be ready to fill those shoes just yet. @ScottBaranoski pointed out how Mike's first reaction is to demand that someone call his dad. As for @Gwalt331, this viewer hopes for fewer Mike storylines in future episodes: "Driving too fast and one-handed ... Could use less Mike Beets."