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

For over a decade, fans have been tuning in to the latest mining efforts of Tony Beets on Discovery's "Gold Rush." The backstory of this reality TV star is quite inspirational. From a humble upbringing in the Netherlands, he's now one of the Klondike's top miners. Though Beets is certainly good at his craft, his unprecedented success wouldn't be possible without his bookkeeper wife, Minnie, and three children, Mike, Kevin, and Monica, who are following in their dad's mining footsteps.

Regarding Mike, the second-youngest offspring of the Beets', he became a full-time employee of Tony's at 13 years old. With his talents for manning the larger-than-life machinery needed for the job, he is one of Tony's most valued workers. Therefore, when Mike doesn't live up to his high potential, his dad is extra hard on him.

An example of this comes when Mike goes to investigate an allegedly broken-down trommel, which is used to sort various materials. Upon reaching the site, he has a sudden edge to his demeanor and tells the camera crew to get out of his face. As his dad frantically asks via walkie-talkie, "Mike, do you copy?" Mike responds, "No, I do not." Tony reprimands his son for giving up on the situation so quickly and calls on Kevin to check out the trommel.

This isn't the only time that Mike gets into some hot water on "Gold Rush," with fans weighing in on another, more disastrous situation.

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."