 The Lionsgate December 10, 2109 massive DVD set of S1-6 of the History Channel phenom "The Curse of Oak Island." does that series proud. As the promotional materials for this collectible collection state, you will be there from the very beginning. You also will fully understand the concept of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
One spoiler is that the fact that S7 of "Curse" currently is airing on History shows that the saga continues; you can count on Lionsgate releasing a DVD set of that season in 2020. The simple but brilliant concept of "Curse" is that 60-something brothers Rick and Marty Lagina are investing millions of actual equity and gallons of sweat equity (no actual blood or tears as of the first few S3 episodes) in their epic search for the fabled treasures of the titular landmass. Analogous to the efforts of the seven stranded castaways on Gilligan's Island to say aloha to that isle, Team Lagina constantly has defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Their "trash" is "treasure" to viewers akin to something that is tragic to the person who experiences if being "treasure" to every else. A highly condensed synopsis of the lore of the island right off the Nova Scotia coast is that it begins in 1795 when hardy teen boys discover what still is known as the money pit, which is an apt description as to the two common meanings of that term. Elaborate bobby traps thwart the subsequent excavation of those lads and their successors up to the present day. The rest of the story is that the fabled riches of the island are stashed away at the bottom of the pit, a nearby swamp that very well be man-made for that purpose, and numerous other "hot spots" on the island. The rumored booty includes traditional buried treasure, the original Shakespeare folios, and religious artifacts that include the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant. The first aside is that it will be way cool if our central fortune seekers discover the Ark only to have their faces melt off when they open it. The second aside is that it does not seem that anyone is speculating that the body of Jimmy Hoffa is concealed on the island. The rest of the basic lore story is that the titular curse includes the requirement that (ala sins and castaways) seven men die before the island will give up its loot. The pre-series body count is six, and Team Lagina has not had any fallen brothers as of the early part of S3. The more specific lore is that a 1965 Reader's Digest article on the island intrigues les freres Lagina. Roughly 50 years later Marty is a semi-retired down-to-earth one-percenter oil-and-gas tycoon, and Rick is a retired mailman. A spoiler is that Rick never goes postal in the early seasons. It is not a spoiler to share that the series revolves around the physically and fiscally draining battle with the "white whale" for the (pardon the expression) money shot. Small victories, such as finding coins and other tangible evidence of the veracity of the legends, keep our heroes fighting the good fight. We witness the crew explore tunnels old and new and use the expression "drain the swamp" so frequently that it indicates that the brothers want are Trump supporters; this is not to mention that expression being a valid basis for a drinking game. We also get frequent "guest-stars," who (ala the almost weekly visitors to Gilligan's Island) show up to frequently contribute their figurative two cents. These include a man who believes that Shakespeare has provided all the necessary clues, a cipher expert whose theory prompts a valid reference to "The DaVinci Code," and a woman whose father and brother are two of the six men who lost their lives in literal pursuit of fame and fortune. The rest of this story is complex. The Laginas having invested a great deal of time and money in their quest obviously gives them a horse in the race. One also suspects that they make a pretty penny from "Cursed," This warrants skepticism as to the veracity of some finds; part of this is the undetermined probability that someone who concealed a treasure left a coin or other valuable lying around. The analogy this time is that there is a long history of folks salting gold mines to entice investors. An element of this that Team Lagina discusses is the apparent decision of the folks who concealed the treasure hundreds of years ago to make it virtually impossible to unearthed. A related issue is why the key to accessing the loot apparently has not been passed down to future generations. The strongest endorsement of the quality of "Curse" is that it is very well-produced by Emmy winner Kevin Burns of fellow (reviewed) History series "Ancient Aliens" to the extent of easily passing the "one more" test. This extends to the rarity of your not-so-humble reviewer staying up past his bedtime to watch one. Context, which more than justifies adding "Cursed" to your home-video library, discussed below greatly tempers frustrating flaws of "Curse" that relate to a general dislike of reality shows that it behind this site having the secondary title of "Unreal TV." Early episodes avoid flashbacks and maddening repetition such as several principals opining on the same development. One blessing in "Curse" is that (at least through early S3) there are no "coming up on" segments just before commercial breaks, The bad news is that the repetition seemingly increases as the series progresses; the good news is that an easy workaround shows the benefit of physical media over streaming. One or two scenes each episode has the group discussing an aspect of their endeavor only to have the narrator chime in with "previously on...". This flashback being in a variation of a sepia tone facilitates merely fast-forwarding on. The solution to the (seemingly increasing) slightly more annoying practice of increasingly "well duh" narration is to laugh at it and/or make that a drinking game. A prime example of this is an S3 E2 scene in which one of many hired experts is presenting evidence of a body at the bottom of one of the many explored holes. The announcement as to the corpse is old news both to the crew and the viewers. Members of the team discussing that discovery is valid. The narrator IMMEDIATELY repeating that development in an amazed tone is laughable. The final observation before sharing the promised context is that "Cursed" has a bad habit of including non-issues in some episode, One example of this is a quickly resolved speculative obstacle. Another is Marty sharing with a devastated Rick that Marty must miss one week in their years'-long treasure hunt to do his day job. The reality is that even actual parents always risk being away when baby takes his or her first step or utters his or her first words.
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