Last night’s episode of “Gold Rush Alaska” had a couple of irritating scenes once Parker’s father came to visit the gold mining camp. Parker, who at 16 years-old is the youngest manager of the program’s three camps, was not receptive to his father’s visit. After watching the two interact for a few minutes, it was easy to understand why.
According to Huliq, Parker is already discouraged because he hasn’t made a profit this year and he's down on himself for that reason. When his father started on him, it was like adding insult to injury.
Parker, who’s done a great job at such a young age, is especially close to his grandfather, who owns the gold claim Parker’s managing. The two not only have mutual love for each other, but they also show great mutual respect. This wasn’t the case for Parker and his father. From the minute Parker’s father came on the scene, he started to belittle his son, although he might not have realized that's what he was doing.
He didn’t talk to Parker, he snapped at him and even before he knew what his son was working on, he already treated him like he was going to fail at the task at hand. Parker ran out of fuel on the bull dozer and he was trying to restart it after putting fuel in and priming the filter. His father started to badger him once Parker was honest enough to tell him this is the second time this has happened to him.
While Parker was on the right track and it looked like he was about to get the machine started, his father took over and got it running. Parker looked like a beaten down soul after just a few minutes with his father’s treatment towards him.
Most parents would be so proud of this young high school kid, as he worked his entire summer running the gold mine for his grandfather. The kid worked hard, even though his venture didn't turn a profit. He joins many grown men who weren't successful this season, so it's not that his age got in the way of mining the gold.
Instead of spending his days at the beach or partying with the other high school kids his age, he buckled down and went to work. You couldn’t help feel sorry for Parker as his father did all this on camera. His father was aware that the cameras were running because he talked into them about Parker.
Connecticut fans of “Gold Rush Alaska” can watch the season finale next Friday on Connecticut’s Discovery Channel at 9pm EST.
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