The entire treasure-hunting operation behind The Curse of Oak Island faces being shut down after “alarming news” comes to light in Episode 3 of the current season, it has been revealed.
The revelation emerged in a new description for the episode released by the History channel. It also disclosed how during the episode Rick and Marty Lagina and the team find “hard evidence” of Europeans being present on Oak Island more than 100 years before the Money Pit was discovered.
However, their excitement at the evidence is quickly reversed when the alarming news is revealed.
The full description for the episode reads:
“New, hard evidence of a European presence on Oak Island more than a century before the discovery of the Money Pit exhilarates the team, until alarming news threatens to shut down the entire operation.”
The revelation comes before the second episode of The Curse of Oak Island Season 5 airs this week, which we know sees the team investigate a treasure chest from the 1700s and Rick and Marty receive “stunning news” about a find from the Money Pit — likely linked to one of the discoveries from the premiere, either the spike or the coin.
It is not known what the “alarming news” in Episode 3 relates to. However, judging by the promo clips released for the season ahead so far, it’s possible that it could be linked to tunnels which Rick Lagina is seen exploring in the trailers, or perhaps one of the discoveries made — including the spike from Episode 1 or a fragment of bone that is found— or the accident which takes place during the season.
It’s obviously also possible that the news could relate to something altogether different. It’s almost certain that the operation doesn’t get shut down — as they were still filming just weeks ago — however, the fact it is “alarming” does point to it being something serious, either a discovery or some sort of event, that takes place.
It’s also not yet known what the “hard evidence” is that the team find which shows Europeans were definitely on Oak Island more than a century before the discovery of the Money Pit.
But to prove it has European origins it would likely have to be something that can easily be identified as being made overseas — possibly a coin or a button or other metal object.
DON’T MISS: 10 fun facts about Rick and Marty Lagina
We told this week how The Curse of Oak Island Season 5 was watched by a record number of viewers. Official figures showed 2.95million people tuned in to watch Episode 1, an increase of 330,000 on the 2.62million who watched the Season 4 opener.
It’s likely that that figure will increase for later episodes in the season, as viewer numbers generally increase as seasons progress. The Season 4 finale last year — the show’s most-watched episode since it started — saw 3.79million people tune in to watch it live.
The total number of people who watch the show is actually higher than the above figures as they do not include people who watch the show on demand.
In case you missed it, make sure to check out our recap of the premiere where we look at the 10 most important things we learned.
The Curse of Oak Island airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on History.