'The Curse Of Oak Island' Season 7 Episode 12 Review: The team gets closer to the swamp's mystery
Hope is a good thing and no good thing ever dies. This quote from 'Shawshank Redemption' appears to be the motto of 'The Curse Of Oak Island' team. After Hurricane Dorian literally rained on their parade in the previous episode and eroded weeks of effort in draining the swamp, the team refuses to lose heart.
Episode 12 'Fortified' was an exciting one, not because they found any treasure (that might take a while), but due to the intriguing evidence on the cursed island that points to French activity. While Gary Drayton returned to excavating the swamp, Rick Lagina decided to take a trip to Louisburg, North Carolina, as part of research. This part of the episode was fascinating, because it was buried in French history.
The name Duc d'Anville has been a constant refrain on the show. In 1746, the Duc d'Anville expedition was an effort by the French to reconsolidate Arcadia, which is now part of Nova Scotia. However, the expedition proved to be deadly, as many men died of diseases including typhus and scurvy.
Just after arriving at Nova Scotia, Duc d'Anville died from a stroke and was buried at Nova Scotia George's Island. D'Anville has proved often to be of great interest to the show, as his family is said to have connections to Oak Island and somehow linked to the construction of the Money Pit. Lagina learned some exciting bits of information that could be relevant to his quest for the treasure on the island.
After returning to the island, there were some more surprises waiting for the team. They uncovered a stone pathway at the swamp, which turned out to be solid proof that the swamp is man-made, confirming their belief that the swamp holds the answers to their questions- who built it and why?
This was an interesting episode and the team finally seems to be getting somewhere with their excavations.
'The Curse Of Oak Island' airs on History Channel, Tuesdays at 9pm.