3 episodes in and this show is rubbish. Poorly written, paper thin characters and plot. Clichés do not make a story, and a wet and muddy set and facial stubble does not make "gritty" or believable characters.So disappointing.The only believable character is the mud... It obviously requires considerable expense to establish such sets and to film in snow and cold. The writing simply does not do justice to the story concept or the natural environment.Can anyone believe the horses breaking away from the cart as a plausible plot device in episode 3? That could have been written by a 6 year old.Casting Sam Shepard and Tim Roth caught my attention, i was curious to see what Roth would do after Lie to Me.Unfortunately this show compares poorly to Hell on Wheels, which compared poorly to the exceptional Deadwood.I am astonished at the high ratings shown for this series. What are other reviewers seeing?I am done this series, it is an insult to my intelligence as a viewer.

After reading over some of the over reviews, there seemed to be a few negative criticisms. When I heard Ridley Scott had a part in the making of this "show", I expected a masterpiece. I admit I was not mesmerized but I was also not disappointed.After reading some of the reviews criticizing the poor historical detail, one must remember that in order to keep the viewer watching some Hollywood drama needs to be manifested. After all, who wants to sit through six hours of a cinematic encyclopedia? In conclusion, if you are expecting a university lecture in History 101 with facts that are 100 percent accurate, then you will easy find a lot of things to criticize. If you enjoy western drama's then would recommended you watch the show. You may not get an authentic feel of the real gold rush, so just watch the show not expecting a history lesson.Please remember this is a fictional story loosely based on historical times in that Era, don't expect accuracy. It has a Good Storyline with very respectable acting and exceptional visuals. A good Watch.

What a fantastic story this could have been, and of course in fact actually was! But what a horrendously and stupendously horrid story this joke of a mini-series portrayed. A total discredit to what the men and women went through in the Yukon during that time. The maker of this film basically turned a real life drama in to some form of ridiculous soap opera. I put this catastrophic film right up there with the joke that James Cameron turned the Titanic in to. How can you go so wrong with a movie when the fantastic story is already written for you? Absolutely shameful for everyone involved. I very rarely review any movies, but the garbage of this film motivated me to speak out and hopefully steer people away. Or, if nothing else, then to at least provide some comfort to those who died during their time in the Klondike and who are now turning in their graves!

I usually love gold rush stories. However, this one is not one I would recommend watching if you want to get an accurate picture about what the Yukon gold rush was like. Inaccuracies abound. Actually it became fun to find them. The Discovery Channel powers-that-be mention that they are proud of the historical accuracy and their valuable educational service. This show illustrates quite the opposite of the type of programming they say they are proud to produce.Having hiked up the Chilkoot Pass twice, it was interesting to see how they treated this part of the story. What was really laughable was the scene at Dyea where you can see the line of stampeders trudging up the "golden stairs". Impossible. You can't see the hill or the pass from Dyea; it's a three day hike to get to the pass. Seeing the ski hill in the background was a bit silly as well. The wolf scene was ridiculous. It seems that no show about the Canadian wilderness is complete without wolves (or bears) attacking the hero. Wolves do not behave like this.Contrary to what is implied by the production, Dawson City was not a lawless town with gunslinging bullies, shootings and avenging Natives. Chaotic yes, but not lawless. The police were strict but fair. They were also lenient in that they allowed prostitution and gambling. Handguns were never permitted, however. Neither were disorderly conduct, obscenity, or cheating. The police did not hang folks or chase down and kill Natives. In general, both the police and the Natives were unfairly and incorrectly portrayed. And, by the way, the Tlingit did not inhabit the Dawson area.The story was somewhat entertaining, and the acting wasn't half bad except for the mumbling in several places (I thought I was losing my hearing). Too bad and sad, however, that the majority of Canadian actors in this shot-in-Canada production about an event in Canadian history were only background actors.Discovery Channel, you are doing a complete disservice to the public you say you are proud to be educating. Let's hope that future similar productions you are involved in are indeed educational and not fallacious fluff. I guess this is a good example of the famous saying " don't let the truth get in the way of a good story". I realize that some literary license is necessary to enable the flow of the story and keep the audience interested, but this shouldn't be to the point of doing a disservice to important aspects of Canada's history (in particular how the police and Natives were portrayed) or to the point where the story panders to the warped misconceptions or expectations of the target audience (e.g. the wolf scene and the wild west gunslingers).