Season 12 of “The Curse of Oak Island” with Rick and Marty Lagina

It’s the treasure hunt of all treasure hunts, and it’s all based in Nova Scotia. You guys, season 12 of The Curse of Oak Island with brothers Rick and Marty, is back for season 12. The brothers join me now—guys, how are we feeling?

We are energized, right Rick?

Absolutely, it’s been a wonderful year. I think your audience will be quite interested in watching what we have done.

Yeah, well, I’m excited to learn more. And speaking of, let’s say someone in our audience maybe isn’t really familiar with the show or hasn’t seen it before. Kind of just give me a general synopsis of what this is and what you guys are doing.

Go ahead.

Usually, Rick does this part because he’s really the center of how this all started. When we were young lads—I was 10, he was 12, I think—anyway, he read a Reader’s Digest article, and it really caught him. It was about this thing called The Money Pit that people had been looking for for 200 years, or something like that. Not quite 180, whatever. And it had all the components to fascinate a young person—pirates and buried treasure and curses and booby traps. It was sort of a prequel to Indiana Jones, really, and it caught him. He made it catch me, and then we kind of followed it for years, ended up on the island trying to figure this great mystery out for ourselves, and now we’re up to our eyeballs in it. That’s a quick synopsis.

Yeah, hey, I love that. I’ll take it. Now, I’m curious, so 12 seasons in, right? And you guys have been kind of going back and exploring more. What keeps you going back and wanting to find more, discover more with it, if you will?

Well, I think you’re, at some point, you’re dialed in on something and you hate to give up, right? It’s like, you know, do you only play three quarters of a football game? No, you gotta get the ball across the goal line, and that’s really what we’re trying to do. You know, it’s, as I already said, it is indeed a world-class mystery and a world-class treasure hunt, and it’s a crazy one because every treasure hunt in the world, people know what they’re going after. We don’t know that, and that in and of itself is compelling. I want answers, I think we all do. The whole team, the “fellowship of the dig,” we all want answers. We all want to figure this thing out. There’s only one way to do it: you keep going and you find the answers yourself, right?

And that’s what you guys are aiming to do. So, 12 seasons, like I said, what makes this season different? Maybe what’s the little tease you can provide?

I’ll give you that, and it goes like this: We have found lots of stuff all around the surface of Oak Island that makes us believe that it’s a compelling and complex mystery and it goes back hundreds of years. This year, we found those same things, or things like that, deep underground that makes us absolutely believe that the whole concept—that something happened well before 1795—if you can imagine, people were deep underground. And that, coupled with the continuing presence of precious metals in the water, makes us believe we’re closer than ever.

Yeah, I love this, like real-life treasure hunt. Because, I don’t know if you guys are familiar or not, but there’s the Netflix show Outer Banks, where you’ve got these teens that are, you know, whatever, on screen trying to look for this treasure and it’s all fictional, of course. But it’s exciting and fun to know that there are people out there that are searching for this in real life, you know, that are really doing this. And you guys are doing the work that a lot of people maybe will never get to do. You know, so with that, I’m curious, maybe what’s the craziest thing that you’ve discovered or learned, maybe even learned about yourselves in the process of doing this for, you know, now 12 seasons?

I think there, one, the real treasure-hunting aspect. I mean, I’ve said it before: Gary Drton finding the cross that we had seen in the Templar prison in Dome, France, really brought home the fact that this mystery could encompass a timeline and people from Europe—that basically denies what we have come to believe as conventional wisdom, i.e. that Columbus discovered North America. You know, so there’s that potential. Certainly. And, you know, the other thing is that it’s important that each of us in our lives, we never lose the little child inside of us, and that’s kind of what this is about, right? You’re chasing a buried treasure. You know, if that can’t touch you in some way, shape, or form, then you need to get in touch with that little child inside of you again because it’s important for all of us to do that. It’ll, it’s what will keep you young.

Yeah, I’ve always loved that idea.

Good.

Even though we are old.

I was just going to say. But when you look in the mirror, Rick, that little child is getting more and more hidden, isn’t it?

Well, yeah, but you know, that little boy is still inside.

Yeah, I agree, and it’s, and it’s, it’s important.

Yeah, no, it is important. I’ve always said that. I think looking at the world with a childlike wonder is kind of the best way to look at it, right? Because your imagination and your creativity is never as good as when you’re a kid, so I love that aspect of it.

All right, gentlemen, any just kind of final takeaway that, you know, obviously you guys are on the hunt for it, and people are kind of coming along with you on the journey, watching the show, but anything that you kind of hope they’re taking away from or getting out of watching you guys kind of take on this adventure?

Well, I hope they’re enjoying it. I hope they’re sharing the adventure with us. And then the slight take from a slightly different angle is that we are very appreciative of the fans. I’ve never been involved in anything where you have so many people rooting for you, and just about nobody who’s not rooting for you. And it’s really important to us. When we get discouraged, the fans matter. They keep us going at times. So, I guess I’d like to inject that.

Yeah, I love that. Thinking the fans say they’ve gotten you here, right? So it’s been a long, kind of successful 12 seasons, if you will. So, gentlemen, thank you so much for taking the time to see Meet The Curse of Oak Island. It returns to the History Channel on November the 12th, so tune in, season 12, lots more to discover and lots more adventure. Guys, thank you!