12x21 - Winter Take All

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Now, on the season
finale of "bering sea gold"...

♪♪

...All winter...

The ice is so thin.
It could go any minute.

This is freaking me out.

Narrator: ...The miners have
waged w*r with thin, unstable ice.

Pull him in! Pull him in!

Bring him up. Bring him up now.

The air compressor's off.

Come... Up... Now.

♪♪

The end is near.

Narrator:
But now they're out of time.

Shawn: The ice going to go out.

Today, we need to be fast.
We need to be smooth.

We need to get it done quick.

A lot of water
on top of the ice.

Time to get
the hell out of here.

The ice is rotten,
too damn warm.

There's a good chance we're
going to lose all our gear.

Narrator: Rising temperatures
are bringing a rapid end

To the already fragile ice.

Emily: You guys ready?

Now it's just a matter
of scrambling.

I don't really care.

We're going to make it
no matter what.

Man: Come on!

Narrator: It all...

- ...Comes down...
- Suck it up while you can.

- ...To this.
- 3... 2... 1.

Man: Forecast for nome and
coastal areas... mostly sunny,

A warm front will push highs
to mid-30s

With sustained temperatures
above freezing.

Possible scattered showers
this evening.

Narrator: The final hours of the
ice mining season have arrived.

At the start of winter,
the fleet faced off

With the thinnest ice
they've ever encountered,

Ice that barely survived
as the weeks went on.

And now with mother nature
bearing down,

It doesn't stand a chance.

A warm front is headed
for nome with temperatures

That will soften
the already thinning ice

To a deadly pile
of unworkable slush.

And as the shelf disintegrates,

The miners must
pull their final ounces

And get to solid ground
before the ice

And their dreams melt away.

This is it... last dive
before pull off the ice,

A lot of water on top
of the ice.

Getting really warm.

The end is near.

Narrator:
Mr. Gold, shawn pomrenke,

Readies for what will surely be
his final dive of winter.

Oh, god.
That's a [bleep] hole there.

It's not really ice
mining anymore,

It's more like slush diving.

This is when
it gets really crazy.

The equipment, the wet snow,
it's all weighing on the ice

It could sink into the water
at any time.

♪♪

Narrator:
Still short on the ounces needed

To secure down payment
on the tomcod claim,

Shawn's future is on the line,

And today's dive
is all he's got.

♪♪

Let's get down there
and mop up this last hole

And get out of here.

Yeah!

With the ice this thin,
this is definitely going to be

The last dive of the season.

I need one last big haul to get
what I need to buy the tomcod.

So, I'm going to push as long as
I can until I get it.

Get it, buddy.

♪♪

Be honest with you,
we should have been off the ice

A couple of days ago.

One good north wind, and all
this slushy ice will be gone.

There's still a ton of gold
on this spot.

There's no way we're going
to leave it behind.

Thank you.

♪♪

♪♪

You're good on here.
Alright, shawn.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

So, how's it going
down there, shawn?

Seeing gold.

Yeah, there's good gold on it.

Hell, yeah. Wonderful.

We need every bit
of it we can get.

Ran into a pack
of great big boulders,

Like 10 of them spaced out.

Really good gold just filling
the space between them.

Shawn: The gold's so good
down here.

Now we just got to suck it up
before this ice goes.

Shawn: Tomcod!

♪♪

Narrator: 15 miles east...

Kris: Come on. Let's go.

They got all hands on deck.
The ice is going to go out.

We got to really
push hard today.

I'm not that far away
from my goal,

So we got to make it happen
one way or another today.

Narrator: ...In the face
of surging temperatures,

It's time for dr. Kris kelly
to unveil his creation...

A makeshift operation composed
of second-hand parts and scraps

That are now the kellys
last shot for the season.

It's always a struggle,
every day is a struggle.

I don't really care.

We're going to make this
no matter.

Our season took a nosedive
and literally went up in flames.

Get away!

[bleep]

But we're going to rise
from this like a phoenix,

So we scrounged a pump engine...

An air compressor...

An umbilical.

So, we're going to be
a frankenstein-style operation

For whatever we need
to make this work

Is what we're going to do.

With the ice about to collapse,
it doesn't need to be pretty,

It just needs to work.

The ice is rotting.
It's going to be dangerous.

We're going to take that risk.

That's good. We're good.

It's going to happen
one way or another.

Narrator: Kris hopes
his hodgepodge contraption

Will hang together
just long enough

To get the ounces needed

To rent the boat of his dreams
and explore the coast.

Yeah!

Got it.

We put everything together,
and it's working! It's alive!

It's alive! Well,
it's alive for right now.

But do I trust it
to keep running?

For right now, it's working.
Who needs a damn shed?

I just got to move fast right
now before the ice breaks up,

But before everything
shuts down.

♪♪

Narrator: With an early
departure of chris's protégé,

Shaunna echohawk,
the kellys will be under the g*n

With a skeleton dive team

Going down first,
andy's going down second,

And hopefully everything
works out good.

We always pull it off.
No fire is going to stop us.

We never failed, we just had
a little stumble, you know?

So [bleep] on fire. That's
no big deal in the kelly world.

You know, we just get new stuff.

You think this is first time
we've ever had a fire?

Sadly, no. [ chuckles ]

Best-case scenario,

The equipment
last more than a couple hours,

I get down there, I find some
fresh gold, and I save the day.

Worst-case scenario, we weaken
the ice after that inferno,

Everything starts
breaking up above us,

And I get pinned
underneath the ice, and I die.

I don't want to die.
Let's just put it that way.

Good?

Okay.

Kris is down.
Going to make good money.

♪♪

How's everything going
down there, kris?

Kris: Good so far.

Good job. Be careful.

We got good suction.

♪♪

♪♪

You seeing good gold?

We're on gold!

Good job, kris.

It's not good gold,
but it's okay.

We're on gold.
That's all that matters.

Yeah, that's all that matters,

Is that you put
this junk back together.

We're passing gold, baby.

The average person would come
out and see what we're seeing...

Junk everywhere, dude.

Man: Yeah, well, it works,
doesn't it?

Could be in 50 different pieces.

If it works, who gives a [bleep]

We're getting close
to the edge of our hole

With the gold getting better.

We stay on track,
we'll have 50 ounces.

Good job, kris.

I told everybody
this is gonna work!

♪♪

Narrator: Coming up...

It's over, guys.
The ice is rotten.

We stay out here
any longer, it's a good chance

We're going to lose
all our gear.

Now it's just a matter
of scrambling.

We're going to go! Whoo!

Narrator: Nome is bracing
for a warm front.

Once the above-freezing
temperatures hit,

The thinning ice
will be unable to survive.

It will crumble
into the bering sea.

So, as the final moments
of winter bear

Down on the fleet,
captains must decide.

What is their breaking point?

♪♪

Emily: You guys ready?

♪♪

Out here on super shallow ice.

We're about to dive
in the water.

Everything's running.
Everything's good.

But this whole ice season has
been a big question mark

On when the ice
is finally going to go out.

Now it's just a matter
of scrambling.

Narrator: ...Emily riedel's
rolling the dice

On what may be the thinnest ice
of any claim on the bering sea.

Emily:
Temperatures are going up.

Not too long ago,


The ice never really solidified

In the way
that I would have wanted.

Once the ice starts to go,
you know,

It's going to go fast.

You guys suiting up?

Hopefully that sexy gold
we found to the east

Over there is going
to continue on its way.

We'll find out in a minute.

Narrator: Emily's still shy of
the funds needed to launch

Her upgraded summer fleet,
so with time running out,

She's looking to reconnect
with the pay streak

She was writing before the great
storm forced her off the ice.

♪♪

Here we go. Five star, right.

Yeah. So, hopefully, there's
lots of gold down there.

Emily:
The ice is unstable as it is.

We can't afford
to move right now,

So we just have to take
whatever gold down there is left

And get out.

Mic check. Mic check.

Got you loud and clear.

Yeah, we're good to go.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

What's the bottom like?

Definitely at the end
of a sand cobble line.

Alright, poke away, brother.

♪♪

We're more or less
in the same spot,

But, you know,
he's working on his first hole,

And he'll have a better
assessment here pretty quick.

That's not what I wanted
to hear.

We might be to the end of that
good [bleep] we were on.

Yeah.

We're just not
really getting on it.

And with the ice as thin
as it is,

I'm not feeling great about
having the operation out here.

Mother, bering sea, like they're
telling us to get out of here.

Yeah, let me know if it heats
back up, dude.

Yeah.

♪♪

Narrator: As the warm front
begins to wash over nome...

Temperatures continue to rise.

♪♪

But on the ice...

♪♪

Hey, I have good news.

What's that?

That is good news. Great, man!

Narrator: ...The kellys
are staying hot, too.

This pot is rich.
We're getting it good here.

Keep going. You're going good.

Narrator:
And their ragtag operation
is still holding together...

At least for now.

♪♪

I'm tired.

Kris, you've been down
for four hours. Come on up now.

Yeah, okay.

Okay, you did a good job
today, kris.

Let's put andy down for a while.

I'm coming up! Okay, come up.

♪♪

♪♪

That's our goal the whole time.

I think the gold's
actually getting

A little bit better, too.

We're still getting gold.

I don't really care.
Get ready. Get going.

Let's make it happen. Come on.

Toss it up.

Even though our frankenstein
operation is not

The prettiest to look at,

It's still running,
and we're still making gold.

My favorite time of the day...

Trying to get andy
into in this [bleep] thing.

Yeah, I know. It's my favorite
time of the day, too.

Now I just have to get
my brother in the water.

We only need seven ounces,

So he's got
to get the hell in there.

♪♪

You got to put this on fast.

♪♪

Okay, good.

Okay, be careful.

♪♪

Hey, look! We got him down!

You okay?
Andy: Yeah, just hold on.

♪♪

Get all the gold
you can get, buddy.

Thank god we got him
in the water.

♪♪

Do or die time. We're just going
to [bleep] get it done,

You know? No matter what,
this is our final push.

♪♪

Gold's getting better.

Alright! It's going good.
Everything's going good.

So, mining on the ice
without a shed is kind of like

Driving your car
without doors on it.

If someone drives by right now
and sees us out here

Mining without a shed, they're
going to think we're crazy,

But I don't really care
what they think.

As long as I'm getting gold,
that's all I care about.

I don't care
what people think about me

Or I wouldn't be working
with my dad

And brothers still.

Diver down, andy's making gold,
everything works.

♪♪

Narrator: While the kellys
keep the gold flowing...

♪♪

...Three miles west...

♪♪

What's it look like, jefe?

Narrator: ...Emily riedel's team
is still coming up empty.

Well, that's not good, jefe.

Jeff: No. No. Not at all.

♪♪

What's up?

This isn't really working out
down here.

Yeah, I'm not really feeling it.

Roger that. See you at the top.

♪♪

♪♪

That pay streak has run out,

And we're just not
finding anything down there,

So there's not enough time
to move the operation,

And we're out of good ground.

The bering sea is saying
it's time to go.

So, maybe it's time to call it.

I mean, obviously,
I put in quite a few hours

Down there with all these holes.

♪♪

Well, what do you want to do?

I don't know.

♪♪

We could
wrap your dive up, jeff,

And start moving this stuff
before it gets dark.

But definitely wanted to get
a more productive day going.

We're not really where we want
to be for summer,

But if I give up now,

This will be another failed
ice mining season for me,

And I'm not willing
to let that happen.

So, I'm going to think
of something to do

To save this ice season.

♪♪

[bleep] want to check it out?

I'll give it a shot.
That's my job.

Yeah, you got that extension
down there,

If you just want to hop down,
connect the hose,

And just take it out.

Sweet.

The only thing I can think to do

Is add another hose extension on

And try to reach ground that we
haven't been able to access.

Under the current
ice conditions,

Putting a hose extension on

And sending grant down
after some gold is risky,

But the thought
of getting more gold

Is just too tempting to resist.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

You get that extension on?

Yeah, I got the extension on.

♪♪

Emily: Do you see
where jeff left off?

Go check it out, maybe there's a
ton of gold right there.

Roger that.

- Oh, nice, we're back in it then.
- Yeah, we're back in.

Yes! Whoo!

You seeing some nice chunky gold
at the end of that nozzle?

Whoo. Well, keep sucking it up!

Emily:
A lot of heartbreak this season.

But we took a risk,
it's risky being out here,

But we're finally seeing
some gold, so it's worth it.

You know, sometimes you got
to just kind of play with fire

A little bit
to make some gold in the box.

Thanks for getting us
on the gold.

I'm gonna guess [bleep] awesome
end for this season.

- Yeah.
- Whoo-hoo!

Yeah! [ laughs ]

Narrator: Coming up...

That's the air compressor
surging.

- Breath.
- Air.

It's raining out, all our
air filters are wet.

[ through re-breather ]
probably time to get
the hell out of here.

Looks so good I can't even.

Oh, [bleep] yeah.

♪♪

♪♪

How's it going, ace?
- It's going good.

- Yeah, it looks pretty good?
- Yep.

Says the material looks
real good.

That's good, just keep putting
the gold in the box.

- I am.
- Chris's creation is somehow

Still breathing as it sits
on top of the ice,

Exposed the elements.

And he's taking everything,
everything in his sight

Right now he's cleaning this
whole area out.

Narrator: And the team's taking
advantage of every second

The beast continues to survive.

- Hey, how's it going?
- It's going great.

I'm taking in a lot of size
like you told me to.

Gold's looking good.

I want to go farther out,
to see what else is there,

But I can't.
- No, just take what we can.

Let's just finish up today.

We'll do a gold clean out,
we'll see if we got enough gold.

At this point,
our time is getting more

And more limited.

And equipment's getting blasted
by the wind the whole day,

But every minute we work is a
couple more hundred dollars

In the box.

It's really hard to quit
when you know you're on gold.

[ motor knocking, sputtering ]

That one motor's running funny,
it's surging.

It's running it's surging
a little bit.

[ surging ]

I'm feeling something done
to the regulators,

Like every 10 or so breaths.

That's the air compressor
surging.

The air compressor's taking a
[bleep]

Brad: Ah, you're kidding me?

Hey, grab my umbilical. - Okay.

Kris: The air compressor is
starting to give us problems,

Andy needs that air compressor
to breathe underneath the water.

And usually my experience is,

Once one piece of equipment
starts having a problem.

The rest are going to follow.

Brad: This sucks.

♪♪

Kris:
I'm not taking any chances.
We are done for the year.

Kris: I'm proud of my family.

We came together, we got
all the equipment to work.

We made this work.
That's what we do.

Sure this is probably
just a pile of [bleep],

But it's our pile of [bleep]
a bad a*s

Gold getting pile of [bleep].

Hey, good job you k*lled it.

I think we got enough gold.
Let's just go, come on.

We're out of here.
That's it for the season.

It's time to go.

♪♪

Narrator: Three miles west.

♪♪

Emily:
Damn that ice is thin. Whoo.

That's going to go any minute.

Last dive, picked up
the trail of gold we left,

Which is awesome, but one good
north wind and this ice is gone.

Alright, yes.

[bleep] way to find some g.G.

What a great way
to end the season, man.

I'm tired, I'm tired.

Tired, but very happy about
all the gold we made today.

We took some risks by staying
out by adding the extension on,

But it paid off and think
we did pretty damn well.

I won't know until
the ounces are counted,

But I think we're pretty close
to reaching our goal.

Yeah. Let's roll out of here.
Start batten this down.

Narrator:
As emily heads for shore...

♪♪

♪♪

...Twelve miles west.

One miner has yet to
wave the white flag.

Tom: Yeah, seeing lots of gold.

Looking really good.

Narrator: Captain shawn pomrenke
started the day

Before the rest of the fleet.

Tom: We're on it, there we go.
Come on, baby.

Narrator:
And with tomcod on the line,

He's the last one
still in the water.

Yeah!

Tom: I'm liking it.

Muy bien.

[ thunder rumbles ]

♪♪

It's starting to rain.

♪♪

Tom: We have all those moisture
in the air

I keep freezing up.

It's actually starting to rain
pretty good out here.

We might want to get
things towed to shore.

Narrator:
While warm weather is an arch
enemy of rotting ice,

So as rain, as it pounds
away at the shelf,

Expediting the already rapid
melting process.

♪♪

Son of a b*tch.

Narrator: And rain presents
additional challenges

For ice divers crazy enough
to try to mine through it.

Tom: It's raining out, all our
air filters are wet,

Any air he's breathing is
freezing

Soon as it goes
through his umbilical,

Locking his regulator right up.

Regulator locked up,
he loses air, that's not...

Shawn:
But I'm hauling so good, I
can't [bleep] leave right here.

This is the kind of dive
you want to end on.

Nice-looking gold.

Hopefully we can tote the box
back, it's gonna be heavy.

Well, that was
a good four hours.

High time to get
the hell out of here.

You reckon we got enough
gold in the box?

Oh, I hope so. I hope so.

This last run
was pretty damn good.

- Ah, I'm coming up.
- Get aboard.

Boo-yah. That'll do just fine.

♪♪

Rather unsettling to have
your ice covered in water.

♪♪

That was a good last dive.

We got a good spot to
come back to.

Shawn: I'm exhausted.
I've worked every muscle

In my body, the long dives
like this can get risky.

Bering sea always tempts you
to stay out there longer,

But I know when enough's enough
and I'll live to tell the tale.

And that tale is going to end
with me owning the tom cut.

Tom: Box looks great.

Shawn: Time to get
the hell out of here.

Yeah, before the ocean
swallows our sluice box.

We're going to go ahead
and get our stuff off the ice

Before it blows away,

And we have to buy
all new equipment next year.

Oh, you're hooked on
the sled, josh.

[ engine revs ]

Can't wait to see
what the box looks like.

Yeah, let's go.

Narrator: Coming up...

This is probably the best
cleanup in ice mining

We've ever done in our lives.

There we just broke over 10.

Honestly, like my whole future
summer season

Depends on the outcome
of this cleanup.


it's raining gold.

[ tapping ]

I see people on social media
they're talking about, you know,

Vernon's out here beating his
head against a wall

And he's a dumb a*s because he
never gets any gold.

Well, you knuckleheads look
at the damn leader board.

Team wild ranger
has consistently been

At the top of the leader board

As far as diver operated
cyclone dredgers are concerned.

The one year we didn't was when
I had that phony-a*s little

Poor-a*s sub-dredge out here,
we didn't do good that year.

So just because I don't like
some kind of goofy girl

That just got goosed
in the school yard

And say, whoopie kai-yay
if I get a half an ounce of gold

In the box we're not after
a small amounts of gold.

You know, we're back
to the point now

Where we're done
with the learning curve.

We pretty much got
this crap figured out.

It all depends on the weather.

Every time it's been
stabbing cold this year.

Remind me of my ex-wife,
the cobra.

That's what they're doing
with the weather around here,

Like a crazy ex-wife who lives
in the house with you.

And won't leave.

You know, and every now and then

She'll nice enough, you know,
and but that...

How often does that happen, you
know?

You could tell them
vernon said that.

♪♪

Narrator:
Spring has come to nome.

As ice mining drips into
the rearview mirror,

Now for the fleet, there's one
last matter of business

To tend to.

After all the blood,
sweat, and tears,

Did they accomplish
what they came for?

♪♪

♪♪

Man: This is our last clean out
out of the season.

Kris:
I want to say I'm really happy

That we all came together
at the end.

I know we're fighting
a lot this season.

I know it's been
a lot of problems,

But we rebuild, we keep going,

And that's the way
you should do it.

Narrator: Captain kris brought
the family's operation

Back from the dead

For one last shot
at hitting their season goal.

Our frankenstein operation
was enough to get us back

On the gold
and get what we need.

We did what we came to do,
we just got to weigh the gold.

This is probably
the best cleanup in ice mining

We've ever done in our lives,
so glad we stuck it out.

I'm glad everything
worked together.

Here we go. There's over


Man: One.

Two, three...

We only need seven.
Remember that.

Five?

Six

There's our, there's our seven
ounces for fifty.

Eight.
There we just broke over 10.

There's 11.

Oh, come on baby 12. Come on 13.

Oh, we did real good
this time, man.



I thought we were going to get


- 13.3 that's real good.
- 13.3.

Give me some love, people.

Everybody stuck it out here,
together.

Narrator: 13.3 ounces,

Is worth over $21 thousand.

And the fighting kellys
end the season

Savoring
the sweet taste of success.

I'm so happy we made this work.
I wasn't leaving.

No, I'm a failure.
We made our goals.

We made over our goal.

You know, this is like the first
time we've ever hit a marker.

You know, this is going to be
like a trend in our life

From now on,
where everything we go,

We hit, we make it work
and we keep moving on.

Ice mining is always brutal,
but this winter

We face the toughest challenge
we've ever faced.

Now we can lease the boat and we
can start our real journey

Up the coast to elim.

If we can make it
through this winter,

We can make it through anything.

This right here. 13 ounces is
what not quitting does.

I know with a lot of extra work,
but we made it.

♪♪

Narrator: Across town...

♪♪

Emily: You guys, this is
our last clean up,

Last bit of gold for the ice
mining season of 2020.

Narrator: After years
of profitless ice seasons,

Emily: It's been a hard run,
I'm proud of us

For getting this far
like we k*lled it out there.

Narrator:
Emily riedel is hoping to

Finally break her
ice mining jinx.

Honestly, like my whole future
summer season

Depends on the outcome
of this cleanup,

Because I can't justify getting
in that second dredge

Going unless this is over 60,
honestly.

But we'll see.

One, two, three.

Eight.

Ten.

Hallelujah,
it's raining gold 14.



Point five.

Yeah! Hey!

Narrator: 16.5 ounces is worth
over $26 thousand,

And despite being nearly shut
out on the first half of winter,

Emily ends on her biggest haul
of the season and hits her goal.

I can officially call this
my first successful ice

Mining season. Mine, too.

Lucky number 7, man.

Seventh season's the charm, man.
Like we had a lot of failure

This year,
but it actually ended up

Being my best ice mining
season ever,

Including my hardest,
as it turns out.

Now, I have enough gold together
to get two dredges

Launched this summer.

It's awesome
about this clean up.

It's awesome to finally see
that ice mining.

But there's no rest
for the wicked

Because I got to start
getting ready for summer.

Start right away.
Boss is buying drinks tonight.

Narrator: Two miles west...

♪♪

Shawn: Final cleanup.

Narrator: After completing
his first ice mining season,

In nearly three years...

The ice season is never easy.

Will mr. Gold be able
to secure the down payment

For the valuable tomcod claim?

Looks like a good one,
we need 30 big chunky gold.

We're into something big here.

Look at that.

Seven, ten.
Third of the way there.

Two thirds of the way there.


There's 30 tomcod's mine.
Hell yeah.

We own the tomcod now.

Whoo!

What a hell of a season.

Narrator: 34.5 ounces
is worth over $55,000.

- Tomcod's mine.
- And captain shawn pomrenke

Is now the proud owner
of the tomcod claim.

Shawn: Set out with a goal,
we hit it.

Ice is never easy,
but this season we k*lled it.

Every ice mining season's
a grind,

But I pushed it to make sure
that at the end of this season,

I own the tomcod.

I got everything I wanted
this season and a little more.

But there's no rest
for the weary.

Summer's right
around the corner.

I've worked my whole life to get
to this moment.

Of owning a big claim like this.

I just set my family
up for life.

It's a really good feeling.

Narrator:
Mr. Gold lives up to his name,

Emily reaches her goal to fund
a summer expansion,

And the kellys may be
going on that trip

Up the coast after all.