16x02 - Evolve or Die

[bunniefuu]

Evolution is as vital to
miners as it is to every species.

Over a century ago, the
first form of gold seekers

brought their primitive
methods to the nome shores.

And while today's fleet has
advanced far beyond their forefathers,

if they don't
continue to evolve,

they'll be left out in the cold.

And on the icy Bering sea...

There's a storm coming up,

but, you know, I got to
make money before that,

you know, because
it's pretty much

gonna be for a while, you know.

Ain't no around today.

Into the face of adversity,

a young g*n's looking for an edge
to rise to the top of the gold chain.

This winter is all about letting

the mining community know
that there's a new force in town.

I've always got to be
thinking outside the box.

I need to use every edge
that I can because I'm aiming

for a hundred-ounce season,
and that's a Mr. Gold number.

I'm gonna prove that I'm as good
as Mr. Gold or anyone in this fleet,

and I want no storm
to slow me down.

Push it in there.

So I got a two-pronged
plan to help me

stay ahead of the game
before the storm hits.

First, I'm gonna send
Yukon John down

and finish up the
rest of this hole.

The guy is a k*ller.
Total nome og.

I just want to make sure
what happened last summer

didn't mess up his confidence.

A strong diver will
fix that in a hurry.

Hey, Freddie.

Game time.

And I'm also gonna break
out some new technology.

I have this cool
underwater drone

that will help me
scope out the sea floor.

I want to find some new ground
to crush after the storm passes.

A lot of old-time miners shy
away from the new technology,

but I think this is
the key to progress.

I'm gonna send you
the drone down there.

Let us know what
you think from there.

Mic check. Mic check.

Loud and clear.

Diver down, baby.
John is my gold dog.

I sent him down there
and he gets it like a dog

looking for his bone.

We'll go idle up.

Hey, John. How's it going?

It's going pretty good.

Right on. Right
on. Okay. Got it.

Whoo!

- My diver's happy...
- Everything's running smooth.

We'll get it. No matter
how hard it is, we'll get it.

As the youngest miner in
the fleet forges a new path...

Nobody throw, cigarette
butts in the tailings,

'cause they film it and
make us look like White Tr*sh.

Good morning!

Today we're starting
off, we're kicking a*s.

The plan is simple.

I need a third of an
ounce of gold an hour,

and I need less than
a foot of overburden

for my crawler to work properly.

After a disastrous summer,

kris Kelly is looking to
evolve his winter operation,

if he can just get
out of his own way.

We're gonna get
Andy in the water,

just because he doesn't
trust my prospecting skills,

even though I'm always right.

So it's gonna be
an exciting day.

Summer was junk.

We need to absolutely
crush it this winter.

We're aiming for 50 ounces
and I've got just the ticket

to upgrade reaper
nation and pull it off.

Tomorrow at 2:00 P.M.,
my crawler gets here.

I am so pumped.
I've been waiting for it.

My secret weapon is
an underwater crawler.

Basically, it's like a vacuum
cleaner on the ocean floor.

A robot vacuum cleaner.

It's strong, powerful,
should be able to move

small rocks the size of a truck.

No more diving, just
the robot getting our gold.

That's how we'll separate ourselves from
everyone else and reach the next level.

So today, we've got to
find a good pay streak

with flat ground and
not a lot of overburden.

Then we'll dominate
when the crawler gets here.

We're getting our sluice box in

I'm getting Andy to
reserve his energy.

We're good to go.

He's gonna get down there
and make our money today.

I'm expecting more gold and lots
of work. So I expanded my team.

I added Daniel and Andrew,
and they're both rookies.

So there's a lot of work to
do to get them up to speed.

The foot valves and the
high-pressure line's next.

- Come on, Andrew, get in there.
- Let's do this.

Andrew, in particular, he
has the reaction time of a sloth.

Okay. Let's do that right
now. Let's do that right now.

Look, we don't need a sloth.

Getting everything set up,
it's a little slow in the beginning.

We're like a pit crew.

Every single day we
do it, we'll get faster.

Got it.

We're ready to go.

Water is flowing,
everything's up and ready.

We're gonna start
making some money.

Yep. Ready to dive, get it done.

We really need less
than a foot of overburden

- from the crawler to making sure it works.
- I know.

And it would be nice if we run
better than a third of an ounce.

I'm not stopping at
a third of an ounce.

- Well, that's nothing, you know...
- Hey, I wanted...

If I get a third,

I want to keep going
and see if I can find better.

- Okay. Check, check.
- Yeah, I can hear you.

- Idle up.
- Okay.

Idle up, Gabe you
do it, do it slowly.

But I think it's cobble
with a little bit of sand.

Okay. Let me figure
out what's wrong.

Our engines are
idled all the way up.

But for some reason, Andy
has no suction under the water.

Now I have to put
my mechanic's hat on,

which has never
been my specialty.

We're good.

- You know how I fixed it?
- With one nail.

So here's kris, the
mechanic's solution.

I put a nail in the wall
and hung the fuel line on it,

so gravity will feed
the fuel to the engine.

This is not exactly the
revolutionary new operation

that I envisioned, but, man, I
can't wait till my crawler gets here.

- How's your suction?
- Good.

Well, thank god. I think I took
care of our problems up here,

and we're gonna
start running smoother.

It wasn't getting fuel at all.

Man, when you were just
giving me that little speech, dude,

I just found a crevice
that was full of gold.

Well, good job.

Found great gold.
I am so pumped.

Minor difficulties right now,
nothing big. Nothing I can't handle.

But everything's
fine. Everything's fine.

And at least we're
getting a lot of gold.

In nome, if you ain't
evolving, you ain't surviving.

And on the outskirts of town...

We got a big storm coming in.

Time is money.

Every hour you're not
running, that's another

hour you ain't making
an ounce of gold.

The king of nome is trying to adapt
to stay ahead of the competition.

I've never been this
excited about ice season.

Having the mini excavator
changed the whole game

you're almost,
even more efficient

in the winter than
in the summer.

Every season on the
Bering sea is different.

So my blueprint for mining
has always got to be changing.

This winter, I developed
a new approach.

I have the sherp now
that'll maximize my mobility

and give me access to new areas.

And I have an excavator.

The ultimate
tool for efficiency.

We'll be able to dig holes and
pivot faster than anybody else.

Yeah.

And this year, I'm aiming
at a big goal, 100 ounces.

But the biggest change of
all is the spot that I picked,

the east tract claim, not
where I'm used to mining,

but the drill hole, see, there's
an ancient channel of gold.

Trick is, it's deep, real deep.

You're 36 feet deep.

I mean, a lot of guys
won't go out that deep.

If something goes
wrong, you better figure out

what the hell you need
to do to get the hell

out of there and get
out of there quick.

Otherwise, you're done.

A lot of guys wouldn't take a
chance on ground this deep.

You get far away from the
dive hole, chance of the bends,

ground freezing up.

But I have to take the risk.

There's guys like Chris mccully

just waiting for me to slow
down so they can be the top dog.

I just can't stick to
what's comfortable.

I always have to
be pushing myself.

Yes, sir.

We're here, back in business.

We're on it.

Get that gold, Joe.

The second diver on the
hole, I'm gonna get suited up,

get down, try to
clean the hole up,

finish it up, it's 'cause we
got a snow storm coming.

Get down there and
pile up some gold.

He thinks he's ready.

We'll see when he
gets to the bottom.

That gold, it might
just shock him.

Sounds like he
can see the bottom.

That's good.

If he can see the
bottom, he'll see the gold.

Yeah.

There's some big
chunks of ice up above us.

Right at this particular
area, you can see the big,

huge chunks of ice coming down.

That's why we got the excavator.

He'll dig me a new hole
and pull me out if he has to.

But we ain't down here to Google at
the ice, we're here to make some money.

Yeah, go ahead. Throttle me up.

Dammit!

Pry bar in one hand and kind of pop
your way along as you're sucking it up.

Come on, baby.

Yeah. You got to bust
through the ground

and kind of tear it
down layer by layer.

A lot of potential in it.

Come on, baby.

We got it.

Kind of fan it a little bit.

You should be able to
see the gold on top of here.

Yeah. Look at there.

A piece there, a piece
there, a piece there.

We can just get this
stuff going up the nozzle.

We're gonna make
some money, honey.

Booyah!

You see gold, just keep
on digging, keep digging.

Got to keep digging.

As the mining veteran
keeps changing up his game,

across the ice...

All right.

Let's go. Let's go.

Steve and I got out here early.

You can get the ice off here.

Waiting on Jeff and Eddie.

I like to call them Jeff... What do I
call them? Jeffeddie, like confetti.

Jeffeddie.

With Emily and homer
about to deliver her baby,

rookie Jane kilcher is
just beginning her evolution

into an ice miner.

No matter how many times I do
this, it's just... It's never-ending.

Really nice to be able to
have all the light possible.

This is for light, to get
the light down there.

You want the light
down to the bottom.

Water's fine. Come on in.

Yeah.

I'm starting from scratch
when it comes to ice mining.

And it's pretty stressful
'cause I've never done it before,

so this is a big
transformation for me out here.

Very excited, but I'm
definitely feeling the pressure,

because not only is this
my first time ice mining,

but I'm expected to be
like "captain" Jane as well.

I've got to come through
for Emily 'cause nobody

wants to get a pregnant woman
worried more than they need to.

It's not pretty.

We're pretty excited.
We're doing real well.

The crew is getting
along. We're well fed.

- Jane's a hoot to work with.
- Whoo!

Everyone's doing really well.

Here come the boys.

Hey, guys.

We cleaned your hole.

Today, we're gonna
get Jeff under the ice,

which is totally
crazy to begin with.

And hopefully, today
we get some gold.

'Cause with the storm
that's coming, today might

be our only day for getting
gold, like, for a while.

Jeff's gonna drop down first.
We're ready to just get gold.

Thank you.

If the word 'pull' ever comes
up on the comms, start pulling.

That's it. Somebody needs to
leave the shack and start pulling.

When it's 'pull' or
'air' or 'I'm frozen' or...

- 'Get me up.'
- You know... - yeah. - 'Help.'

when the regulator
freezes, it freezes.

There's no, like, it's

- I'm coming out of the water.
- Okay.

- So...
- I hear ya.

- Okay, all right.
- So, here we go. Let's...

There it is.

Eureka! It's really gushing.

All right.

- Yeah, do you hear me?
- Yeah. Getting you loud and clear.

Wow, loud.

That's what we're here for.

You're at 120.

Thank you, Jane.

Whoo!

He's on the bottom.

That's awesome.

Copy that.

Whoo!

Man.

I'm gonna text Emily
and let her know.

What are you on?

I'm on really good gold.

So packed full of gold?

For the first time this winter,

the Kellys may finally have
the building blocks for success...

Well, good job.

Or maybe not.

Sorry, buddy. We're having
engine problems again.

That sucks.

It's running like a sack of.

The problem is, they've
been running the engine

with the choke on for two days.

Everything just
went to real fast.

So the guys have been
leaving the choke on.

That's not good.

Guess who? Everybody
out there knows,

not putting the choke
back in will ruin your engine

if you run it at high speeds.

It can fry it fast.

Hey look. We're lighting

everything on fire in there.

That right there was
wrapped around like a circle

around the foot valves
and the extension cord.

So everything's
touching it and melting it.

So we're literally gonna
light everything on fire today.

While inspecting the
engines, I also noticed that

someone coiled the exhaust line,

and everything is heating up.

Trust me, I know what
a fire hazard looks like.

We just lost our entire
winter mining operation.

Now we're down an engine.

And so, basically, our
suction power will suck.

Sorry, one of our
engines are up.

I figured out what
the problem was.

I got a bunch of idiots

constantly surrounding
me at all times.

So we were running it yesterday

with the choke on
and ruining our engine.

'Cause everything's
falling apart in there.

The exhausters are
burning everything.

How's your suction down
there with just one engine?

Hey, do you want
to call it a day?

Break down everything,
fix everything again?

We can point fingers
and guess all day long,

but someone left that
throttle open since yesterday.

And now it's time for a
game I like to call "who me?"

It could have been Andrew.

It could have been Daniel.

Let's not forget
about my brother,

and last but not least,
turtle, who set up my engine

and who's not here today.

So who's the pos that did this?

Were you running
the engine yesterday

with that throttle not off?

- Who said that? Turtle?
- Turtle.

Yeah.

It was turtle.

Turtle!

This is the second
day of mining.

These are all the
problems that, you know,

at the beginning of the season,

even though these
are dumb problems.

Dumb problems.

Okay, well, let's pack
up and get the out of here.

I've had enough for today.

Saw a nice amount of gold,

I can't even touch it.

That was a bust to me.

Nothing pisses me off more than

looking at the gold and
knowing I can't touch it.

That's the worst part.

While the Kellys
face more problems...

Across the ice...

Hey, John.

How you doing with the gs?

Woohoo!

John is the gold dog in
this operation right now.

Chris mccully's
operation is blossoming,

as his gold dog has
logged four hours of bite

under the ice.

All right, John.

I'm gonna send you
the drone down there.

I'll give it instructions.

That sounds good.

John is k*lling it.

The gold is flowing nonstop.

The storm is coming in
fast, so it's time to unleash

my other gold dog.

It's the missing link,
the underwater drone.

It's like an animal
out in the wild,

always searching
for that next meal.

The same thing as me.

So this drone is really sick.

I can just send it down there

and move it around the sea floor

and I can easily
find new ground.

And it's way faster than
sending a diver down there.

If I'm gonna end
up on top this winter,

I've got to keep looking
for this kind of edge.

This is the baddest,
the greatest,

the latest prospecting tool.

All right. We're gonna go down.

I'm gonna start descending.

Okay.

Now I'm slowly approaching John.

- Yeah.
- I can see his umbilical.

Hey, John. Come on.

I'll let you grab
the rov and then...

All right. Okay. Here
we go. Approaching.

All right. I got it.

All right. Go ahead. Yep.

Keep it level.

I'm gonna take...

It looks like it is facing
towards north east.

Okay. You can let go of
the drone and then I'll go...

We'll go ahead
and scout that area.

There you go.

Yeah!

Wow.

Yeah. So look at this.

This is real promising area.

I like this ground because it
goes uphill and then it goes.

I think we're gonna...
We're gonna make

our next hole over here, dude.

I had a great
feeling about this.

I'm locked into the
position right now.

I... I know exactly where it is.

John, it's been four hours.

I'm ready to get out here before
the storm comes in, you know.

So, come up
whenever you're ready.

Yeah.

So this storm is about
to hit, but John k*lled it.

He was on the
gold the whole time

and the drone found
some new ground

and I can't wait to
dive on it next time.

This is my plan for the season.

I'm just gonna keep
producing and producing

and always stay one step ahead.

I did my due diligence.

So now you have ground
for the next hole, really.

So.

I'm ready to get out of here.

We're done we're finished.

Finito.

Yeah.

Little by little.

Booyah!

Mr. Gold's rolling with

every punch mother
nature throws,

determined to crack
through a frozen pay streak

before the storm hits nome.

Yeah. Look at there.

Yeah, it is.

There's definitely gonna be
some good gold in the box.

Big storm coming in, so I
better come on up, honey.

Whoo!

Yeah.

That wasn't easy.

The water at this
depth is so cold,

it freezes the bottom rock hard.

Had to chip away
at it for hours.

Good thing is, I cleared out
the hole before the storm hit,

and I think it's gonna be huge.

Yeah, it's beautiful.

That's a wrap.

Way too good.

Five miles east...

How are you doing down there?

Are you talking about
the air or your hair?

That's at 110. Your hair...

As the storm
creeps a 'hair' closer,

Jane's knee deep
in the earliest stage

of her ice-mining career.

Just coming up on three hours.

How's the view?

All right. What do
you need me to do?

All right.

Nope, one more time.

Eddie, he said one more time.

Give it a couple seconds.

Okay, I'll tell them.

Hey.

Cut. You can't... Killin' it.

We're done.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm
not really sure what happened,

but Jeff wanted to call it.

Something stuck in
one of these blue pipes,

and tore out the full power.

We have to fix that.

So we're having a great day
and we're doing really well,

but then now, something's
totally freaky with the hose

and we're having no suction.

So we're shutting
down for the day

and we're gonna figure
out, like, what is the problem?

Not the way I wanted
things to go on our first dive.

Yeah.

Okay. So...

When we were building it,
had a buddy of mine helping,

and we mysteriously
lost a tape measure.

But we found it.

Today is the day.

Obviously, you know,
we had a little plug.

And I'm coming up
trying to figure out

where this plug is,
and long story short,

there's a tape measure
in a four-inch pipe.

- It's literally...
- Yeah.

- Sideways in the venturi.
- Yeah.

Taking about 70%
of the power easily.

- My gosh.
- Yeah.

- Easy, easy.
- Yeah.

Well, you know,
surgeons leave scissors

sometimes inside your body
and then they stitch you up

and then you've
got a pair of scissors.

Well, in this case,
it's a tape measure

that's in our jet.

First day of my
ice-mining experience

and the good news
is we found gold.

Bad news is we had to
shut down for the day.

It was kind of a gong show, so
I definitely have room to grow.

I'm definitely gonna
tell Emily about the gold.

I'm definitely not
going to tell Emily

about the tape measure.

Somebody grab the tape measure?

I haven't seen it.

- Yeah!
- Yeah.

So right here, we have the
pimpmobile, John's pimpmobile.

John always
rides with a flat tire.

He, he said it adds traction.

Manual deflation tire.

So, every... Every
night, after he dives,

he has to pump his... He has
to pump his tire every night.

One night, he, he
was pumping his tire

and his 12-volt
pump caught on fire...

And he had to walk home.

So I was like,"
happens, I guess."

John's pimpmobile.

The storm has arrived,

and although it's wiped
out all life on the ice,

two miners manage to thrive.

And in nome...

So freaking heavy, dude.

The fleet's young
g*n is looking for proof

that he's got the
momentum to reach the top.

Yeah.

Looking good so far.

Lumps of gold right there.

On the Bering sea, you've
always got to be adapting.

We knew the storm was coming
and that we needed to clear out

this hole fast and, you know,
find a new one simultaneously.

We did that.

Now, I just want to see a
strong number on that scale.

All right, we're ready.
We're ready to weigh it out.

Yeah, we're gonna go by grams.

- Okay, here we go.
- Got it.

We got 40, 60, 100, 200.









So that translates
into 442 grams

divided by 31.1 Troy ounces.

We got 14 ounces.

Whoo!

Fourteen ounces is
worth over $26,000.

Evidence that Chris's
blueprint for growth has legs.

This is a good start for us.

My crew is happy.

Olson and John is really happy.

I could not be more
excited the way

this winter's been going.

I don't know where Shawn's
season's at right now,

but I think he'll
be hard-pressed

to have this much gold.

We're just gonna keep
crushing anything in our path

for the rest of the season.

Tomorrow is a new day.
We're gonna go back again.

We're gonna keep
mining, but right now,

we're ahead of the game, baby.

We're ahead of the game,
kicking a*s, you know.

Chris grows stronger by the day.

But across town...

What have we got here?

Nice, big, fat clean-up.

That's what we're looking for.

Shawn's new strategy

also looks to be
reaping dividends.

Get that gold, Joe.

I was seeing gold the
whole time I was down,

but it was frozen.
Really hard to move.

Need to hit the jackpot
before the storm hit.

By the looks
of it, we k*lled it.

Feels good.

Feels nice, a handful of gold.

Now it's time to
put it on the scale.

Let's see a big number.

Baby.

That's a nice
pile of gold there.

Yeah.

It's looking good.

Ooh.

Let's see what we got here.

What are you thinking?

Over 20, that's for sure.

Five, ten, 15.

Come on.











Heck, yeah.

That will put a
smile on your face.


worth over $53,000.

And the frozen pay
streak proved to be red hot.

This is beautiful.

It looks like a big
pile of cash to me.

Yeah. Yes, indeed.

Off the bottom of the
ocean floor, in the pan,

it'll be in the bank
here pretty soon.

Yeah.

Well, the moral of the story is,

no matter how many
years you've been mining,

no matter how
successful you are,

you always have
to keep learning,

growing and improving,
and you can't ever quit.

That's the only
way to stay on top

and to keep everybody that's
chasing you at a distance.

I think we can fill it up
if we hit the right spot.

Keep moving at pace.

Get back out there and get it.

Mr. Gold still atop
the gold chain,

but young g*n, Chris
mccully, is quickly growing

into a threat.

Next time on Bering sea gold...

There's a snow machine
race called the nome-golovin.

Yeah.

All right. Go on in.

Heck yeah, baby.

Sweet, I'm gonna suit up

and then I'll send
you down, Nate.

We're supposed to go down
to the ice for the first time today.

I'm expecting Daniel and
Andrew to get down there.

Hey, you're not supposed
to swallow the gasoline.

Come up.

All right, this is the spot.

This is very bad.

Very bad. Very bad.