02x11 - And No More Shall We Part

[bunniefuu]

My name is john patrick bunce.

I am 26 years old.

I work on the edge
with zeke and emily,

And I'm a diver.

Ever since zeke and I met
when we were young kids,

We've been really good friends.

Well, best friends, actually.

Tenhoff: I've known john
for about 18 years.

John's not just anyone.

He's like my brother.

Think we're gonna make
some money today.

When john is motivated
and clear-headed...

yeah!

...john works harder than
anyone I know.

John is a workaholic.

He is also an alcoholic.

Every day,
I'm apprehensive about john.

And I know that, like,
I'd never live with myself

If he were to die.

[ "Gold in these hills" plays ]

♪ Listen up close, now ♪

♪ What I say ♪

♪ I'm a-gonna head out west
one day ♪

♪ I heard about a fortune
to be made ♪

♪ And I'm a-gonna get it,
now, just you wait ♪

♪ 'Cause I heard
that there's gold ♪

♪ In these hills ♪

--Captions by vitac --
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪ Gold ♪

This morning,
I woke up and found out

That john,
my best friend, had died.

I had a dream about john
the night before.

John has decided to die...

And I'm trying
to talk him out of dying.

He is being really stubborn,
laying there on his death table.

So I'm trying
to talk him out of it, and...

[ Lighter clicks ]

...i don't.

John and I went out and had
a couple drinks at the bar,

And I left and went home.

And apparently john stayed at
the bar and kept drinking and...

He had
a serious drinking problem.

Later on that night,

Our friend went to go stay
with john at his apartment,

And john answered the door
with a loaded .44 magnum.

Shook all the rounds
out of the cartridge but one

And spun the cartridge
and put it to his head

And pulled the trigger,
and it didn't fire.

And so he pulled the hammer back
and pulled the trigger again

And shot himself
right in front of our friend.

And it's...

You know, it's tragic.

That's all there is --

Nobody can make any sense of it
because it was an act of --

A tragic act of alcoholism.

I don't know how to react.

I mean, john has been
the closest person to me,

You know, for almost 20 years.

I can hear him in my voice
when I talk

Because we grew up together.

I don't -- you know,
I don't like to laugh right now

Because my laugh
sounds like john's laugh.

He was a major source of joy
in my life.

But I'm not gonna take my grief
too seriously

Because john shot himself at
a very inconvenient time for us

And left us out in the cold
in the middle of the season.

And, you know,
it's not convenient

For me to grieve for john
right now.

And I think that he deserves

For me to be
a little angry at him.

John thinks he's done
gold dredging, but he's not.

I don't really know
what I mean by it, but...

He's not finished.
Can't get out that easy.

[ Seagull calls ]

Emily:
there's this tremendous,

Overwhelming feeling of loss.

It's this complete shock.

It's just, like,
we all saw him the night before.

Like, within a couple of hours,

They've taken his body
to anchorage.

And so,
it's just like he's disappeared.

He's just not...

He's just not there,
and he's dead, and he's gone,

And it's just so sudden
and so violent.

I don't think john intended
to end his life.

I think that he was
blackout drunk and was stupid,

And that was it.

That's it.

That's all it takes

Is just one moment of
having your brain,

Like, so destroyed by alcohol
that you just --

You don't give
a [bleep] anymore,

And you have a [bleep] weapon,
and that's it.

And then you end it.
That's what it was.

And we have to -- and now we're
the ones that have to suffer.

Narrator: tragedy has halted
zeke and emily's season.

But for the rest of the fleet...

Vernon: there comes a time

When you got to take care of
business.

Narrator: ...the pressure
to get on the gold

In these final dredging days
is greater than ever.

The hammer's coming down.

Things are starting to ice up.

It's just about over.

Steve p.: We need to get out
there and get going immediately,

So I'm hoping for the best.

Shawn: and the way
the weather's been going,

We better make every day count.

It's only a matter of time
before we say, "screw it."

Narrator: at the nome airport,

Zeke, emily,
and her father, steve,

Wait for
their flight to anchorage

For john bunce's funeral.

Tenhoff: especially under
these circumstances.

At the harbor...

The arrival of ice
signals another return.

Captain scott meisterheim.

Well, I just got back
from anchorage last night.

It's snowing.
Everything's frozen.

Narrator: scott's back
after a stint in rehab.

Meisterheim: bringing anchor
management up here this year

Hasn't been the experience
I thought it was gonna be.

Narrator:
so far this season...

[ Vomits ]

Allen:
nothing's going as planned.

Everything we do
turns into an episode.

Narrator:
...struggles with crew...

You don't do anything
on your own! You listen to me!

This is as hard
as I've ever been [bleep]

...debt...

I've got my investors on the
hill right now staring at me,

Up my a*s.

[Bleep]
his stupid a*s.

Narrator:
...and alcohol...

I already drank
a fifth of captain morgan, so...

[ Laughs ]

...push scott
to his breaking point.

Man: don't --

Don't touch me.

Maybe a little depression
has set in.

Maybe I just didn't give
a [bleep] there for a while.

Got a lot of money

That's got to be paid back
to a lot of people still,

And it's not happening,
you know?

Narrator:
now after missing

Weeks of dredging
while in rehab,

Scott's broke and needs gold

Just to survive
the coming winter.

Costs a lot of money
to live here daily.

And I'm broke.

But I'll be out there every day

Concentrating on the gold
and not the alcohol.

I can go without the booze.

I've done it before.

I don't have a crew left.

Everybody bailed,
which -- good enough.

Get out of my hair, anyway.
You weren't worth [bleep]

Narrator: to replace his crew...

...scott's hired
local diver joe dehring.

This dude looks straight out of
the [bleep] loony bin.

What's your shirt say?

Awesome.

You're number 26.
I'm number 27, brother.

How you doing?
[ Laughs ]

Guess we're gonna
get along fine, then, huh?

I think we are.
All right.

Let's go down here
and talk for a minute.

My plan is to hit it every time
mother nature lets us.

And if she's not letting us,
hit it anyway.

Like today.

Today's not good,
but I got to make some money.

I don't really give two [bleep]
about the weather right now.

I got to go out.

Good enough.
Let's get her done.

Meisterheim:
everything's frozen.

I want to run this heater

And make sure we're gonna get
some good hot water coming out.

Might have a little ice
in there.

For weeks,
the dredge has sat idle.

Now scott needs to thaw
its frozen lines...

[Bleep]

...before he can head out
and get gold.

[ Steam hissing ]

Steam bath.

Ha!

There goes the ice.

We'll be out of here.

Up the dock...

Yeah, hey, dan.
Vernon here.

...scott's rival,
vernon adkison,

Reaches out to a local diver.

What would be your eta?

All right.

Okay, well,
that's about as good as it gets.

Bye-bye.

That's dan autay.

If he knows
how to find the gold,

If he can see the gold,

I'm gonna give him
an opportunity

To replace steve
on the wild ranger.

Steve is not here.

It's freezing.

And he hasn't told anybody
when he's coming back.

[ Chuckles ]

I can't keep his slot open.

We got business to take care of.

We got a job to do.

dig deep. Make it happen.

Narrator:
for weeks, steve riedel's job

Has been hanging in the balance.

gold's really,
really hard to see.

i can't see it.

It's always fun
working around worms.

What does that mean?

It's a term we use for people

Who don't know anything about
what they're trying to do.

Bottom line is, it's produce
or find a new business address.

Narrator: now steve's absence
has created an opening

For a new diver
on the wild ranger.

Definitely feeling pressure.

We're clocking in at 40 ounces.

Got to make at least 100 ounces

To make this
even feasible to carry on.

You got it?

[ Laughs ]

Okay.

Dan the diver
is headed this way.

Is that him?

Yeah.

I know he's a hardcore diver,

And that's exactly
what we need on our team --

Somebody that's not afraid

Of getting down there
and getting after it.

Hey, dan.

How you doing, vernon?

All right, buddy.
How you doing?

Appreciate the call.

Yeah.
Well, welcome aboard.

[ Laughs ]

Looks like you came
well prepared. That's good.

Tear up
some ocean bottom.

Narrator: across the dock...

[ Crow caws ]

...the christine rose crew

Is trying to take advantage of
the last days of the season.

But they're stuck in the harbor.

One week ago...

I don't want daddy
to go to jail.

...after serving time
for a d.u.i...

He's gonna be in the big [bleep]
house with the big boys.

Oh, I'm gonna stick it out
till the bitter end.

... christine rose captain
shawn pomrenke

Returned to work...

Shawn:
the dredge is falling apart,

But we got a [bleep] ton
of gold in the box!

Whoo!

...with a vengeance.

Steve p.: We got right at


Now the christine rose needs
another 200 ounces of gold

To finally turn a profit
and pay the crew's season wages.

But a leak in the hull
threatens to sink the dredge.

You gonna get this fixed?

Shawn:
it's the end of the season,

And we need to make
all the gold we can.

It's october, and my guys
still don't have a paycheck.

Oh, this is so much fun.

I wish I could do this
every [bleep] day.

Looks like it might have rusted
out a little bit right here.

Cody!

Cody!

[Bleep]

Cody!

Coming in
faster than we can pump it out!

[Bleep] me.

[ Laughs ]

Cody! What are you doing?

Narrator:
on the christine rose...

It's coming in
faster than we can pump it out!

[Bleep] me.

Cody! What are you doing?

Narrator:
with a leak gushing water...

Deckhand cody moen
mixes marine putty

To block up the hole.

Shawn: I don't know
if this is gonna do it.

[Bleep] just pushing it out.

I can't get this to stick.

And actually hold it.

And then we can be in here
and get this sealed.

Narrator:
armed with welder and putty,

Shawn and cody need to attack
the leak from both sides.

I'm gonna get up there and try
to jam it up the hole

And get the water to stop

Just enough
for him to weld over it.

We'll see how it goes.
We've never done this before.

We're sh**ting blind, here.

I won't be able to see anything,

So I'm gonna have to try to
scale my way.

And when I'm holding
that putty up there

And I'm touching that metal,

I don't know
if I can get shocked or not.

Shawn:
it's a temporary permanent fix.

Come on. Get her, cody.

You can tell he's right there

'Cause he's getting his
air bubbles through there.

Looks like he might have got it,

But I got to get this weld
on here quick.

getting worried
about shawn down there.

there's a lot of smoke
in the hull.

Shawn: [bleep] aah [bleep]

We can go out there
and mine some gold.

Narrator: a mile away,
on the wild ranger...

How you feeling there, dan?

Good.

Ready?
Ready to go.

In his quest
to haul in 100 ounces of gold,

Owner vernon adkison
is test-diving dan autay

As a replacement for
the absent steve riedel.

Vernon: I mean,
even when steve's here,

He's not bringing in
a whole lot of gold.

And now he's not here,

And there's a big gap there,
an even bigger gap.

And it's got to be filled.

Hey, dan,
how's it looking down there?

At this stage of the game,
every flake of gold counts.

If it keeps up like this,

We're not gonna crack


And that was my goal.

That was what we had to have

To make this feasible
to carry on.

Any gold down there?

The question is,
can he see the gold?

Can he find the gold?

Can he find it and then track it
and get it in the box?

That's a big question,

And we'll soon
be finding out the answer.

okay.

i'm about three feet down,

two-and-a-half,
three feet down.

so far, nothing but sand.

With dan on the team,

Production will probably come up
easy 30%, maybe 40%.

daryl says
you're able to see the gold.

that's what I'm here for.

Keep on keeping on.

Narrator:
a quarter mile from shore...

Got my work
cut out for me.

I want
to keep it on the goal,

Keep putting gold
in the box.

Narrator: ...the crew of
the christine rose

Is desperately trying
to make up for lost time.

Every frickin' minute counts.

Looks like

Two-to-three-ounce-an-hour
material,

But you never know
until you get the box.

Narrator:
with just days left to go

And 200 ounces from
turning a profit,

Shawn needs to get them
on their best gold ever.

Smell like gold?

Smells like gold.
Looks [bleep] sexy.

The captain
test pans the ground they're on.

Pan's [bleep]
heavier than [bleep]

Bam.

Oh-h*-h*-h*!

Money in the bank.

Money in the bank!
Oh-h*-h*!

[Bleep] fire up,

Put some [bleep]
gold in the box.

Holy [bleep] shawn!

I just took the best pans
I've ever took before.

Everybody will be happy
to see this one.

We're finally
coming out of the red.

Just need a week of good weather
and we can maybe pull it off.

We're gonna make like 50 grand
in the next [bleep] 3 hours.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: 10 miles away...

...on the anchor management,

Captain scott meisterheim
heads out,

$150,000 In debt
and almost out of time.

There's already
a lot of snow on the beach.

On the beach
and in the mountains.

Basically,
winter's here already.

That's not really good.

Dehring: well...

If you want to drop anchor,
this is the place to do it.

[Bleep] weather sucks, but you
just got to give me a second

To [bleep] understand
that I have to be here.

All right.

Meisterheim: all my problems
are still in front of me.

Eventually, they'll go away.

Eventually,
I'll get my [bleep] together.

Eventually maybe I'll even

Take my head out of my
[bleep] stubborn a*s

And get some gold.

Let me just
relax for a minute.

You want to sit in your chair
so I can put my feet on it?

Sure.

Thanks.

Couple of xanax
and a [bleep] captain morgan's

And I'd be [bleep] happy.

You done
driving in [bleep] circles now

So I can drop an anchor?

Hey, we're ready.

We're ready to drop.



Isn't gonna make
a difference to me right now.

Need to get it done.

Dehring: [ sighs ]
well, time to suit up.

I just want to put some gold
on scott's boat.

I mean, he gave me
the opportunity to be here,

So I want to give him
the best I can.

[ Engine turns over ]

He says he can dive.

I didn't give him a chance
to do anything but prove it.

[ Spits ]

Let's see if he can make it

While I stand
in this warm cabin...

And have a cigarette.

Coming back was more about
pride and principle.

It was to prove a point

That I'm gonna do it
until it's done and done right.

There's gonna be gold in my box.

Narrator: only five minutes
into the dive, joe resurfaces.

He either sucks or he really,
really can't see nothing.

I really hope it's because
he can't see nothing

'Cause I can't have another
[bleep] on my boat that sucks.

Visibility?

[ Engine turns off ]

So, we wasted
more gas than we got gold.

Pretty much.

It's a good waste of
[bleep] money.

[ Laughs ]

So, what happens
is either rain or snow or wind,

Something's gonna [bleep]
your day at any given time.

Today, it was all three.

Narrator:
as the waves start to rise...

[ Sighs ] here we go.

...scott meisterheim
calls it quits.

And on the wild ranger...

Galipeau:
how's the weather out there?

Elaine:
it sucks, daryl.

The water
is crashing over the deck.

I think these other guys
are cashing it in.

...it's time to pull up anchor
and head to the safety of port.

On the christine rose...

Shawn:
we're gonna get out of here.

weather's getting bad.

Roger that.

Shawn: usually pride ourself

In staying out in
the crappiest weather,

But this year, it's so crappy
that we can't even stay out.

Narrator: after four hours on
the best gold of the season,

Even the largest dredge in the
fleet has to get off the water.

It's frustrating to have
to come in 'cause of weather.

We're on some of the best ground

That the christine rose
has ever been on right now...

...and got forced
to bring her in today.

Shawn: swell got huge.

Bringing it in
before we get caught

In something too big...
And nasty.

The way the weather's going,

It looks like
we only got a couple more days.

Narrator: for the crew,

The sluice box
had better be crammed with gold.

If we do a good cleanup,

I might actually get
a [bleep] paycheck finally

Or a bottle of gold.

Are you gonna make money,
or are you gonna lose money?

You really don't know
what's gonna happen next.

We'll be gold mining out here
until hell freezes over,

And it's definitely
freezing over right now.

Narrator: at the dock,

The storm has forced
the christine rose into port.

Moen: well, let's get it done

And get it out there
to the cleanup shack

So we can get warm.

Narrator:
but work grinds on

As the crew
harvests their digging.

This is the worst
part of it all --

Pulling all these.

Steve said he wants to get it
all the way clean today.

I think he's worried that
this is it 'cause of the storm.

This is our paycheck
right here,

So I'm hoping
that it's worth it.

Doug and I haven't been paid
all year.

It looks good.

There's gold all through
all the [bleep] right here.

There's probably
a couple hundred bucks

Right there in my hand.

This gold here
is gonna dictate

A lot for the christine rose
and the crew, so...

The more,
the merrier for everybody.

[ Bird calls ]

Narrator: 540 miles away
in anchorage, alaska...

[ Sobs ]

Narrator: ...family and friends
gather to remember john bunce.

I don't know how many of you
know this story, but...

[ Clears throat ]

Earlier this summer,

You know we had a lot riding on

The first day
we were gonna take it out.

Instead of going to bed
as planned,

John chose to drink
a ton of alcohol,

And in the morning,
I couldn't get him awake.

So, we went out without him.

John, he liked
to think things through, but...

Because he felt
that he let us down,

He decided to try
to swim out to us

In 35-degree water
for almost 3 hours.

And he knew that, you know,
not long into the swim,

He realized
he was swimming for his life.

He wanted to atone
for letting us down so badly

That with such a powerful force
in him that it kept him alive,

And he's let us down again.

And there isn't really --

We need to help him
atone for that somehow.

[ Clears throat ]

[ Sniffles, clears throat ]

[ Guitar playing ]

♪ And no more shall we part ♪

♪ All the hatchets
have been buried now ♪

♪ And all of those birds ♪

♪ Would sing
to your beautiful heart ♪

♪ Upon the bough ♪

♪ Lord, stay ♪

♪ By me ♪

♪ And don't go down ♪

♪ I never was free ♪

♪ What are you talking about? ♪

♪ And no more shall we part ♪

Steve r.: Kind of nervous about
seeing vern here.

I got to talk about,

You know, getting on the boat

And what he's doing,
what his plans are.

I was looking after emily

Because she was real shattered
by john's death.

Vernon:
steve's supposed to come back

Today or tomorrow
or whenever steve gets back.

I haven't heard
anything from him.

And tell you the truth,
I'm getting kind of pissed off.

Steve is not cutting it.

Maybe he thinks
he's doing good work,

But I think in his heart
of hearts, he knows better.

He's not really
serious about it.

I can't afford
to keep steve anymore.

I'm here about the gold.

Hey, daryl.

So, steve, what's up?

Well, I'm back.

Didn't hear from you.

Didn't know
if you were coming back.

And when you left,
no "hi," "bye," "kiss my a*s,"

Or "see you later"
or nothing.

This is a business enterprise
that we're running here,

And it requires,
at times, all hands.

And you weren't here.

Yeah.

And you've been replaced.

And I'm not firing you.

As far as I'm concerned,
you quit.

Okay?

There's a death
in my community,

And you don't have
the compassion as an employer

To understand
that "hey, you know,

"Steve's going through
some hell, you know.

I'll cut him some slack."

But life goes on.

I've had
members of my family die.

I didn't take off
and not tell my employer.

And then there's
the productivity issue.

With dan on the team,
production has gone way up.

Way up.

We got to hammer it
with everything we can,

Or otherwise my season is lost.

Yeah-huh.

So, I got to let you go.

Okay.

I got to let you go.

I'll see you guys.

And we'll see you
down the road.

See you out on the water.

All right, steve.
Vernon.

Best to you, too.
Okay.

We'll see you
around the corner.

That didn't go well.

When you don't show up for work,

You got to kind of figure
that you might be replaced.

I feel a sense of
mild euphoria now.

I work my a*s off.
I had patience for him.

And so, I get the boot.

[ Chuckles ]

If somebody else
is taking him on as a diver,

All I got to say is...

God have mercy on your soul

[Laughing] 'cause you're not
gonna make any gold.

Another chapter in my life
is happening.

You know, it's steve on his own.

There's a place in this world
for steve, I'm sure.

[ Laughing ] just not in
the gold-mining business.

That's pretty obvious.

Narrator: across town...

Jason.
It's meisterheim.

I hear you are looking for
a new motor for your dredge.

Narrator: ...captain
scott meisterheim's season

Has turned into a fire sale.

All right. Bye.

Well, that's a done deal.

Got no money.

Can't get out and dredge, so...

Selling equipment for money that
I'm not supposed to be selling.

It's not really
my [bleep] equipment to sell.

But I'm broke.

Hey, what's happening?

How you been?

All right.
Good, man. Good.

Good to see you.

Cool, man.

All righty.

There she is.

Now I can get
some food or a drink.

I'll get out there
when the weather's good.

I'll still get out there
and I'll get some gold.

Narrator:
at the pomrenke compound,
the christine rose crew

Processes the last of the
material from their hot spot.

I'm either gonna be eating
new york steaks

Or top ramen all winter long.

I don't like that anticipation.

I'd rather just know that
I'm eating steaks all winter.

Narrator: after an entire season
with no paycheck,

The crew is finally
cleaning the gold

That will put
money in their pockets.

I don't get paid by the hour.

I get paid by how much gold
we put in that sluice box.

I was watching
the anchorage weather today,

And they're saying
there's another load coming

That's gonna go for 10 days.

For 10 days?

Yeah, we're [bleep]

We're sucking
on gold production this year

Because of the bad weather.

So we had to clean up
that bottom box

To get some more ounces here
to pay wages.

Narrator: with the weather
reports looking grim,

This might be the last pan
full of gold for the season.

Shawn: not a bad week's work.

All right. Here we go.

Drum roll.

Geez. 121.

That ain't bad.

Yep.

We need
two more of those.

Narrator: at 121 ounces,
or almost $200,000,

The christine rose is closing in
on turning a profit.

But for the crew...

So you better find
some more gold.

...their share
is only $16,500 a person.

That ain't gonna cut it for me
for the season.

I'm just hoping
that the weather dies down

And we can get a final run in.

And that means 10 ounces for me
for working for six months.

I was hoping to get
about five times that much gold.

My name is john patrick bunce.

I am 26 years old.

I work on the edge
with zeke and emily.

And I'm a diver.

Well...

...we're gonna scatter some of
john's ashes in the ocean.

[ Clears throat ]

Ever since zeke and I met
when we were young kids,

We've been really good friends.

Well, best friends, actually.

Geez. [ Chuckles ]

We don't have
very much in common,

But, you know, opposites attract
sometimes, I guess.

Yeah, he's always been

More of a brother to me
than a friend, so...

We love you, john.

It was a good way
to send john off.

And we can't totally move on,

But we can move
on a little more now.

He's gonna be --
he'll be out there forever.

Dredge up a little of him
from time to time.

Get all mixed up there
in all the gold and the...

The gold.

[ Chuckles ]

Meisterheim:
and no matter how cold it is,

I got to get
gold in that box today.

Shawn: every minute counts.

This is the last run
of the season.

Steve r.:
End of the season or not,

We're gonna get the gold.

Absolutely the last
window of opportunity.

You have to come up.

This is getting dangerous.

I blame myself
for john dying,

And I cannot blame myself
for you dying, too.