09x04 - Three's Company

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
now, on "bering sea gold"...

Man: we've put every last dime
we have into this.

You spend all this money
on an operation.

You don't want that thing
to stop running.

This one issue right here
cost me $20,000-something.

We still don't have enough money
to get the mega dredge going,

But it's gonna happen.

Pomrenkes are very good
at building

What they want out of nothing.

Give her a little nudge.

Yeah!

Woman: my ice season is about
to fall apart.

And if I can't succeed, then
I have no business being here.

It's not looking like we're
gonna make any money out here.

Whoo!

Here's another --
another big old chunk here.

Hell, yeah.

That's not bad for a day's work.

Gold just got a lot better!

Give me some love!
All the way!

Love, everybody, love!

Whoo, baby!

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

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

[ Water trickling ]

[ Wind rustling ]

Narrator: nome, alaska.

The ice-mining season
is in high gear and fueled

By what could be
the largest gold rush

In modern alaska's history.

The fleet is pushing
to the limit.

In the quest for paydirt,
there are no obstacles,

Only opportunities.

**


Nome, at the bluff.

Man: we're gonna be back up
and running,

Putting gold in the box.

Narrator: captain shawn pomrenke
is on the hunt for a boulder

He found at the end
of last summer...

Narrator: a big rock he believes

Marks a multimillion-dollar
pay streak

That'll fund
his $6-million mega dredge

And turn his family business
into a golden dynasty.

Man:
once I build the mega dredge,

I'm gonna be filthy rich.

I'm gonna have big, huge piles
of gold, not little, tiny ones.

It'll bring in $75,000
every day.

Mega dredge is gonna keep me

And my crew busy
for the next 30 years.

Narrator:
but so far this season...

Man: son of a b*tch.

Narrator: shawn hasn't been able
to get back on

The summer pay streak.

Did you guys
come find this?!

And new neighbors...

Did you find this?!
No --

Did you find it?!

...have been an unwelcomed
distraction.

Man: whenever you pop one
of these rocks up,

You'll find a couple ounces.

Narrator:
but persistence paid off...

Man: you just want to take
your gloves off

And just start grabbing them.

Narrator: with the crew striking
a concentrated

Vein of chunky gold.

Keep popping those rocks
and sucking up that gold.

Narrator: now...

Man: now it's time to get back
on the bottom

And make some cheese.

Narrator: mr. Gold
is looking to stay on track.

Man: I mean,
every time you go down,

You hope that you're gonna
find the mother lode.

I mean, that's what
keeps you going.

All right, I'm going diving.

[ Respirator hissing ]

**

**

**

Boy, that looks
interesting over here.

Looking for that
easy-cheesy stuff.

Is that pump all the way up?

Roger that.

**

Lots of big rocks,
lots of places for gold to hide.

**

Hope that we have
a big payday today.

See if my hunch is right.

**

Narrator: 80 miles west,
on the outskirts of nome.

Woman: hastings isn't really
working out

The way I want it to.

We had a new hole,
it was a dead end,

And now we're kind of back
to prospecting

When we really just need
to be making gold.

Narrator:
only four weeks into the season,

Captain emily riedel's
winter operation

Is already on thin ice.

This season I kind of took
a gamble and did something

That I wouldn't normally do,
expecting better results.

But it's been a struggle to find
some good gold out here.

The last hole was
extremely frustrating.

We went through all
this trouble of moving,

And, you know, we thought
we were making money.

The most devastating thing is,
you know,

We thought that we had
finally hit a streak,

And it just ended abruptly.

Narrator: despite the setbacks,
emily still has grand plans.

For me, it's all about expansion
and -- and upward mobility,

Maximum gold,
maximum possibilities.

And I will not stop until
what I want to happen happens.

I need to make it a viable
business opportunity

At hastings.

I know there's still gold there.

Narrator: last summer,

While prospecting with on-again,
off-again

Business partner/love interest
zeke tenhoff...

Man: it is definitely 100%
undoubtedly here.

Whoa.
-That's over 6.

Narrator: the duo struck gold
at hastings creek.

Unbelievable.

I don't really know what
our future is going to mean

Exactly as far as
a business partnership

If there is to be one.

Narrator: and zeke quickly
dissolved the partnership.

Woman: I'm definitely not going
to walk away from hastings.

I mean, the gold is too good,
this winter,

Narrator: the star-crossed pair
agreed to work different areas

Of the newly
discovered grounds.




Narrator:
but after a promising start...

Ah [bleep] ricky!
Pump motor's dead, dude.

It's been all downhill
for emily.

I don't know which is worse --
your pump motor going out

On good gold or your pump motor

Going out on bad gold.

Now...

Emily:
I feel responsible for my crew,

And I brought them down here.

If this next hole
doesn't work out,

We might need to go back
to the drawing board and --

And do something else.

It's very difficult to stay
in the black ice mining.

It sounds great in theory.

You don't have to worry
about the weather.

You can mine 24 hours a day.

But the sheer logistics
and the reality of working

In 27-degree water
under 4 feet of ice

Means that there's
gonna be many,

Many things that slow you down.

**

Let the physical labor begin.

Narrator: determined to cash in

On the promise of
hastings creek,

Captain emily has rallied
her crew -- veteran divers

Jesse strickling
and ricky larsen --

For one final push
to find the gold.

[ Generator running ]

**

**

Emily: hopefully we'll be able
to make

Some good money at this one.

Man: yeah.

**

Just peeling back layers, trying
to see if I --

[ Breathing ]
can expose any --

Any, uh, gold.

[ Breathing ]

Sometimes you can find
the perfect rock.

**

Emily: hey, ricky, how's it
going down there, man?

Man: nothing that's --
[ breathing ]

Totally gonna pay us yet.

Let him do a bit
more prospecting.

Just kind of hopping around,
hoping I hit something

Good, like, really good,

But it's not looking
too good at all.

I don't think
it's died out.

I think it's out there
somewhere.

I'm out here looking around.

I'm not seeing [bleep].

**

One of the recurring nightmares

I've had really ever since
I came here is waking up one day

And realizing that I have
nothing to show for all the time

I've spent, all the work
I've done up here.

That's not good news.

Sounds like this hole
might be a dud.

It's really frustrating.

**

Narrator: 70 miles east...

At the bluff.

How's it going
down there, buddy?

Looks good.

This is probably
a good place right here.

Lots of big rocks.

Narrator:
three hours into his dive,

Mr. Gold is on the hunt
for his elusive pay streak.

Man: they're rounded.

So, just kind of seeing...

I'm coming into like --

There's a whole bunch
of big boulders up over here.

"Big rocks, big gold" --
that's usually the saying.

Narrator:
large rocks on the seafloor

Combined with the tidal action
of the ocean action

Like riffles in a sluice box,
sifting and trapping gold.

As the theory goes, the bigger
the rock, the bigger the gold.

Man: oh, yeah, there's some
big boulders down here.

I'm thinking there's gonna be
a ton of gold

Stuck around this guy.

Let's see what's
underneath big daddy.

Narrator:
and moving big daddy...

Narrator: that's gonna take
some extra muscle.

Lifting the big rock,
hoping for a nice payday.

Shawn is gonna hook it
around this big boulder,

And I'm gonna give her
a yank, see if it works.

All right, let me know
when you're ready,

And I'll tug on it.

Let me get my umbilical
out of the way.

All right.

Go for it.

Give her a little nudge.

**

There she goes.

Think you can give
her hell this time.

Yeah!
It's moving.

Like that.

**

[ Revving engine ]

[ Shouting ]

**

-Narrator: coming up...
-It won't work at all.

I'm telling you right now,
kris over-thinking this [bleep]

Trying to put more divers on.

We're gonna run
into problems.

Here we go.

Ha-ha!

Narrator:


**

At the bluff.

Man: there she goes.

Think you can give
her hell this time.

Narrator: shawn pomrenke's
looking to find

Big gold under a big rock...

Yeah! It's moving.

Narrator: in hopes of
rediscovering

The pay streak he needs
to fund

His $6-million
mega dredge.

Like that.

Yeah!

[ Shouting ]

Oh, yeah.

We got it.

How about I grab the nozzle,

See if there's
any nuggets down there?

Man: well, we got the rock
flipped over

With the snowmobile.

Shawn's looking under

Where it was sitting.

Hopefully there's some
nuggets under there.

Come on.
Where are you at?

So, how'd that work?
Was it successful?

Just got to find
the sweet spot here.

Well, now we know how to move
the big rocks out of the way.

Doesn't seem like
he's seeing anything.

Narrator:
as the murk settles...

Not a whole lot
underneath it.

Shawn's big move
comes up a bust.

Can't always win.

Come up and take a little break.

Kind of taking its toll
on me here.

**

Gold does crazy things,

And sometimes it's really
difficult to stay on it.

It could just be no gold
for five feet

And then pick up
another five feet over

And there could be $1 million
laying right out of your reach.

That's part of the highs
and lows of mining.

You think you found
the mother lode, and then it --

Pschew!
Disappears.

So, am I gonna quit
looking for it?

No.

Well, I'm going back down.

**

Here we go.

**

Narrator:


**

It's mr. Gold's
favorite neighbors

Back at the bluff.

I went home.
I took a couple naps.

I ate a lot.
So I am feeling great.

We're ready to k*ll it...

As soon as we get our heads
out of our asses.

Narrator:
so far this season...

Captain kris has followed
a simple plan --

Man: this is the farthest

You've ever taken us
out of nome.

Man: this is the biggest gold
we're going after.

Narrator:
follow nome's best miner...

Did you guys
come find this?!

Did you find it?!

To golden greatness...

Man: I found 1,000 flakes.

Narrator: leading house kelly...

-Man: 9.3.
-Man: 9.3 ounces.

That is the best gold cleanup
we've ever had in our lives.

Narrator:
to their best cleanup ever...

Man:
nothing's working for me.

Kris, here!

Narrator: until shoddy equipment
ended the beautiful dream...

And sent them back
to nome for parts.

Now...

Man: got it!

Narrator: with new parts

And emboldened
by the record haul...

Let's do it!
I can't [bleep] wait!

The young captain
is doubling down.

You spend all this money
on an operation,

You don't want that
thing to stop running.

You need someone on the hose all
the time sucking up material,

Making you money,
making me money.

Dude, you got to do
a night shift.

The way it works is,
the guys that make money

Run 24 hours a day.

Narrator: phase two of
operation millionaire --

Bring on a night crew to mine


Twice as much gold.

Man: you know, that's just
the way you do it.

I'm putting a lot of effort
into -- to doing a night crew,

And I really hope
it works out for me.

That won't work at all.

I'm telling you right now,
kris over-thinking this

[Bleep] trying to put
more divers on.

Narrator: but the former captain
kelly isn't buying in.

Man: kris led us to new grounds
that are rich,

But my plan runs from 8:00 in
the morning till 8:00 at night.

That's my plan.

That's me, kris, and andy.

Man:
my dad has limited vision.

I want to make a [bleep]
load of gold,

And how I'm gonna
make a [bleep] load

Is I'm gonna get other people
to dive at night for me.

And we're all gonna make
more money for it,

And that's the way
it should work.

Narrator: for the new phase
of his mighty plan,

Kris has put the operation
on a new hole.

Well, today I'm gonna go until
my arms can't go no more.

That's the attitude
I want to hear.

And before kris' night crew
can pack the box full of gold,

It's up to little brother

Andy to mark the ground
for them to mine.

**

Okay, be careful there.

Yeah.
I always am.

**

**

I'll find something
before my shift's over.

Don't worry.

**

I'm not seeing [bleep].

**

Not this hole.

**

How's it going
down there, andy?

No, I saw no gold
in those last couple holes

I just did.

**

**

No mother lode yet, huh?

I'm not seeing it.

It's not looking good.

**

-Narrator: coming up...
-Gold just got a lot better!

Whoo! Give me some love!
All the way!

Love, everybody, love!

Three big nuggets in one dive.

Pretty damn amazing.

Whoo, baby!

Narrator:


At hastings creek.

After striking out on her
first hole of the day...

See if it doesn't pick up
and make it worth our while.

Captain emily riedel is taking
a final shot at the grounds.

We spent all this time
and money and effort moving

And can't really find anything.

We're gonna give it one more try
and try another hole to see this

Is worth even staying here.

We can't just keep digging
a hole every day and moving

And hopping from spot to spot,
hoping that it's gonna pay us.

**

**

Need to look around
a little more.

Better be good.

I'll see if there's
anything there.

Emily: gold mining is a --
it's a bipolar career.

The highs are high,
and the lows are low.

When you do well, you feel like
you're the queen of the world.

When things are not going well,

You feel like you aren't
achieving anything at all.

You either are amazing,
or you're horrible.

**

**

Hey, ricky, how's it going
down there, man?

Gold's not looking
too hot down here, emily.

I promised my crew --
jesse and ricky --

I promised them a spot
with a lot of gold.

I take their well-being
very seriously.

It's not looking too good.

It's just not looking like --

Like we're gonna make any money
out here at hastings.

Ah, yeah.
Copy that.

**

Roger that.

**

I can make a gold-mining
operation successful,

But my ice season
is about to fall apart.

And if I can't succeed at that,

Then I have no business
being here.

**

Narrator: 70 miles east...

At the bluff.

Shawn pomrenke is six hours
into his dive

And still searching
for the pay streak

He needs to fund
his $6-million mega dredge.

Man: yeah.
I don't know.

Ain't seeing much gold
right here.

Popping holes here.

**

**

Ahh.

Not the cheese, cheese,
but cheesy enough.

"Cheesy gold" -- that means
it's easier rocks

To pick up and move.

The rocks down there
are hard to move, heavy,

Never moved in their whole life.

Narrator:
under four feet of ice,

Subarctic waters drop to


Constantly circulated

Through shawn's wet suit.

Without it, hypothermia
would set in within minutes.

I think we're close to that
cheese, that five-ounce-an-hour

[Bleep],
actually, I know we are.

We're really close to it.

Nice.

Oh, my god.

Ahh!
Yeah!

Hell, yeah.

Narrator:
and just like that...

Oh, there's another one.

Mr. Gold
is back on the trail.

Man: there's another --
another big old chunker.

Hell, yeah.
Suck them up.

Whoo.

He's seeing a lot of gold.

He's seeing just what
we're looking for.

Come on, baby.

**

I'm, uh...
I'm gonna come on up.

**

**

There's at least
three big ones in the box.

**

Three big nuggets in one dive?

We've gone years without
seeing nuggets that big.

Pretty damn amazing.

Things are looking
pretty good right about now.

Things are moving
in the right direction.

When you get into those big,
huge pocket of gold,

You get to see it firsthand,

It's gold that nobody else
has seen for millions of years,

And it's just
laying there, waiting.

We're gonna get back good,
get it all summed up.

Whoo, baby!

**

Narrator: east of nome....

Emily: hastings has kind of
proved to be

The most heinous waste of
ice-mining time there ever was.

And that's gonna cost us.

This operation
has to make money.

This operation has to succeed.

So we need to go on
a proven ground

So we can pull together
some ounces this winter.

Narrator: after weeks of

Not finding
anything at hastings creek,

Emily is on a mission to save
her season before it's too late.

I'm gonna have to kind
of hunker down and mine

Where I know there
is some good gold.

**

Holy [bleep]
I made it.

Oh, my god.

I can't believe
I'm freaking in bluff.

**

Narrator: east of nome.

**

Holy [bleep] we made it.

Oh, my god.

I can't believe
I'm freaking in bluff.

This has got to be shawn's tent.

And that dilapidated shack
over there must be the kellys'.

Narrator: after crapping out
at hastings creek...

You look lost.

Captain emily riedel
has a plan

To get her operation
out of the red.

How's it going out here?

Moving dirt.

Anyway, I just thought
I'd make a trip down

And ask you about
how the gold was.

You making any gold?

Little bit.

Is that, um --
is that the official answer,

Or is that the real answer?

There might be
a little gold here.

So we're gonna have to come down
here and see for ourselves, eh?

Well, we wouldn't come out here
without, you know,

Talking to you first,
getting your blessing.

I don't know.

I don't like it, but I can't
really stop anybody

From going down there.

I don't mind having a pretty
face down at the bluff.

Nice change of scenery instead
of looking at tweedly-dee

And tweedly-dum kelly brothers.

**

So, you guys need to get
your stuff out here.

We're running out of days.

They can follow.

Hell, come on down and try.

That doesn't mean
they're gonna do any good.

I'll head back to town
and talk to the guys.

We'll see about getting
our [bleep] down here.

Sounds good.

I didn't feel right
about going to bluff

Until I talked to shawn.

I mean, ultimately
it's state ground.

I can go and be
within 50 feet of shawn

If I wanted to be
without saying a word.

But that's not the kind
of gold miner I am

Or the kind of gold miner
I want to be.

It's going to be a lot of strain
and expense on my operation.

But, I mean, gold mining is all
about taking chances

And crazy risks.

I will do whatever it takes
to make something happen.

**

Narrator:


Hey, uh, I don't mean
to be stressed at you, man.

As soon as I start seeing
some of my money come back,

I'll be in a better mood.

Captain kris is trying to
jump-start operation millionaire

By hiring a night crew to suck
up gold 24 hours a day.

Narrator: I'm gonna plow through
this whole [bleep]

Area and find good gold.

Narrator:
but there's a problem.

Nearing the end of his shift,
little brother andy

Still hasn't
located paydirt

For the night crew to mine.

Man:
he has a good plan initially,

But he always
veers off the plan.

The night crew is
a waste of time.

We're paying for the food.

We're paying for the propane.

We don't have enough gold
to represent our debt.

He's trying to get there
two fast.

Baby steps.

That's what my dad's biggest
b*tch is at the moment --

I'm getting away
from the formula, you know,

Me, my dad,
and my brother.

You know, and I'm trying to be
a commercial operation,

Go big time.

I'm like this [bleep] close.

Narrator: gold is the engine

That makes
the wheels go 'round,

And with the added expense
of two new salaries,

The kellys need
to get on it fast.

We've put every [bleep]
last dime we have into this.

I'm trying to stay optimistic.

The area I'm getting into
is looking pretty promising.

Well, that's good.
That's what I need to hear.

Just moving this
big rock right now.

Whoo!

All right!

Give me some love!
All the way!

Love, everybody, love!

Talk to me.

Oh, jay, we're on some
really good [bleep]

Right now.

How much gold are you
on right now?

[Bleep] I love
andy's estimating system.

So, how many ounces
in this pocket?

Come on, baby.
Talk to me.

It's about a half a football

Just sitting in this
one little...

Ah!
Oh!

Andy found a football
full of gold! Hut!

After a grueling eight hours,
andy calls it for the day crew.

Oh, my god.
I feel goose bumps.

I might fall over.

I'm feeling hot.

**

How you feeling?

It's awesome.
And let me tell you --

I'm moving rocks
the size of my body.

[Bleep] best gold ever.

Oh, yeah.

Best gold ever?
Best gold I've seen.

Best gold ever!

And I've seen a lot of gold.

I bet it's close to -- like,
close to an ounce an hour.

Narrator:
with gold located,

Phase two
of kris' master plan

Can now be put into action.

Time to send down
the night crew.

Bam!
Yeah.

Ounce an hour!

How about it?

Yeah, this is what we got to do.

We work during the day.
They work during the night.

It's all gonna work out.

Know what I'm saying?

There's gonna be 10 ounces
in the box when you wake up.

You know, cheer up.

I want to be
a commercial operation.

I'm sorry to say,
but I kind of would like

To be like the operation

Shawn has.

Shawn makes me a little
jealous sometimes.

You already put baby shampoo in,
or no?

Yep.
Okay, good.

I want to succeed
with my friends and family.

I want everybody
to do well together.

-Narrator: coming up...
-Here we go.

Second cleanup.

See what it weighs up to be.

There are so many dangers
in ice mining.

These augers that are basically
an enormous corkscrew,

Everything sharping sticking out
that you could fall on.

Anytime in reality I could
fall and sink to the bottom.

You get sucked up by the hose,

Or you get stuck
underneath there,

Pinned underneath a rock.

If there is one earthquake
right now, I am dead.

Chain saws that
are six feet long,

Suffocating underneath the ice,
an avalanche on the mountain,

Maybe the occasional
blizzard, get impaled.

You could even
light yourself on fire.

I've done it a few times.

Don't think about that.

I'm okay, everybody.

Thanks for [bleep] wondering.

The truth of winter
mining in nome

Is, uh, probably don't do it.

Narrator:


Man:
dude, where's the night crew?

Where are they?

This pump isn't
pumping worth a [bleep]

Narrator: there's something
rotten in the state of kelly.

Man:
they trashed my equipment.

The pump got fried last night

Because everybody's been pulling
it in and out by the cord.

This one issue right here
cost me $20,000-something.

That one issue shut us down,
all because of night crew.

Narrator: instead of
super-charging the operation,

Captain kris' night crew trashed
the dive equipment...

Because of that water pump, we
can't even dredge today anyways.

Narrator:
and got the heck out of dodge.

Man: I've got to go back to town
and get a water pump.

Narrator: now phase two of
operation millionaire

Is in shambles.

We've got thousands of
dollars into this --

Thousands.

This is a three-man band.
That's it.

You know what I mean?

Narrator: and the fighting irish
are once again shut down

And off the gold.

Just another one of
kris' mistakes.

He made a bad choice.

Now we're stuck
cleaning up the mess.

If that's the kind of
leadership he's got,

Then he just needs to be

Kicked in the nuts
a few more times by me.

Then he'll straighten
out, you know?

The problem right now
is my foundation's crumbling.

We got two problems right now.

We have a lot of problems.

My bad luck.

You know, we always
make it to a level,

And then we never make
that last little bit

So we can keep going on.

We always fail short right here.

We can't seem to make it
the next step of success.

I just can't get my legs
underneath me right now

Because my foundation's
crumbling a little bit.

Yeah, [bleep].

But I know that I can
change most outcomes

When I try.

You know what?

I'm barely hanging on here.

You know what?

But I'm a fighter, you know?

Like, I'm not gonna go down.

The gold's under my feet.

Andy and I can technically
do this ourselves.

At this point, I'll do whatever
it takes to salvage my season.

**

Two miles west...

At mr. Gold's cabin.

Second cleanup.

We're doing pretty decent.

It's not the $30,000,
$60,000 in a day yet.

Narrator:
after a nine-hour shift,

Leaving no stone unturned
on the bottom of

The bering sea, shawn is about
to find out how much closer

He is to funding
his mega dredge.

To be a successful gold miner,
you do have to go all-in.

You do have to put 100% in.

There's no, "oh, I'm gonna
only work eight hours,

And then I'm gonna go home

And go to bed and rest
and watch tv."

You got to work your a*s off
if you want to be successful,

And you keep doing that,
it pays off in the end.

Got some ham and gold.

**

I'm gonna go ahead and see
what it weighs up to be.

**



Now we're at 17.



$20,000-Day yesterday.

That's not bad for a day's work.

Narrator: 19.5 ounces is worth
over $20,000 --

For shawn, just a taste
of the millions

He needs to fund
the mega dredge.

I got a lot of work ahead of me.

Narrator: but for the man they
call mr. Gold,

Hope springs eternal.

My project's gonna
come together.

Pomrenkes are very good
at building

What they want
out of nothing.

We'll go to a junkyard
and figure out what we need

To build it if we have to,
but it's gonna happen.

We keep that pace up,
we'll be doing just fine.

Narrator: mr. Gold solidifies
his spot

At the top of the count,

As the kellys head back to nome
for parts -- again.

I make this work,
or I'm gonna be homeless.

I mean seriously homeless.

There's 9 grams.

Shawn thinks that he's
gonna buy my equipment

Out from underneath me.

The equipment's yours.

We ask you give the stuff
up peacefully,

Or I'll bring the troopers out.

I'm not going down at all.

Andy is literally
risking his life.

There's gold under
every rock down here.

We found our next 1,000 ounces.

He's pulling on the umbilical.

Being petty?!
Yeah, you --

You're gonna [bleep]
move on me?!

There's a big, greasy crack
just opening up right there!

We might be [bleep]
floating away as we speak.

**