Bering Sea Gold (2012–…): Season 6, Episode 5 - Rock Bottom - full transcript

Corporate bosses force Zeke into an unlikely partnership. Shawn is desperate for gold, torn between his father's inland dreams and his venture on the bluff. The Kelly's hope to salvage their season. Vern finally sinks his dredge.

Narrator: Nome, alaska.

Shawn: Finding little bits
here and there,

But mr. Gold's not happy
with just okay.

Narrator:
With the summer mining season
nearing the halfway mark...

Pissing me off.

...Much of the dredging fleet
is hitting rock bottom.

Zeke: [ through radio ]
kind of frustrating, dude.

All those other dredges,

Do you really think they're
having to look this hard?

Zeke: Havilah is really striking
out under my leadership.

We need to really deliver
some good cleanup.



Narrator: Desperate for gold,
and running out of time...

Kris: These little setbacks,
they're just learning.

You can bail a million times.

You only need to make it
one time big.

Narrator:
...There's nowhere to go but up.

Oh!

No!

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

7 miles west of nome,
on the tomcod claim...

Getting a little ridiculous,
isn't it?

Yeah.
This sucks.

Starting to piss me off.

Scratching and clawing
for 300 ounces

To prop up
dad's inland operation,



For shawn pomrenke,
frustration is boiling over.

Shawn:
Tomcod's getting picked over.

The gold that's in close,

The stuff that pays the bills
and buys new equipment,

I've taken it.

So now it's either I have
to go bigger and go deeper,

Or I have to find a new area.

I want to find the spot

That's gonna get us up
over that 300-ounce mark

So we can get the hell out
of the tomcod

And go find some real gold.

And there it is.
There's the bluffs.

Narrator: This winter, shawn
risked it all to strike gold...

We're out in the middle
of [bleep] nowhere.

...On a remote claim
100 miles from town.

You get 300 ounces, then maybe
you can go to the bluff, maybe.

Narrator: After making a deal
with steve to return...

Shawn:
Just thought I'd bring you
a little father's day gift.

Your dream
is to go to bluff?

You got the chance to go
to bluff, I guess, go to bluff.

...And holding him
to his word...

We got
to get on some gold.

...Mr. Gold is a tantalizing
58 ounces away.

I'm gonna go ahead and fire her
back up and do another cut.

Shawn: Oh, man.
He ain't going back on his word.

He said,
"once you get 300 ounces,

You can go to the bluff."
we're almost there.

I've never felt
so close to my gold.

You're done spending.
It's my turn.

I'm exhausted, tired.

Not being on gold sucks.
It takes a lot out of you.

If I had thought about how many
people I had to take care of

And how much money
I have to make every year

To take care of the people,
I'd probably never sleep.

So I just keep my mind at task.

And we got to get gold,
and that's what we got to do.

Let's see what's in here.

That stuff looks good.

I like the way it's got
nice wash gravel in it.

Here we go.
Let's try this out.

Come on.
Come on.

Come on.

Still ain't that great.

But...At least
we're seeing something here.

A little bit coarser gold.

Seeing some color now.

About [bleep] time.

[bleep] we covered
over half the claim.

Oh, yeah.
We're gonna run.

Now we're settling
for mediocre pans

Because we can't spend
any more time prospecting.

I got to hit my goal so we
can get the hell out of here

And go to bluff,
'cause I'm tired of this stuff.

Narrator: 2 miles to the east,
on the rockwall claim...

Zeke: We need to get a lot
of gold today, guys.

...Captain zeke tenhoff is
in desperate need of a payday.

The owner of the parent company
that owns the havilah,

He's coming to town
the next couple of days.

And what the corporate boss
wants is to see big cleanups.

Narrator: Tasked with producing
a massive 500 ounces

For his new corporate masters,

The newly minted cgo --
corporate gold officer --

Has recovered just 39 ounces
so far.

So what we need to do is,
just basically,

Like, lifeboat it, where
we'll just pull both anchors.

And then I'll just have you guys
drag me around real slow.

We got to cover
some ground --

Like, serious ground
in this area.

[ exhales ]

And see where
these pay streaks start.

Now,
with the boss coming to town

And his job
potentially on the line,

Zeke is pulling out
all the stops,

Planning to be dragged
under the boat

Just to find a pay streak.

Zeke: [ through radio ]
ah [bleep]

[ breathing ]

Getting a little bumpy up here.

[ sighs ]

We need to put some gold
in this box, dude.

Not my normal feeling

To have somebody under the boat
with my motors running.

Ah [bleep]

It is pretty difficult
to work right now,

'cause we're getting
yanked around.

I can barely control
this nozzle.

It's whipping around on me.

But I want to find
some more gold.

Holy [bleep]

You're doing a great job,
zeke.

You're doing really, really
good, brother.

Scott: They sure has put a lot
of pressure on this young guy.

There's a lot at stake for him,
his reputation.

I mean, he's always ran
the little small, quick dredge.

Here he's on this big goliath.

[ breathing continues ]

Tell him, kind of --
oh [bleep]

This is where we want to be,
right here.

[bleep]

All right.
Stay here for a second.

All right.
I'm kicking it out of gear.

And mark a way point that says
there's some gold here.

And I'm trying to figure out,

Like,
what the parameters are here.

I can see
it's still going out that way,

'cause there's all these little
sparkles right over here,

Tons of little pieces of gold.

We got to take advantage
of this.

Narrator:
After finally finding

A potentially job-saving
hot spot,

There's just one problem...

What?

Yeah.

[bleep]

Narrator: Five years ago...

Who's starting me off?

$50,000.
$50,000 bill.

...The state of alaska

Put lucrative lots
of offshore-mining ground

Up for sale.

$56,000.

Unfortunately for zeke,

The gold he's found
is on a neighboring claim...

Track 38, alaska.

Owned by...
The bid -- $67,000.

...Mr. Gold himself.

All right.
I'm coming back up.

Scott: Roger.

In order to follow that gold,

I'm gonna have to make
some kind of arrangement

With shawn, hopefully.

Otherwise, I'm gonna
have to pick up and move over

To some other property
that I'm not familiar with.

That's time that I don't have.

Really, it's the only plot that,
like, I've seen

That's, like, satisfactory.

Kind of feels like
what we're going for.

Narrator: While zeke
needs to make a deal,

Back in town...

Vernon: Ready to go?

...In nome harbor...

Yeah, I think so.

I think we're right there.
-All right.

Well, let go
of that stern line.

And I'll flip it around, and
they can let go of the headline.

...Halfway through the dredging
season, and drowning in debt,

Captain vernon adkison
is finally ready to go mining.

This is probably the most
stressful time in my life.

You know,
I've been trying to get

All this damn equipment
put together.

And money going out,
but no money coming in.

Narrator: After throwing away
100 grand on a boat

That wasn't capable of launching
his $250,000 subdredge...

Well, consequently
I had to build this other boat,

This 30-foot raft over here,

To launch and recover
the subdredge with.

Narrator: ...Vernon is
relying on a makeshift raft

To jump-start his season.

I need to get a dredge
down there and producing,

Producing to the max.

And I'm two months behind
on my rent here in nome.

My mortgage is behind.
Everything is behind.

[ engine revving ]
all right. Here we go.

We're off to the races.

I'm not making any gold
with the subdredge yet.

So, if I don't make 150 ounces
this season, it's all over.

God only knows
what's gonna happen to me.

Time to turn a profit.

Yeah,
we're all in position.

All right.

So now, it's a matter
of getting the bot in the water.

So, let's get on
with the show, here.

Yeah, I'm just checking
all the systems right now.

All right.
We're ready to go.

We have to hook up
the discharge

And start making some money
for vernon.

Narrator:
After months of sitting idle...

It's a surreal moment.

...Vernon's beloved subdredge

Is finally ready
to be lowered into the water.

Everyone's been waiting
a long time for this.

Right now,
things are kind of precarious.

Money-wise,
it's a lot riding on this.

Here we go.

Oh!

No!

Narrator:
Off the coast of nome...

...On the all in...

Vernon: Here we go.

That ain't good.

Moments before
finally making money...

...Vernon's subdredge is sunk.

Vernon: Well,
we just broke the damn line,

And the bot dropped.

It's only $250,000 robot.

That subdredge was
my only chance

Of making enough gold
to keep this operation going.

If we can't get it up
off the bottom of the ocean

Or if it's damaged, I'm toast.

Narrator:
With $250,000 machine lying
untethered on the sea floor,

Dredge tech phil riner races
to check the on-board camera

And assess the damage.

Phil: It hit so much quicker
than it normally does.

It kicked up a lot of silt,
so I can't see anything.

Hey, todd!
I'm gonna get on the radio.

Tell those guys
to come up here,

Tie up on the other side
of this boat.

We got to get the diver down
to tend to this thing.

Narrator:
With no gold at all so far,

Vernon's only hope
to save his season

Lies in sending a diver to see
if the dredge is shattered.

This might not end up
being a walk in the park.

Vernon's not the only one
with a gold count of zero.

Just off west beach...

Brad: Ask kris
if he's seen any gold, eh?

We need a gold check.

...The fighting kellys
have returned to nome,

Starved for cash.

Brad: We don't have the money
to prospect around anymore.

So we go back to where
we know there's gold for sure.

Andy:
[ through radio ] yeah.

The last time you were down,
there were many feet of sand.

Narrator: This summer...

[bleep] sand bar
piece of [bleep]

...After spending over 10 grand
on their very own claim...

I'll [bleep]
break your [bleep]

Come on,
you fat [bleep]

...A failure to find gold
turns son against father.

Kris: I came to work [bleep] out
with dad,

So hopefully
we can keep working.

You know, I've got no other boat
to work on this year.

Narrator: Now,
with tensions running high...

That's great.
Keep looking.

Can't find [bleep]

...They've returned
to familiar grounds

With just enough
for one more tank of gas.

After our solomon failure,
we're like one step away

From being broke and not
being able to run anymore.

My mom's still calling me up
everyday,

Telling me that
she needs a payment.

If we don't make this next spot
work, that's it for us.

"what's that?"

Oh, my god.
-Oh, my god.

Yeah, I'm not seeing
a [bleep]load of chunky.

But I'm seeing [bleep]load
of fine gold.

Well, it's not great.

I mean, let's put it this way.

It's the best gold I've seen
all season.

Brad:
Yeah, he's in a better mood
now that we're getting gold.

As long as we stay on consistent
gold, by Friday, you know,

We should have a pretty good --
pretty good pile of gold,

You know.

Narrator: Finally on gold
after a season of failures...

What's the box look like?

Okay, I'm coming.

...Kris isn't about
to take chances.

I don't --
do you see any gold?

What the...?

In typical kelly fashion,
there's yet another problem.

If they can't get
the sluice box working,

This trip to sea
could very well be their last.

Kris: We're not catching --
we're not gonna keep

Any of the gold that we pump.

We think that
I just wasted my time

And get in a bad mood
for nothing.

Narrator: While the race is on
to fix the sluice box,

6 miles to the west,

On the christine rose...

Shawn: It's been
the worst season yet so far

Since we've had
the christine rose.

Narrator:
Bucket after bucket...

I want to get
off towards bluff.

I want to make enough money

So I get to go do
some prospecting out there.

Narrator:
...Captain shawn pomrenke

Is clawing his way
to his 300-ounce gold.

Find a new area
that ain't all beat up

And got 20 dredges on it.

Ah, here comes zeke.

Nobody comes out here
unless they want something.

Narrator:
With his boss on the way
and his job on the line,

For zeke, desperate times
equal desperate measures.

Zeke: I don't know if shawn's
necessarily gonna want

To see his gold
go off of his claim

Into the corporate pockets

But at the end of the day,

I promised these guys
I can do a certain job for them.

And right now, it doesn't appear
that that job is being done.

Zeke wants to talk to you.

Shawn: Well, let's go see
what the hell he wants.

What's up, zeke?

Dude, I like
your new yellow sluice box.

Ah, yellow, yeah.
I mean, that's for good luck.

How you doing?
-How's it going?

Good to see you.
-Right on.

Yeah, so anyway,
you know, we're working

With the havilah over there --
that 10-inch dredge.

And we're just kind of --
right now, we're working west.

So I was just thinking,
you know,

If we end up working west
over to the edge of 34,

We're moving towards your claim,
which is 38.

So I'm thinking that if you let
us go over onto 38, you know,

We can work out
a royalty situation

Or whatever you thought would be
appropriate for that situation.

Oh, there's definitely
gold out there at the edge.

-I believe it.
-That's why I bought it.

Nice.

Zeke and I have had our ups
and downs, but I like the guy.

He's a hard worker.

And 38's pretty deep --
too deep for the christine rose.

All we need is 58 ounces
to reach that 300-ounce goal.

We'll take all the gold
we can get.

I mean, I haven't had anything
on there in a few years,

So might as well
get something out of it.

There's a lot of good ground
down there.

So, yeah, we might as well
have somebody on there.

-Cool.
-Well...

Right on, boy.
I wish you luck.

And, yeah,
sounds like a deal, man.

Right on, dude.

Don't let me hold you up
anymore.

-Okay.
-I really appreciate it.

Narrator: Back in the west beach
public mining area...

It's coming great, okay?

Thumbs up.

...After blowing
their first gold of the season

Right back into the ocean...

Brad:
We've fixed the sluice box,

So everything should be
working good today, I hope,

So kris doesn't bitch so much.

Narrator:
...Kris kelly has made repairs,
and the box is ready for action.

We've decided to go
to the west wreck,

Where we know for sure
there's good gold.

Turned
the [bleep] sluice box off,

And there's no material
in there.

If I don't start
producing gold soon,

This might be the end of it.

Okay. Ready?

[ engine turns over ]

[ engine shuts off ]

What the [bleep]
happened there?

It's that [bleep] --
that thing is, uh...

Drop it down.

It's not the --
it came off again.

This is [bleep] stupid [bleep]
man.

I'm [bleep] sick
of this [bleep]

Who's got a towel, andy?
I need to dry the motor off.

'cause we're adjusting
the [bleep] box,

We're adjusting
kris' [bleep]

Doing all kris' [bleep]
here.

'cause you don't even want
to keep your gold.

That's what you --
you know, like,

We have to do
this [bleep]

Oh. Yeah, okay.
Whatever.

Well, it sucked a bunch
of [bleep] saltwater
in the air cleaner.

Well, this [bleep] weird.

Why do you tell me?
Why don't you take it --

Why do I have
to fix everything?

Why can't you fix anything?
-What do you fix --

What's everything, kris?

What do you fix?
Everything --

Everything
that ever needs to be done...

Let's get a list.
Like what?

...Moved, handled,
I [bleep] take care of.

Brad: He is [bleep] delusional,
man.

I mean,
he is truly [bleep] delusional.

[ engine sputters ]

Just give it a minute
to dry out.

It's gonna need
more than a minute.

It ain't gonna happen.
I'll tell you right now.

We're [bleep]
for the whole day.

Brad:
It's not gonna run.

The motor needs to be
taken apart and cleaned up.

I'm soaking wet, anyway.
I got to go home.

You know,
this is all bull[bleep]

You don't even [bleep] worry
about dredging at all.

Well, let's just pack up.
Start bringing the hose up.

It's not gonna run.

Okay.

Really start
this mother[bleep]

[ engine sputters, revs ]

There it goes.

-What came out this time?
-I don't know.

Oh, it's probably
because our jet lag's

Out of the water
too much.

Oh, but it doesn't have to --
it can be out of the water.

Captain kris said,
remember?

Said -- the guy said --
the engineer said...

I've had enough of your [bleep]
I've had more than enough.

Andy: There's the end
of our day, right there.

Narrator: Off the coast of nome,
on claim 38...

Zeke:
[ breathing over radio ]

I hope that the gold
gets better over here.

I really do.

Narrator: With permission
to mine in pomrenke territory

And his corporate boss
coming for the cleanup...

Zeke: And I think as we move
into shawn's, it'll be richer.

Narrator: ...It's time for zeke
to prove his worth.

All you got to do now is
find mr. Gold's gold.

That kind of rhymes --
mr. Gold's gold.

I'm getting mr. Gold's gold,
get his gold.

Basically,
I'm looking for a big area

Where I got this gray,
kind of brownish silt --

Old glacial silt.

Gold really [bleep] builds up
on top of that glacial silt.

A lot of responsibility here.

Zeke is really trying
his ass off.

He's trying as hard as he can
to put our boat on the gold.

We just haven't found it
in the locations we've been.

With zeke, he can see it.
He knows what he's looking for.

That's his advantage
over myself.

Stronger, physical,
all that stuff,

I don't see that.

Rookie...

[ breathing continues ]

This spot looks promising.

You generally look at
silty stuff, like that.

And, like, honestly,

Often there's a lot of gold
on that stuff.

If I can find -- oh, yeah,
that's what I'm talking about.

Put a way point
down right here.

Man: You got it.

[bleep]

What the [bleep]

Finally we found a spot, guys.
Whoo!

[ bell dinging ]

Zeke's on the gold.

Think we're gonna get
a lot of gold here, boys.

I can feel it.

Yeah!
Yeah!

That's a lot.
That's the most we've seen.

The gold is just insane!

There could be like 100 ounces
in this little [bleep] streak.

That's gold.

That's gonna be it.

That's my first nugget, ever,
in my life.

You hear me?

I looked in the box,
and I found a nugget.

There's a nugget?

Almost as big as an m&m.

Good. I like nuggets.

I like money.

Oh, my god.

My first nugget.
Number one.

We got one.

We got one.

There's nothing more fun than
seeing tons of pieces of gold

When you're dredging.

That's the best.

Narrator:
While zeke rakes in the gold,

Over in
the west beach wreck area...

[ whirring ]

So, that's gonna change
the flow a lot.

...After drowning
their pump motor in saltwater,

The kellys' hopes
of finally getting paid

Are starting to look bleak.

[ engine sputters ]

Brad:
It creates a lot of tension,
because nobody's making gold.

If we didn't get our asses going
and get gold,

We're gonna be living
in a tent on the beach.

We'll have nothing.

So the kids -- yeah,
there's a lot of tension.

Everybody's mad.

[ sputtering continues ]

Narrator: For a family that's
hanging together by a thread,

The need to get their operation
running is greater than ever.

It's always me -- it's always me
causing the problems.

It's constantly me.

I'm the only person that wants
to make this whole thing good.

But I'm still real optimistic
it's gonna work out,

Because I'm not a quitter.

[ engine stops ]

[ engine revs ]

I got all my money in this.

I'm stressed out
to the max.

Kris putting us down every day
doesn't help.

I need to get gold
at any cost.

Really, I need gold.
I'm broke right now.

And I need
to make a lot of money.

Narrator:
With all systems go

And the best gold
they've seen all season

Just under the boat...

Its nice.

Narrator: ...The time
for bickering is over.

Brad: [ through radio ]
you got enough air?

Yeah,
I got plenty of air.

[bleep]

Now, I'm in straight
black [bleep] right now.

Hopefully
it's lucky for you today.

Oh, it's the same [bleep]
I always run.

So just give me a little bit.

Let me get to the bottom.
I'll let you know.

[ breathing ]

That -- there's gold, pops.

[ laughs ]

Oh, I love being back here.

Kris: There, lookit.
I like that.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

Yeah, it's working good.

Yo, this is how
it should be running.

No, I know.
You did a good job on that.

Narrator:
A properly working sluice box
and a diver on gold --

For the fighting kellys,
things are finally looking up.

Hey,
I'm sorry I'm a freak.

It's still early
in the season.

Let's just work together
and make it happen.

When you degrade andy and I,
it brings our spirit down.

I know, but you guys make me mad
that you guys don't see --

I know,
but use a different mannerism.

Okay, I'll try.
I'll try.

500 yards to the east,
on the all in...

Bobby's going under the all in,
going down there by the bot.

He gonna get the line that broke
and bring it up here to the top.

And then we've got
to bring the bot up...

Hopefully.

Narrator:
After dropping his subdredge
to the bottom of the ocean...

So,
what we're thinking about is,

You go down there,
you find the line,

And you just pull it up.

And we'll tie it up
and try to recover it.

...Vernon is sending
diver bobby lowe

To see if the rig
and his season are in tatters.

My entire season
and possibly my livelihood

Is hanging in the balance,

Depending on whether or not
we can recover this bot

From the bottom of the sea.

Narrator: Bobby will need
to attach the undamaged line

Back to the subdredge's
mechanical winch

So they can reel the dredge
back to the surface.

Vernon: Okay, bobby.
How you reading?

Bobby: [ breathing ]

Almost at the bottom.

All right.
I'm at the bottom.

All right.
Roger.

Find the bot.
Find the bot.

¶¶

[ breathing continues ]

Okay, I got a visual
on the umbilical.

Uh...

Oh, boy.

Oh, no.

Bobby, what's all
this [bleep] about? What's up?

It's not looking good at all.
It seems like it just free fell.

Narrator:
Off the coast of nome...

[ through radio ]
it's not looking good at all.

And it seems like
it just free fell

And landed on its side.

Narrator:
With his $250,000 subdredge
lying helpless, for vernon,

Gold mining will have to take
a backseat to a rescue mission.

Yeah, bobby found the bot.
It's on its side.

Now he's getting the --
the line broke under the rover.

Make sure everything
is led right.

And then we'll try
to bring it home.

I just roped the line
through the winch.

Okay. We're paying out
on the winch.

-That's it?
-Yeah. It's going up.

Bobby: 10-4.

Narrator: With a line
hooked to the dredge,

It's now a matter
of carefully reeling it in.

Almost there.

Okay, there it goes.

Okay,
you're on two tracks now.

-Got it?
-Yeah, I got it.

-Feel it?
-I got it.

We got lift-off.

All right.
Top side, coming up.

Okay. Good job.
We'll see you on the surface.

Hey, hold up, phil.
Starting to see it.

Oh, damn, dude.

-Ay yi.
-Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Wait, no. He...

It's, uh -- oh, dude,
it's all [bleep] up.

Phil: That winch drum's
not supposed at the line.

No, the winch drum's
supposed to be way at the back.

So I'm not sure
how you guys are rigged up.

Narrator:
Upon surfacing, the winch arm
has lifted straight up,

Increasing stress
on the already weak line,

Putting the subdredge at risk
of falling back into the sea.

[ indistinct conversation ]

Looks like the line
here is gonna...

[ speaks indistinctly ]

...This whole overhead
snaps.

If it falls, don't be
in the sight of this line.

Man: Stay clear.

This is where
it gets heavier.

That's my worst nightmare,
if that thing is swinging around

And one of my people get
between it and the framework

And get hurt.

Oh, everybody's got
to stay absolutely focused

And pay attention.

Lift the head.

And we got to center it up,
remember?

-Come on.
-Keep the balance.

Woman: Yes. You're good!

Perfect.
-Okay.

Let's get the damn,
uh, what-you-call-it on it.

Narrator:
While the crew secure the
5,000-pound bot with a chain...

A winch line
and a controller and...

Somehow the whole winch boom
flipped up.

...Dredge tech phil riner
inspects it for damage.

I'm surprised
that it fell that far,

And I don't see any damage.

Nothing got damaged
on this.

The -- the line...
And I lost the controller.

This can't happen again
like this.

All right.
Let's take it back in.

We're done for the day.

Narrator:
Finally cinched up and secure,

Vernon must call time
on another goldless day.

It's never good
to drop your bot.

And we dropped that [bleep]
but we got it back.

Narrator:
As a new day dawns in nome...

[ birds crying ]

...For a desperate
dredging fleet,

It's time to find out if
they struck gold or stuck out.

Flip over, and let's see
if we got gold in the bottom.

-Whoa.
-Gold, gold, gold.

There's gold in there.
Gold, gold, gold.

For the fighting kellys,

It's a matter
of just keeping the lights on.

Kris:
Right now, at this point,

It's critical
we have a good cleanout

Because I need this gold

To prove that
it's all gonna pay off.

-While on the havilah...
-Loading the gold.

We got all our 25 buckets
or whatever -- I don't know.

So it looks like
we're good to go.

There's a lot of pressure
involved

With having somebody
checking my progress

And judging my progress
from an outside perspective.

And I'm not used
to that kind of pressure,

And I don't like
that kind of pressure.

Narrator: ...Zeke's job
as a corporate captain

May very well be on the line.

Man: 42 buckets this time.

I hope we did okay.

On the outskirts of nome,
at the pomrenke cleanup shack...

...Make the 300 ounces?

What do we got?
-Yeah, we should be real close.

Narrator:
Stuck at 242 ounces...

Then we can go to bluff?

...Shawn pomrenke is looking

To finally deliver his promise
to dad and set out on his own.

Just hope this is gonna
get me enough gold

To get me over
that 300-ounce mark.

Here we go, boys.

Let's see.
It's gonna be close.

It's gonna be close.
-It's a nice, little pile.

I think it's enough.
I think we're going to bluff.

I hope so.

Man: 25...

Shawn: There we go.
There's 30.

Come on.
Come on.

-Come on, 58.
-Hmm.

Need another 20.
It's gonna be close.

Oh, boy.

50.

Oh, we got it.
-Got it.

-Oh, man.
-Come on, baby.

53...54.

There it is.

Look at the gold there.

It's what dreams
are made out of.

Andy: I wouldn't call
them "dreams."

It's what
paychecks are made of.

Oh, that's actually got a little
bit of weight to it, too,

For being so small.

Hmm.

I don't.
I never put them in my pocket.

Are the kids accusing me
of stealing from them?

I never stole from my kids,
ever.

What I was doing was putting
away an investment package.

You know what I mean?

Narrator:
At the pomrenke cleanup shack...

Shawn: Come on, 58.

To head for the bluff, shawn
needs just 58 ounces of gold.

[bleep]
hmm, need another 20?

It's gonna be close.

Man: Oh, boy.

50.

Oh, we got it.
- We got it.

Come on, baby.

53. 55.

56 ounces.

Oh, that's sad.

Doesn't look like 58 ounces
to me, shawn.

[bleep]
we're like 2.5 short, guys.

Shawn: This mining season
has probably been

One of the most difficult
seasons I've ever dealt with.

Sick and tired of picking up
scraps on the tomcod

Just to fund dad's inland mine.

Narrator:
While shawn's bluff dreams

Have come up
a brutal 2 ounces short...

...On the other side of nome...

...At the local gold buyers...

-Hello.
-Hi.

We're here to sell gold.

-Well, we got gold.
-Yay.

Narrator: ...Nearly halfway
through the mining season

And on the brink
of packing it in,

The fighting kellys
are finally in for a payday.

You know, I don't expect
the fighting to stop.

Well, we're on good gold,

And morale's pretty high
with the boys,

And they just want to get back
out there and get more gold.

How much you think
you got here, guys?

We got about 8.5 ounces.

We're gonna find out
in a minute.

Brad: Yeah,
that's kris' panning.

Well, you have a net
of 8.465 troy ounces.

One check will work for me,
and put it in kris' name.

I go by many names,
but kris cash [bleep]

[ laughter ]

$7,450 is a lot of money.
You guys did great.

Congratulations.
Awesome.

Kris: We have gone through
the worst of it.

But we're not out by any means.

This is still gonna be
my best year,

Even if I have to [bleep] kill
everyone around me to do it

Or stress everybody else
beyond belief

That they're gonna have
to take pills after this.

We're still gonna have
the best season

That we've ever had
in our lives.

-Say it.
-Fine.

Fine.
Okay.

Good...

Say it.

Good job, team.

I appreciate
all your love, you know.

I'm glad everything
worked out really well.

We got to get back out there
on the water.

We got to get back out there
on the water now.

Narrator:
The kellys aren't the only ones
looking to cash in.

On the outskirts on nome...

Hey, keith.
How's it going?

-Mr. Tenhoff.
-How was your trip?

-It was long -- 20 hours.
-Right on.

...For captain zeke tenhoff,
the moment of truth has arrived.

If we could pull a bucket
out of here, start running.

It's a frustrating and kind of
delicate situation for me,

In dealing with the boss
of the parent company,

Because he doesn't understand
gold mining all that well

And really just wants numbers.

I can start classifying.

Narrator:
Zeke's boss isn't the only one
who wants to see numbers.

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

How are you?
-Good. Good.

How'd it go out there?
-Oh, it went okay.

We definitely got
in some good spots out there.

You know,
20% of this is yours.

Well, let me show you
how this works.

I'd like to get paid, too.

Mining on shawn's claim

Ups the pressure for me
significantly

In that there's just
another set of eyeballs

Watching my cleanup,

Wanting to get
a piece out of them,

And looking at me and saying,

"well, is he producing gold
or not?"

And we have a lot buckets
of concentrate.

I saw a lot of good gold
when I was dredging.

So, you know,
I'm hoping it rounds out

To being at least 25 ounces
in this box.

Oh, time to weigh some gold.

-Yeah, here we go.
-Let's move it.

We'll count it down.

7...8...9...

10...11...12.

13.5.

Narrator: 13.5 ounces is worth
just over 16,000 bucks.

[bleep] man.
That's pretty lame.

So, you know,
I don't know what the hell.

Shawn: I was hoping
to see a lot more, too.

Yeah.

Shawn:
Zeke said he was doing great.

It looked like
he was doing all right.

But then he does his cleanup,
and it's, like, crap.

I mean, is zeke as good
as he says he is?

I don't know.

I don't know
what the hell's going on.

You know, maybe it's
blowing gold out the back?

There's over 2 million ounces
in that ocean, so...

Zeke:
If they want to fire me, fine.

But they have
to genuinely understand

What I'm up against here,

Because it's not like
I'm out there just screwing off.

Like, I'm doing my best to do
what I told corporate I'd do.

Narrator:
In the gold-mining game,
every cleanup is make or break.

I need my 20%.
I still got to pay for my claim.

What's, uh, 20% of 13.55?

And sometimes
even the darkest clouds...

2.7.

...Have a silver lining.

Just met my mark
to go to the bluff.

All right, I'll give it to you
in this little, blue cup here.

Oh, it's a big deal.

Getting excited to go out there
and kick some ass.

I'm gonna leave all the scraps
for the boys here at the tomcod

While I go down to the bluff
and get rich.

-Here you go -- 2.7 ounces.
-All right, zeke.

Well, hope you have better luck
next time.

Yeah, no problem.

Put us up over 300.

You know what that means,
don't you?

All right.
I got my 300 ounces.

I guess
you can go to the bluff.

If you think you got to go
to the bluff, go to the bluff.

Narrator: While shawn is
bluff-bound, zeke, well...

It's never too late
to get more gold.

...He'll live
to fight another day.

Halfway through the season,

Mr. Gold can finally
chase his dream,

While everybody else
will chase second place.

Shawn:
Let's get this operation
up and running!

We're into over
a million dollars right now.

Whoa.

I get excited when I see
the gold -- gets me off.

Oh, are you gonna
[bleep] hit me?

[bleep] hit me.

That's what you get when
you [bleep] with the reaper.