Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 4, Episode 14 - The Shining - full transcript

[ laughs ]

Yeah.

[ chuckles ]

[ laughs ]

Narrator: Tonight on the season
finale of "moonshiners"...

Shining by air, land, and sea.

A lot of things can happen.
We're taking a risk.

Narrator: A backwoods legend
is up against the clock...

[ straining ]
all right.

[ grunts ]
hey!

...And a shocking end
in south carolina.



Get on the ground!
Stop! Police!

Man: Holy [bleep]

Man: This is how
we make the moonshine!

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Narrator: It's last call
in shine country

As moonshine stills
across appalachia

Wrap up
their final runs.

With temperatures dropping,
moonshiners are doubling down,

Desperate to land one last score
and bulk up their bank rolls

Before winter's bite.

Under the cover of darkness,
two shiners are going for broke.

Oh, yeah.
She's running now.

Josh and bill are making
their final run of the season.

What's she tasting like?



But they could
be making a huge mistake

Because local police are
breathing down their necks...

Officer: Looks like some
of the makings of what
goes for a moonshine still.

...And they're still site
may be compromised.

[ dog barks ]

Josh: Them was coon dogs.
They had trackers on them.

I guarantee you one
thing, the hunters know
exactly where they are.

With this final batch...

Ahh.

...They've topped
600 gallons,

Capping off
their best season yet.

That's tails.

Josh: You might as well
turn that off.

We got all the liquor
we gonna get out of this thing.

But their luck
may have just run out.

I am ready
to lay down.

[ cutie pie whines ]

Girl?
What's the matter, cutie pie?

[ barks ]

Shh! Bill!
Cutie pie!

Cutie pie,
come here.

Cutie pie!
[ barks ]

Shh! Bill!
Cutie pie, come here.

[ barks ]

[ barking ]

Cutie pie, shut up!

Cutie pie!

Josh: Oh, my god,
he heard that.

[ barks ]
cutie pie!

Cutie pie.

Cutie pie, shut up!

Get over here!

He's pulling out.

He's going
down the road.

That law
is looking for us, dude.

This is the last thing
we need right now.

Should we run?

He's coming back.
He's coming back.

I don't want to get
caught with a damn truck
full of moonshine.

The truck's registered to me.
We can't even run.

He's spotlighting
right here.

Don't move,
don't move.

He stopped again.

[bleep]

Is he leaving?

It looks like he just
pulled off down the road.

He's gone.

He's gone, but we sure as hell
can't get on the road

With them
300 gallons of liquor.

What do you
want to do?

I mean, I don't want to leave
everything here, but then...

We might
need to chill, then,

Before we get
back on the road.

Let's just go sit
up in the woods somewhere

For a couple hours.

In virginia, tim is finding
an ally in his oldest enemy.

Dogged for years by the virginia
abc, the tables have turned,

And they're now providing him
with one of his biggest markets.

This is just
a big day for me.

It's so many years
I've been trying

To get the state of virginia
to sell my moonshine.

Soon as we can get it
bottled up, get it on the truck,

Get it to richmond, bam --

We done got climax moonshine
in the state of virginia.

I called tickle,

And I want tickle
to come up and be part of this.

Me and tickle's been together
for a long time,

And I just keep telling him
about it that,

"hey, it's gonna happen.
It's gonna happen."

And finally it's here.

Chuck?
Chuck: Yeah.

Where you at?
Better get to rolling, here.

Narrator: In order to officially
allow distribution,

The abc has required tim

To deliver 2,000 cases of shine
in 20 days for approval.

Chuck: Well, you know, we got
this big order to get out,

And there I was worried
you was never gonna show.

No, I'm gonna make it.
Today's the big day.

Now he's got
only two days left.

Here we go.
Tell them to let her roll.

All right.
Bottles are rolling.

Tell you
what we're gonna do is,

I'll get the bottles,
you can put the labels on them.

I'll go that way,
you go that way.

Go on down thataway.

Tim: Got to meet
this shipment, see?

We got to
be there on time.

If we don't get it on time,
we're gonna be late.

Then we'll cancel
the whole order.

First bottle of climax moonshine
made in the state of virginia.

Right there.

Tim: This whole storyline
started with my dad.

This is the first bottle
of my dad's recipe.

He would have been excited
about doing it.

Today is
the greatest day ever.

Hey.
Tim: Hey, man.

Hey, man.
Where you been at?

Right here.
Man, you know what?

We didn't never
jug it up like this.

I know.

Look, one box, you put
six in, you do this, this,
this, this, this.

Put it right there.

Six bottles.
I can count that high.

See, we kind of
in a hurry.

I know.
You got to go.

You know, you got to go
to richmond with this stuff.

That's right.
I got to go to richmond.

[ laughs ]
I mean, that's all right.

Yeah.
This is a big day.

Well, you ain't kidding,
you know?

This stuff is getting made,
bottled, sold in virginia,

And it's legal

Who'd ever thought
we'd be delivering shine...

I know!

...To the abc?
I know it.

I know it.
To the abc themselves.

This is a huge thing.
Tim is legal in virginia.

You got this?
Yeah.

Yeah?

Don't get
out of order.

Tickle: Hey, y'all,
slow down a little bit.

[ laughs ]
damn.

You know, maybe we can drink
a little bit of this

After we get done.

What do you think?

You ain't chuck's
wife or daughter, are you?

No?
All right.

Are you anybody's wife?

Oh! Damn.
All right.

Narrator: Across the state line
in north carolina...

Lance: Heat down?
Jeff: Yep.

I got her down.
All right.

Let's
get out of here.

...Jeff and lance
are finishing up

Their last round-the-clock run
of the season,

And they're ready to haul
their final 5 grand of liquor

From still site
to stash house.

Mark will be tickled.

Yeah, we got back
about what he lost.

Over the past six weeks...

You got her
pasted up?

Jeff:
I'm a-getting it.

...The two have brewed
hundreds of gallons of shine...

Jeff: That's a load of liquor
right there.

...For their partner mark
to deliver by boat

To a big
tennessee buyer.

But with the cops
circling...

Officer: Just looks
a little suspicious,

You on these back roads
this late at night.

Jeff: Well, if you want
to go get a search warrant,

I'll let you
go through it.

...Father and son
are taking extra precautions

To move
their precious cargo.

Well, dad, he's running
all the shine in his truck

Just in case the law's
waiting for us somewhere.

I can kind of
sacrifice myself.

To keep the liquor safe,

Lance will use an old
moonshiner's road tactic --

He's gonna
drive interference.

Lance will tail
jeff's truck.

If a police cruiser takes notice
and begins to follow,

Lance will either
drive recklessly

Or fake a mechanical failure

In an effort
to distract the policeman,

Giving jeff just enough time
to reach their stash house.

Even if lance
gets a summons,

A traffic ticket is better
than a prison sentence.

Jeff: Any time they meet me now,
they pull me over.

I can't do nothing no more
in the county

Without the law
harassing me real bad.

It's a-getting hard
to transport this stuff.

I got to be lucky
all the time,

They only have to be lucky
one time.

We're meeting the law now.

Guarantee they'll turn around,
let me tell you.

Yeah, he's a-turning.
He's turning.

Durn it.
Every time I get out,

The dadgum law
goes to bother me.

I'm gonna pull off the road,
act like I'm broke down.

You go ahead and jump out.

That way, I won't
have anybody in the vehicle,

Just in case he decides
to give me a hard time.

Well, it's game time now.
Okay.

Jeff:
Hope lance does his job.

If he don't,
guess I'm going to jail.

Narrator: Jeff's still hands,
mike and tyler,

Are waiting at the stash house
to help move the shine inside.

Mike: You know what? One of them
should have been here by now.

Tyler: Hopefully
nothing happened.

Somebody's coming.

It's jeff.

Jeff: I'll feel a lot better
when we are unloaded.

Tyler: No, sir.

Narrator: Later, mark
will pick up the shine

And secretly ferry it
across the river to tennessee.

But they're not
the only ones

With their sights
set on the water.

[ gunshots ]

All season,
sheriff's deputy chuck stewart

Has been gathering
vital evidence...

...Waiting for the right moment

To move in
on mark, jeff, and lance.

Now the lawman's
ready to strike.

Slide me the boat.
We'll hook it up.

Let's get this thing
set under here right.

Mike: Buddy, I'll tell you
one thing -- we got a load.

Narrator:
Coming up, outlaws on the lam...

Digger: Phew. Damn.
I've been uneasy.

Ramsey: You can't do
nothing if you're scared
to death all the time.

...Night moves...

Bill:
We got no other choice.

We got to get in
then get our [bleep] out

Before anybody else
comes in on us.

...And a boatload
of trouble.

Narrator:
It's the dead of night.

Josh: Whoo!

Josh and bill

Are sneaking through
the south carolina backwoods.

Bill:
We got no other choice.

We got to get in
then get our [bleep] out

And get out of dodge before
anybody else comes in on us.

The cops are on the prowl
near their still site,

And their luck
has finally run out.

All in all,
it's been a great year,

But if we want
to stay out of jail,

The only thing
that we can do

Is get all of this stuff
out of our still site,

Anything that could
be traced back to us,

And get it
the hell out of here.

That's good for now.

I mean,
that was the first trip.

I about
blew my back out already.

Well, hell. I should've
stretched before we done this.

[bleep] christmas.

No.

[ grunts ]

[bleep]

The worm box
was a bastard.

[ grunts ]

That thing probably weighed
like 300, 350 pounds,

And it was all me and bill
could do to inch it out.

Bill: One, two, three.
Come on.

Inch by inch.

[ groans ]

I hear ya.
Look out.

Uh-oh.
About went downhill.

All right,
I need your help.

[ grunts ]

And I hate to say it,

But I guess this pot's

Just gonna have to damn rot
right where it's at.

Maybe one day we'll come back
and get the stainless.

We're gonna
have to leave the pot

'cause it's too big
to get out of the damn woods.

And, hell, traditionally,

They've always been
left in the damn woods anyway.

Narrator: Josh and bill
used a blackpot submarine still.

This style of still
was originally designed

By virginia shiners to produce
large amounts of liquor quickly.

In addition, they're made
of inexpensive materials,

So when the law came calling,
the pot could be abandoned

Without taking
a big financial loss.

To this day, thousands
of these deserted pots

Can be found rotting
in the backwoods of virginia.

I can't believe
we've worked this hard

Just to tear
this [bleep] apart.

Bill: I mean, we knew the site
wasn't gonna last forever.

That's all
we gonna get out of it.

Cutie pie!

Good girl.

[ groans ]

She's black again.

Josh and bill may have lost
their still site,

But they've stockpiled
600 gallons of quality liquor...

Two months to build it, and
two hours to break her down.

...Their best year yet.

As dawn breaks
in east tennessee,

Two shiners
are on the run.

Digger:
We're pretty fortunate.

We haven't even seen
the law on the road today.

I've been uneasy.

Mark and digger's
first big-league sale

In nearly a decade

Ended in disaster,
with their bootlegger, barry,

Getting busted, forcing them
to tear down their still site.

Ramsey: Well, them damn fish
will be happy.

Now they're headed to a safe
spot to stash their setup,

Including their 200-gallon still
and popcorn's shotgun condenser.

Ramsey: Get up here
and get the rest of it unloaded.

Move on.

This is good back here.
We can put it anywhere in there.

Digger:
Phew. Damn.

That spout
right in there.

We get it
covered up here,

We can get the hell
out of dodge.

Kind of hide it
a little better.

There we go.

Me and you probably --

We need to stay away from
each other for a day or two.

Sounds like
a plan to me.

Man can't make
no good liquor if he's nervous.

No, you can't do nothing
if you're scared to
death all the time.

But before calling it quits
for the year,

Mark and digger
have one more stop to make.

Ramsey:
Well, here we are.

You know what today is,
don't you?

Digger: Today's
the old man's birthday.

How you doing down there,
old timer?

We come to tell you
happy birthday

And have a drink
with you.

We may or may not
have some problems,

But we're just
gonna visit with you a while.

It's a lost art.

When I'm gone,
it's all over with.

Nobody else
ain't gonna work this hard.

Been 68 years old today.
Yep.

Don't seem like he's been gone
that long, either, does it?

No. Yeah, we could really
use him about now.

No, if there's any place that
we can collect our thoughts,

It's here.

This barry thing,
I don't know, digger.

We ain't got a clue
if we're in trouble or not.

We got to decide
on what to do.

Do we quit,
or do we keep on?

That's a decision
me and you's got to agree on.

I ain't enjoying
being a nervous wreck right now.

No, I ain't, either.

It's all fun and games
until something goes wrong.

Yeah.
Yeah.

I'm gonna give you a birthday
drink, here, you old fart.

I think you'd
be proud of this.

You learned us good.

Don't let that go
to your damn head all at once.

That might make old man
raise up, right there.

We'll see you,
old timer.

As one pair of shiners
closes up shop for the season,

Another isn't ready
to pack it in just yet.

Mark: Damn, that's a big
load of liquor, ain't it?

Just set it on the porch,
and I'll load it.

Mark and his cousin huck
are hustling

To bootleg another 50 gallons
to their big tennessee buyer.

Hey, huck?

You can tie this
off front,

Then I'll get you to go
to the back, tie the back off,

And we'll be good.

To keep the cops
from finding their liquor,

They're stowing it in a secret,
floating compartment

Hidden below the boat.

Phew.

Got her tied up?

Tie her
to that ring right there.

[ motor whirs ]

Mark: Yeah, it's getting on up
into the season.

Want to make the money.

We're just gonna have to
get it done, whatever it takes.

Narrator: With 5 grand worth of
shine set to cross state lines,

Mark and huck
could be breaking

A half-dozen
state and federal laws.

Mark: Yeah, it's a long ways
down the river

To get it
to where we're going.

A lot of things can happen.

Law will show up
anytime, anywhere.

We're taking a risk.

Narrator:
They have reason to be nervous

Because they're not
the only ones on the water.

Damn law, huck.

Wonder what
he's wanting.

Never know.

What're we gonna do?

Yeah.

Hey, bud.

In my pocket.

Yep.

Oh, no.
We're just loafing and fishing.

That's all we're doing.
Having a good time, trying to.

Well, we don't want you
searching it.

Well, you might as
well. You gonna get it
anyway. Just come on.

Chuck: Okay.
You know it.

Ain't nothing wrong with
our boat. Look him over. No.

Ain't a whole lot
on our boat,

As you can see
just by looking at it.

That's my little box
I carry my fishing equipment in.

Narrator: Coming up,
jim tom bounces back...

They're not
gonna stop us.

No. I don't stop.
I'm just like the titanic.

Narrator: ...Bootlegging
on a wing and a prayer...

Tyler: There ain't no plane
out here.

He said this guy'd be here
with his plane at 4:00.

...And it's the final push
for tim.

[ straining ] all right.

[ grunts ]
hey!

Narrator: On a river
near the tennessee state line,

Two shiners
are dead in the water.

Mark:
'bout dead. How are you?

Ain't nothing wrong
with our boat. Look him over.

Mark and huck
have 50 gallons of shine

Hidden beneath
the floorboards of their boat.

In sheriff's deputy
chuck stewart

Uncovers their secret stash,

They're headed
straight for the slammer.

That's my little box I carry
my fishing equipment in.

We ain't got nothing. We're
just fishing is all we're doing.

All right. Thank you.
Chuck: Thank you.

Good god almighty.

Look, that's
a close call right there.

Narrator: To safely hide
his liquor below deck,

Mark installed a false bottom
doubling as a gear drawer

To keep the law
from digging any deeper.

This little box
saved our lives.

If they'd have caught us with
that load of liquor under here,

We'd have had it.

Sure.

Let's go.

Let's get out.

Just a few miles away...

[ humming ]

...Jim tom and roy
are facing a hard truth.

Well...
Hello, mr. Roy.

I hear that you might need
a little more copper.

Well, your mind's a-working
like mine, ain't it?

Yeah.

Roy:
Hell, all our stuff's gone.

Jim tom: Gone?

After finding their still site
trashed and copper pot stolen...

It pisses me off. I had
a lot of money tied up in this,

Didn't we, roy?
Yeah.

...The two veterans
were forced to call it quits.

Makes me want to cry, really,
but I'm tougher than that.

A little bit. They'd have
had to been more than...

Yeah, but, see,
if you don't know,

You can't just
walk up to somebody and say,

"how come you'd steal
my liquor still?"

Yeah.

Man could
get his head busted.

Yeah. Somebody hauled it
for junk, probably.

Probably took it
to the junk pile

To make them a few dollars to
get them a pill with, I guess.

Probably

No, no.

[ laughs ]

You ever
had this done before?

My gosh.

Son, if this was
the first time...

I've had,
let's see, two.

One shot all to pieces,
another tore down.

They're not
gonna stop us.

Mnh-mnh.

Yeah.

We'll have her ready
for the next season, now,

You can bet
your bottom dollar on that.

Oh, yeah.
They ain't a-putting us out.

I mean, I'm sure glad you
brought that sheet of copper.

Your mind's working
just like mine, ain't it?

Well, now,
I wouldn't swear to that.

Well, it must be, because I
was gonna go get copper anyway,

And here you
come with a sheet.

[ chuckles ] yeah.
You know we got to have it.

Right.
I know we got to have it.

Well, you're
a good boy.

Well, thank you, sir.

You're a good guy.

Yeah.

I may just fix me
a hammock to that tree

And just lay there
and swing.

Oh, yeah.
All right?

But while jim tom and roy
are done for the season,

Chico and tyler are on the brink
of a major breakthrough.

We'll get these last few
filled up here.

I got most of them full.

After ditching tickle,
chico and tyler are trying

To expand their customer base
and cash flow

With their new honey shine.

Tyler: You reckon we can get
$200 a gallon on this?

Well, I don't reckon.
I know.

We stepping up to a clientele
that's on another level.

Suit-and-tie,
titty-bar type.

Pretty much.

Now they've landed
a big-time buyer in tennessee,

Ready to haul their first
30 gallons by plane.

They're prepping their top-shelf
moonshine for its maiden voyage.

$200 a gallon, man.

That's good money.

That's the kind of stuff
we need to be fooling with.

We get to playing toward
this bigger clientele,

These people that wear suits
to dinner...

I'm still just real nervous
about this airplane, man.

Well,
it's something new.

People's a little afraid
of change sometimes,

But you gonna get used
to it.

Well, not when son-of-a-bitches
is going missing everywhere.

[ laughs ]

Well, you ain't getting
on the damn airplane.

I'm not gonna get on
no damn airplane.

I don't like water,
I don't like air.

I like ground. Dirt.

God made dirt
and dirt don't hurt.

We dealing with new people,

So with new people
comes new problems.

This old boy, he seems like

He's done this
a time or two, you know?

He put us on a location
where he could land that thing,

And we could load and get out.

But I don't ever get completely
comfortable about a situation,

'cause [bleep] can happen.

That's the last one, there.

Let's roll.

[ sighs ]

Tyler: Well, man, I guess
this is about it for us.

It's the end of the season,
you know?

We're running out of time.
This is about all we got left.

This has got to count.

We just got to be cool,
pull up down here,

Get this stuff on this plane,
let this cat get it out of here,

And then
we'll be home free.

I believe
this is it right here, man.

I see a strip over here.

I tell you what,
I see down that strip,
but I don't see nobody.

There ain't no plane
out here.

I don't like nothing to do
with the whole situation.

Lo and behold, we show up,
there ain't no plane.

I met this cat once.

What am I supposed to think,
you know?

He said this guy'd be here
with his plane at 4:00.

Narrator: Coming up,
from backcountry to big money.

Tim: That's the place
right there, tickle. Look.

Mighty secure-looking complex
they got going on there.

And josh and bill's curse
continues.

Narrator: At a landing strip
in the backwoods of kentucky,

The clock is ticking
for chico and tyler.

They're anxious to send off
the first batch of honey shine

To a tennessee high-roller.

Tyler: Yeah, this is it.
I see the strip over yonder.

But so far,
they're pilot's a no-show.

I tell you what,
I see down that strip,
but I don't see nobody.

I don't see nobody
out here, man.

[ sighs ]

I don't like nothing to do
with the whole situation.

He said this guy'd be here
with his plane at 4:00.

We sitting out here
in the middle of this field,

We got 30 gallons of liquor.

$6,000, you know?

It's just like a duck sitting
out on a pond, man.

You know, we sitting out there
in the open.

It ain't a good situation
to be in.

See, this is your folks,
brother.

I don't know
nothing about these people.

I don't know
these people.

They gonna have to get me
to trust them

If they want this
to happen again.

Yeah, but you got to prove
yourself in the eyes of money.

We just made a couple runs
and did this.

Imagine what we could do
with 10 runs.

That's house money.

That's [bleep] you money.

Listen to that.
Oh, lord.

Listen, listen.

I hear a plane.

That don't
make me like it.

Oh, lord, there it is.

That's a plane coming there,
ain't it?

Boy, that's a whole lot
of money

We fixing to load
on a paper airplane.

[ propeller blades whirring ]

Let's go over here and see
if everything's going good here.

How 'bout it, man?

Oh, everything good?

Everything else good to go,
ain't it?

Yes, sir.
Is you ready?

All right.
We'll get you loaded up.

[bleep] dang.

Well, that's it, boss.

We gonna give you that.

And when you drop it off,

They gonna pay you
the other half.

We appreciate you.

Safe travels to you.

Yeah, hopefully so.

All right, man.
See you later.

This whole season's
been nothing but a long road.

It ain't been easy.

It's just like anybody's life,
you know?

You got hills to climb.

There's always obstacles.

But to be a moonshiner,
you got to overcome that.

Whole lot of money
going up in the air, isn't it?

You can believe that.

We loaded that stuff
on a freaking airplane, man.

Tyler: We gonna get a phone call
here in about an hour,

And it's gonna be
talking about money.

That quick?
It can be that quick?

He'll be there in that plane --
you see how fast that plane was?

He'll be there
in 20 minutes.

Well,
let's get out of here.

Ain't no reason
we got to stand here no more.

Yeah, let's go.

Chico: We started out
this season crawling,

And then we made
a lot higher-quality moonshine

With the honey, you know?

We work out guts out,

And then sit and wait
on the profit to come in.

And when it does come, you know,
you're on top of the world.

There's more to come,
and I'm ready to roll.

Another day, another dollar.

Narrator:
For shiners everywhere,

The season is ending.

But josh and bill
have one loose end to tie up

Before they can
let their guard down.

Josh: Come on, cutie pie.

The law's been breathing
down our necks,

So we don't want to
leave anything behind.

So we came down here
to do one more final cleanup,

And get anything and everything
out of here in broad daylight.

We can get in and get out.

Whew.

Well, it was a good run.

Bill: Yeah, it was.
[ groans ]

Bill: Now, we put
a bunch of work in at this site.

It's been one of my favorite
still sites so far, you know?

We got a bunch of liquor
out of it, but it's --

I mean, it's just kind of sad,

Just having to
pick everything up

And clean everything out.

We're gonna miss this place.

I want to get damn
every bit of damn evidence,

Damn fingerprints,
any kind of trash I left around.

That's pretty much everything,
ain't it?

Can't believe it's done.

We had
a damn good run, too.

Bill: Yes, we did.

I got to tell you, it's a little
depressing leaving our site.

We worked really hard
putting it up.

Everything's dying out,
the leaves are falling.

Bill:
You know how it is with us.

Ain't nothing good
gonna last for too long

Before something happens to us.

And it's hard to say goodbye
to a site,

But with the law just
been getting too close to us,

We didn't have no choice
but to just pack everything up.

We ain't got nothing else
down there.

Nothing but footprints.

[ engine revs ]

Worked so hard to get this thing
up and running,

And then --
well, hell, it served us well.

We made a lot of liquor,
we made a lot of money.

But it's kind of sad,
tearing it down.

[ siren wails ]

Get on the ground!
Stop! Police!

Stop! Police!

[ stun gun buzzes ]
man: Holy [bleep]

Man:
Where's your partner going?

I-I don't -- I don't know.

No, sir.

Uh, well, it's just a little bit
we were sipping on.

Uh, yes, sir.

Ha ha!

Yeah.
Look at that [bleep]

You actually ride around

With that guy
all around the truck?

I know.

Chuck, you wouldn't be caught
dead riding in that thing.

Long as we don't get his picture
in the post office,

We're all right.

Narrator: The day tim smith has
waited his entire career for

Has finally arrived.

We gonna load you up,
tim?

Tim: Yeah. I'm gonna go there
and back the truck up.

All right.

How we gonna get these
on this thing?

They're already on the pallet
and all that.

We're gonna have to do it
by hand.

He's loading up 2,000 cases of
his climax moonshine to take

To the virginia department
of alcoholic beverage control.

Ready to roll.

You got a license
to drive that thing?

I got all I --
I've done this before.

But they'll have to hurry.

All of the bottles
must arrive today,

Or his approval to sell
could be revoked.

Tim:
Richmond is the abc board,

Where they control
all of the alcohol

That's distributed
in the state of virginia.

All right. All right.

We have to deliver to richmond

The famous climax recipe,
my dad's recipe.

You know what, tim?

Chuck: We gonna miss our date
in richmond.

That man is up there.

Tim: Yeah.
He's proud of you today.

Yeah, I know.
You know he is.

Got his picture on the truck,
his picture on the cases.

You know
he's proud of you today.

Tim: Even before my dad
had passed, we talked about it

But, you know,
we never could get it done.

And then now it's gonna happen.

Today is gonna be like
a victory lap, you know?

It's like a big celebration
that, hey, we've made it.

Tickle: Man, now, we've loaded
trucks up like this before,

But there was no boxes involved
and, yeah, it was usually dark.

This gonna take some getting
used to, doing all this stuff...

Doing it in the daylight?

...In the daylight
where everybody can see.

All right.
We got yours loaded.

Let's load mine up, then.

All right.
That's good.

There you go, huh?

It looks like chuck's loaded
some shine on this thing before.

Tim: Yeah, man.
We fill this thing up.

Here we go. Push, push, push.
There you go. Push!

Oh, got to go up some,
tim.

It's too slick.
Can't get no traction.

It may not go.
I don't know.

Chuck: Go, go, go.

[ grunts ]

Keep a-pushing.

Don't quit.
Keep pushing.

Nothing to it, huh?

Tim: Richmond is about two hours
from here.

Chuck:
All right, let her rip.

You know, it's a long ways and
many years to get to this point,

So we don't want to mess it up
right now.

Oh, you gave up steam!
What happened there?

We didn't give it up.

[ straining ] all right.

[ grunts ]
hey!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
You all right, chuck?

I'm all right.

Yeah.
It is slick up in there.

Too slippery.

All right.
[ grunts ]

Here we go.

Let's make the state
of virginia happy, huh?

Me and tickle are
gonna follow you.

You can get out?
You know where you're at?

All right.
I got it.

Don't run into nothing,
now.

I got it, man.

Let's roll.

Well, you know, I've been
to richmond plenty of times,

But always kind of skirted
my way around the abc, you know?

Yeah,
I've been to richmond myself,

But not hauling moonshine
like this.

It's a run
I never thought we'd make.

I know.

The middle of the day.

And we going to the abc.

[ chuckling ]
yeah, we going to the abc.

We going to see them.

This is gonna be good,
though, man.

Well, this is a start.

Look, look.
See that?

Oh, look, look.
Yeah, right there.

Now we're getting
the escort, see?

You know, back in the day,

We'd have took off
the other direction,

Whether we had to cut through
a corn field or something.

Yeah.

But now it's okay.

We can ride right along
with that cop.

He can ride
right beside us.

Yeah.

That's the place right there,
tickle. Look.

Mighty secure-looking complex
they got

Going on there.
Yeah.

I don't know
about this place here, tim.

Narrator: With this delivery
to the virginia abc,

Tim's journey
from backwoods to the big time

Is just beginning.

But for outlaws
across appalachia,

Moonshine season
is drawing to a close.

That sounds
like a plan, man.

We'll see you
about that time, man.

Money is money.

Chico: I like money.

Some take the fall.

You do right by us,
and we'll do right by you.

All right.

Narrator:
Some are back to square one.

Josh:
After all that, they took me in,

Wrote me a ticket
for open container,

Bill was able
to come and get me.

Narrator: Some toast
to their best year yet...

...While other wait
for next season.

I think we got close this year.

They probably got lucky
a few times.

They gonna make a mistake
sooner or later,

And when they do, just got to be
in the right place

To capitalize on their mistake.