19x21 - Last Stand of John Hillstrand

[bunniefuu]

[Sig] Hey, Johnny.

What's up, man? I pulled
some ugliness down here.

Got about five crab
out of 40 pots.

Oh, my God.

[Johnathan speaking]

[laughs] So, I'm, uh...

[Sig] You know, I'll tell you
something, John,

farther to the north
and to the west.

Think I got down to,
like, 225, 30 fathom,

so maybe from there, and
deeper might be something.

Oh, you saw that out there?

Well, that's interesting.

I'm gonna try that
next, I'm thinking.

[Sig] All right.

[Johnathan] Okay, buddy. Thanks.

- Thanks.
- [Sig] You're welcome.

Okay, bye.

Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay.

That's what we're gonna do.

Thirty-two years I've been pulling
this stuff, every kind of fishery.

But I don't care how many
years you've been out here.

You know, just
something can happen.

♪ Oh, I'm a cowboy ♪

Hey! Whoa, whoa,
whoa! Stop, Shyanne!

♪ I'm wanted, wanted ♪

Now, it's gone.

It can't be gone.

♪ Dead or alive ♪

It's gone!

- [man] Hey! Hey! Hey!
- [shouting]

Quick, get the crab pot on.

[Rick] Weather's
starting to pick up.

This was kinda my worst fear,

I didn't want this to happen.

♪ Dead or alive ♪

[indistinct shouting]

♪ Dead or alive ♪

[Johnathan] This might
be the last adventure.

You're almost done, but...

it's still not over.

You still gotta fight.

[narrator] 160 miles
north of Dutch Harbor...

[Sig] Coming up
on the first pot.

[man] Yeah.

Here we go! Big pot coming!

We now have to face the problem
with the canneries closing down.

But I'm still confident

because we're seeing sign.

[narrator] ...on
the Northwestern...

Come on, crab!

Coming up.

What do we got? What do we got?

- Oh!
- Oh, no.

[Sig] I was hoping that
we'd hit on this bottom end,

but I mean, it's bairdi.

Uh, you know, they
don't like to play nice.

Bunch of weirdos.

Come on, baby, come to papa!

Oh, [bleep]!

[narrator] With 10 days until
processors shut their doors,

Captain Sig Hansen
and daughter, Mandy,

lose the scent on grounds
dimpled with ridges and gullies.

I mean, like, we have, you know,
a little spot around here that...

It was like a... It was
a dip, it was a hole.

But I can't remember where.

When we fished it,

it was on my bathymetric
chart, you know?

I know it was in, like, a curve,

but I don't know which one.

I don't see your charts, Dad.

[crew member over radio] Three.

[Sig] Come on!

I don't know when, but I know
I got it on a plotter somewhere.

[sighs]

[radio beeps]

[Sig speaking over radio]

[Norman] Roger.

Here we go. [grunts]

[Norman speaking]

[Sig speaking]

I didn't have any, bud.

[Sig] Norman seems to think
we got the computer on the boat.

If anybody knows, he does.

Well, I got the guys
stacking 'em on right now.

Hopefully, he can find it.

[Donna speaking over phone]

I think they feel more at
home here than anywhere else.

- They haven't had to... -
[Donna speaking over phone]

[Jake] That means it's good.

They've been pretty happy.

[Donna speaking over phone]

[narrator] On the Saga...

[Jake] We're looking
to fill two tanks.

And we've seen a
lot of small crabs.

Because we don't have
enough people on the table

to sort good enough
and fast enough.

Um, I still have a lot
to learn on the hydros.

- Guys, ready?
- [man] Yes!

[Jake] Sixty-five fathoms.

They've been soaking
for over 36 hours now.

[narrator] After
venturing north of the fleet

on the hunt for
harvestable male crab,

Captain Jake Anderson
looks to prospect pots

in upper latitudes
to fill his tanks

with $300,000 of bairdi

ahead of a scheduled delivery.

[man] Nothing!

There's nothing in it,
dude. What the [bleep]?

I don't think it's the tide.

This string is gonna suck.

Okay.

Let's just calm down here

and look at this one.

[man] Ah!

[Jake] I tired to spread 'em
out a little bit with the string

'cause I wanted to see if
it was gonna work better

if I set 'em tight, or if I
started spacing 'em out.

Well, what the pots are telling
me is that don't space 'em out.

[man speaking]

They're also telling me
that the crab are, uh...

moving to the south slightly.

Ah!

All right, stack 'em on, guys.

I'm so cold. It's so
[bleep] cold over here.

All you do is stand
here and push levers

and get wind blown and
rained on in your face.

[Jake] Currents are
running real hard.

Slow it down, Shy.

[man] Shut it off! Shut it off!

- [Shyanne] Oh, [bleep].
- [man] Shut it off!

- [Shyanne] Okay.
- [Jake] Hey.

Hey! Whoa, whoa,
whoa! Stop, Shyanne.

[bleeps]

Okay, just get it up, Shy.

[Shyanne] Pot coming up.

[crew member speaking]

Oh, it's toast.

- Snapped right off.
- [Shyanne groans]

[Jake] Without that
stiff arm, the block,

it'll still hang there by
a chain and a shackle

but the stiff arm
holds all the tension.

It's the main piece that
protects whoever is at the rail

from it swinging
and hitting 'em.

I [bleep] this up,
I should probably

at least give my best
attempt at fixing it.

It doesn't seem
like a very tough fix,

but it's time-consuming, because
you have to weld it thoroughly.

[Shyanne speaking]

[Jake] I'm gonna go south.

I gotta move.

- [crackles] -
[Shyanne] Oh, my God.

- Are you done yet? Or what?
- Get the [bleep] out of here.

I don't need your help.

Told you I'd fix it. Get... You're
tripping over my [bleep] cord!

[Jake] I just hope
nothing else happens.

[Rick] Hey, guys, you
'bout ready to rock and roll?

Roger! Whoo!

[narrator] On the
Aleutian Lady...

[Rick] We got our offload date.

We gotta be heading
to Akutan in 22 hours,

so I'm hoping to get on a nice,
big school of monster bairdi

'cause those bigger bairdi,
they can fill the tank up quicker.

Every ounce, every pound helps.

Hopefully, it's stuffed.

[crew member] No good!

- Looks pretty weak.
- [sighs]

[laughs] Ah!

[crew member speaking]

One!

I can't have this
kind of slow fishing.

So I'm gonna have
to make a move.

Yeah, go ahead, stack it.

[crew member over radio] Roger.

I've heard of guys
starting to see a little trend

of everything going to the west.

- [waves crashing] - [Rick]
So I'm gonna head over

and get a better feel
for what's going on.

[narrator] Herding for


before his final
offload in two days...

Captain Rick Shelford
takes gossip as gospel,

stacking and moving
to alleged hot fishing.

- [creaking] - [Rick]
Ssh, I'm trying to listen.

That ain't a sound
I like to hear.

Stop running the crane.
Stop running the crane.

I'm gonna go see.

No.

Hold it there.

[bleep], man.

Son of a [bleep].

The hydraulic
pump for the crane,

sounds like it's binding
up or something.

[screams]

[bleep]

Mother [bleep]!

[Rick screams]

Mother [bleep]!

[exhales]

Wonderful day, you know that?

The hydraulic pump for the
crane on the starboard generator

sounds like it's binding
up or something.

If we run the crane, it's
bogging the generator down

way hard.

So I'm not gonna stack any
more pots the rest of this trip.

I need my other two
strings to the east

to produce a lot better.

No!

[laughs]

Oh, my gosh!

It would be nice to have
one day without an issue...

one day without a problem.

[narrator] On the golden
king crab grounds...

[Johnathan] I got two strings.

I'm pulling our first one so
that's what we're gonna do.


the crab we're missing right here.

[narrator] Aboard
the Time Bandit...

[Johnathan] So, I'm
gonna go a little closer.

We should see the balloons.

[narrator] ...with only three
days of rations remaining

and the end of winter
season fast approaching,

Captain Johnathan
Hillstrand targets the first

of two 20-pot strings...

It should be right here now.

[narrator] ...eager to stack on
the last of his million-dollar goal.

We're gonna need luck.

The bags might be down.

That one hurt.

Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay.

I'm just gonna drive
up to the next one, Neil.

This is crazy.

Keep looking.

[narrator] Holding his pots
and his season hostage,

surging six-knot currents,

straining the
half-mile long lines,

dragging the buoys
beneath the surface.

[Johnathan] That's like $24,000
worth of gear we have to leave here.

Well, we ain't doing that.

Um, I'm gonna pull 'em
up with a [bleep] hook.

I'm gonna snag 'em.

I'm gonna drag.

[Neil] Never give up.

Thank you. Never give up.

We have not yet begun the fight.

Hey, Neil...

Got this shipping bar.

Metal down here.

[Johnathan] Freddy's
got out his welding stick.

We're putting
some drag together.

Soon as they got that done,
I'mma throw it in the water,

I'm gonna drag
one of these pots up.

Come to daddy.

Come to daddy!

Okay, try her. Let her
go when you're ready.

Go get 'em, man!

Fish on!

Okay, we'll start
pulling that real slow.

[crew member] Ah!

Nothing.

We're gonna run
down the line again.

- Try it again, guys.
- Roger!

And throw it over.

[Freddy] Come on, baby, fish on.

I'm gonna pull it
really slow towards us

till it gets tight.

Okay, go ahead
and put it on deck.

We get it?

Yeah. Whoo!

We found one.

We got a chance.

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

[laughs] I was shaking.

[crew member]
Got five. Got five.

- Yeah! Whoo!
- Whoo!

[laughs]

Well, that feels a lot better.

Good things that
come to those who wait.

Come to papa!

All right, I'm not
giving up hope.

Ten more here, then
go out in the shallow.

Hopefully we'll run
out to the next string

and it'll be solid


How did you know it
was in the box? [laughs]

[Norman] It's heavy.

[narrator] On the
Northwestern...

I do know that hole

and where I wanna
fish and from the past,

and that was in '90s,

is on that old computer.

Is it doable? Can
you hook that up?

[Norman] Yeah, it looks like it.

- Need a bigger door.
[chuckles] - Bigger door?

All right.

Well, fire it up and see.

Stay in here.

[exclaims]

Oh, so, if I go
to "file" here...

"OP 97. OP 95."

What's that?

- [Norman] That's the hole.
- [Sig] That's the hole.

- Awesome.
- [laughs]

- All righty.
- Good job. Awesome.

You gotta come see
this. Come up here.

[Mandy] What's going on?

Take a look at this.

See how that dip
there looks like a hole?

See that, that
looks like a plateau?

And then it curves
up, curves up.

You wouldn't think that
was a ditch or a hole there,

- would you?
- [Mandy] Mm-hmm.

- [Sig] You do understand what I'm saying?
- [Mandy chuckling] Okay.

I can't believe you
didn't write this down.

[Sig chuckling] A selfie?

[Mandy] There, I got it.

- That's so silly.
- [Mandy] See?

[Sig laughs]

I would've never ever found
that without this data. No way.

Good job, Norman.

- Yeah, buddy!
- [crew member] Whoo!

Come on.

- What happened?
- [Sig] Come on.

Now it's gone.

It can't be gone.

[Sig] It's gone!

[Mandy] What did you click on?

I didn't touch nothing.

Didn't touch a damn thing.

I was looking at the
areas, and I clicked over,

bang, gone. Just like that.

It's dead.

[narrator] On the
Northwestern...

Now, you're plugged into the
deck camera, that's flickering.

Why?

Power cord's plugged
in, the strip shows power.

So the computer
must have finally died.

[Sig] Son of a b*tch.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Problem is, I needed to find it

because the last time I
found it was just by luck.

I bet you can I pull these
coordinates up for you.

See?

Modern-day technology.

Look at that.

Hey, I got you spot.
Isn't that your hole?

- Huh?
- Blow it up, blow it up.

- [laughs]
- Oop.

Write it down before
my phone crashes.

Read me that bearing.

[Mandy] 5609, 52.

Fifty-two.

- One sixty-six.
- Yeah.

Forty-one, sixty-five.

Sixty-five.

[laughs]

You got your little
honey hole back.

[laughs]

[Norman speaking]

Oh, I'm real good right
now, I got my mark.

We'll set a little
bit through there,

there's any life, we
go in for the slam.

Sounds like a plan.

[crew member speaking]

[Shyanne] Told you I'd fix it.

Job is done, let's
go haul some gears.

[narrator] On the Saga...

This is the first pot
of the targeted gear.

This is the southern set.

Got ourselves fixed
up, licked our wounds.

[narrator] ...after prospect
strings set north of the fleet

busted Jake's
hydraulic stiff arm

and his bottom line, the veteran
skipper looks for a second chance

for himself in the south...

and his niece
back on the sticks.

Shyanne ain't going nowhere.

You can't operate if you
can't fix what your break.

All right, guys,
let's hop to it.

[crew member]
All right, let's roll!

These pots have about


I want a crab an hour,
I'd take a crab an hour.

That's 50 crab a pick.

[Shyanne] Whoo!

- Whoo!
- [crew member] Good.

[bleep] ton of crab,
dude. [chuckles]

[crew members cheering]

There's a lot of crab.

[exclaims]

[Jake] What'd you get on that?

[crew member over radio]
Sixty-seven. Six, seven.

Sixty-seven.

I'll take 67.

We're on fish.

If I keep it up like this, I should
be able to fill up two tanks.

So let's just not
burst that bubble.

[crew member] Yay.

Stop! Stop.

We got it.

[bleep] Yep!

- [Shyanne] Ah.
- Too late, missed it.

[Shyanne] Oh, [bleep].
Sorry, guys. [chuckles]

[Jake] No, no, don't do that.

Don't ever pull it up that high.

Stop below the head. Up.

- [crew member 1] Okay, you're missing it.
- [crew member 2] Gotta react.

Stop. There you go.

[Shyanne] I don't like this.

Hey, feel the roll.
Kinetic potential.

- [thuds] - [Shyanne]
Oh, [bleep]!

[Jake] She's not
doing bad at all.

I'm not kicking Shyanne
off the hydraulic.

Hoping that works out.

Got it. That's how you do it.

We wanna see this
tank go somewhere.

- [Rick speaking] -
[crew member speaking]

[narrator] On the
Aleutian Lady...

I've been mulling over
what hell's been going on.

Our port side
hydraulics are down.

Right, don't got 'em.

We're gonna have to set back
everything for the rest of this trip.

So, that's our
game plan right now.

- Let's start jamming, y'all.
- [crew member 1] Okay.

[crew member 2] Yeah.

[Rick] Weather's
staring to pick up.

Now we gotta get these
last two strings hauled.

And I'm gonna have to,
uh, set everything back.

Hopefully, this will
come out freaking winner.

[screams]

All right, guys, here we go.

[narrator] ...unable to stack and
move without an operational crane,

Captain Rick must rely
on limited hydraulic function

to haul and rebait his
gear before final offload

in 24 hours.

[crew member speaking]

[Rick speaking]

[crew members speaking]

That is not a good pot.

[crew member] There's
a few crab in there.

- It's actually pretty good-looking.
- [crew member] Yeah.

- Yeah.
- [crew member] Yeah!

[Rick] I'm really
watching the depth.

We're at 66 fathoms.

[crew member] Going over.

[Rick] I'm gonna
try it out deeper.

And hope and pray
that's where they are.

- [crew member 1] Whoa!
- [crew member 2] Whoa!

[crew member 1]
Look at this one.

In a storm, you really have
to take it one step at a time.

Just let her go.

Oh, there's a roll.

Oh! [bleeping]! What?

Hey, watch out, guys.

Big roll, big roll.

- [indistinct shouting] -
[crew member] Whoa!

[Rick] Move, move, move, move.

[narrator] On the
Aleutian Lady...

Oh! [bleeping]! What?

Hey, watch out, guys.

Big roll, big roll.

- [indistinct shouting] -
[crew member] Whoa!

[crew members exclaiming]

[Rick] Careful, guys.

[bleep], watch out.

Oh.

[crew member speaking]

[scoffs]

You still get sloppy.

But I do gotta push it.

I gotta push it as long
as I can as far as I can.

So...

I'm setting these back.

And I'm hoping our
counts will be improved.

So ready to get this done.

[narrator] On the golden
king crab grounds...

Yeah, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no.

[narrator] ...aboard
the Time Bandit...

We got a half a mile
extra line on this pot.

And we're looking for the buoys.

[Neil] I don't see 'em yet.

[Johnathan]
Searching for our pot.

[narrator] ...hours
from final delivery,

Captain Johnathan
faces a new problem.

[Johnathan] At slack tide it'll
pop up and then you're gonna have

that mile line pop up with it
and you don't wanna run it over.

[narrator] Still waters that when
paired with a shallower ledge

create a floating nest of line.

It'd be so disappointing
if we don't find this.

Hey, hey, hey. Hey,
hold on, hold on, hold on.

He sees it.

Well, he sees
some floating line.

Floating line.

Get the grapple hook.

Grapple hook, quick!

[bleep]

It's caught on the bulbous line.

It's caught on the bulbous bow.

[Johnathan speaking over radio]

Clear out the bulbous bow and
bring that line back toward the block.

[crew member] Roger.

Right on, bring it back to us.

[Johnathan speaking over radio]
Go backwards till we get the buoys.

And then we'll go forward on it.

[crew member] Roger.

Nelson, put that on
the block backwards.

Yeah, just like that. Now just
wrap that in till we see the buoy.

Yeah.

All right. Well, we found it.

Wow!

I don't see it, man.

[Johnathan] There it comes.

Like a big shark coming
through the water.

Good, we got it.

That's a good thing.

[over radio] Got the
buoy. Here we go.

Right on.

You got it, bro.

There it comes, there it is.

There's the safety. Whoo!

Thank you, God.

Thank you, God.

[exclaiming indistinctly]

[excited scream]

[all cheering]

Okay, man, we're
right up on the next one.

[crew member over radio] Roger.

[woman speaking]

[Johnathan] You see one?

[laughing]

Ooh, my hair's
standing on my neck.

There it is. Both of
them are right there.

[sighs] Thank you, God.

Oh, man, I'm shaking.

I'm shaking over here.

Come on, baby.

I see some crab, baby!

[exclaiming]

Loaded!

Oh, my God.

Unbelievable.

[exclaiming]

Next one, baby!

Whoo!

That's what we needed.

That was what we
needed. Look at that!

Look at that!

[Johnathan
exclaiming over radio]

Whoo!

That's a lot of crab, dude.

Going right on,
baby, going right on!

Whoo!

That was a good pot, brother.

All right. There's
the last one, brother.

Woo-hoo! Last
pot for the season.

God loves us, man.

God gives us just enough and

keeps us humble.

Just what we needed.

[Sig speaking]

[crew member speaking]

[both laughing]

Right in the honey hole.

[narrator] On the
Northwestern...

[Sig] We've got a
little soak on the gear,

and now we're gonna
see if we can get

some rewards out of this thing.

It's not even a mile wide.

So, where are you can
get six, seven pots in there,

you jam 'em in and
you can get more.

And thank you for taking
that picture, by the way.

Cannery has their
doors closing real soon.

I don't know if we have
time for another one.

So, time is of the essence.

Come on, crabs!

What do we got? What do we got?

[Johnathan] We
caught a lot of crab.

We could fill the
whole Sears Tower.

That's how many crab we caught.

[narrator] After over three
decades on the water,

Captain Johnathan can lay claim

to some impressive stats.

Five species hunted.

[Johnathan] Australius crabius.

Now, I got a new job.

Scientist.

I wanna celebrate

Time Bandit style.

[narrator] Forty two thousand
pounds of fireworks displayed.

[laughing]

[exclaiming]

[narrator] Countless
towering waves endured.

[Johnathan] This
could be very ugly.

[narrator] And 25
tons tanked this winter.

We love every crab.

[narrator] Tallying 30
million pounds of product

worth a staggering $66 million.

Five times the plunder

of that other famous pirate,

Captain Blackbeard.

[laughing]

[narrator] What a career.

Come on.

[narrator] On the
Northwestern...

[man] What do we
got? What do we got?

- Yeah!
- Yeah, man!

Here we go!

[laughing]

Yeah!

[Mandy] That's cool.

Whoo!

Seventy.

[Sig] Seventy crab in 20 hours.

Crazy.

Whoo!

Yeah, baby.

[Mandy] Thanks
for showing me that.

Now I know where
to go in the future.

But don't let
anybody follow you.

I won't.

This is passing the torch.

Fine, I'll just take
it out of the cloud.

And now the cloud stole it,

now it's everybody's hole.

The cloud doesn't get my hole.

Stay away from
my hole, you cloud!

[laughing]

[exclaiming]

That is a good bairdi pot.

Shyanne's taking
care of the hydraulics

and that concludes that tank.

[all exclaiming]

Things are looking up,

but we got a long
way to go, man.

Lot of crab to catch.

I'm not done yet.

[man] Oh, [bleep]
you! That was wrong.

Where's all our crab at?

Nada.

Wow.

Not very many crab.

I gotta go back to Dutch.

Hopefully I can get
back out quick enough

to catch our quota.

And still make the offload.

Hey, Northwestern,
you on this one?

[radio static]

What's up, man?

[Johnathan] We're
hauling a*s to Dutch harbor.

[exclaims] Woo-hoo.

Did all right, man.

[Sig] Awesome.

No, well done.

Beautiful.

We're gonna offload at 0700

and leave right
after the offload.

I keep threatening
every year to quit.

So this might be the last time

that we see that charter.

Who knows? We don't know.

[Sig laughs] Really?

All right.

Get this thing wrapped up.

Definitely gotta get
together in town here.

Good luck, buddy.

[Sig] Bye, man. Stay
in touch, good luck.

Wow, wow, wow.

When I think back, you know,

over 20 years ago
when we started this,

it doesn't matter if the
fleet goes right, he'll go left.

He does things different.

And he makes it work somehow.

[Keith] Johnny, easy.

Been up here for,
hell, my entire career.

Couple of screws loose.

But he's a hell of a good time.

Whoo!

[Jake] I love the relationship

that I have with John.

Big part of my life.

He's one of the hardest
working people in the industry.

And it's gonna be
sad when he's gone.

[Johnathan over radio]
Good job, good job, good, job.

[man] Roger!

Look at that pile
of golden king crab.

[Johnathan] I've spent damn near
my whole life on the Bering sea.

Feel pretty damn proud.

[cheering]

Walking on water, baby.

It's unbelievable.

Consider all the
story right here.

People will say,

"Those guys were good." [laughs]

You'd rather be lucky
than good, any day.

I think they're gonna say that.

My guys, they're all family.

[laughs]

I see their wives
and all their kids

looking up at me also,

expecting me to
bring them home safe,

and we did that.

Damn, you make...
My legs are shaking.

Promise is a promise.

We're top three percent
producers of crab.

Oh, my God.

Yes!

I mean, that's
legendary stuff going on.

Not too shabby.

I know in my heart that we...

we put everything
on the line, you know.

Bing, bing, bing,
bing, bing, bing.

Bing, bing.

Everything we could.

[fireworks exploding]

[laughing excitedly]

Worked as hard as we could.

Just passed and
he pulls the truck up.

Oh, my God.

Oh, [bleep]!

[Johnathan] I love fishing.

Oh, yeah, baby.

My job is done here.

Hillstrand, out.

[narrator] Next week,

on the season finale
of Deadliest Catch...

It will be down
to the wire for us.

[Mandy shouting]

Everybody get up!

Holy [bleep]!

[Sig exclaims]

We're running out of time.

What's going on?

Get that [bleep]
crane out of there!

[all exclaiming]

[Keith] I'm barely
getting by right now.

If I don't get my
crab in the dock,

I might be bankrupt.

[man crying] He has
to pull the plug on her.

I should've been there.

Now she's gone.