94 Feet

Malcolm, what's the O2 levels?

O2 levels are holding, boss.

Rich, methane levels?

Methane levels are 12%, boss.

Well, that explains it. Firedamp, boys.

Wait a minute, let me rephrase that.

12% and rising.

Rising? How can they be rising after the explosion?

We were in contained area.

There's no place for the methane to vent.

What's that, now?

That's time. Drill's over. Good job, guys.

Man, I got to wash my jacket off tonight.

- So, did we survive? - Yeah, this time.

- Hey, man. I'm gonna take off. - All right, where you going?

I'm just gonna shower and go home.

I got some stuff to take care of tonight.

- All right, see you. - Hey!

- Happy birthday, buddy. - Thanks, Marco.

Does he have any idea?

No. At least, he better not. Denise would kill me.

- I'll see you there. - All right.

This is St. Michaels, Indiana.

Nah, you wouldn't know it today,

but this was really once a Boomtown.

There were 22,000 people in it.

We were a town of industry.

Back in the old days, there was a textile mill,

four different manufacturing plants,

a coal mine, and a bottling factory.

We actually had 43 saloons in this town at one time.

Not exactly the greatest claim to fame,

but, you know, it shows that there was a vibrant nightlife.

Slowly though, time had its way with St. Michaels.

Now, the recession hit the town hard,

and the plants and the factories, they began to close.

Most of the bars shut down, and the ones that didn't,

they became havens for those that indulged in a little too much.

Somehow, though, some way, St. Michaels survived.

Sure, a lot of the residents left.

But we're still here.

Then, 1991 happened.

I don't mean the whole year, just one moment.

One that's come to define the town the most.

You probably read about it.

When the Carter Hill Mine exploded,

on November 9th, 1991,

it was like the town came to a complete stop.

And when they were finally able to get to those trapped miners,

33 were dead,

including my father, Gino Rossi,

and my wife's father, Toby Hill.

Only two made it out.

It took a while, but life, it went on in St. Michaels.

We even had a reason to smile in 2004,

when our little high school managed to win

the State Football Championship

over a much bigger school from Westland.

I was the quarterback for that team,

and I guess you could say that was pretty much

the highlight of my life...

so far.

But, you know, life has a way of turning on a dime,

just like St. Michaels changed.

Yeah, well?

Who's next?

Uh, we are up to Richard Alma.

Yeah, he's...

He's about ready for retirement, isn't he?

Let's see here.

Um, he's 61, and he's been with the company for 43 years.

Man, that's a long time.

Especially these days.

Well, I guess, we'll give him early retirement. He, uh...

He really deserves it.

Okay, good. Good, I will start a new pile for Rich.

- You sure you wanna do that, Dad? - I'm sure, Ryan.

You know, some of these guys have taken good care of us,

and we got to do all we can do to take care of them.

All right.

Okay, we are on to Marco Betta.

Why do I know that name?

He's the one's whose wife is a little...

Oh, yeah.

I'm not sure. His name kind of sounds familiar.

Oh, yep, that's what I thought.

He's had four write-ups in the last three years.

Yeah. There's no way we can keep Marco on.

Yeah. That's an easy decision.

Well, you know these guys better than I do, Shane.

It's been a long time.

I cannot believe this is happening.

There's no way this town's gonna survive this.

Well, I have no choice, Shane. I mean...

The mine isn't making any money,

we're not making any money,

I probably should have known about this a long time ago,

but kept putting it off.

I wish you would have known that before you moved me

out here to take over this place, Dad.

Well, I really thought we could pull this thing off,

you know, fix it.

But... the only way we can stay alive now is to cut back.

And I mean, cut back.

Yeah, but cutting back 75%...

The town's not gonna survive it, period.

Well, guys, it's the only way we can survive.

I really don't have a choice now.

My guess is that it's better than cutting back 100%.

Who's next?

- Chris Rossi. - Rossi?

Hm-mm. We gotta keep Chris.

Yeah. He's a legacy around here.

You know his dad was here back in '91.

Oh, yeah, Gino was a good guy. Heck of a guy.

Not just that, but, I mean, the guys respect him.

He's... He's best site foreman we got, by far.

Then, Rossi stays.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Rossi stays.

No doubt. Rossi stays.

All right, who's next?

Aw... Denise... Honey!

Did you not pay the electric bill again?

Surprise!

Surprise!

You threw me a party?

Of course, you didn't think I was gonna send you out for milk

on your birthday, did you?

Well, I was hoping not.

But I spilled it.

Oh, no use crying over it.

Daddy!

Hi, buddy! How're you doing!?

Here, I made this for you.

Oh, my goodness! This is amazing!

- You made that for me? - Yeah, after school.

Oh, my, you're so good.

Hey, Daddy? Where's the milk?

Your daddy's getting a little jittery in his old age.

That's right. Getting old, old man.

- Marco! - Polo!

- Oh-ho, Marco! - Polo!

- A-ha, Marco! - Polo!

Marco, Marco! Buddy, how are you?

- Good. - So you knew about this?

Knew about it?

Who do you think threw this whole thing together?

- My guess would be... Denise? - Uh... yeah...

But who do you think helped her?

Elizabeth. -Your mother-in-law?

I'm sure she did.

But who do you think didn't mess it up by letting you know about it?

- Now, that would be you. - Happy B-day, old man!

So what are you now...? 42, 43?

I'm 29. Come on, you know that.

And as I remember, one of us... you...

Is gonna be 30 this year.

Not anytime soon, buddy. Besides, didn't you hear?

30's the new 25.

Hey, don't you remember us talking about putting

that sandwich shop together once we got in our 30s?

- You do make a killer sandwich. - Oh, yeah!

I haven't seen... Is Janet here tonight?

Ah, she couldn't make it. You know, she got stuck at work.

I think she gonna try to stop by later.

Okay, well, that's cool.

Look, all this sandwich talk is making me hungry.

Oh, yeah.

I'm gonna check out what Denise did.

The lovely food that she made for this little shindig.

Mm-hmh.

Joe, what happened?

I went to the store yesterday, and your shop was all closed up.

Yeah. We finally had to shut it down.

We just can't compete with the Home Depot in Westland.

I'm so sorry.

I guess, we're just the latest casualty in St. Michaels.

So what are you guys gonna do?

It looks like we're gonna have to move in with my parents in Evansville.

Hey, babe.

It'll be all right.

We'll get it all figured out.

Besides, what are you sad about?

It's your parents we're moving in with.

- Just the guy I want you to meet. - Okay.

- Michael! - Hey!

How you doing, buddy?

So glad to see you, so glad you could come.

Hey, no problem. Thanks for the invite.

This is my wife, Monica.

- Pleasure to meet you. - And likewise.

- You know knucklehead? -Yeah. Honey, this is Marco.

- Okay. -It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear.

Oh, you'll get used to Marco. He's a bit of a ham.

Yeah.

Stop already. What are you doing?

I'm sorry, I didn't know that Denise knew you guys.

Oh, she doesn't. I invited them.

You know, you got to get the newbies out of the house from time to time.

Hey, Chris, I hope it's all right that we came.