Hey, fellow explorers! Just two months ago, we saw the premiere of Season 4 of Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch, and it’s been quite the season. From the return of Eric Drummond to trips all across the globe and near-cave-ins, Season 4 has thrown a lot on our plate. It was a complete 180 from the incredibly flat Season 3, but what did we learn? Did we get any closer to finding the Aztec gold?
In complete transparency, I’ve been off of UFOTwitter for the majority of the holiday season, so I don’t really have any good gossip for you on that front. But since this is the season finale of Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch, I figured we should get right into the meat and potatoes of everything. Stick around to the end of the article for my overall final thoughts on the entire season and not just Episode 8 “Underwater Kingdom”.
Now it’s time for you to sit back, relax, and join me one more time (but hopefully not the last) as we head down to our favorite ranch in Utah to see if we’ve come any closer to finding the Mystery…at Blind Frog Ranch.

It’s Dive O’Clock Somewhere
The Season 4 finale brings almost everyone together, though Eric fans (like myself) will be saddened to know he doesn’t make an appearance in this episode. We join up with Duane Ollinger, Chad Ollinger, Charlie Boy, Josh Feldman, James Keenan, and Ryan Skinner at the Hideout. Josh tells them that they found the beacon at a runoff of Pole Creek Sink called Calamity Lake. He says the acoustic beacon is trapped in an opening and not moving–this could be an open-air cave system. Josh and Ryan showed the team the video they had taken of the Rocky River Bank and the possible opening they had found.
Chad, Josh, and Ryan drive to Calamity Lake the next day. Chad says if the beacon made it down here, this lake is about three miles west of the ranch, then that means this could very well be an entrance to Chicomoztoc. (If you’ve completely forgotten what Chicomoztoc is, check out our coverage of Season 4 Episode 1, “Into the Cavern Pt. 2//Death Rumble,” for more in-depth coverage.)
Chad suits up in his diving gear and jumps into the water. He starts exploring the shoreline. After some time, Chad resurfaces but comes up empty-handed. Due to limited time and air, he was unable to find anything. The three men regroup, and Chad eventually heads back under the water. Suddenly, he spots an opening in the rocks that is full of debris. He resurfaces again and gives Josh and Ryan the good news…he found an opening!
While this is good news, there’s always something that puts a sting on everything. The hole is full of stick debris, and a harsh, cold current is coming out of it. It’s a tight hole. Chad realizes he will need better gear and a master dive to accompany him. They all head back to the Hideout, and Chad tells Duane and the crew (still no Eric) what they’ll need to accomplish this, which includes a mapping system. If there’s one thing that’s clear, safety is going to be a big concern for this dive.
Florida, Man
Realizing he’s beyond the scope of his talents, Chad decides to take a week-long trip to Florida with master diver Wendell Nope (who we see diving with Chad in the opening scene of Season 4 Episode 1). In Florida, the men will be going through an intensive training course for cave diving. Wendell doesn’t need the training, as he has spent 20 years working with the Utah State Police diving team and has been on hundreds of search and rescue missions. Wendell is going along so he and Chad can sync with each other’s diving techniques.
Chad and Wendell arrive in Florida to cave diving instructor Chris Brock’s house. Chris is a master cave diver who has explored dozens of dangerous underwater caves in the United States and all around the world. His teaching regiment is around fatalities that have occurred in the cave diving community; he turns these tragic events into preventative lessons.

The Cave Diver’s Survival Guide
After hearing about what type of dive Chad and Wendell will be embarking on, Chris puts together a game plan. He tells them men that what they’re going into sounds like a restrictive entrance. This means they’ll have to use a side-mount tank system. Instead of a single tank on their backs, they’ll have one tank on each side of their hips. Separating the tanks on their sides will benefit tight spaces and give more air for the return trip. Getting lost and losing air is the typical fatality from cave dives, and Chris bluntly tells Chad and Wendell that the cave they’re going into is one of high danger.
The three men start their seven-day training at a set of underwater caves in a beautiful swamp-like area. Cave diving has many issues, but bad light, silt, and tight spaces can easily cause disorientation. That’s why their first lesson is to use a guideline. If you lose your orientation or light, a guideline will be your saving grace.
Chad’s first lesson is to go from a large, unobstructed cave into a tight space with tons of jagged rocks. This will teach Chad about tank management. Thankfully, Chris is close to Chad because he quickly loses his guideline and gets lost. Chris safely brings Chad to the surface. Later that day, Chris and Chad discuss what went wrong, and Chad learns an important lesson. “If you lose your line, how long do you have to look for it?” Chris asks rhetorically, “The rest of your life.” It’s a very sobering yet honest answer from Chris. The rest of the training is shown in a montage style, but by the end of the seven days, Chad passes.
Chad and Wendell land back safely in Utah. Duane and Chad have a quick conversation at the Hideout. Chad tells his father he’s ready for the dive, and Duane says okay, but there are no shortcuts. It’s crazy and good to see how much time and effort they’re putting into doing this correctly because if you think back to Season 1, they did not take nearly as much precaution when Chad dove into the Water Pit. Chad was literally hooked up to a single line of pressurized air in Season 1!
It’s Dive O’Clock Somewhere Pt 2
Chad, Wendell, Josh, and Ryan arrive at Calamity Lake. Josh and Ryan set up the boat while Chad and Wendell suit up. Wendell pulls Chad aside to give him one more piece of advice. He tells Chad that they are entering what’s called a virgin cave. This means there will be a ton of ancient silt–this dust will fall and get foggy really fast. “We can only rely on ourselves,” says Wendell.
Once Josh and Ryan are in place, Chad and Wendell head underwater. Chad clears some of the debris from the entrance, and the men enter the hole. It’s tight and full of jagged rocks. At this point, we’re just getting a rehash of what we saw in the opening scene of Season 4, Episode 1. See, this is kind of frustrating for me. Because we already know that Chad will have a malfunction with his scuba tank and that he’s going to fix it shortly after.
What would have worked well for this moment is to have the opening scene of Season 4 END when Chad has the air tank malfunction and leave us in a sense of unease, wondering just how the hell Chad got in this position and if he’s going to make it out. There have been multiple times the Blind Frog Ranch crew has been in harm’s way, and they’ve always cliffhanged us. So what’s different about this moment? This entire scene plays out how we have already seen it at the beginning of the season, and it ends the season by showing us what we’ve already seen.
But to rehash everything, Chad fixes his air tank. He and Wendell find a deer skull and then surface inside an open-air cave. They posit that the deer was feasted upon in this area, and the skull was left. And that’s it. The season is over. It’s kind of an unfortunate end to a season that has continually edged us throughout.

Final Thoughts
Look, I understand why the show is edited the way it is. I don’t complain that the same ideas are rehashed over and over. It’s for the casual viewers. But I want more! Obviously I will be tuning in for Season 5 because I’m invested, it just feels a bit cheap at the end of the day. Duane, who understandably had to take a backseat due to medical reasons, was basically nonexistent through the entire season. Eric was here and then gone. James is occasionally pushing weird theories with a modicum of information. Josh has an adventurous spirit but doesn’t push certain things as hard as he could.
What I will say is that Season 4 was a welcomed relief from the bland Season 3. Season 4 seems like another filler season while they work up to something bigger for Season 5, but will the casual fan stick with it through all of this? I hope so. I hope the ratings for this season were consistent enough for Discovery to continue creating future seasons. Are they going down an Oak Island path? Small signs are popping up here and there that seem like that’s the direction they’re going in.
Oh well. At the end of the day, I’ll keep watching. Maybe I’m the problem. Who cares. I only want them to find treasure and get to the bottom of the Mystery…at Blind Frog Ranch.
This is faked footage played over and over.
The vabe shots they dhow on the TV program are 95% other dives and it’s of caves in Florida,
Jenny springs. Peacock spring, little river ,
True cave divers that have been diving this for years call Bull S**t.
Why lie and make it to be something it’ absolutely not shame on discovery Chanel.