Did this NL town inspire Snook's Arm on Netflix's Below?

When Howard and Juanita Osbourne sat down to watch the hit Netflix series Below, they knew a couple of things about it.

They knew it was set in Newfoundland and Labrador and that Josh Hartnett would play an NL fisherman by the name of Calvin Penney,

What they didn’t know was that they’d find a piece of their past on display for the world to see.

The show is set in the Town of Snook’s Arm, which is where Howard grew up, where he married Juanita, and where they raised their family for decades before resettlement forced them to nearby La Scie.

While the town that bears their home’s name in Below is fictional, their beloved Snook’s Arm isn’t.

It really came alive the first time Snook’s Arm flashed on her television screen.

“We watched it, and like the resettlement of it is, some little things there get related to Snook’s Arm,” said Juanita, who has watched the show twice.

What neither Howard nor Juanita expected to watch unfold on their screens were pieces of a story that seemingly mirror a piece of Snook’s Arm lore.

You see, in the 1940s, a giant squid washed up on the shores of the real Snook’s Arm.

Yes, both versions of Snook’s Arm dealt with a giant squid. Howard’s father, Wilfrid, was there and would often relay the story of the squid to his son and his 13 siblings.

As you would expect, the creature drew plenty of onlookers in the town and probably some inquisitive looks.

“My dad was there at the time, and they measured it,” said Howard. “They strung the handles out, and they measured it 40 odd feet or something from the top of the panel, right back to the tail.”

Eventually, the townspeople shot the beast and left it there to rot.

Still, after watching the show, Howard wonders if the inspiration for the tale was based on the town’s experiences with the unknown.

“I guess that’s what they base it on, that stuff, I guess,” he said.

The other issue at the crux of the Below series is how the townspeople of the fictional Snook’s Arm struggle with the decision of resettlement.

Some looked at it as a quick influx of cash when times were tough, while others fought for it.

In the show — spoiler alert — the townspeople ultimately vote against it, but in reality, the people of Snook’s Arm voted to resettle.

Ninety per cent of the 10 full-time residents voted to move away from their homes. A dwindling and aging population, harsh winters — residents had to salt the road themselves before winter came — and economic factors all played into the decision.

For Howard and Juanita, it was the right time to go.

“It was good while we were there, and yes, it was really emotional to have to leave,” said Juanita. “We were at a stage of our life because of fitness issues and getting the things you needed at the time; resettlement came at the right time for us.”

Before he left in 2018, Howard had spent the majority of his 73 years in Snook’s Arm.

At its height, it was a community of 150 people that relied on both the inshore and salmon fishery. It was home to a whaling station and a co-op grocery store.

Later, its residents went to work at one of the various mines in the region, including Howard’s father, who worked at the mine in Tilt Cove and later in Baie Verte after leaving the fishery.

Howard grew up with no power, instead relying on an oil lamp and wood stove.

“We didn’t mind it, you know. I suppose when you grow up like that, you grow into it. You don’t mind it,” he said.

He and his friends walked up over the hill to the schoolhouse, and in the winters, they had to carry a piece of wood with them.

A good day for Howard and his friends in the springs and summers was a boat trip to Tilt Cove, especially around Labour Day, where their celebrations were stuff of legend.

“That was a big city to us when you live in a small community,” said Howard.

Meanwhile, Juanita was born in nearby Shoe Cove, farther up the Cape St. John coast. She arrived in Snook’s Arm 44 years ago and fell in love with the place.

Her sister’s husband was a teacher in Snook’s Cove, and some of her dad’s family was from the community. Later, Juanita became friends with Howard’s sister, and the rest is history.

“We had some wonderful years there,” she said. “The few that was there in the little community, we were really, really close.”

While his father went to work in the mines, Howard was a fisherman for all his life.

Even as the cod moratorium — another theme from Below — crippled the province’s inshore fishery, Howard went out on the water.

Slowly, though, people got older, young people started leaving, and there were less and less people fishing out of Snook’s Arm.

Eventually, Howard was the last fisherman of Snook’s Arm.

“It just happened that I was the last one there as a fisherman in Snook’s Arm, so at least I got that record,” he said.

Today, Howard and Juanita live in La Scie, just 15 minutes from their cabin in Snook’s Arm.

Often, they’ll hop in their vehicle and head for their cabin to experience a bit of their past.

All of these years after leaving Snook’s Arm, the feeling of returning is the same.

“It’s like taking a drug. It is like no other feeling,” said Howard. “There’s no place like home.”

That’s probably how Calvin Penney felt at the end of Below.