Deadliest Catch is returning to Discovery and is addressing the sad passing of deckhand Todd Meadows, who died during production.
The series returns to the cable network at 8 p.m. Friday, May 8. Watch the trailer below.
Meadows was working on the Aleutian Lady, one of the vessels filmed for the long-running show, fishing for crabs on the Bering Sea at the time of his death on February 25. The official cause of death was “drowning with probable hypothermia” and “submersion of body in cold water.”
The show, which is produced by Fremantle’s Original Productions, was in production when the incident occurred, and production concluded shortly thereafter as the Aleutian Lady was the last of the vessels still at sea.
The show will address “tragedy of his passing with care and honor his memory” but will not show his death on air.
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The season also includes a tribute in the premiere episode and in later episodes will look back on the events of the fishing season, including Meadows’ contributions. He will feature in episodes in the second half of the season with his earlier scenes filmed in the weeks before the accident.
Season 22 follows a new king crab population appearing far north, and the fleet relocates 225 miles to St. George Island, facing colder weather and more extreme seas.
Per the logline, for the first time in decades, the captains abandon familiar fishing grounds to chase a rare breed of red king crab lurking in the frozen waters of the far north. This elusive catch, worth a fortune, pushes the fleet into remote territory and tests their experience and resilience at the edge of the world.
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Captain Sig Hansen also launches a covert scouting mission, deploying an underwater drone into the unknown waters in an attempt to locate the rare strain of king crab before the rest of the fleet arrives. Captain “Wild Bill” Wichrowski journeys to St. George Island, guiding Sig through new grounds in pursuit of bigger, richer crab.
Meanwhile, after losing both his boat and his marriage, Captain Jake Anderson starts the season as a deckhand for the first time in 11 years before an opportunity emerges to restore the legendary Cornelia Marie and put him back into the captain’s chair.
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