Deadliest Catch – Season 7 – A Wing And A Prayer

Welcome back to another episode of the best reality show on television…Deadliest Catch! I know y’all remember my dissatisfaction with certain elements of the last episode, namely having no footage of the Time Bandit and barely any of the Northwestern but fear not fellow DC fans, tonight we get BOTH boats! But first….anyone ever visit the Discovery Channels’ Facebook page? Not the one for Deadliest Catch, but the one for the network itself. Go check it out. Click on their photos, check out their fan of the week section and the latest recipient. Can you guess who it is? I’ll give you one clue….me! Okay, back to the show, last week we ended with Capt. Campbell’s greenhorn wanting to quit after two hours….I don’t know if this is true or not but I highly suspect this greenhorn is/was a fan of the show and thought it was easy as he watched it on TV. So how will this one start? Let’s find out.

The show opens with Keith talking about mistakes he made and that all they need is a little bit of a sign. Capt. Campbell saying they have to earn it the hard way, while Keith likes the battle with Mother Nature. They all say they enjoy the fishing, but man this episode looks intense as we see Jake and Edgar at each others throats, the Northwestern losing power and Sig yelling for Edgar to drop the anchor….then, the kick ass intro. I do love their intros to this show, especially the song.

We open at Akutan Island. We see the Northwestern shoving off, thank you Discovery for opening with our Norwegian boys! Captain Sig just offloaded 140,000 lbs of king crab. Edgar says this trip will be one for the books and he’s happy to be there, then he makes that Edgar “I’m giving you shit” face. Sig is about to head for Jake Anderson’s string, the one he let him set last week. Sig says it’s been a grind and the crab are harder to get, then darkness….the power is out and Sig has no steering! They lost power and they’re headed for the dock. Sig SCREAMS for Edgar to drop the anchor before they hit that dock and Sig says “Come on baby, back up!”. Jake talks to Norm, saying he can’t see anything. The crew scrambles in the dark to drop the anchor. Edgar is nowhere to be found, but we see him struggling in the engine room to switch power to the auxiliary generator from the broken one…and in typical Edgar style…he does! Edgar, you rock. Sig has steering and power back now. Sig asks what happened, and is told by Edgar the generator was overheated, after 220 degrees it kills itself and it should be at 180. Sig remarks how quick he was, while the other guys couldn’t get ready on the anchor, especially Jake and says he can’t just rely on others to do it. Back to Edgar style, he again wryly remarks that this is one for the books.

We’re at the Wizard now. He’s still pulling up blanks (and I know why, but wait for it!). Keith is tired and frustrated, can’t find the crab. More blanks. He’s hauled as many blanks this season as in the last ten years. Guess what? The winds are going to pick up too, fun fun. Forecast calling for 28 foot seas…..Keith says he has to push everyone. Says his guys are battered and beaten and at the point where they’re giving up. Doesn’t help to have a skipper that goes off the hook at the drop of a dime either, does it? King crab typically survive no longer than 10 days and after that release a toxin killing the other crab nearby, which leads to a chain reaction that could potentially kill the entire haul. At this point Keith feels like a two leaf clover with a black cloud hanging over his head. Keith decides to leave, with nothing coming over the rail and is forced to move for the fourth time in four weeks (I think). The crew heads inside, and Keith just hasn’t felt right over the last few weeks. Keith seems proud that he’s changed hats, shirts and underwear. That’s an image I didn’t want, thanks Keith. He doesn’t feel right and the crew is on the hunt for the source of the bad juju. Soper said his stuff couldn’t’ be bad luck b/c it’s been there 10 years. After a 20 minute search Lenny finds something, it’s a guitar handle. Three weeks ago we flash back to Andy singing his Ode to Phil (you should hear it). The night ended with the Wizard and TB boys going at it. The recall is foggy but somehow the Wizard got his handle. Mouse says he hit Andy’s guitar, and Andy hit him over the head with it (go Andy). Mouse says it has to go Keith says out of our life and hair, bon voyage slime bucket. Whatever Keith you puss, you quake in fear when you’re face to face with the Hillstrands and everyone knows it. Go Andy for sending Keith that bad juju!

We go now to the Seabrooke, who has four days to put on 40,000 lbs of blue crab. He’s approaching the first pots of this blue crab hunt for his boat. As the first pot comes up…there’s not very many. The blue crab curse continues. They get four in that pot, but to give this captain credit he didn’t dance a jig like Captain Greenhorn Neese. Captain Campbell says it’s time to grind, nothing they haven’t done before except the greenhorn. The greenhorn then says he’s starting to learn, as his colleague reminds him he doesn’t know shit. To prove this, Greenhorn Fullmer lags behind with the bait. We flash back to him wanting to quit after two hours. 9 out of 10 greenhorns fail b/c they can’t get through that breaking point. The captain talks about if he fails, the greenhorn, it costs them time and money. Fullmer can be heard complaining, and Campbell tells him essentially to suck it up since he didn’t take preventative measures he was told to. To go further, now he says he can’t lift the lid up. The lid to the pot that is. The crew continues to tell him he’s messing up, the greenhorn says he will get it and then we see the first bit of camaraderie from the crew as they say they know he’ll get it in time and actually start showing him how to do things on the deck. But then the captain comes in and tells him over the horn to do it the opposite way, frustrating our Fan Greenhorn. Just then a massive wave crashes over and Fullmer loses his balance twice, then slides in the hold. Fullmer then makes two potentially deadly moves on the same pot; first, he failed to keep his feet planted and almost got caught in the bite, twice. Captain Campbell says he doesn’t fully understand the danger of it, he’s not mentally tough right now and it’s a matter of getting him through that first trip. As we go to commercial I say this….I’d like to see the Time Bandit now, kplzthx.

Did you check out my fan of the week bio yet?

We’re back to the Northwestern now. Edgar says they’re out on their second journey, Jake remarks to pick up his string….dog leg is said, not sure what that means? After Sig let Jake set his string, it’s time for the moment of truth. Edgar put $20 down they average 30 a pot. The first pot comes up on the Jake Dog Leg string….it’s a four day soak. Sig says this is his area, it has a steeper hill on the bottom of the ocean with better odds to get the crab. Jake isn’t sure how Sig will feel about him setting more if this string doesn’t go well. They come up to the first pot with Sig saying over the loudspeaker that it’s all Jake now. You can feel Jake’s heart pounding as that first pot comes up, and as it comes out of the water we see…..some crab. It’s not a blank, but it’s not stuffed either. Sig says it’s okay, crab in it. 26 in the first pot and Jake says he could definitely do worse. And he does in the next pot as it pulls up even less. I think every DC fan out there feels the disappointment with and for Jake as by the third pot it’s apparent that Jake’s string is a loser. Sig says that Jake looks so serious, he needs to smile. Says he knows he’s on the spot now. More bad pots come up. Sig says Jake’s taking it too seriously, and Jake shows his disappointment while Edgar tries to encourage him, saying it’s not blanks. Jake says he sucks, Sig asks what the hell that’s about. He says he can’t take it to heart on one string. After his dismal haul, Jake gets his next assignment as Edgar asks Jake what they’re going to eat. Jake tells Edgar he should cook, and then yells to find the crab you “F bomb”. Edgar then rides him more and tells him to get over it, do his job. Says look at yourself in the mirror and Jake shows little patience for Edgar piling it on. Tells him not to talk to him ever again while Edgar retorts to call his girlfriend since she’s the only one to feel sorry for him. Jake then goes off BIG TIME on Edgar, culminating in saying they all hate him. They’re face to face now, with Jake telling him to get out of his face. Jake says he’s a piece of shit and to go home. The F bomb is dropped several times. Sig remarks that he has to get a thicker skin, then calls him to the wheelhouse. The rest of the crew says it came close to fists flying. In the wheelhouse Sig asks what happened, Sig says he can’t explode all the time and how’s he going to run a boat if he nitpicks. Sig says by saying what he did to Edgar, that Edgar is just going to go harder on him. HE tells Jake he can’t give up and quit, that what he got out there was just a small taste of what he’d get if he ran a boat.

Commercial time. Time Bandit now please. If I see the Ramblin Rose or Wizard I may have to vomit.

We’re back to the Wizard and I’m vomiting. This sucks, my keyboard is getting sticky with puke. The Wizard is racing to gear with the storm on, and they again show his wuss move of ditching Andy’s guitar pieces over the bow. I hope he pulls blanks. I hope Andy’s guitar pieces bring him sand fleas. Keith wants to start the next trip on a high note with these pots hitting hard. He has to go in soon as he’s been out 13 days and is at big risk for dead loss. As the pot comes up, we see…..ROFLMAO, I LOVE IT. It’s blank. That’s Time Bandit karma for you Keith. They have one crab in the pot, and it’s name is Andy, and he’s giving you the finger. Keith doesn’t know what to do at this point, you think the curse is over and you come back to nothing. We get a review of all the good luck talisman and superstitions that Keith goes through during his crab fishing season. We see Keith worrying. We see a huge wave crashing over the side of the boat. The sea is rising. The skipper refocuses on the safety of his deck, his crew is wasted. (Not drunk). They really have to keep their heads up with these waves. Soper then directs a camera guy out of the danger spot he was in. Keith says it’s right on the edge of not being workable and his crab in the tank are taking a beating. Don’t beat yourself up Keith, I’m sure at least you know how big your tank is. (Remember Captain Greenhorn didn’t?). Keith says at the end of the day you really don’t have control and yet another monster wave crashes over the bow. Sigh. I’d like to see my Time Bandit now. Mouse heads inside for dry gear and a strange omen appears in the galley, he calls Keith to say there’s a giant seagull in the galley. Keith says those birds are the souls of lost sailors and if that one came into the galley he must’ve been on a mission. Another pot comes up now, and there’s crab in it finally. It’s about a quarter full and considering the crap pots they had before the captain and crew are definitely happy. They get 75 in that pot. More pots come up and they have riders on them. On to yet another commercial.

We’re back and YAYAYAY! Time Bandit is back. Unfortunately Johnathan’s string of bad luck pots continues. Justin Tennison says it’s not a good sign seeing all the gear on board. Captain Johnathan has loaded his deck with gear again. He says that was depressing, but now he’s back on the hunt. He says either go east and blaze the pots out, go get more gear…..either way he has to find a new place to fish in 900,000 square miles. His kid has fun at his expense a bit, but Johnathan continues trying to strategize. Fourtner sees Johnathan’s mind spinning like the Flintstones car at this point. Bad fishing has left this 31 year vet flailing. As Fourtner goes up to ask what’s going on, Johnathan says there was a big spot to the south, in the slime banks, that they didn’t’ check the last time they were there. This is the spot he struck out on earlier in the season, I believe this was his past three year’s hot spot. Johnathan says they need to get there, Andy jokes they’ll probably pull a bunch of blanks but he has his permission to do so. Johnathan says we know exactly what to do now.

Back to the Seabrooke (and if that’s all the TB we get tonight you suck again Discovery). They have four days to make their 40,000 lb load but they continue to pull bad pots. The crew continues to chide Greenhorn Fullmer as he struggles. They know he’s lost and the captain says he’s not mentally tough yet, but now HE’S at the point where he’s so tired he could blow up at him. The greenhorn complains about going for 26 hours straight and his hand has gone numb. At dawn, the greenhorns’ cramped hands finally drive him off deck. You can see he’s in serious pain at this point. Now he’s up in the wheelhouse saying he might not be able to work through it. He just wants to feel normal and not feel the pain in his hands. The captain reminds him that everyone’s been through it and it’s his choice to push through the pain. The greenhorn says he knows he can’t do it, so the captain says basically then he’s quitting. He straight up asks him if he can go out and work, and the Fan Greenhorn says he’ can’t. Essentially, another fan learns it’s not an easy job and just because you watch it on TV doesn’t mean you can do it. He’s just cost the boat $20,000 essentially b/c they have to stop operation. We see his girlfriend and family now through pictures, and the greenhorn begins to cry as he just wanted a good Christmas. He was going to propose to her and he misses her so much.. I’m not so much of a heartless beyatch to say I don’t feel bad for this guy…but let me tell anyone reading this…you may get amped up by this show but you probably cannot go up there and actually do it so don’t even try.

YAY! Back to the Time Bandit and they’re back at the Slime Banks. Despite his strike out four weeks earlier Johnathan is convinced these grounds can still pay off. The crew heads out to set the pots and Johnathan tells them to fire at will. Fourtner says he’ll contemplate suicide if there’s no crab there. Johnathan plans to cast wide, with a 45 pot, 45 mile long string. The crew works from dawn until midnight with no break. 14 hours later the last pot is over the side and Johnathan circles back. We get his scallop bed theory again, which did work in years past as king crab feed on scallops. If Johnathan misses by even a few feet though, they won’t find crab. Fourtner says in 13 years of fishing this is the biggest gamble he’s ever seen. The pot comes up with crab! His idea worked! The crew is charged with this. Johnathan can be heard cheering as they pull in pot after pot of keepers. Fourtner says good numbers and good crab. Johnathan says now they’re slamming.

So of course they have to end the episode with the Wizard. With their tanks finally stuffed the crew gets some rest. Lenny and Lynn Guitard are in the wheelhouse, Lynn takes wheel watch on the steam back to Dutch Harbor. We see him eating. We see himeating more. Then what do we see? Yawning. Not a good sign. The door to the deck is wide open too. He’s getting very sleepy….and he’s out cold Food starts flying across the galley, the watch alarm is the only thing that woke him up (it’s set to go off every 15 minutes) and Lynn turns it off. Then he falls back asleep. He’s out cold and the episode ends. Yikes!

So what did you guys think? Head into our forums (look to the top of the page, you’ll see the link) to share your thoughts! Until next week, stay safe guys and as always…….

RIP Phil. Fair winds and following seas you mullet haired Teddy Bear you.

The “Have You Seen Us Because Our Fans Didn’t This Week” picture of the week: (And no, I don’t consider the Ramblin’ Rose an official boat yet, they’re a greenhorn boat to me)….

It’s not Where’s Waldo? It’s where was the Cornelia Marie? (To be fair though, they have been on every other episode….that being said so has the Seabrooke so it’s only fair to exclude that boat next week).

Note to the Discovery Channel. Thank you for more TB and NW time tonight. Mucho appreciado. However, with seven boats I might suggest editing the latter episodes of the season in a way that no one boat goes more than a week without being shown and that no one boat gets in every episode. Thusly, In the next episode or two leave out the new boats and focus on the boats from last season.