Deadliest Catch“A Numbers Game”
Original Air Date: April 22, 2008
Jeff Pomeroy – Two Cents Reviewer
We’re 3 weeks into what has so far been a lackluster fishing season for the fleet. They are all hoping for better numbers of crab to get the morale up, and the money in the till. And to no surprise for anyone, another storm is on the way.
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Deadliest Catch
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Original Air Date: April 22, 2008
Jeff Pomeroy – Two Cents Reviewer
We’re 3 weeks into what has so far been a lackluster fishing season for the fleet. They are all hoping for better numbers of crab to get the morale up, and the money in the till. And to no surprise for anyone, another storm is on the way.
The Time Bandit –
“That’s crab fishing for you man, Heaven and Hell. Hell, and all of a sudden you find the mother load”.
Captain Jonathan Hillstrand is happy to see that the tide has turned pulling in full pots of crab. He also gives credit to his brother (and Deck Boss) Andy and his lucky cowboy hat. They show some great old video footage of Scottie with his family when he was a boy, and also pay tribute to his grandfather, John Wesley Hillstrand and their antics back in the day. After 19 days of crab fishing (and their 33,000 pound quota) the Time Bandit will be the first vessel to get paid for red crab this season.
As the Time Bandit goes back to Dutch Harbor, Scottie is given time in the wheelhouse to run the vessel. He cycles through pictures of his son Sawyer, and wonders if he too will become a fisherman and carry on the Hillstrand tradition. Being away from family for 8 months out of the year is difficult.
The Northwestern-
After early concerns with low crab counts, Captain Sig Hansen is happy to see the pots filling up. Greenhorn Jake is in charge of the crab counts. His job is to tally up the counts of each pot and give Sig a number. However, Sig starts to believe that the counts aren’t accurate and demands a correct count: “I want a crab count… and I want it SET… and I want it NOW”! Deck Boss Edgar confirms that a whopping fine could be given.
Edgar also hands out a punishment to Greenhorn Jake, by making him wear a cod on his belt as a reminder. That night the snatch block on the crane breaks, and Edgar has to be raised up 3 stories to repair it.
The Wizard-
Captain Keith Colburn is seeing his numbers increase as well. He took a gamble by spreading out all of his pots in one square mile. But it’s paid off in a big way. Greenhorn Lynn is starting to prove his worth to First Mate Gary Soper. However, Greenhorn Moi seems more adept to whining.
Keith notices that one of his pots is 2/10 of a mile away from where it should be. He deduces that another vessel had picked up the pot to check the crab count inside. Keith is not happy about this… you never should touch another vessel’s gear. He finds who he believes is the culprit. He goes up to the vessel and calls them on his CB, but receives no response. He then threatens the vessel not to mess with his gear again.
The next day they discover a hydraulic fluid leak. This is not good, as it could potentially kill all of the crab on board. As they find and fix the leak, the boat wanders and gets caught up on a pot line. The line gets caught up in the rudder. They are able to make a temporary fix for the leak, and the line gets free from the rudder.
The Early Dawn-
Captain Rick Fehst is trying to pull out of Dutch Harbor before a new storm front comes in. He has just pulled in 2 million dollars from his haul of brown crab. They are 2 weeks behind red crab season, but he believes he will be able to catch up. After pushing off, they run into the stormy weather & high swells. Rick needs to launch 80,000 pounds of pots to help stabilize the vessel. The next day things settle down. Unfortunately, he has hit a bad string from his test pots. His first day has not been good after 60 pounds total. He hopes for better days ahead.
The Cornelia Marie-
Captain Phil Harris is not happy. The Cornelia Marie is still mired in bad luck, and low crab counts. He notices that some of the pots coming up aren’t secured tightly, and he believes that “Ding and Dong” are responsible. Ding and Dong, of course, are his two sons Josh and Jake. However, he takes it easy on them this time. This is mainly because Jake’s birthday is coming up. The stress is getting to Phil. He asks Josh to get him a beer, and Josh reconciles that he must have put down 56 beers in 5 days. Later, the Cornelia Marie goes into the storm. Unfortunately, they can’t go to better grounds until they retrieve all of their pots. Phil is tired after being up for 3 days, and 19 hours straight. He nods off at the wheel and misses a set of pots out of sheer exhaustion. Murray calls up to the wheelhouse & Phil admits he needs some sleep now.
Another jam-packed episode and everything pointing to how important it is to get the job done first. Aside of bad luck, circumstance and attitudes they need to get their numbers. The highlight of this episode for me was the Hillstrand home movies. You get a peek into the human side of these brave men. The great thing about this show is that the ‘characters’ are real, and they are really doing their everyday job in front of you. What other “reality” show can offer this?
I don't think Captain Phil was having a bear... I thought he asked for a "Red Bull", which is a really sugary soda.
ReplyDeleteHeh. Not a beer or a "bear" either... Sorry about the misspelling.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anonymous....
ReplyDeleteYou had a misspelling, I had a mis-beer-ing.
(is that a word?)