Deadliest Catch (2005–…): Season 7, Episode 1 - New Blood - full transcript

♪

PHIL HARRIS VOICEOVER: Life
certainly had its down times

and its tragedies,
and its black moments.

But also has its great times,
you know?

You have an awesome season
where you come in number one.

You know, I mean,
it makes you feel good.

If those kids
stick with crab fishing,

you know, and stay on a decent boat
and they learn something,

yeah, I think that
they'll have a good life.

I mean, it was great for me.

JOSH VOICEOVER: The old man wanted
his ashes



spread amongst the Bering Sea.

(SHIP HORN BLARES)

Then the tides will carry him
to wherever he wanted to go.

MAN: Love you, Phil!

MAN: Phil Harris, baby! We miss you.
MAN: Yeah!

(CHEERING AND WHISTLING)

MAN: The old man smiling down on us
right now.

MAN: For our good buddy Phil.
I'm gonna miss him.

Love that man!
MAN: Safe journey, man!

Light the fire!

(SHIP HORNS BLARE)

For you, buddy!

MAN: RIP, brother!

Time to go fishing.



MAN: Yeah!

Watch out!

MAN: Just put it right here.
Put it right over here.

MAN: Tie everything down securely.

MAN ON TANNOY: Let's get
the lines off here, OK?

MAN: Let her go. Here we go.
MAN: Let's go!

MAN: All right, get the lines and
fenders secured.

Let's get out of here.

NARRATOR: On the bone-chilling waters
of the Bering Sea...

MAN: Let's go fishing!
MAN: Let's go fishing! Whoo-hoo!

..battle-tested skippers...

All right, I'm back at it.
Let's do this thing.

King crab season 2010, baby.

..and the fleet's rising stars...

You can call me a new-age caption.
I even go down on the deck.

You don't see any of the old guys
doing that.

..steam towards
the elusive king crab grounds.

MAN: All hail...
(LAUGHTER)

I'm gonna be a hero or a zero.

(LAUGHTER)

It's a numbers game.

The red crab quota's getting smaller
every year,

and so is the amount of boats
fishing it.

Yeah.

This season, strategies are more
important than ever.

On the Northwestern...

SIG: On the hole and down below,
that's all crab,

but I bet you money there'll be crab
all in there, all down below,

but I think that most of the fleet's
gonna be in there.

OK. What are you thinking?

The deep hole?

Or somewhere around there.

That's, uh, not what I'm thinking.

We're gonna go up above,
not the hole.

And on the surveys, there was crab
farther up than there's ever been.

My bet would be from there to there,
and from there to there.

Right in here, right?

And just try to stay a block
above everybody, if we can.

Does that make sense?
Oh, clearly.

While captain Sig
seeks out new ground...

MAN: Survey shows a mix of crab
everywhere,

but the males will separate
from them.

..on the Time Bandit...

I've been thinking about it hard,
man.

I know we shouldn't do it,

but I'm thinking about going back to
the same spot.

What?!
(LAUGHS)

No way, dude.

..skipper Johnathan Hillstrand
dusts off last year's plans.

We're trying to find our scallops
and our crabs.

You can't go to the same spot.
Yeah, I can, bro. We're gonna.

We're gonna do it.
Bad move.

We're gonna try it again, buddy,
so...

No guts, no glory, baby.
You're the captain.

Just 400km from Dutch Harbor...
MAN: All right, so, what's the plan?

..is the Wizard.

I've been poring over
these chart surveys.

15 years of fishing, but we're
seeing a concentration of crab

coming in between Black Hills up
into the deep hole.

Captain Keith has already reached
the southern grounds...

There's crab on this beach here.

I'm gonna follow my instincts
instead of following the herd.

Let's go get this gear off there.

All right, you guys, gonna be
fishing a place called Black Hills.

I've never fished here,
just so you know.

Everything I'm reading,
everything I'm seeing is telling me

the crab are somewhere around here.

Let's get this gear off.

We got a big, nasty storm
coming our way,

so let's get this gear off
before we get our asses kicked.

Stay safe, stay smart.

Don't do anything stupid,
all right?

One more time.
Let's go kick some ass.

Get some business done.
MAN: We getting ready?

We're ready, man! We are ready!

MAN, ON RADIO:

It's coming in a little bit
quicker than anticipated.

We're already starting to take
green water over the side here.

Next 48 hours, the weather's
not gonna be our friend.

With reports of eight-metre seas...

Don't forget your flotation device.

..Keith needs
to get the stack off fast.

KEITH, ON TANNOY: You ready to roll,
Mouse?

Roger!

You may take a little...

(BEEP!)

MAN: Lower!

MAN: Oh, yeah!
MAN: Come on!

Heads up.

KEITH: I've never fished this close
to the beach here near Black Hills.

My entire career,
I've never been down here.

Even when the old owner used to
fish, he wouldn't come down here.

Keep coming over! Back up!

It seems like I've got my back
against the wall,

and I poured a lot of money
into the boat.

It makes you a lot more
uncomfortable when you leave home

and you know that
the bank account's empty.

Hey, Lynn, it's coming right at you.
Straight over that way.

But everything's telling me
this is the spot to be - everything.

MAN: Let's go! Let's do it.

400km to the south-west in
Dutch Harbor is the Cornelia Marie.

Coming into the circumstances
of me running the boat,

whole new captain.

Eight month after captain Phil Harris
passed away...

Josh: I think it's all gonna
come together.

We got a lot of work ahead of it.

..his sons and heirs Jake and Josh
carry on his fishing legacy.

What do you say
we get on board the old girl

and fire her up
and get her alive again,

get some life back on board?

Josh: Gonna do whatever it takes
to get this boat going.

Got an awesome skipper,
we got the best crew.

Let's just (BLEEP) get out there,
make the old man proud.

(MEN CHATTER)

For the last 20 years,

captain Phil was the driving force
behind prepping the boat for launch.

Now it's up to the boys.

JOSH: Everything's been sitting for
a while, so stuff might be broken.

Get this thing kicked into gear.

We got limited time.
We need to get done fast.

In the captain's chair Phil's buddy
47-year-old skipper Derrick Ray.

DERRICK: This season's gonna be
full of challenges,

cos I got to get this boat fishing.

I'm the captain.
That's the job I gotta do.

We're working on getting it
looking like a crab boat again.

Derrick said he was surprised if we
get anything done today,

but we're gonna make him proud.

They got spirit, baby!
That's my baby brother!

JOSH: Yeah! Blood is back!

DERRICK: This last year, the
Cornelia Marie's had a rough time,

and we want to make sure everything
comes together pretty good for us,

is what we'd like to do.

Cos we've been through way too much,
the last year.

Before the season...

We have to keep the boat running.
We have to keep our guys employed.

We need a captain, man.

Jake and Josh approach Derrick
about running the boat.

I am available, but at the same time
I need you guys to step up.

And things are gonna be done my way.

The captain's first priority?

Oh, yeah, look at that!
Too much power.

Getting the old girl seaworthy.

These guys are getting things
dialled in,

and we're gonna be ready to go
when it's time to go.

They can start bringing
crab pots down,

and we can start rigging them
hopefully tomorrow.

Two boys stepping up awesome right
now. I mean, they are just going.

They made their list
and they are attacking it,

which I'm very proud of.

But it's not just the boat
that needs to be shipshape.

Um, he looks like he's doing
pretty good, you know?

Doesn't have any of the obvious
signs of a drug problem right now.

The captain has to make sure
that deckhand Jake Harris is 100%.

I think he's doing fine.
We're hoping he is, anyway.

He says he is.
He's acting coherent, so...

PHIL: Why are you so sick?

Nine months ago...

Huh?
I'm an addict.

..Jake Harris
was battling with drug addiction.

I don't want it to be like this
at all.

Then go to treatment!
I will, I will.

That's the only mother(BLEEP) thing
that's gonna save your ass.

Keeping his word, Jake went to rehab.

JAKE: My sobriety's been going
great, you know.

Just got to deal with it one day at
a time, you know?

Just realise
what's more important to you.

But with lives at stake...

We gotta make him pee.

That's it, bottom line,
whether he passes or not.

The skipper will need hard proof.

JOSH: And then if he fails,
we got to come up with plan B then.

At that point,
he's not gonna be able to go.

Exactly.

I guarantee you, if my dad was here,

he'd be saying the same
(BLEEP) damn thing.

RAY: Jake?
JAKE: Yo?

I want you to meet Ken Reeves.

He is here to test your urine
right now.

OK.
OK?

How's it going, Ken?

How you doing, Jake?
I'm doing good.

What we're gonna do is I'm gonna
need a picture ID from you,

and we'll just go from there.

OK, yeah. Let me dig my ID out.
Sure. OK.

I just barely tinkled, you know.

I think we'll just see what happens
here. That's all.

Just wait and see
how the test comes out.

KEN: So, what this device does
is it draws up urine,

and it's screening
for any drug metabolites.

It takes about 30 seconds.

It's good.

So, they're all negative?
He's clean?

Yeah.

MAN: Hang it on your wall!

What I got at school today, guys.

DERRICK: OK. Thank you.
There we are.

Hanging this right here.

MAN: Damn funny.

♪

♪

MAN, ON RADIO:

JOHNATHAN: Andy? This is gonna be
a pain in our future.

That storm's ripping through fast.

NARRATOR: Only 36 hours
into the season,

a 1,600-square-kilometre arctic storm

is descending
on the red crab grounds.

KEITH: A lot of people think

because where we fish king crab is
called Bristol Bay,

it's just a nice little putt out
into the bay.

Bristol Bay is probably one of
the biggest bays in the world.

It's also a gigantic funnel.

The Aleutian chain
goes all the way to Japan.

Basically what happens

is these storms and the currents
travel in like this.

The current travels back out
like that.

So, what happens is we get these
huge south-westerlies

that come all the way up the chain,

pushing, pushing,
pushing, pushing, pushing,

and then you have some
of the biggest tides in the world

opposing that this way,
and when they collide - boom!

MAN, ON TANNOY:

390km north-east of Dutch Harbor,
on the Northwestern...

SIG: So, tomorrow's gonna suck.
Tonight's gonna really be bad.

We need to get these pots off
quickly,

so I need for those guys to be
focused down there on deck.

MAN: Hold on, Norm.

EDGAR: I don't know when
it's gonna happen,

but it's gonna happen soon.

You know,
the day that I got to walk away.

When do you say 'when', you know?

SIG: Who says you have to say
'when'?

Who says you can't?

Where, oh,
where is my little brother?

Can I come out and play now?

SIG: Edgar's like a broken record!

At the end of the season
he says he's never coming back,

and he's always back.

After three years
threatening to leave...

Ah! Never leave.
Never leave the Bermuda Triangle.

..deck boss Edgar Hansen
returns for his 23rd season.

SIG: I honestly don't want to talk
about Edgar any more.

My concern now is just
get the pots off safely.

You know, this will be farther west

than we've been in the last couple
of years.

We're gonna set
straight up against it -

that will save us time
running to the next spot -

and then we're gonna start
slamming some gear.

Before the first pot
can splash down...

You guys bite your herring head?

MAN: Tradition.
It's tradition now.

We bite the head off for good luck
before we set the first pot.

It all started with a gross-out
contest years ago,

and now it's turned into
a season-starting tradition.

This year the new guy, 42-year-old
Mark Peterson, will do the honours.

SIG: He was here as a teenager,
you know, 20-some-odd years ago.

MAN: Oh, yeah!
(GROWLS)

Let's hope that there's luck
in Mark this year.

High five! Now we can go fish.

This lollipop
tastes like a dead herring.

That's a greasy lollipop.
(LAUGHS)

First one's about to go over.

SIG, ON TANNOY: All right, guys.
Let her go when you're ready.

Here we go!

Here we go.

With his clan reunited...

First pot of king crab season
this year over the side.

..Sig drops the first
of his 250 pots.

Northwestern!

I think we will be OK here, but
there's only one way to find out.

He'll let the gear soak, and see
if his old tattered maps pay off.

Hope there's crab here.

MAN: I'm 36 years old. I'm still
the new guy - always learning.

70km to the north-east
is the 33-metre Seabrooke...

Compared to a lot of these
old, salty dogs,

my technique
is just such a faster pace.

You know, I'm always
on current information,

be checking stuff
on super short soak.

..captain Scott 'Junior' Campbell
is muscling forward.

You can't just have the mind-set

that 'this is the way I've done it
for 30 years,

and that's the way
we're gonna do it'.

And challenging the old guard.

You got to be able to adapt,
adjust, overcome,

and then try something different.

The second-generation fisherman
is staking his claim

on a punishing area
of the red crab grounds.

You know, it's a huge gamble
coming up here,

with the weather, with the currents.

That's where you got to have a boat
with a lot of horsepower

to be able to manoeuvre around
in this kind of stuff.

We're that boat.

They call this the Gullies, because
there's a lot of deep little ravines

that drop down about
100-foot difference in depth,

and then it'll go like that
for a mile,

and then it'll shoot right back up.

Got to have big cojones
to come this far up.

You got to put your big-boy breeches
on and get her done.

Scott's crew
is a mix of salty vets...

I am ready to tear it up.

I don't know about young,
but I'm ready. (LAUGHS)

(LAUGHTER)

..and two unproven greenhorns.

The captain's brother Chris Welch.

MAN: Oh, you know I'm ready
to get this show on the road,

get these in the water,
start making some money.

And Kyle Babb.

Deck boss Bob Perkey's son.

MAN: Well, having my son
on the boat,

it really doesn't change it
all that much.

I treat him just like I do the rest
of the other guys.

But I really don't go about it
that much differently.

Hopefully, we're landing the mother
lode right off the get-go.

(LAUGHS) Wouldn't that be sweet?

Get down tonight.
Yeah!

All right, they're ready to go.

Before he sets...

OK, come over here, horns.

..Junior hits the deck for a safety
ritual, honouring a fallen comrade.

At some point this season,
you guys will be setting shots.

The problem that we had
when we lost Moose

is that this surge line
was laying down on deck.

Grab your buoys.
Make sure your feet are down.

The most important thing

is never raise your foot up
when you're setting.

So, go ahead and set it. See?
It's going over.

Everything's clear - off.
Grab this, throw it, step back away.

But never raise your foot up,

and then we'll never have
a situation happen like we were in.

So, let's be safe. Do a good job.

Moose is gonna fill
the pots up for us.

When we come back, they'll be
loaded. Let's get her done, boys.

Almost two years ago,

Seabrooke deckhand
Keith 'Moose' Criner...

..got caught in the bite,
and was lost to the Bering Sea.

JUNIOR: Being up where I was
and having the full visual,

you know, I'm 60 foot away from it
and I'm inside the house,

and by the time I grabbed the mike,
it was already over.

I blame myself,
because I was the captain.

PERKEY: You know, you hear about
this happening to people.

When it happens to somebody close
to you, you know,

then it just makes it seem
so much more real.

Really good guy,
really knew his stuff.

You see little reminders around
the boat everywhere he was,

cos he was just there -
he was just living with us.

JUNIOR: What could have been
different?

There had to be a logical solution
for what had happened,

but there wasn't, you know?

It was a pure accident, but the
thing that we have to remember

is that this is the most dangerous
job in the world.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: 210km north-east
of Dutch Harbor...

JOHNATHAN: We keep finding schools
of crab out here every year.

..on the Time Bandit...

We're trying to find our scallops
and our crab.

Wherever those scallops are...

Cos the scallops swim under the
water, like this.

You know, they actually swim,
and those crab are chasing them.

..skipper Johnathan Hillstrand
is taking a gamble...

Last three years,
it's been working great for us.

..returning to the same grounds
for the fourth year in a row.

We're trying to see
if lightning strikes again.

My brother Andy
told me not to do it.

'Don't do it. No-one ever...'
ANDY: Don't do it!

'No-one ever gets away with that.'

But I did it anyway.

And they'll do what I say.

Gotta do what we gotta do, brother.

Must be crab season.

Got a damn good crew here, hopefully
around some damn good crab fishing.

Got a new guy named Justin Tennison.

Good kid, hardworking.
He's Eddie Uwekoolani's cousin.

So, how many years it's been since
you been doing this, Justin?

Not a greenhorn. I'm just new bat.

Just green, yeah.

The storm hasn't even hit, and the
boat's flag is already shredded.

Who's going up to get the flag?
BOTH: Nose goes!

(LAUGHTER)
MAN: Not the old guy!

JOHNATHAN: Look at this flag, dude.

That's less than a day - 20 hours.

Split like three fingers.

Mikey and Scotty are going up there
to put the flag back up.

This is good.
He's going up on the shoulders.

Oh, God, no!
No, this is bad-ass.

He's crazy.

(LAUGHS) He's a crazy (BLEEP).

OK, as soon as they get down,
we'll dump our first pot.

Nothing's easy, man!

With Old Glory flying...

..it's time to fish.

MAN: Yeah!

JOHNATHAN: Right now, the weather
is gonna kick our ass first.

Mother Nature's gonna spank us
a little bit,

and we're gonna spank her
and take some of her crap.

(CACKLES)

Fishing! Officially fishing!

Solid whitecaps. Solid 40-knot wind.

When weather (BLEEP) comes up like
this, you got to watch your guys,

and it's majorly important to get
all these top pots off.

We don't need to be coming
from on top.

It's coming up really fast now.

It's not getting
any friendlier out there.

Only 40 pots
into the king crab season...

..and the Time Bandit
is in full battle

with a 1,600-square-kilometre storm.

JOHNATHAN: Starting to take
25-, 30-degree rolls.

You can look at the sky, water,
sky, water behind me.

I'm rolling around. I'm getting
a good stomach exercise right now.

MAN: Part of what we sign up for.

We are a glutton for punishment
every year.

(MAN WHOOPS)

Oh, yeah, hang on, boys.

Wow!

(LAUGHTER)

This is about what I expected
for opening day.

I never expect anything less.

JOHNATHAN: Look at this flag, dude.

Flag doesn't last very long out here
when it blows 80, 90.

Split like three fingers. Wow.

Don't make stuff like they used to,
do they?

We're gonna run out of flags.

400km from Dutch Harbor...

(MAN WHOOPS)

..the final pots are being launched
on the red crab grounds.

Now for each skipper,
it's a waiting game...

JUNIOR: By this time tomorrow,

you'll know that I really screwed up
or we did really good.

..to see if their strategies...

..will pay off.

Season starts now.

We got 300,000lb of crab to catch.
Let's do this thing!

But back in port...

(MAN SCREAMS)

..28-year-old skipper
Elliott Neese...

It's kind of a special time here on
the Ramblin' Rose today.

..is only just getting started.

This is my first day out at sea
running a crab boat.

A lot of responsibility
for somebody who's 28.

Helming the rusted 160-tonne,
33-metre-long Ramblin' Rose

is Elliott's first shot
at the big time.

You know, I never went to college.

I went to BSU - the Bering Sea
university, school of hard knocks.

Usually it's, you know, I go out,
you know, do my job on deck,

and you know, you make money.

Now if I don't make money,
there is no money.

I got five guys' lives at stake.

I love my kids, love my family.
The reason why I'm out here.

My decisions and what I do

affect the lives and families
of my crewmen.

Elliott's steaming far north
of the rest of the fleet.

Yeah, we're gonna
be two and a half days

from anywhere you can get help from.

Nearly 800km to the harsh
and remote blue crab grounds.

You're pretty much essentially still
in the middle of nowhere.

The nearest mainland
is actually Russia.

The high-risk plan that could either
make his reputation...

A lot of eyes on me right now.

..or crush it.

If I hurt anybody or nobody comes
back safe,

then I will probably never get
a boat to run ever again.

So, there's a little bit
of pressure there.

While the captain prepares himself
mentally...

..the crew is in deep preparation...

..for a party.

ELLIOT: It is Kado's birthday.
He's turning the big 30 today.

So, we've got a cake for him.

We're gonna have
a little birthday bash.

Oh! Yeah, happy birthday, Kado!

That's the way I like it, and that's
the way I'm gonna keep it.

CREW: Surprise!

Happy birthday, Kado!
(APPLAUSE)

MAN: Happy birthday, Kado!

From your family on the Ramblin'
Rose. Make a wish, dog.

MAN: You only got one.
MAN: You only got one wish.

There you go.

MAN: Kado's birthday!

Oh, you guys even wrapped it!
You guys even wrapped it!

(CHEERING AND WHOOPING)

You guys even put a bow on it
and everything. It's awesome.

MAN: Yeah! Eat it up!
(LAUGHTER)

The first pod of the season.

So, all right.
Come here. Happy birthday, Kado!

After seven years
on the Bering Sea...

Guys are crazy, man.

..it's a miracle the young deck boss
made it to 30 at all.

Kado's lucky to be here.
He had a hell of a run on boats.

He broke his ankle one time.

Oh, God! Ow!

Oh, shoot!

He got smashed by a pot,
punctured his lung.

His lung was 80% full of blood.

The worst one yet, his first year
crab fishing, he went over the side.

So, somebody's watching over him.

I got to keep an eye on my guys
at all times.

There's a fine line between,
you know,

driving them too hard and not
driving hard enough.

300km south in Dutch Harbor...

DERRICK: It's 3:30 in the afternoon.
The season's already started.

We're still sitting at the dock.

We need to rig 110 pots on board

to go do this blue crab fishing
we're gonna go do.

The skipper needs a big push
to get the boat ready for launch.

His work plan calls
for all hands on deck.

DERRICK: God only knows
where the two of them are.

But two of the five crew members
are AWOL.

Jake's disappeared with Steve.

Been gone for about 45 minutes now

to go get a key
for a post office box.

Everything that takes a half-an-hour
on anybody else's time

takes an hour and a half
around here.

OK. Enough.

Enough. Enough.

After standing by
for more than an hour...

..the new captain goes on the hunt.

Steve obviously is with Jake
somewhere for two hours.

I'm gonna run up and see if he just
pulled up to the crab pot stack

and left the car sitting there.

Where are the two (BLEEP) at?

I'll tell you what, man.

The kid owns a fourth of this boat
with you.

It's un-(BLEEP)-believable.

I'm not his (BLEEP) keeper.
No, I know that.

I'm used to working
with professionals,

guys that want to (BLEEP)
do their damn job,

not run around like
a bunch of (BLEEP)!

With each passing minute,
Derrick's anger rises.

Delivery for you, boss. I got...

What the (BLEEP) after two
and a half (BLEEP) hours, Jake?

No, we were only gone
for about an hour.

No, more like two and a half, man.

We were busy.
It wasn't like we were mooching.

OK. Where's Steve at?

Well, two and a half hours later,
the mechanic went to lunch...

I don't even want to hear it.
Don't even want to (BLEEP) hear it!

We ain't been gone
no two and a half hours either!

(BLEEP) too.

You know what? You know what?
What?!

You want to (BLEEP) be here or not?
Huh?

Well, don't...
I've had enough of your (BLEEP)!

Well, too (BLEEP) bad!
You want to be here or not?

(BLEEP) you.
Huh?! Huh?!

I'm not gonna...
Cos I don't (BLEEP) need you.

Cos I left...
I don't (BLEEP) need you here.

Good! Good! You want me to leave?
I'll leave!

You don't have even enough (BLEEP)
self-respect

to stick around
for these (BLEEP) guys.

Hey, we both left...
And do your (BLEEP) job!

(BLEEP) you!
You got zero (BLEEP!)

Huh?!

What the (BLEEP) is your problem?

You! You got no (BLEEP) respect
for anybody or yourself.

No, I don't...
It goes both ways, you (BLEEP)!

Have a little (BLEEP), you know?

Have a little what, Derrick?
We left for an hour and a half...

Why don't you (BLEEP) let me know?

So, the mechanic, when he walks off,
he's going, 'Hey!'

He goes, 'We need to put another
head on here.'

Well, good!
OK? So, could've got it for him!

When I left, everything was good!

Right, no, we'll do it tomorrow!

That's the way it always is!
You don't stop...

I want you to treat me with some
(BLEEP!) respect,

so I can give it in return.

Will you guys please
just shake hands?

Phil's not here.
He's (BLEEP) dead, OK?

I got hired to run
this (BLEEP) boat.

Did I take care of you last year
during...

I'm done with this.
Did you finish the season...

No, no! This isn't for the (BLEEP)
camera, (BLEEP)!

I'm tired of this (BLEEP)!

What are you tired of?

Don't (BLEEP) start shoving me
around!

Come on, guys.

Go (BLEEP) yourself!

♪

♪

NARRATOR: 420km north-east
of Dutch Harbor is the Wizard.

KEITH: We're gonna go up and
spot-check the top of this string,

then grab these other
three prospect pots,

and then drop down
to this end of the string.

Skipper Keith is steaming towards
his gear on a 14-hour soak.

KEITH: Take a 20 average
in a heartbeat.

Man, if you could give me a
50 average, probably shave my head,

go running down Main Street naked,
or something stupid.

WOMAN, ON RADIO:

Over.

MAN: What's going on?
Hang on.

MAN, ON RADIO:

It's some giant container ship
with some guy that smashed his neck.

WOMAN, ON RADIO:

1,300km to the west...

6015, 6015, COMSTA Kodiak,
5mb, over.

..a jayhawk rescue helicopter

patrolling the crab fleet
on a routine mission...

..received the distress call.

COMSTA, 6015, roger.

They set a course to the injured
man's ship, 80km south-west.

MAN: All right, guys, about
20 minutes till we're on scene.

MEN: Roger.

You see that open spot down there?
Yep, yep, yep.

Let me know what you...

Take a look at that.
Yeah, there it is.

The ship is the size of a small town.

We're gonna hoist at that small area
between the containers.

But the only suitable landing spot

is a tiny three-by-five-metre area
near the bow.

Ratcheting up the danger...

..5-metre seas and 40-knot winds.

The rough conditions
and the sharp steel containers

complicate an already treacherous
hoist operation.

Due to the severity
of the crewman's injuries...

..there's no time for delay.

MAN: We're going to lower down
a line,

and we're going to send down
our rescue swimmer.

MAN, ON RADIO: OK, copy.

(RADIO CHATTER)

OK, the speed of trail on delivery
of the rescue swimmer

to the surface below will be enough
at approximately 100 feet.

Any questions?
No questions.

Swimmer's going down.

Swimmer's going down.
Hold position.

Swimmer's going down.

Swimmer's going down.
Swimmer's halfway down.

And easy right.
Roger.

Easy right. It's kind of blowing us
around a little bit.

Yeah.
Easy right.

Hold, hold, hold!
Roger.

Easy right.

Hold, hold, hold!
Roger.

Hold, hold!
Hold, hold, hold, hold, hold!

Roger.

Rescue swimmer,
rescue swimmer 6015...

Rescue swimmer.
Do you copy?

Did he hit anything on the way down?
Yes, sir.

He went right into that Evergreen
container,

and the wind just kind of swept him
right into it.

There was no manoeuvre
we could have done.

Rescue swimmer, 6015,
request your status.

We saw you contact the box there.

OK, roger that.

And I am sending the litter
out the cabin, over.

Litter's outside cabin door.

Going down.

The swimmer, wearing a helmet cam,

makes his way
into the bowels of the ship.

MAN: All right, speak English?
MAN: Yeah.

So, what happened?

The crewman's leg was crushed
and his neck broken

by a fallen engine block.

All right, keep that back on it.
Keep it how it is.

MAN: OK.

The victim will need to be hoisted
in the same rough conditions

that nearly crippled the swimmer
moments before.

Rescue swimmer, 6015, roger.

And no line or trail line's
still on deck?

Any trail line?
Let's not run out of trail line.

Swimmer is off the deck.
Clear left. Come left.

And easy back and left.

Welcome back, Travis.
Hey.

You all right?
Yep.

The rescue crew head
to their base in Cold Bay,

where the patient will be transferred
to a C-130 aircraft

and flown to Anchorage.

We are en route to Cold Bay.

WOMAN, ON RADIO:

KEITH: Sounds like they got him off.

You know, the coast guard does
a great job getting guys out of here

and getting them to Anchorage
so they can patch them up,

but it's an awful long ride.

It's a reminder of just how far
away from help we are out here.

There's this unwritten law
between fishermen

and kind of the brotherhood
of the sea a little bit, you know?

It's... anybody who works on
the ocean, you have respect for.

When they get hurt, you know,
it's just always a bad deal.

Back on the red crab grounds...

..is the Northwestern.

Skipper Sig has arrived
at his underwater pot storage area.

And we're gonna go pick these up.

They're empty,
they're just here in storage.

It was almost 50 miles away
from where we set our pots.

The plan is to move the extra gear
to the crab grounds

and boost the number of pots
already soaking.

We're just picking them up
and pulling 'em aboard,

and all these pots are boom, boom,
boom right in a line.

Then we don't have to run all way
back to town to get 'em.

We just saved ourselves,
I don't know what hours.

A lot of hours.

Watch your back.
That's going right over there.

This year 29-year-old Jake Anderson
is taking on a bigger role.

Real busy.

I just spent the last year
in school.

Spent thousands of dollars
sitting in classes

when I wanna be a captain.

Jake has set his sights
on the wheelhouse.

Jake's all ambitious,
and he's been going to school.

He's trying to get his license
to be a captain.

(BLEEP)!

Back it up!

So eager to do well, you know,
but when he doesn't do well,

he has more of a tendency
to fall apart.

You're like, 'Oh, God, this sucks!'

But for now,
Jake's only new assignment...

I think it's gonna be chicken
burgers and French fries.

..is in the galley.

I don't wanna be in the wheelhouse
and not know when to cook

or not know what to cook.

You got to have answers for
everything if you're a skipper.

SIG: Just cos Jake's
spent a bunch of money

to get his master's license,
you still gotta cook.

Find the pace and do it.

Jake's mission is simple.

Ready for some food.

Cook a meal for five hungry crewmen
before the last pot is stacked.

(BLEEP), my French fries
have been in there

for probably a half an hour.

I think if you get good at this, you
don't have to run around so much.

Uh, Jake?
What's up?

Are you taking orders at the
drive-through?

God, this sucks!

Yeah, I'd like to have this ready
by the time they get in here.

(BANG!)

SIG, ON TANNOY:

Can you see the line stuck between
the spool and the drum?

It's bound up.

If it snaps, the pot and everything
will either go in the water

or on the deck,
so we gotta get it out of the spool.

Go down!

(BLEEP)!

If you can't get the thing out,
you don't have a winch any more.

You don't have a winch
on your crane.

And no crane..
Oh, (BLEEP)!

..means no crabbing.

While the guys try to hang on...

Jake uses the repair time
to finish cooking.

Yeah, aren't I miserable?

EDGAR: Come up!

Oh, (BLEEP)! Arggh!

Edgar attaches the picking hook
to pull the line taut...

Back up! Give it a jerk!
(METAL CREAKS)

Come on! Yeah!

..and frees the snag.

Whoo. That's what I'm talking about.
That's how you do it!

Something came loose.

Pretty lucky.

We're back in business.

Thanks to Edgar,
the season will continue.

EDGAR: It's OK, Jake! I got it!

And all he asks in return...

JAKE: String's over, and I did it.

Can't tell you that
it's my most proudest piece,

but it's on the table.

If we have Edgar's ability
and Jake's ambition,

I guess you'd have
the perfect deckhand.

EDGAR: Jake pulled through.

Surprised he made it
on the table in time.

(LAUGHTER)

You just saved yourself
a kick in the teeth.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: 435km to the north-east
of Dutch Harbor...

JUNIOR: We got 20-foot seas
right now. It's blowing 40.

..the Seabrooke ploughs towards
her first pots of the season.

You know, it's supposed to get
even worse here as the day goes on.

This weather kicking up is gonna be
a huge opportunity for us,

because the rest of the fleet's
just gonna stop and soak their gear.

We're gonna push
through the storm.

We're gonna be one step
ahead of the game, so...

Junior has a reputation
for working his crew long hours.

No, I'm the pace-setter right here.

But the crew has a way...

(LAUGHS) That ought to get us five.

...of slowing him down.

Oh, they left me just...
just enough to tease me.

Coffee goes quick around here.

They like to give me nothing
or just a little bit left

to where it isn't even enough
to get a full cup

so that it'll take me longer.

I'll have to stop,
make a pot of coffee,

and they'll get the little extra
time before we get started.

Then it's just gonna piss me off
and I'm gonna push harder,

so it's kind of a double-edged
sword.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas,
and a happy new year.

Ho, ho, (BLEEP)!
(LAUGHTER)

Now it's payback time.

(MAN LAUGHS AND WHOOPS)

They're here to make money,

and we're gonna do it the
old-fashioned way - the hard way.

The first pot is in sight.

Money maker starting, baby.

Got the money machine printing
right now.

Just depends on how much
it's gonna be -

whether it's $1 bills
or $100 bills.

Guess we'll see what we got.

MAN: First pot, baby!

(CHEERING AND SHOUTING)

JUNIOR, ON TANNOY:

That's pretty good fishing.
Pretty good fishing.

4-9?

49?
49, baby!

Are you (BLEEP) kidding me?

What do we got? What do we got here?

Oh, baby! Whoo!

Yeah, this is awesome!

Right out of the gate.
Right into crab.

Yeah!

(LAUGHS) Oh, (BLEEP)!

Ho, ho, ho! Oh, yeah!

Whoo! Whoo! Yeah!

That is (BLEEP) unheard of -
in 17 hours!

Oh, yeah. There we go.
That's what we're looking for.

Oh, yeah.

(LAUGHS) Yeah!

MAC: Good average right there.

If we can keep that, shoot, man,
we'll be (BLEEP) full.

I like that!

With each fat pot of crab,
spirits soar.

With one exception.

Chris is looking green
around the gills.

The skipper's little brother,
Whipper.

(CHEERING)
MAN: Whipper's giving it up!

(LAUGHS) Looks like he hasn't quite
got his sea legs yet.

That was good chum. Puking all over
the deck like a seagull.

It all good. It all good.

260km to the south-west...

It's pretty ugly out here!

..the veterans on the Time Bandit

are still battling
the tail end of the storm.

I have a good hunch that there's
a lot of crab in this area.

I hope they're the right kind.
This is a scallop-bed area.

There's scallop beds scattered out
over in here.

Captain Johnathan took a risk,

setting his gear on the same grounds
for the fourth year running.

I'm hoping we're gonna be OK here.
We just gotta find the crab.

Now it's the moment of truth.

Getting ready to haul some gear.

It'll be the first pots of
the season that we're gonna haul.

I'm hoping for some crab
on top of the pot,

some riders that are clinging
on the outside.

It'll be a good sign for us.

Say a little prayer to God.

MAN: Uh-oh! Ouch!

Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

And pretty much
if the first one comes up blank,

you pretty much know
they're all gonna be blank.

MAN: No king crab.

Wah, wah, wah.

Johnathan's trusted scallop
grounds...

MAN: Oh, you (BLEEP!)

..have run dry.

All good things must come to an end,
they say.

I bombed out. I haven't done that
in a long time, brother.

Obviously the sun did not shine on
this dog's ass four years in a row.

This ain't no way to start a crab
season, I'll tell you that much.

There s nothing here -
20-by-20-mile area.

(SPITS) Nothing!

390km east of Dutch Harbor...

KEITH: Good morning, Bristol Bay.
Good morning, Black Hills.

..the storm has finally moved north
of the crab grounds.

I can't believe I'm fishing here.
Sometimes I even scare myself.

On the Wizard,

captain Keith is moving towards
his first pots of the season.

Good time of day to start -
right at daybreak.

Let's get a nice, good
long day in today.

I'm sure we'll see
the sun come up again.

This is the first time I've really,
really trusted my instincts

instead of just going back
to what I've always done,

and you know what?

They're around here somewhere.

The first guy to find them
is gonna be a hero.

I'm freaked out now, you know?

We're 36 hours into this season.

This fleet moves so fast that
if there was hot fishing here,

there'd at least be a few boats here
now, and there's nobody.

Come on, at least have a few in it.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Nice, clean, bright crab.
MAN: Yep!

It's a sign of life.

Few females and smalls mixed in.

But it's also a mixed bag
of keepers and juveniles.

Ten?
(MAN SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY)

Six?

1-4!

14 crab is not what we want,
but 14 crab is not bad.

Now we just got to find a way
to make some money,

which means getting on
a little bit stronger numbers

soaking the gear,
and going from there.

OK, guys...

MAN: It's right there
beside the ship.

I can't hear you!
Could you project...

KEITH, ON TANNOY:

MAN:

It's back here!

(MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
Oh, yeah? Which way is it leading?

(MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
(BLEEP)!

As the pot splashed,
Keith drove over the buoy line,

causing it to become tangled
in the propeller.

If he can't free the line,
the prop shaft could freeze up

and the Wizard will be dead
in the water.

KEITH: We got to back off of it.
Do we have the diver bag on it?

The nylon is hooked to the diver bag
knot, the eye of the bag.

The captain's solution?

I think I'm just gonna put this
(BLEEP) in gear

and go and see what happens.

I'm gonna put it in reverse and hope
we back off it,

and hopefully it's in the rudder.

Brute force.

MAN: Clear!
Roger!

Just keep your eyes peeled
for that bag to pop up.

(MAN SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY)

Any sign of anything?

MAN: Nothing!

Negative! Nothing!
I think you're clear!

With the line cleared,
the crew returns to fishing.

KEITH: I'm breathing
a little bit easier.

Not a lot, but a little.

Well, this is not the start
I wanted.

The lost pot cost Keith $1,000.

And the defeat in the Black Hills
means he has to find a new spot...

Oh, God!

..costing him precious fishing days.

Sometimes it's easy because the pots
are loaded with crab.

You just throw them right there.

Sometimes there's a little bit
of information,

and it's like, 'I'm not sure.'

Right now, those first pots
are telling me

to get the hell out of here.

We're gonna rename
this the Dead Hills,

instead of the Black Hills.

390km away in Dutch Harbor...

JAKE: Got about 20 pots
left to do here.

..the men of the Cornelia Marie
are finally loading pots...

Now we're looking like crappo, baby!

..and moving on.

Yeah, I'm fine. Everything's good.

It's been 24 hours since the skipper
and engineer went head-to-head.

Steve and I are doing OK, I think.

We had dinner last night,
didn't really say anything.

I'm just gonna let it go.

I'm gonna let him do his thing
in the engine room.

He'll probably never respect me,
you know? But that's OK.

Let me do my job,
and I'll let you do your job.

That's what we're supposed to do,
is go catch crabs.

DERRICK, ON TANNOY:

After five days in port...

Get this show on the road.

..it's finally time for
the Cornelia Marie to shove off.

Are you ready?

DERRICK: You untie from the dock.
That's when your world begins.

That's the happy place.

We're fishermen first, that's what
we are.

We're fishermen. That's our job.

We're gonna kill them.

I hope we get them.
That'd be awesome.

With quarrels set aside
for the good of the boat,

Derrick steers into 800km
of open seas.

We got a great opportunity here

to go up and, you know,
set a new standard.

We really do.

Their final destination -
the notorious blue crab grounds.

Go do something that very few guys
are gonna go try and do,

and something that I know that Josh
and Jake's dad would've tried doing.

The Cornelia Marie
will be one of only four boats

fishing far north
at the edge of the world

for the elusive blue king crab.

This blue crab fishery
is a very viable fishery,

and I'm glad these guys are getting
on board with me.

We're gonna go up
and we're gonna make it happen.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: 420km from Dutch Harbor,

the Ramblin' Rose steams north
towards the blue crab grounds.

Wind's picking up a little bit.
It's going 25, maybe 30.

The arctic storm that
plagued the Southern crab fleet

is now tracking north...

This really tends to rock real bad.

..hounding 28-year-old
skipper Elliott Neese.

Especially with a full load of gear
on the boat.

It's not a lot of fun.

That's our plan right now.

With a towering pot stack,
threatening to destabilise his boat,

Elliott takes safe harbour
in Saint Paul.

Hopefully we can get out of here...

Listen to the weather again
in the morning,

maybe try to get out of here
tomorrow night, or Monday.

We're definitely gonna wait
till it calms down.

A night off in port...

..means the new skipper
isn't catching any crab.

ELLIOT: Yeah, it's kind of a lot of
pressure.

I got guys that count on me for pay
cheques to feed their families.

I'm hoping to go out and prove
myself

to anybody
who has any doubts about me.

As the brooding skipper
calls it a night...

(LAUGHTER AND CHATTER)

..his young crew take advantage
of the downtime.

Nine hours later...

This is ridiculous.

..Elliott wakes up to the aftermath.

MAN: Don't do that.

You guys (BLEEP) get drunk (BLEEP)
when we're in town,

make a huge mess.

(MAN BURPS)
Make messes around here.

(BLEEP)!

The mess is a challenge
to the young captain's authority.

Who did it?
MAN: Not me.

Well, then, who in the (BLEEP) did?!

(BLEEP) find out who did
when we get back and I'm (BLEEP).

ELLIOT: That's unacceptable.

Make a huge (BLEEP) mess
in the galley,

go out and get more beer, and get
drunk on my boat when we're in town.

That's not the operation
we run around here.

Hey, Kado, how about you
and the cap come up here.

MAN: Hey, what's up?
Somebody's going (BLEEP) home!

I want to (BLEEP) know who did it.

I already called.
I got a plane ticket.

MAN: I washed my dish.
MAN: Me too.

I didn't make a (BLEEP) mess.
I cleaned up after myself.

Who went and bought the extra
(BLEEP) beer?

It wasn't you?
It wasn't any of you guys?

No, I didn't...
I don't have any cash.

I was right here the whole time.

Uh... Naiuli went to the store.

I guess.

I'm gonna fly him out of here today.

What's up with that mess you left in
the galley today, dude?

(BLEEP) nightmare down there.

Food all over the place,
(BLEEP) everywhere.

And you (BLEEP) just take off
to go watch football?

So, I think...

I think we got to get
a plane ticket to go home.

The attitude around here...

I talked to all the other guys
about it.

Everybody said your attitude's
just (BLEEP),

and we don't need a guy around
whose attitude's gonna be like that.

All right, that's cool.

So, you're heading home.
All right.

So, like, phone rings.
'Don't answer it. Don't answer!'

Your girlfriend...
'Shh! Don't answer! Shh!'

So, I guess I'm the one
that left the galley mess

and I went to sleep this morning
at 9am.

That's what the skipper's saying
that the crew informed him of.

Is that what it is?
MAN: I don't know who did it.

(BLEEP)!

So, yeah, I just want to confer
with everyone else,

cos that's what he said that's what
the crew said, so...

(ALL TALK AT ONCE)

We could all go the same way.
That's the thing.

So, we're off.

So, we're back to four guys,

and we're gonna go out
and we're gonna catch crab.

The first five days of the king crab
season...

MAN: Whoo!

Not very pretty out here today.

..crews fought
a fierce arctic storm...

KEITH: Sea starts getting chaotic
and it's just all green and white,

and you're pounding
through the waves.

..to get their pots on the crab.

SIG: Here we go.
Feels good to get started.

King crab, 2010, over the side.

But when hauling started...

There ain't a (BLEEP!) crab
that we found yet.

Most of the veteran skippers...
(CHEERING)

..fell flat.

Right now it's looking like I just
bit myself in the ass in a big way.

Blank after blank after blank.

KEITH: The whole first set sucks.

We're throwing the Hail Mary.
We're going way up the hill.

But 640km to the north...

DERRICK: This is a spot right off
of Pinnacle Island.

..the Cornelia Marie has just arrived
on their grounds.

Just getting ready
to get going here.

Got to go down
and get the guys squared away.

It's about time to start
on blue crab season.

Hopefully, they got the coffee on.

Boys, boys, boys!

We got about an hour.
Time to get up.

Harris brothers!

Are you prepared to go fishing?

It's time to go to work.
Two and a half days of travel.

Let's go do this thing, boys.

Holy smokes!
We gotta get some coffee made.

Looking a little blustery
from the east out right now.

About an easterly 25. Not bad.

Good way to start the season,

get the guys used to their sea legs
working good.

Hydros are ready to go.
MEN: All right!

To start the season out
with a Pop-Tart.

Good to go.
Raspberry.

Breakfast of champions.
(LAUGHTER)

DERRICK: It's good to see them
in a good mood.

That's huge, it really is.
Putting a smile on my face.

They're all in a good mood.
They're ready to go.

I know they've been bored stiff
travelling too.

It's just a lot in time.
(LAUGHTER)

We're getting ready.
We're getting close.

This season, the Cornelia Maria is
fishing for blue king crab

in the far northern reaches
of the Bering Sea.

DERRICK: Coming up right here,

and we're gonna start right about
in here - about 45 fathoms.

We're gonna set straight
to the west out here

to about this 52 to 55 spot,
a pot a mile.

This is only the second time
the blue crab grounds have been open

in more then a decade.

(MEN CHEER)
MAN: Let's see what you got.

70-some boats fishing king crab this
year in the Bering Sea,

and there's only four of us
taking a chance on blue crab.

So, this is a big gamble,
but it's gonna pay off.

We're gonna have a great season.

I don't think these crab pots
have seen any blue crab in them

for, like, the past 12 years
or something.

I've never seen any blue crab
in these pots, so...

OK, you guys.

We just gonna ask a little
help from the old man right now.

Dad, I hope you're looking out.

MAN: Here we go!
MAN: First pot of the year!

Let's just keep it up.
We're gonna be fine.

Just need that first pot
to come up with some crab in it.

It's our job to find them.

And we will.

We got some albatross
flying around the boat.

Good luck birds.
Good luck to fishermen.

They travel a long ways to come
to the Bering Sea to see us.

The old man's smiling down on us
right now.

That's good luck. That is good luck
to see albatross, so...

We'll find the crab.
That's what we came to do.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: 760km north
of Dutch Harbor...

Finally made it out of Saint Paul.
We spent a day and a half there.

..the Ramblin' Rose
joins the Cornelia Marie

on the blue crab grounds.

The young crew prepares to splash
their first pots of the season.

No, not me!
MAN: Kind of a cluster right now.

When we get some of these pots off,

we'll have a little more room
to work with, but...

Is probably taking the chains off
the boat,

hanging on the side when (BLEEP)
you got waves slapping you

and the boat's rocking
back and forth.

Unusual for a skipper...

..Elliott climbs onto the stack
and gives a hand.

Here, I'll put this back up.
You go stretch that chain.

See?

I loosened it.

Going back inside!

I know what I'm doing.

Yeah, that's perfect,
just like that.

Hey, Kado, you got me?

I can't bait her too heavy.
Gotta leave room for the crab.

First pot, boys!
MAN: Perfect spot!

(MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

MAN: No, this is the money pot
right here.

All right, go ahead.
Let them go when you're ready.

(MEN WHOOP AND CHEER)

Our first pot of the season
just went over the side.

Everybody's pretty excited.
I'm excited we're out there.

80km to the south, the sun rises
on the Cornelia Marie.

JOSH: Right now,
we are at the beginning.

There are 60 prospect pots, so...

Sink or swim, right here.

DERRICK: We got a little
weather today.

I don't think the Bering Sea's

gonna give these crab up
very easily to us, for some reason.

The weather's all right for me.

For the guy at the rail,
like this guy - wet!

It's blowing about 35, north-east.

Uh, we're not making ice, but you
can see your breath out there.

So, it's...

The temperature's dropping down into
the mid-30s, high 30s probably.

We'll just deal with it.

Sweet!

Phil Harris, baby. We miss you.

Sweet!

First pot of the season, baby!

First pot is in.

This is for you, boss!

MAN: Watch out! Watch out!

MAN: Once you've been a fisherman
for so long,

you get used to that lifestyle.

It's hard to walk away.

SIG: It just gets in your blood,
like a cancer.

Grow the (BLEEP) up and get over it,
just do your (BLEEP) job!

Get out of my face! (BLEEP)!

JAKE: I just want to run a boat.

Everybody on this boat,
who's the (BLEEP) captain?!

(CHEERING)

Whoo! (BLEEP), yeah, boys! Boom!

MAN: For 20-plus years,
all I did was fish.

You didn't complain.
You were a soldier.

JOSH: Been dreaming about
the old man lately,

hoping that I don't fail.

SIG: Bunch of damn lights
up in the sky.

It's like a UFO or something.

DERRICK: It's gonna get (BLEEP)
in a hurry.

Four-storey buildings
will be coming at us.

(SHOUTING ON TANNOY)

Whoa! What the (BLEEP) was that?!

SIG: We're fishermen.
That's just the way it is.

MAN: Hold on! Hold on!

♪