Deadliest Catch Recap: Week 11

Week 11: Blown Off Course (premiered June 22, 2010)
“Go to treatment. It’s the only f***ing thing that’s gonna save your ass.”
~ Captain Phil Harris, to Jake

Of course I cried. Did you see the same episode that I saw?

*sigh* All right, let’s get this show on the road. This week’s episode begins with a recap of last week’s big reveal on the Cornelia Marie: Jake Harris is addicted to pain medication. Phil is obviously in shock, but I’m not sure it’s of the surprised variety. He knew something wasn’t right, and from the turn the conversation takes my guess is that some part of Phil saw this coming. “You’re gonna have to change your lifestyle, man,” he tells his son in no uncertain terms. If Phil has anything to say about it, Jake is headed for rehab before it’s too late. Phil even offers to go with Jake in a show of solidarity—and, given what we’ve been able to gather about Phil’s life over the last six years, a healthy dose of first-hand experience. Between the way his back has been wearing him down and this new development with Jake, Phil decides to cut the crabbing short and head for St. Paul.

Phil Harris isn’t the only one in need of a break. Johnathan Hillstrand of the Time Bandit informs brother Andy that when they hit port, he’s headed off for a 20-day vacation. For the first time in 30 years, Captain Johnathan is taking a mid-season break. There’s been a lot of talk this season about passing the boats down to the next generation, but the Time Bandit is the first to actually pull the trigger. The Hillstrand brothers are getting tired, and as Johnathan makes his intentions clear the brothers sit down to start talking about who should get the keys to the wheelhouse.

It’s no wonder everyone’s in such an “I’m getting too old for this” mood—the opilio are evading everyone this season. Over on the Wizard four weeks of hard fishing still haven’t filled the tanks, and they’ve resorted to dumping 100 pots on untested grounds. Unlike past seasons, when the boats were hauling in pots filled with 600-700 crab each, everyone seems resigned to rejoice over 300s this time around. It’s such a drastic difference that I wish I had access to a crab fisherman so I could ask his theories on the dramatic change! Did the crab run off to some as-yet undiscovered grounds? Have their numbers been lowered by some sort of natural element? Have they stalled in contract negotiations with the Discovery Channel?

Whatever the case, low numbers aren’t Captain Keith’s only problem—he has a nasty chewing tobacco habit that he’s been trying to break, and the stress is making him weak. So, he calls his kids for some innocent encouragement, which his daughter is more than happy to provide. This little girl is so articulate I kept trying to figure out if she’s really a lot older than I remembered, and after a lecture about cancer and a plan to switch out her dad’s chewing tobacco with half nicotine gum and half regular gum I’m convinced someone needs to sign her on as an anti-chewing spokeswoman. “It’s time to wake up,” Keith says as he hangs up with his daughter.

Captain Sig on the Northwestern is running into a dilemma. News about Jake Anderson’s missing dad is traveling through the fleet as it hits the Seattle media waves, and after Phil and Sig have a brief discussion via radio about the whole mess Sig decides it’s just about time to fill Jake in—but he thinks it would be better coming from Jake’s mom. Uncertain as to what role he should play, Sig brings deckhand and Jake’s Uncle Nick up for a chat about how to proceed. Eventually Sig bites the bullet and calls Jake into the wheelhouse to call his mom and, through a broken conversation due to the crappy reception one tends to get in the middle of the Bering Sea, Jake’s mom fills Jake in on the whole sordid tale. His mom tells him not to give up hope, but Jake feels like he really needs to be home helping the family. Poor Jake. I know I’ve said this before, but the kid just cannot get a break, and he works so hard. Anyone who consistently brings out the paternal side of Captain Sig is someone special.

The Time Bandit brothers have stuffed their tanks and are ready to head into port, but decisions need to be made before Johnathan takes off for his vacation. Scotty isn’t quite ready to take the helm, they determine, and in spite of it being his birthright they look to other members of the crew to fill the position of captain. Deckhand J.J. is a possibility, but at 54 years old there’s no telling how much longer he’ll be able to handle crab fishing, even from the wheelhouse. “It’s tough to be out here at my age,” J.J. says after taking a spill, and suddenly the Hillstrands aren’t even sure J.J. will be around for another season, much less several years as a potential captain.

After much deliberation, Mike Fourtner is the man they choose to step up, and Captain Andy gives him the news after Johnathan’s left to go marlin fishing and the Time Bandit is headed back out for more opies. “You’re the guy that me and Johnathan picked,” Andy says simply, and Mike seems shocked and very pleased. “I feel honored that they would trust me with all this,” Mike says, and he should. From what I’ve gathered, these captains do not mess around when it comes to the care of their boats. Mike is going to have some big shoes to fill, and it will be interesting to see how the reigns are transferred and what the crew—particularly Scotty Hillstrand—thinks of this development. 

And then, in the last fifteen minutes or so of the episode, the moment we’ve all dreaded begins to unfold. Phil is stressing over Jake’s revelation as the boat heads for port. “You know, Jacob’s got an addictive personality. Just like me,” he laments. “But if you want something bad enough, you put that sh*t aside, you grow up a little bit. It’s all up to him.” Then a scene unfolds that I can’t help but be skeptical about, chronologically speaking, and I suppose I’ll never know the truth for sure since I don’t have access to a DC editor. But the boat is supposedly in dock, and Phil is looking at pictures of his kids when they were little. Josh comes in, and then Jake comes in, and soon enough they’re all reminiscing and doing some major family bonding. Now, this clearly happened, since it’s on film. I can’t help but question, however, if this is actually being shown in context. Was this really what was going on right before Phil had his stroke? I suppose part of me thinks that would just be too damn eerie, like Phil knew the end was barreling down on him and he only had a limited amount of time left to spend with his kids. And what do I know? Maybe this is exactly how it went down, and exactly when it went down. The narration sure makes it seem that way. One way or another, it’s a poignant scene, and only underscores what comes next.

The offload is complete, and all that’s left is for the captain to sign off on the numbers. And my heart starts beating faster, because this is it—it’s coming, and there’s really no stopping it, and we’re finally about to see what happened all those months ago when it broke in the news. Deckhand Steve Ward goes to look for Phil when he doesn’t answer his stateroom phone, and the next words we hear are “Oh, my god.” Then, all hell breaks loose. Steve is screaming for Josh, the deck is in chaos. Josh is calling 911, telling the dispatcher, “I think my dad had a stroke.” No one seems to know what to do, there is a crowd around Phil in his stateroom and the paramedics show up to further complicate the scene.

And here’s where it gets even more heart-wrenching. Phil is conscious. He’s slow, but he’s clearly cognizant of some of what’s going on around him, able to respond sluggishly to the paramedics’ questions in spite of not being able to move his left side. These are good signs, and somehow knowing that he was in fact actually recovering from his stroke when he died makes it even harder to watch these first moments. This, my friends, is truly the beginning of the end of the story of Phil Harris. As Josh tries to hold it together and Jake cries in the galley and the crew stands there in shock as their beloved captain is taken away, and as Discovery goes way overboard by showing a fricking raven like we seriously need death metaphors right now, the past is finally catching up with the present. And it just flat-out sucks. But I’ll keep watching…because, by all accounts, it’s what Phil wanted.

My predictions for next week’s episode: Lots and lots and LOTS of drama of the very real kind as the fleet reacts to the news of Phil’s stroke.