‘Deadliest Catch’ Planning Tribute for Late Deckhand Todd Meadows
Deadliest Catch will honor late deckhand Todd Meadows when it returns next month for Season 22.
Before Deadliest Catch makes its return to the Discovery Channel on May 8, Variety reports that the series will feature a special tribute to 25-year-old Aleutian Lady deckhand Meadows, who died on Feb. 25 after falling overboard during filming.
Meadows’ contribution to the Aleutian Lady will be shown during the Season 22 premiere, as will how his loss has impacted the fishing community. He will continue to be featured in some of the following episodes, but Variety reports the footage from his fatal accident will not be shown on the series out of respect for his family.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that after Meadows went overboard, the crew was able to recover him from the water after about 10 minutes, but that he was “unresponsive” and “attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful.”
Meadows’ cause of death was officially released earlier this month, with TMZ reporting at the time that the deckhand died due to “drowning with probable hypothermia” and “submersion of body in cold water.”
The logline for Season 22 of Deadliest Catch reads, “With a new king crab population appearing far north, the fleet relocates 225 miles to St. George Island, facing colder weather and more extreme seas than any season before as they work to sustain their livelihoods in rapidly changing waters. 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.”
Also featured on this season, Captain Sig Hansen “launches an unprecedented covert scouting mission, deploying an underwater drone into the unknown waters in a bold attempt to locate the rare strain of king crab before the rest of the fleet arrives.”
Meanwhile, Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski “journeys to St. George Island to share his decades of hard-earned knowledge,” while Captain Jake Anderson returns as a deckhand for the first time in more than a decade, having lost his boat and his marriage. “When an unexpected opportunity emerges to restore the legendary Cornelia Marie, Jake steps back into the captain’s chair, putting his reputation and his family’s future on the line for one final shot at redemption,” as per the logline.
Deadliest Catch returns to the Discovery Channel on Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET.
