The new season of Deadliest Catch premiered last night. The first episode is always slow, but there was a lot that struck me as off with this one. Jonathan Hillstrand is an utter asshole - another captain tried to hire away one of your crew, so you accuse him of trying to kill his own brother, then assault him when he yells at you? I don’t particularly like Keith either, but I would have loved to have seen him deck Hillstrand.
The Jake switching seemed like a gimmick just for the show as well. Maybe it’s just knowing what’s coming up puts everything involving Phil in a strange light. My wife and I definitely noticed that he looks and especially sounds, much worse than he did even last season.
The new boat “Kodiak” seems like it will be fun to watch, though it sounds like Russell is already having trouble with his new boss. And damn, that falling pot was scary as hell. But any boat with a captain named “Wild Bill” should be interesting.
And, as always, there’s nothing like watching a full pot come over the rail. Hopefully we’ll see a lot more of those this season.
After the catch is fillmed after both seasons (King/Red and Snow/Opillio) are complete. They discuss both fishery seasons in the shows.
I suspect the Jake swap had more to do with the CM’s Jake (Harris), than the NorthWestern’s Jake (Anderson). JH needs some humility, and some more time as low man on the pole. Dad can’t deliver the message properly, but another Captain can, and I suspect it’s always been Phil’s plan to have his kids take over the boat in some way. It also won’t hurt JA to know what a sweet deal he has with the NW’s equipment (swinging table, no tubs, and SIG!)
Knowing that Phil is gone is definitely impacting how I view what I see in the episode(s), and I’m not looking forward to the episode where “it” happens.