Discovery's Deadliest Catch will pay tribute to late deckhand Todd Meadows in its season 22 premiere on May 8. The 25-year-old Aleutian Lady crew member died in February after falling overboard while filming in Alaska. The episode will address the impact of his loss on the crew and fishing community.
The network announced that Deadliest Catch returns with new episodes on Friday, May 8, at 8 p.m. ET. Variety reports that the season 22 premiere features a special tribute to Todd Meadows, who died at age 25 on the Alaskan crab fishing vessel Aleutian Lady. His death was ruled an accident, with the official cause listed as drowning with probable hypothermia and submersion in cold water. Scenes filmed with Meadows prior to the incident appear in the episode, but footage from the time of the accident, captured by onboard cameras, will not air out of respect for his family and loved ones. The premiere also delves into how Meadows' passing has affected the Aleutian Lady crew and the broader fishing community. Season 22 follows the fleet as it relocates 225 miles north to St. George Island for a new king crab population amid colder weather and extreme seas. For the first time in decades, captains abandon familiar grounds to pursue a rare breed of red king crab in frozen northern waters, testing their resilience in rapidly changing conditions. The official description highlights the high-stakes chase for this valuable catch in remote territory.