'Deadliest Catch' reels in crowd with high-seas danger, drama

04/24/09 - It's springtime and this week the rain has been relentless, but compared to the conditions faced on the Discovery Channel's hit TV show, "The Deadliest Catch," we're living in paradise.Sitting in the comfort of my room, I watch the cold and wet misery that the different crab-fishing crews face every day. Though I've seen enough episodes of the show to already get a pretty good idea of the rough, unforgiving seas, the inhospitable waves and freezing temperatures never get old.

And while I sat, interested in watching a cold hell that I could never dream of working in, I realized that the Bering Sea is just another workplace and that crab fishing is just another job. In addition to accepting the nasty conditions, the fishermen must also come to terms with the unending threats of injury, death and never coming home again.

While the ominous cloud of jeopardy always looms, just into its second episode of its fifth season, the show focused on life-or-death danger again when, on two occasions, the crews came to realize that imminent risk.

First, Keith Colburn, captain of the featured crab-fishing vessel "The Wizard," hit his head on the bottom of the ship while trying to make a repair without heading back to port. The hit led to a grisly wound and a scary moment for Colburn and the rest of The Wizard crew.

Later in the episode, a cod-fishing boat sank, sending its crew into the frigid Alaskan waters. The episode switched perspectives, from following the crab-fishing boats to concentrating on the rescue efforts of the coast guard. The episode ended with the helicopter crew bringing up one of the fisherman's dead bodies.

"The Deadliest Catch" seems to have the same sort of things happening every week: heavy storms, bickering greenhorns, engine troubles and obviously crab fishing. But even with similar episodes every week, the rapture of watching men battling the sea remains the main draw of the show.

Ultimately, the seamen make the show. In addition to Colburn, Capt. Sig Hansen, Phil Harris, John Hillstrand and Andy Hillstrand push their crews past their limits while feeding their excessive coffee and cigarette addictions.

In previous seasons there have been other featured boats, but the current fleet is the most compelling. Harris, of the Cornelia Marie, is battling blood clots and must choose whether to fish or face possible death. Hansen and his brother Edgar, known for their fish-head-biting ritual, continue to run the Northwestern. The Hillstrands, along with John's son Scotty, must face the prospect of laying off one of their fishermen at the end of the season. Colburn faces even more pressure as his wife informs him that their bank account is at zero.

The show relies on the destructive nature of the Bering Sea, but at the same time, the fishermen are still human.

They bring an unparalleled element of character to the blue-collar reality TV genre that separates them from other shows like the History Channel shows "Ax Men" and "Ice Road Truckers."

Though crab-fishing is something I would never consider as a future career path, "The Deadliest Catch" makes the process of bringing crabs from the sea to on-land restaurants a lot more fascinating.