How Deadliest Catch Will Address Todd Meadows’ Shocking Death as New Season Sets Premiere Date
The upcoming season will honor Todd Meadows after he fell overboard and died while filming the show in February
Deadliest Catch has a release date and teaser for its newest season after cast member Todd Meadows died in an accident while filming.
The Discovery Channel series returns Friday, May 8, and PEOPLE can confirm that Meadows will be featured in scenes captured in the weeks before he fell overboard from the Aleutian Lady fishing vessel at age 25.
While the boat was equipped with cameras at the time of the incident, his death will not be shown out of respect for his family. The tragedy will instead be addressed in a tribute during the premiere that reflects the impact that Meadows’ death had on the crew and fishing community, with the following episodes documenting his contributions to the season.
On Feb. 25, Meadows fell overboard approximately 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor in the Bering Sea, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District said. The incident occurred just after 5:00 p.m. local time in Alaska, and Meadows was “recovered unresponsive by the crew approximately 10 minutes later,” the spokesperson added.
“First aid and attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful, and the crew transported the deceased to Dutch Harbor.”
The news was first announced on Monday, March 2, in a Facebook post from Capt. Rick Shelford, who called the day Meadows died “the most tragic day in the history” of the ship. He further wrote that Meadows was “the newest member of our crew” but “quickly became family.”
“His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away. His smile was contagious, and the sound of his laughter coming up the wheelhouse stairs or over the deck hailer is something we will carry with us always,” the post read.
“Todd’s love for his children, his family, and his life was evident in everything he did,” Shelford continued. “He worked hard, loved deeply, and brought joy to those around him. Right now, our hearts are broken in a way that words can’t fully express. We ask that you lift Todd’s children and family in prayer and keep them in your thoughts as they face the days ahead without him.”
In addition to honoring Meadows’ legacy, Deadliest Catch season 22 will see plenty of intensity as the crews face “colder weather and more extreme seas than any season before as they work to sustain their livelihoods in rapidly changing waters,” according to the official synopsis.
“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,” it teases. “This elusive catch, worth a fortune, pushes the fleet into remote territory and tests their experience and resilience at the edge of the world.”
Capt. Sig Hansen is taking on “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” for the first time in the series.
Capt. Wild Bill Wichrowski acts as Hansen’s guide, traveling to St. George Island “to share his decades of hard-earned knowledge.”
“Meanwhile, after losing both his boat and his marriage, Capt. Jake Anderson starts the season as a deckhand for the first time in 11 years,” the synopsis adds. “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.”
Deadliest Catch season 22 premieres Friday, May 8, at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel.
