The BEST episodes of Deadliest Catch season 8

Every episode of Deadliest Catch season 8, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Deadliest Catch season 8!

Forty-foot waves, 700 pound crab pots, freezing temperatures and your mortality staring you in the face…it's all in a day's work for these modern day prospectors. During each episode we will watch crews race to meet their quota and make it home safely.

Last Updated: 4/22/2024Network: DiscoveryStatus: Continuing
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Vital Signs
star
8.12
381 votes

#1 - Vital Signs

Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/15/2012

As king crab season nears the finish line, the crew of The Wizard faces a life or death situation as a deckhand collapses and struggles to hold on. Catching crab suddenly becomes secondary to a fight for survival on the harsh Bering Sea.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Collision Course
star
8.05
377 votes

#2 - Collision Course

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 6/26/2012

The polar ice pack invades the opilio crab grounds, forcing the captains to make a decision: grab their gear and run, or keep fishing and fight the floes. Two deckhands fall victim to an ice assault; a captain's troubles are compounded by a call home.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Rise and Fall
star
8.04
353 votes

#3 - Rise and Fall

Season 8 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/12/2012

With unrelenting northerly winds bearing down on the fleet, every skipper steels himself for battle with the descending polar ice pack. And as temperatures drop on the grounds, tempers on deck flare up.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
No Exit
star
8.01
351 votes

#4 - No Exit

Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/19/2012

Across the fleet, captains battle the descending polar ice pack to save their pots, and it's a losing war. The Northwestern and Wizard struggle to escape St. Paul harbor, while the rest of the fleet scrambles to keep their opilio season alive.

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Landlocked
star
7.98
253 votes

#5 - Landlocked

Season 8 - Episode 13 - Aired 7/3/2012

The ice pack has a choke hold on the Bering Sea opilio grounds. Nearly iced up, captains across the fleet must make the call to stay or go. Some run from the ice, and others stay to battle the elements for the hope of a record-breaking payday.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Nowhere to Go But Down
star
7.97
382 votes

#6 - Nowhere to Go But Down

Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/5/2012

It's winter in Dutch Harbor and the fleet prepares to hunt Opilio crab. The season looks promising with the quota up and the price high, but tensions rise before the lines are thrown as one deckhand quits, two brothers fight and one goes overboard.

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I Don't Wanna Die
star
7.96
432 votes

#7 - I Don't Wanna Die

Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/22/2012

In a scramble to help their collapsed greenhorn, the Wizard crew calls in a Coast Guard helicopter. For the rest of the fleet, it's a race to haul crab before a hurricane hits, and the last boat fishing waits too long to leave the grounds.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Turf War
star
7.88
474 votes

#8 - Turf War

Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/17/2012

With the fleet split, a tale of two fisheries emerges. On the Blue grounds, a captains' bet has the boats jockeying for position. On the Red grounds, a returning veteran quickly proves his worth, while another boat copes with a fallen deckhand.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Alien Abduction
star
7.84
435 votes

#9 - Alien Abduction

Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/8/2012

Past the halfway point of the King Crab season, man and machine alike show signs of wear under the brutal hand of the Bering Sea. While repairs can be made to the equipment, the fishermen must dig deep to soldier on in a place where nature rules.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Bitter, Bloody End
star
7.75
341 votes

#10 - The Bitter, Bloody End

Season 8 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/24/2012

In this special two-hour close to a merciless opilio season, a veteran deckhand pays for a mistake in flesh. Then in the final hours some men rise and some men fall, but not everyone will make it home.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Aftermath
star
7.71
375 votes

#11 - The Aftermath

Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/29/2012

In the aftermath of an arctic hurricane, the fleet struggles to reach the finish line of a brutal king crab season. Poor fishing and quarreling crews make this final push a painful one for every man on the Bering Sea.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Hook
star
7.63
385 votes

#12 - The Hook

Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/1/2012

Halfway through the King crab gauntlet, the beaten-down crews must dig deep to get over the midseason hump. As the crab counts dwindle and the weak fall by the wayside, the skippers give their youngest deckhands a choice: step up or step off.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Weak Links
star
7.57
415 votes

#13 - Weak Links

Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/24/2012

As the fleet grinds through injuries and mental mistakes, the Bering Sea exposes soft spots and weak links in each crew. While the skippers wonder which deckhands have the right stuff, the Time Bandit says goodbye to a crewmate who never made it back.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Gamble
star
7.55
421 votes

#14 - The Gamble

Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/10/2012

A slashed crab quota has captains reeling before the boats hit the water. With the fleet set to fight over half the catch, each skipper is forced to decide: roll the dice on the depleted Red grounds or risk it all to hunt for the elusive Blue crab.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Fearless Leaders
star
7.49
320 votes

#15 - Fearless Leaders

Season 8 - Episode 14 - Aired 7/10/2012

One of the worst icing events in history recedes making it possible for some of the boats to return. One boat suffers a total blackout while navigating an iceberg minefield, Elliott gets a rude awakening and a greenhorn learns a deadly lesson.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Release the Beast
star
7.42
349 votes

#16 - Release the Beast

Season 8 - Episode 15 - Aired 7/17/2012

Two brothers find themselves in the same dire situation that sunk their father's boat. After a midseason hiatus, the fleet returns to the Bearing Sea, but the ice is back and worse than before. Now the skippers could get pushed past their breaking points.

Watch Now:Apple TV