The WORST episodes of Deadliest Catch

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

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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Get 'Em Back Safe!
star
6.89
198 votes

#1 - Get 'Em Back Safe!

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/15/2008

It's the beginning of a new king crab season and everyone's looking to cash in. Some boats are slow to start but eventually get to catching some king crab.

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Listing Lover
star
7.10
297 votes

#2 - Listing Lover

Season 9 - Episode 12 - Aired 7/2/2013

The crews and battered boats are feeling the brunt of one of the hardest Opilio seasons on record. While some crew members battle potentially catastrophic breakdowns to stay on the grounds and keep fishing, others throw in the towel and call it quits.

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Sleeping With the Enemy
star
7.13
230 votes

#3 - Sleeping With the Enemy

Season 9 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/18/2013

Survival is the name of the game as the fleet battles their way through a ferocious arctic storm. Junior takes a huge risk in order to get back in the game; two greenhorns struggle to fit in with their crews; and Elliott’s problems on land continue.

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Good Fishing
star
7.17
272 votes

#4 - Good Fishing

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/31/2005

Unseasonably warm weather and calm seas have contributed to three days of record catches for the fleet. It's not all smooth sailing for one boat, however, when an electrical fire breaks out in the engine room and its crew must scramble to fix the problem before safely returning to fishing. But as the fourth day of the season gets under way, the continued high number of crabs spurs rumors of an early closure, with every captain speculating on when the quota will be met.

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Super Typhoon (2)
star
7.21
238 votes

#5 - Super Typhoon (2)

Season 11 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/12/2015

Super Typhoon Nuri swallows the fishing grounds. With lives and livelihoods on the line, rookie Josh Harris' weaknesses are exposed, Captain Sig loses control of the Northwestern & Captain Elliott Neese steps down from the helm of the Saga.

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Mutiny on the Bering Sea
star
7.28
394 votes

#6 - Mutiny on the Bering Sea

Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/16/2013

It's October in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and after a devastating 2011 Opilio season, every ship in the fleet — including two new boats — is looking to make a comeback in the 2012 King Crab season. But it won't be easy for any of them.

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Greenhorns
star
7.35
409 votes

#7 - Greenhorns

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/12/2005

It's the first day of work at the world's deadliest job. Approximately 1,500 fishermen and 250 boats have converged on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for the 2005 Alaskan king crab season. Each individual old salts and greenhorns alike ” is here to stake his claim on the 14 million pounds of crab that the season is expected to yield, and the chance to earn a year's wages in just one week. To that end, each boat's captain has his own strategy for success.With a radio countdown, the season begins and the first pots are dumped into the sea. It will be many hours before all the pots are set and even longer before anyone rests. But soon after the start, the stabilizer breaks on one of the boats, forcing its crew to fish with a potentially deadly problem. For others, it's fish guts and crab pots as they desperately grasp for their piece of the $80 million king crab pie.

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Bite the Hand
star
7.36
194 votes

#8 - Bite the Hand

Season 11 - Episode 14 - Aired 7/21/2015

As a second major storm slams the fleet, Rookie skipper Jake Anderson reaches out to Sig Hansen for help. Josh Harris arrives on the grounds weeks late. Captain Keith Colburn and Wild Bill Wichrowski struggle to keep their greenhorns in the game.

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Hell's Bells
star
7.36
235 votes

#9 - Hell's Bells

Season 11 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/9/2015

Christmas at sea for the Time Bandit is disturbed when an unhinged deckhand terrorizes the crew. Jake Anderson awaits the birth of his baby, when an unexpected phone call throws a wrench in the plan. A greenhorn's season is cut short by a gruesome injury.

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It's Not All Mai Tais and Yahtzee
star
7.36
468 votes

#10 - It's Not All Mai Tais and Yahtzee

Season 7 - Episode 12 - Aired 6/28/2011

A loose pot causes havoc on the Kodiak; a Seabrooke crewman is nearly crushed by ice and the new skipper of the Cornelia Marie courts mutiny when his new string comes up lean.

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Million Dollar Season
star
7.37
93 votes

#11 - Million Dollar Season

Season 19 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/13/2023

With a storm threatening his record-breaking run, Johnathan allies with Keith to triangulate the crab. Jack braves treacherous tidal currents, staking his redemption on loaded pots. In 30-foot waves, chaos strikes the Wizard when its stack breaks loose.

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Seeking the Catch
star
7.38
105 votes

#12 - Seeking the Catch

Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/20/2008

As the King Crab season drawls to a close, a mass amounts of stinging jellyfish by catch in unfilled pots add insult to injury. The Cornelia Marie could face losing their captain for good. The crew mistakes onboard Northwestern could be costly.

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New Captain on the Block
star
7.39
193 votes

#13 - New Captain on the Block

Season 11 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/23/2015

The rest of the fleet arrives in Dutch Harbor to take Opilio season by storm. Jake Anderson prepares to captain the Saga for the first time. Captain Andy Hillstrand returns to find the Time Bandit in disarray. Keith Colburn's new greenhorn turns heads.

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We're Not Gonna Take It
star
7.39
254 votes

#14 - We're Not Gonna Take It

Season 9 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/25/2013

The fleet's weathered the storm, but the crabs are still off the bite. Desperate to make their offload dates the captains mercilessly grind their crews. Not making any money, the deckhands start to get sick of being bullied.

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Man Overboard
star
7.40
227 votes

#15 - Man Overboard

Season 9 - Episode 15 - Aired 7/23/2013

After enduring months of mechanical breakdowns, sleepless grinds and infighting, the fleet is starting to crack. And when deckhands on the Wizard are unable to lasso a floating walrus carcass, one man takes matters into his own hands.

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Fist to the Face
star
7.41
239 votes

#16 - Fist to the Face

Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/21/2013

On the Northwestern, Jake's dark secret sets off a fistfight that throws Edgar's new captaincy into jeopardy. Tempers flare on the Saga and Seabrooke when Elliott grows wise to Junior's devious ways.

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A Wing and a Prayer
star
7.41
506 votes

#17 - A Wing and a Prayer

Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/10/2011

A deckhand falls asleep at the wheel and sends the boat towards a fleet of vessels.

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Release the Beast
star
7.42
349 votes

#18 - 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.

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Frontier Medicine
star
7.42
509 votes

#19 - Frontier Medicine

Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/14/2011

The fleet battles a devastating arctic hurricane as the focus shifts from fishing to survival; the captains consider drastic measures as the ice and injuries pile up.

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The Better Captain
star
7.43
96 votes

#20 - The Better Captain

Season 19 - Episode 14 - Aired 8/1/2023

With $1 million in crab at stake, the Wizard battles unrelenting 30-footers. Jake faces a devil's bargain to aid another captain, but the high road may come at a cost. Sig fights to eke out a profit from the derby. The Kodiak crew assesses the damage.

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Blow Up
star
7.43
105 votes

#21 - Blow Up

Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/10/2008

A routine Coast Guard rescue becomes a battle against nature. The Cornelia Marie heads to land for repairs. Fatigue is causing mistakes on the Northwestern. On the Wizard, Greenhorn Moi locks horns with Capt. Keith. The Time Bandit heads for better grounds.

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Beware the King Tide
star
7.43
74 votes

#22 - Beware the King Tide

Season 19 - Episode 19 - Aired 9/5/2023

As a monumental king tide amplifies the sea state, Johnathan drives the Time Bandit into towering waves to haul the riskiest set of his career. Jake faces a potentially unstoppable magnesium fire, while Sig deploys evasive maneuvers to defend his catch.

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Wasted Talent
star
7.43
231 votes

#23 - Wasted Talent

Season 11 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/19/2015

With a 1.5 million dollar boat of his own and more King Crab quota than any other captain in the fleet, Elliott Neese throws it all away and bids a final farewell. With a baby on the way, Jake Anderson struggles to fill Edgar's shoes on the Northwestern.

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Race Against the Ice
star
7.45
85 votes

#24 - Race Against the Ice

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/6/2006

The Rollo and the Maverick have off loaded their crab, a miscalculation sends a Captain into a frenzy. A race back to the crab grounds is underway to see who can bring home the crab.

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Cold Hard World
star
7.46
99 votes

#25 - Cold Hard World

Season 19 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/30/2023

On the Saga, Sean Dwyer joins Jake for a high-risk trek west to Adak Island. Rick attempts a dangerous shortcut through the treacherous tides of Unimak Pass. Sig’s deckhand Lauritz takes a brutal fall while Johnathan bids farewell to a lifelong friend.

Watch Now:Apple TV