Why Deadliest Catch Is So Compelling
On the surface, Deadliest Catch would seem to be a fairly repetitive show. The weather turns bad. Waves batter the fleet. Crab pots are dropped. Crab pots are drawn up. Some are full, others aren’t. After a few episodes you’d think most viewers would flip to something else.
But we don’t.
The show is riveting, as much now at the close of its third season as it was at the very beginning. Why is that exactly? Well I’m no expert, but I have some theories.
Basically, Deadliest Catch is – if you’ll forgive the loaded metaphor – the perfect storm of network television. No other reality show has the rich brew of themes underlying what may at first appear to be a fairly routine fishing show. Among the most compelling themes:
Theme #1 - The Boy Becomes a Man
One of the primary focus-points of every season has been on the Greenhorns (i.e. rookies) - a brilliant move on the part of the producers. We watch these inexperienced youngsters (well, most of them are young), cockily announce their entry into the field, and we see their determination to prove themselves worthy of their fellow deckmates. We watch them either rise to (or fall away from) the challenges that the Bering Sea has to offer.
This is truly one of the most compelling themes of the show, perhaps because we (the viewers) are ourselves as much Greenhorns as those youngsters. We know as little, if not less, about the business of crabbing than they do, so we can’t help but identify with them as they struggle to keep up the pace and learn the ropes. Those who make it to the end of the season – through all the pain, sleep-deprivation, and, let’s face it, screaming and derision of the full-share deckmates – have truly achieved something great. And we’ve seen them through that amazing journey, every step of the way.
Theme #2 - The Gamble to Get Rich Quick
Americans love to gamble – if you need convincing of this, just do a quick count of all the televised poker tournaments that are on cable these days (and while you’re at it, check their ratings). Its part of the American dream to want to “get rich quick.” So in that sense, these crab fisherman are living out the American dream. They make as much in three days as some of us make in an entire year. Sure, it may be dirty, disgusting, dangerous work, but they’re out there and they’re doing it – they’ve thrown their chips on the table. Come hell of high water (and in their case, its generally always high water), they’ve made the gamble, and there’s a part of each of us that wishes we had the guts and gumption to do the same.
Of course, getting out on the boat is only the first step. You actually have to catch the crab to make money. And that’s why we can watch two, three, or five hundred pots being pulled up by the hydraulic wench, and never get tired of it. Will there be a full pot of 800 opies? Or just a couple of hangers on and a disoriented codfish? You just never know. It’s a gamble. And that’s why we’re riveted.
Theme #3 - The Last Bastion of American Masculinity
Its not for nothing that the theme song for Deadliest Catch was Bon Jovi’s classic “Dead or Alive.” The cowboy theme runs strong in this show, and with good reason – there’s so darned few left in the world. A cowboy doesn’t have to herd cattle or ride horses or even catch crab. The cowboy ethos is instead concerned with brute masculinity, about working a damned tough job for long hours, until your body is busted up and bleeding and you can barely walk in a straight line.
Sure, there are lots of “hard” jobs left in America. But on the whole, we’ve spent the last fifty years sanitizing and shrink-wrapping every aspect of daily life until its as safe and worry-free as possible. Machines do our heavy lifting, “safety-inspectors” make sure we sit in ergonomic chairs and don’t suffer repetitive stress syndrome. We’ve got warning labels on just about every imaginable product. And we have a national craze about suing folks whenever we bump our heads or sprain an ankle on their property.
Then you watch Deadliest Catch, and you get a glimpse into how “real” men used to be. These guys sever a finger and then wrap the stump in electrical tape so they can keep on working until the job is done. They work 72 hours, non-stop, in single-digit temperatures.
Meanwhile, we regular Joes bitch and moan about cold half-caff-lattes and half an hour of unpaid overtime.
These are just three of many underlying themes to this show. There are many others, but there are the ones that grip me, personally.
I get a lot of people asking me how I can watch “the same old stuff”, three seasons in a row. My answer is always, watch the show again – really watch it – and then see how you feel afterwards. I don’t give a whit about fishing… heck, I don’t even eat crablegs. But I can watch this show for hours on end. Nothing else on television feels so real. No other characters fill me with that unique mix of envy, dread and admiration.
I’d kill to have a beer with Sig Hansen.
And I’d kill twice to never, ever have to be a Greenhorn on his boat.
June 25th, 2007 at 11:19 am
hahaha… right on. If you watch this show and don’t feel like an effeminate, sniveling maggot by the end of it, you just weren’t paying attention. These are REAL men and hats off to them….
June 25th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
GREAT BLOG!
I don’t eat crab legs ether, although I do love water and sea life which is what really draws me in. I love to see who’s gonna cash out ontop!..who gets the least and the most crab in each pot.
You know what I’m saying. All us “Catchaholics” can relate !
I would KILL to meet the Cornelia Marie crew or anyone on the NW.
Jake is one hell of a greenhorn and earned all the respect he deserves!
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:54 pm
I GOTTA TELL YA. I WOULD HAVE A DRINK W/ALL OF THEM. I DON’T HAVE A FAVORITE. I JUST THINK THEY ARE ALL SO RIGHT ON. YA KNOW I SIT AND WATCH THE SHOW……..LOOKING AT MY HUSBAND. THINKIN TO MYSELF????????? I DIDN’T MARRY VERY WELL DID I? HA HA HA. THEM THERE BOYS SURE DO MAKE THE REGULAR GUYS LOOK BAD. AND TO THINK,,,, MY HUSBAND GETS PISSY WHEN HE HAS TO CUT THE GRASS. OR CUT WOOD FOR THE WINTER!!!!! MAYBE I COULD SEND HIM UP THERE FOR A SEASON. KINDA LIKE BOOT CAMP. I BET THE YARD/WOOD WOULD START LOOKIN GOOOOOOOOD.
July 20th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
These guys are brave.
My friend is all like, “They get hurt, they get better, they throw pots in the water, they get hurt, they get better!” Don’t understand. They’re very important things that stick it all together. Yep!
September 27th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
we like watching your show an keep it coming its gets better every season
October 26th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I love the show! Since I was a young pup (a young female who is 45 now) I always wanted to go to Alaska, land of the midnight sun! (by the way I am cute by what my friends say) I would like to meet one of the Deadliest crew members but I will settle for the fourth season right now. BTW, when does the fourth season start? pic coming…
November 13th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
I’m a crab fisherman i work for trident. It sure is crazy how much respect and admiration this show has created for the guys who do this. Here is a tip for people who might wanna try fishing up north, there are other types of fishing vessels not just pot fishing there is long liners (the perfect storm) and draggers (they use nets), and they are much easier than pot fishing. Keep on supporting the industry and the show.
November 24th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Most of all, I admire how real they are. They are, who they are, and the allow us the privlidge of looking into their world and their lives. It doesn’t hurt that they don’t appologise for being men… real men. Or that they are damn sexy.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:16 am
I am no fan of “reality shows,” per se, save this one.
These are REAL men…unapologetic, strong, brave, and - above all else - almost impossibly dogged.
I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to have such a popular show that celebrates all that is masculine.
Am I sounding like a male chauvinist pig?
Well, oink!
The camera has captured some amazing moments with these tough-as-nails crabbers.
Here are a few that stand out as A+ shows.
The one in which another crab ship goes under, and only one survivor makes it, with the Coast Guard having the unenviable task of retrieving the bodies…with the final sad coda being that one body was never recovered.
The true sadness shown by Phil, Jonathan, and Sig is not some saccharine sweet show for the cameras, as anyone who has watched these rawhide-and-spring-steel men can attest.
Another that jumps to mind is when Jonathan and his crew on the Time Bandit were being extra vigilant in watching another vessel closeby with a foolish crewman sitting on the gunwale, who gets swept into the Bering Sea right on camera.
Jonathan has a history with man overboards, having lost a man nine years previously, and he springs into action, barking orders rapid fire over his 1MC (PA system, to you civilian folks;) to his crack crew.
The crew rises to the occasion by getting the hapless man out of the water almost faster than one could believe possible.
The part that gets me here is how the rescued man is shivering in the crew’s mess, when Jonathan himself runs up, grabbing the man in a bear hug, with his legs visibly shaking, patting him on the back, and the rescued man shakily repeating his thanks to his rescuer.
Then, Jonathan and one of the rescuers are both in the wheel house, still clearly affected at the close call, with a good portion of the conversation bleeped from their unairable exclamations.
Jonathan recounts his history of losing a man nine years ago, and his joy at redeeming himself on this day is heart warming.
The part that caps this season so well is how Jonathan and the rest of the Time Bandit crew pull off a come-from-behind win for the $900 bet made at the start of the season, and - as would a true man of gallantry - Jonathan donates his entire winnings to the families of the men lost at sea.
Class, bravery, and strength…all on parade.
It gladdens my heart, I must say!
June 1st, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I love the man-against-the-sea element of the show, the true grit of the fishermen and the incredibly rare inside glimpse of male relationships. The show has it all…fathers and sons, brothers, good friends. The baring of honest emotions from real men is riveting!
June 11th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
did a guy get cut in half last night?
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:54 am
yes these are real men but some of the wide eyed caps are on speed…i would know but hey our pilots in arms do it for long flights,more power to them that they can get the scrip…