'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 Episode 11 Review: A miraculous escape for Scott Campbell Junior and Lady Alaska
This review contains spoilers for 'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 Episode 11: 'Chase Boat Rescue'
December 31 saw the Scandies Rose go down and take five members of the crew with it. And Scott Campbell Junior along with his deckhands would have been another casualty of the treacherous Bering Sea had they not received assistance on time. The Lady Alaska had a bilge pump issue, and that gave them a jolt after they realized the ship listed heavily to its starboard side. The vessel was flooding and Junior was struggling to get the boat to move.
It was the first time in the series history a chase boat rescue was called for and miraculously, it happened and the world saw it unfold. If not, by now there would have been news of a second tragedy that would have shaken the crabbers out at sea. 'Chase Boat Rescue' was all about the obstacles these fishermen face every day and none of it is pretty or to be taken lightly. The Summer Bay, the Cornelia Marie and Lady Alaska have their share of danger. A fair bit of guts and fortune ensured they live to see another day.
Summer Bay's Wild Bill Wichrowski had a bad day out. Along with the empty pots came up an issue that left deck engineer Nick to perform some daredevilry to fix the problem. A rogue wave crashes into the LED lights of the vessel and leaves it dangling. Nick being the most experienced makes it up to 20ft off the deck to fix the lights back in place. Aboard the Cornelia Marie, greenhorn Maria Dosal gets a bump after a strong wave sends her hurtling across and bangs her head to the ceiling of the freezer room, suffering a concussion.
She may have knocked herself out cold for a while, but that didn't stop the deckhand from resting for a bit and joining the crew back. Unlike the Summer Bay, skippers Josh Harris and Casey McManus had a rich haul as they find a lucky spot where they find opilio crab in search of cod. Acting on a hunch, they lower a chunk of pods only to hit the purple patch.
The major focus was on Junior who was at his wit's end. Lady Alaska has been plagued with mechanical troubles since the start of the winter season and to make matters worse, Junior hasn't even opened his Opilio crab account yet and that leaves him right at the bottom of the leader chart. For now, he'll just be glad to be alive. 'Chase Boat Rescue' is one of those unforgettable episodes. It may not have been on the same level as the Scandies Rose tribute, but it does leave the audience spooked.
The winter season episodes of 'Deadliest Catch' focuses more on the adversities the crabbers face than their hauls. The major part of the summer season was all about a couple of captains playing dirty while some used unorthodox planning to make rich hauls. This time it's more of the risk and the courage to take on the forces of nature to make a living.
'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 airs on Tuesdays at 8 pm ET on Discovery.
