'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 Episode 9 Preview: Will Saga's Jake Anderson be triumphant without Hillstrand?
The winter season kicked off on a grim note with the captains and the crew hit hard by the tragedy of the Scandies Rose. The latest episode sees the return of Jake Anderson of the Saga, and captains Casy McManus and Josh Harris of the Cornelia Marie as they look to kick their winter season to high gear. Also returning is Sig Hansen's daughter Mandy, who is the relief skipper of the Northwestern.
The new episode also teases hurdles in the form of some injuries, rogue waves and mechanical trouble that hinder the efforts of the skippers to strike it rich with Cod and Opilio Crabs. The focus in this season will be Anderson as he is without experienced veteran Johnathan Hillstrand by his side. The last time the pair were together, the Saga-Bandit was the frontrunner in the competition to rake in the king crabs and the moolah. This time around, Jake only has his deckhand Matt as an experienced engineer to guide the three new greenhorns. And lack of experience is no good against the storms in the Bering Sea. That said, the new team will be up against a stern test and only time will tell how the season pans out for the Saga-Bandit.
Lack of deckhand experience has been the Achilles heel even for Scott Campbell Junior of Lady Alaska. With the greenhorns not pulling their weight, the onus is on him to be the sherpa for the crew. Buy with cod, crabs and a loan, Junior's job just gets a lot tougher. For now, the only crew that seems to have settled in is the Northwestern with Sig at the helm. They had a pretty successful outing in 'Mayday: Scandies Rose' and will be looking to capitalize on the good start. The winter crabbing can be unforgiving. After the tragedy of the Scandies Rose, the tension, fear and concern for the crew is evident from the way the captains have operated, but they also cannot risk coming back empty-handed and losing to their Russian rivals. The question is, will they have the same success now as they did a few weeks back?
'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 airs Tuesdays 8 pm ET on Discovery.