S10.E07: Lost At Sea

[formerlyfreedom]

One captain faces what might spell the end of a storied career while another struggles to check into rehab. Problems on land pale in comparison to those on the Bering Sea where the brave men and women of the United States Coast Guard lose one of their own.

 

 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

21 Guns.  Gets me everytime.

 

Friggin' Hillstrands made a Coastie boarding party navigate at sea in a zodiac (a small boat in which that USCG Boatswain was killed related to the rescue we saw) for almost an hour?  Tell me again all about this commitment to safety we hear so much about.

 

Best part of this ep?  No sign of a Harris.

[NJ RadioGuy]

Just when I thought the Saga of Douchiness couldn't have gotten any worse. Elliot doesn't have issues. Elliot has a whole subscription. I really feel for his crew in all of this, and how the heck will he be able to pay the bank with his boat tied up for that long? I don't give a rat's rump about him, but his father's a co-owner from what I understand and I hold no animosity toward him (aside from his spawning that waste of skin in the first place). If Baradi season is late-November, I can't see him (successfully) completing a stint in rehab and being ready to go out for opies in January. And if he bails, I think it would be fitting for his crew to refuse to go out with him until he goes back and finishes.

 

Anybody know how much jail time Kelly Collins got sent up for after he went back to Alabama? With a nickname of Tinkerbell, I somehow don't think he'll fare particularly well amongst 6'5"/300 pound guys with no necks and a penchant for doing unpleasant things to crybabies.

[Soopertater]

By the looks, both Junior and Elliott are out for snow crab season.  Elliott still seems to know (and enjoy) his TV exposure, right down to the last minute.  His denial is not uncommon among addicts, but it just seemed quite staged to me.  Disco is right there up to the rehab door.  You know they lobbied to get inside.

In the pregame show last week, Keith said they avoided a big ADFG fine by self-reporting, which was only briefly brought out in the episode.  Monty gets too much shit from his brother, good to see him tell his brother to eff off and use his own fishing knowledge.  Pretty lucky, since Montgomery has been fined multiple times for similar offenses.  tinkerbell, he doesn't even deserve the effort to capitalize his name.

 

The ending in memory of PO Obendorf was apt.  A reminder that serving, and sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice, for one's country takes many different shapes and tasks.  Always chokes me up.

[millennium]

Quite a contrast with the likes of Elliott, eh?  "I only smoked heroin twice in the last two months!"

 

I don't understand the Saga crew's complacency.    They missed Bairdi season for no other reason than Elliott's selfishness.   Yeah, yeah, he's an addict.   But it seems to me that he CHOSE to go on that bender.   Because he had been working pretty steadily until he got served and then, instead of being an adult, he made the conscious decision to leave the boat and hit the bars.   Now those guys are marooned in Dutch.   No work means no pay.  Elliott's father put things in blunt perspective when he said, "You always hear about the big catch, you never hear about the guys who don't eat."  Or something like that.   Maybe it was just the edit, but the Saga crew doesn't even seem angry.

.

 

Best part of this ep?  No sign of a Harris.

 

THIS. 

[BusyOctober]

I can't watch Elliott scenes anymore.  My blood pressure can't take it.  He is a Class A A-hole and I doubt 30 days in rehab is going to change that. Smokes heroin, confesses to/brags about snorting 100k worth of coke, drinks to excess on the eve of a trip, defaults on child support and has a pretty serious and lengthy rap sheet w/ charges of domestic violence included.  He's certainly not much to look at, He doesn't seem to be a witty conversationalist (unless "Fuck you!" counts).  He only has temporary crew members and no friends on the boat.  He has been shown to be reckless and irresponsible during fishing trips. I  personally don't see ANY redeeming qualities in this guy. I find it difficult to sympathize with his addiction(s).  He keeps crowing he is "a grown-ass man", so take ownership of your plethora of issues and straighten out your life. I do feel sympathy for his dad and the poor bastards who signed on with him.  Hopefully those guys can jump on another boat to make some money.  I'm very glad that Elliott's dad read him the riot act when his whiny baby son called home crying about going to rehab.  Get your ass inside and go through the program.

 

And if his ex keeps yo-yoing back, I think Val needs therapy too. Time for her to break away from the perpetual cyclone of doom that she's put herself and her children into.  If all she's looking for is a paycheck (according to Elliott), I'm sure there are plenty of other fisherman on the docks.

[merylinkid]

Elliott is the biggest whiny crybaby.   I don't have a problem, I don't bring it to work.   Dude you went on a bender that involved drugs and you then you got behind the wheel of your boat.   That is bringing it to work.   Sure you weren't snorting coke while running the boat, but that doesn't mean you didn't endanger your crew by trying to operate that big boat while impaired.   But of course, it's all everyone else's fault.   Get off my screen.   Seriously Disco, invoke the morals clause I know is in the contract and fire his ass.

 

Second biggest crybaby is Tinkerbell.   If he was telling Wild Bill for two years what a bad ass fisherman and what a bad ass Marine he was, you know the rest of the crew heard that talk too.   So big bad ass Marine can't take some name calling and wants off the boat because the work is hard?   What a little whiny butt.  And you know why Wild Bill kept you on?   So you could have some money.   Oh what a horrible person.   If you want to know what it is like to be stuck in Dutch with no money, check with Elliott's crew.  

 

Can anyone tell me the story of how the Coast Guardsman was lost?   I clearly missed something.   Thank you.

[Neurochick]

I'll have to watch the first half again, but it looks like I saw the most interesting stuff. 

 

Elliot is an addict.  Addicts are irrational.  That is the nature of addiction; you tell yourself, "this time it'll be different" or "this time I'll be able to stop."  He was in denial until the last second.  I felt for his crew because in reality you never know who will and who won't have an issue with addiction.  I once met a woman who told me she went to a party, met a guy she liked and when he offered her something "to smoke" she went for it; it was crack and within a month she lost everything, and this woman has a Masters degree and had gone to private school as a child.  So you never know.

 

What's bad about Elliot is he seems to be such a douche through and through, meaning even if he wasn't an addict, he'd be a pain in the ass to deal with. 

[walnutqueen]

Best part of this ep?  No sign of a Harris.

 

 

Alas, Lonesome Rhodes, I caught a sneak peek of next week's episode and ... threw up in the back of my throat a little.

 

The less said about Elliot, the better.  Not interested in seeing him on this show.

[Curious5]

Agreed - No Harris would be great but it looks like he might be back next week. Ugh! Those two brothers should be long gone. So unrealistic and both have the attitude of entitlement because their father was a captain. And aren't there some restrictions of people known for drug usage not being allowed on ships? Wasn't the little Harris kid being tested on a routine basis for drugs to see if he could return to a ship after his Dada died?

Why is Elliot even allowed on a ship with his drug history? I'm surprised that we don't see a Coast Guard search of the ship - the crew members do talk - a lot - when in town. Geezzzz - imagine being out on a trip knowing you have a druggy for a Captain. I think Disc is almost glorifying his drug use and excusing it due to his personal life problems.

[walnutqueen]

I think Disc is almost glorifying his drug use and excusing it due to his personal life problems.

 

 

Not only that, but did you catch the little tidbit Elliot's Dad dropped about seeing him do heroin while they were staying together for a month?  Presumably this was BEFORE said father boards the Saga and is willing to risk the crew and the Disco team?  Nice.

[Soopertater]

Can anyone tell me the story of how the Coast Guardsman was lost?   I clearly missed something.   Thank you.

Without going into detail, he was ferrying nonessential crew of the Alaska Mist to a USCG cutter.  During the "capture" of the small tender boat, a large surge caused him to hit his head several times against the steering console.  He was airlifted to Anchorage, then Seattle.

[iluvobx]

Here is a link to the news about the accident:

 

 http://kucb.org/news/article/coast-guard-officer-dies-after-injury-during-november-rescue/

[merylinkid]

Thank you.

 

God bless PO3 Obendorf.

[terrymct]

I hope they stopped following Elliot once he finally entered the treatment center.  I hope his asshole-ishness is a symptom of his drug and alcohol abuse, but I have a sense that it may not be completely.  He shouldn't be on the show.   Neither should either of the Harris sons.  I would love to see less drug and ego drive Peyton-Place-At-Sea and see more of a broader cross section of life on these boats.  Pick a handful of boats, excluding the Saga and the Cornelia Marie, and do what they used to do.  Film the ups and downs of life on the boats.  I've actually been fine with Junior's arc this season.  That's real life, the battering a person's body takes, and a bad decision by him to try and keep fishing.   Monty putting the pots in over the line was a great but short arc.  That happens and we're seeing the consequences.   Even greenhorns flaming out is part of the life.   Sig and Edgar working out the balance between them, another good story.   But Elliot and the Harris brothers should be off the cameras.

[Neurochick]

Drug and alcohol abuse is real life.  People go to rehab or they don't; some make it, or they don't; Edgar, Jake Anderson and Matt (forget his last name) on the Northwestern, are all in recovery.

[NJ RadioGuy]

I really don't have a hate-on for Josh Harris, despite his mouthiness a few years back. I think his story will be interesting at least as far as seeing how far he's progressed personally and what he's bringing to the table in terms of his work ethic and now being a boat (co?)owner. I'd personally love to see him succeed and be on the road to a good life in the fishing industry, but time will tell. Jake, on the other hand, has no place in the industry until he makes the choice to get clean and stay clean for a few years. I still remember all those seasons ago when Jake had the passion for fishing, was good at it and was poised to go places, whereas Josh was just there for a few bucks and a bit of national TV fame. I'm hoping it's different for Josh now that he has some skin in the game, and I'd love to see young Jake bring his life back under control.

 

I would also add that both Josh and Jake, even at their worst, were far better human beings overall than Elliot, and which is why I do look forward to seeing the CM and Josh again. If I never see Elliot again it will be too soon, and the only time I want to hear about the Saga is when the bank repossesses it, sells it to someone else and they make a go of it -- after scouring every inch of the cabin and wheelhouse with multiple 55 gallon drums of industrial strength disinfectant and de-doucherizer.

[terrymct]

Drug and alcohol abuse is real life.  People go to rehab or they don't; some make it, or they don't; Edgar, Jake Anderson and Matt (forget his last name) on the Northwestern, are all in recovery.

 

True, but there's a show called Intervention all about that.   Deadliest Catch should be about the ups and downs of the men across a number of boats.  Not wading deeply into the crap that is the life of Elliot and the Harris brothers.  I adored Phil.  His son's not so much.

[breezy424]

As much as I can't stand Elliot, I don't have a problem with them following his addiction 'saga'.  He's been on for a few seasons and it's part of his story.  Hopefully, next season he'll be gone.

 

I guess I'm an awful person but I really don't have much sympathy for Junior.  I never really liked him and he was stupid to continue to fish with that kind of pain.  He really was putting his crew at risk.

 

Very happy to see Edgar be successful. 

 

I also have no problem seeing the Harris boys back to see how and if they've matured and how they'll handle being back on the CM.

 

And most importantly, it's heartbreaking to see someone who has dedicated their lives to saving other people to die in their efforts.  The term 'hero' is thrown around way too much.  Officer Obendorf is what the word 'hero' is all about.  The deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. 

 

Edited June 5, 2014 by breezy424

[millennium]

What's most frustrating about the Harrises and Elliott is that they fuck up again and again, yet are granted seemingly unlimited chances to get it right -- not because they've earned or deserve it, but because Discovery hopes it can make a buck off of them.

 

Real life isn't like that.   Any person who's worked to keep a roof over their head knows fucking up on the job can be fatal.   Maybe if you're lucky, somebody gives you a second chance.   But it's rare.  Especially when it comes to substance abuse.

 

It's even more infuriating to watch these guys try to spin the situation whenever they're on camera, making it seem like they're working class heroes, real comeback kids who've beaten the odds and are entitled to the spotlight.   If Discovery wasn't exploiting them and their problems, they'd probably be in the gutter or in jail.

Edited June 6, 2014 by millennium

[merylinkid]

Elliott sure wouldn't have that boat if it weren't for Disco money.   The season before he bought it, he didn't bring in the full quota, if I recall.   I can just imagine that conversation with the bank "Hi, I'm some young kid who never graduated high school, the only thing I can do is fish.   Oh this last season, I didn't make the full quota for the boat owner, even though I left the boat out in incredibly dangerous seas.   And I hate to fish but it's the only skill I have.  And I don't have any quota of my own, I only lease so I have to pay for that too.   I have no assets because I spent all my money up my nose or trying to impress some girl.   So about that loan?"   

 

The good news about the Harris boys coming back is that, from understanding, it is actually only one Harris boy.   We get to see Josh.   Jake because of his problems is not back on the Cornelia Marie.  So at least Disco will cut the cord on someone as far gone as he is.  

[Neurochick]

 

True, but there's a show called Intervention all about that.   Deadliest Catch should be about the ups and downs of the men across a number of boats.  Not wading deeply into the crap that is the life of Elliot and the Harris brothers.  I adored Phil.  His son's not so much.

 

But sometimes addiction is part of what happens to the men across a number of boats.  Phil himself was in recovery as well.  Addiction and alcoholism isn't separate from life, it's part of life, not a great part, but a part just the same.

[terrymct]

But sometimes addiction is part of what happens to the men across a number of boats.  Phil himself was in recovery as well.  Addiction and alcoholism isn't separate from life, it's part of life, not a great part, but a part just the same.

 

Yes, it's mentioned across the seasons and the impacts of it on the boats is shown.  Elliot is NOT the primary in this show and yet they're spending the show minutes to follow his useless arse to treatment.  I'd rather see it handled like it was with Jake Harris.   Put some text on the screen that he's gone, then show what happens to his boat in his absence, then move on.