The Deadliest Catch Says Goodbye To Captain Phil
I’ve always enjoyed The Deadliest Catch. I caught a marathon of their first year and after watching a few episodes in a row, I realized it was more documentary-programming than reality-slush.
I liked getting to know the crew and the drama of pulling full pots. It was a show full of loud-mouths, fathers, sons, and hard workers making a living in a way I never could. I liked watching the competition, but what I really enjoyed was the relationships between these people.
Last night, The Discovery Channel aired the episode where a stroke takes the life of Phil Harris, Captain of the Cornelia Marie and father to Jake and Josh Harris. Phil passed on February 9th, 2010.
I feel like The Discovery Channel took away from Phil Harris' story by mixing in multiple story lines within the episode, when they could have made this a Phil-fest for fans, fathers, sons and daughters to laugh and cry over.
I suppose the multiple story lines were showing us that this was all part of life on the ocean. We have seen ships capsized and heard other tales of men being lost overboard. Year after year, we hear of the dangers of the sea. This episode had all of that and included the loss of a captain off-shore.
The episode was difficult for me to watch, and not just for the juxtaposed story lines and the extended previews of two new shows Discovery chose to show.
First, I wanted more of the Harris family on camera. Then, I immediately wanted the cameras out of the room so Jake could get emotional like the normal son of a dying man. Then I pictured my own father in Phil’s place — on a hospital bed, a fresh scar on his head, a defeated look on his face, begging for ice-chips, with a serious fight ahead of him. Then I needed a commercial so I could compose myself.
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