The Season 22 finale of “Deadliest Catch” examined the death of star Todd Meadows, who fell overboard months earlier while filming the Discovery Channel reality series.
In Friday’s episode, producers showed what happened shortly before and after the 25-year-old’s fatal fall from the Aleutian Lady in the Bering Sea off Alaska on Feb. 25.
Although the show did not broadcast the moment Meadows went overboard, viewers heard from Captain Rick Shelford and watched the crew respond to the emergency.
A warning appeared before the segment, cautioning viewers that the material could be disturbing.
Shortly before his death, Meadows appeared in a confessional interview while preparing food. “It’s been a rough season, from what I’ve heard it’s been one of the rougher seasons for the boat,” he told the cameras.
When a producer asked whether he would return to the boat if he were allowed to go home, Meadows replied, “Absolutely.”
“It’s been one of my dreams and goals to make it up here,” he said. “That’s why I’m up here to make it and to try to support my family.”
Meadows also spoke about his three children, who were 1, 2 and 4 years old at the time. He described being away from them as a “heart-wrencher,” especially because his youngest children did not understand why he was gone.
The episode later showed Meadows speaking with his family on FaceTime. During the call, he promised his son that they would go salmon fishing together when he returned home.
“I hope you’re being safe,” Meadows’ daughter told him. “If you’re not being safe you better be safe.”
“Oh I’m being safe,” he answered.
The footage then shifted to the wheelhouse, where Shelford asked the crew, “Everybody OK?” after hearing screams.
“No,” the crew replied, telling him that a man had gone overboard. Shelford immediately turned the vessel around and instructed the crew to prepare to bring Meadows out of the water.
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Cameras remained inside the control center as Shelford directed the crew to recover Meadows and begin CPR.
“Come on, man, come on,” Shelford said off camera before contacting the Coast Guard. He later broke down in tears when a producer told him, “He’s gone, Rick.”
An on-screen message stated: “On February 25th, 2026, deckhand Todd Meadows went overboard. After six minutes and twenty-six seconds in the water, he was recovered unresponsive.”
Shelford previously announced Meadows’ death in a heartbreaking Facebook post, calling it the “most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea.”
“Todd was the newest member of our crew, he quickly became family. His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away,” he wrote.
Trey John Green III, a fellow deckhand and “Deadliest Catch” cast member, told Page Six exclusively in March that conditions on the notoriously dangerous Bering Sea were “calm” when Meadows fell overboard. However, he said the water was only “a degree or two above freezing.”
Green said Meadows was “in the right place at the right time” and “doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing” when the accident happened.
“It’s one of those things that none of us really understand. I don’t know what happened,” Green explained.
Meadows’ mom previously begged Discovery not to profit off her son’s death by showing the footage and, as of April, the family was planning to launch a wrongful death lawsuit.
It remains to be seen if they have moved ahead with such plans.
Per Meadows’ death certificate, his cause of death attributed to “drowning with probable hypothermia” and “submersion of body in cold water.”
A GoFundMe, originally launched in April on behalf of Meadows’ mother, has recently picked up traction again and seen donations come in after the chilling episode.
As of this article’s publishing, it has made nearly $71K of its $75K goal.
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