Todd Meadows was thinking about getting home to his children during the final episode of Deadliest Catch Season 22. In a FaceTime call aired on September 25, the 25-year-old deckhand spoke with his three young children from the Aleutian Lady. He promised his son they would go salmon fishing together when he returned. The scene is difficult to watch knowing Meadows died after falling overboard later that day.
His daughter had something she wanted him to hear first: she hoped he was being safe. Meadows assured her that he was. He also told the children he would talk to them the next day, according to an account of the episode. These were everyday words between a father working away from home and the children waiting for him, which makes their place in the finale especially painful.
Meadows had spoken openly on the show about why he was on the Bering Sea. Fishing in Alaska was a dream and a goal, and the work would help him support his family. He had been away from home for about two months but made time to check in with his children. Earlier in the season, viewers saw him say goodbye to them as he set out on what would be his first season fishing those waters.
The finale followed the Aleutian Lady on February 25, the day Meadows died. What began with Captain Rick Shelford looking forward to his birthday changed when a crew member went overboard. The program did not show Meadows falling into the water. It conveyed the crew's urgent response through sounds from the boat and a message stating that Meadows was recovered unresponsive after six minutes and 26 seconds in the Bering Sea.
Shelford and the crew tried to save him. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the vessel reported that Meadows had fallen overboard approximately 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Crew members recovered him and attempted to resuscitate him, but their efforts failed. His death certificate listed drowning with probable hypothermia as the cause, and his death was ruled an accident.
The question of what should appear on television had weighed on Meadows' family before the finale aired. His mother, Angela Meadows, asked Discovery not to broadcast footage of the accident or her son's death. She hoped viewers would instead see the good things about him during his time on the boat. The finale showed the family call and the crew's response, while withholding images of the fall itself.
Those choices left room for viewers to see more of the man his crewmates knew. Shelford had called Meadows a devoted father when introducing him earlier in the season. After his death, the captain remembered his love of fishing, his work ethic and the laughter he brought aboard the Aleutian Lady. Another crew member recalled how Meadows would find time between runs to FaceTime his children.
The episode did not end at the boat. It showed the crew struggling with Meadows' loss and later gathering with other captains at the Seattle Fishermen's Memorial. Shelford offered a prayer for Meadows and his family. The finale also returned to Meadows speaking about his hopes for his children: that they would pursue their goals and work hard toward the lives they wanted.
That is why the FaceTime call carries more weight than a final exchange on a television show. Meadows' daughter wanted him safe; his son had a fishing trip to look forward to; and Meadows expected to speak with them again. The finale could not give that family the homecoming they had planned. It did, however, let viewers hear what Meadows was working for and whom he hoped to return to.
