How ‘Deadliest Catch’ handled Todd Meadows’ tragic death in harrowing season finale

“Deadliest Catch” star Todd Meadows’ death was explored in the Season 22 finale, months after he tragically fell overboard while filming the reality series.

On Friday’s episode of the Discovery Channel series, producers showed the before and after of the 25-year-old’s fatal fall while working aboard the Aleutian Lady in Alaskan waters of the Bering Sea on Feb. 25.

While showrunners shied away from showing the actual accident, they gave viewers the perspective of Captain Rick Shelford and the ship’s crew.

Before rolling the episode, a message warning “material may be disturbing to some viewers” appeared on the screen.

Meadows then appeared on-screen in a confessional interview as he prepared food shortly before his death, telling the cameras, “It’s been a rough season, from what I’ve heard it’s been one of the rougher seasons for the boat.”

When a producer asked the TV personality whether he would return to the boat later if allowed to go home, he responded, “Absolutely.”

“It’s been one of my dreams and goals to make it up here,” Meadows continued. “That’s why I’m up here to make it and to try to support my family.”

Meadows told producers about his three children — aged 1, 2 and 4 at the time — saying that it was a “heart-wrencher” because the youngest don’t understand his absence.

Producers then showed Meadows on a FaceTime call with his family, promising his son to go on a salmon fishing trip upon his return home.

“I hope you’re being safe,” Meadows’ daughter says. “If you’re not being safe you better be safe.”

“Oh I’m being safe,” he replied.

The cameras then cut to Shelford asking the crew, “Everybody OK?” after hearing screams.

“No,” the crew responded, explaining there was a man overboard, to which Shelford immediately turned the boat around and ordered the team to be ready to pull Meadows out of the water.

The cameras stayed in the control center, as the captain ordered the crew to pull Meadows up and perform CPR.

“Come on, man, come on,” Shelford said off camera before calling the Coast Guard. Shelford broke down in tears as a producer told him, “He’s gone, Rick.”

“On February 25th, 2026, deckhand Todd Meadows went overboard. After six minutes and twenty-six seconds in the water, he was recovered unresponsive,” a message on the screen read.

Shelford announced Meadows’ passing via a heartbreaking Facebook post, stating that it was 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.

“Deadliest Catch” cast member Trey John Green III, a fellow deckhand, told Page Six exclusively in March that the notoriously treacherous water was actually “calm” the day of Meadows’ accident, despite the water being “only a degree or two above freezing.”

Green emphasized that Meadows was “in the right place at the right time” and “doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing” when the accident occurred.

“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.