Deadliest Catch : Phil's Life Ends

The ongoing drama on Deadliest Catch continued last night when Captain of the Cornelia Marie, Phil Harris, passed away. In the last few episodes, we saw the effects of the stroke that Phil endured. And despite the incredible odds that were against him, Phil was making great progress. The doctors were beginning to make plans to move Phil to a rehab center in Seattle where he could continue his progress. He was still paralyzed on one side of his body, yet he was beginning to return to the Phil of old. He even demanded ice chips from his son Jake, despite being told from the nurse that he had enough. He was also craving a cigarette, but thankfully nobody gave into his demands. And then we watched some real emotional and heart-to-heart moments Phil had with his two sons, moments that I'm sure left very few people watching with dry eyes. In one moment, Phil told Josh how sorry he was that he couldn't be a better father to the boys. That's when Josh told him that he was the best father possible and he learned everything he needed to know to be a man. We also saw Josh break down in tears, the first time so far during this ordeal. I just can't imagine what that moment must've been like for Josh and even now, being able to watch it again on TV.

A few days later, however, Phil's condition changed drastically and ultimately, he lost his life. The doctors did all that they could for Phil - even commenting that they've worked on him for an hour and they couldn't do anymore. Josh had to make the decision when it was over. It was then when he had to make the difficult call to his brother, Jake, to tell him that their father had passed away. What makes this so heartbreaking is that Jake flew down to Seattle and entered a rehab facility for his addiction to pain medication (this was revealed 3-4 episodes back). It seemed that Phil was doing so much better, Jake felt it was the right to get better and start a new chapter in his life. I'm sure he never thought his dad would pass away, considering how well he was doing.

Considering the delicate situation that this was, Discovery really presented the last few episodes in a classy way. I am sure they could have shown more than what really aired in these episodes. But the story was already being told in a perfect way. These episodes really were a tribute to Phil and showed what a great individual he really was. The cameras were still rolling throughout this whole adventure and ultimately, it was Phil who wanted his ordeal with the stroke to be captured. And when it truly was the end of his life, it represented the end of his story. The 2009-10 crab season was already a tough one as it was for many of the boats featured on the show. But the death of Captain Phil made it that much tougher.

In next week's episode, we get to see the reaction across the fleet to the passing of Phil Harris. And this is while they are all trying to capture Opilio crab during a major winter storm. I am sure it'll add that much more stress to an already difficult season. The season is quickly coming to a close and many of the boats will be grinding it out to capture as much crab as they can before the end of the season. That means the crew on deck as well as the captain will be working without very little sleep, sometimes as little as a few hours out of 48. That's the life of a crab fisherman which really gives us all a little bit of insight as to why it's the most dangerous job in the world. Who knew a show about crab fishing could be so darn captivating.

RIP Phil.