7.4/1041 votes#1 - The Gamble
Season 8 Episode 1 - Aired 4/10/2012
A slashed crab quota has captains reeling before the boats hit the water. With the fleet set to fight over half the catch, each skipper is forced to decide: roll the dice on the depleted Red grounds or risk it all to hunt for the elusive Blue crab.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1038 votes#2 - Turf War
Season 8 Episode 2 - Aired 4/17/2012
With the fleet split, a tale of two fisheries emerges. On the Blue grounds, a captains' bet has the boats jockeying for position. On the Red grounds, a returning veteran quickly proves his worth, while another boat copes with a fallen deckhand.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1029 votes#3 - Weak Links
Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 4/24/2012
As the fleet grinds through injuries and mental mistakes, the Bering Sea exposes soft spots and weak links in each crew. While the skippers wonder which deckhands have the right stuff, the Time Bandit says goodbye to a crewmate who never made it back.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/1028 votes#4 - The Hook
Season 8 Episode 4 - Aired 5/1/2012
Halfway through the King crab gauntlet, the beaten-down crews must dig deep to get over the midseason hump. As the crab counts dwindle and the weak fall by the wayside, the skippers give their youngest deckhands a choice: step up or step off.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1027 votes#5 - Alien Abduction
Season 8 Episode 5 - Aired 5/8/2012
Past the halfway point of the King Crab season, man and machine alike show signs of wear under the brutal hand of the Bering Sea. While repairs can be made to the equipment, the fishermen must dig deep to soldier on in a place where nature rules.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1029 votes#6 - Vital Signs
Season 8 Episode 6 - Aired 5/15/2012
As king crab season nears the finish line, the crew of The Wizard faces a life or death situation as a deckhand collapses and struggles to hold on. Catching crab suddenly becomes secondary to a fight for survival on the harsh Bering Sea.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1028 votes#7 - I Don't Wanna Die
Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 5/22/2012
In a scramble to help their collapsed greenhorn, the Wizard crew calls in a Coast Guard helicopter. For the rest of the fleet, it's a race to haul crab before a hurricane hits, and the last boat fishing waits too long to leave the grounds.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/1029 votes#8 - The Aftermath
Season 8 Episode 8 - Aired 5/29/2012
In the aftermath of an arctic hurricane, the fleet struggles to reach the finish line of a brutal king crab season. Poor fishing and quarreling crews make this final push a painful one for every man on the Bering Sea.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/1023 votes#9 - Nowhere to Go But Down
Season 8 Episode 9 - Aired 6/5/2012
It's winter in Dutch Harbor and the fleet prepares to hunt Opilio crab. The season looks promising with the quota up and the price high, but tensions rise before the lines are thrown as one deckhand quits, two brothers fight and one goes overboard.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.0/1028 votes#10 - Rise and Fall
Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 6/12/2012
With unrelenting northerly winds bearing down on the fleet, every skipper steels himself for battle with the descending polar ice pack. And as temperatures drop on the grounds, tempers on deck flare up.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1025 votes#11 - No Exit
Season 8 Episode 11 - Aired 6/19/2012
Across the fleet, captains battle the descending polar ice pack to save their pots, and it's a losing war. The Northwestern and Wizard struggle to escape St. Paul harbor, while the rest of the fleet scrambles to keep their opilio season alive.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1026 votes#12 - Collision Course
Season 8 Episode 12 - Aired 6/26/2012
The polar ice pack invades the opilio crab grounds, forcing the captains to make a decision: grab their gear and run, or keep fishing and fight the floes. Two deckhands fall victim to an ice assault; a captain's troubles are compounded by a call home.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1023 votes#13 - Landlocked
Season 8 Episode 13 - Aired 7/3/2012
The ice pack has a choke hold on the Bering Sea opilio grounds. Nearly iced up, captains across the fleet must make the call to stay or go. Some run from the ice, and others stay to battle the elements for the hope of a record-breaking payday.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1025 votes#14 - Fearless Leaders
Season 8 Episode 14 - Aired 7/10/2012
One of the worst icing events in history recedes making it possible for some of the boats to return. One boat suffers a total blackout while navigating an iceberg minefield, Elliott gets a rude awakening and a greenhorn learns a deadly lesson.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.0/1021 votes#15 - Release the Beast
Season 8 Episode 15 - Aired 7/17/2012
Two brothers find themselves in the same dire situation that sunk their father's boat. After a midseason hiatus, the fleet returns to the Bearing Sea, but the ice is back and worse than before. Now the skippers could get pushed past their breaking points.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1025 votes#16 - The Bitter, Bloody End
Season 8 Episode 16 - Aired 7/24/2012
In this special two-hour close to a merciless opilio season, a veteran deckhand pays for a mistake in flesh. Then in the final hours some men rise and some men fall, but not everyone will make it home.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Deadliest Catch Season 8
Every episode of Deadliest Catch Season 8 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Deadliest Catch Season 8!
Forty-foot waves, 700 pound crab pots, freezing temperatures and your mortality staring you in the face…it's all in a day's work for these modern day...
Genre:Reality
Network:Discovery
Season 8 Ratings Summary
"The Gamble" is the best rated episode of "Deadliest Catch" season 8. It scored 7.4/10 based on 41 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 4/10/2012. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Turf War".