[Warning: The below contains spoilers for Deadliest Catch Season 21]

The August 22 episode kicked off with Captain Sig Hansen’s daughter Mandy leaving the Northwestern and heading home. She stepped up on the vessel while Sig was away on the Time Bandit with Captain Johnathan Hillstrand. We were taken 310 miles from the Dutch Harbor on the remote Western Grounds where the Northwestern continued to get battered by monstrous waves.

In frightening  scenes, Sig heard his son-in-law Clark Pederson in pain on the radio. He had cut his hand open with a bait knife and blood was pouring out. Sig rushed to get medical supplies from the onboard first-aid kit to stop the bleeding and attend to hand injury. To make matters worse, there was concern regarding fish poisoning infecting the open wound.

The drama continued as Clark felt guilty about what happened and doesn’t want the crew to go into town on his account. Sig yelled at him to make his hand the priority. He sought out advice from Johnathan on where they might navigate to for a quick bump in numbers before going back. His friend gave him a tip that does pay off. Later, Clark goes to the doctor and luckily doesn’t have to go home. He just needed to keep an eye out for infection and keep the area as dry as possible.  

Johnathan continued his own hunt for crab, inching closer to delivery day. They needed a good haul to get them through. With his crew not convinced they could get a big pot full of crab in that spot, he laid out a bet. If they didn’t, “Captain No Pants” would have to pull a pot in his underwear. However, if they do, the crew would have to pull a pot in their underwear. The crew lost the bet and followed through on going down to their skivvies. 

Elsewhere, we caught up with Captain Keith Colburn, who had a big delivery of red king crab to make before delivery. The numbers going into the 160 pots and 31,000 pounds needed weren’t where he wanted them to be. Making matters worse, The Wizard encountered mechanical issues where it was stuck in forward gear. The throttles were down, buoys were going under and ground control becoming more of a problem. It became a concerted effort to get back on track. The air regulator was replaced, and Keith was able to get the boat in gear once again. It then became a matter of playing catch-up. 

Clark Pederson (Discovery Channel)

Things weren’t going well aboard the Confidence with Captain Steve “Harley” Davidson constantly clashing with his co-captain in James Gamberton. The crew were in their 13th day into the season and 25th straight hour of hauling pots. Morale and profits had hit a new low. So much so, a crew member went up to the captains to let them know he wouldn’t be going on with the next part of the job, which was bairdi season. James pulled the contract card, which didn’t make Harley happy. 

He felt James jumped the gun in his approach by bringing up the agreement. In his eyes, he “threw gasoline on the fire, and it was uncalled for.” Harley overheard conversation between disgruntled crew members also looking to make a bump. Harley told James to have a talk with the crew. He didn’t like the order, responding back with, “Don’t talk to me like that.” He only added to the uneasiness. 

Harley set James off further by calling him a mate, which he took as disrespect. James stormed off. Can this motley crew get things together with their king crab quota in reach or does Harley have a mutiny on his hands? We’ll have to find out in the weeks to come. He goes off to talk to the team. “It’s in the contract.” – James reaffirms. When Harley calls James a mate, he takes that as disrespect. Things get heated. “This don’t work for me,” James said. James stormed off. The quota on king crab is within reach. 

Deadliest Catch, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel