Deadliest Catch' Villain Elliott Neese Proves Himself a Hero

Tonight's episode of Deadliest Catch reminds us why crabbing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. One of the fleet runs aground in choppy waters and it forces Captain Elliott Neese and his boat, the
Saga, to attempt a night rescue.
When Yahoo TV asked Neese about the incident, he told us, “People always joke, ‘What’s the difference between crabbers and Superman?’ Tonight, you’ll see there is nothing.”Neese pulls in as close as he can to the Hunter (at its lowest point, the Saga is just three feet above the rocks) and sends out his deckhand, Dave Pachur, to get a rescue line to the stricken vessel's life raft. Pachur is in a neoprene suit, but it's still 36-degree water.
The crabbers lose the line, forcing Neese to come in closer. Which is when three feet becomes zero feet. The Saga hits bottom, sending a panic through the crew, fearing their ship might join the Hunter. But the hull is intact and Neese sends out a second man his father, Mike  with another line. This time, they secure the line to the raft, the line holds, and all of the Hunter's crew are rescued.

[Related: Sig Hansen Explains Why His 18-Year-Old Daughter Is Joining 'Deadliest Catch']

Neese's actions tonight may change some minds of some who watch the show. Many cast him as the "villain" of Deadliest Catch; as the youngest captain in the fleet, he is often regarded as cocky. His Twitter feed is full of insults slung back and forth between him and fans of the show.
Two miles outside of Dutch Harbor, just before 4 in the morning, the 93-foot Arctic Hunter runs aground. Though the Coast Guard are on their way, they're still a ways off, so Neese comes to retrieve the crew from a ship taking on water.

“Brett's one of my good friends,” says Neese of the Hunter's captain, Brett Robinson. “Sometimes you've got to push the envelope a little bit to save one of your friends. If it was anybody else, I wouldn't have my boat this close to the beach, I'll tell you that.”