The Relationship Between Wild Bill And His Son Explained – Looper

It’s not too uncommon to see different family members working together on the vessels featured on “Deadliest Catch.” Examples include brothers Jonathan and Andy  Hillstrand from the Time Bandit and Keith and Monty Colburn from the Wizard. Sometimes, family connections span different generations, like the father-daughter duo of Sig and Mandy Hansen of the Northwestern. One other interesting parent/child tandem is “Wild” Bill Wichrowski and his older son, Zack Larson. 

Larson is the product of Wichrowski’s previous marriage and previously had a distant relationship with his father, hence the fact he uses his mom’s last name. However, when joining his dad on the Cape Caution at the beginning of Season 6, their connection tightened before fans’ very eyes. When viewers at home are first introduced to Larson, one of Wichrowski’s three kids, it was clear that their relationship was as tumultuous as the sea they were working on. But a filmed interaction between the two captured a great moment when Larson made his dad proud. 

After misjudging the number of crabs caught, Wichrowski expresses his frustrations with the inconsistent report to his crew. However, Larson is quick to push past the negativity and focus on remedying the situation. This led to a touching moment as Wichrowski declared to the camera, “Zack said we screwed up. I’m proud of him.” After a beat, he concluded with, “Don’t be the cause of the problem, be the remedy. He’s growing leaps and bounds.” 

Even though Larson was getting this praise from his dad, as previously mentioned, it wasn’t always like this.