It’s the second day of charter and Captain Kerry Titheradge is pointing out little mistakes the deck crew is still making, like leaving a drain out for the guests to see, as he points out to deckhand Kyle Stillie. At least Fraser Olender is happy with Xandi Olivier and her tablescape.
The crew gets ready to take the guests on a beach picnic, which goes smoothly compared to “Below Deck” history. Charter guest Eileen apologizes for getting sloppy drunk the day/night prior and Fraser does a very English thing and pretends not to know what she’s talking about.
Bosun Jared Woodin, on the other hand, thinks Eileen is a liability and talks to the captain about her. “I found out [she] fell off of the jacuzzi last night.” He tells Jared to keep an eye on her and not let them go on jet skis while drinking. Also, he reveals that he hog-tied a charter guest once with duct tape for getting too rowdy. Don’t mess with Australians.
The guests have breakfast and Chef Anthony Iracane has made a special French toast for primary guest Tina, who doesn’t like anything. The special ingredient is a lack of joy. Tina looks thrilled.
Captain Kerry is a cool captain and offers to teach Cat Baugh how to longboard later. She squeals in delight because she doesn’t have to do laundry. Kerry reveals in a confessional that after Fraser told him that Cat was having trouble acclimating on the boat, he wants to give her a chance to have some fun.
Barbie Pascual acts like she’s all cool with it but then complains to the cameras that they have so much work to do and she just “has to be the bigger person.”
Beach picnic time
The guests have requested a volleyball game with the teams split between Chicago and Iowa. Team Crop Top (Iowa) takes the lead and no one falls because the drinking hasn’t started yet. Team Chicago then gets ahead (apparently they couldn’t think of a cute name, like maybe Windy City? Or maybe Chi-island?). Chicago ultimately wins.
Cat is doing well on the motorized surfboard thing while Barbie is dying in the laundry room. Cat is going to pay for this later. When she gets back, she tells Barbie to take a break but there’s way too much to do. “It’s just a lot and I’m starting to get really tired,” Barbie complains to Kyle. He gives her the validation she’s used to from her father.
Back on the boat…
Jared is still trying to shoot his shot with Barbie but she’s so dunzo. Maybe it’s because he says things like, “I’m interested in seeing what the potential might be … by going down Barbie Lane.” After that, Jared Road is closed permanently for Barbie. She calls him “Bro,” which should be a telling sign, but alas, he remains clueless.
Barbie and Fraser’s brief cease-fire ends when the stew is trying to set up silverware for dinner and says, “I’m not really good with this. I’m just used to having a chief stew who tells me.” Fraser asks, “Yeah. Do you want me to tell you? Is that what you’re trying to say?” Barbie says, “No, no, no.”
“Here we go again,” Fraser says in a confessional. “Barbie keeps demonstrating she really has no respect for authority.” He then goes to vent to Chef Anthony while he’s trying to make an Italian/Mediterranean dinner with jarred pasta sauce. Fraser threatens to go ham if he learns that Barbie is insubordinate to him behind his back.
The guests enjoy dinner and no one goes to their cabins early, which is a good sign. In a plot twist, Xandi reveals that she was married at 21 and then divorced a year later. “We met in high school but my world was ripped from underneath me with being that my mom and his dad had an affair,” she says in a confessional. “They lasted six months, I think, but the damage was way longer.”
The guests act sufficiently obnoxious during dinner, asking Barbie why she took on menial jobs when she could have been an obnoxious charter guest. At least they go to bed somewhat early so that the crew can clean up their spilled vodka and emotional messes.
The crew rallies around Chef Anthony Iracane
Fraser gives Chef Anthony a big hug the next morning because it’s the two-year anniversary of his father’s death. The chief stew reveals in a confessional that he almost lost his own father when they discovered a tumor on his esophagus. Thankfully, Fraser’s father survived but his experience makes him feel for Anthony.
Anthony tearfully tells the camera that he and his father dreamed of opening up a restaurant in Miami together. “Don’t worry Daddy, I will make it happen,” he says. Barbie comes over while he’s making breakfast and gives him a big hug.
The crew docks and Jared has trouble calling distances again. The boat doesn’t crash but Captain Kerry is big mad. They say their goodbyes to the guests and Tina tells them everything was great, despite her complaints. For the first time, we see a sliver of a smile. The crew has never been happier to see them off.
Jared gets called into the bridge where Kerry takes him to task for his docking foibles. “I don’t know if this guy’s got what it takes,” the captain says. Strike two for Jared.
On a happier note, the crew gets $26,000 from the charter guests, which comes out to $2,000 each.
The Below Deck crew spends their hard-earned money
It’s crew night out. The girls do their own thing first, while the guys bro it out. Now, Barbie reveals that she’s been married too at 22 years old. This season is turning into the Gen Z version of “The First Wives Club.” “COVID hit and we had to be around each other. The sex was minimal, the love part of it was minimal,” Barbie shared with the group. It turns out that she’s still legally married because she and her ex don’t want to do the paperwork. Sounds like a very Gen Z excuse.
The guys’ conversation is a lot different. Kyle shares that he started smoking at 12 and that he lost his virginity at a young age with his best friend’s older sister, which is how he knew he wasn’t gay. Apparently, he experimented with guys but found out he wasn’t into it. Fraser says he tried to have sex with a girl when he was 15 but “card declined.”
Jared Woodin gets angry drunk
Fraser tells the guys that they should give extra help to Anthony in the next charter, given that he does a lot solo and doesn’t sleep. Jared immediately gets defensive and says, “What do you think I’m doing already? I take two hours past when I’m supposed to.”
“I’m just saying, he works more than all of us combined,” Fraser reasons. Jared points out that deckhand Sunny Marquis frequently does the dishes, which is not the point, given that the whole boat works collectively for a tip. Fraser thinks it’s a problem that Jared drinks and gets aggro, which he thinks is a “red flag.”
Hopefully, the ladies can switch the energy and the guys go to meet up with them. Ben Willoughby is happy to reunite with his fellow deckhand/love interest Sunny. Barbie calls Kyle “hot,” which Jared doesn’t like. He keeps drinking despite Kerry’s previous advice to chill it with the booze. Cat feels isolated again.
At the boat, it’s hot tub time and they wake up Captain Kerry. Barbie tells everyone to shut up. Ben and Sunny apparently get it on in the bathroom.
Jared gets upset that Kyle’s tobacco spills on the deck. Kyle helps clean it but then leaves to go to bed. “This is pissing me off, what the f***?” Jared rages. He then goes to Kyle’s room and throws the bag of tobacco at him. “You’re f***king tobacco was still open and it’s still flying all over the f***ing place.” Kyle apologizes and Jared goes away, only to come back with more gripes.
Jared pulls Kyle out of his room while he’s brushing his teeth. “I’ve just cleaned up a lot and it’s not even enough because it’s all so wet. So please, I would like for you, before you go to bed, vacuum up the rest of your tobacco that’s all over the boat.”
Kyle says “That’s fair.” Jared keeps going on and on about why he’s taking Kyle to task and then — Captain Kerry comes down again. “What’s going on in here? I can hear you two decks up. I’m up and trying to sleep. I hear you upstairs.”
They done pissed off Kerry who is wearing a t-shirt that says “Big Red” but still looks scary. Could this be strike three for Jared?
