Below Deck Sailing Yacht Recap: Sex, Lies, and Couscous
Did you think Gary would finally face retribution for getting drunk on the job last week? Were you hoping Captain Glenn might even remember how Gary crashed the tender earlier this season and consider firing the first mate? Oh, how naïve we were. This week’s theme sure was lies, lies, lies. Danni lied to Chase about her fling with Anthony, and Glenn lied to us all with the false promise of punishment for one’s actions.
A quick refresher on what went down last episode: Gary, Daisy, Keith, and Chase went clubbing with the guests, and Glenn was clear that if they broke the two-drink limit, they’d forfeit their share of the tip. Gary had ten drinks, Keith and Daisy four, and Chase one. So Chase is the only one who should receive a tip. Except this week, Glenn admits he didn’t think he’d actually have to enforce this rule, so the captain quickly walks back the punishment for Gary, Keith, and Daisy. He reasons that they still took good care of the guests, so it’s fairer to only dock the transgressors 500 euros each. Glenn: “Do you agree?” Me, screaming at the TV: “No, Glenn, I do not agree!”
The tip is $23,000, so everyone in good standing gets $2,555, while Daisy, Keith, and Gary get $2,005. Euros to dollars conversions aside, the math is not mathing here. I assumed the other crew members would benefit from the drinkers’ loss, but it’s a mystery where their $1,500 goes. And more important, losing only one-fifth of a tip is nowhere near forfeiting the tip! It’s an embarrassing concession by Glenn.
Daisy thinks she and Keith got in trouble because of Gary, which is probably true. If Glenn was really concerned about fairness, their tip should be docked by how much they went over the two-drink limit, which would more properly reflect how Daisy and Keith stepped over the line, while Gary ran across the line and then shat on it. Daisy’s suffering plenty: She already lacked the respect of her junior stews, and this incident only reinforces their judgment of her. She kindly offers to cover Keith’s $500 since she makes more than him (and likely feels she was a bad influence), but, noble as ever, he turns it down.
With the tip drama over, brace your necks for some whiplash, because Chase and Gary’s moral positions as righteous angel and careless daredevil suddenly flip-flop. Chase has to use a harness to go “aloft” to work on the back of the boat, but he wants to attach the belaying rope in an easier yet more dangerous place than where Gary tells him to attach it. Gary goes to Glenn, who lays down the law, which shouldn’t mean anything anymore, but Chase listens to him and begrudgingly follows Gary’s orders. Chase calls Gary out for running to Glenn, but Gary’s fed up with Chase not listening to what he says. Chase insists that he does, but we get a flashback montage of all the times he hasn’t. With only one charter left, they don’t need to make full-on amends, so they come to a shaky peace: Going forward, Gary will let Chase know when he feels like he’s not listening.
The final charter is a girls’ trip with multiple allergies and dietary restrictions, so Cloyce opts to stay in and work instead of joining the crew night out. He doesn’t miss much. They mostly all look tired sitting around a horseshoe couch. Danni and Chase make out, which makes Daisy uncomfortable. It’s probably a good rule of thumb to not PDA when you’re on the literal same seat as your bosses.
When the crew returns to the boat, Glenn fills his roommate, Davide, in on the telenovela he’s watching. Adorably, Davide joins him for the next episode. Meanwhile, Daisy and Keith go to Daisy’s cabin, only to find Gary in her bed. Keith and Daisy settle for a hallway goodnight kiss. Gary immediately asks Daisy if they hooked up, and when Daisy says they kissed again, he has the audacity to tell her he approves. From their respective bunks, they squeeze hands and say they love each other before bed. Daisy’s gotten better at enforcing her boundaries with Gary, but she still has a ways to go. That boundary should be a triple-locked, reinforced steel door, and last season it was a beaded curtain. At least she’s upgraded to a glass door with a broken lock.
Chase and Danni go to the master to hook up, and we’re subjected to some late-night sounds of Chase grunting. Over a shot of the closed door, we hear Danni bring up Anthony, the other guy she brought to that room and told Chase nothing happened with. She admits she slept with him but says it didn’t mean anything to her. We’re presented with a damning timeline of flashbacks: Twelve days ago she slept with Anthony, 11 days ago she met Chase, and nine days ago she lied to Chase about Anthony. He doesn’t care that the hookup happened but does care that she lied about it.
It doesn’t seem to be that big a deal because they both stay the rest of the night in the cabin, but the next day, Danni’s on damage control. In front of Cloyce and Diana, she asks Chase if he’s okay, and, of course, he doesn’t want to get into it with their co-workers right there. His guard is up, and later, he asks if they’re on the same page about where to leave things when the season ends. He thinks just being friends is best because they live on opposite sides of the world. Danni’s argument-provoking response is exhausting. She’s not going to fight for a relationship because it sounds like he’s already decided he doesn’t want one, so she’s upset he phrased it as a conversation. She clearly wants to keep seeing him and doesn’t mind doing long distance, but she’s not mature enough to tell him that outright.
Danni talks about Chase with Daisy, who fuels the fire by pointing out that Chase visited Iliesha in Australia when they dated. If he wanted to, he would. Later, Chase checks in with Danni in passing, and she says she feels like he hasn’t been completely honest with her. He’s piiiiissed but has to go work on the swim dock. He fits the primary, ML, in a life jacket, and she inappropriately jokes, “It’s kind of like you putting your penis in a speedo.” Nothing like casual sexual harassment when you’re mid-fight with your situationship, huh?
Danni pulls Chase away from the middle-aged ladies to confront him about the new Iliesha information she learned. He says their relationship failed because they put a label on it, and he doesn’t want that same pressure. That sounds awfully reductive … There’s a reason Ileisha’s ranked 20-plus slots above Chase and 100-plus over Danni in “Every Below Deck Crew Member, Ranked.” Danni implies that Chase led her on and has the nerve to claim she was open and honest. She also doesn’t even know if she’s going back to Australia postseason. It’s a powerhouse gaslighting performance that Daisy cuts short by telling Danni to get back to work.
In the galley, Cloyce seems like he’s being set up to fail. Dinner is an around-the-world theme with a variety of cuisines and a deluge of dietary restrictions that include but are not limited to: Karen can’t have tomatoes, Jenny’s gluten free, Amy only likes romaine lettuce, and Diane’s allergic to coconut and doesn’t eat raw fruit, vegetables, or fish. Surprisingly, it’s a total success. Cloyce does an awkward dance for the ladies that thankfully can’t kill anyone but is a major ick. It’s something about his shorts — we shouldn’t see a chef’s exposed knees, you know?
Unfortunately, lunch goes less smoothly. Diana confuses two of the guests (to be fair, they do look similar), then she’s unable to explain what’s different about the couscous salads she’s served them. They’re understandably concerned that their allergies may have gotten mixed up and have more questions about who can eat which family-style dishes. Diana has to wait for Cloyce to come up and explain everything, which is not a good look. ML gives Cloyce feedback that they should be told what’s being served before or when it’s served. Diana is at fault here for not being as prepared as she should have been, but she complains about it to Daisy as if it was Cloyce’s fault. Daisy doesn’t understand why there was so much confusion, and lucky for us, it looks like there will be plenty more in next week’s season finale.
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