There’s comes a point in every iteration of Below Deck where the cyclical nature of a charter season starts to feel like Groundhog’s Day. And on this season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, we’re well past that point. The season is just sort of dragging along. And not even injecting new crew members like Barnaby Birkbeck and Scarlett Bentley into the mix can do much to shake the monotony. The whole episode, I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. But it really gave us…nothing.
The crew kicks off the hour ready to race a nearby sailboat to impress the guests. You’d think such a thing would be absolutely thrilling. Particularly since, as far as I can recall, it’s the first time Parsifal’s ever raced since the show premiered. And it was for the guests! But it turns out not even the magic of reality TV production can make a yacht race that interesting to witness from home. I will say, though, I guess I was surprised how quickly the crew caught up to their competition. One minute they were hundreds of meters behind. And the next, they won in a photo finish.
At least the guests leave happy. And these particular girls were much more fun and easygoing this time around when they weren’t part of Erica Rose‘s deranged girl gang. They even left a decent-sized tip of $16,400. That still doesn’t make up for the abysmal tip their former friend left at the beginning of the season. But at least they’re not as punitive and stingy. Scarlett gets a pat on the back for surviving her very first overnight charter. And Chef Marcos Spaziani gets a special shoutout for the 10-course dinner he managed to whip up. Eighty plates is nothing for this guy.
Thanks to some prodding from Colin Macrae, Gary King drags Ashley Marti to the bow after the tip meeting for a private conversation. To be honest, I’m not even sure what Gary’s expecting to get out of this discussion. Or what a reasonable expectation would even be at this point. He wants to make it clear that he’s not interested in the third sorry, junior stew any longer. But he won’t go so far as to say that out loud. Nor does he address her very public claim that they had sex while he was too drunk to consent. Maybe that’s something that will come up at the reunion? But either way, Ashley’s not interested in talking about anything with the first mate at this point. And walks off without much being said at all.
It’s time for the crew’s night out! So naturally, they head ashore to a local restaurant called Palau. With, as usual, the boys in one car and the girls in the other. On the way to the restaurant, the female crew play the usual game of F–k, Marry, Kill. And Daisy Kelliher and Kelsie Goglia both agree that the only correct answer is “kill Gary, f–k Marcos, marry Colin.” Barnaby‘s still so new that he isn’t even a consideration. (At least not this early in the night — ask Daisy in a few hours after a few drinks and you might get a different answer…)
During dinner, Scarlett finds herself in the hot seat over her flirtations with Gary. Daisy doesn’t like it. Ashley definitely doesn’t like it, though she’ll tell you she doesn’t care. But the chief stew’s attempt to give her new employee a friendly heads-up spirals into drama. Instead of feeling warned, Scarlett feels picked on and leaves the table in tears. I’m sorry, but hasn’t this girl only been here for, like, two days? How into Gary could she even possibly be at this point? It’s all a little ridiculous. And Daisy recognizes that, chasing after Scarlett and trying to make amends. She insists she was just giving the newbie a hard time, and didn’t expect it to escalate into histrionics. Either way, Scarlett should consider herself warned about the dangers of hooking up with Gary.
Back on board, the entire crew gets loose with a drunken jacuzzi dance party. You know, just a typical night off on Parsifal at this point. The alcohol only serves to make Daisy feel more guilty for being so hard on Scarlett though. And she vents her feelings to Kelsie, who assures her she did nothing seriously wrong. And, best of it, it seems Daisy’s warning might have actually gotten through to the newbie. Because when Gary puts the moves on and asks point blank to sleep with her, she turns him down. Scarlett’s not about to get bogged down in boatmance drama. At least, not yet.
The next day, Captain Glenn Shephard reports that the weather’s about to get awful. To the point that the crew will actually have to take the boat off the dock and find protected water near Fornells. The weather will also affect the upcoming eighth charter because the boat will have to stay anchored the entire time. According to the preference sheet meeting, the Canadian primary is celebrating his brand new engagement to his fiancée. And is requesting molecular gastronomy from the galley. So…that won’t be difficult at all. But if anyone can rise to the challenge, it’s Chef Marcos, who spends the rest of the night sketching out ideas and doing research.
Captain Glenn‘s weather report turned out to be correct because it’s all sorts of windy. But charter eight is going to start one way or the other. Even if Gary and Kelsie have to pick up the guests on the dock and ferry them over to Parsifal in the tender. After getting the requisite tour from Daisy, Captain Glenn breaks the bad news to the guests. It’s probably going to be too windy to sail for the entire charter. Which is…a huge bummer when you’ve chartered a European vacation aboard a sailing yacht.
Over lunch, Ashley gets a little too chummy with the guests, oversharing about her drunken fall from her bunk when she finds out they’ve nicknamed her “Smashley.” Daisy quickly reins the junior stew in by reminding her she needs to be, you know, professional while on service. Otherwise, everything else goes relatively smoothly for the rest of the afternoon. Though they can’t exactly go anywhere, Gary manages to distract the guests with the rope swing. And Marcos is busy prepping for the guests’ big engagement dinner. But then, the chef gets devastating news from back home. His best friend’s mom has unexpectedly passed away. The news leaves him reeling and in no condition to cook. But that’s where the episode ends, with Marcos frantically trying to call his sister back home.
TELL US – SHOULD GARY HAVE BEEN MORE CLEAR IN HIS CONVERSATION WITH ASHLEY? WAS DAISY PICKING ON SCARLETT? ARE YOU SURPRISED SCARLETT TURNED GARY DOWN?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
