Welcome back to Below Deck Season 11, Episode 10. In this week’s episode, titled “Grenadian Nightmare,” Chef Anthony’s struggle in the galley continues. A new crew member comes on board, and the battle of wills between Fraser and Barbie comes to a head. Here are some of the highlights from Below Deck Season 11, Episode 10.
“Such a terrible person”
Chef Anthony definitely dropped the ball when he prepared two platters of sushi as an appetizer for the guests but forgot that the primary won’t eat raw fish. And he can’t make more because he’s out of rice.
Fraser thinks Chef’s in over his head. “I know it’s difficult, but you’re cut out for it … or you’re not. I’m just worried that he’s not.”
As Fraser walks through the salon, Jill catches him. “Ah, that’s who I’m looking for,” she says, as Fraser wishes he were invisible. “I spoke to the chef … that we wanted to sit at 8:30, so we could get going. So, what are the chances of that happening?” Little to none, I would say, since the on-screen graphic shows it’s already 8:20.
“I’ll go speak to him now,” Fraser says.
When he tells Anthony that the guests want to sit down ASAP, Chef responds, “Okay, I’m going to try to make the magic happen.”
After Fraser leaves the galley, Chef mutters, “Such a terrible person,” while the camera zooms in on the photo of Jill on her preference sheet. I just looked at (page 2!) of her preference listing. She drinks at least 10 Diet Cokes a day! No wonder she’s so tightly wound.
Captain gets a front-row seat
Captain joins the guests for dinner. When Fraser announces the menu choices (chicken, gluten-free, and vegetarian), he says he’d like to start with the primaries first. Melinda starts to tell Fraser that she wants “half and half,” but good ol’ Jill (the on-screen graphics emphasize “Not a Primary”) interrupts her.
“Or a bowl of the pad thai maybe on the side…” she volunteers. OMG. How do her friends put up with her? Jill is annoying AF.
As he descends the stairs to deliver the orders to Anthony, Fraser can see that Chef is struggling. He created a lot of extra work for himself by offering three options for the main course.
“I f*cked myself ‘cause it’s [triple] work,” he says. “Instead of just me focused on one main course, now you’re talking about three different course[s] at the same moment.”
As Fraser takes the food to the dining area, Chef adds, “Food looks like sh*t. It’s cold … I cannot build every plate at [the] same time because we have, like, chicken pad thai, tofu pad thai, curry veggie … I’m sorry. I f*cked up.”
Of course, Jill is the first to complain. “It’s cold,” she whispers to her boyfriend Gary. “Captain’s not gonna like it.”
For his part, Captain Kerry interviews, “The is the worst dinner service I’ve had all season. My food is already cold. There’s obviously something going on down in the galley, something gone wrong.” But he chooses to remain calm for the sake of his guests.
“And to top it off,” he adds, “we have Jill. Not good, guys.”
“Anthony’s food was average,” he concludes, “and his timing was sh*t. I need to talk to him at the end of the charter. There’s no use beating him up now, but I’m very disappointed.”
Cinderella of the sea
Barbie’s basically Cinderella, slaving away while everyone else has fun. She forgets that even though Xandi went to beach yoga, the rest of the time she’s stuck down in the laundry room, chained to the ironing board. I don’t think there’s even a window down there.
“At this point, it’s a [case] of ‘I really don’t want to be here,’ but I’m not a quitter. So … I’m gonna push through, and I’m gonna give him this fake ass bullsh*t smile … and I’m just not gonna complain.” Except to us. Shut up, Barbie. Be thankful you don’t have Anthony’s job.
Fraser notices that Barbie’s either giving him one-word answers or just ignoring him altogether. That’s our Barbie.
“Tomorrow night’s going to be the sh*ttiest night we’ve ever had,” he tells Xandi as he’s straightening the bar. “Nobody’s gonna want to talk to each other. Barbie’s pissed off. Like, everyone’s being so sensitive. The energy is horrific. We’ve got no stews.” Actually, he has two, but he is short one.
When Barbie sets some glasses on the bar, he asks, “How’s it going up there, gorgeous?”
“Good,” she one-words him before walking away.
“What was that about?” he asks Xandi.
“I don’t know,” she responds. It’s about Barbie thinking she’s the only one who’s working.
In the galley, Barbie tells Kyle, “Now I go down, and Xandi’s sitting at the bar, and she was doing yoga [on the beach with the guests earlier in the day], and she talks to me like [I’m] sh*t.” Poor Barbie has such a rough life.
“Keep smiling, girl,” Kyle tells her. “See you in a bit.” And he’s off to bed, cause who wants to hang out with someone who whines all the time?
Help is on the way
The next morning, Kerry gets a text from Yacht Services: “Good news. Your new stew arrives this afternoon.” Yay! I hope they turn out to be hard-working and easy-going. We don’t need any more divas on this boat.
Fraser delivers the guests’ breakfast orders to Anthony. “They all want something different,” he says. “I hate them … But I don’t. I just hate Jill.”
In the crew galley, Xandi says, “I think this trip might kill me.”
“It’s already killed me,” Fraser responds. “There’s not much else that could go wrong.”
When Barbie trudges up the stairs, Fraser gives her a cheerful, “Good morning! How’d you sleep?”
“Good, thank you,” she answers, making no eye contact.
“You seem very quiet,” Fraser comments.
“Just trying to wake up, honey,” she says.
“I’m ignoring Fraser now,” Barbie interviews, “cause I don’t know how to communicate with him. He just dismisses everything that I feel. When I say things to him, he takes it like I’m just being a problem. I can’t win, and I feel like I can’t be myself anymore. I really feel defeated.”
Chef in the dog house
On deck to say goodbye, Fraser leans around and tells Barbie, “Give me your hand. Well done. No comments. Well done.” He’s trying to encourage her, but she’s just not receptive.
As they’re leaving, Melinda addresses the crew. “Thanks for the best vacation ever! Deck crew, you were flawless. I know we were probably the hardest group to cook for with all of our different preferences. Thank you, guys!” And with that, she hands the captain the tip envelope. Do you think Jill chipped in? She seemed to think she was one of the primaries.
After the guests leave, Kerry calls Anthony to the “headmaster’s office.” Uh oh. This isn’t going to go well.
“Dinner service last night,” Kerry begins. “I’m gonna tell you straight: it was bullsh*t.”
“I know,” Chef admits.
“Sitting at the table last night, my food’s cold,” Captain continues. “I see two guests without food … What the f*ck is going on?”
“I was really, really … trying to find the best solution to make this dinner amazing,” Anthony explains. “I got … obsessed and mad at myself because I cannot solve the problems.”
“Kicking off with the sushi,” Kerry adds, “you’re … too laser-focused on one guest and forgetting [the primary hates raw fish]. No one else should be thinking about this except you. Very disappointed.”
“I failed this one,” Anthony interviews. “[It] just remind me, like, bad moments when I was younger. At school, I was a loser. I can see my teacher in my head telling me, ‘Damn, you still a f*cking loser.’ Born a loser, die like a loser.”
“Do some stuff that you can do with your eyes closed, man,” Captain tells him. “Just think about that.”
It was a mistake letting Jill plan his menu. He needs to take his control back.
Fraser tries to talk to Barbie
“Barbie,” Fraser says, “is everything okay? You seem really off.”
“I’m having a really off day,” she says. Wow! Communication, at last. “Yesterday was a killer for me.”
“Just tell me what you’re going through,” Fraser asks.
“A few things yesterday really got to me,” she admits. “I went to bed so pissed, and then I woke up today, like, so pissed.”
“What in particular made you feel that way?” he asks.
“Like, you guys meditating at the beach,” she responds. “Then yesterday, Xan’s at the bar, and I’m up here working my ass off till 2:30 in the morning.”
“Right,” Fraser says. “I was at the bar cleaning, [and] she had clocked off. It’s not as if we’re chilling. You also weren’t talking yesterday.”
“I was, like, scared to communicate with you, honestly,” she says.
“I can’t do with the no eye contact,” he adds. “And I can’t do with the no talking.”
“I’m doing better,” she says. “I flipped the switch.”
“You flipped the switch,” he admits, “but it feels like your finger’s on it right now, about to flip it again.”
At the tip meeting, Kerry says, “I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like I’ve gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson. Hat’s off to all of youse. Let’s see what we’ve got here.”
The tip is $20,000, which isn’t terrible, but it’s not great either. That works out to $1,667 each. Not bad for two days in Hell.
“So, tomorrow’s off,” Captain announces. “You guys are gonna head to a resort. The new stew will arrive tonight. She’ll meet you out at dinner. What a great opportunity for you to get to know [her].”
“Her first day at work’s gonna be a day off,” Captain laughs. “Let’s drink to that!”
A new girl in town
At the restaurant, everyone’s ready for a good time. But then a girl with long, platinum hair walks in and says, “Hello.” She’s the new stew, and we haven’t seen her from the front yet, but she must be pretty because all the straight guys are saying, “Wow.”
Even Fraser jumps out of his seat and says, “Oh, my God! I can’t believe it’s you!” Who is it?
Her name is Paris, and she tells Fraser, “We met on the phone years ago.”
“I know who Paris is,” Fraser says in a confessional. “She is the ex of one of my very dear friends … and that to me just means that she is gold.”
“My name is Paris,” she interviews. “I’m a stewardess in Perth. I’m outgoing, funny, and I love mayonnaise … I definitely say what’s on my mind cause I don’t have any serotonin or any happiness left…” Uh oh. Is she another Barbie?
“So I just want to stir the pot,” she continues, “and regain some of that happiness back through other people’s suffering.” Sounds like an interesting work ethic. Also, she could be trouble.
But then she laughs and adds, “That’s not really true. I’m not really evil, I promise.” But she’s very pretty, and she’s an Aussie, so Sunny’s immediately threatened that she might connect with Ben.
Barbie blowout
The next day, Fraser offers Paris some “context before you get into this.” At the beginning of the season, he thought Barbie was amazing, “but the attitude was foul.”
Meanwhile, Barbie tells Ben that Fraser “hates” her and “wants to fire” her. “I’m doing all the work,” she says. “I don’t eat, I don’t have breaks … It piles up on me until I explode.”
Finally, Fraser sits next to Barbie. “What’s the hot goss? What were you and Ben talking about?”
“Just, like, everything,” she says. “I don’t feel safe with you … I feel like you dismiss my feelings.”
“Barbie, you’re working with me,” Fraser says, sitting up. “I don’t need to get what you’re going through … If you don’t like it, you can f*ck off.”
“That response shows me how much I really can’t talk to you,” she says.
“Right. Well, don’t,” he says angrily and walks off.
Barbie’s defensive and can never “own” her part in things. I think the problem is that Fraser and Barbie are just too much alike.
“Fraser doesn’t like me, even though he likes the way I work,” she interviews. “I can’t speak to him. He doesn’t listen … If I speak up, I’m a bitch. If I don’t, I’m passive/aggressive.”
She tries again to approach Fraser, but he’s done. “Fraser, would you stop doing this, please? … I love you…”
“You do not act like it!” he yells. “You’re such a horrible person when you don’t want to speak to anyone. You do not have eye contact, [and] you are rude.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No, I just want you to understand this is how it works. Welcome to yachting. This is how it works.” The delivery was a little harsh, but I understand his frustration.
“Welcome to the circus!”
Paris thinks she should go check on Barbie, who’s moping down the beach. “Are you okay?” she calls, walking toward her.
“I’m fine,” Barbie says with a quaver in her voice. She’s obviously upset.
In the pool, Ben asks Fraser if he’s okay.
“Yeah, I’m just done with her. I just want an interior that works.”
“Is she not good?” Ben asks.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s so impossible to work with.”
“We’re just two different people, you know?” Barbie tells Paris. No, they’re actually the same person. That’s why they’re butting heads. “We clash … Personally, we don’t get each other.”
Paris feels like Fraser and Barbie “have very similar issues with each other, which cause them both to be very defensive.” Also, “out in the sun, drinking” is not the best environment for calmly working out problems.
“I’m not going to deal with it anymore,” Fraser says. “I’m done, actually.”
Ben advises Fraser to give it one more charter, but Fraser insists he’s done. He’s given her too many chances already, and he should have “pulled the kill chord” a lot sooner.
Privately, Ben thinks Fraser needs to keep his team together and make them gel. He thinks Fraser lacks leadership skills.
Paris tells Fraser that Barbie’s very upset. “You guys are very similar,” she says. I TOLD you so!!! Thank you!
“We’ve tried it all,” he says. “I’m sorry. I will not look after someone who speaks to me like I’m their f*cking subordinate, because guess what? I’m Chief Stew … Welcome to the circus!
Below Deck continues Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF BELOW DECK SEASON 11, EPISODE 10? DO YOU THINK BARBIE AND FRASER CAN WORK THINGS OUT?
