At the end of last week’s Below Deck Mediterranean, we didn’t even know if the primary guests’ upcoming wedding was even going to happen. Quick recap: the entire charter had been one disaster after another. The crew was operating on pure adrenaline while still getting their sea legs under them. The whole first charter was leading up to one thing: a Mediterranean wedding officiated by Captain Sandy Yawn. And the crew did get things more under control by the second day. But then the soon-to-be bride and groom started fighting. The argument escalated to the point that the groom called off the wedding, storming out of the cabin and leaving and eavesdropping Katie Flood scampering for cover.
The fight carries into the rest of the night. (Though it’s unclear whether the bride ever made good on her threat to call her fiancé’s mother. I need to know.) Lexi Wilson is left to eavesdrop on the argument during the late shift. And by the time everyone heads to bed, it’s unclear what will happen the following day. Holy matrimony is officially up in the air, people. Bright and early the next morning, the mood has quieted to an angry simmer. The tension during breakfast is palpable. The groom is overcompensating with jokes while the bride sits silently, brooding over her eggs Benedict. Finally, Katie‘s forced to break the ice and ask if the crew’s planning a wedding. The couple tersely agrees to a sunset ceremony.
However, the signs immediately point to catastrophe looming over the day. Lightning strikes meters away from the boat during breakfast. On the way to their anchorage in Srima, the boat is up against 25 knots of wind. Captain Sandy warns the crew they’re definitely going to feel the waves. I mean, choppy is an understatement. The guests are literally being tossed around the jacuzzi like rag dolls. Soon enough, Sandy gets word that going ashore for the wedding will be impossible on account of the bad weather. Rather than atop an ancient Croatian fortress, the ceremony will have to take place on board Lady Michelle.
As the deck crew assembles wedding decor in the laz, Malia White asks how long everyone’s been single. Mzi Dempers‘ reply? Basically his entire life. Then David Pascoe recounts the epic betrayal of his last boatmance a year and a half ago. Apparently he was dating a girl working on the same boat. And she proceeded to cheat on him with another crew member…in the middle of the charter season. So there David was, forced to endure two to three months of sharing a floating home and work space with his ex-girlfriend and the guy she cheated on him with. The poor deckhand chalks it up to the old “nice guys finish last” adage. His ex said she thought he was so nice, she could just do anything she wanted and get away with it. Wow. And Malia thought she had it bad with Tom Checketts.
Meanwhile, tension starts heating up between Chef Mathew Shea and Lexi in the galley. He doesn’t take kindly to her barking orders like she’s, oh, I don’t know, the chief stew. (Put a pin in that simmering pot; it’ll boil over soon enough.) Courtney Veale is left to make awkward small talk about the weather with the bride down on the swim platform. And minutes before the wedding, the actual chief stew proceeds to eat it and fall down the stairs in front of the entire wedding party. Thankfully, Katie‘s not injured and manages to brush the fall off. In fact, it wasn’t even captured in full on camera. Mostly her pride’s just wounded. But let’s get this wedding rolling!
Somehow we make it to the actual wedding ceremony. There’s no music playing, but the bride marches up the stairs with Courtney carrying her train. The groom is gushing; the fight from the night before altogether forgotten. Captain Sandy‘s visibly nervous but manages to read her script as officiant off her iPhone. (Apparently, in all her years as a captain, this is Sandy’s first wedding.) “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” she pronounces, and boom, they’re married.
The once bickering couple kiss…and kiss some more. The level of public affection gets a little uncomfortable for national television. But hey, like I said, they’re married now. They cry and thank Jesus for sending the rainbow that appears in the sky over the boat. A psychic once told the bride’s mom that her grandma would appear at the wedding in the form of a rainbow. So that part is genuinely sweet.
For the reception, the deck crew begins circulating Mathew‘s canapés while the stews are serving drinks. Everyone’s happy and drunk (well, the guests, anyway). Everyone except Malia, who gets an unexpected phone call from Tom on her break. Yes, that Tom. He’s curious to hear how the new crew is doing. (Read: how filming the new season is going). Oh, and also he misses her. But the bosun is less than thrilled to hear from her cheating ex and shakes him off as quickly as possible. Sorry, Tom, you already helped ruin one season of Below Deck Med. We don’t need you trying to take another one down, too. Meanwhile, Lexi‘s subtly arguing with Katie over table settings and Mathew drops the (store-bought) wedding cake. Everything’s fine.
During dinner service, a miscommunication between Lexi and Mathew screws up the chef’s first course of scallops topped with truffle popcorn. By the time rack of lamb is served as the main course, the two are sniping at each other and the heat on that simmering pot is ratcheted up a few degrees. Things don’t boil over, though, until the guests request extra lamb. Lexi walks down to the galley to relay the message and proceeds to step — multiple times, mind you — into the tiny dirt piles Mathew has swept up while cleaning the kitchen. This sets him off, but all Lexi can bother to do is grab two lamb pops for herself and chow down. (Did anyone else notice she didn’t even bother saying so much as a thank you?) She tries to downplay Mathew’s anger about the dirt piles. But that only makes him more angry.
The chef snaps, laying down the law about who’s in charge of the galley. Hint: it’s not you, Lexi.The situation is made ever worse when the guests ask again for more lamb. But guess what? It’s all gone. Because Lexi ate the leftovers before dinner was even finished. Talk about unprofessional. In fact, I’m shocked she wasn’t reprimanded over it, but maybe that’s coming somewhere down the line.
Mathew serves the cake he didn’t bake, and then it’s time for round two. He tries to confront Lexi over her bad attitude, but — surprise, surprise — that only breeds more bad attitude from the second stew. Lexi’s personality and problem with authority is clearly going to be an issue this season. Eventually both the chef and the stew chalk their fight up to being tired and overworked. But there’s definitely bad blood brewing between the two. Remember just last week when Lexi was sucking up to Mathew to get free food? Ah, such innocent times…
The next day is, blessedly, drop off day. And after a slightly tricky docking involving giant concrete dolphins and Mzi‘s inexperience with the heaving line, the guests depart the boat and the first charter is over. And suddenly, Terez — the most vocal and negative of all the guests — is suddenly full of compliments. What happened to the woman who was storming around her cabin throwing a tantrum about the chef? Or the one refusing to eat any sort of “pet” during dinner the night before? Evidently, she’s gone the same way as Chef Mathew‘s mysteriously disappearing limp. At the tip meeting, Captain Sandy reveals the crew made $25, 850. That’ s $1,718 per person, even if Mathew doesn’t necessarily deserve his entire cut. (Meanwhile, Lloyd Spencer‘s entire tip is hilariously going straight to his parents, who paid for his yachtmaster certification.)
Mzi reveals his 26th birthday is the following day, so the crew’s first night out turns into an impromptu birthday celebration for the greenest deckhand of them all. They head to a swanky resort in Sibenik for a private sit-down dinner at Art Restaurant and Bar. And randomly, the table divides into boys on one side, girls on the other. David, Mzi and Lloyd may all have crushes across the table, but the girls are much more interested in enjoying their single status. Well, except Courtney‘s more than happy to teasingly refer to Mzi as “daddy,” much to the birthday boy’s delight.
Meanwhile, Mathew —whom the girls all privately agree is giving off “creepy uncle” vibes — is feeling picked on for having to pay the tab on the group’s first round of drinks. I say that hardly makes up for bailing on the entire first day of the charter, but sure Mathew, feel bad for yourself a little more. And the animosity between him and Lexi is far from over. They rehash their dust pile drama for the entire crew, and get into a snippy back and forth over whether they would ever talk to each other in real life (i.e. not stuck together on a yacht). Mathew comes right out and says Lexi’s not his cup of tea, and just like that, the episode ends before the drama can boil over yet again…
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED THE CREW PULLED OFF THE WEDDING? ARE YOU TEAM LEXI OR TEAM MATHEW? DOES LEXI HAVE AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM OR IS MATHEW TOO SENSITIVE? ARE YOU SURPRISED MALIA’S STILL TALKING TO TOM?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
