When we were last aboard Thalassa, it looked like Benny Crawley was on the verge of being given his walking papers. But Below Deck Down Under immediately throws us a curve ball. C’mon, you didn’t really think Captain Jason Chambers was going to fire his favorite deckhand, did you? Instead, Benny merely gets a verbal warning. Much to the chagrin of Jamie Sayed. No, I take it back. It’s not chagrin so much as pure anger. He’s mad Captain Jason won’t listen to him and do exactly what he wants. Because he wants respect, authority and complete deference, even from his boss.
And that’s just the start of Jamie’s problems this episode. As the crew heads out for their night off, his toxic masculinity is on full display when the girls egg Magda Ziomek into playfully calling him a “b—h.” He’s already had a weird reaction to the word more than once — first with Brittini Burton on another night off, then with Aesha Scott in the crew mess. Both instances were purely jovial and completely harmless. But Jamie’s reaction each time was curt to the point of hostile, as he made it clear he finds the word to be degrading and disrespectful. And as we’ve come to learn, Jamie will be nothing if not respected. He’s clearly sensitive to the word in the sort of fragile straight male way that is just so off-putting. Like, calm down Joe Gorga, we get it.
But what’s even worse about this time is that Jamie then chooses to go off on a profanity-laced tangent at the bar. Calling both Brittini and Aesha the very word he apparently hates so much. So…he’s perfectly with degrading his female co-workers but they absolutely must show him the proper respect, or else? Is that what’s happening here? Disgusting. The bosun’s attitude brings down the vibe for the rest of the night. And by the time everyone gets back to the boat, he’s won’t even look in Brittini’s direction. Thankfully, Culver Bradbury‘s there to cheer her up.
The next morning, Magda wakes up in a panic. The third stew can’t find her phone. Which means she can’t contact her boyfriend. Which is, if we know anything about Magda’s relationship, the absolute end of the world. Of course, once she finds it using Brittini‘s Find My iPhone, she merely texts her boyfriend that she’s still mad at him and not speaking to him (*eye roll*). Meanwhile, there’s still a charter to prepare for. So Captain Jason gathers Aesha, Jamie and Chef Ryan McKeown for a preference sheet meeting. It’ll only be a 24-hour charter full of Brits. Who happen to be requesting a Mexican-themed dinner, chocolate fountain and British high tea for lunch. Ryan’s joke that they should just order UberEats does not go over well.
Jamie‘s still pouting from the night before. And decides the best course of action is to go complain to Captain Jason after the preference sheet meeting. It’s funny how at first he claims Brittini has been “calling some of the boys names.” Uh, that’s not accurate at all. And then he quickly lumps Aesha into the situation as well. Thereby setting off a chain reaction in which Captain Jason has to pull both the chief stew and the deckhand aside to quietly reprimand them for hurting Jamie’s feelings. Is this seriously happening right now?!? Aesha can only laugh at the absurdity, but Brittini breaks down in tears at the thought that she could’ve been fired for such a petty, inconsequential reason. And the best part, as Aesha points out to her, is that going crying to the captain is the actual definition of b—h behavior…
Well, it’s time to set all that aside because the guests have arrived. They seem ready to have a good time on their overnight charter. Chef Ryan, on the other hand, is not. From the moment they arrive, he’s complaining, calling the guests “tacky” and “classless” for their requests. And is it just me or is he being slightly prejudiced against British people? It’s very weird. Magda also isn’t too keen to work. Rather than make cocktails for the guests, she begs Tumi Mhlongo to do it. Because she just can’t muster up the energy today. There’s too much drama happening with her boyfriend, OK?
Dinner that night does not go well. And let me remind you that it’s the guests’ one and only chance at a dinner service. But Chef Ryan‘s bad attitude has leeched into the food by pure, toxic osmosis. So the beef tacos are way too spicy. The fish tacos are way too bland. And there’s nowhere to even plug in the chocolate fountain, despite Aesha reminding Ryan hours before service that he needed to figure out logistics for the dessert. But frankly, he couldn’t really care less. The guests go to bed early, which isn’t a great sign. And Aesha reports all the negative feedback privately to Captain Jason.
The next morning, Captain Jason decides to take things into his own hands. So in an attempt to save the sinking charter, he personally takes the guests out on a guided snorkeling tour of Cateran Bay. (Just one more thing for Jamie to complain about, surely.) But the high tea they’re graced with upon returning to Thalassa is no high tea at all. Ryan has thrown together lumpy-looking cheese “sandwiches” and pretty much called it a day. Where are the cucumber finger sandwiches cut into triangles? Where’s the color and whimsy? And these guests are British! They know what a high tea is supposed to look like. So sadly, they go home disappointed. Not a single meal was up to their more than reasonable expectations.
For some reason, the guests are still kind enough to leave a decent tip — $16,011. That’s more than generous considering the level of service they received from the galley. And it’s clear that things need to change. It doesn’t matter that there are only two charters left in the season. A simple, overnight charter like had absolutely no excuse to go as terribly as it did. Especially this far into the season. Aesha‘s already been thinking of replacing Magda, who spent the whole night before fighting with her boyfriend over the phone in the bathroom while she was trying to sleep. And now Jason reveals that he finally has several replacements in place for every single department.
So, Aesha makes her decision and Magda‘s the first to go. At first, it doesn’t seem like the third stew really understands she’s being fired. But after a bit of explaining from Captain Jason, she takes it with a smile. She’s less happy, though, breaking the news to Tumi and Brittini. And just when you think the staff slaughtering is over, the captain waltzes into the galley for a chat with Chef Ryan. And…cut to black. To be continued strikes again!
TELL US – IS JAMIE BEING OVERLY SENSITIVE TO THE B-WORD? WHERE DO YOU THINK HE GETS OFF DEGRADING AESHA AND BRITTINI WITH THE SAME WORD? WAS IT FAIR FOR MAGDA TO BE FIRED SO LATE IN THE SEASON? WILL CHEF RYAN BE NEXT?
[Photo Credit: Peacock]
