It’s a new day on Below Deck Mediterranean. And Natalya Scudder is finally ready to talk through her truly out-of-nowhere tantrum with Storm Smith. In fact, she’s actually ready to put the whole thing behind her. Or is it more like sweeping it under the rug? Either way, the second stew is over it. And the (provisional) bosun is more than happy to move on as well and chalk the whole thing up to a bad night. But something tells me Natalya’s outburst is more of an emotionally hazardous red flag than either of them wants to admit.
No More Mr. Nice Chef
Instead, it’s time to focus on charter number four. Which is starting in, oh, a matter of hours. Though after the preference sheet meeting, Natasha Webb tries to test the waters with Chef Dave White. And let’s just say she doesn’t get the response she wants out of her former paramour. Dave’s reached the end of his rope when it comes to being manipulated and jerked around by Natasha. And finally, he’s standing up for himself. Of course, the chief stew takes not being fawned over as a personal affront. But not even her best wounded face sways Dave. He’s officially finished with her and will communicate on a curt, professional basis.
Of course, this is the perfect time for Captain Sandy Yawn to interrupt and put herself right in the middle of the former couple’s drama. And naturally, Natasha‘s done everything she can to skew the captain’s perspective on the situation in her favor. It’s all been a “woe is me” sob story ever since she met with Sandy in the wheelhouse. So Captain Sandy’s already been primed to see Dave‘s boundaries as “tension.” But I say good for him for standing his ground. Sandy says she wants them to be professional. Which was the point Dave was originally making anyway, so…
To Bowline Or Knot To Bowline?
Jason Gaskell has quite a rough start to this charter. And his problems begin when the 500-pound waterslide is dropped off on the dock. Getting the monstrosity onto the boat without, like, literally breaking the tender proves to be a conundrum for the deck crew. But for some reason Storm isn’t all that open to hearing any of Jason’s suggestions. Then the deckhand starts clashing with his new boss even more once the guests arrive. First he advises Storm to “do less” as they’re loading the guests’ luggage onto the boat. Huh?
But Jason takes it to a whole other level when it comes time to put the slide over the side of the boat. And it all comes down to a bowline. Or something other than a bowline, according to Storm. But Jason insists he tied a normal bowline, OK?? And the two get into a terse war of words that ends with the deckhand tell his boss to “f–k off.” Uh..not a great choice of words, Jase. Then he follows that performance up with completely ignoring Storm’s instructions while the deck team tries to bring the trampoline in. Like, Storm, Mzi Dempers and Courtney Veale are all calling his name and he chooses to swim off in the other direction. Jason’s definitely going to a problem on deck moving forward.
To Be Frank…
The new round of charter guests seem to be a gaggle of New York gays with the requisite sister of the primary. And from the moment they step on board, Kyle Viljoen is living his full flirtatious fantasy. He particularly takes a liking to a tall, skinny, 37-year-old twunk named Frank. And it quickly becomes apparent that the attraction seems to be mutual. We’ve seen all season that Kyle has no problem crossing the line of professionalism with guests. But this time he tells Natasha he may be ready to pack his bags if Frank’s open to crossing some other lines that have heretofore gone unexplored between stew and guest this season.
The flirting between Kyle and Frank is quietly incessant. Whether they’re mumbling about each other’s white teeth by the bar. Or bantering as the deckhand serves lunch in front of the whole group. We’re frankly (pun intended) well past unprofessional. But Kyle knows it and owns it.He even says so in his confessional. I mean, Kyle literally decides to sit down with the guests and gossip on his break in full view of the rest of the crew. It’s almost like he’s planning on purposely getting in trouble.
A Disastrous Wine Pairing
For dinner the first night, there’s a major miscommunication between service and the galley. The guests have requested an around-the-world menu featuring each course from a different country. So Chef Dave goes with a street food theme to keep things consistent and wants to serve everything buffet style all at the same time. But Natasha wants to make things just a little fancier, and decides to do a wine or shot pairing with each course. This throws a major curveball in the dinner plans. And in Dave’s timing in the kitchen. So much for keeping things professional, hmm?
Initially, Dave goes along with Natasha‘s insistence in serving the meal course by course. But the idea quickly creates problems as he’s trying to keep his one-bite wonder foods that have already cooked properly heated, fresh and not dried out. All for a wine pairing the guests didn’t ask for! Next thing we know, courses are going out in a different order than they appear on the menu. The American sliders get mixed up with the Chinese bao buns. And while the food is good, the train is pretty much off the tracks by that point. Even Kyle, Natasha’s number one yes man, starts to agree with Dave that this was a bad idea. And in the middle of the chaos, the episode abruptly ends, forcing us to wait another week to see if this culinary trip around the world can be salvaged.
TELL US – DO YOU SEE RED FLAGS IN NATALYA AND STORM’S BOATMANCE? ARE YOU TEAM NATASHA OR TEAM DAVE? SHOULD JASON HAVE BEEN REPRIMANDED FOR HIS INSUBORDINATION? AND WILL KYLE RISK HIS JOB TO HOOK UP WITH FRANK?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
