The Below Deck Mediterranean interior team aren’t gelling in Season 8. We’re three episodes in, and the department is in complete disarray. Sure, it might be because chief stew Tumi has only just arrived, but the cause of all the issues? Kyle. Now that he’s actually on the yacht, the chaos has been turned up to 11.
My theory is that he was so stuck on wanting chief stew this season, that he tried to get the rest of the team to self-destruct. For now, it appears to be working. Here’s everything that went down in Below Deck Med Season 8, Episode 3: “We’ve Only Just Begun.”
Tumi’s approach is all wrong
With the confrontation between Tumi and Natalya from last week starting this episode, audiences were expecting fireworks. Despite that, it seemed to quickly defuse. Tumi asked Natalya to show her the laundry, and explained in confessional how her mother had always taught her to stand up for herself. She faced racist bullies in school, so took the advice to “be kind, but don’t let them walk all over you.” I think she’s well-intentioned, but Kyle telling Tumi she could have problems with Natalya soured her approach towards her before she even stepped on the yacht.
“She’s a f*cking bitch,” Natalya tells bosun Luka and fellow stew Jessika of their first meeting. “Me and her already got into a little tiff.” This gathering of the troops is not cute. Natalya’s panicking that Tumi’s going to run to Captain Sandy and try to get her fired. “There’s no warmthness there.” She meant “warmth,” but the point still lands.
Charter guests with high expectations
Captain Sandy calls Tumi, Luka, and chef Jack for the second preference sheet meeting of the season. Primary guest Mecca Moore-Henson is the NYC founder of a magazine called Pynk. She’ll be joined on the yacht by her husband and successful friends. There’s a vegan, a lifestyle Jack tried out one afternoon, failing within two hours. Sandy warns there’s bad weather on the way, and the vibe “must be immaculate.” Requests include a Diamonds Forever-themed dinner, followed by a pajama party and, of course, plenty of food and snacks.
Once the meeting’s over, Tumi texts Kyle. She says that Natalya needs to stay in her lane, and she’ll have no problem seeing her leave if she brings out her worst side. What she needs to be worried about is entertaining the guests who are five hours away, with terrible weather looming.
In confessional, Tumi notes that she cannot “piss off the chef.” It’s sound advice, but sadly, not something she can follow. Meanwhile, deckhand Lara is getting frustrated that everybody keeps calling her Laura. I don’t blame her; it’s disrespectful! Haleigh’s also getting bored of being at the dock, hoping for some deck action soon.
Kyle arrives and is firmly in the middle
“I am genuinely so excited to see Natalya,” Kyle says before he arrives on the yacht. When he does get on board, the pair enjoy a bear hug. Natalya quickly fills him in on the drama she’s had with Tumi, blissfully unaware that he’s been fed the same information from a different point of view.
Tumi calls the interior team for a meeting. She explains that Kyle will “obviously” be her second due to his experience with service. Natalya takes issue with this, of course. She’ll be third stew dealing with housekeeping and laundry, while Jessika is happy to fall down the totem pole into fourth, as it’s “less stress.”
Natalya carries on bitching, this time to Jack. For his part, he tells her to keep him out of it as he doesn’t want any part of the drama. Good for him. Natalya’s whining is already getting tired.
The new deckhand arrives
Welcome to the yacht, Max from France! He’ll be giving Luka a run for his money as boat hottie. He’s got four years of yachting experience, and thinks of the entire thing as a “big casino … know when to get out.” He seems harmless and immediately slots in as part of the deck team. It’s nice to see at least one of the departments getting along.
Natalya carries on with her bitching to Kyle, unwilling to give Tumi a chance. It’s exhausting. Kyle then throws Tumi under the bus by revealing the text he got from her about Natalya. I’m not sure where he keeps his stirring spoon, but that was a jackhole move. And entirely in line with my theory. He wants to be chief!
The guests arrive in the pouring rain and blustering wind. Captain Sandy notes there’s “not one smile” between them. That all changes once they’re aboard, and promised by Tumi to be “spoiled.” Let’s see if the crew can deliver…
A “dismal” cheeseboard
“This is gonna be a rough charter … I can feel it.” Jack’s not wrong. The guests don’t want the cheeseboard he’s prepared, or his cookies. They want a full meal straight out of the gate, which takes him around 45 minutes to prepare. I actually think that’s stellar timing, but he admits he “rushed” when mediocre feedback comes back.
Tumi likes “chaotic” guests, but moans to Kyle that Jack is “so bad” after seeing his cheeseboard. It didn’t look amazing, but she shouldn’t judge so quickly. Kyle then runs all of that back to Natalya, who of course gets in Jack’s ear later in the charter. Natalya should focus on her open relationship. She doesn’t even understand the concept, but is fine letting her boyfriend do whatever he likes? I don’t get how she’s found herself in this position, honestly.
“They are difficult but I’ve had worse,” Tumi tells Sandy of the guests. Sandy already seems to really like having Tumi on board, because she demands “perfection.” Let’s see if that continues!
Tumi’s changing the world
One of the guests speaks to Tumi about how good it is to see a Black woman in such a powerful role. Diversity in yachting needs to improve, and it’s something Tumi talks about in confessional. Hopefully, the tides are turning in the right direction.
It really rubs me the wrong way when Jack repeatedly bashes Tumi in confessional, all while pronouncing her name incorrectly. It’s not a difficult one to say. It shows a lack of respect, and without that, the two are never going to get along.
They butt heads while serving for the Diamonds Forever dinner. One guest gave notes to Kyle, which he ran back to Jack, about changing the meat in her main. It appears as though Kyle actually gave Jack the wrong note, and said she wanted the lobster in her starter. This all falls on Tumi’s head, and Kyle has no problem in calling her out now that Natalya’s fed him Tumi’s bitching about his cheese.
“This is a sh*t show … you need to be on top [of things],” he rants. Tumi takes the opportunity to get the menu notes from the guest. “I’m not making up stuff.” From the crew mess, Natalya says to Luka, “Let’s evict her.” Mean girl sh*t. Not into it.
“He [Jack] doesn’t respect me because your f*cking friend is running her mouth,” Tumi says to Kyle. Then in the galley to Jack, Tumi says: “I want you to win, I never ever want you to fail. You’re phenomenal … I know you have someone in your ear, I would like at least a fair chance.” Kudos.
Natalya really hates Tumi’s hands
The dinner goes down a treat, and the guests enjoy their pajama party with Kyle on service. He gets to bed around 3 a.m., leaving the party cleanup to Natalya who arises at 6 a.m. She has a problem with the fact he left the decor out, because she wanted to just get going for the day. While she has a point, her delivery of that point to Tumi is entirely unnecessary.
Tumi explains that she would rather Kyle go to bed when he did and the morning team do the cleaning. He needs some rest. That should be the end of it, but Natalya tries to hammer her point home.
“I am telling you I am fine with it, end of the story,” Tumi says while moving her hands a little, because she’s expressive.
“Stop doing this with your hands,” Natalya snaps back while imitating her. “Stop talking back to me!” Tumi requests. They go back-and-forth and it’s a whole mess, again!
“She reminds me of a chihuahua,” Tumi says in confessional. “Territorial, combative, speaks all the time, and I’ve just had it. We’re done.”
Judging by the preview for next week, Captain Sandy may be done, too!
Below Deck Mediterranean continues Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – ARE TUMI AND NATALYA AS BAD AS EACH OTHER? DOES KYLE HAVE A PLAN TO TAKE THE CHIEF STEW ROLE FOR HIMSELF?
