Welcome to the Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9, Episode 8 recap! In this week’s episode, called “Dirty Laundry,” after making a tricky exit from the harbor to escape the wildfire smoke, Captain Sandy has to pull off an even trickier docking in Hydra. Sandy gives Joe a morale-boosting opportunity, and Ellie tells Aesha about Bri’s laundry notebook. Who’s stirring the pot: Ellie or Bri? Here are some of the highlights from Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9, Episode 8.
Close maneuvers
As the wildfire approaches the city, Sandy needs to get the guests out of the smoke and into somewhere sunny and clear. It’s a short charter, and they only have one night on the boat.
The Mustique is wedged in between smaller boats on one side and a massive superyacht directly in front. It’s a tight squeeze amidst the other boats and their lines in the water, but Sandy somehow pulls it off. The guests are impressed with her navigation, but Sandy is impressed with Nathan’s bow skills. He was on top of keeping her informed about distances and other small boats passing by.
Joe’s a little upset about having been replaced on the bow. Nathan has more experience “on paper,” but Joe’s determined to prove his worth as a deckhand.
Laundry mistakes
Sandy calls Bri to her cabin. Something happened to Sandy’s white pants in the laundry, and they’re now gray. “They must have been put in with the darks or something,” the captain explains.
Can’t somebody teach that girl to do laundry? Maybe Ellie needs to help Bri instead of scolding and power-tripping her all the time.
Aesha says Bri had “one good charter” where she was “on fire,” but ever since then it’s been downhill. The chief stew takes the lessening in hostilities between the two stews as a positive sign, but she hasn’t had a chance to “rest easy” with her two helpers. She’s got to stay on top of them at all times.
“I have to try to figure out what I can do to change this,” Aesha interviews.
The notebook
While both Ellie and Bri are in the laundry, Aesha calls Bri up to the bar. She tells Bri to go on break, which Bri is more than happy to do. That tiny laundry room is too small for the two of them, especially with Elena always throwing her weight around. Why can’t she just be nice?
While Bri is gone, Ellie sneaks a peek at Bri’s laundry notebook. She thinks Bri is recording mistakes made in the laundry so she can blame them on Ellie. Paranoid much?
After the guests are done playing in the water, Sandy has Nathan haul the anchor. She calls Joe to the bridge, and his heart sinks because he thinks she’s going to “yell” at him for something else he’s done.
But when he gets to the bridge, Sandy shows him the steering controls on the panel and leaves him alone on the bridge while she goes for another coffee.
Wow! Talk about a morale booster. Joe’s thrilled. Now that’s the way you lead, Ellie. A little positive reinforcement goes a long way.
Sandy realized Joe was feeling down about being taken off the bow, but she wasn’t demoting him. He just needs to get more experience under his belt.
“She’s still giving me responsibility even after everything that’s gone down,” Joe interviews happily. “She’s got trust in me, and it just makes me feel at ease. Give me more time on the wheel!”
Sandy doubts Iain’s abilities
Going into the port at Hydra, Sandy has to back in so they can tie up the stern. They’ll also drop two anchors in the front of the boat to keep it off the rocks at the back.
As they approach the dock, Sandy asks if they can throw the heaving lines, and Iain thinks there’s no one to throw to. But Gael sees two men in white tees ready to catch the lines.
“What the heck? They’re literally right there,” she interviews. Finally, he sees them, and they can throw the lines.
“Iain sometimes doesn’t look before he speaks,” Sandy says in a confessional. “There were two people on the dock. Pay attention. Be aware. I’m definitely keeping my eye on him.”
Interior chaos on Below Deck Med
Meanwhile, Aesha’s starting to feel the pressure of having to be everywhere at once. She finally decides she’s got to give some responsibility to her stews and let go, for her own peace of mind.
After giving Bri instructions, Ellie admits, “I have never run a lunch service before, but with Bri, the energy is just not matching. I’m not trying to be mean toward Bri in any way.” Aren’t you though, Ellie?
While she’s in her cabin supposedly resting, Aesha’s listening to her walkie and hears Ellie running Bri ragged. She’s sent her to collect laundry from a guest cabin, as well as sending her running after ingredients for the bar. Are her feet nailed down? Why can’t she do some of this herself? Aesha’s getting irritated.
“This is why I don’t like taking breaks,” she huffs. “I feel so stressed out because the person I left in charge doesn’t even know where things are.”
A graphic on the screen shows it’s only 15 minutes until lunch, and Ellie hasn’t even started setting the table yet.
“Ellie’s running lunch service today,” Aesha tells Chef Jono. “But I can’t relax ’cause I’m feeling stressed.”
“Why is the table not set for lunch?” she asks Ellie, who explains she’s been making cocktails.
Aesha decides she needs to cancel her break and help out. Otherwise, lunch isn’t happening.
“I learned my lesson,” she interviews. “They’re not ready.”
“She’s given me a chance, and now she’s taken it away. It just crushes my soul a little bit,” Ellie complains in a confessional. “She could have given us just five more minutes. We would have had it under control.”
“If I was Aesha, I definitely wouldn’t trust me and Ellie,” Bri interviews.
Ellie stirs the pot on Below Deck Mediterranean
Aesha checks in with Ellie at the bar. “Did you have a good day?”
Ellie tells her that she just kind of “checked out from the drama.” But then she adds that when her boss sent her to check on the laundry, Bri got a little territorial and wanted her to leave. But Ellie said she was just doing her job and to “stop chasing me out.”
“She eventually just stormed out of the laundry room,” Ellie adds, which is not what happened at all. “This is really disrespectful, the way [she’s] behaving.”
Aesha explains that if other people go into the laundry, Bri kind of “loses her place.” She’s trying to create a system.
Then Ellie tells Aesha that Bri has a notebook and seems to be writing down all of Ellie’s perceived mistakes. Though Aesha wants to know what’s happened, she wants to be sure she listens and assesses both sides, before making any decision.
Ellie accuses, “She twists it into making it look like it’s me causing problems.” Poor Ellie’s such a victim. Meanwhile, all she does is bully Bri.
Since none of this happened in front of Aesha, she has to think about it.
Time to bring in Captain Sandy
Following a five-star dinner and an awesome dance demonstration by Gael and Joe, the guests retire to their cabins.
Once everyone’s gone, Aesha runs down to the laundry room to check out Bri’s notebook. “What is this?” Aesha wonders. “This looks like a book of receipts. Is this a burn book?”
“I can’t tell if Bri is stirring the pot or Ellie is,” she adds. “I see cashmere in the dryer and this burn book … Things are out of control. It’s time to involve Captain Sandy, ’cause I honestly need help with this.”
Below Deck Mediterranean airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF BELOW DECK MEDITERRANEAN SEASON 9, EPISODE 8? WHO DO YOU THINK IS STIRRING THE POT: ELLIE OR BRI?
