As per usual, last week’s “to be continued†cliffhanger was absolutely pointless. Aside from Haleigh and Max’s bickering, the rest of the docking goes off without a hitch. The only thing worth noting about this minor problem is that it gives the deck team another reason to dislike Max, who spends the entire episode pissing them off. When one feud dies down (Tumi and Natalya), another rises. But at least this one is much more entertaining.
This second charter feels like it lasted forever, so I’m relieved when it’s time for the guests to step off the boat. Primary Mecca calls Jack out for the vegan food mishaps but praises Tumi for killing it, which unsurprisingly annoys Natalya. While the vegan guest was a handful and a lot of chaos surrounded this trip, the fat $26,000 tip “makes it hurt a little less,†as Tumi jokingly tells us.
Before heading out for the evening, Natalya gets a text from her boyfriend telling her that he doesn’t want to “influence†her night out but hopes she doesn’t do something (a.k.a. hook up with someone else) that will hurt him. Ew! He sounds controlling as fuck. Like, isn’t he the one who proposed an open relationship? It seems like what he meant is that he wants to sleep with other people while Natalya remains monogamous, and that’s all but confirmed later when he tells her he’s hanging out with several women.
To my surprise, everyone gets along well during the crew night out. I fully expected Natalya and Tumi to get into a big drunken argument, but instead, they just had civil conversations. Natalya even suggests they “hit refresh†and start over with a clean slate after admitting they got off on the wrong foot. Tumi agrees but tells us that she’s hesitant to fully believe Natalya since it could just be the tequila talking, and I agree. We won’t truly see if Nat is willing to move forward completely until she’s working on the next charter.
Back on the boat, everyone heads straight for the jacuzzi, with Lara randomly stopping to kiss Luka because she claims to love kissing people while intoxicated. Luka and Natalya flirt the entire night, but she eventually shuts down anything more because she doesn’t want to hurt her dumb boyfriend’s feelings. As much as I can’t stand her, I think Natalya needs to see the light and break up with him because he’s clearly not respecting her feelings.
After spending the night sick and puking in the toilet, Jessika wakes up the next morning with what she says is a sore throat. She informs Captain Sandy that she’s not feeling well and wants to get checked out, so Sandy arranges for her to be taken to the hospital. With Jessika gone for the time being, the interior is back to being a stew down, so here’s hoping Tumi and Natalya can avoid conflict at all costs.
Although Tumi and Natalya have seemingly made up, Kyle is suddenly mad at Nat for some petty reason. After she suggests that they both work in the cabins so they can gossip, self-proclaimed “tea queen†Kyle tells us he’s pissed that Natalya “weaponized†him against others by telling Sandy that he told her about Tumi’s text, which he claims he did as an “act of friendship.†I have to laugh. Kyle, if you don’t want your name getting brought up, then don’t insert yourself into a situation and stir the pot in the first place.
Our next charter will host returning nepo baby Roy Orbison Jr., his wife Asa, their three kids, and his younger brother and sister-in-law. Also joining them are his sister-in-law and Jackass star “Danger†Ehren McGhehey, which is an unexpected but exciting surprise for a Jackass fan like me. From what I remember of Roy & Co.’s past appearances, they’re a chill group that likely won’t give the crew a hard time. Plus, Natalya is looking forward to being the boat nanny, and Tumi is more than happy to have her handle the kids, so things seem to finally be looking up for the interior.
Before the guests arrive, Luka decides to promote Lara to lead deckhand since she’s shown initiative and a fantastic work ethic. Sandy agrees, and when he gives Lara the good news, she immediately gets emotional, sharing in a confessional that being lead deckie was always a dream of hers. It’s well-deserved, and I’m thrilled for her. Lara is a total badass who has quickly become an all-time Below Deck favorite.
Lara’s first order of business as lead deckhand is to impress Luka by trying to motivate Max to pull his weight. That’s quickly proving to be difficult, though, since Max is allergic to work. While Tumi shows the guests around, Max is tasked with inflating the slide and is baffled that Luka, who has other things to do, isn’t helping him complete this simple task. Once they get the jet skis and other toys in the water, Luka has Haleigh take a break, but Max feels like he should also get some time to rest. Luka tells him that it’s not his break time yet since they still have a lot to get done, especially during a busy day like this. It’s hilarious that Max has spent the majority of his time on the boat complaining about being tired from doing work (which doesn’t seem to stop him from constantly doing pull-ups) while we haven’t heard a peep from Lara and Haleigh.
For tonight’s Italian dinner, Sandy joins the guests and is treated to stories from Ehren about how he broke his neck twice during Jackass Number Two and ruptured his testicle in Jackass Forever. While they enjoy their meal — truffle gnocchi for the vegetarians, wagyu beef for the meat-eaters, some veggies for the kids, and tiramisu for dessert — Jack comes to the realization that he shouldn’t pay attention to Natalya or the interior drama and that he and Tumi actually make a good team. We love to see it!
Meanwhile, Luka decides it’s the perfect time to get the jet skis and tender loaded back on the boat. Not only does the rough weather make it more difficult and dangerous by swinging the tender around on the hook, but it also irritates Sandy. She thinks that Luka should’ve gotten out of the engineering mindset and taken the guests into consideration by waiting until they finished their meal. Luckily, Luka has been such a perfect bosun that this minor mistake probably won’t negatively impact her view of him as long as he doesn’t do it again.
The next morning, the issues with Max continue when he’s 45 minutes late for his 8 a.m. shift. Luka is frustrated that Max is lazy and doesn’t listen, telling us that he’s typically a calm person but is getting closer to going off on Max, which I can’t wait to see. However, I think Lara might beat him to it since she’s even more sick of Max and has already shown that she doesn’t tolerate any bullshit.
First, Lara gets annoyed with Max while tying the ropes on the stern, and the Frenchie isn’t happy with how she’s speaking to him. Then, while preparing to pick up the anchor, Lara thinks he’s out of line for asking how much yachting experience she has, telling him that he says he knows everything when he really doesn’t. Sandy overhears them arguing while hauling the anchor and decides to intervene, which is where the episode leaves us. At this point — especially after hearing him say that he thinks Lara will turn into a monster after her promotion and stating that Haleigh has a big ego — I’m sort of convinced that Max has a problem taking direction from women. There’s a reason he’s been fired from every job he’s ever had, and I doubt this one will be any different.