It’s been two weeks since episode nine — thanks to Below Deck taking a little holiday of its own — but we start this episode right back in the action. Chelsea is still crying about not being served a dinner smoothie as Rachel frantically blends some chicken curry for the primary charter guest. Chelsea’s husband reiterates that they don’t want to eat anything else until Chelsea has been served her liquefied version. Rachel gets it but retorts in her confessional, “Blending raw shellfish: Have you ever vomited in your mouth?†(To be fair, no one ever said she had to serve the other guests oysters, right?) Even after she gets her curry juice, Chelsea is in a mood, attacking her friends when they ask about their food. The awkwardness of the dinner is palpable, and Heather says she’d “rather scrub a bidet with my tongue†than be there.
But lucky for everyone, the guests want a silent disco on the beach! Like whiskey and poker nights and randomly requested dinner cuisines, a silent disco is yet another charter-guest request I don’t understand. I’ll allow it here, though, because it truly does bring everyone’s mood up after dinner, and doing it on the beach is a fun idea. (I think the ever-flowing alcohol didn’t hurt either.) The guests can’t stop talking about how fun it was once they get back on the boat.
In the galley later, Heather and Rayna share an awkward moment in which Rayna doesn’t respond when Heather asks how she’s doing. “I get the thumb?†Heather asks after Rayna just gives a thumbs-up. “You get the thumb after saying n- - - -,†Rayna replies, directed away from Heather. Even if Heather doesn’t have a grasp on what’s going on, the next morning it’s still weighing on Rayna’s mind. She vents more to Wes, including telling him that she told Eddie about Heather and he wrote it off. When Wes says Rayna should’ve escalated it sooner, Rayna says she was wary of coming off as “the aggressive Black woman.†Meanwhile, up by the bar, Heather is still oblivious, telling Fraser she doesn’t know why Rayna is being cold. Phrases Heather says, out loud, to another person include:
- “I’m not here to make friends; I’m here to make money.â€
- “I never did anything to you, I’ve never said anything to you, I’ve only been kind.â€
- “I gotta pick my battles wisely.â€
Um!! Give Fraser an Emmy for that sigh in his confessional. Heather keeps talking, positing that Rayna may be mad over Jess leaving. “No, I don’t think it has anything to do with that,†Fraser replies before telling Heather that Rayna is still mad about her using the N-word. And on cue, Heather just. shuts. down. She can’t arrange her tablecloth and goes to take a break in her cabin, which promptly turns into her crying. I get that Heather feels bad — actually, it’s good to see that she feels bad! — but it does feel a little odd to be focusing on a white woman’s tears right now. Heather says she thought the other night, when Rayna confronted her in the galley, served as her apology, which, come on. You were both drunk! Give this woman the dignity of a sober apology in broad daylight.
Everyone is now worried about Heather’s absence ahead of dinner service. Her eventual arrival doesn’t quell those worries either after she proceeds to break a glass pitcher and cut her ankle. She takes too long to bandage herself up, causing Rachel’s plated poached pear to ooze into her salad. The guests thankfully don’t seem to notice, though, because they love it. They also love the steak and polenta that follow, served with smoke — even Chelsea, whose steak smoothie is also served with smoke! “That’s definitely a waste of Wagyu,†their dinner guest Captain Lee says in a confessional.
Before bed, Heather continues to talk even though she really shouldn’t be (which kind of got her into this problem in the first place!). Somehow, she spins her saying the N-word with Rayna as coming from her insecurity that Rayna doesn’t like her. “I wanted to relate to her and have a moment,†she explains. “But the lesson here is, yeah, it should never fucking be said, regardless of my way to create a friendship.†What?!?! Her response neglects the fact that there’s one particularly glaringly obvious way in which she doesn’t and can’t relate to Rayna — her whiteness — and that’s what made the word land so poorly. And turns out, that admission doesn’t help Heather sleep at night, considering she’s about an hour late for service the next morning. In Heather’s absence, the only consequence anyone experiences is the particularly strong lattes Wes serves the guests.
Otherwise, the morning goes well, between breakfast (French toast, in bread and smoothie form) and an exceptionally precise docking that Lee lets the guests observe from the bridge. And after her night-one meltdown, Chelsea is so happy about the crew! Rachel even sends her off with an extra smoothie, which I guess makes up for the one she didn’t serve during dinner the first night. The guests, meanwhile, leave the crew behind with $22,000, which comes out to a fat $2,000 per person. It looks like Sally’s curse got lifted!
Finally, the crew gets a day off! Fraser is excited to possibly get a kiss or two from Jake (whatever happened to worrying about ruining that friendship?), Rachel is excited to rest up and not drink this time, and Heather … well, Heather just wants to talk to Rayna, and she thinks doing so in the minutes before they leave for their day off is good timing despite Rayna’s initial protest. She offers a sincere apology, and Rayna seems to accept it, saying she wants to develop a better connection with Heather. Earlier in the episode, with Heather fretting over making Rayna uncomfortable and sleeping through her shift, it felt as if we were building toward something bigger here, didn’t it? But note that I said “seems to accept.†This isn’t the end of this story line.
Attention at the beach club turns to the Throuple — that is, Fraser, Jake, and Rayna. They start the afternoon doing shots together, and all seems well. Later, Fraser and Rayna go to the bathroom to talk, where Rayna reveals that she (validly) didn’t find Heather’s apology sincere and is still put off by the whole thing. Then Fraser and Jake split off to share a paddleboard and a bottle of rosé. Fraser is fantasizing about what could happen next (“Listen, I might have a little crush. Who wouldn’t want to date their best buddy?†he says, which, um?!?), when Rayna pulls up on her own paddleboard, aiming to steal Jake’s attention. They share a three-way kiss, but that’s nothing compared to back on the boat when Fraser is invited to cuddle with Rayna and a naked Jake — only to leave when Rayna starts giving Jake a handy right there! Fraser seems miffed at the whole situation, so he goes to the deck alone to smoke, drink, and talk to himself. “This throuple thing makes me wanna throwupple. I’m confused,†declares Rachel, our no-holds-barred narrator. “Maybe it’s just because I’m going through a dry spell.†She and Fraser both.
Tips
• The Captain Lee–ism of the week, on hiring a new stew with just a few charters to go: “I don’t think there’s enough lipstick you could put on that pig to make it look appetizing.â€
• Speaking of hiring a new stew, amid all her self-pitying, Heather had the time to recommend a former second stew she has worked with to Lee. From the sounds of the next-episode teaser, she gets hired, and the crew isn’t too happy about how that could throw off their dynamic.
• Rachel says blending up Chelsea’s food “is the most absurd request, besides prostitutes and coconut oil, that I have received in my whole career,†which really raises a whole other question!
• There are some all-time Fraser quotes in this episode, but his best by far is about working the charter while down a stew: “This whole experience, like of this charter, is like doing anal for the first time. You’re trying to smile, but all you feel is pain. And you’re with someone you don’t wanna be with — not you, the guests.â€
• Poor Wes feels a bit alone at the beach club — so he tries to call Jess, who doesn’t pick up.