S05.E04: Ace of Stew Face

[The Ringo Kidd]

It’s good that Sandy has time to regulate the deck crew. Because she is really busy with monitoring table settings and overseeing the rotation of the menu offerings. I bet those things are the first thing you learn in Captain school.

[dleighg]

5 minutes ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

Because she is really busy with monitoring table settings and overseeing the rotation of the menu offerings.

Yeah, she seems to be really into her awesome "mentorship" abilities 

[hoosiermom]

I like Captain Sandy because she can navigate the shit out of that yacht! And that is her main job. The rest is kind of editing and producer driven fluff.

[AryasMum]

12 hours ago, biakbiak said:

So Jessica and Rob decided to inconvenience Kiko for no reason? She currently has a no roommate, they could have hooked up in her bed and let Kiko have access to his bed and clothes. I reply hate inconsiderate assholes.

The woman lost an entire dress in a tiny cubby. Can you imagine the shit that’s nesting under her covers?

12 hours ago, scrb said:

Or maybe they were told to use that cabin.

 

It's pretty obvious they're going to play up the enmity between Hanna and Bugsy.  That's why the producers cast Bugsy -- don't buy for a second that Sandy makes that decision.

They probably had some potential cast members signed up to stand by in case they needed replacement cast.  Supposedly these people have frequent yacht gigs so unless they happened to reach someone that met with their approval AND they happened to be available to fly to Spain.

More likely they had these secondary people in a hotel within a couple of hours flight of Mallorca.  Because you'd first have to fly to probably Madrid or Barcelona and then take another flight.  There might be direct flights to Palma from London and Paris too.  In any event, it could be a 15-20 hour trip from the US, with 2 or 3 connections.

These replacement crew aren't arriving to another continent jet lagged, so the likelihood is they were already in Europe.

Of course Bugsy is South African so she may not reside in the US but it would still be a long trip from South Africa as well.

 

When and if they "fire" Hanna, it would have to be a producer decision.  She's been a mainstay for several seasons.  Hanna may bail rather than get pushed off.

Oh, I definitely believe there are second and third choices cast for back up. I also believe they deliberately choose one or two shitty people for number one. It’s no accident that the person who comes in to replace the fired member is almost always far more qualified. 

[The Ringo Kidd]

It is just disconcerting that Rob doesn’t really look at Jessica with the desire he would have for a fix.

He is one weird looking drug zombie dude.

[Diane Mars]

14 hours ago, LaLaLaLa said:

Yeah, that was bizarre. Seriously, dude?

However, Malia is pathetic. She whines to Cap'n Sandy about being called "sweetie" (something she should have addressed herself if she was a good leader) and throws the whole deck team under the bus for something only Peter called her. That was weak, especially from the bosun.

Then, Cap'n says something to the "boys" (as Malia calls them) about "do guys like to be called sweetie?". FYI, Sandy...guys routinely call other guys (who are friends) a lot worse, and guys don't whine about it. Not a good look for Malia at all. She gets weaker each episode.

For the nth time, SHE DID ! The 1st time he called her sweetheart ! : "Don't call me sweetheart !" and he answered something like "Ok, Boss Malia" (sorry, that's not that, but I don't remember the term he used. But SHE DIT tell him as soon as he said it !)

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, Diane Mars said:

For the nth time, SHE DID ! The 1st time he called her sweetheart ! : "Don't call me sweetheart !"

I could have sworn that she only said that in her talking heads... I could be wrong though. They played her talking head IMMEDIATELY after he said it.

[Diane Mars]

11 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I could have sworn that she only said that in her talking heads... I could be wrong though. They played her talking head IMMEDIATELY after he said it.

It was on the 1st episode.

ETA : I don't find it, but she addressed before Sandy did, 100% sure

Edited June 23, 2020 by Diane Mars

[The Ringo Kidd]

She did say it. 

She just didn’t say it in her “command voice.”

You learn that in the military and I don’t think she served so she doesn’t know how to do it. A woman who had would have done it in no uncertain terms.

She did do a decent job docking this episode so there is that.

[dleighg]

13 minutes ago, Diane Mars said:

It was on the 1st episode.

The first two times (the deck chair and the jet-boat-whatever-it-is) she only said it in her talking head.

[dosodog]

I can't say about her correcting him on sweetheart, but I do remember him calling her Master and she told him Malia was fine and then he turned around and called her Master Malia.

So thinking about it, she probably did on occasion, correct him and it is on the editing floor.

Truly, he is an idiot. 

[LaLaLaLa]

30 minutes ago, Diane Mars said:

For the nth time, SHE DID ! The 1st time he called her sweetheart ! : "Don't call me sweetheart !" and he answered something like "Ok, Boss Malia" (sorry, that's not that, but I don't remember the term he used. But SHE DIT tell him as soon as he said it !)

I don't recall her addressing this issue with him more than once AND if she did, she did a poor job. Either way, it shows poor leadership AND it doesn't change the fact that she threw the other two guys under the bus AND wanted to play victim. Again, very weak from the bosun. If she approached Cap'n Lee with this complaint, he more than likely would have said, "sounds like your problem...go fix it." This situation also made Cap'n Sandy look weak. It was embarrassing for both of them.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I don’t think she went “whining” to Sandy: they were having a conversation about how everything was going and it was something that came up and was mentioned in conversation, and then micromanaging Sandy took it upon herself to call the dudes to the principals office right then and there and proceeded to make the “sweetheart” issue about herself instead. 

Furthermore, if we’re going to criticize Malia, can we also criticize Rob’s sensitivity over being called to the principals office and Pete’s sensitivity about crushes and anything related to his ego? 

[Kiki777]

7 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

I can only think of and hum one song they did, "I Saw The Sign," that is it, Roy Orbison...now that is whole different level of famous!

I vaguely remember that song from the 90s but am more familiar with it from Pitch Perfect when the girl threw up while singing it.

Joining the Kiko fan club.  I would have been PISSED at those guys taking over my bedroom but he was genuinely happy for them and shrugged it off to find another place to crash.

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, Kiki777 said:

I vaguely remember that song from the 90s but am more familiar with it from Pitch Perfect when the girl threw up while singing it.

well that explains a lot. My kids were born in 93 and 96. The 90s are a black hole 🙂 

[Diane Mars]

1 hour ago, dosodog said:

I can't say about her correcting him on sweetheart, but I do remember him calling her Master and she told him Malia was fine and then he turned around and called her Master Malia.

So thinking about it, she probably did on occasion, correct him and it is on the editing floor.

Truly, he is an idiot. 

Yes, thanks ! And, I'm maybe wrong for saying she told him straight away, but that's maybe because that "Master Malia" implied she did ? I don't have the ep anymore 😕

[LaLaLaLa]

1 hour ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I don’t think she went “whining” to Sandy: they were having a conversation about how everything was going and it was something that came up and was mentioned in conversation, and then micromanaging Sandy took it upon herself to call the dudes to the principals office right then and there and proceeded to make the “sweetheart” issue about herself instead. 

Furthermore, if we’re going to criticize Malia, can we also criticize Rob’s sensitivity over being called to the principals office and Pete’s sensitivity about crushes and anything related to his ego? 

True (I thought it was weak for Rob) except that Malia is supposed to be the "leader". She is not setting a good example, nor leading. As for Peter, he's done plenty to make himself look bad...his sensitivity when Lara/Lana left was not a good look and was icing on the cake.

[AnnieBananie]

The problem with Malia's "no-thanks-on-the-Master-Malia" moment is that she didn't go far enough. 

What she should have said was along the lines of "Actually, Malia is just fine, and while we're on the subject, I need you to put the kibosh on the 'sweetheart' and 'sweetie' and all the variants on that. I'm your supervisor, and those terms don't fly with me. Got it? This is the only time I'm going to say that." (Preferably looking Pete square in the eye as she said it.)

Then she would have sounded like a real boss and, I hope, avoided that awkward meeting with Sandy.

Edited June 23, 2020 by AnnieBananie

[dleighg]

22 minutes ago, LaLaLaLa said:

True (I thought it was weak for Rob) except that Malia is supposed to be the "leader".

When Sandy said "I'm going to deal with this RIGHT NOW" Malia should have said, no, please, I'll talk to them about it. It was a mistake on both Sandy, and Malia's side. Or at the very least, Sandy should have said "Should I speak with them?" (and then the clear answer for Malia would have been "No I will." 

[eleanorofaquitaine]

2 hours ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

She did say it. 

She just didn’t say it in her “command voice.”

You learn that in the military and I don’t think she served so she doesn’t know how to do it. A woman who had would have done it in no uncertain terms.

She did do a decent job docking this episode so there is that.

She should not have to have been in the military or use a "command voice." First of all, Pete should have known better to ever use "sweetheart" with his boss. Notice that neither Adam nor Rob use that term, so it's entirely possible for a man to refrain from using a sexist term that undermines and belittles his boss.

Secondly, she told him once to stop. That should have been the end of it. And it certainly should have been the end of it when she told him to not go against her in front of the other guys.  

Pete knew what he was doing, which was to undermine the authority of his boss, because he's a sexist asshole. It's not incumbent on Malia to use a "command voice" to get him to stop. It's incumbent on him to stop being a sexist asshole. 

[dleighg]

7 minutes ago, eleanorofaquitaine said:

Pete knew what he was doing, which was to undermine the authority of his boss, because he's a sexist asshole.

and he continued to do it in this episode- whatever was going on with covers-on or covers-off in the rain, it was this sarcastic "That's what the boss says." And he also made some sort of "master and commander reference" which was completely uncalled for. As if she'd been a total authoritarian manager (which she hasn't been).

[biakbiak]

5 hours ago, janiema said:

My guess is that they segue into a new chief stew to accommodate the fact that Hannah is pregnant - but maybe not- I’m not sure about the timeline. 

Hannah is currently 5 months pregnant, this show was filmed in September/October of 2019, she wasn’t pregnant when this was filmed. 

Based on the convo in the meeting with Pete acting surprised that she was talking about him calling her sweetie/sweetheart it seemed pretty clear that she never addressed it because she just kept saying “really?” With incredulity and never mentioned that she had talked to him about it before. I mean Pete was obviously lying about not realizing it was him and the “I am just a country boy from Virginia” bullshit but Malia should have nipped it in the bud from the start. She said on SM she didn’t because she was trying to figure him out which I thought was dumb because you need to lead from the start and not let habits form.

[LaLaLaLa]

12 minutes ago, eleanorofaquitaine said:

She should not have to have been in the military or use a "command voice." First of all, Pete should have known better to ever use "sweetheart" with his boss. Notice that neither Adam nor Rob use that term, so it's entirely possible for a man to refrain from using a sexist term that undermines and belittles his boss.

Secondly, she told him once to stop. That should have been the end of it. And it certainly should have been the end of it when she told him to not go against her in front of the other guys.  

Pete knew what he was doing, which was to undermine the authority of his boss, because he's a sexist asshole. It's not incumbent on Malia to use a "command voice" to get him to stop. It's incumbent on him to stop being a sexist asshole. 

I guess that explains the lack of violent crimes in the US...it's incumbent on the criminals to police themselves and recognize that they shouldn't do bad things...so they don't. SMH

Yes, in a perfect world that's the case, but people are people...they do things. That's why authority (in this case, the bosun) has to exert pressure to stop/limit the poor behavior.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

1 minute ago, LaLaLaLa said:

I guess that explains the lack of violent crimes in the US...it's incumbent on the criminals to police themselves and recognize that they shouldn't do bad things...so they don't. SMH

Yes, in a perfect world that's the case, but people are people...they do things. That's why authority (in this case, the bosun) has to exert pressure to stop/limit the poor behavior.

Way to employ hyperbole. I don't think my standards - expecting a guy who has been given ample signals that he's acting like a sexist asshole - are way too high. 

[LotusFlower]

2 hours ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I don’t think she went “whining” to Sandy: they were having a conversation about how everything was going and it was something that came up and was mentioned in conversation, and then micromanaging Sandy took it upon herself to call the dudes to the principals office right then and there and proceeded to make the “sweetheart” issue about herself instead. 

⬆️⬆️  This.   ⬆️⬆️

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by LotusFlower

[LotusFlower]

16 minutes ago, LaLaLaLa said:

I guess that explains the lack of violent crimes in the US...it's incumbent on the criminals to police themselves and recognize that they shouldn't do bad things...so they don't. SMH

Yes, in a perfect world that's the case, but people are people...they do things. That's why authority (in this case, the bosun) has to exert pressure to stop/limit the poor behavior.

This is a weird (and yes, hyperbolic) analogy, but yes, people are required to police themselves and not do shitty or inappropriate things.  A boss’s job is to supervise, instruct and lead, not to mother her staff and teach them how to be responsible and respectful.  If they screw up, she should call them out on it, but we’ll never know what Malia was going to do because Drama Queen Micromanager Sandy stepped in and mishandled the situation.

It also needs to be said that male bosuns are never asked to use a “command voice.”

[The Ringo Kidd]

The positions on a ship are very analogous to the military. In fact the titles such as Captain, First Mate and bosun are naval titles. The discipline is certainly not as strict as the navy but is most definitely based on military practices. Ships officers should have some degree of command presence. There are many very capable woman Such as Captain Sandy who can exert such authority. 

Malia is not one of them.

As a leader she is a great reality show cast member. 
 

(Many of the male bosuns also lacked this ability. Especially Ashton who was more interested in being a pal. It is not a function of your sex but rather of your leadership ability)

Edited June 23, 2020 by The Ringo Kidd

[LotusFlower]

7 minutes ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

The positions on a ship are very analogous to the military. In fact the titles such as Captain, First Mate and bosun are naval titles. The discipline is certainly not as strict as the navy but is most definitely based on military practices. Ships officers should have some degree of command presence. There are many very capable woman Such as Captain Sandy who can exert such authority. 

Malia is not one of them.

That’s your opinion.  I happen to think she does manifest a commanding presence.  And btw, you referred to it as a commanding “voice,” not presence.  

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Fundamentally, I just believe that most of the criticisms of either Sandy or Malia are just ways to excuse and distract from Pete's behavior.  I am not sure either Sandy or Malia handled it perfectly, though I will point out that Malia already had to take Pete aside once to tell him to not undermine her, and I think she handled that well. And I'm never going to object to one woman standing up for the authority of another woman.  But the more time spent talking about Sandy or Malia, the less time is spent on acknowledging that Pete is a sexist asshole. And that's what often happens when women stand up for themselves against sexist assholes - their actions and words are picked apart while the offending man is excused with "boys will be boys."

One nice thing, though, as I said above is that at least Alex and Rob seem like decent guys, which is a relief given how deeply misogynistic the crew of guys were on the last season of Below Deck. 

[LotusFlower]

12 minutes ago, eleanorofaquitaine said:

One nice thing, though, as I said above is that at least Alex and Rob seem like decent guys, which is a relief given how deeply misogynistic the crew of guys were on the last season of Below Deck. 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence they hired Malia to be the bosun (alongside a female captain) after the extremely problematic misogyny of the past few seasons of Beliw Deck/Med.

[The Ringo Kidd]

Pete is a sexist asshole.

Sandy is a micromanaging fame whore.

Malia is in over her head and an unprepared bosun.

All of things can be true at the same time.

 

[dosodog]

I disagree about Malia.

She's new to being a bosun.  Giver her sone seasoning time and experience. 

[sharkerbaby]

On 6/23/2020 at 12:14 PM, RoxiP said:

I agree.  It's not like the charter guests are all meeting later to discuss what was served every meal!  If a chef repeats dishes from charter to charter what is the problem with that, as long as they are well executed and the guests are happy?  

This one of the most ridiculous complaints Sandy raises about the chefs (this isn't the first time).  I don't care if they're on a super yacht.  I don't even care if the guests compare experiences later.  Does she think luxury hotels change their menu with every guest turn over or even every week?   Using her logic they better change out the water toys with every new charter else guests will be disappointed that they weren't getting a unique experience.

 

18 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Based on the convo in the meeting with Pete acting surprised that she was talking about him calling her sweetie/sweetheart it seemed pretty clear that she never addressed it because she just kept saying “really?” With incredulity and never mentioned that she had talked to him about it before. I mean Pete was obviously lying about not realizing it was him and the “I am just a country boy from Virginia” bullshit but Malia should have nipped it in the bud from the start. She said on SM she didn’t because she was trying to figure him out which I thought was dumb because you need to lead from the start and not let habits form.

If Malia spoke to Pete directly before chatting with Captain Sandy, they didn't show us.  We only got talking head complaints from her.  Moreover, as Biakbiak points out, perhaps we should take her at her word when she herself says she didn't talk to Pete.  Also Pete may be a sexist jerk and regardless of his motivations whether they are to undermine her, disrespect her or just because he's a mindless idiot,  Malia, as his boss, still has a responsibility to point out and correct unacceptable behavior.  His words may offend but they do not rise to the level of egregious action that would justify immediate dismissal therefore, it is her duty to notify and identify corrective action.

I don't see any of the observations discussed here as excusing him at the expense of the women involved and faulting them for his behavior.  This is a classic management theory issue.  It highlights Malia's inexperience as a manager and Captain Sandy's tendency to micro manage and undermine the authority of her direct reports.

Edited June 24, 2020 by sharkerbaby

[LotusFlower]

14 hours ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

Malia is in over her head and an unprepared bosun.

 

14 hours ago, dosodog said:

I disagree about Malia.

She's new to being a bosun.  Giver her sone seasoning time and experience. 

Malia is in over her head?  Where is the evidence of that?

Calling her unprepared is an example of sexism that is common to women in positions normally held by men.

[psychoticstate]

The best part of this episode was seeing Roy Orbison's grandson singing Pretty Woman -- pwetty woman, walking down the stweet -- on his little guitar and then mentioning his "gwandfather" sang it.  

The charter guests were awesome.  They seemed easygoing and appreciative of everything.  Always nice to see.

Agree that Rob and Jessica were rude to hook up in the cabin he shares with Kiko, rather than just going to the cabin Jess has solo right now.  

Lara's gone so Hannah has to kick someone -- cue Jess.  She may be unexperienced but she tries, she has a good attitude and she doesn't cause problems.  If she stayed on her break longer than scheduld, all Hannah had to do was say that she understood that Jess is exhausted and working the job of two people and Hannah appreciates that but to please do your best to return at the scheduled time.  Hannah's delivery is always so awful.  And Hannah is a smoker so I'm sure she's taking her smoke breaks.

I get why Sandy would be concerned with the laundry, particularly if the guests might see it and if their clothing is in there.  However, she should have spoken to Hannah about it since Hannah is in charge of the interior.  

I think Kiko's food looks good -- and I don't eat red meat.  Did Sandy ever consider that maybe the charter guests specifically requested the food Kiko prepared?  Kiko may have felt that cooking something he felt comfortable with and was generally met with positive reviews was a good move on a charter where they were down one person.  And do not compare him to Adam!  No competition.  

Sandy should not have said anything to the deck crew about Malia being called sweetheart.  That's Malia's place.  Way to diminish her in the eyes of her crew, Sandy.  

I didn't like Malia during her previous season but I like her here.  She seems like a nice, easygoing boss, so long as you do what's expected of you.  And she does tell her crew "good job" when it's earned and deserved so I'll give her that.  

Thrilled that Bugsy is back -- although I don't support her en-route-to-the-yacht outfit.  She's a good stew and she gets on Hannah's last nerve so win-win.  I do think Sandy should have gotten on to Hannah about her reaction, as it could have influenced the rest of the crew before Bugsy even arrived.   

I'd love to see Hannah and Jenna working  under Kate.  That would be gold.  

[dleighg]

8 minutes ago, psychoticstate said:

The charter guests were awesome.  They seemed easygoing and appreciative of everything.  Always nice to see.

they did seem really nice. And it's been a long time since I've seen male hair that long that always looked freshly washed and brushed! 

[dosodog]

1 hour ago, LotusFlower said:

 

Malia is in over her head?  Where is the evidence of that?

Calling her unprepared is an example of sexism that is common to women in positions normally held by men.

I dont think I'm being sexist by pointing out that Malia is new to the bosun position and as with anyone in a new position, should have the chance to gain experience and seasoning.

I think Ringo was being sexist with the "in over her head" because Malia has been a deckhand for some time and proved she was good at her job.  Being a supervisor is relatively new for her and she will find her style.  I wouldn't expect her to be how she is now as a bosun as she will be at the end of the charter season.

I will ponder what I said previously with an eye towards reflecting on if it was sexist, but at this point, I'm not sure how I was sexist. 

[RoxiP]

By that same logic Ashton was unprepared to be bosun - something that I could agree with because his management skills were seriously lacking (not to mention his interpersonal skills!).

[Mr. Miner]

1 hour ago, psychoticstate said:

The charter guests were awesome.  They seemed easygoing and appreciative of everything.  Always nice to see.

Looks like the next group are not going to be so easygoing and appreciative.

[The Ringo Kidd]

21 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

By that same logic Ashton was unprepared to be bosun - something that I could agree with because his management skills were seriously lacking (not to mention his interpersonal skills!).

That is exactly right. In fact most of the Bosuns were not prepared. Ashton certainly was poor in his placement of lines seeing as he almost killed himself in mishandling them.

The only two bosuns who seem seemed competent were Eddie and the weird platitude spouting guy they brought in to cover for Nico another incompetent bosun.

I guess I will have to chalk every mishandled line or leaving the slide on deck crumpled up during dinner service to sexism because it can’t be the dictates of TV being put before that of the ship as it is with male bosuns.

[scrb]

On 6/23/2020 at 11:04 AM, The Ringo Kidd said:

It’s good that Sandy has time to regulate the deck crew. Because she is really busy with monitoring table settings and overseeing the rotation of the menu offerings. I bet those things are the first thing you learn in Captain school.

I'm sure this is all for the show.  For whatever reason, they wanted her to have more of a visible role or more involvement that they could show.

If they didn't want to show more involvement, they wouldn't bother to air those scenes.  They could film them but leave them on the editing room floor.

[Jsage]

3 hours ago, sharkerbaby said:

This one of the most ridiculous complaints Sandy raises about the chefs (this isn't the first time).  I don't care if they're on a super yacht.  I don't even care if the guests compare experiences later.  Does she think luxury hotels change their menu with every guest turn over or even every week?   Using her logic they better change out the water toys with every new charter else guests will be disappointed that they weren't getting a unique experience

Can you imagine if they brought back "beef cheeks" Leon from Below Deck to be the chef on Below Deck Med? I'd love to see Sandy try to micromanage him!

[RoxiP]

I do agree that Sandy was a BOSS maneuvering that yacht into the small slip during high winds and heavy waves.

[snarts]

2 hours ago, scrb said:

I'm sure this is all for the show.  For whatever reason, they wanted her to have more of a visible role or more involvement that they could show.

If they didn't want to show more involvement, they wouldn't bother to air those scenes.  They could film them but leave them on the editing room floor.

Not everything is producer manipulation.  We don't see Captain Lee or Captain Glen hovering around talking about table settings or questioning the menu.  We also don't see them running up to the table during every meal asking guests about the food,  Only Captain Sandy.  Why? Because she's micromanager camera chaser who always wants to be in the middle of the drama.  I posted a screenshot last season of her hovering in a doorway, trying to find a reason to join a conversation that had nothing to do with her, sums up her personality in a nutshell.

It's also why she so quickly undermined Malia's authority and called the deck meeting.  Rather than give advice on how to handle the situation, she wanted to be the center of attention. So sad. That meeting should've been a 1:1 between Malia & Pete. Not only did Captain Sandy make Malia look weak, she also demoralized the other two deckhands by including them in a verbal lashing when they'd done nothing wrong. 

4 hours ago, psychoticstate said:

I get why Sandy would be concerned with the laundry, particularly if the guests might see it and if their clothing is in there.  However, she should have spoken to Hannah about it since Hannah is in charge of the interior.  

The laundry located in the crew quarters, guests don't see it.  However, I agree she should've mentioned it to Hannah or at least acknowledged that they were understaffed but she'd like to see the laundry room clean & organized.  If it wasn't cleaned up, then she could be "pissed".

 

[scrb]

But if the producers didn't like this helicopter captaining, they'd discourage her and probably wouldn't be featuring so many scenes of it over at least the last couple of seasons.

They could put a stop to it immediately, or at least make sure viewers never saw it.

[dosodog]

4 hours ago, RoxiP said:

By that same logic Ashton was unprepared to be bosun - something that I could agree with because his management skills were seriously lacking (not to mention his interpersonal skills!).

Exactly! Sadly, Ashton didn't grow and never gained any management skills.  He had bosun potential, but squandered it.  Malia seems to be making the most of it.

Joao appears to have grown.  As a human being.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/what-is-joao-franco-doing-now%3famp

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Claiming that Malia is "in over her head," based on one meeting (none of which was uncalled for), when the evidence on screen is that she's capable, competent, and a good communicator is IMO pretty sexist. 

Saying that there is more room for her growth in the bosun role isn't sexist. Suggesting she's not good at her job when all evidence is to the contrary is sexist. And that's essentially what Pete is also trying to do with all of his little comments. 

[The Ringo Kidd]

She didn’t seem to communicate so well with the drugged out guy who had to pull her aside for an explanation. She seems to have problems with docking lines next week. She certainly had a problem with putting away the slide that ended up hanging like a used condom blocking the view at dinner.

But other than those quibbles she is a star.

[Teri313]

Malia weakened her position when she ran to Sandy to deal with the "sweetheart" situation. The very first time that guy called her sweetheart, she should have ended that shit right then and there. No drama, no emotion, just tell him that it's inappropriate and to refer to her as Malia or bosun, whichever she prefers. And Sandy should have known better than to deal with it. The biggest favor she could have done her was push her back up on deck and tell her to deal with it like a boss. It really wasn't that big of a deal.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

1 hour ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

She didn’t seem to communicate so well with the drugged out guy who had to pull her aside for an explanation. She seems to have problems with docking lines next week. She certainly had a problem with putting away the slide that ended up hanging like a used condom blocking the view at dinner.

But other than those quibbles she is a star.

She doesn't have to be perfect to be good at her job.  

Anyway, I am glad that Sandy did put Pete on notice and while I think Alex and Rob didn't need to be in that meeting, it can't hurt for them also to know that sexist asshole behavior will not be tolerated.