S08.E16: Premature Evacuation

[TexasGal]

Quote

Forced to reckon with their friction, Francesca finally comes to a decision regarding Elizabeth’s future on deck. Meanwhile, Rachel’s feelings toward the interior take a toll on the crew. As Izzy and Rob’s relationship takes a dark turn, James makes a shocking betrayal. Ultimately, unforeseen world events completely alter the course of M/Y MySeanna’s charter season, leaving everyone uncertain of their future.

Airdate: 02.15.2021

I don't think I want to see Izzy and Rob's relationship take a dark turn.  

[65mickey]

I think I'll skip this and just check in here tomorrow. I swear it seems like this season has been going on for the past year. It needs to end.

[TexasGal]

James seems so upset to see Elizabeth get the heave ho.  <crickets>

[Steph J]

"Keep in touch"? Lol, don't strain yourself there James.

I can't believe that someone who has been reprimanded as often in such a short period as Elizabeth has been could be so surprised that she'd get fired. Perhaps what goes around has already come around.

[whydoievencare]

I think Francesca should have been much more straightforward and business-like with her dismissal of Elizabeth but kudos to Elizabeth for the Award Winning reaction to being let go.  She's been unredeemingly stupid - and evasive - the whole time she's been on the boat.  She hasn't learned anything - she seems to think that being pretty and appearing to be sweet and "sorry" when she's been corrected then that should give her a pass.  But she hasn't corrected any of her behaviour that's been cause for her being taken to task - everyone is just supposed to forgive her and let it slide?  Is Elizabeth someone who has never suffered a logical consequence in her life?  Contrary to what Eddie said, I don't think Francesca was particularly gunning for her - it's just that Elizabeth never improved and needed the same level of instruction and oversight that she did when she first arrived.  And this isn't her first job!  Glad to see her go.

[TexasGal]

James’ mom has her priorities in order - all rugby’s been cancelled.  Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  

[PaperTree]

Oh Elizabeth!  Put a sock in it!  Roll the greatest hits of her screw-ups.

Rachel is being really shitty too.  It's really none of her business.

With the rest of the season cancelled, it was the perfect time to fire Elizabeth.  She won't learn from it though, those types never do.

Yes James, you are an asshole.

Francesca wasn't "looking" for a reason to can her.  There were dozens of reasons.  She twisted herself in knots to keep her because she needed the minimal work Liz did.

Rachel needs to get over herself with this birthday cake BS.  I've been to many lunches and dinners where we celebrated (or mourned occasionally) a coworker getting fired.

She would have found another reason to be pissed.

eta:  Did she really think Lee would fire Chez?

 

Edited February 16, 2021 by PaperTree

[Steph J]

9 minutes ago, whydoievencare said:

she seems to think that being pretty and appearing to be sweet and "sorry" when she's been corrected then that should give her a pass.

I think she's about to learn the hard way that most people can't get away with that as easily after 30 as they might have before 30.

Rachel is so exhausting. It's like she can't function unless she can make a performance out of how aggrieved she is towards someone.

[esco1822]

I can only hope that after the crew sees the season play out, they’ll have a better understanding of why Elizabeth was fired. She’s not learned a thing all season. Being sweet and nice will only get you so far, you do also need to be competent at your job. If she hasn’t learned by week 8, she never will. 

[Steph J]

Wow, Rachel sure changed her tune/attitude once she realized she wasn't going to be able to turn Lee against Francesca.  Not that it's going to matter since their season is coming to an abrupt end.

[Mr. Miner]

Elizabeth was a bad stew and got fired. That doesn’t make Francesca any less a lame AF chief stew. 🖕🏻

[psychoticstate]

I still stand by my previous opinion that firing Elizabeth with only two charters left on the books is incredibly stupid.  Francesca simply didn't like her and wanted her gone.  I was laughing over the fact that in the end, Elizabeth didn't miss any charters.  

I don't particularly like Rachel but I dislike Francesca far more so I'm siding with Rachel over the cake.

Overall, a letdown of a season finale.  

Any idea why the crew leaves one at a time?  Just for filming purposes?  Because wouldn't it make more sense for all of them to leave for the airport at the same time (especially when their destination countries are the same)?  

[TexasGal]

Damnit Captain Lee and the Eddie love.  I’m not crying you’re crying.  Ok we’re both crying.

[PaperTree]

Well you might as well party now kids.  Even Rachel was pleasant (and QUIET).

We all know how messed up your world is going to get.

I don't think Capt. Lee was prepared for the abrupt ending.  He seemed to get better.

Good for Izzy giving it to Rob.

[Tess23]

I'm not going to lie. Am having a little PTSD after watching the last episode unfold. I got home from visiting my daughter in NYC on March 12. Walked off the plane, drove home, and self-quarantined for 14 days while the world proceeded to go to &*#$. Watching it happen all over again on tv was hard. Eddie saying he didn't think it would last more than a couple of weeks...

[Chalby]

1 hour ago, TexasGal said:

James seems so upset to see Elizabeth get the heave ho.  <crickets>

I never thought I could dislike a couple as much as last season, but James and Elizabeth are truly awful to watch. They both give a bad reflection of any gender.

[Pop Tart]

37 minutes ago, psychoticstate said:

 

I still stand by my previous opinion that firing Elizabeth with only two charters left on the books is incredibly stupid.  Francesca simply didn't like her and wanted her gone.  I was laughing over the fact that in the end, Elizabeth didn't miss any charters.  

 

Francesca wanted to fire Elizabeth much sooner but the Captain wouldn’t let her.  Bugged me at the time as he listened to Eddie when he wanted to fire Shane for the same kinds of reasons as Francesca had for Elizabeth. Both Shane and Elizabeth had work ethic issues, couldn’t seem to get the requirements of the job though they were told multiple times, etc. Shane at least had the excuse of not much experience and we saw him taking notes and trying to practice. And yet the Captain allowed for his firing very early on.

Just saw Eddie on WWHL and he said he’d have fired Elizabeth for the same reasons but wouldn’t have waited so long. But Francesca wasn’t given that choice. And yes Captain Lee knows Eddie so had reason to take his word, plus he’d seen Shane in action more often. So I get that. What’s not cool is everyone blaming Francesca for doing it when she did, i.e. so late in the season, on Elizabeth’s never ending birthday, blah, blah, when she had no option to do it before then.

[Caseysgirl]

I’m so disappointed in Rob.  In most of his talking heads he seemed like a kind of quirky,lovable guy, with a good sense of humor and a brain in his head. He seemed  like he fit in well and learned to be a capable team player immediately. Why he let the cameras see that he was actually a dick was a miscalculation on his part. We haven’t seen him on WWHL so I wonder if he’ll show up for the reunion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[88Keys]

That legitimately made me sad.  I liked seeing the crew tear through all the leftover alcohol on the boat (should have taken that vodka home to make hand sanitizer out of it, though).  I know people will say that they shouldn't have been celebrating when there is a pandemic going on, but I'm glad they got one more night of fun before they went back home to hell.  

The scenes with Lee and Eddie...I'm not tearing up.  You're tearing up.

1 hour ago, esco1822 said:

I can only hope that after the crew sees the season play out, they’ll have a better understanding of why Elizabeth was fired. She’s not learned a thing all season. Being sweet and nice will only get you so far, you do also need to be competent at your job. If she hasn’t learned by week 8, she never will. 

I suspect that being sweet and dumb has gotten her pretty far in life, actually.  I think she knows exactly what she's doing.  And you are correct.  She will never learn. 

Rachel just wanted something to get mad about, as usual.  "The most disrespectful thing I've ever seen."  Really?  In your whole life?

[Escapereality]

So James doesn’t get reprimanded like Elizabeth for using the guest cabin with her.  Ew.  She may have been bad but James and Francesca are so nasty I actually feel bad for her and I agree with Rachael the cake celebration was nasty. 

[Steph J]

5 minutes ago, Escapereality said:

So James doesn’t get reprimanded like Elizabeth for using the guest cabin with her. 

James was reprimanded for that as well.

[endure]

Why was it Elizabeths birthday again?

[endure]

I feel like Izzy takes her self importance way too seriously.

[Jack Sampson]

2 hours ago, Steph J said:

I think she's about to learn the hard way that most people can't get away with that as easily after 30 as they might have before 30.

Ha!  She's been 30 for 2 days and people are already sick of her shit.

[RedHawk]

10 minutes ago, endure said:

Why was it Elizabeths birthday again?

I guess this “real” cake was supposed to be a do-over. I wonder how it ended up being served if Rachel canceled it. She seemed to think that Francesca belayed the cancellation and that was what truly offended her.

I understood why she was angry that everyone laughed and was gleeful eating the cake, which seemed like they were celebrating and minimizing Elizabeth’s firing. But Elizabeth had gotten her cake the night before, however pathetic, and she wasn’t there to be personally offended or hurt, so why shouldn’t everybody dig in and enjoy it? Rachel can state her problem and then get over it.

Edited February 16, 2021 by RedHawk

[Escapereality]

1 hour ago, Steph J said:

James was reprimanded for that as well.

Yes but I was saying “like” James. It seems like he got a slap on the wrist and she was grilled and shamed. 
 

[Jack Sampson]

30 minutes ago, RedHawk said:

I guess this “real” cake was supposed to be a do-over. I wonder how it ended up being served if Rachel canceled it. She seemed to think that Francesca belayed the cancellation and that was what truly offended her.

I understood why she was angry that everyone laughed and was gleeful eating the cake, which seemed like they were celebrating and minimizing Elizabeth’s firing. But Elizabeth had gotten her cake the night before, however pathetic, and she wasn’t there to be personally offended or hurt, so why shouldn’t everybody dig in and enjoy it? Rachel can state her problem and then get over it.

Eat My Cooter girl is suddenly the arbiter of good taste.  I'll bet she's even more pissed that she made peace with Francesca only to have the season canceled. 

[Jack Sampson]

Lee gives Eddie 1st Officer stripes.  Is that a thing?  Do you need a higher ranking officer to promote you like the military or is it just a license you obtain on your own?  You have a license, some experience and you can call yourself whatever you want if someone is willing to hire you at that position?

[Steph J]

1 hour ago, Escapereality said:

Yes but I was saying “like” James. It seems like he got a slap on the wrist and she was grilled and shamed. 
 

I guess, but James also didn't try to play word games over it when confronted. The reason Elizabeth was grilled was because she kept verbally contorting herself to try to get out of admitting that she'd been in the cabin - I was frustrated watching it, so I can only imagine how frustrated Francesca was as she was trying to get a straight answer out of her. Although, that said, I think Francesca was wrong to have that initial conversation in front of everyone rather than privately.

[Chatty Cake]

The season seemed to go on and on despite the last two charters being cancelled.  Liz need to be fired but so did most of the crew IMO.  I hope Francesca doesn’t come back, I thought she was a horrible chief stew.

[Victoria Winters]

I cant help but ask... what were they suposed to do with the cake....just let it sit there uneaten? Yes maybe eating it gleefully wasnt cool but its cake...

[endure]

5 hours ago, Jack Sampson said:

Lee gives Eddie 1st Officer stripes.  Is that a thing?  Do you need a higher ranking officer to promote you like the military or is it just a license you obtain on your own?  You have a license, some experience and you can call yourself whatever you want if someone is willing to hire you at that position?

Maybe you get your license then you have to do an actual practicum and earn your stripes?  

Edited February 16, 2021 by endure

[Chatty Cake]

I don’t think the cake thing was terrible, other than it’s being filmed and Liz’s feelings will be hurt even more. Rachel’s reaction was over the top. 
Glad Izzy got to tell off jerk face but too bad other jerk face tipped him off. At the time she did it though was kind of late and the mood had changed due to the pandemic.

[Baltimore Betty]

7 hours ago, endure said:

I feel like Izzy takes her self importance way too seriously.

I felt like Izzy was justified, she did a good job and was recognized as a valuable team player, the guys refused to acknowledge her status because of their delicate male ego.  Their actions highlighted how hard it is to be an accomplished woman in a male dominated field,  had James or Rob been promoted the level of respect would have been different.  Izzy spoke up which irrated the boys even more, it all boiled down to their lack of respect and their need to have their ego stroked.

I hope Elizabeth sees she wasted her time with James and learns from this experience, he is less than a stellar person...not sponge worthy at all.

[Lassus]

6 hours ago, Jack Sampson said:

Lee gives Eddie 1st Officer stripes.  Is that a thing?  Do you need a higher ranking officer to promote you like the military or is it just a license you obtain on your own?  You have a license, some experience and you can call yourself whatever you want if someone is willing to hire you at that position?

Seems mostly like a resume thing.  He's not going to be hired as a first officer out of hand at his next place, but they'd take that into account for his new position and with their previous employment checks.  And salary negotiations, etc.

I also checked out for this last episode, not because I was sick of the season or anything (I mean, good lord, what kind of weird-ass expectations do people actually have for this garbage television we're all choosing to watch?) but just the standard "why do I want to relive the start of this horror show?"

Overall I'm of the opinion stated above that Elizabeth being terrible doesn't somehow by default make Francesca actually good.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Lassus

[spunky]

I understand why Rachel was upset about the cake. Their demeanor came across as them celebrating Elizabeth's firing.  

I'm happy Izzy called Rob out on his passive-agressive behavior. I just wish she didn't tell James anything,  so that Rob couldn't try to weasel his way out of the conversation.  

I like Captain Lee and Eddie's relationship.  Eddie grew on me this season.

[nokat]

10 hours ago, Steph J said:

James was reprimanded for that as well.

He was, and he wasn't such a useless waste of oxygen so wasn't fired.

[nokat]

I got stuck with a few Elizabeths in college. They would get an A because of my work. No, I'm not giving the final project to you for your interview, because you did the minimum and I'm not falling for your eyelash batting gaslighting. If I'm getting paid, I'm not putting up with your bullsh*t.

[Pop Tart]

13 minutes ago, spunky said:

 

I understand why Rachel was upset about the cake. Their demeanor came across as them celebrating Elizabeth's firing. 

 

I feel like the whole cake thing was some major producer manipulations, but even still... It was Rachel who ordered the cake so it was on her to make sure it was cancelled. She said she'd cancelled it but didn't look too surprised when it showed up, so I would guess she didn't cancel, or again, producer shenanigans. 

And as to the celebration? They'd all had some drinks at that point, though no one seemed too drunk, and were feeling relieved that they were getting past the initial awkwardness of the firing. That's how I read it. Not as a rah-rah Elizabeth's gone. Eddie and Francesca were asked about it on WWHL and both said that they were just excited because there was cake.

[Alonzo Mosely FBI]

12 hours ago, psychoticstate said:

I still stand by my previous opinion that firing Elizabeth with only two charters left on the books is incredibly stupid.  Francesca simply didn't like her and wanted her gone. 

I am on board w/that. Francesca is terrible at her job.  She does not know how to supervise people. I've supervised people and I promise you there has to be one small thing Elizabeth is better at than others, use it to motivate, the place where she shines will bring on motivation to improve the many areas where she lacks. If you are going to be stuck in close quarters supervising people who live=in you better have a grasp of the big picture. You cannot just fire the people you can't manage and this will catch up with Francesca. 

11 hours ago, Escapereality said:

So James doesn’t get reprimanded like Elizabeth for using the guest cabin with her.  Ew.  She may have been bad but James and Francesca are so nasty I actually feel bad for her and I agree with Rachael the cake celebration was nasty. 

Total slut shaming. She went in on Elizabeth in an unprofessional and emotional way, much different treatment than James got. One of the worst things I have seen on Below Deck and it is disgusting. Boys will be boys and get a stern clipped reprimand. Girls will get shame and emotion and a raised voice in in front of other coworkers. 

Francesca you suck, you are terrible at your job. You are no Kate Chastain. You don't even have a cool signature necklace. 

Edited February 16, 2021 by Alonzo Mosely FBI

[politichick]

Worst season ever. I will say, though, Izzy looked surprisingly chic when she was making her exit. Didn't know she had it in her.

[Jobiska]

40 minutes ago, Pop Tart said:

And as to the celebration? They'd all had some drinks at that point, though no one seemed too drunk, and were feeling relieved that they were getting past the initial awkwardness of the firing. That's how I read it. Not as a rah-rah Elizabeth's gone. Eddie and Francesca were asked about it on WWHL and both said that they were just excited because there was cake.

Exactly.  I know if I had been in a similar situation, I might have sort of been laughing out of the awkwardness and the surprise of it all, and then moved on to "yay, cake."  And if it upset Rachel, the mature thing to do would have been to say "hey, guys, I forgot to cancel this, so let's eat it, but can we not joke too much about Elizabeth missing her cake?" or something...not stalk off, sulk, sulk more in a van, stomp around swearing, go to Captain Lee complaining, and then finally have a nonspecific detente meeting?  

I want to find out how all of them got home and dealt with the start of the pandemic...but I don't want to see nasty Elizabeth on the reunion (just the split second of preview and her calling people "bullies...").  I'm torn about watching it.    

 

[Shauna]

3 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

 

I hope Elizabeth sees she wasted her time with James and learns from this experience, he is less than a stellar person...not sponge worthy at all.

I see what you did there, Elaine. 

[hoosiermommy]

I disagreed with how Francesca addressed Elizabeth about the master suite (publicly, not privately).  I would like to think it may have gone better for Elizabeth had it been done appropriately (i.e., she wouldn't have had to do mental gymnastics she wasn't capable of to avoid embarassment), but then she's not the brightest candle on the cake, so public or private, her evasiveness told me she knew it was wrong and she was trying to minimize the damage.

That said, Elizabeth has no, zero, nada self awareness.  Or at least she has failed to express any to date on this show.  After all of the reprimands, someone with one iota of self-awareness wouldn't have been wide-eyed surprised at her firing.  

Several people (on the show, namely Rachel) have said that it was Francesca's job to train Elizabeth.  I am a new-ish learning and development professional in real life, and it's taken me nearly two years to accept the fact that not all performance issues are caused by a lack of training.  I very deeply believe that training and education can help people get better, but it is also a reality that some people resist training, their skills may not be aligned to the requirements of the job, or some people are just incapable of getting better.  I think Elizabeth was a combination of all of these things and no amount of training was going to be able to fill the skills gap or the desire gap.

Francesca allowed her emotions to get to her, and even while giving Elizbeth the reasons for her firing, she seemed less than clear (I still contend that Francesca's double mahi mahi entry led to an understandable misinterpretation by Rachel, but Francesca seemed unable to admit that her lack of consistency played any role in the miscommunication).  She could have easily justified Elizabeth's firing by saying:

• After explicit instructions to check on guests every 10 minutes, you had still not done so 45 minutes later resulting in the guests coming in search of service.
• You caused extra work for your coworker when you pulled all the bedding from all the rooms when you were explicitly told to pull the bedding from the master.
• Despite being told on numerous occasions to focus on your work, you were found to be constantly in company with a deckhand not performing your job as needed.
• You mixed chemicals leading to fumes that required evacuation even after being told to take the mix outside (let's not call it mustard gas).
• The use of the master suite and the lack of accountability in doing so was the final straw.

But I've had to fire people before, and it stinks no matter what you say.

[IndyMischa]

I call this the lazy/stupid problem. I ran into a ton when I managed a retail store for the better part of a decade. Attractive + lazy/stupid + good attitude = rarely any real consequences for being useless, and always a huge amount of sputtering disbelief when someone is finally willing to provide the consequences. A good manager can train their way out of any number of problems, but you absolutely cannot train someone not to be lazy/stupid. She can choose to get her shit together, but that's an internal motivation thing, and not something you can be trained or managed to do. 

In other news, I literally laughed out loud when the waitress delivered the cake. If that makes me mean or tasteless, I embrace it. 

[88Keys]

10 hours ago, endure said:

Why was it Elizabeths birthday again?

Wait, it was Elizabeth's birthday?  I hadn't heard.  🙂

Seriously, though, it felt like it was her birthday for a whole week.

9 hours ago, Jack Sampson said:

Eat My Cooter girl is suddenly the arbiter of good taste.  I'll bet she's even more pissed that she made peace with Francesca only to have the season canceled. 

I think she made peace with Fran after she couldn't get the captain to get rid of her.  

27 minutes ago, hoosiermommy said:

 

Several people (on the show, namely Rachel) have said that it was Francesca's job to train Elizabeth.  I am a new-ish learning and development professional in real life, and it's taken me nearly two years to accept the fact that not all performance issues are caused by a lack of training.  I very deeply believe that training and education can help people get better, but it is also a reality that some people resist training, their skills may not be aligned to the requirements of the job, or some people are just incapable of getting better.  I think Elizabeth was a combination of all of these things and no amount of training was going to be able to fill the skills gap or the desire gap.

 

Preach.  I am baffled by those who say it is Francesca's job to train or motivate Elizabeth.  It is not Liz's first week on the job.  She supposedly has 4 or 5 years of experience!  I think Fran was actually very patient with her and she became frustrated because she couldn't seem to get through to her.  Fran didn't realize she was being played and that Elizabeth had no intention of changing or getting better.

[MartyQui]

I seem to remember when Eddie and Francesca were talking to the Captain about the room incident, Eddie specifically said that it was bad, but James was overall a decent worker, so it wasn't a firing offense.  Elizabeth, on the other hand...

[Milan]

I am totally on team Elizabeth.

I think Francesca is extremely terrible at her job and false as a person.

It is shameful to fire this girl just 2 charters before the endo of the season. If a member of the team is a bit slower or distracted (by James) there are various ways to manage a person like Elizabeth and get her to perform better. Not by publicly talking down on her, continuously blaming her for even the slightest mistake. She was simply HATING Elizabeth from day one and just looking to get rid of her.

I supervise people myself and I do not see why a person like Elizabeth should be fired. There were at least about 10 stewardesses in previous seasons that were 101% worse then Elizabeth, but they were not fired.

I had a smile on my face when Rachel told that false person to shove that cake up her arse.

Another bad "wanna be" supervisor is Izzy. She is also totally false and has BIG ears in order to spread gossip (snitching) around the vessel and getting people in trouble. Therefore I totally understand Rob. Izzy should not have be promoted.

[Petunia13]

Lee won’t be back next season. 

 

If I’m right give me my flowers 

[Milan]

59 minutes ago, 88Keys said:

Preach.  I am baffled by those who say it is Francesca's job to train or motivate Elizabeth.  It is not Liz's first week on the job.  She supposedly has 4 or 5 years of experience!  I think Fran was actually very patient with her and she became frustrated because she couldn't seem to get through to her.  Fran didn't realize she was being played and that Elizabeth had no intention of changing or getting better.

Off course it is the job of the chief stew to MANAGE her personnel. I do not understand this.

They are a team of 3 stews+ a cook+ 4 deck hands with most of the time only 6 guests onboard and they still manage to screw up orders.

To me, this is the fault of the person who is the manager of the team (chief stew).

I could take care of 6-7 guest totally by myself.