S09.E06: He Kissed A Boy And He Liked It

[Giuseppe]

6 hours ago, aghst said:

Do you really believe these guests brought $25k in $100 bills, put it in a little case, and handcuffed it to that little kid?

He wasn't handcuffed to it the whole cruise, just when they arrived and departed.

You think that whole thing was their idea?

 

1 hour ago, laprin said:

I have no idea whether production thought of a fun way to present the tip. I was specifically responding to whether production pays the tip since that was surmised. More details of how payment of the charter is handled. 

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/below-deck-mediterranean-charter-guests-pay-show-real-life.html/

As for whether you can carry large sums of money on a plane, you would have to declare any amount over $10k. I’m not sure it requires anymore than showing ID and explaining the source of the money and the purpose of the money. Using it as a prize/tip on a TV show would do the trick. 

I have always assumed the guests stop at a bank or something and withdraw some funds sometime after arriving in the country but before boarding the boat. Is that inconceivable? I doubt they go straight from the airport to the marina, but maybe I'm wrong. I figured there's usually at least a night in a hotel before boarding the yacht the next day.

[AnnieBananie]

Aghst, for the record, I agree with you! The producers are much more interested in better TV, but I think Lee is invested in the reflection of his staff on him. I don't know what his reputation was before he began on the show, but he wants us to think he still cares about it - and maybe he actually does. (And now that I think about it, I'm curious - is he a respected captain (still), or is he now just a reality tv patsy?)

[aghst]

13 minutes ago, Giuseppe said:

 

I have always assumed the guests stop at a bank or something and withdraw some funds sometime after arriving in the country but before boarding the boat. Is that inconceivable? I doubt they go straight from the airport to the marina, but maybe I'm wrong. I figured there's usually at least a night in a hotel before boarding the yacht the next day.

If they do pay, they can wire the money to the producers and the producers will have probably brought US cash on board (I don't know if USD cash is widely available on St. Kitts), put it in envelopes to give to the captain on camera.

Doubtful that whatever the guests pay, they won't have settled up before the guests arrive to port or get ready to film.

But at a minimum, there are probably some guests that the producers or Bravo want badly enough that they will "comp" or otherwise not require them to pay, even the tip.  Probably stunt casting of some return guests or people known in social media or whatever.

Like Roy Orbison's son who's appeared on at least two different BD shows, the second time he and his family had to go to Croatia during a pandemic.  How badly did this guy want to get pissed drunk on TV that he'd go to Croatia during a time of travel restrictions, just to be on a TV show?  Did he really pay thousands and then also give them a tip which is usually $15-25k on top?

If some guests act like jackasses and they get a lot of footage which is tabloid-worthy, maybe the producers pick up the tip.

Maybe they give the guests incentives to act out on camera, even if it makes them look stupid on TV.

[njbchlover]

1 hour ago, Giuseppe said:

 

I have always assumed the guests stop at a bank or something and withdraw some funds sometime after arriving in the country but before boarding the boat. Is that inconceivable? I doubt they go straight from the airport to the marina, but maybe I'm wrong. I figured there's usually at least a night in a hotel before boarding the yacht the next day.

Judging from the amount of luggage some of these charter guests have, I'm hoping there is at least one night/day prior to the cruise and then, several days after!  

[Bruinsfan]

They're just being prepared in case they get shipwrecked, Gilligan's Island-style.

[humbleopinion]

So that's what a multigenerational family who doesn't get stomach pumping drunk acts like on a charter.

A nice bunch of people.

But they made boring, Zzzzz teevee so gotta pump up the episode with naked Jake belly crawling on his ween and Fras and Jake swabbing each other's tonsils.

 

[Booger666]

On 11/29/2021 at 8:51 PM, PaperTree said:

Why is Rachel serving giant leg bones?  Dude seemed to really like it though.

It went with the 80s theme of steak and lobster. In the 80s massive “cowboy steaks” were a thing.  Kind of like seafood towers were a thing 10 years ago.

Agree with y’all that sober Rachel is a vey pleasant surprise.  Hope she keeps it up through the whole season.

[dleighg]

23 hours ago, laprin said:

Does anyone know why Heather chose an 80s theme? Was it the easiest thing she could pull off? The primary is celebrating his 75th birthday.

I had a problem with that as well. The primary is 15 years older than me- so for me the equivalent was a "late 90s party." I can tell you exactly nothing about the late 90s. I was a mother with young kids, early in my career after grad school. No movies, no parties, no fun :) Now late 70s/early 80s makes sense for me, as that was my high school and college time, when I actually DID have fun LOL.

[Baltimore Betty]

35 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I had a problem with that as well. The primary is 15 years older than me- so for me the equivalent was a "late 90s party." I can tell you exactly nothing about the late 90s. I was a mother with young kids, early in my career after grad school. No movies, no parties, no fun :) Now late 70s/early 80s makes sense for me, as that was my high school and college time, when I actually DID have fun LOL.

Oh, so you are 39 just like me!

I get whistful when I think about running the streets of Fells Point with ten bucks in my pocket and actually having an evening of drinks in The Horse You Came In On.  

I did not get the feeling that the 80's were significant to the Tan Guest, they didn't dance to the music, they didn't dress up (although the crew did), it was not totally rad.  Maybe Tan Guest would have liked a Vegas lounge act vibe instead, a little Sinatra and Sammy?

[Red Bridey]

I was completely mystified that there was no 80-ies/fitness party at all. The guests ate piles of food and went to bed. What??? On a full stomach? I would definitely have eaten piles of food, but then would have stayed up a while to digest and drink a little wine and talk. Oh well, at least they weren't foulmouthed drunks harassing the crew. Though looking at the primary's leathery face would have been painful for me (dedicated SPF 15 user since it became available). Enough has been said about Jake in this forum; the man is as thirsty as they come.

[Welshman in Ca]

On 11/29/2021 at 6:51 PM, PaperTree said:

 

Why is Rachel serving giant leg bones?  Dude seemed to really like it though.

Very confusing.

No chance of that being a leg bone, it's most likely a tomahawk steak which is a rib eye with some of the rib bone attached.

As for the cash issue. Other countries have banks & getting that amount in cash is easily possible with a day or twos notice. Much easier to get & exchange foreign currency in other countries than in most of the USA.

 

 

[iMonrey]

Quote

(And now that I think about it, I'm curious - is he a respected captain (still), or is he now just a reality tv patsy?)

It's the latter. When Ashton was being taken to task on "Watch What Happens Live," he tried to deflect his behavior by calling out Lee and Kate and asking them when the last time was that they actually performed their jobs, for real. I think it had been about five years for Kate and maybe more for Lee. 

[Passing Strange]

I read that in the real world guests wire the tip money to the charter company and someone from the company sees to it that they have the cash. On the show I'm guessing they add the tip amount (subject to change depending on the service) to the fee they pay Bravo for the charter. At the end of the trip it's likely a production assistant shows up with the envelope for the primary to hand the captain.

This whole "Eddie as first officer" scenario is stupid. Even though the first officer has to know about navigation and docking, s/he is responsible for the deck crew. Eddie is spending more time in the wheelhouse because Lee is training him on things he should have already known. The first officer steps in if something happens to the captain. Eddie needed to be ready before he got promoted, not learning on the job.

Lee (crossing arms and looking stern): "If I'd known that was happening I would have been all over it like a turkey during a lap dance."  That he didn't know such and such a thing happened is his go-to and it allows him to talk big and do nothing. There needs to be a happy medium between Sandy lurking all over the boat and Lee sitting around the wheelhouse twirling his shades.

21 hours ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

I was hoping we could have another rare season without the mean girls club (I know Kate is a fan favorite, but I didn't care for the way she teamed up with one of her crew against the odd person out).  

Me, too. I'm not a Kate fan and the mean girling is partly why. No matter how difficult or odd your direct report is, you have to behave professionally. You also have to evaluate her work on what you see of it, not solely on another employee's complaints.

[aghst]

Lee getting upset about his crew acting like drunk frat boys on a 3-day binge is also part of the script -- not a literal script but the general type of things they want to film and air on the show.

The stern and stoic captain dressing down the young cast with R-rated folksy putdowns is on brand for BD.

It's suppose to be quasi-military or old school but for one thing, you can't fraternize in the military.  What would happen to Navy personnel on shore leave if they got drunk, got naked, slobbered on each other in public, in a foreign port?

Lee would have chewed them out, on camera of course, but would he cancel the next night out for Jake and Fraser?  Of course not, the producers want them to go out again, get drunk again and do even more outlandish things.

[snarts]

1 hour ago, Passing Strange said:

This whole "Eddie as first officer" scenario is stupid. Even though the first officer has to know about navigation and docking, s/he is responsible for the deck crew. Eddie is spending more time in the wheelhouse because Lee is training him on things he should have already known. The first officer steps in if something happens to the captain. Eddie needed to be ready before he got promoted, not learning on the job.

Agree, but I think Eddie smartly realizes this gravy train will end at some point, so he's using the show to get his stripes. He likely asked for this "promotion" in order to return for another season.  I do believe the stripes/coast guard certification requirements are real and will translate to his real world tug boat operator job in Baltimore.

[Rambunctiouscurls]

I really wanted to like Fraser but his behavior towards Jess is really toxic.
It’s like he just took the HR mandated harassment course and decided to tick all the boxes. (Step one- gossip and make sure it’s malicious Step 2- make snide and passive aggressive remarks and rope your boss into it under the guise of bonding. Repeat steps as needed. 

His problem with her also seems manufactured. Heather asks him a job related question and he answers with “Jess wanted to strip and make a made bed” Really? That sounds a lot better than leaving trash in the guest room. 
 

Captain Lee addresses Jessica because Heather complained about her mood. She is worried about her grandparents and she is stuck in laundry. Who cares if she is not always smiling.

Heather is seriously misguided if she thinks Jessica is the bad apple rotting the tree. But I also don’t see any professionalism from her. She should have shut him down when his complaints were purely gossipy and had nothing to do with the quality of her work. 

[TheCouchPotato]

I love how Rayna look insulted and told Wesley he had no chance with her b/c she only likes light skinned men. What she meant to say is that she likes little elf looking men with whimsical  mustaches that are in open relationships. These women scoff at the nice guys and then cry when the creeps use them. SMH. 

i cannot stand Fraser and Heather… mean girls. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by TheCouchPotato

[Dirtybubble]

9 hours ago, TheCouchPotato said:

I love how Rayna look insulted and told Wesley he had no chance with her b/c she only likes light skinned men. What she meant to say is that she likes little elf looking men with whimsical  mustaches that are in open relationships. These women scoff at the nice guys and then cry when the creeps use them. SMH. 

i cannot stand Fraser and Heather… mean girls. 

😄😄  IKR?!  So far Wes is the only guy I like so of course that means he gets zero screen time.  But yeah lets follow the stupid, jr. high behavior of Mr. Pringles Potato Chip guy  *sigh* I still miss the dream team deck crew from BD Med

[TheCouchPotato]

11 hours ago, Dirtybubble said:

😄😄  IKR?!  So far Wes is the only guy I like so of course that means he gets zero screen time.  But yeah lets follow the stupid, jr. high behavior of Mr. Pringles Potato Chip guy  *sigh* I still miss the dream team deck crew from BD Med

You nailed it! - He is the Pringles guy. All this time, he reminded me of the Prospector from Rudolph but you’re spot on. I adore Wes. Rest of the guys are ick. 
 

I miss Katie. She could teach Heather how to be an amazing and kind hearted chief stew. 
 

Edited December 4, 2021 by TheCouchPotato

[Tanukisan]

Some observations on the episode this week – and sorry, I’m slammed at work and only now just catching up on important things, like BELOW DECK.  (:

 

Eddie doesn’t seem to understand that his job as First Officer isn’t instead of his job as Bosun – it’s IN ADDITION TO.

 

That pic of Captain Lee in the 80’s looks very similar to him now – except for the hair colour.

 

Why all the hate for Jess?  She seems to be ticking away at her job just fine.

 

General Custer (Jake) is proving himself to be a world class creep.

 

Rachel has been killing it this season.  But…. Without the drama?  Something is wrong.  Something is seriously wrong.  I suspect she’s saving it up for a spectacular event later.  In the meantime, though, I’d really love to have some of that corn on the cob….  (:

 

Why did they blur out stuff that didn’t need to be?  Trust me, we’re not looking there – we don’t care.

 

Heather is a world class b****.  Complaining to Rachel about her encounter with Rayna – really?  You know what would be more important?  ANYTHING.

 

Given the ensuing drama after the wind caught the “7” balloon, I expected to see police chalk outline drawings and tape.  Pull the other one.

 

Heather complaining about tongs.  Not quite Richard III, “Tongs, tongs, my kingdom for tongs!”   But close.  She complains about “no one coming up with a solution”.  Isn’t that *your* job, sweetie?

 

“Don’t embarrass yourself or the boat.”     Oops.

 

 

[lcarolynl]

Heather told Rayna not to go up without tongs. Rayna could have stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for tongs but she didn’t. She went up and placed the platter on the table, another No No, and now bitches about Heather?

LISTEN to your directions and then follow them Rayna! What an unpleasant non-team player! I did like her excited reaction to Jake and Fraser’s possible hookup. 

Edited December 5, 2021 by lcarolynl
Misspellings

[Back Atcha]

On 12/2/2021 at 11:55 PM, TheCouchPotato said:

I love how Rayna look insulted and told Wesley he had no chance with her b/c she only likes light skinned men.

OH!  I thought she said she DID NOT LIKE light-skinned men.

[Back Atcha]

On 11/30/2021 at 5:40 PM, Giuseppe said:

As for whether you can carry large sums of money on a plane, you would have to declare any amount over $10k. I’m not sure it requires anymore than showing ID and explaining the source of the money and the purpose of the money. Using it as a prize/tip on a TV show would do the trick. 

If "any amount over $10K" would ever be a problem, the charter groups always have enough people to divide the money into smaller sums.

On 11/30/2021 at 5:40 PM, Giuseppe said:

Do you really believe these guests brought $25k in $100 bills, put it in a little case, and handcuffed it to that little kid?

I DO BELIEVE.   At least I hope it was true--and it was charming.  The little boy was great...and it was a nice touch to include him that way.

On 11/30/2021 at 5:40 PM, Giuseppe said:

He wasn't handcuffed to it the whole cruise, just when they arrived and departed.

The case was probably kept in a safe in one of guest rooms.

[Back Atcha]

On 12/1/2021 at 5:50 AM, Booger666 said:

It went with the 80s theme of steak and lobster. In the 80s massive “cowboy steaks” were a thing

We called them Tomahawk Steaks back in the day; still served at Scottsdale AZ steakhouses.

[dleighg]

2 hours ago, Back Atcha said:

OH!  I thought she said she DID NOT LIKE light-skinned men

That's what I thought I heard as well, which of course makes zero sense given who she made out with on day one.

[TheCouchPotato]

19 hours ago, Back Atcha said:

OH!  I thought she said she DID NOT LIKE light-skinned men.

I initially thought I heard that as well and replayed it A couple of times. Plus, she quickly glommed onto the mustache guy who is white and said that he’s her type.