S10.E17: Oh Captain, My Captain

[TexasGal]

Quote

St. David sets off for the final charter of the season. Fraser is terrified of the new bodybuilder charter guests but learns a valuable lesson about not judging a book by its cover. Ben's love life is thrown for a loop when a text message from Camille pushes him into the arms of another. Tyler bravely decides to reveal his sexuality to his mom after encouragement from Hayley Chef Rachel reaches a new level of exhaustion leaving her future as a yacht chef hanging in the air.

Airdate: 03.20.2023

[psychoticstate]

So is there no reunion show for this season? 

[aqusdealer]

Sad to see the little vignettes of past seasons to mark Captain Lee's retirement from the helm of the show. Not so much for him being older and less mobile, but for the way the show has gone downhil. Gone are the funny, classier moments with Kate...only to be replaced by it's current bargain basement sale of debauchery and cheap shots. Bye Captain Lee,. There will always be a hot cup of coffee waiting for you on the bridge.

[Chatty Cake]

I was a little sad at the old clips of Captain Lee. I will miss him. This season wasn’t very good between the crew problems and the awful Sandy being on. I wonder if they can revive it. 
I did like Fraser and how he admitted his first impression of the guests was wrong. 
 

[Baltimore Betty]

Capt. Lee gave his last "G-d damn it!" from the bridge...end of watch, sigh.

Every season the deck crew gets douchier and more unattractive and yet they are in great demand with the ladies on the crew, it is only 6 weeks for the whole season and no one can keep it in their pants till they get back to dry land, unreal...these are not the men/hill I would die on.

Ever since Ashton, (I think it was him) complained how he couldn't get his dick sucked on board and how frustrating it was implying the women on board are only there to serve as concubines it really turned me off from the dynamics set up by production.

The muscle woman with her fake designer D&G studded dress and LV headband with LV midriff tied tee, oh dear, the fake stuff looks terribly fake.

The body building show was cringe. Why do charters request the crew participate like trained monkeys? I would much rather have them do their jobs, what was the prize for winning that contest anyway?

Hayley grew on me, not the peeing in her pants and crassness she led with but she seems to have her shit together and is a nice person.

Faser pulled it together and I hope he gets another season as Chief Stew.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Baltimore Betty

[65mickey]

11 hours ago, psychoticstate said:

So is there no reunion show for this season? 

This season doesn't deserve a reunion. Awful cast and guests for the most part. I wish that the producers would watch the first 4 or 5 seasons and use their brains to see what made this show so popular. It wasn't a bunch of drunk kids with their sexual hijinks jumping in bed with the first person who looks at them and then spending the entire season whining and complaining because their sex partner du jour is looking for something better.  I didn't watch this episode so I have no idea if the couples went arm and arm into the real world. And I don't give a damn. 

[aghst]

3 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

The body building show was cringe. Why do charters request the crew participate like trained monkeys? I would much rather have them do their jobs, what was the prize for winning that contest anyway?

The guests went along with it but I doubt it was their idea.

I know that some restaurants will have the waiting staff sing happy birthday for some guests, maybe do a little dance.

Now do super yacht crews cater to these kinds of requests, like they're some glorified chain restaurant?

Or only on Bravo super yachts?

 

Another stunt casting of guests.  I guess the casting agents trawl for these minor celebrities like YouTube stars, social influencers and apparently bodybuilders now.  Maybe their friends, family and fans tuned in for the episode of a show they might not otherwise watch or have known about.

 

As for the rest, of course all's well in the finale, everyone gives a fake heartfelt goodbye to each other.

It's all one happy crew, even though most of them won't see each other again.

 

Oh and I wonder if they pressured Tyler to talk about coming out and calling his mother on camera to do it.  He should have declined if it was their idea to do it on the show.

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by aghst

[iMonrey]

Quote

So is there no reunion show for this season? 

I don't know, but typically it airs the week after the finale. Next week is some special tribute/clip show for Lee, possibly a reunion show the week after that.

Hayley and Tyler were on WWHL. Andy asked Tyler how it went coming out to his mother, Tyler said "it could have gone better" but they are still talking. Hayley was asked what surprised her the most, she said it was that they actually had to do the work. It appears these people come aboard thinking it's all play-acting for the cameras and someone else behind the scenes does the actual work, but in reality they do have to do those jobs.

I noticed nobody said anything about Sandy during their goodbye scenes.

I don't know if this show can be "fixed" at this point, the formula has been too diluted by all the different versions in the franchise and they are really struggling now to cast believable charter guests.

[MyMaui]

Poor Ben.  Camille used you just enough to get her air time and boom last episode she can't 'text'.  That was a nice kiss off but yet you still want to find out what she meant.  Any heartbreak then you deserve.  You were warned by her.

Hayley surprised they had to work on WWHL.  Have you not seen this show?  Why would you think this at all? You were not signed on to be a guest.

I hope Tyler wasn't pressured to come out on the show. If he wanted to then I am happy but I makes me wonder.

Who could say anything nice about Sandy....oops Capt Sandy.  She was a thorn in the side of the interior the day she stepped on the ship.  She doubted the chef and then tried make her an ally to bring down the interior.  Nothing nice about her at all.

I wanted a reunion because I wanted Sandy to be held accountable for her actions of being a bitch.   She went after the interior for personal reasons...except for Camille.  Camille who seemed to get the nicest exit too.  I guess Below Deck doesn't want to challenged no confronted for her behavior.  She needed to answer for Camille's goodbye tour to Alissa being escorted off the boat.  Personal or not should have both been done the same.

If Capt Lee is done with this show then so am I. As for the screechy annoying voice on Down Under for Capt Lee being too old.  Maybe learn a few things first instead of your first tour sucking up to a deck crew on Capt Sandy's watch. You were lucky Sandy wanted Hannah gone or you would have been her target.  I refuse to watch Kerry from the new series - He sucks..  Only show now I will watch is Below Deck.   

[njbchlover]

The lack of posts for the last episode of this season is indicative of what a drag this season was.

How sad that this show has lost so much of what made it fun to watch and snark about.

This was all just so lackluster.  I don't know if I will tune in next season if the rumors of Captain Lee not returning are true, just because after some of my other favorite BD cast members left, I watched mostly for Captain Lee.

[iMonrey]

Quote

This was all just so lackluster.  I don't know if I will tune in next season if the rumors of Captain Lee not returning are true, just because after some of my other favorite BD cast members left, I watched mostly for Captain Lee.

Much as I dislike Sandy, I'm pretty tired of Captain Lee and his "God dammits!" and corny metaphors too. I definitely do not want Sandy taking over full time, but I'm open to a new captain. Captain Lee isn't what's making or breaking the show, for me.

What's really breaking it (and all the other BD shows) are the obviously recruited guests for the charters.

[Baltimore Betty]

27 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I dislike Sandy, I'm pretty tired of Captain Lee and his "God dammits!"

Maybe they could find another female captain, give Sand, oops Capt. Sandy lol a run for her money.

[gaPeach]

Well, Ben decided to stay true to Camille.  Kuddos to him.  Too bad it was for someone like Camille, who will chew him up and spit him out once their time in DR is over.  I liked the new girl...her name escapes me.  I agree with Frasier that the new stew is more of a match for him then Camille.  I think once Camille dumps him, he will ring up the new stew.

Sad to see Lee retire but it appears to be time.  I have always liked him and his corny catchphrases.  Let's hope they get a good replacement for him.

On 3/21/2023 at 11:17 AM, aghst said:

On 3/21/2023 at 8:09 AM, Baltimore Betty said:

The body building show was cringe. Why do charters request the crew participate like trained monkeys? I would much rather have them do their jobs, what was the prize for winning that contest anyway?

The guests went along with it but I doubt it was their idea.

I am pretty sure it was discussed when they went over the clients' requests at the pre-charter meeting.  I thought they said the clients wanted a competition with the crew, which I thought was dumb.  Apparently, the clients wanted the crew to compete against each other.  And why did Tony not win?  He works out every morning and looked the most ripped of all the crew.  The fix was in............... :-)

[aghst]

The guest requests and preference sheets are manipulated too.

These aren't the only guests to request the crew to participate in some competition, either against each other or with the guests.

Or do some song and dance thing or perform in other ways.  I see why they do it, gives crew something to do and for them to have a scene which is different than the normal course of these chargers.

We've had "guest" requests which involve the crew getting into elaborate garb or costumes.  The crew aren't packing that stuff for cruises on another continent nor are the guests.

The producers acquire this paraphernalia for shooting.

If you go to some restaurant, the wait staff may sing happy birthday for guests on request but that's about it.  They're not putting on costumes or performing anything more complicated than singing happy birthday.

So the producers decided to take that idea further and make the crew perform.  I'm sure many of them don't mind, probably some are aspiring actors who may actually have singing and dancing experience.

 

 

[Baltimore Betty]

I watched the movie The Triangle of Sadness, it starts out on a yacht that has more than one group on board, the opening scene made me laugh, older rich woman asks a stew if she is doing everything she wants to do in life, stew says yes but rich older woman decides the stew would like to swim in the pool so the stew gets in the pool in her uniform...I thought of BD and the stupid things guests portend to make the crew do.

[Tanukisan]

Sorry for the delay in posting, but I needed to see a man about a horse...

Like a damp squib that ends a season, these comments are in the order of the episode scenes broadcast…

I’m just so tired of this fake season – the fake guests, the fake crew, all of it.  At the end of this season, I’m convinced that 90% of this entire season is just made up.

For me, one of the potential big moments of this episode was a two-second throwaway line about who would “flake” the anchor.  This was made a big deal in a different episode on one of the other shows in the franchise – “flaking the anchor” meant physically guiding the anchor chain as the anchor was hoisted such that it wouldn’t tangle in the hold and be prepped for the next time the anchor was dropped.  It required someone being in a cramped interior area making that happen.  This could have been an interesting insight into the mechanics of the boat, etc., but it was passed over in just a few seconds.  It’s this sort of thing I’d like to see more of, and less of some asshole wanting a turkey sandwich or fake crew drama about texting.

Thoroughly enjoyed every “Goddamnit!” from Captain Lee during the final docking – he’ll be missed.

The tip was $20K.  Captain Lee said that was “$1,500 per person even money”.  The math says 13.33 people are involved.  Including Captain Lee, we see 10 people counting Captain and crew members.  So… 3.33 people are unaccounted for – probably those doing “real” work, such as the First Officer, Engineer, and who knows who else.  Would have like to have seen those people too.

And so the season ends.  Thank God.  Let us never speak of it again – no, wait, some final comments…

Things I won’t miss:

1)      Alissa.  You evil hag.  It’s too bad you didn’t get your well-deserved comeuppance before you did, but better late than never.  Enjoy obscurity, you satanic harridan.

2)      Captain Queeg.  I know that for some reason, almost certainly political, Bravo loves you – I don’t.  Herpes, the Bubonic Plague, Cholera, or Consumption would make a better substitute Captain.

3)      Speaking of herpes – Ross.  You are an insufferable ass.  Your predatory nature and sex pervert revelations are second only to your drunk-off-your-ass-barely-can-stand outings.  Captain Queeg may think you look like 007 at the helm of the tender – I think you’re just double-oh-nothing.

4)      Fraser – you were a backstabbing weasel when I first saw you in a previous season and you haven’t changed much.  You’re quick to revel in praise and quicker to throw others under the bus/boat when things go wrong.  You’re a gossipy phony.  And it hurts to say that because I really wanted to like you at first.

5)      Katie – You were a great deckhand and early on showed great promise – but then you became the Svengali-victim of Ross… and volunteered to stay that way.  Lost all respect for you.

6)      Camille – I honestly dislike you least of all my other dislikes.  You were a lazy, selfcentred, indolent jackaninny.  But you weren’t fake.

7)      Tony – the endless grunting, dude.  Que pasa.

Things I will miss:

1)      Rachel.  Your cooter talk and sharp sailor tongue aside, compared to previous seasons I thought you acquitted yourself very well and was pleased to see you grow.  I wish you much success in any of your future endeavours, and I’d like to see you on the franchise again.

2)      Surprisingly – Haley.  At first I thought you were just another insufferable chav(ette), your bad plastic surgery a lesson in what work to avoid having done.  But you actually turned out to be the best functioning interior crew member, your drunken episodes and tits/ass talk notwithstanding.  And we won't even mention your relationship with cake.

3)      Captain Lee.  All things must pass, I suppose, but I remember you through several seasons and you always were very real.

And speaking of real, what will happen next season?  Will the trend to being a completely scripted show continue?  Will the quest to redeem Captain Queeg reach new lows?  What’s the over/under on drag queen guests and crew? 

Stay tuned – if you dare.

 

 

[Zaffy]

Well...not even my beloved Rachel made me watch the last 3 episodes..

Imho the franchise in general has decided to follow a direction that does not interest me at all.
First of all It seems like if it is 100% scripted. I mean I know that reality shows are quite scripted but BD seemed to be less scripted than the usual. Well, not anymore.
It also seems the producers believe their audience are just horny immature teenagers who enjoy watching adults (crew or/and guests) behaving like juveniles or moronic frats.

The Crew..
For each Rachel, Aesha or Kate (oh, you are SO much missed) we get dozens of unbearable  Camilles and Rosses...
The Guests
With a few exceptions (like the Tennis lady champ) the guests seemed completely recruited and not from a pool of quality.
One might say that the pandemic made it difficult to find decent guests but the pattern had began before Covid.
The experience
Fake or forced dramas, silly cliffhangers, absolutely ridiculous theme parties, expensive yachts that keep malfunctioning, lots of twerking, drunk people acting like cretins, sexists, more twerking, and many characters you wouldn't want to spend 10mins with and not watching them for an entire season.

So, if you are not able to find decent guests anymore or  interesting and at least with some basic IQ crew,  then maybe you should think of ending the Franchise instead of creating a bazillion of new spin offs.

This season I failed to finish BD, BDM (and not because of Sandy, geez at this point she is the last that annoys me) and I only watched 1 episode of BDA. I finished BDSY (I love the boat and Captain Glenn) and BDDU (only because of Aesha).

I will probably watch 1-2 episodes next season, just in case they manage to have an interesting crew again, but unless the showrunners change their game dramatically, I think my BD days are probably over.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by Zaffy

[sugarbaker design]

16 hours ago, Tanukisan said:

So… 3.33 people are unaccounted for – probably those doing “real” work, such as the First Officer, Engineer, and who knows who else.

They're not unaccounted for, there has always been a first officer and two engineers in on tip sharing.  Has been since day one.

[Tanukisan]

14 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

They're not unaccounted for, there has always been a first officer and two engineers in on tip sharing.  Has been since day one.

If you had included my previous sentence in the quote, you would have noted that I said there were 10 people in the scene, but the math came out to 13.33 people for the tip total.  The remaining 3 were unaccounted for... in the scene picture.  And I did go on to name the positions of those not seen in the scene, if you follow.

[kassa]

Was not lost on me that the last few episodes have featured LOTS of deck crew literally sitting around not even in pairs but in groups during work hours - what happened to "if you're leaning you could be cleaning"?  If Sandy were on board she'd probably praise their amaaazing easy going spirits while doing a white glove test on the back of the galley refrigerator and blaming Fraser for any dust.

Only way to revive the show is to ask what I assume is casting question #1 ("Are you willing to hook up?") and cast against it. 

Then give some of the trips away to deserving people - they're already bearing the lion's share of the boat rental so they could do this. We might actually meet interesting folks who like the last guests would really enjoy the ship and might still be characters. I'm sure Bravo could write it off as a charitable donation.

Ben clearly wants to cook in that St. David kitchen, which is about 5x bigger and 10x more luxurious than anything he was ever given to cook in, so I bet he would come back just to outperform Rachel, whom he clearly looks down on. 

Hell, make it a game show - have the staff need to solve some season-long mystery for which each set of charter guests would provide a clue. This might lead to actual... conversations!

I do hope they keep this boat, though -it's gorgeous. 

 

 

 

[pasdetrois]

Rachel essentially declared her retirement throughout this season. I won't miss her (or Lee who overstayed his welcome), but I hope she finds a gig she loves and continues to work on her self-care.

Edited March 25, 2023 by pasdetrois

[RedHawk]

On 3/21/2023 at 11:18 AM, iMonrey said:

Hayley and Tyler were on WWHL. Andy asked Tyler how it went coming out to his mother, Tyler said "it could have gone better" but they are still talking. Hayley was asked what surprised her the most, she said it was that they actually had to do the work. It appears these people come aboard thinking it's all play-acting for the cameras and someone else behind the scenes does the actual work, but in reality they do have to do those jobs.

Like many I first thought Hayley would be a huge drunken mess (due to previews of the one time she was a huge drunken mess) and then she turned out to be the most consistently hard-working, get it done member of the crew. She never shirked, she usually didn't choose sides in the petty interactions, and she stayed even keel, pleasant, and funny. By the episode of the huge drunken mess, I was surprised she would act that way, but hey, she was lit and that's what can happen. Looks like that particular evening many of them were over-served. It didn't change how much I liked her.

Hayley and Katie were good workers and made progress, and were commended for it. I would much rather watch a basically well-functioning crew (as this group finally became) than the type of behavior we usually have to sit through.

On 3/21/2023 at 7:02 PM, MyMaui said:

I hope Tyler wasn't pressured to come out on the show. If he wanted to then I am happy but I makes me wonder.

I was worried about that from the beginning. Coming out is serious and frightening even if your parents are liberal and accepting. Hayley was urging him, and said something like [paraphrase], "You tell them, they still love you, and it's over." Nope, not how it goes at all, many times. I was so concerned that he would be pushed to make that call on camera.

Maybe Hayley wasn't that aware of his family story, that his father was conservative religious and his mother was similar and the family was raised that way. It was a setup by production and I was relieved when his mother was visiting his grandmother and wasn't in a place to take a "serious" call. Very glad that none of the real conversation happened on camera and I do believe that it didn't go so well, to Tyler's heartbreak.

Maybe families don't throw their kids on the streets anymore when they come out, as happened to my friend when he was a teenager in the mid 80s, but my cousin came out about 10 years ago when she was in college and her parents did not handle it well, even joined a "pray the gay away" support group despite not being very church-oriented religious before. They still do not discuss her partner of 8 years other than to refer to her as "a friend" of their daughter. 

On 3/22/2023 at 3:52 PM, gaPeach said:

I am pretty sure it was discussed when they went over the clients' requests at the pre-charter meeting.  I thought they said the clients wanted a competition with the crew, which I thought was dumb.  Apparently, the clients wanted the crew to compete against each other.  And why did Tony not win?  He works out every morning and looked the most ripped of all the crew.  The fix was in............... :-)

I couldn't believe Tony didn't win. Ross? He has a nice body but not a sculpted one. Tony seemed surprised and unhappy that he didn't win but only showed it for a moment, then just shrugged it off. Probably also knew the fix was in!

Edited March 25, 2023 by RedHawk

[pasdetrois]

I'm pretty sure coming out on camera was Tyler's price of admission to be allowed onto the show.

Production hoped Tony would pout at not winning the body contest, but he blew it off. Good for him.

Hayley is great but we gotta take up a collection to buy her some Scrunchies. That head of hair is awful and looks unclean.

Edited March 26, 2023 by pasdetrois

[Tanukisan]

1 hour ago, pasdetrois said:

Hayley is great but we gotta take up a collection to buy her some Scrunchies. That head of hair is awful and looks unclean.

The word "Medusa" comes to mind... (:

[maggiemae]

I think the show misses when they go to exotic destinations and only show a beach picnic.

Flying to a  destination is not just a 3 day cruise but a little sightseeing as well.

The only things the BD remember about their cruises are the restaurants/clubs, if even then.

[Oosala]

On 3/21/2023 at 4:02 PM, MyMaui said:

I hope Tyler wasn't pressured to come out on the show. If he wanted to then I am happy but I makes me wonder.

100% agree.  It's a personal decision that shouldn't be forced by another.

[Mr. Miner]

On 3/23/2023 at 1:30 PM, kassa said:

("Are you willing to hook up?")

On camera, with your cabin mate in the room?

[iMonrey]

Hmm, interesting there was no reunion show for this season. I really can't think of why, other than maybe not enough of the cast was available. While the show has certainly reached a low point, it hasn't stopped Bravo from pimping it and propping it.

[Rabbit Hutch]

This season was a hot mess, and I'm glad it's finally in the hopper.  But I'm going to miss Rachel, our "cooter girl" (still brings a smile to my face), and Hayley, whose heart is as big as her horrible hair.  Wish both of you the best of luck, girls.  

Captain Lee, Godspeed, hun.  Hope retirement is everything you hope for and deserve.  Thanks for the memories.  

As for the rest, whatever.  😴 

[rur]

FWIW: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/below-deck-star-captain-lee-114600490.html