Sydney Zaruba is a bit unhinged when it comes to love. That’s become a well-established fact in the universe of Below Deck Sailing Yacht. But it turns out that when you add alcohol, she gets even worse. This is something poor Alli Dore learned quickly at the end of last week’s episode. You know, the one where a drunk Sydney went on the attack and drove Alli to flee to her cabin with her constant passive-aggressive jabs. Last week, Colin Macrae chalked it up Sydney just being a scary drunk. But this week, he expounds on his theory that it all goes back to the love triangle that never ends. Sydney’s just jealous and picking a fight over Gary King.
Thankfully, we quickly skip ahead to the next morning. Which turns out to be a turnaround day on the boat, since the next charter doesn’t start until the following afternoon. Jean-Luc Cerza Lanaux and Dani Soares emerge from their guest cabin in postcoital bliss. Or at least general giddiness. (They even used the master suite because it tuns out JL’s 6’9″ frame won’t even fit in the other guest beds, either.) And Alli‘s waking up to the realization that yes, she has a growing “attachment” to Gary. But she refuses to do anything about it on account of Sydney‘s, ahem, rather intense feelings for the shaggy-haired first mate.
Since they have the entire day to prepare, Captain Glenn Shephard calls an early preference sheet meeting with Gary, Daisy Kelliher and Natasha De Bourg. The co-primaries for the next charter are a married couple from the Bay Area. And the wife apparently has such a refined, sensitive and cultured palate that she’s decided to label herself a self-proclaimed food critic. Lovely. Just what every yacht chef wants — a pretentious yet untrained guest ready to go above and beyond the usual airs to critique the food. Looks like Natasha’s going to have her work cut out for her on this charter.
By that afternoon, though, the charter looks to be in danger thanks to a sudden swell of rather terrible weather. As Colin tells the audience via confessional, the “Tiwal weather” quickly turns into a potential nightmare. While Captain Glenn assures the crew it’s just a thunderstorm passing through, the situation becomes all hands on deck when Parsifal gets pushed perilously close to the dock.
And it certainly doesn’t help that Jean-Luc is incapable of measuring a meter, putting the boat at risk of hitting the dock when he tells Glenn he’s got two meters of space. It’s just one more strike in Gary‘s list of complaints about the junior deckhand, who he claims has no drive or desire to learn. But thankfully, the deck crew scrambles to get fenders in place, Glenn turns on the engine and the boat is saved. For now.
Meanwhile, poor Dani is below deck having a full-blown existential crisis. Tearfully, she opens up to Sydney about the loss of her best friend, who was killed just four months earlier in the line of duty as a police officer. Dani explains the two had dated back when they were 18. And she always harbored the idea that some day they would end up together. But now she’s grieving the loss and wondering what exactly she’s doing with her life. Later in the episode, she even has another breakdown.
Dani flat-out questions her life as a yacht stewardess. Not to mention the fact that she’s 32 and hooking up with a 24 year old. But, spoiler alert! Given the announcement this week that she’s PREGNANT, it looks like Dani’s been through some monumental changes since the season wrapped. Now we all just need to know if the baby is Jean-Luc‘s!
Oddly enough, the rest of the day passes without much drama. Especially given the fact that Glenn gave the crew permission to “have a couple drinks” as long as they didn’t get too crazy. But it looks like they took his warning seriously, because everyone just goes to bed. Cut to the next morning and it’s charter day! However, tragedy strikes 10 minutes before the guests’ arrival when Colin gets a phone call from his girlfriend back home. And it’s the worst news: his dog, Marty, is having seizures and may need to be put down. Colin’s only had the puppy for two years, after his friends found it abandoned in a cave and he adopted it. It’s just the saddest, most blindsiding thing. And now Colin has to shake it off and put on a smile to greet the guests.
The primaries and their friends arrive in formalwear. And are immediately served some type of cream cheese popsicle concocted by Natasha. For this charter, Daisy is determined to give the chef some creative space. Mostly to avoid another blow-up over portion sizes. Or eggs. Or any one of the other millions of things that could set Natasha off. And speaking of crew drama, Gary informs Jean-Luc he’ll be staying on nights. He also reprimands the deckhand for not getting any of the overnight work done. It’s becoming a pattern. So until Jean-Luc proves he can do his job, he’s staying on the late shift.
For dinner, Natasha pulls out all the stops to impress the amateur food critic. Starting with an amuse-bouche of red curry chicken. Next, she’s literally painting her plating to serve a scampi with pumpkin, orange and ginger sorbet. And the guests are eating up all the flair. When Natasha brings out the main course of wagyu steak, the co-primary attempts to look smart and sophisticated by asking if she was “excited to work with this wagyu.” It’s the kind of vague, snobby question meant to look like you know what you’re talking about. But girl. C’mon. Any chef worth their salt would be “excited” to work with such a premium cut of meat. Really and truly get over yourself. But it doesn’t matter because the guests all proclaim it to be the best meal they’ve ever had. And Captain Glenn is impressed, so it’s a win for Natasha.
Following dinner, the guests requested a disco rave on the fly bridge. Which is the perfect distraction for Gary and Alli to have a late-night heart-to-heart on the bow. Never mind that Alli’s out of uniform and shouldn’t be on deck. Gary’s determined to make another move. Especially since Alli’s finally acknowledging the chemistry between them. She even gives in and lays her head on his shoulder. They’re practically cuddling! But just like that, Alli cuts things off. She tells Gary there’s no way there can ever be anything between them. Because Sydney. It’s always about Sydney. But seriously, how many more times do we think she’ll say that to Gary this season? In sadder news, Colin learns his dog has passed away, and it’s simply heartbreaking to watch. R.I.P. Marty!
Day two kicks off with a laundry crisis. Glenn‘s out of underwear and Sydney doesn’t have a clean polo. Oops, looks like Alli dropped the ball. Good thing the guests will be off the boat for most of the day so she can focus on fixing the laundry situation. The guests requested an off-shore excursion, so they’ll be having sunset drinks at Trogir Castle. That is, after Captain Glenn backs the boat into the marina like a champ. Setting up at the castle involves Daisy, Gary, Jean-Luc and Colin going up and down lots and lots of stairs. But at least they get to leave the boat for a minute, right? And the view at the top of the castle looks truly worth the climb.
Meanwhile, Alli decides to finally confront Sydney sober back at the boat about the animosity building between them. However, the deckhand acts like everything is fine. The only things she’s mad about is the laundry, OK?! In fact, the discussion actually turns into something of a departmental issue. Sydney airs the deck crew’s grievances about the interior instead of being forthcoming with her own feelings. And in doing so, she manages to pass the buck, saying that Daisy and Gary need to sort out the larger problems among the crew. Because denial and deflection are always effective methods of conflict resolution. But, hey, points to Alli for trying to force the conversation…
The set-up at the castle ends up looking like some sort of tropical Game of Thrones theme. Yes there are ancient ruins. But there are also pineapples. It’s confusing. And the guests are in full tuxedoes and gowns. What Daisy and Gary didn’t take into consideration is that at the top of a castle, there’s no shade. And at 91 degrees, the guests quickly get uncomfortable in the heat. One easy solution? Bottled water! But when Gary radioes Jean-Luc to bring four extra bottles STAT, he replies that he’ll do so…after he’s finished eating dinner. Not the right move, JL! Not at all. As the minutes tick by, Gary gets justifiably impatient. And ends up going all the way back to the boat himself where he’s ready to rage at Jean-Luc. And…cut to the midseason trailer!
TELL US – DO YOU THINK DANI’S PREGNANT WITH JEAN-LUC’S BABY? IS GARY RIGHT TO BE ANNOYED AT JEAN-LUC DROPPING THE BALL SO OFTEN? DID YOUR HEART BREAK FOR POOR COLIN? WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE MIDSEASON TRAILER?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
