How do you solve a problem like Lexi Wilson? Apparently, if you’re Captain Sandy Yawn, the answer is not to issue any consequences whatsoever, and certainly never replace her. Instead, it’s to give her an endless amount of chances, put all the onus for managing the problem on your chief stew, then simply sit back and watch as the second stew with the terrible attitude drags down the whole interior. Because all of that’s much easier and gentler than simply letting her go. Just not for poor Katie Flood.
Because the fact of the matter is that Lexi is, at best, phoning it in. Last week’s episode ended with a guest complaining that the stew hadn’t even finished cleaning her room. We’re talking no towels. Left the caddy of cleaning products behind. And simply never came back to finish the room. What could possibly be pulling Lexi away from the most basic tasks of her job? Because laundry does not take that much time. It has to be pure laziness. She simply doesn’t care about doing good work unless she front-facing with the guests.
Annoyed and embarrassed, all Katie can do is apologize and tell Lexi to put towels in the cabin. Her second stew is officially making her look bad. And to make things go from bad to worse, when Lexi finally goes get around to finishing cleaning, the room she left halfway finished is occupied. But instead of knocking — and wondering why the caddy she left in the room is now sitting in the hallway — she walks right into the cabin. Where one of the guests is in the middle of changing out of her swimsuit. So awkward. So unprofessional. An accident, yes. But one that easily could’ve been avoided if Lexi hadn’t been shirking her duties in the first place.
At this point Captain Sandy finally offers Katie a proposition. She has a deck/stew on land who just cleared quarantine. The boat’s owner is already paying her as back-up. So if the interior needs another set of hands, now’s the time to ask. Katie’s conflicted about the offer. On one hand, she could definitely use the help. The guests have already remarked multiple times this charter that she seems to be doing all the work. They were openly wondering just this morning whether she ever takes breaks. On the the other hand, adding another body to the team could easily disrupt the tenuous dynamic between the stews. Because we all know how well Lexi reacts to…well, literally anything. She asks if she can think about it and talk the option over with the girls.
Meanwhile, it’s time for Oktoberfest! The guests have requested a full-blown German beer-drinking celebration, which means the crew is getting dressed up for a tip. A pig-tailed Courtney Veale is serving her best barmaid realness, while Malia White and the deck team are dressed in lederhosen. And Lloyd Spencer? Well he’s pretty much the Oktoberfest MC for the evening, decked out as a giant, life-sized beer stein to entertain the guests. Captain Sandy‘s even agreed to let the crew join in the fun with some non-alcoholic beer. Which Mzi Dempers promptly pounds to beat Lloyd in a beer-chugging competition.
The one person on the crew who isn’t interested in having any fun is Lexi. When Courtney offers to trade places so she can experience the festivities instead of doing turn-downs, she refuses. Because of course Lexi sees the gesture as some sort of trap to trick her into cleaning up all of Oktoberfest by herself. Instead, she’d rather be miserable below deck doing work she’s already said she hates. After Courtney comes back up empty-handed, Katie goes downstairs to check on Lexi. To Katie’s face, she claims she’s totally fine with the arrangement this charter, but she’s saying otherwise in her confessionals. Katie also runs the idea past her of bringing on another stew. And oddly, Lexi seems…totally fine with the idea. As long as the girl isn’t coming to take her job. Hmm, this reaction seems…suspicious?
Surprisingly, the person who puts up a fight is Courtney. She’s already feeling overworked and under-appreciated. And she’s not about to get demoted to fourth stew just because Lexi keeps dropping the ball. Why can’t they just replace Lexi instead, she wants to know. I can’t say I blame her for this reaction. But Katie assures her that’s definitely, totally not what’s happening here. Except she’s just as worried about how this situation will change the crew dynamic. The guests are pretty much the only ones who go to bed happy, thanks to all the beer and yet another slam dunk of a meal from Chef Mathew Shea.
The next morning is drop-off day. And with the wind at 16 knots, it’s all hands on deck for an early morning docking. But while the deck team continues to work like a well-oiled machine, Lexi continues to completely fail the interior. She’s supposed to be breakfast girl, but when the guests emerge from their cabins, she’s nowhere to be found. In fact, she’s so inattentive that the primary ends up having to get behind the bar and make his own drink. Poor Katie doesn’t realize this until after Lexi’s already told her no one’s up yet. And now she and her team look like complete idiots.
During drop-off, the primary doesn’t sugarcoat his criticism, telling Captain Sandy that there was a certain “lack of attention” paid to the guests in service. Thankfully, Mathew‘s cooking and the deck team’s stellar performance kept the ship from sinking. But it’s never good when your department gets called out as the sole problem area in front of the entire crew. Even though her instinct is telling her it’s not a good idea, Katie basically has no choice but to accept Sandy’s offer of another stew.
At the tip meeting, Sandy points out that, four charters in, they’ve received their first complaint of the season. (This isn’t entirely true considering how the season began, but alas…) Even still, the guests came through with the biggest tip of the season: a whopping $23,585. That’s nearly two grand per person, for those dividing at home. The next charter is the following day, so there’s very little time to turn the boat around. And in the preference sheet meeting, we find out it’s going to be a girls trip full of self-proclaimed Southern belles. Oh, and they have a laundry list of completely conflicting dietary restrictions. This should be fun and not high maintenance whatsoever.
Since it’s technically a school night, there’s no wild crew night out. Instead, Lexi randomly hits the hot tub with Lloyd, Mzi and David Pascoe while Malia and Courtney do some yoga. And by “yoga,” I mean mostly laying on the deck while gossiping and drinking wine. Courtney vents all of her frustrations and fears about bringing on another stew to the bosun. What if she thinks she’s coming in as second? Will she be able to jump in mid-season without causing waves? (The answer to that already seems to be no considering how the newbie’s pending arrival is messing with the crew’s cabin arrangements.) And quick side note worth mentioning: Lexi wasn’t allowed to read Harry Potter growing up and has no idea what a Muggle is. At least she’s finally attempting to play nice?
The next morning it’s pick-up day for charter number five! But before the bevy of Kentucky socialites takes over the boat, there’s still work to be done. A terrified Mzi gets strapped into a harness for the first time to wash Lady Michelle’s outer windows. And Katie pulls Lexi aside for a long overdue sit-down. As kindly as she can, Katie takes Lexi to task for the terrible job she’s been doing. Basic things like setting the table for breakfast and serving drinks are being missed if Katie’s not around to supervise. Flat out, she tells Lexi her work is not up to the standard of a second stew. So for the next charter, she’s doing away with ranks altogether. All the stews under Katie are now equal. Including the new girl, who’s just arriving on the dock…
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE CREW’S OKTOBERFEST OUTFITS? IS CAPTAIN SANDY PAWNING THE LEXI SITUATION OFF ON KATIE? IS KATIE MAKING THE RIGHT DECISION BY BRINGING ON ANOTHER STEW? HOW DO YOU THINK A NEWBIE WILL AFFECT THE DYNAMIC ON THE BOAT? AND WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE MIDSEASON TRAILER?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
