We’re back for another episode of Below Deck. Captain Sandy Yawn is in her villain era, and so is second-stew Alissa Humber. When we left off, Sandy was barking commands at her interior crew while they were congregated in the stew pantry. From the comfort of my couch, it feels obvious to me that this is an issue between Alissa’s work ethic and Sandy’s interest in critiquing interior crew members. Fraser Olender is just caught in the middle of a rock and a guest appearance by a reality TV yacht captain hard place.
Sandy’s Rollercoaster
Within minutes of her blow-up at the interior crew, Sandy seems aware she went a bit too far. She apologizes to Tyler Walker who is stripping her bed as demanded, despite the guests still being on board. Sandy peppers in some favoritism and tells Tyler he’s the hardest worker on the boat. Meanwhile, Fraser claims he is in “actual shock” from Sandy’s display. He labels her a “horrible human being” and I am absolutely loving this side of him.
Fraser is especially upset with Sandy’s criticism because, unlike the deck crew, his staff isn’t getting their breaks regularly. Interior is consistently working later and getting less sleep. They’ve had to work down a person, after firing Camille Lamb, and they’ve gotten no feel-good comments from their captain. Some light garbage duty help isn’t making up the difference. Fair enough.
During the tip meeting, Sandy reminds the crew that the walls of the yacht are thin, and she and the guests can hear everything. She says she doesn’t want complaints penetrating the boat. Almost immediately, Alissa is back to saying Sandy sucks deck-crew dick. We are only five minutes into this episode. Hold on, people.
Sportsball
Sandy has booked an hour-long beach volleyball event for the crew to have the summer camp team-building experience they’ve all been missing. This will definitely solve the power tripping, laziness, and communication problems plaguing the crew.
Fraser calls a medic out to the yacht to check out a scrape on his foot, and he is excused from the activity due to the risk of infection from the sand. Alissa tries to avoid the event by taking a nap, but Captain Yawn is not the one. She instructs Fraser to wake Alissa and essentially forces her to the beach during her time off. While the crew waits for Alissa to join, Sandy has a side conversation with Rachel Hargrove about how she’s the only one on the boat who can see the big picture. GO TEAM!
After the volleyball game is finished, Sandy pulls everyone in for their final hurrah. Surely she’s going to say some corny nonsense about all-for-one and how their fish doesn’t stink, right? Wrong. She decides to basically blame her flop of an idea on Fraser’s busted foot and communication style. He was supposed to report the scrape to her, after all. I hope he doesn’t have any unregistered OTC Neosporin he’s been putting on that!! It could be the last we see of him.
At this point, even Katie Glaser and Hayley De Sola Pinto are beginning to tire of Sandy’s relentless comments toward Fraser. Chef Rachel defends Sandy, though. She feels that the hierarchy has not been respected and that Fraser should be “breaking” and “remolding” his stews.
The Crew Goes To Dinner
On the drive back from volleyball, Alissa takes a moment to let Katie know that Ross McHarg has been touching her during their otherwise “normal conversations.” This sets the stage for the night out. In his confessional, Ross admits that he likes to play the field and he’s not sure if he may be a sex addict. Given that this is the second time he’s mentioned it, I think we have our answer.
Of course, Sandy’s leadership style becomes a topic of conversation over dinner. Deckhand Ben Willoughby defends Sandy in his confessional, but not at the table. He’s still jaw-dropped over Sandy refusing to move the boat for a man a few days ago. Girl power! He’s also still hooked on Camille and clearly sees Alissa as the reason his girlfriend had to leave the boat.
RELATED: Below Deck’s Captain Sandy Yawn Reveals Where She Stands With Camille Lamb Post Firing
After dinner, Alissa bums a cigarette from Ross who then tells her to sit away from him to avoid any suspicion. That’s not really how acting natural around other women works, but we can’t expect the power-wielding sex addict to know that now can we?
Later, Ross tries to gaslight Katie out of being concerned over Alissa. Katie reminds Ross she has eyes, and she saw him staring at Alissa all night. These two break up later in the episode and then get back together again. Same story, different week. Let’s not waste our time.
Alissa Vs. Sandy
It’s the match-up of the season. While the crew is working to flip the boat for the next charter, Fraser tells his team they can “fuck off” when they are done with their individual list of chores. And that they do. Once finished, Alissa and Hayley head to the deck for some tanning. It’s paradise until Sandy walks through the interior and only sees Tyler hard at work.
Sandy approaches the stewardesses on the aft deck. She questions why they are lounging while Tyler is busy working himself into an OCD nub. Hayley immediately offers to get up and help Tyler. Alissa becomes defensive, though, and does her best to assure the captain she had asked Tyler if he wanted help, which he denied. Her sing-song angry preschool teacher voice really doesn’t help matters. Sandy is incensed and directs Alissa to the bridge immediately.
Sandy is clear with Alissa that her attitude is not okay. SOMEONE HAD TO DO IT. She explains, “A lot of times crew oversteps, and you’re doing that. I want to explain something; What I won’t tolerate is what just happened… you will be off this boat so fast.” Sandy repeats that Alissa merely has to respect Sandy as a captain, not as a person. This is more than fair because so far Sandy hasn’t respected any of these people as the people they are, either.
Alissa leaves the bridge saying “cool cool.” She then fumbles her superiority complex by casually calling the captain by her first name, rather than CAPTAIN Sandy. This is immediately after the entire “hierarchy must be respected” lesson. THE AUDACITY. Sandy takes this as an “eff you”, and has had enough.
Fraser Pushes Forward
Sandy calls Fraser to the bridge and alerts him of what just happened. She tells him Alissa has been insubordinate three times. She blames Fraser for the disrespect because word has gotten out he has a lack of respect for the captain, too. Sandy tells Fraser this is the worst experience she’s ever had with a chief stew, and I just know Hannah Ferrier is grinning somewhere.
Sandy and Fraser agree to reset, and I actually think this might go somewhere. Fraser calls his mom to have a cry, and even holds Alissa accountable during a follow-up conversation about what happened between her and CAPTAIN Sandy earlier. Maybe we won’t be losing Fraser after all? So who is that mid-season trailer mystery blonde!?!?
The episode ends with Alissa being called to the bridge with Ross as a witness. It’s safe to say she’s being fired Camille-style. Interesting that it hasn’t been cross-approved by Fraser, but it seems that’s just not Captain Sandy’s style.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ITS TIME FOR ALISSA TO BE FIRED? ARE YOU SICK OF THE KATIE AND ROSS BACK AND FORTH? WILL ALISSA BEING OFF THE BOAT SAVE THEIR RELATIONSHIP?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images]
