Gary King has placed Below Deck Sailing Yacht’s future in jeopardy. Joining this cast in Season 2, Gary has given us three seasons of very clear patterns. Simply put, Gary loves the ladies. In fact, his storylines every single season have always involved at least one love triangle, and/or a drunken one-night stand.
But then, the sexual assault situations on Below Deck Down Under Season 2 arose. The ramifications from this quickly began trickling down towards every other series on Bravo. In a good way, the department heads and the production teams dove into action, protecting the innocent parties onboard. This was rightfully celebrated, but in this, many of the viewers also began verbalizing their thoughts on Gary, stating that he is quickly becoming a problem-in-waiting for this network.
Clearly, the safety of everyone on set is a serious matter. So serious in fact, that the latest allegations made against Gary are seemingly giving this network a major pause on how to move forward with this series. I get this, as some shipwrecks are hard to salvage, but, is this the case for BDSY? Or, can this sailing yacht still rise up from the dank floors of the ocean, salvaged for many more seasons to come?
A recap of the latest allegations against Gary
Last year, after filming for BDSY Season 5 had already wrapped, with Gary’s likeness attached, an explosive Rolling Stone article was released. In this, a production member named Samantha Suarez claimed that Gary had attempted to force himself on her during filming for Season 4. Several crew members also stated that they’ve witnessed Gary “constantly” making women uncomfortable with his aggressive pursuits. One anonymous source went even further, alleging that they saw Gary grab a cast member’s butt, touching her despite her spoken “No.”
Shortly after this exposé dropped, the calls for canceling Gary began. Bravo went first, uninviting Gary’s bun from BravoCon. Then, Gary took zero accountability online, likely sealing his fate with this network forever. But, as his new season has already been filmed, how on earth can this network now move forward with their material?
What an edited Season 5 could look like
Again, BDSY Season 5 has already filmed, so recasting Gary’s role is out of the equation. However, we’ve already seen a Season 5 edit go down, via Peter Hunziker over on Below Deck Mediterranean Season 5. Like Gary, Peter also filmed an entire season, but when racist posts of his appeared online, his firing followed. Since his season had already wrapped, the post-production teams had the grueling job of editing Peter’s likeness out of every single scene.
That said, Peter was brand new to this franchise. Therefore, as a viewer, I wasn’t tuned into Peter’s faded presence at all. In contrast, Gary has starred on BDSY for three long seasons. We all know Gary, and in almost every single scene that’s aired, Gary’s present, and for the most part, his antics are the main storylines.
This means that editing out Gary will likely leave BDSY Season 5 with some pretty major plot holes. Unless the other cast members brought it, that is. So, if it’s between editing Gary out for this one season, or leaving this one season alone to just die slowly down on the ocean’s floor, it’s probably better to just scrap this whole season.
But, if they do this, and Season 5 (re)films sans Gary, can BDSY puke and rally as a series?
Can a reboot better save Below Deck Sailing Yacht?
As humans, we tend to gravitate towards the familiar. This recipe has worked well with BDSY for three seasons. Colin MacRae, Daisy Kelliher, and Gary all entered during Season 2, becoming the staples for this Below Deck spin-off. Working underneath Captain Glenn Shephard, these four brought this series into the fold, making it one of the greatest BD series ever, for a short time at least.
With these new allegations against Gary though, it’s very clear that Bravo might have to remove him from their lineups. Thankfully, Colin and Daisy are back to being friends. They fixed their fallout from Season 4, which I love. This leaves Colin far more likely to return to filming.
You see, unlike Gary, Colin actually sat Season 5’s filming out. But, if this entire season now gets a reboot, Colin can hopefully return. This would bring this series back up to 3 familiar faces, instead of just the 2 found in Daisy and Captain Glenn. This would royally suck for the newbies of Season 5 though, as all of their efforts will get left on the cutting room floor.
Unless Bravo brings them all back to film underneath Colin, instead of Gary. But would this series still be watchable at this point? Do we need Gary? Or neh, let’s reboot and resail BDSY?
So, do we vote to save Below Deck Sailing Yacht, or do we just let it sink?
And now, our one main ask remains; what do we do with the future of this one particular series? Are Colin, Daisy, and Captain Glenn likable enough to help keep Below Deck Sailing Yacht afloat? Or, has this series run its course, becoming far too tarnished by Gary’s antics, and a lack of oversight onboard as to his problematic ways, to fully survive?
If it were up to me, I’d sink the footage that has already taped. Editing out Gary will be tough AF, because he’s everywhere, always. After that, I’d bring back Colin and keep Daisy, but I’d also try and get as many of their costars from Season 4 to return as possible because these drama-free yachties during a messy main character season gave me life. But also Bravo, if you’re listening, if anyone great filmed for your first take of Season 5, then maybe let’s get them back into the fray as well, eh?
Stream Below Deck Sailing Yacht on Peacock.
TELL US – IS BDSY SAVEABLE? OR, DO WE JUST LET THIS SERIES SINK DOWN TO THE OCEAN’S FLOOR, NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN?
