Below Deck Mediterranean Recap: Overstepping
overnights
Sept. 16, 2024
Below Deck Mediterranean Recap: Overstepping
By
Emma Soren,
a comedy writer and reality-TV enthusiast.
Chain of Command-ment
Season 9
Episode 16
Editorâs Rating
3 stars
Another Emmys weekend went by, and sadly still no Emmy Awards for the Below Deck franchise. (In case you missed it, Below Deck Down Under was nominated for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program and Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program.) The franchise is a winner in our hearts, and in the spirit of spicing things up (other than Jonoâs food) for this seasonâs penultimate-episode recap, Iâll be handing out some made-up awards as we go along.
Tonightâs episode picks back up with Aesha comforting a crying Gael, whoâs upset that Joe and Nathan drunkenly made plans for after the season because she and Nathan had already planned to travel together. Gael pulls herself together and goes to Nathanâs bed. Nathan whispers that he wants to travel with her and loves her more and more. Gael wants to see this in action, but for now theyâre reconciled. She questions whether her feelings are real because things with Nathan moved so fast. She hasnât known him outside a work environment and is scared of going through the same problems as with her ex once theyâre not together. I do hope they can make things work post-season. If not, a consolation prize: The Most Crush-Worthy Cast Member award isnât even a competition. Gael wins hands down.
Meanwhile, Carrie and Joe flirt over some late-night pizza, but in the morning Joe swears to Nathan that Carrie is âso soundâ as a mate that he doesnât even want to go there. Nathan thinks itâs bullshit â this is Joeâs pattern. Carrie didnât give in to him, so heâs pretending he didnât want her. In an interview, Carrie agrees she and Joe are just pals. A producer asks if she has ever hooked up with pals before. Carrie, sheepishly: âYeah.â The Girl, Donât Go There nominees are Carrie, Ellie, and Bri. Unfortunately, Ellie and Bri are disqualified because they went there (kissing Joe). By default, the winner is Carrie.
The final charterâs primaries are husbands Stacey and Brad from Virginia celebrating their 27th anniversary. Aesha met them as non-primary guests on Down Under, and she says theyâre lovely (at least compared to their drunk friends). While briefing her interior team, Aesha compliments Briâs new laundry system and Ellieâs dĂ©cor, but she says Ellie has gotten slower washing dishes. Carrie does it in half the time. This is only the beginning of Aeshaâs growing list of Ellieâs work slipping. When she asks Ellie to clean the stairs, Ellie helps Bri make the cabins instead, seemingly to gossip.
Aesha notices fingerprints all over the hallway and radios Ellie, whoâs âflouncing around the crew mess.â Aesha has to go find her to reclean. Ellie, in the name of high standards, tells us sheâs checking out because she doesnât like how sheâs treated. Aesha is being shorter with her now that Carrieâs onboard, but if Ellie truly wanted to improve at the job, she would learn to take criticism. I think what has bummed me out so much this season with Ellie as a villain is her lack of self-awareness. Sheâs often so close to getting it but then misses the point, so I just feel sad for her. In our postmodern age of reality TV, people tend to realize when theyâre getting the villain edit, but instead of embracing it or leaning into being an agent of chaos, Ellie seems incapable of having fun.
Ellie canât help trying to one-up Carrie and turns espresso martiniâmaking into a competition. Carrie doesnât let it faze her. We learn that her chief-stew position in New York turned into caregiving when the ownerâs wife got sick, so itâs nice for her to have less responsibility here as a break from higher-stress jobs. What a refreshing perspective. Iâm quickly snapped out of any deeper thoughts when a guest orders a vodka-soda with a little bit of pre-workout.
Bri goes on break, so Ellie goes to help Carrie in the laundry room. Carrieâs writing things down and trying not to mess with Briâs system. Carrie thinks there are too many cooks in the kitchen, which offends Ellie, who sees this as a floater telling a second stew how to do her job. When Bri returns, Carrie fills her in, describing Ellie coming in âlike a tornado.â This feels like a confirmation that Ellie was partly to blame for messing the laundry up before, even if unintentionally. For non-dĂ©cor, she doesnât seem to have the best eye for detail: At the bar, Aesha still has to remind her to put lids back on bottles. Ellie says table dĂ©cor is the only thing bringing her any joy on âthis soul-sucking boat.â Later, Aesha radios for Carrie to go to the pantry, then Ellie radios seemingly right after asking Carrie to help her decorate the top deck. Aesha thinks itâs a power move, and sheâs ready to squash any attempted coup. If Aesha is Jesus and the stews are her disciples, Ellie is Judas: âIs iT mE, JeSus?âÂ
Tonightâs theme is Swedish-pop musical. (Iâm guessing they couldnât clear Mamma Mia!) Jonoâs happy to have an all-queer group of guests and really wants them to enjoy the food. They do, though they note that all his dishes have a bit of a delayed kick to them. The primaries requested a post-dinner crew performance, for which Joe and Gael do a choreographed dance while everyone else freestyles and sways behind them. Nathan wears a neon unitard. Frankly, itâs not their best performance. The Outstanding Choreography award goes to no one.
The next day, Aesha rewards Briâs improvement by sending her on an excursion to the Temple of Poseidon. Iain also hasnât gone on one yet, so he reps the deck crew. In the car with the guests, Bri says she shouldâve Googled some facts about the place before. Okay, so she hasnât improved that much. But Iain says heâs got it sorted! Heâs used to being the entertainment person even though he has been behind the scenes on Mustique. As they tour the ruins, he impressively rattles off facts without even reading. If the nominees for Most Improved are Bri and Iain, he wins. After a rough first half, he kept his head down, all the recent dockings have been error free, and playing tour guide clinched the win.
That evening, Ellie once again bosses Bri and Carrie around in the name of decorating. Sheâs âjust speaking from experienceâ when it comes to hanging tinsel curtains. She radios them with multiple requests and micromanages a seemingly simple rainbow-balloon-wall installation, and Aesha notices it all. Aesha asks Carrie if Ellie is overstepping, and Carrie says âsometimesâ; itâd be a problem if it were a whole season. The award for Outstanding Production Design (As an Excuse to Boss People Around) goes to Ellie.
With so much focus on the Ellie-interior issues, thereâs basically nothing to report on the deck crew. They do an adorable group hug for their final time, putting the floating dock and water toys away. They seem like the front-runners for the Most Cohesive Team, but in a surprise upset, it goes to ⊠this group of guests! They bring a Pride flag for the ship to fly, have a great attitude, and all wear matching costumes for a Greek-gods theme night. We love to see it.
During dinner, Aesha radios to Jono that theyâre clearing the first course. Moments later, Ellie does too. This seems like a tiny mistake;Â Ellie must not have heard Aesha. Except Aesha explains that Ellie has never radioed that theyâre clearing the whole season! She says this is the straw that broke the camelâs back. Or, to keep with the nautical setting, should we say âthe straw that choked the turtleâ? Too dark? Sorry. Anyway, Aesha pulls Ellie aside to say sheâs been overstepping as the second stew over the past few days. We get a montage of Ellieâs past oversteps, including the episode-nine fight with Bri that shouldâve been the last straw. Is it just me or would it be iconic lip-sync material? âBri, listen to me. You do not get to speak to me like this ever again. Who? I am second stew. Do you â stop that. Stop. Stop wiping. We need to talk. You are out of control. Since you donât know how boats work, second stew outranks you. So that is who I am.â
Back in the present, Ellie thinks sheâs being scapegoated. This doesnât make sense because sheâs being blamed for things sheâs actually doing; Aeshaâs done coddling her. I made this analogy previously, but Ellie really is like a 2-year-old former only child having a tough time with a new baby sister. To prove her worth in this new family dynamic, she insists on making her own breakfast, spilling Cheerios and milk all over the floor, which makes Mom (a.k.a. Aesha) realize Ellieâs not as capable as she thinks she is. With less than 24 hours left in the charter, I doubt any changes will be made before itâs over, but I could see Ellie pulling a Barbie and leaving a day early.
Next weekâs finale should bring some real hardware in the form of an engagement ring. Earlier, Aesha checked in with Sandy about details for her proposal: flowers, a violinist, Champagne, etc. Sandy wants it to be perfect. Aesha has permission to watch from afar (LOL), but from the preview, it looks as though a tender mishap may pose a problem with the plan.
Below Deck Mediterranean Recap: Overstepping