Below Deck Sailing Yacht Recap: The Race for Chase
After a dramatic day off last episode, we’re back to the grind of charter. It seemed like things were starting to heat up, but this week it’s barely reaching a simmer. They’re finding a new rhythm as a crew with Chase replacing Emma, although I’m eager to get to the messiness that’s been teased to come. For now, we have a love triangle set up and the usual work of satisfying guest demands. It may be exhausting for the crew, but it’s relaxing to watch.
The primary is Ronnie, a CEO from Chicago who’s doing a girls trip for her 50th birthday. She expects seven-star hotel service, which for the record is not a thing. Even on a normal five-star scale, Parsifal III is probably only four stars. In the preference sheet meeting, the guests have a bunch of activity requests that I can’t care about because the huge font on the sheets is so distracting. It’s basically a cue card.
Work-wise, Chase isn’t trying to impress Gary and wants to fly under his boss’s radar instead. Glenn’s feeling good about having Chase on board, and is proven right when their first sailing goes much more smoothly than with Emma. Romance-wise, Chase’s plans to avoid a boatmance are quickly going out the porthole. He finds both stews “stunning,” even though he doesn’t realize yet how into him they both are. Diana tells us she usually dates guys that look like Chase, while Danni’s excited because he’s down to play drinking games and get unprofessional. Diana tells Danni she’s horny, but Danni goes full steam ahead in flirting with Chase. She shows Chase photos from the nights out, and Diana silently fumes as he compliments Danni’s outfits.
Whether it’s purposeful can be debated, but Danni is definitely fanning the flames of their rivalry. When she tells a guest she makes the best espresso martini, it’s a subtle dig at Diana, referencing her lack of beans a few charters ago. Danni also brags to Diana that Anthony wants to see her again, but she’s more focused on her crush on Chase. The O Beach host must not have given her an O. It is on Diana for not speaking up here, and Chase even says he doesn’t have a read on her because she’s quiet. She just can’t compete with Danni’s brash flirting and shoulder rubs.
Meanwhile, Daisy is in a love-hate triangle of her own making. She jokes that rooming with Gary is a way to keep an eye on him and claims that her feelings are purely platonic. She just wants him to work on improving himself. In the other corner is Cloyce, who’s trying to maintain the higher level of cooking he brought to the last charter. He’s still enamored with Daisy and they’ve fallen into a bickering-old-couple routine. For lunch, Cloyce serves a watermelon feta salad then a crab avocado salad. Maybe it’s my writerly instincts, but you can’t call them both salads! Name it a mélange, a medley, a collage, whatever pretentious thing you can come up with.
Cloyce isn’t the only one slipping: Daisy realizes she forgot to order rosé. Thankfully, Diana finds one bottle to hold them over while Danni and Chase go buy some more. Chase is already proving his worth by being able to drive the tender. Danni’s chaotic flirting includes claiming that wine makes her instantly projectile vomit. The first place he drops Danni off at is closed, and there’s nothing nearby, so they ask other boats, giving me flashbacks to the most recent season of Below Deck Med. Except then it was the provisioner’s fault; Aesha would never forget the order. Eventually they find an open bar/store and the mission is successful. Danni takes this non-challenging errand as a sign that she and Chase make a good team.
Dinner starts off questionably with Cloyce’s attempt at tuna crispy rice. The rice doesn’t look crispy or well-presented, and to add insult to nigiri, Daisy calls it “tuna on fried rice.” She quickly clears the appetizer — it was literally one bite — which throws off Cloyce’s timing. He’s running behind on the next course, a yellowtail crudo. The guests do enjoy it, but the wind picks up, so they decide to move to the table downstairs for the rest of the meal. Glenn chats with the women by the bar, telling them a story about a time he saw a poisonous fish but didn’t touch it (boring). Daisy can’t find a moment to interrupt to ask them to sit down and fails to communicate what’s happening to Cloyce. He comes up with the main course while everyone’s still standing and is annoyed. His precious cod is best served hot, and he thinks Daisy’s screwing up his timing. He tells the guests he “wanted to play with black and white” but then calls it black cod in black miso. He must have meant white miso.
The guests ask what Cloyce’s background is, and instead of giving his chef credentials or ethnicity, he takes the opportunity to tell them his age. They’re impressed and chat with him so long that they’re done with the course. I’m worried all this yapping is going to cut into his dessert plating time. Downstairs, Danni tells Daisy that Cloyce was being snippy with her and complaining about the interior’s communication. In retaliation, Daisy starts overcommunicating on the radio: “We will be in the galley in 40 seconds.” Chase plates his showstopper dessert quickly enough, and the mango sphere with coconut vanilla semifreddo in the shape of a fried egg goes over well.
After dinner in the laundry room, Daisy and Cloyce have yet another conversation where Daisy tries to reprimand him. She tells him that he should talk to her if he has a problem and not to the girls. He just smiles through it, attracted to her being angry at him, so the words aren’t really connecting. Daisy starts laughing. Is it because she can tell and is charmed by him? Or are we seeing them not be able to maintain a façade of manufactured drama for the show? Or did something happen we’re missing and there’s real sexual tension between them in the small space? It’s a bizarre moment and we need answers.
In the morning, Ronnie wants a sweet and creamy latte, but Daisy can’t get it right. She seems afraid of putting in too much sugar when Ronnie is clearly asking for more sugar. Another guest’s coffee is cold — not seven-star service at all. After the third try at Ronnie’s coffee, she opts for tea instead. The ladies’ vibe at breakfast seems low. It’s unclear if the food is bad or they’re hungover or just really upset about the coffee.
Unfortunately, Ronnie’s rough morning gets worse when she’s stung by a jellyfish. The deckhands are on it right away. They rinse Ronnie’s leg with antiseptic, but it’s swelling up and the pain’s not going away. Glenn acts as the jellyfish expert, explaining that there’s still a stinger in her leg that’s releasing venom and making it hurt. Keith tweezes it out. It’s like watching Doctor Odyssey, except Keith does not hook up with his co-workers. Other than this heroic moment of competency, we don’t hear much at all from Keith this episode. I’m curious how he feels about Chase but have to assume it’s too cordial and boring to include. Even a light edit of Keith is an abundance compared to Davide, who’s basically a ghost at this point.
Right at the end of the episode, the simmer finally starts bubbling. Daisy delivers on messiness in the crew mess — apt! — by filling Chase in on Danni’s romantic pursuits. Chase says it sounds like everyone’s been on good behavior because he hasn’t “heard any awful stories yet,” which prompts Daisy to tell him that Danni and Gary kissed … in front of Danni and Gary. Daisy also says Danni almost had a thing with Keith, pissing Danni off. Danni tells Chase neither meant anything. In an interview she says, “This is why I’m not friends with most girls.” Ugh. Her pick-me mentality is the worst. Daisy didn’t even mention the guy she brought back to the boat literally two nights ago. And it may be cheesy, but you should be so proud to be like most girls.