Below Deck Mediterranean Recap: Playing According to Type

Below Deck Mediterranean
The Babysitter’s Club
Season 11 Episode 16
Editor’s Rating ★★★★
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With only one more charter left to go, this is a good time to take a temperature check of our crew and see how far we’ve come from charter No. 1. When we started, Joe and Nathan were having difficulty being normal around each other, and Gen was leading with a negative attitude. Now, as we approach the end of the season, Joe and Nathan are having difficulty being normal around each other, and Gen is leading with a bad attitude.

I’m a pretty competitive person who gets easily invested in contests of any kind, but I have never ever been less interested in the result of a match as I am in Joe and Nathan’s dick-measuring contest. I wish it would disappear from my television, but it refuses to, so I have to contend with it. Nathan is happy to blame Joe for the fact that guest Michelle fully broke her shoulder while tubing and will need replacement surgery once back home. Kat, who was on the tube when the accident happened, tells a concerned Kayley that it was not Joe’s fault: The ocean suddenly picked up wind, as it is wont to do, and became rougher than when they took off. Still, Joe feels responsible and apologizes to Michelle, who, despite probably being in horrific pain, is a very good sport about the whole thing.

Gen thinks the medic is hot, which is so beside the point that it annoys Kat. Since it’s too rough to take Michelle to the hospital on the tender, Sandy decides to put all the inflatables back as quickly as possible, haul anchor, and dock the boat. Intuiting chaos, Aesha immediately changes into her wets to help. I’ll admit it: I had no faith the deck team would pull this off in a time-efficient manner. But they prove me wrong and are docked an hour later, when they decide to head back to the marina. Though the trauma is still haunting the crew, a whole summer has gone by since the Akira One hit the dock on their first docking attempt, largely because of the party boats. If there is no other indication that they have grown since then, this is it: They are able to safely park, party boats notwithstanding.

As Aesha points out, morale is low after the impromptu docking and shoulder-breaking accident, so to pick up the vibes, the interior team sets up for a Croatian-themed “giant barbecue feast” and some strip-teasing from Joe and Massi. After all, why not. Massi is an indefatigable presence on this boat, one of the most competent workers this franchise has ever seen. After the chaotic docking, he has a cigarette, eats something, changes into his blacks, and hops on the grill to help Joy with the barbecue, which is a success. It’s true that he has an ulterior motive — a crush on Joy — but it’s a breath of fresh air to see a charismatic crew member whose only interest is to do a good job. He’s not quite as well-versed in dancing for the guests as Joe, who has years of experience, but he does great. After dinner, Michelle returns to the boat with her spaghetti-shoulder, as Massi calls it, strapped tightly to her body.

One thing that has changed since the beginning of the charter is the relationship between cabinmates Kat and Gen, who used to be close until Gen got a little too comfortable. Not just in terms of treating Kat poorly — burdening her with her own workload and flirting with Cooper, whose fall from grace we will address below — but also in that she takes too many breaks and speaks her mind too freely. “Gen used to be a good stew who was negative,” Kat reflects, “now she is a lazy stew who is also negative.” On the morning of drop-off day, Kat asks Gen to check in with Joy about some plates that need to be put away, a task that does not require the use of one’s wrist. Gen either forgets or ignores the request, so Kat has to do it herself. Then, Gen complains that she can’t wait to return to “big boats,” where she doesn’t have to do housekeeping — even though Aesha put her in housekeeping with the specific purpose of giving her a chance to get her shit together. Kat vents to Aesha that she’s reaching her breaking point with Gen’s negativity, and Aesha promises to be firmer with Gen — evidently, speaking to her gently is not having the intended effect.

As some astute readers have pointed out, Gen has piled up a lot of dirty laundry this season. From SheetsGate to purposefully washing Joy’s uniforms with rags, the laundry room has unleashed something deranged in Gen. Maybe it’s the bleach fumes? As the guests are having breakfast, Kat reminds Gen to check on the laundry. When Gen gets there, Kayley is already reorganizing the room; she points out that one dryer was too stuffed with towels that didn’t dry properly. Back in the pantry, Gen complains to Kat that she will never understand Kayley’s “system in laundry.” Um, the system that ensures clean towels, sheets, and uniforms? It’s the straw that breaks Kat’s back. She tells Gen that she would appreciate it if Gen didn’t come to her to complain about their second stew; in fact, while she’s at it, she asks Gen not to speak to her about any of the crew at all. Gen is stunned into silence. Aesha, who is in the pantry looking at her computer, gives the camera an oh, shit look. Gen asks to speak with Aesha, who follows her upstairs after exchanging a conspiratorial glance with Kat.

Amazingly, Gen tells Aesha that “this is what I’ve been dealing with this season.” It’s unclear what exactly she expected Aesha to say — that she’s right, Kat should not have discouraged her from speaking negatively of their superior — but it definitely wasn’t that she’s the problem. Aesha tells Gen that maybe she can use the moment as a lesson about how she can still grow and, in no uncertain terms, tells Gen that she is the common denominator and needs to take some accountability. Aesha is amazing in this mode; she is firm but never loses her patience, even when Gen turns on the waterworks. “I’ve never had a head of department speak to me this way,” Gen says, which is really telling. Maybe if they had, she’d have a better attitude! Still hoping to find validation somewhere, Gen calls her mom. But even she tells Gen that she needs to respect the other stews. Gen laments that her team doesn’t have her back, though last week, Kat picked up her work and gave her plenty of time to recuperate from the fact that Luke sent Joy flowers, even after they had had a tiff.

More than that, she is the problem. I think what Gen really needs to hear is that when you’ve put yourself in such an undesirable position, the best thing to do is put your head down and work hard and let people come around. Trying to rekindle catty gossip with Kat is the wrong move, as is telling the crew — like she does later, at dinner — that they have been the highlight of her season, and that “every single one” of them has made her pee her pants laughing. Everyone can tell you’re lying! And don’t even get me started on the dog-ate-my-homework swollen wrist. Still, let’s give Gen credit where it’s due: After speaking with Aesha, she thanks Kat for always holding her accountable. Kat reminds her that she’s there for her and encourages her to get through one final charter, while privately musing that she should have called Gen out five charters ago.

Deckside, the charter winds down without further issues — the boat is already docked, which is a blessing given that it’s windy. Joe and Nathan have a minor back-and-forth in the crew mess about the state of the bridge-forward, but other than that, they have nearly made it to the finish line. The guests leave very happy with their experience, broken bones notwithstanding. Sandy praises her crew for performing efficiently under pressure, and gives out the $1,807 each of them earned from a $23,500 tip. After they toast, Nathan announces that Aesha has agreed to babysit for him and Gael so that Gael can come out with the crew. Joe is not happy. Aesha asks Nathan if Gael is going to speak to Joe, but Nathan shrugs that it’s not really worth it.

In a confessional, Kayley admits that it’s hard to understand why it’s such a big deal for Joe that Gael is coming out. I don’t understand it either. We all know they have history — unfortunately, we watched it — but they’re on the same show! Did they think they would never be in the same room again? Gael is herself a little nervous, not only about the tension but about leaving Kayden. But Aesha, who has four nieces, is an experienced babysitter, and gets on with Kayden just fine. Things at dinner don’t go as well. Joe sits directly across from Nathan and Gael, because he and Cooper cannot bear to be separated. Even though it’s his doing, Joe can’t handle the proximity. He turns his chair sideways and begins talking about how Cooper is the best cabinmate he’s ever had in his whole career. Nathan, of course, interprets the comment as targeted snark.

Real snark is when Cooper brings up the fact that Joe is trying to set him up with his sister in front of Kat. Whether that’s really true or they’re joking, it’s a crude comment that is followed by a crude reaction: Coop whisper-laughing to Joe that they shouldn’t talk about it within Kat’s earshot. Earlier in the episode, Cooper tells Kat that Joe is joining them in Dubrovnik after the season is over, which instantly deflates her. Even Kayley wants to tell her that it doesn’t sound good, but Kat is plenty aware. Since his jock-with-a-heart-of-gold start to the season, Coop has come disappointingly close to embodying the inconsiderate playboy he had delighted us all by not being. It boggles the mind why he can’t be honest with Kat.

Joe, Nathan, and Gael end up having to share breathing space again in the van on the way to the club, where the tension finally breaks. When he overhears Nathan and Gael tell Kat about how they met during a charter season, Joe mutters to Kayley that it happened “75 years ago” and “we all know the story.” Not wrong, but it doesn’t go down well with Gael. She tells him that she hates awkwardness and asks him to treat her family with respect. Joe starts laughing because he thinks the confrontation is absurd, and Nathan quickly loses his eloquence. Given everything that we now know about who Nathan really is, it’s chilling to hear Joe ask him, “Are you going to hit me?” and Gael rushing to tell him not to. It makes the “to be continued” cliffhanger incredibly distasteful.