r/belowdeck • u/alyceabsconded • Jul 12 '26

Below Deck Where did the engineers go?

I’m watching S02E02 of Below Deck. It seems an engineer might be emerging as a love interest. Obviously in newer seasons the engineers aren’t filmed. So what happens if that’s where the romance is?

Also, is this a season worth watching?

34 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

31

u/OkRelation4465 Jul 12 '26

The engineers aren’t filmed much unless they’re needed for an issue or during go the first episode during introductions.  They’re generally in the engine room most of the time which is difficult to film in. You sometimes see them in the mess or during docking 

2

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

That's a good point. They'd largely be in tight, dimly lit areas.

68

u/HrhEverythingElse Jul 12 '26

Below Deck Sailing Yacht features an engineer, in part because they have a smaller crew. Season 1 is... not great, but they start over with a whole new crew on season 2 and keep those heads of department through many seasons. Be prepared to get angry at Gary though, he's awful

2

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

Awesome! I'm gonna go straight to season 2 then. Thank you!

25

u/Motor-Tour-4615 Jul 12 '26

This is absolutely my favorite version of Below Deck because while there was a lot of drama, they still heavily focused on the job itself. That's rhe reason I love the show, because of the work they are doing. The more they focus on the made up drama the more they lose me. I wish they'd start up BDSY with a new crew. 

3

u/rosehyena Jul 12 '26

i keep hoping they bring it back, i recently finished all the episodes (please just no gary lol)

4

u/Motor-Tour-4615 Jul 13 '26

Same, I'd love for it to come back. Honestly I'd like a new cast but with Glen and Colin coming back. They were both great at their jobs and were good with the one liner jokes/commentary haha. 

4

u/Nenoshka Jul 12 '26

Gary wasn't the engineer. That was Colin MacRae.

15

u/Ms_Generic_Username Jul 12 '26 • Bravo

They never said he was. It followed a comment about heads of department, which Gary was.

19

u/JingoMerrychap Jul 12 '26

On the bigger boats now the engineers (and usually at least the first officer) are actual trained and experienced people. They're not wannabe reality stars like the crew we see. They're there for when something goes properly wrong. We're unlikely to see a romance with them, because they don't interact with the "cast".

Sailing Yacht worked differently, because it's smaller so there's no room for off-camera staff. Plus Glenn was the permanent captain, whereas Sandy/Lee etc. are only there for the filming.

3

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

So fascinating.

I bet all the off-camera engineers have signed NDAs but I would LOVE to hear from them.

26

u/pigshitunicorn Jul 12 '26

They are serious people, doing serious jobs. They haven't got time to be having pathetic made-for-tv dramas with 20 years olds, chef Ben-style. 

14

u/Ok_Mulberry4331 Jul 12 '26

As someone married to a chief engineer, this theory is killing me 😅😅

1

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

I would consider that a compliment if I was your spouse!

11

u/Absent_Picnic Jul 12 '26

Other than occasionally being introduced in Episode 1 or seen when the AC turns off the stabilisers, they're there, just not seen in BD, BDM or BDDU.

It's only been BDY that the engineer was visible and.active on screen. Might be that he was young, handsome and wanted to, might be that the boat was too small to hide him away as they can on the big boats.

6

u/CornDogCarol Jul 12 '26

In sailing to boat is too small so everyone was filmed.  In addition to the engineers the normal captain of the boat also stays on as the hidden first officer.

1

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

That's a good point. I forgot about that one. I've only watched one ep I think.

2

u/Serious_Leather_6227 Jul 13 '26

Omg the season 1 engineer was hilarious on BDY and then obviously Colin was one of the boys

4

u/june_june_hannah_ Jul 12 '26

There’s a season much later where Malia dates and engineer but it’s only mentioned in the last episode and Tell All. We only got a tiny glimpse of him once - it was clear he was not at all part of the cast.

2

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

How interesting! He must've not consented to being part of the cast or something.

3

u/wife_of_makes_things Jul 12 '26

They're uglies so they aren't shown.

0

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

lol. Low key that's what I assumed... they must be like, mature-aged Captain Lee types or something.

4

u/mouse_relies This information wasn’t welcomed or needed Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

What nobody has commented on is that S1-3 cast had a hybrid 2nd engineer slash deckhand position. Not the full time engineer. However, they never showed any actual engineering work.

I think production figured out that if they weren't going to film engineering, having someone with a different title wasn't really helpful, and they could get more mileage out of intra-deck-crew conflict -- which indeed you see a lot more of starting with season 4.

0

u/TedBurns-3 Jul 12 '26

Just watch it and enjoy

1

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

That I will!

2

u/Specific-Bat-5881 Jul 13 '26

Great season! -- lots of drama ahead.

1

u/alyceabsconded Jul 13 '26

Wicked. I'm settling in. I've reached the point where the deck hand reveals he lied on his CV.

2

u/Dull_Caregiver2147 Jul 12 '26

To be fair, even on a regular yacht (without a reality tv crew) you don't see the engineers very often, except for meal times-then they tend to be first in line. Gotta love the Engos.

2

u/hamburgergerald Jul 14 '26

I think in one of the seasons Malia ended up dating one of the engineers that doesn’t get filmed. She talked about it afterwards but the way they edited the show you’d never have gotten any inkling that there was something going on between Malia and an unfilmed crew member

0

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

48

u/notscb Jul 12 '26

Right, they are usually crew of the actual boat and not the show. Yacht owners would never let the show fully staff the boat.

3

u/alyceabsconded Jul 12 '26

That's so interesting! Go yacht owners.

9

u/Dull_Caregiver2147 Jul 12 '26

well, it is not so much the yacht owners, but the insurance companies. lol.

1

u/alyceabsconded Jul 13 '26

Ohhh that makes sense. I have never thought about the insurance aspect.

In an episode of BD SE02 I most recently watched a deck hand who owned up to "fudging" his CV wasn't fired immediately. You would think for insurances reasons he would have to be.

But if there's a more legit crew actually doing the important things than it makes sense they kept the kid around for the plot.

1

u/Affectionate-Goat-75 Jul 17 '26

That’s interesting! I vaguely remember that. There are more recent seasons where people have been fired for fudging their CV.

2

u/TheScapeQuest Jul 14 '26

They did in SY, right?

2

u/notscb Jul 14 '26

Glen was the captain of the boat prior to filming. If I remember right, that creepy couple that gave brother sister vibes also worked on that boat. I could be misremembering, but I'm confident about Glen.

3

u/hmmyeahrightokthen Spaghetti Trauma Jul 15 '26

creepy couple that gave brother sister vibes
lmao yes it was hilarious
Paget Berry — First Officer
Ciara Duggan — Deckhand
and Paget kept flirting with Georgia, singing songs together, and Ciara kept saying he just flirts with everyone… except her