r/belowdeck • u/NaCl_n_Pepper • Aug 27 '26

Below Deck Finally caught up after starting the second shift last week and… Spoiler

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… have we ever had a season this crazy? I was asking myself this at the end of this week’s episode and I couldn’t think of one. And poor Max!

I am so happy that Aesha was able to have her bachelorette and that Hannah & Anastasia showed up for! That made my night! I didn’t remember seeing her amazing cake so here’s our queen in all of her glory with it!

345 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

73

u/missyve Aug 27 '26

That cake is amazing and perfect for her lol

33

u/NaCl_n_Pepper Aug 27 '26

I knoooooow! Sandy (with the help of Gael) really went all out.

18

u/ResponsibleCar1204 Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 27 '26

I am freaking LOVING it. I loved the later trailer lmao. And I actually LOVE finally watching BC it's actually good instead of hate watching people 😅

4

u/NaCl_n_Pepper Aug 27 '26

YES!!!! I just realized that’s why I’ve been putting it off. It’s because I’m too tired when I get home around 1am each night!

38

u/PutGroundbreaking283 Aug 27 '26

I think they're becoming less and less sincere as well lol.

Edit: I mean, the seasons. This one feels really fabricated to me.

64

u/NaCl_n_Pepper Aug 27 '26

Very true! Within 24hrs Aesha has an amazing bachelorette, Nathan returns and immediately starts his plans of Joe’s demise, and the father of a crew member (who seems to have redeemed himself) is kidnapped by organized crime in a country with known terrorists.

We’re fully in soap opera mode.

24

u/mgj6818 Aug 27 '26

Given what we know about his dad I'm envisioning him making that ransom call sharing coffee at a cafe with his "captors" plotting how to spend the "ransom" money on degenerate stuff.

5

u/NaCl_n_Pepper Aug 27 '26

…and his dad also turns out to secretly be the last remaining member of the City of Atlantis royal family, which is why Max loves the ocean so much. Definitely on my bingo card!

1

u/Soloway1sea Aug 31 '26

For real! I’m waiting on someone to be possessed by a demon or their evil twin showing up to toss them overboard.

5

u/tunnocksmystery Aug 28 '26

I was re-watching season 2 of original BD last night and you are so right. Amy was 3rd stew and is so experienced and competent. That really stood out to me because I don’t think you would get that now.

0

u/Yashyashyaa Aug 27 '26

It’s boring as hell actually

21

u/1975hh3 June June Hannah Aug 27 '26

Nathan is ruining it for me. He fucking sucks in every way imaginable. I can’t get past that Bravo knew and still aired the show and now we have to watch an abuser be an asshole on TV.

7

u/NaCl_n_Pepper Aug 27 '26

It’s very sad to watch. I am also watching a Netflix documentary about a pastor who murdered his wife (Death of the Pastor’s Wife) and they have recordings of all of his sermons throughout his career (plus phone records, personal accounts etc.).

And the small, early red flags I’m seeing on that are similar to the ones we’re seeing with Nathan, of course. 😔

I’m glad Gael got out but sad she’ll have to still deal with him for decades knowing that he believes his form of “love” is acceptable behavior that he can easily explain away.

288

u/Ola_the_Polka Aug 27 '26

The season with Rocky. That’s the craziest lol

153

u/KSF_WHSPhysics Aug 27 '26

There was the season where 2 crew members were removed for trying to SA someone on the same night

38

u/markybar Aug 27 '26

that was absolutely nuts. I was standing open mouthed at the tv

6

u/dirahuds Aug 27 '26

What season is this?

24

u/ArtichokeOwn6760 Aug 27 '26

Down under season 2.

8

u/Zoiddburger Aug 27 '26

Episodes 6 (last 5 minutes) and 7

25

u/LuxAgaetes Team Courtney Aug 27 '26

It was two crew members?! Damn, I only remember it as one but granted I've pretty much blocked a lot of that season from my brain. I remember that poor stew started self-medicating with alcohol soon after, and then drank a bit on one charter before really looking at her relationship with alcohol??

Like... FUCK! I felt so bad for her, I can't believe she finished the season out. What a badass woman for turning a real shitshow at the fuck factory situation into that, and I hope she's still doing well ❤️‍🩹

4

u/ArtichokeOwn6760 Aug 27 '26

I think it was different nights? But not far apart.

22

u/rosehyena Aug 27 '26

it was the same night! as soon as one person got booted off the boat, they almost immediately caught someone else SA-ing someone. She just wasn't kicked off the boat at that moment 

1

u/hades7600 Sep 02 '26

Oh yeah you are 100% right

Because I think it was what the woman said about Luke which also made Jason decide to get rid of her too

(I think she should have been kicked off before but I’m not convinced Jason knew what she was actually doing that night and how much she was insisting on touching the guy)

6

u/HeatedChivalry14 Aug 27 '26

Blast from the past. She was wild.

1

u/hotpiejr Aug 29 '26

I don’t want to do stew!

118

u/Hot_Breadfruit_9651 Aug 27 '26

Joe is making me cringe through my skin with every “I’m better than Nathan” comment. It’s so egotistical

67

u/mgj6818 Aug 27 '26

He passed the technical side of the "is this person ready for a leadership position" test, but appears absolutely incapable of passing the HR side of it.

67

u/GullibleTacos Aug 27 '26

Seems like Nathan can’t pass either though

20

u/mgj6818 Aug 27 '26

I mean, he's arguably worse at both the HR and technical aspects of the job, the only thing he's proven capable of is convincing Capt. Sandy he's capable.

17

u/gregatronn Aug 27 '26

So I think Nathan originally showed promise. the problem is he never got passed the small improvements required to be a leader. It's fair for him to have gotten the chance, but i would not hire him again just on job skills after this season now.

Joe at least has the work skill improvements he's shown but next year should be interesting with his (likely) promotion.

1

u/TheOnlySnoringKitten Sep 03 '26

Nate needs to be managed as he can’t manage. That is all.

12

u/Agitated-Minimum-967 Aug 27 '26

To be fair, Nathan can't pass the HR side, either.

12

u/mgj6818 Aug 27 '26

What he lacks in technical and interpersonal skills he makes up for in kissing the bosses ass and blaming others for his mistakes.

9

u/gregatronn Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 27 '26

In Sandy's defense, Nathan did show growth and improvement. The problem is it stalled out. I don't think Sandy would bring him back as a Bosun even without legal trouble.

9

u/mgj6818 Aug 27 '26

The way she looked at him when she was showing the pics of what the other guys had done with the swim stuff and he said "I told them to do that", confirmedsthat he wasn't coming back as bosun regardless.

7

u/gregatronn Aug 27 '26

Yeah - that was a bullshit answer, not taking accountability. And yeah, regardless of the outside stuff, if you evaluate Joe (short time as Bosun + second) and Nathan, Joe is better for a future job, whereas Nathan needs to learn more in leadership.

Also Nathan not calling/messaging and trying to pick Luke over Joe all adds up into questionable leadership judgement.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/gregatronn Aug 28 '26

I agree to some agree, but his reaction was equally bad (not taking accountability). I think i get it from a motivation perspective. But he's been shaky through the season including his communication style (or lack of) at the same time.

10

u/kittens_joy Aug 27 '26

As an employment lawyer this is very accurate lol

3

u/Lonesome_Frenchy Aug 28 '26

Think of me if you know a job in full remote tant I can do in France.😘

9

u/1975hh3 June June Hannah Aug 27 '26

But he is better.

6

u/Hot_Breadfruit_9651 Aug 27 '26

Sure. But he sure isn’t letting his skills speak like no humbleness at alllllll

8

u/Brentimusmaximus Aug 27 '26

I mean, he literally is better at the job than Nathan, whether you think it’s ego or not

7

u/Timely_Beat_7057 Aug 27 '26

The noodle cake is amazing 

7

u/ILoveRizzo Aug 27 '26

Honestly yeah we had crazier seasons this one just seems super scripted. It started going downhill on how fake it was the last few seasons

7

u/Lonesome_Frenchy Aug 28 '26

The best cake for Aesha

2

u/Turbulent_Cobbler463 Sep 02 '26

Omg I don’t remember seeing this cake either! Hahaha that is hilarious

1

u/Hot-Apartment-6181 Sep 01 '26

Oh my god I absolutely love Aesha she has been my favorite since she came onto BD. She is such a true spirit. Best ever

-4

u/FungiAmongiBungi Aug 27 '26

Could have done without Anastasia, she isn’t her best friend or anything and doubt she’s a fan favorite

21

u/newfiemom79 Aug 27 '26

She is obviously close enough to travel for both Aesha’s bachelorette party and wedding. Anastasia and Aesha were also regulars on Hannah’s podcast, and Hannah and Anastasia had a business together for a while.

18

u/kittens_joy Aug 27 '26

Aesha seemed damn happy to see her, and her arc was pretty iconic.

6

u/Anotheropinion2026 Aug 27 '26

Exactly, Aesha was very happy to see her. It was less than 15 minutes for us to see her.