La vie à bord

Let's talk about Kate Chastain. We saw her last year on The Traitors and I was interested to see where she came from, which led me to Lower Deck. So we tried it out, and it's a surprisingly entertaining show about what happens among the crew of an elite motor yacht.

I see comments from people calling Kate "mean" or a "bully". That's nonsense. The producers hire a LOT of questionable employees ... Captain Lee doesn't get to make that call, though hopefully he gets to weigh in. At least he gets to fire the worst of the worst.

However, every season has some employees who think they're the tail that wags the dog, rather than EMPLOYEES who should shut up and do their jobs. If you've never managed employees, maybe you can take the side of these infantile idiots. If you've ever been a manager, then you'll see that Kate's reactions to the goof-ups and goof-offs is often remarkably restrained.

It's a high-end business, not a kindergarden. When the boss says jump, don't question if you should jump, say "How high?" Some of these nitwits don't even understand the word 'jump' in the first place.

You get to see some great scenery, and some of the bits with guests are a pleasure to watch. Some of the guests are people I'd NEVER hang around with or invite to my house ... especially the drunks. No excuse for that, vacation or not.

I've taken to trying out a few of the things the chefs on the show do. It's fun and tasty.

And the editors are clever enough to make the end of each episode demand starting the next. It's a terrible temptation to binge old seasons for that reason. LOL.

Like all reality tv, you have to take everything in this show with a grain of salt. The crew and the guests are being filmed and they know they're being filmed, and everyone is being paid so everyone one is "performing." Most of the time, it's difficult to tell which group is trashier, the crew or the guests. Almost all the male crew members drink themselves into oblivion at the first opportunity, while almost all the female crew members are snowflakes who cry at the drop of the hat (with a few exceptions who would give witches a bad name-I'm thinking of Chief Stew Kate. As the prime example), and most members of both genders are constantly looking to get bedded. In real life most of the crew would never be hired to staff a luxury yacht, nor would they last more than one charter if they were hired. Having said all that, the show is fascinating like a train wreck-it's difficult to tear oneself away.

Mmmm let's start with Kate a mean girl who thinks she's a really all round nice gal. News flash she's not. She's every bully I've ever met rolled Into one person. Captain Lee, Kates very own personal assistant. Can be an over the top disciplinarian, and other times a wise old mentor. The others crew mates are a various bunch of misfits with various issues. Yet I love it so... I guess that kind of makes me a hypocrite. Oh well...

Others have described this as a guilty pleasure. I have to agree with that. This is an interesting snapshot into human behaviour, it is not like most reality shows in the way that it is more of a snapshot of the lives of people rather than people put into an environment.

This show is the perfect example of when a reality TV show is clicking on all cylinders: compelling characters, juicy drama and crazy situations. But, being that it takes place on a yacht with a revolving door of guests to please and new crew members to break in, it stays fresh and the histrionics don't have to be manufactured quite so often as in other reality shows like the Real Housewives' series.

The series really hit its stride with the arrival of resting b*tch face, head stew Kate, in season 2. It then reached its peak in season 3 with the drama brought to the table in the forms of surly chef Leon, the quirky antics of deck hand Connie and the incredibly memorizing behavior of 3rd stew Raquel "Rocky" Dakota. After a few so so seasons 4 and 5, it returned with perhaps its best ever production in season 6, which just serves to demonstrate that this show's ability to not become stale and repetitive or just plain mundane in later seasons like, for example, Jersey Shore did. Even its latest season, number 9, had enough curve balls in it to keep me interested. The OG of the Below Deck franchise still seems to still have plenty of legs left.