After an episode that was a season highlight last week, I went into this one with more enthusiasm. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm has been dampened almost as much as the leaky crew locker room. The first half of the episode is largely devoted to the Ellie-Joe-Bri chaos that is no longer fun (or was it ever funny?). I am simultaneously protective of the girls and disappointed in them. I strongly condemn any online harassment of cast members, but it sure is tempting to add a “GET A JOB. STAY AWAY FROM HER” to Joe’s comments.

Joe starts off well by being honest with Ellie. He tells her he doesn’t really want to go on the date he said yes to hours earlier. He doesn’t want anything serious and says he’s not ready to date yet. She doesn’t want anything serious either and takes the rejection better than she expected. Joe asks, “You don’t hate me?” What an embarrassing question from a grown man who berates himself for being more concerned about how he comes across than her feelings. Ellie expresses her dislike with email closing language, “Don’t worry, thank you very much.” Rumors are circulating in the team locker room: Gael overhears Joe telling Nathan what happened, so she goes to check on Ellie. We love Gael!

For the crew’s evening, Ellie dresses up as usual, this time in a two-piece pearl crop top set that makes me think she’s more likely to be on a Sell ​​sunset Spin-off. At dinner, she and Joe sit next to each other — I need slow-motion coverage with commentary on how this came about. Instead of making up an excuse and switching places, Joe undoes everything he’s done to stop stalling Ellie. It’s like she’s a cat, and he unrolls the ball of yarn and offers her a sip of his drink. She says no, but starts to warm back up when he explains he was overwhelmed because he’s never been asked out before. We learn that Joe has only had one relationship, which ended in 2017. He tells us he wants to marry the next person he dates. That logic makes no sense. Doesn’t he realize you have to date people to figure out if you want to marry them? If anyone takes dating too seriously, it’s him. He asks Ellie if she wants kids. My jaw drops when I think of the audacity of this man.

There’s no shortage of ignorant men in this group, as Iain talks to Aesha about how well he thinks the season is going. He had no idea Aesha had to consider layoffs. For now, the stewards are doing well enough to keep their jobs, but Aesha is still frustrated that she has to work for them more than she should. It seems like the stewards may be turning a corner in their relationship when Bri tries to commiserate with Ellie about Joe in the bar. She heard he went back on the date, and she feels sorry. Ellie is glad to have cleared things up, but somehow she turns the conversation into a criticism of Bri’s oversensitivity. Bri takes it maturely, and Ellie later says it was the best part of her evening. Little does she know, Joe and Bri shared a moment in the bathroom. After dancing together, Joe followed Bri there, saying he hadn’t picked yet, as if these women were apples desperately waiting for him on the tree. She tells him to fuck off, but unfortunately she doesn’t mean it, and he joins her in the stall. We hear kissing and it sounds like Bri is trying to stop things from going any further. I keep thinking about the bathroom scene in the last episode of industrywhich only underlines how gross this bathroom is in comparison. At least it has floor-to-ceiling stall doors.

The next day, Bri tells Joe to stop fucking around, and he seems to understand. They’re going to stop flirting. Bri is done, but she needs his help not to overstep her boundaries. I don’t have much faith in her. Joe should take a cue from Nathan, who has been patient with Gael and doesn’t believe that dating equals marriage. She hasn’t had time to fully process the feelings from her breakup, but agrees to go rock climbing. When Nathan is only three feet off the ground, he realizes he’s afraid of heights. Gael must really like him, because she’s not afraid of them and gives him supportive talks as he rappels down. They kiss as they return to the boat, and later cuddle during a break.

The morning of the next charter, a Mediterranean hurricane-like storm, also known as a medicane, is rolling in. The unused crew cabin is leaking again, and they discover there is a leak in the boatswain’s locker above. The engineers determine the problem is a hose that was not sealed. After they fix it, the cabin should be usable again. The prospect of a fourth stewardess is exciting; we could use some new energy. Whether it will be a fourth stewardess or a replacement for Bri, whose laundry room is still too messy for Sandy’s standards, only time will tell.

Our new main character is Pamela Duke, the Florida-based owner of a “nautical-themed jewelry line.” A little research reveals that her name is Nau-T-Girl Jewelry and she has a Captain Sandy collection, so I assume they’ll get along well. Pamela and her guests arrive full of positive energy, but are completely crushed when Sandy tells them they’re stuck on the dock for the first day because of Medicane Daniel. To make up for it, Jono goes all out with the appetizers, making sushi for lunch. He makes a shrimp roll special for Jennifer because she doesn’t eat raw fish. I held my breath throughout the entire scene, remembering the preview where someone with allergies was served fish. I’m not sure if it’s her, trying to figure out which plate is which like it’s a shell game. I’m going to be nervous about Jono until they’re safely off the boat. I still don’t have much confidence in his cooking skills, but I’ve really grown to like him as a person. He may not excel at one thing, but he’s a man of many talents and interests. Jono cooks, twerks, sleeps, is an architect, and, as we learned this week, even does show jumping. Well, he did that as a child and claims to still use that discipline now. Personally, I prefer chefs who don’t associate food preparation with horses.

Aesha organizes an indoor wine tasting, but it’s pouring with rain. Sandy sees that there’s supposedly going to be 30 inches of rain, which is absolutely insane. A quick Google search shows that Athens receives an average of 14 inches of rain. per year! As the vans take Aesha, Nathan and the guests to the winery, it looks like the roads are underwater. The guests decide to turn around and stay on the ship, which seems like a safe choice. I’m surprised Sandy didn’t call them back earlier.

Alarms are going off on the boat and I have to pause the TV twice to make sure I’m not hearing an alarm in my building. Am I paranoid or do I just have bad spatial hearing? Probably both. Sandy thinks the boat has sprung a leak again, so Iain returns to the leaky crew cabin. So much for the fourth stew. The last shot we see is him crawling into the leaky ceiling, cursing. I imagine it’s a Coralline-like portal, and Iain travels to a parallel world where he is Sandy’s favorite. Will we ever see him again?