'Below Deck Med' 6.08: At Your Lack Of Service

This post contains spoilers for Below Deck Mediterranean.
Check out our last review here. 

At the beginning of “At Your Lack Of Service,” the crew is drunk and vulnerable but in surprisingly good spirits, particularly since last time they had a night off the boat it ended with the chef quitting and Lexi getting into a fight with, well, everyone. Just about everyone is hungover the next morning — Courtney actually vomited all over her bed — but collectively, the crew is in good spirits. Even David, who was unambiguously rejected by Malia, just wants to quietly go back to work, with the only waves being the ones lapping against the hull of the Lady Michelle.

After a meeting between Captain Sandy, Chef Mathew, Bosun Malia and Chief Stew Katie, they’re mildly concerned about their next charter with guests Patrick and Jennifer, who boast that on their last trip they downed 69 bottles of booze in seven days. When they arrive at the dock, the men are wearing shorts that read “Alcohol, Now,” an ominous sign of things to come. But even if they quickly settle into a routine of drinking that keeps the interior crew on their toes with refills, the crew seems to be getting along well with one another. Well, except for Lexi.

Lexi has a lot of feelings about her rank as Second Stew, Courtney’s as Third Stew, what her responsibilities are, Katie’s leadership, and just about every other damn thing on the boat. It’s hard not to think of her as an entitled, self-important, spoiled jerk, and she does not do much over the remaining minutes of the episode to dispel that notion, bitching about being down in laundry while Courtney works with the guests, Lexi’s preferred detail, doing half-assed work, and grousing about it most of the time. Finally, while letting off a little steam — literally — she accidentally sets off a smoke alarm while manning the iron.

The alarm coincides with an arrival by the local authorities, who were monitoring their guests as they ventured too close to shore while zipping around on the jet skis. Thankfully, they only issue a warning, but the stew team’s cohesion deteriorates over the course of the day as Lexi continues to miss important little details and Katie finds herself being pulled in too many directions at once trying to cover them up.

On the other hand, the deck crew continues to work like a well-oiled machine. Malia successfully pilots the boat off of the slip when they depart, and Sandy later lets Lloyd pilot the boat out of anchorage. Unfortunately, a slight miscommunication causes the slide to be slightly deflated when the guests decide to use it on the second day, and Sandy takes charge in a way that only ruffles Malia’s feathers, especially since she’s been hustling around the boat all morning without eating anything.

Ultimately, however, the bigger problem is Lexi’s performance, and Lexi in general. More or less by her own admission, she prefers to be on guest service, and not only doesn’t like laundry service but thinks she should not have to perform the associated tasks. Katie is getting increasingly frustrated, but Sandy continues to not want to “give up” on Lexi, which is perhaps somewhat on Katie for not managing her, or maybe not adequately communicating to Sandy what Lexi is and isn’t doing. 

That said, Sandy’s persistence in giving people shot after shot and forgiving behavior that is unprofessional and downright inappropriate is becoming an increasing problem, whether it’s because of some streak of kindness from the captain, or a sense of practicality since she knows that replacing a crew member during a pandemic has been, and will be, extremely difficult. In the meantime, the guests are pouring their own wine, and that inattention may ultimately cost them all when the time comes for Patrick and Jennifer to hand out their gratuity.