I’m going to be honest with you all, after watching the episode it’s hard to lead off with my usual snark. The moment Captain Lee shared with Francesca the loss of his beloved son Josh, it hit me just as hard today as when I heard it in real life. We have fun dissecting the personalities of the crew, picking our favorites, and watching shenanigans ensue, but there are lessons to be learned as well. Captain Lee’s openness about his son’s battle with opioids has shined a spotlight on a topic that needs to be discussed. There is a time and a place though, and my snarky blog probably isn’t the best venue, but I didn’t feel right about starting this off without the acknowledgment of Cap and his bride’s real world loss and an angel birthday wish to Josh who would have been 44 today. As they shared at the end of the episode, if you or someone you know needs help with a substance abuse or addiction issue, call the SAMHSA hotline at: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
January 19, 1977 – July 22, 2019
Now onto what triggered the memory for Cap…Rachel’s behavior on their day off. Anyone who’s read even one of my blogs this season knows I’m a fan of Chef Rachel’s food, but not a fan of her dumpster mouth or the demon that apparently inhabits her body when she drinks. I was with Eddie in wanting to be as far away as possible, even though I was only viewing it through a screen. The fact that kids were there made it even worse for me. If they were in a private setting, drink your head off and be a jerk…whatever, but they weren’t. Thankfully they were able to get her off the stage and kept her from embarrassing the boat more than she already had. I thought when she passed out again, we were home free, but we weren’t out of the woods yet.
Eddie and Rob took the opportunity to play a game of hand signals that led to them paddle boarding. If you missed the subtitles on the sign language, the last one was pretty funny as the editors slipped in “Throw a fast ball inside,” as if it were a catcher signaling a pitcher. While they enjoyed their time on the water, Elizabeth and James were talking about plans after the charter season. Elizabeth mentioned her cousin’s upcoming wedding and James was eager to invite himself. That’s when Elizabeth came out of left field with “You should propose to me first.” For the love of all that’s holy, I pray it was the alcohol talking and she’s not really a stage 4 clinger. I’ve already been questioning whether she was indeed born on this planet, but this was too much.
Rachel finally came out of her coma when it was time to get ready for dinner. Within seconds of the crew sitting down, I knew the fiasco that ensued earlier was about to continue. She was swearing at the top of her lungs for service and then she actually flipping hissed. Don’t tell me that she’s not a demon. The look on her face when she did it freaked me the heck out. I don’t know how they all just sat there with her, and I hunt ghosts as a hobby. If that wasn’t bad enough, then she started laying into Liz about how angry she was that Liz was with James…right across the table from James. I’m not the president of his fan club either, but I’m also not a rude, drunken twatwaffle.
One would expect that Elizabeth would offer up more than a meek, “Give him a chance,” but no. She let Rachel continue her tirade and then walked off with her and let Rachel continue raging. It went on so long that the whole crew finished their dinners before it was done. At that point, James had enough and one of the vans was chock full of most of the crew and Elizabeth and Rachel rode back alone.
The next morning they woke up and Rachel used the blackout excuse. Sorry, chica, Ashton already used that up. You’ll have to think of something better. And by “better” I don’t mean your lame “keep it moving” comment. You owed all of your crewmates an apology. Not acknowledging your missteps was an arrogant, childish move. I don’t care how good your food is, if you aren’t a team player, you don’t deserve a spot on the team.
On a brighter note, Eddie finally convinced Izzy to see a doctor. Thankfully it wasn’t as serious as Covid, but infections in both kidneys, a UTI, and strep throat isn’t a walk in the park. Izzy got her meds and a scolding from Dr. Eddie to drink more water. Pretty soon she was on the mend and back to being Eddie’s dependable right hand.
While Izzy was feeling better, both Ashling and Rachel came down with stomach issues. Rachel’s were understandable. Even though alcohol is a diuretic, it can irritate your gastric system and cause less than desirable outcomes (if you catch my drift.) Ash seemed fairly put together on the beach, so there may be something else at play with her. Either way, I feel like with all of the bodily function talk that they must have had a thesaurus handy to describe it in as many ways as they did. It felt like I was eavesdropping in the lounge at Shady Pines rest home. No one needs to hear that stuff. At least we were spared the screams from the can that Mr. Dobson “blessed” us with last season.
When Rachel got back from provisioning on shore, she radioed for assistance. I absolutely understood why no one rushed to answer, but Captain Lee certainly didn’t. He called Francesca and Eddie up to the bridge to find out what was going on and they explained without going into too much detail what had happened with Rachel on their day off. Cap found himself between a rock and a hard place again because between the early stages of the pandemic and a new set of guests arriving the next day, he didn’t want a Chef Walkoff Part 2 situation, so he asks both Chess and Eddie to let it go for now.
The new guests are from Texas, and are also bringing along their 4lb teacup Yorkie Gigi. Eddie can’t help but flashback to walking a former guest’s dog and having to give a very specific command for pottying. These guests thought ahead though and requested a 2ft x 2ft square of artificial grass. Hopefully their thoughtfulness goes beyond their pup and reflects in a good tip as well. As should be expected, a cowboy themed dinner is on the menu and they want Captain Lee to join them for both of the evening meals during their charter. That poor guy cannot catch a break this season.
We’re now at the moment that broke my heart, that I spoke of at the beginning of this tome. Captain Lee invited Francesca to have a glass of wine with him and he asked her if the previous day had been the first time Rachel had exhibited her erratic behavior. Francesca let him know it wasn’t and he shared that he knew a guy like that, and went on to share the story of losing Josh. Watching him go through the what-if of whether or not him visiting earlier that day would have changed the outcome was heart-wrenching. He was totally right that it’s not in the natural order of life to lose a child. I will say, though, that he and Mary Anne have been absolutely stoic and have mustered a strength through adversity that is admirable. I can’t offer anything more other than to say I wish them more happy memories than sad and more heart warming moments than heart breaking ones.
Onto a different type of heartbreak, in the form of Liz and James. James has kept his distance and been kind of a putz around Liz since she didn’t stand up for him on their day off. The emotional side of me gets it, but I think he took it too far. Winking and blowing a kiss at Ashling and talking about all of the girls he follows on Instagram was a douche nozzle move. Man up and tell her you’re done, or zip it if you aren’t. Head games with Bambi are uncalled for. She’s not equipped to deal with those in her world of unicorns and rainbows. Leaving her in limbo is cruel.
The guests arrived and all save one seem fairly put together. The primaries’ friend Justin gave me total Joe Gorga vibes when he talked about wanting to put his poison in Ashling. Objectification aside, that’s just gross in general. Although it did lead me to finding my first flaw in Ash, which came when she said if guests weren’t off limits she likely go for him. Maybe her stomach bug is causing delirium, because….yuck.
Rachel pulls off dinner without a hitch, yet again. I’ll repeat for those who can’t get past my dislike of her, her abilities in the kitchen are beyond. That’s never been an issue. The fact that she pushed through while not feeling well also deserves kudos. When you can provide enough food for Texans to say no to dessert, you know you knocked it out of the park, because as they say everything is bigger in Texas.
The guests went to bed early and Liz stayed up for late shift, but immediately went to talk to James. He was cordial, but shared in a confessional that he and his emotional baggage have seen this item in the baggage before and he knows what to do with it. In his mind the answer to that is to pull away rather than putting in the work. Now if he would just say that to Liz’s face, we could all move on. When Liz finally headed to bed we saw her getting in and out of her bunk until almost 5 in the morning. She texted Francesca that she was suffering from a UTI and wasn’t sure she could work the next day.
At this point Francesca is using every flaw she can against Liz, so it was a stupid move in my opinion. Izzy pushed through worse, as did Ash and Rachel. So half of me understands Chess’ frustration, while the other half wants her to quit whinging about Liz. Not saying the complaints aren’t justified. I’m just tired of hearing about them. With so many people get sick, Captain Lee okays Francesca’s request to get a doctor to come aboard. We’ll have to wait and see next week how that shakes out, but something that happens definitely causes Chess to lose it on Liz. Hope to see you then!
