Below Deck Mediterraneanseason 9 was full of ups and downs, but Captain Sandy Yawn notably didn’t fire anyone from the crew. The ninth installment saw franchise alum Aesha Scott return to lead as Chief Stew. After starring in seasons 4 and 5 of the Mediterranean-based yachting series, she worked as Captain Jason Chamber’s head of the interior department onBelow Deck Down Under. Once regarded as the best show in the franchise,Below Deck Med’s popularity diminished after Captain Sandy fired Chief Stew Hannah Ferrierin season 5 for having a vape pen and unprescribed Valium onboard.
Hannah was a staple cast member and the show lacked overall entertainment value without her presence. Multiple Chief Stews rotated out in her absence, though it appears the franchise may have found her permanent replacement withAesha, who undoubtedly saved season 9. Captain Sandy and the Chief Stew were the only recurringBelow Deckpersonalities to rejoin the crew, with the rest of the cast being made up of franchise-first yachties. While muchdrama occurred among the season 9 cast, surprisingly, Captain Sandy didn’t fire anyonefor a few odd reasons.
8Aesha Needed All The Help From The Interior Team She Could Get
The Interior Team Couldn’t Manage One Charter With One Less Stew
At the beginning of season 9, Captain Sandy revealed the interior department would have to run with only three stews. After working the season prior with four stews, a leak in one of the Mustique’s cabins prevented the crew from expanding. Aesha was disappointed to hear she’d only have a second and third stew by her side but didn’t complain about the shortcoming. Instead, she buckled down and stepped up as a leader. Bri Muller and Elena “Ellie” Dubaich rounded out the interior team for the majority of the charter season, thoughAesha was forced to pull their weight.
After the first few chapters, it became apparent that Bri and Ellie lacked experience. Aesha had been working in the yachting industry for years and naturally took it upon herself to lead the team. Whenshe gave Bri and Ellie the chance to run lunch service by themselves, they were unpreparedand ended up stressing the Chief Stew out on her break. While either of the stews could have been fired for their performance alone, it was easier for Aesha to make do with Bri and Ellie instead of having them kicked off the Mustique.
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With two charter trips left, Captain Sandy had the leaking cabin fixed, andCarrie O’Neill joined the crew. She had more experience than Bri and Ellie, with Aesha admitting in a confessional interview that she easily outranked them. Almost immediately, Carrie stepped up and became a reliable stew for Aesha.If Carrie had been a part of the OG cast, they could’ve easily fired Bri or Ellie.However, because neither of them was truly reliable for Aesha, she knew they would completely crumble with only two stews on deck.
Joe, Gael, & Nathan Were Incredible Deckhands
Bri and Ellie weren’t the only crew members whose performance was lacking at times. Iain Maclean was Captain Sandy’s Bosun, and while he didn’t make any outlandish mistakes, he lacked basic leadership skills. His exterior team consisted of Joe Bradley, Gael Cameron, and Nathan Gallagher, and they had instant chemistry as a trio. While their relationships shifted as the season went on, there’s no denying they worked together swimmingly during most of the charters. When Iain failed to delegate tasks among the deck team,they worked together and were incredibly self-sufficient yachties.
Fans Think Iain & Chef Jono Faked Their Poor Performances
There’s been a lot of speculation thatBelow Deck Medseason 9 had producer plantsin the cast. Ian and Chef Johnathan “Jono” Shillingford were the first yachties called out for potentially faking their poor performances. As Bosun,Iain lacked the sense of awarenessthat his deck team made up for.
However, Captain Sany was unimpressed with his work but didn’t end up firing him no matter how rough his time as a Bosun was. On the flip side,Chef Jono was accused of performing poorlyby viewers to manufacture moments for the show. However, he made a terrible mistake when he served a guest with “iron overload” raw seafood that could have potentially killed them.
Chef Jono’s near-fatal accident was a firable offense, but his employment wasn’t terminated.Captain Sandy threatened to fire him but couldn’t find a replacementfor him, leaving her with no option but to keep him on the crew. Or, producers could have asked her to keep him in the cast to continue creating entertaining moments for season 9. Captain Sandy spent most of the season talking about how she wasn’t impressed with Chef Jono’s performance, but the decision not to terminate his employment hints he was a producer plant and couldn’t be fired.
5Joe Bradley Is A Terrible Person But Decent At His Job
He Was Rude Toward The Women On The Crew
Iain made the rash decision to name Joe lead deckhandbefore getting to know his team and Nathan having more experience than him. He gave him the promotion before the first charter of the season, and he quickly stepped into the semi-leadership position. But Joe likely didn’t know he’d end up being the one to take most of the blame for Iain’s faults.
The Bosun wasn’t very hands-on with the deckies, leaving Joe to step up in his absence. Gael and Nathan had a romantic connection and their boatmance grew as season 9 progressed. However, Joe wasn’t keen on their relationship.
The lead deckhand felt as though Nathan was pulling Gael’s weight in the way he had to pull Iain’s. Instead of chatting with her and hearing her side of things, Joe jumped to conclusions and demeaned the only woman on the deck team.He called her a “princess” and alleged she didn’t do as much work as the rest of the exterior department. If anything, it seemed like Joe was jealous of Gael’s close relationship with Nathan. Nevertheless, he didn’t let their beef affect his performance and continued to do a decent job as lead deckhand.
The Crew Covered Up For Her Mistakes
Bri’s Achilles heel inBravo’sBelow Deck Medseason 9 was laundry. As the third stew, most of her main tasks lay in the laundry room. However, Aesha quickly realized she was terrible at the chore. Bri lost many pieces of clothing, gave people the wrong items, and could not do laundry successfully. Outside of her professional relationships with the crew, she had close friendships with everyone (except Ellie), andthey decided to keep quiet about Bri’s mistakes. However, after Joe admitted Bri lost some of his clothes, Aesha realized how bad she was with laundry.
3Chef Jono Made Silly Mistakes But Impressed Most Of The Guests
Chef Jono Was A Great Chef Overall
Chef Jono was condemned for his mistakes in the galley throughout season 9. He impressed the first group of guests when facing the challenge of working with extremely limited provisions. However, by the second charter, Chef Jono fell from grace in Captain Sandy’s eyes. The charter guests were the captain’s dear friends, and she warned the chef they had a luxurious palette and were expecting a lot out of him.Chef Jono served the guests chicken for dinner and finished the night out with a “deconstructed” sponge cakethat left them feeling utterly disappointed.
After he let Captain Sandy’s friends down, she had a bad taste in her mouth about the chef.
It’s important to note he was mostly well-received by charter guests. Chef Jono’s worst moment of the season was his near-fatal accident, but other than that moment and the infamous chicken and sponge cake dinner, he had an overall positive showing.
Captain Sandy focused intently on his missteps instead of all the success he had in season 9. Thoughshe disapproved of him in her confessional interviews, she never fired him.
Bri & Ellie’s Feud Was Embedded In The Show’s Storyline
The main narrative ofBelow Deck Medseason 9 centered aroundBri and Ellie’s feud over Joe. The second stew admitted to Bri she found the lead deckhand attractive at the beginning of the season. Ellie had her heart set out on pursuing a boatmance with Joe, but when he hooked up with Bri in a hot tub after a night out, she turned on the third stew. Up until that moment, she’d acted as a mentor to the struggling stew.Ellie used her status as the second to take out her personal feelings on Briat every chance she got.
She felt betrayed by her fellow stew though neither of them knew Joe at that point and had no loyalty to him or each other. After multiple attempts to squash their beef for the sake of the interior team, Ellie wouldn’t let their drama go.Their feud disrupted the flow of the stewsall season long, leaving Aesha to pick up their slack. They finally stopped fighting toward the end of season 9 when Ellie overheard Joe singing a song about having his choice of the two stews.Bri and Ellie’s dramawas incredibly drawn out, but without it, there wouldn’t have been much discourse among the crew to create entertaining reality TV moments.
1Captain Sandy Wanted To Give Some Crew Members A Chance
Captain Sandy didn’t fire anyone because she wanted to give the new crew a chance. It’s no secret thatBelow Deck Medseason 8 letdownviewers, hinting that something about the show needed to change. Theproduction team seemingly took a chance at recasting the series in season 9,with the risk mostly paying off. It was incredibly smart to tap franchise favorite Aesha to return to the show and lead as Chief Stew. She cemented herself as one of thebestBelow DeckChief StewsinBelow Deck Down Underseasons 1 and 2 and her presence in season 9 drew the audience back in.
While some of the crew weren’t the best in their jobs, they each brought something new to the show.
Bri and Ellie’s feud created a lot of chaos among the crew, whileGael and Nathan’s scandalous boatmanceshocked the cast and fans alike. There are plenty of alumni fromBelow Deckpast that have more experience in the yachting industry and would’ve been better stews and deckhands than some of the season 9 cast, butthe show had to make a big swing after season 8 was deemed a disappointment.
Despite many crew members making mistakes, exhibiting bad behavior, and committing firable offenses, Captain Sandy didn’t fire anyone from the crew ofBelow Deck Medseason 9. Fans speculated that personalities like Iain, Bri, and Chef Jono were unable to be kicked off the Mustique because they were planted on the cast by producers. However, it seems as though Captain Sandy and the crew merely got comfortable with one another.
Below Deck Mediterranean
Cast
Below Deck Mediterranean is a Bravo reality television series that follows a crew that works aboard a gigantic superyacht during the busy season. The show highlights the challenges of the crew as they serve their high-end clientele. Each season tackles new locations, such as Greece, Croatia, Italy, and France, with some repeating.
