Below Deck Recap: Kate Goes Missing and Ashton Tries to Reconcile

by Julia Comments
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Below Deck Recap

On this episode of Below Deck, apologies don’t always mean that all things are forgiven…

It’s 3:41 a.m. and Kate is out. She “quits” and tells the camera crew to not follow her as she storms away after her fight with Ashton. Smashton really messed up this time because without a chief stew, the whole crew is f*cked. Side note: I find it interesting how the camera crew really didn’t follow Kate as she got lost in the Thailand night. Can you say dangerous?!

Rhylee fills in Courtney and Simone on the previous night’s issues. Obviously, Courtney is more upset that they are now a woman down and that means more work for her. Ashton doesn’t quite remember what happened, but he does admit that what happened with Kate was “not a good look.”

Ashton is shocked to hear that Kate has actually jumped ship (LOL) and asks his deck crew to help him fill in the blanks from his boozy night. Captain Lee has NO idea what transpired the night before and Ashton is sweating because he’s gonna have to be the bearer of bad news.

Things are a bit awkward as Ashton begins to tell of his fight with Kate to the captain. The guy tells the captain that he “doesn’t actually know what happened.” Talk about a hot mess. Captain Lee immediately begins to worry about Kate, drunk and wandering around alone in a strange place. I’m glad to see someone is worried for her safety! Everyone else is more concerned about picking up her slack. I mean, Chef Kevin takes “fake Kate’s” departure as a celebratory event.

Rhylee does an amazing job of making Ashton feel like a piece of sh*t for essentially being responsible for Kate’s MIA status. When Captain Lee can’t get a hold of her, things are getting serious. BUT. At 5:05 p.m., Kate is BACK, ya’ll. Not everyone is happy to hear her voice over the radio, but Kate is adamant that she didn’t do anything at all to warrant Ashton’s attack the night before.

Kate confides in Rhylee prior to talking to Captain Lee and explains it is “the most ridiculous situation” she has ever been in. She apologizes to Captain Lee, who behaves like a disappointed father. He lets her know “this sh*t’s unacceptable,” but he is so happy to see her face. He warns Kate that this cannot happen again and then Kate is off, ready to take her job back.

Ashton finds the time to chat with Kate about their issues. He decides he is “gonna be the better man,” and although he is still a bit hazy about what actually occurred, he apologizes to Kate in the hopes that things can get better between the two of them. Kate accepts and it seems as though all is back to normal on Valor. What I want to know is where did Kate stay last night? Hmmmm…

These charter guests seem “a little high maintenance,” and as Captain Lee runs through their preference sheet with the crew, you can tell that they are NOT looking forward to all of the demands. BTW, OMG. I love Kate with her Doritos.

Provisions are brought on board, everyone is setting up, and Tanner can’t even remember smooching Kate during their drunken night out. What disasters they are, huh? The charter guests make their grand arrival and so it begins. Kevin is shaking in his boots as one of the guests is also a chef. I love watching him sweat. He’s whipping together a whole “sharey, sharey, lovey, lovey Italian meal.” Let’s just hope they “lovey, lovey” the pizzas, too.

Also — just take a moment to enjoy these views that these charter guests have as they dine on their ‘zas. COME ON. How can anything be bad?! Apparently, pretty bad…considering that one of the guests can’t eat cheese and Kev is serving them up nothing but cheese. Talk about a bad move… (what kind of life is a life without cheese?!)

Post lunch, the water toys are out and Ashton is LOVING a few of the female charter guests. Let’s hope he keeps himself in check and behaves.

It’s masquerade night on board. Kate explains that she loves doing theme parties, but that “masquerade parties are a little creepy and for swingers.” What?! Chef Kevin presents matzah ball soup to the group and they are satisfied. All is going great, except for the fact that Kev didn’t make the guests a birthday cake. No candles, no party. Way to drop the ball, Kevin! Kiss your tip goodbye. To try and make up for the birthday candle snafu, the crew decides that lighting absinthe on fire would suffice. The guests fall for the whole forgotten candle schtick…luckily.

Today’s the day that Rhylee gets to show the crew what she’s made of. She is taking full lead on this fishing trip and she is excited to show Ashton what she’s capable of.  But meanwhile on board…Why is one of the charter guests acting like a diva and talking to the Captain about her room situation?  Just cuz she is stuck in the communal sky lodge area because one of the charter guests, Jamie, is a b*tch shouldn’t be the captain’s problem… “Jamie’s being a selfish, insignificant little twit.” Leave it to the captain to say what everyone else is thinking. And what a gentleman he is! He is legit giving up HIS room to make sure one of his guests is happy. How great is he?!

Rhylee’s fishing trip starts out okay…until Ashton gets a call from the park rangers that states the area is not zoned for fishing. WHOOPSIE. The gang heads back to the boat WITHOUT a fresh catch, but the one good thing is that the complaining guest will now be staying in the captain’s quarters. Captain Lee — talk about a class act.

Post fake-fishing trip, the guests essentially ask for a breakfast freestyle from Kevin. He is put to the test as he whips up some omelets, aka, the chef special. The guests are displeased with Kevin’s salty special, but it seems like they are just nitpicking.

Ashton spills to Captain Lee about Rhylee’s awful fishing trip, and he is doing a great job of making her look bad, so Kate jumps in. “I’m just gonna point out that offshore fishing is not really a main activity here.” Kudos to Kate for trying to stick up for Rhylee. It’s very clear to me that she is 100% still holding a grudge when it comes to Ashton.

After breakfast, the guest chef heads to the galley to talk “chef-to-chef” with Kevin. She explains that people were talking about his cooking and that he needs to step up his game. She states that she is “trying to look out for Kevin,” but naturally, Kevin does not take her suggestion lightly. And so, a battle is about to ensue…

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