Receiving criticism is never fun — although it can be fun for us to watch — and this week’s two main stories are really about how different people respond to it. I never thought I’d say this, but we can all aspire to be more Cloyce than Emma.
After Daisy tells Cloyce he needs to up his dinner game, it’s not clear if the message totally got through to him. She uses an open-faced compliment-sandwich technique, adding that she thinks he’s capable of it and that he has the most important job on the boat. Nevertheless, critique is new for Cloyce, so his ego is severely bruised. Cloyce takes another hit in the tip meeting, when Glenn praises both the deck and interior crews but calls out the chef. Glenn wants him to focus on prepping better and thinking outside the box.
Cloyce recognizes the criticism as constructive, but his day is ruined. This seems like hyperbole, but with a new charter tomorrow that requested a formal birthday dinner, he can’t fully take the night off. He brings the preference sheets to dinner and at one point leaves to go work (at what looks like the host stand?) on planning. Daisy’s glad he’s taking the feedback seriously, but he’s clearly ruining the vibe. Back on the boat, Cloyce preps ravioli until 1:30 a.m.
The vibes are also not great between Danni and Keith. Because of her light-colored dress, Danni goes commando, which is an apt representation of their differing personalities. Danni lives boldly, not afraid of danger or future consequences, while Keith is risk averse and always thinking ahead. After hot-tubbing, he tells Danni she had her chance, and he doesn’t want to get involved in any “triangular sort of relationships.” Danni insists there’s nothing going on with Gary and says it was a “whoopsie.” Rejected, Danni moves on by texting Anthony, whom she met on duty at a club in episode two, calling him “Big Dog!” Danni sure has an interesting way of flirting. Meanwhile, Davide goes to bed naked again, wild behavior with any roommate, but especially when you could accidentally give your boss a full face of dick. Maybe Davide and Danni would make the best pair.
In the morning, Gary tells Keith the kiss with Danni was “absolutely nothing,” but it doesn’t seem salvageable. Keith has turned Danni down too many times and can feel the tension from her. She tells Daisy she got the ick from him seeming insecure. This is a reach, because Keith doesn’t come off as insecure, merely as a normal person who wants to avoid messiness and was never that into Danni. Daisy points out that Danni didn’t kiss someone random: Gary is Keith’s boss and roommate. Unsolicited, Diana tells Danni she agrees with Daisy. Keith may be afraid of mess, but I’m so glad Diana isn’t.
While Cloyce is putting in new effort — frosting a cake ahead of time! The bar is low, but at least he’s clearing it — Emma’s work ethic isn’t improving. Gary didn’t even bother to wake her up for docking because he realized they could do it without her. Before the guests arrive, he gives her another tender-driving lesson. She keeps overturning the steering wheel, which stresses her out. Later, Gary asks Glenn, “How do you teach initiative?” Emma’s always on her phone, smoking, or having tea. We get a brutal character-assassinating montage of all the times she’s slacked off and made excuses for not doing something. Glenn says if they don’t see a massive improvement today, he’ll start looking for a replacement.
It’s not looking good for Emma. When Glenn asks her to watch the mizzen sail as it comes down, she asks to be talked through it. Glenn heard Gary explain it to her an hour earlier, so he sees this as another sign she’s not picking things up quickly enough. Gary has a chat with her after seeing her standing around idly, but she pushes back on the idea that she has a lack of urgency. He says it seems like she doesn’t really want to be there. She feels it’s unfair that he hasn’t given her this feedback until now and is offended by the idea that Gary and Keith are picking up her slack. I always root for the female deckhands, but Emma is an example of women’s rights to commit women’s wrongs. She complains to Daisy, who sees Gary’s side and tells her the best thing she can do is to do the job well and prove him wrong.
This charter’s primaries are Sherry and Phillip, who are celebrating their daughter Alana’s sweet 16. Daisy reminisces about being served alcohol at an Italian restaurant for her 16th birthday, so it’s no surprise she has Danni pour welcome Champagnes for all the guests. I’m surprised Alana and her friend Addy turn them down. Glenn checks with Danni: Did they just give minors alcohol? The drinking age in Spain is 18, and the ship has a “no underage drinking” policy. Thanks to the tamest ever teens, Danni can say they didn’t (even though she did offer them). Danni’s upset by this and feels like she’s blamed for something that Daisy told her to do.
Sherry gives the stews decorations for the dinner party and requests it to be indoors. Like last week, Danni annoys Diana by goofing off, sucking helium from balloons, and socializing while decorating. Daisy’s frustrated by it too because they’re on a time crunch, yet it gets done. It looks cute, but it’s odd to be indoors when the weather seems fine. Why don’t they want to enjoy the superyacht views?
In good news for Cloyce, they do enjoy his food. It’s his best dinner by a landslide. He makes a gelatinized tomato tartare with radishes in the shape of a flower, which is already worlds above that Caesar salad, but that’s not all — he pours in a cabbage broth that reacts with lemon juice to turn fuchsia. He finally understood the assignment. Ahi tuna with tobiko on a big homemade rice cracker also wows the guests, and they love the squid-ink pasta. Daisy was actually right when she said she knew he had it in him.
The over-18 guests go to a club on shore, leaving Alana and Addy to hot-tub and suck helium from balloons. So if you thought Danni acts like a teenager, you’d be absolutely correct. Around 2:30 a.m., Keith leaves in the tender to pick up the clubbing guests. Gary wakes up and notices Parsifal III is heading directly toward another boat. He sends Danni to wake Glenn up, then runs with fenders toward the front of the ship. It looks like they’re about to crash — the total opposite of a typical “two ships in the night.” At least Emma gets woken up and included this time. Will she finally step up and show some urgency?
From the Galley
• Was it just me, or did Phillip wanting to observe the minutiae of sailing sound exactly like Colin Robinson from What We Do in the Shadows?
• The guests not being able to tell the difference between bottled and fresh-squeezed orange juice made me feel better about buying cheap OJ for Friendsgiving cocktails.
• Cloyce says he spent his 16th birthday as a guest chef at a culinary festival in Mexico cooking for 450 people, and they had him walk a runway with supermodels in bikinis. I am so confused. Why were there bikini models at a culinary festival??
The bar is low, but at least he’s clearing it.
