Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9, Episode 16 Recap: Snuffing Ellie’s Candle

Welcome to Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9, Episode 16 recap! In this week’s episode, called “Chain of Command-ment,” Gael and Nathan patch up their misunderstanding, while Aesha helps Sandy plan for her proposal. The new stew fits is a welcome addition, but Aesha finally has to have a talk with Ellie about overstepping her role as the second stew. Here are some of the highlights from Below Deck Med Season 9, Episode 16.

Gael is insecure about her feelings for Nathan

Last week as the yachties returned from their night out, a misunderstanding between Nathan and Gael sent her into a tailspin. She thinks Nathan is just like all the other guys she’s ever dated, and he’s just going to “treat me like sh*t” again. After crying things out with Aesha, she says she wants to go to bed. So Aesha takes her and puts her in Nathan’s bunk. Huh?

But Nathan’s clueless about why Gael’s upset. Sadly, men aren’t mind readers, so she needs to explain.

“What’s wrong with ya?” he asks.

“Nothing,” she says. It’s better to wait until tomorrow anyway to talk things out, after the alcohol has worn off.

“I can’t wait to travel with you,” he whispers. “Seriously.”

“You don’t have to say that,” she tells him.

“I want to say that,” he responds. “I want you, and I love you more and more.” Uh oh. Did he just let the L-word slip? I hope he means it.

Apparently, he did, cause the next morning, Nathan’s still talking about looking forward to traveling with Gael. He’s looking at hotels on his phone.

Ellie feels slighted … again

Aesha meets with her crew before the guests arrive. She congratulates Bri for doing so much better in the laundry. Then she praises Ellie on her table decorations, calling them “absolutely amazing.” She adds, “You’re nailing it!”

Though she appreciates the praise, when Aesha thanks Carrie for clearing the pantry in “half the time it’s been taking,” Ellie silently wipes away tears. It’s always sad when someone takes praise for a coworker as a personal snub.

“There’s been a palpable shift in Aesha’s behavior towards me ever since Carrie got on board,” Ellie complains. “Here I am, like, ‘What about me? Remember me?’” Girl, she just said that you were “amazing.” Take the win and be gracious about sharing the glory.

Aesha then assigns Bri to make up the guest cabins and Ellie to give the stairs “a good vacuum.” But when she radios Ellie to ask her location, she’s in the cabins helping Bri.

“I asked Bri to do that and you to do the stairs,” the chief stew responds. “Just do what I’ve said.”

When Aesha checks the cabins, she notices fingerprints all over the cabin door. “Ellie, Ellie,” she radios, “this door has got finger marks on it. If you’d just give it another little look-over.”

But when Aesha walks by the crew mess, she spots Ellie goofing around. “Did you not [hear] anything I just said?” Aesha interviews. “It’s like she’s trying to piss me off.”

She finally gets Ellie’s attention and puts her back to work. The guests arrive in 25 minutes. No time for messing around.

“I feel like I have to check out a little bit,” Ellie confesses, “because I don’t like how I’m being treated. I fully understand that Aesha wants the highest yacht standards, but the way she’s going about it, she’s achieving the opposite effect.”

Chef Jono welcomes “part of my community” to Below Deck Med

When the charter guests arrive, Ellie and Carrie work together making espresso martinis. Ellie kind of throws her weight around a bit, but Carrie doesn’t take it personally. She just came out of a high-stress situation, so she’s happy not to be in charge.

The guests are a group of six gay men, and ironically, Aesha served them on a previous charter in Australia. She’s so happy to see them again because they were fun guests.

“I’m still pinching myself,” the primary tells Aesha. “I’m like, ‘Oh, my God!’ I feel like, where in the world are we gonna meet next?”

For his part, Chef Jono is excited to have these guests on board. “I haven’t met many gay or Black people in the industry,” he shares. “I’m a gay, Black person, so I’m, like, a double minority. Having a group of guests that are all queer, it’s really important for me to feel that energy … These people are part of my community, and there’s nothing I want more than to make sure that they’re extra happy. I made that flavor, flavor, okurrr?”

While two of the guests discuss which of the deck crew is cuter, Tony says, “I have a pretty good idea which one is actually ‘family.’”

“Oh, the chef?” Giovanni asks.

At the end of the meal, when Jono appears to see how they enjoyed their dinner, he says, “Can I get a ‘Hey, girl, hey?’” I love it, and so do the guests. They also loved his food, which is good news for Jono. I’m so glad he didn’t get fired earlier in the season or after almost killing someone.

Carrie has the laundry covered

While Bri’s on break, Ellie heads down to the laundry to see if Carrie needs any help. Carrie’s got it covered and tells Ellie she doesn’t need her help cause she doesn’t want to mess up Bri’s system. “Too many cooks spoil the stew,” she says again.

Ellie retreats but interviews, “That feels ‘amazing’ as a second stew, having the floater tell me what to do at this point. At the same time, I’ve been kicked out of laundry, but now Carrie can do laundry all of a sudden? What the f*ck is going on?”

When Bri comes back from her break, Carrie tells her about the interaction with Ellie, adding that the laundry is almost done.

“It’s like the laundry just seems to be flying at this point,” Bri interviews. “Having the color system implemented actually helps a lot. But also having Carrie around gives me the time to actually focus fully.”

Meanwhile, as the deck crew celebrates the last time they have to pull up the slide for the season, Ellie decorates the table for dinner. “Table décor, at this point, is the only thing bringing me any sort of joy on this soul-sucking boat,” she says. Yikes. Attitude much?

Ellie doesn’t know boundaries

While the guests enjoy their fabulous dinner, Sandy gets a text from her girlfriend Leah. “Hey, baby, just landed. I’m here!” She has no idea of the surprise in store for her. Sandy’s so excited to see her and propose.

As dinner concludes, Aesha radios Carrie to go down to the pantry and help Jono with the cleanup. Immediately afterward, Ellie radios, “Carrie and Bri, I need your help decorating, please.”

Aesha reminds her that she just radioed Carrie to clear the pantry. “F*cking A, girl,” Aesha exclaims in frustration.

“I do not understand what Ellie is playing at,” Aesha interviews. “I think she’s [trying] to tell Carrie, ‘Hey, bitch, I do have a little bit of power here.’ But guess what, Ellie? I’m gonna swoop in, and I’m gonna put out your candle. Sssss! Poof!”

A treat for Bri, she gets to leave the boat!

The next morning, the guests prepare to leave the boat for a day excursion to Poseidon’s Temple. Iain gets to go since he hasn’t been on a day trip yet. When Aesha gives Bri permission to go, she’s so excited she gives her boss a big hug.

“You’ve been doing so well in laundry the last couple of charters,” Aesha says, “I just wanted you to have a little treat before the season finishes.” Aww. Nice.

Bri is so happy she’s actually sobbing!

With the guests off the boat, Aesha takes the opportunity to meet with Sandy and go over a few details for the planned proposal tomorrow.

“Are there particular flowers that you would like?” she asks. “How would you like them arranged?”

She wants the flowers “lined up along the dock,” Sandy says. “And then a table, a violinist, and champagne.”

“And what do you want?” Aesha asks, knowing Sandy doesn’t drink alcohol.

“Peach tea in a champagne glass,” she requests.

In a confessional, Sandy admits, “With less than 24 hours before I propose, my stomach feels a little funny. I don’t want to get it wrong … I just want it to be absolutely perfect.”

“Can I watch … from afar?” Aesha begs.

When Sandy says sure, Aesha admits, “Oh, my gosh. You just made my whole day!”

Ellie continues overstepping and irritates Aesha

While talking to Jono in the galley, Aesha overhears the girls. She’s annoyed by Ellie bossing Carrie and Bri around.

“How’s this conversation still going?” she asks Jono, who just laughs.

Aesha goes upstairs to check on the party decorations. “Can you just leave them to their little rainbow project?” she asks Ellie.

“I have noticed Ellie kind of overstepping her role,” Aesha interviews. “Ellie thinks that being a chief stew is just walking around the boat telling people what to do. [Bri and Carrie] are pretty capable of putting balloons in the right places. Thanks, Ellie.”

A bit later, Aesha asks Carrie, “Do you feel like Ellie’s been overstepping with you girls?”

“At times,” Carrie admits. “I would say yeah.”

“That kind of sh*t’s not cool with me,” Aesha replies. “When I’m here, I’m delegating … It’s confusing for you guys.”

“If I had to do a whole season like this,” Carrie continues, “I’d be really struggling to bite my tongue.”

“I know how to handle it,” Aesha tells her.

Enough is enough for Aesha at this point

After dinner, Aesha radios, “Jono, Jono, clearing.” Seconds later, Ellie radios the same message, confusing Jono.

Aesha reminds Ellie she’d already informed Jono they were clearing. “I can take care of all that,” she says.

“This is the straw that broke the camel’s back for me,” Aesha interviews. “It’s too much.”

Later, Aesha meets with Ellie. “I just want to have a word with you,” she says. “After the dinner stuff, calling Jono …”

“I apologized,” Ellie whimpers.

“I know,” Aesha says. “[But] I feel like you’ve been overstepping as a second.”

“Really?” Ellie says, stunned.

“The job of a second is to delegate when I’m not around,” Aesha adds. “When I’m on the floor, you’re not delegating. I’ve noticed it quite a lot over the last few days.”

Ellie claims she would “never disrespect you like that.” Au contraire! Production is kind enough to show us clip after clip of Ellie doing just that, over and over again.

“It’s to the point now,” Aesha interviews, “where you have disrespected my position for your own ego so much that I don’t really give a sh*t.”

“I don’t know why Aesha’s just blaming me for everything,” Ellie interviews. She thinks Aesha’s making her a “scapegoat.” Ellie needs to work on her listening skills.

“Throughout this season, I’ve had to coddle her,” Aesha adds. “No more of this sh*t. I’m sick of it. It’s just really frustrating.”

So what’s she going to do? Fire her? It’s the end of the season. We’ll find out next week.

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.

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