Summary
Below Deck Mediterraneanbrought Chief Stew Aesha Scott back to her roots aboard Mustique, but there are signs they set her up to fail from the start despite her ability to prove everyone wrong. Aesha, who first appeared as a Stew onBelow Deck Mediterraneanseason 4, left the series to work with other superyacht charters afterBelow Deck Mediterraneanseason 5. A decorated yachtie who has been in the industry for nearly a decade, Aesha was ready for another challenge and departed her original iteration ofBelow Deck Medleaving behind Captain Sandy Yawn and several other yachties.
While Aesha has been clear that her passion for yachting is just a part of her personality, the fact that she’s great at her job is evident from even just an episode of theBelow Deckfranchise. Viewers were hopeful they’d see Aesha again after she departed her initial run ofBelow Deck Mediterranean,and were thrilled to see she’d be appearing as theChief Stew onBelow Deck Down Under.Getting a much needed promotion, Aesha was working with a brand new crew and Captain Jaosn Chambers, who she quickly developed a shorthand with.
Aesha’s time onBelow Deck Down Underseason 1 started out easier than she expected. Despite some of the traditional crew issues she was facing as the Chief Stew,Aesha was able to get her bearings and understand her place as the lead of the interior department. Getting to know Captain Jason better as well, she was able to develop a great working relationship with the Captain and find her way through a dizzying first season. When the series was renewed, Aesha returned toBelow Deck Down Underseason 2ready for a similar pace, but things were changing.
ThroughoutBelow Deck Down Underseason 2, Aesha had to deal with chaotic crew antics that she hadn’t seen before, and ultimately had to take a very serious role in the issuesbetween Deckhand Luke Jones and Stew Margot Sisson. When Luke attempted to sexually harrassment Margot while she was drunkenly asleep in her bunk, Aesha took the lead on getting him out and reporting him to Captain Jason. Dealing with something so deeply serious,Aesha had the ability to be graceful and kind in her approach toward Margotwhile upholding the standards of her position.
AfterBelow Deck Down Underseason 2, Aesha took a break to focus on her personal life. Appearing briefly onWinter Houseseason 3, Aesha surprised viewers when it was announced she would be working as the Chief Stew onBelow Deck Mediterraneanseason 9. While many were excited to see Aesha returning to her roots, it was clear that the season wouldn’t be easy for her. Throwing obstacles in her way,theBelow Deck Medproduction team may have tried to set Aesha up to fail, but she managed to prove them wrongwith her wonderful work.
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8Aesha Began The Charter Season Understaffed
There Weren’t Enough Stews
At the beginning ofBelow DeckMediterraneanseason 9, the crew reported for duty to find that they were understaffed in the interior department. While Mustique is a beautiful vessel, it was struggling with age and decay in some of the interior areas of the superyacht, and Captain Sandy shared that it would impact the number ofBelow Deck Medcrew membersthat could be held.The interior team would be down one stew, which made things tricky for Aesha.
While Aesha had worked on vessels that were understaffed before, she hoped to make the pressure on herself and her team as they moved through the charter seasona little more manageable by picking up some of the slack herself. Consistently working through breaks and helping on things like service and laundry, which should’ve fallen to lower-ranked Stews, Aesha made a difference on her team. Though there was personal drama, she tried to make the best of a bad situation.
7Aesha’s First Charter Lacked Provisions
She Didn’t Have What She Needed For Meals Or Drinks
During the first charter of the season, which was a bit shorter than a standard charter, left the crew unable to serve to the best of their abilities. While the exterior team was doing fine with their work, the interior team and Chef Johnathan Shillingford had to struggle through a lack of provisions, as the delivery from their provisioner didn’t come in on time. With Aesha and Captain Sandy both struggling to ensure things were working well for the guests even though they didn’t have enough food or alcohol to sever them properly.
Aesha worked hard throughout the first charter, communicating with her staff, the chef, and the guests to ensure they were aware of the situation. Though she didn’t try to make excuses for what was happening,Aesha made it clear that they were doing the best they couldwith what they had, and the guests appreciated her transparency. Though Aesha is one of thebest Chief Stews in theBelow Deckfranchise, she still struggled through the opening charter with the lack of provisions on hand.
6Aesha’s Second & Third Stews Required Training
She Was The Most Experienced On Board
Although Aesha was meant to be the most experienced person on her team as the lead, her Second and Third Stew have both struggled throughout the charter season, especially in understanding their duties. Ellie Dubaich, aBelow Deck Medveteran who Aesha named Second Stew quickly after the first charter, struggled through her priotiizing, inadvertently not prioritizing the higher-level tasks on any given charter. Bri Muller, Aesha’s Third Stew who came into Mustique at an entry level, has struggled to perform basic tasks aboard the superyacht.
WhileAesha is trusting of her crew in a way that’s always given them the power to make or break their performance, she also has a standard of work that she makes clear early on in the charter season. Bygiving Aesha two stews who were strugglingin their performance from the jump,Below Deck Mediterraneancould have been setting her up to have to work harder on her own. With Bri and Ellie unable to get things done in a way Aesha likes, she’s had to put in more work herself.
His Service Wasn’t Up To Par
During the first charters of the season,Chef Jono struggled in his performancethroughout every meal service of the day. While Jono was clear that he knew what he was doing in the galley,he had a hard time bringing his experiences together with the demands of the charter guests and their dietary preferences. When the guests complained about his meals, which they typically did to Aesha, she had to bring those issues back to Jono with hopes he’d change things up.
Rather than making changes in his service, Jono doubled down on what he was doing at first, which bothered the charter guests. Creating meals that Aesha was genuinely embarrassed to serve to the guests, she had to bring the issues with Chef Jono’s food up to Captain Sandy. WhileAesha felt for the Chef, she was the charter guest facing crew memberwho had to deal with their criticism in the moment.
4Aesha’s Dealt With Ellie Dubaich’s Superiority Complex
She Outranked Her Second Stew
AlthoughAesha appreciated that Ellie was a long-time yachtieand had worked on superyachts for nearly the same amount of time she had,the superiority complex Ellie’s shownthroughout the season was a struggle for the Chief Stew. A team player in her own right, Aesha didn’t understand why Ellie wouldn’t do work aboard Mustique in a priority order that made sense until she realized she was likely leaving lower-level work for a lower-level Stew. Ellie’s ability was strong, but her work ethic was questionable to Aesha.
As she moved through the charter season, Aesha also noticed that Ellie’s relationship with Bri when she wasn’t around may not have been the most productive.Ellie consistently felt the need to remind Bri that she outranked her, which Aesha didn’t appreciate when the team had to be all-hands-in with the lack of a fourth Stew. Aesha squaring up with Ellie’s superiority complex was difficult, but ultimately bringing Captain Sandy into the mix was helpful.
3Aesha’s Working With A Hands Off Captain Sandy
She Wasn’t Paying Close Attention
As Aesha has moved throughBelow Deck Mediterraneanseason 9, her time with Captain Sandy has been limited. Over the years, Captain Sandy has been criticized for micromanaging her team and being one of the more difficult captains to work with in theBelow Deckfranchise. WhileCaptain Sandy has been a micromanagerin the past, she’s definitely not living up to that reputation in the current season of the series. Instead,Captain Sandy is the most hands-off she’s ever been on screen.
Captain Sandy’s attitude has been offthroughout the season, but her hands-off approach is typically something that the yachties would be interested in. Instead, Aesha’s been dealing with drama between her stews that has brought both of them to teas in separate moments, and the Captain has been nowhere to be found to step in and mediate. UntilAesha and Captain Sandy spoke on their own, she wasn’t brought into the problem and left Aesha to clean up a near-impossible mess.
She Was Left To Clean Up Messes
Aesha’s time aboard Mustique this charter season has been tougher than most, and with some of the season still left, her experiences have likely been different than any other season she’s worked. Theguests that have been aboard Mustiquethis season have been difficult in many instances, especially for Aesha to deal with. Throughout the charter season,Aesha has had to handle some serious issues with charter guests without much help.
While there have been a few charters that have had easy guests, many of the charters have had guests withintricate asks on food, activities, and service that Aesha has had to accommodate. Doing her best to give guests the best experience aboard Mustique, Aesha has been able to design themed nights for the guests, find alcohol when the provisioners delivery didn’t come in time, and plan excursions with the exterior team. Aesha has had to over-accomodate and clean up messes that weren’t necessarily hers to begin with.
Although Aesha’s had to deal with Ellie’s superiority complex throughoutBelow Deck Mediterraneanseason 9, she’s also had another Stew with some issues of her own. ThroughoutBelow Deck Medseason 9,Bri has been struggling to complete simple tasks that any Stew should be able to handle.The majority of tasks that she’s assigned, Bri struggles with and tends to have meltdowns over. Whether it’s sorting laundry and returning it to the appropriate owner or dealing with cabins and service, Bri has had a hard time.
WhileAesha is meant to be training her Stews, she’s also supposed to be able to rely on Ellie to do some of Bri’s training, as well. The contentious relationship between Bri and Ellie, which is because oftheir love triangle with Deckhand Joe Bradley, has caused Aesha to have to take on the Third Stew, essentially babysitting her and calming her down through her meltdowns. While Aesha was ready to take onBelow Deck Mediterranean, she may not have realized she’d be working so intently to teach her Third Stew.
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.
