Getting To Know You…The Captain meets his crew. Photo credit: bravotv.com
By Drew Schwendiman
I’m getting a little seasick of all these random Bravo TV shows (badum tish). ACTUALLY, Bravo’s new show Below Deck is not that bad! I actually see some promise in this show about the crew of a luxury yacht (The Honor). In this case, promise is synonymous with drama.
This show has one of the largest casts of any show this season. I couldn’t really get a feel for all the members in just the first episode, but it’s clear some are going to get more airtime than others. The credits include Ben, CJ, Dave, Eddie, Sam, Kat, Adrienne, and Aleks. Lee is the Captain, the deus ex machina who literally saves the day in the first episode, but he doesn’t have a bio on the Bravo website. Could it be because he’s too old?
The main drama exists between Sam and Adrienne. Sam’s parents own their own yacht, but now she’s entered the charter yacht business as a stewardess. However, her superior, Adrienne, doesn’t like Sam right off the bat, and so she treats Sam like a little kid. Some of the drama is a little overdone, but that could just be because Adrienne has to always be in control.
In the first episode, four L.A. fashion photographers board The Honor to pick up their model in the Caribbean. For $100,000 a week, they get treated like royalty- the crew is at their fingertips. However, Kat finds a dollar bill, white powder, and empty baggie in their bathroom. After some careful thinking, she decided to tell Lee and he turned the ship around and sent the photographers back to Hollywood. Now, the crew kept saying they weren’t positive it was cocaine (like I initially thought), but the photographers didn’t seem naturally upset with being kicked out. I don’t want to sound like a conspiracist, but I’m not entirely sure this was “reality”. Do you guys think this episode was scripted?
With five attractive guys and three attractive girls on board… on the water… for several weeks… it’s possible SOME relationships will form. Will Ben get the chance to cook dinner for a girl? Will CJ make any moves on Kat? Will Eddie PLEASE stay single? I think if each episode is a different story, and not the same drama stretched over the entire season, I could be entertained. Let’s get the cameras rolling so we can see what really happens Below Deck.
Follow the cast on twitter!
Adrienne Gang: @AdrienneGang
Aleks Taldykin: @Captaleks
Ben Robinson: @BenRobinsonChef
C.J. Lebeau: @cjbelowdeck
David Bradberry: @DaveTrouble
Eddie Lucas: @ed_lucas6
Kat Held: @KatOState
Samantha Orme: @samiorme
TBB Reality 
I’m really liking it so far. Very little drama, new guests each week, and set in beautiful locales. We get to see gorgeous Caribbean islands, and the yacht is beyond amazing. I’ve been following them all on twitter, before the show started. They are pretty interactive with their followers, well except CJ and Sam. And, just noticed that they all have been verified, except for Sam. I read somewhere, that ‘Honor’ is not the original name of the yacht and the original crew was given time off, so that the show could be filmed with the crew Bravo hired. I also heard it is bad luck to change the original name of a boat. Ooops, too late.
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I have not watched it yet but now I will check it out! Thank you for Drew’s View:). Just love TBBREALITY
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