#3537 Below Deck Med S11E18: The Wine Beneath My Wings

Watch What Crappens

The hosts break down the explosive Season 11 finale of Below Deck Mediterranean, focusing on the violent emotional fallout between Joe and N

Key takeaways

• Jen throws a full glass of red wine on Luke Wentz after he crashes the finale club scene uninvited, earning universal crew support for her decisive action.
• Joe and Nathan share a tense, drunken confrontation that escalates into a physical standoff, with Joe crying hysterically while Nathan fiercely defends his family.

Main topics

• Below Deck Med Season 11 Finale
• Joe vs Nathan conflict

Notable quotes

The red flags are there for a reason!

Conclusion

The episode delivers a satisfyingly messy finale that ties up major re

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:21) and welcome to Watch What Crap Is, a podcast about all that crap on Bravo that we just love to talk about. I'm Ben Mandelker. Joining me today is the one and only Ronnie Karam. Hi, Ronnie. How's Speaker 6 (0:31) it Speaker 1 (0:31) going? Speaker 6 (0:31) Hello. Speaker 1 (0:35) It's Below Deck season finale day. It's a big, epic episode to dive into. Are you going to be joining us in Minnesota next week? Or how about in Michigan? Because guess what? We're going to Minneapolis and Detroit. Next week, for the next two stops on our In the Mix tour, we can't wait. We'll have programming updates next week with what we'll be recapping. But please come join us. Go to watchwhatcrappens.com to get your tickets. It's going to be an excellent time. If the Kansas City and Chicago shows were any indication, it's going to be a blast. After that, in November... We are going to be headed to Philadelphia and D.C. Those are always huge shows, so come join for that. And then we will be going to Dallas, Austin, and Houston for a big Texas bonanza. And then December, we've got Nashville, Clearwater, and Fort Lauderdale. This is our first time going back to Florida in years. And also, it's been a moment since we've been in Nashville. So come check us out. And then in the new year, we will be going to San Fran, Salt Lake City, Denver, Charleston, Atlanta, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, Toronto, Boston, and finally the Golden Crappies on February 25th. So watchforcrappins.com is where you should get your tickets. And again, thanks to everyone who showed up and sent us really lovely messages and tagged us in photos. We try to re-gram everything that we can. I think that comes our way. We'll try to put up on our feed because we really are so appreciative of you guys taking the time to come see us. So with that all being said, check out our Patreon. We've got a video up there, newsletter, bonus episode. We did a little airport snaps from O'Hare this week. So yeah, that's all the good stuff. What's going on with you, Ronnie? Speaker 4 (2:20) Nothing. I'm ready to do some finale below deck work. Love it. Below deck Mediterranean ending. We get a return of one of our favorite characters. Speaker 5 (2:34) Sandy's Speaker 4 (2:34) wife. Just says, yeah. Speaker 5 (2:37) And Speaker 4 (2:37) we get a kind of a finale for Joe and Nathan. I thought there was going to be punching and fighting and throwing up against walls. There wasn't that. But there was a solid, we'll never see each other again. And sometimes that's all you have in life. Speaker 1 (2:54) There was sexual tension between them. I felt like they hate each other, but they also could make love right now. It Speaker 4 (3:02) was interesting. There Speaker 1 (3:03) was Speaker 4 (3:03) real sexual tension between Joe and Coop. I thought they were going to make out a couple of times. And I was there for it. Speaker 1 (3:12) Yeah, it was a lot of bro motions happening on that boat. It's Speaker 4 (3:16) so Speaker 1 (3:16) interesting because the season really ended. with a focus on Joe and like, I'm going to keep on working. I've tried my hardest and I'll be better. I know I could be good. You know, the whole thing is that like, oh, he's going to go off and become a bosun. And I think there must have been a little tweak in the edit because the season really started off, you know, from Nathan's POV of like, I'm trying to juggle it all. I've got a kid. I've got an underminer. How can I get through this? But it really, as soon as the news came out about Nathan, The tone did kind of shift towards Joe is actually our Decky hero who is facing adversity. I can't wait for Nathan to be apprehended. I still don't know how he has not been found. I know the globe is a large place, but he's probably working on a boat. Aren't the people on the boat like, whoa, this guy is a wanted felon? How have we just not found him? Speaker 4 (4:07) There was a post that Joe made, I think yesterday. On Instagram where he was going through the whole season, he's like, oh, maggot man. He was calling Joe maggot man and said like, this is his plot line for the season. And this is her plot line for this. It was kind of a dumb post. But Nathan's mom was commenting on the post and she's like, you're such a dick, Joe. And in another comment, she said, you know, he's in Sydney. That was another one of her comments on the thing. So I don't know. Is he in Sydney? And if he is in Sydney and we all know it, go get him. What the hell? Speaker 1 (4:42) Yeah, that's – is it already happening? I don't know the way the Australian courts occur, like what the processes are. Like in the United States, if someone's arrested, it's public and everyone knows. Like is it not public in Australia? I don't know. It's crazy. It's crazy. I'm sure they have Speaker 4 (5:01) the news there. I Speaker 6 (5:02) mean, jeez. I know. I don't get Speaker 4 (5:04) it at Speaker 6 (5:04) all. Speaker 4 (5:05) It's a pretty cosmopolitan. Pretty advanced civilization over there from what I hear. Sydney, Australia. Well, yeah. Find him. Get him. Get him. Go get him. And also, I would appreciate it if Bravo would give us some kind of ending like, oh, by the way, while we're showing these happy pictures of Nathan and his baby and Gail, it would be nice to end it with, P.S. Nathan turned out to be a piece of shit and is probably going to go to jail for abusing his wife or his partner. in front of their child and there's a magnet underway you know and give them some sirens or something and some kind of you know psa thing that they do at the end i didn't like this like ending with oh nathan's just such a sweet guy with the baby yeah not everybody gets the news from instagram or whatever and i don't i don't like an ending like that for nathan i don't like nathan getting a happy ending on this show and bravo should do better with that Speaker 1 (6:01) Yeah, they should have done like a little Housewives ending. You know, Aisha got married. Joe went and did something. And Nathan is in an international manhunt wanted in two different countries. I think that should have been just a little something there at the end. Just a little soup song. You know, they showed Aisha's wedding. They sort of did a flash forward. They said like, oh, they showed this is what happened with Aisha. why not show the mugshot too? Like, you know, Asia could have been like, you know, like do some photoshopping, Speaker 4 (6:34) removing his turkey hair, his turkey hair implants that he got in like a white stained t-shirt, like when they caught Saddam, you know, in the home. That's what I want to see at the end. I Speaker 1 (6:44) know, that'd be great. That being said, this was, I thought, an amazing season finale. I thought it was an amazing season. One of the very best on Below Deck Med. One of the best across all of them. I thought the Joe and Nathan relationship, the unraveling, was very, very fascinating. I thought it was very relatable. Friendship breakups are very messy and they don't have sort of the same documentation of a... romantic relationship breaking up. There's a lot of ink spilled about what you do with an ex, so this and that. There's books and books and books, and there's so many narratives about it. But a friendship breaking up, especially a male friendship, can be really weird and messy. I really enjoyed watching it play out over this season, especially because I don't like either of them. So it was an interesting challenge to decide whose side I was ever on at any given moment. So yeah, I thought that was really great TV. Speaker 4 (7:40) Yeah, neither one. But, you know, all the guys got a nice douchebag ending today. Yeah. No one really made it out looking great, which I love. I loved Luke's ending in this. I thought it was perfect. Speaker 6 (7:52) Yeah. Speaker 4 (7:52) So we'll get to that at the end. But right now it's second day of the Abbey Charter with the guy who owns the Abbey and all of his harem of, you know, turkey teeth that he's with. So there. they're talking about how their flight attendant is joining them for their drag dinner. You were thinking the flight attendant was going to be the drag queen. I thought that was a really good idea that it was going to be like, Oh, Hey, it's your flight, flight, flight, teen attendant or what? Flight attendant. God, I'm a bad drag namer. Flight attendant Tina Turner. Speaker 1 (8:27) Yeah. No, it was actually just a really annoying girl. It was Speaker 4 (8:30) just a messy, messy lady. Who's a flight attendant and also a drag queen. Speaker 1 (8:35) Just a really, really annoying woman that just came on board. I'm like, was this your flight attendant or is this someone that they had wanted to cast on the show and they just had to attach it onto your charter? I was like, why? But her name is Caitlin. And we start with Nathan going to pick up Caitlin, the flight attendant. And also, Palio. Palio. Paleo Paleo. I don't know how to say Paleo's name, who is the actual drag queen. So we actually have two people coming onto the boat, as it turns out. Speaker 4 (9:09) Yes. And Pleio's like, oh my god, hope my ostrich feathers don't Speaker 6 (9:15) fly away. Speaker 4 (9:18) You have to have drag clothes and stuff, but I don't know, have a travel outfit. I know, have a cloak. Speaker 1 (9:25) Don't Speaker 4 (9:25) subject Speaker 1 (9:25) your ostrich feathers to a tender. So Nathan says, it's been a really tough season, splitting my attention between the job. fighting with Joe and being there for Gail and Caden. I have so much on my plate as it is right now. We have the wildest guests you can have on board a yacht. And I'm just trying to do my best, you know? Yes, everything for Caden. And I'm so glad you always put Caden first with all the actions you ever do in your life. Speaker 4 (9:52) It's different picking up a drag queen when you've got a son and a girl at home. All I needed was the right woman and the right child. to inspire me to do this tender ride today. You're a real fucking hero, Speaker 1 (10:06) Nathan. Seriously. So Caitlin comes on board. She's like, oh Speaker 5 (10:12) my God. Oh my God, Joe, you're going to be like my new Speaker 1 (10:15) boyfriend. Speaker 5 (10:16) Oh my God. Speaker 1 (10:18) I was like, oh gosh, thank God we didn't have her for the full charter. Speaker 4 (10:22) Yep. And she's hanging out with the perfect crew of guys. That's for sure. Because they can just all kind of like. Speaker 4 (10:32) sexually molest people together. And I guess it's okay in this group. It's totally fine. Just go up to the employees and start licking their body and doing body shots. She's with the perfect crew. They're a pretty skeevy crew. Speaker 1 (10:49) They can have a vapid off and just see who is most vapid. So then Aisha is Asha and Tristan, Tristan is the main guy. They're talking about the drag show, and he wants to have three members dress up in drag. So Asha assigns Jen as a drag queen, which I love. I love that choice. That's like a fun idea. Because there's nothing about Jen that really seems like drag to me, because she is a drag. So the idea of like... Putting her into drag is a very hilarious concept to me. And then it's going to be Cooper and Joe as well. Speaker 4 (11:27) I think it's their way of being like, listen, get Cooper and Joe so that we can ask them for lap dances. And also just get Jen so someone can give her a makeover. Speaker 1 (11:37) Yeah. We just need to help. We need to like, the image of those two braids dangling in front of her face has like really had. a long shadow over the season and so we need to end on a note of like let's let's just get put some drag makeup on her let's like fix this lady up yeah so Speaker 4 (11:57) you know the gays will take a chance to do a makeover on anyone they can sir like let's do it it's Speaker 6 (12:02) time for a commercial it's Speaker 4 (12:04) time for a crappin's Speaker 6 (12:05) commercial Speaker 4 (12:09) Then we go to Joy just cooking tons of meat. She's like, I'm making meat, meat, chicken, chicken, meat, and chicken, maybe steroid. Speaker 1 (12:20) They're probably like, oh yeah, that would actually be wonderful, steroids. And now Kat and Q are discussing the drag show. And Kat's like, I am so excited to see you in drag. You're a champ. Speaker 3 (12:32) Honestly, it's ridiculous. This is ridiculous. You're like, I'm so excited. And he's like, oh, oh. She's like, yeah, you're going to be the best drag queen ever. You're going to kill it. In a way, it makes me sort of feel like I'm even more in love with you right now. Like, I think this is like, it's like ridiculous. Like, I'm like even more in love with you, right? Speaker 4 (12:49) He's like, oh, thanks. He's just completely trying to ignore her. And she's doing the like, oh, you're going to be so good. And he's just chomping down food. Like, please leave me alone and go away. He's trying to ice her out. But yeah, some people like if somebody tries to ice me out, I'm like, oh, really? how am I going to slash their tires where the camera's not going to get me? You know, we all react differently to it. She reacts by overloading even more like, oh my Speaker 6 (13:17) God, you're Speaker 4 (13:19) such a talented Speaker 6 (13:20) drag queen. Speaker 4 (13:21) And it's awkward for her, but God, it really makes me hate him even more. Like, stop acting like she's coming out of nowhere by liking you. when you're the one who said let's have a single relationship Speaker 6 (13:35) because i like you so much i don't want it to get messed up by the rest of the crew yeah Speaker 1 (13:41) which was dishonest you just want to keep her as an option so you found some way that you could like you know keep her in your back pocket but you clearly obviously have no interest in her i mean you invited joe along to your romantic getaway so that that says enough as it is so he says right now The whole cat situation Speaker 3 (13:57) right now is tough. I know I need to have a conversation to be honest with her. I'm like, but Speaker 1 (14:03) what changed now? I mean, if we're going to take it on face value that the pressure of everyone weighing in was too much, so then they started a private relationship, what changed now? What did she do wrong? Obviously, we know the answer, which is that he just wasn't injured in the first place, and he didn't want to be the bad guy, which is what always happens, especially with these South Carolina guys. Speaker 4 (14:25) Yeah, that's what it was. He didn't want to be with her at all. He was just saying, let's have a private relationship. So she would have to stop flirting with him in public. And he didn't have to say, you know, I don't want to be with you. So then she would make him look like the villain, you know, in his eyes. She would be making him look like the villain. He's just a wuss. He's a wuss. Speaker 1 (14:45) Yeah, he really is. Speaker 3 (14:47) He even says like, well, I guess we have to have a conversation. But there's part of me that thinks maybe I never have to have the conversation. Speaker 1 (14:54) Great. So then Sandy is asking Joy about dinner. And Sandy is like, so you're going to do barbecue or something else, right? And Joy is like, mashed potatoes. And I'm going to make rice and beans. Also, she's like, oh, yeah. It's going to be great. You stand out from all the others. I just want you to know, you stand out from the best, okay? Was that nice? That was a nice motivational speech for you. You like that? And she's like, oh, Speaker 6 (15:26) oh, Speaker 1 (15:27) oh. She's like, I like that quite a bit. She starts crying. Speaker 4 (15:31) Especially that she's like, what are you making? And she's like, mashed potatoes. She's like, wow, you really stand out. You are five star. Mashed potatoes and rice and beans. Speaker 4 (15:44) That's unbelievable. I'm so grateful for you. I'm so grateful. And she tells us Captain Sandy is the first female captain she's worked for, and she can be herself with waves of emotion without being judged. Speaker 1 (16:01) Yeah. Yeah, just as long as you keep making those mashed potatoes, there'll be no judgment from me, okay? Just simply because. Speaker 4 (16:08) Playo's putting drag makeup on Joe and Cooper. And everybody else is getting on their drag. Joe and Cooper actually both look very pretty. Speaker 1 (16:20) Um, they, they, they, they, it's, they, um. Speaker 1 (16:26) It was fun seeing them in drag. I'll say that. Speaker 4 (16:30) I thought they looked really pretty. Speaker 1 (16:31) So then it's Speaker 4 (16:32) a Speaker 1 (16:32) dinner table. Joe has very nice eyes. Joe has like those beautiful eyes. I think that's Speaker 4 (16:36) his Speaker 1 (16:36) thing. That I made Speaker 4 (16:38) up for. I was like, oh, it's just, you're both very pretty. Very pretty. Dicks. You're dicks, but you look very pretty as ladies. So everyone's eating and someone's like, oh, wow, the protein. The protein's amazing tonight. Speaker 1 (16:56) They're really excited. They're finally getting their chicken. And it's just like everything they could have ever wanted. And so now the drag show begins. So, uh, Palio comes out and, uh, it's like, here comes Mariella, which is Joe and Cooper, Ella, which is Cooper and Jezebel, which is Jen. And then it's, everyone's like, woo. It's exciting. And there's like twirling on poles and everyone's cheering. Everyone's having a great time. They're fueled. They've got so much protein in them. They just can't be anything but happy. Speaker 4 (17:26) Joy is making high protein late night snack. And looking up like how much protein everything has in it. And she's like, oh, this will be so much protein. Hopefully tomorrow they will say thank you for the protein. Jen comes downstairs after the show and Kath's like, you were amazing. And Nathan and Mossy are sitting there and Mossy goes to Speaker 1 (17:50) Nate. Who's that? Who is it? Nathan's like, that's Jen. He's like. oh shit he like didn't recognize jen when she had like full glam on like drag glam right i don't even know who i am Speaker 4 (18:01) basically one of the gays so i Speaker 1 (18:04) would have liked more mossy on this season i really enjoy him so uh then on the main deck the guests are just hanging out um they're getting their snacks i was fully anticipating that they were going to complain about the snacks again because when they showed that the the wraps had like 40 grams of protein in them, I was like, oh, the gays are going to complain. And it's going to be like, oh, they're complaining about protein, but they actually have, they're getting so much protein, but they were happy. They like the gays. Once they had their protein, they were just like very, very, very happy collection of men. And so, um, you know, they're partying and then, you know, people start going to bed and everyone's going to bed and