The ‘Below Deck’ Brüs Should Be Absolutely Ashamed Of Themselves

I’ve tried to be fair to the brüs of Below Deck so far this season, despite their disastrous decisions. I enjoyed playing beer pong with Tanner who truly seemed to live that Good Vibes Only lifestyle, and asked Ashton about his stripping tips, though he refused to even show us a single move (despite the fact that his body rolls might be his only redeeming quality). But with the latest episode of the Bravo series, I am truly disgusted. All four of the dudes (not you, Captain Lee) displayed their ugly and misogynist ways of thinking and acting — and the worst part was, they got a total kick out of it.

Brian’s text message to Courtney about “just having fun” was undeniably a dick move, but I care less about that and more about the fact that he jumped to conclusions when Kevin came running to him with the gossip. These guys are the biggest gossips and divas on the boat, without a doubt. Kevin’s back went out because his skeleton can’t even support all the shit he talks, and he’s not respected Kate or her authority for one second on this boat. They all shake in their shoes anytime Rhylee offers a thought, opinion, or suggestion, let alone a solution, of how to get their work done best and on time. That they wouldn’t move over to let her sit down to have lunch, or that Ashton walked away from doing his job so that she could clean alone, are moves so incredibly lame it would be unbelievable if we hadn’t been witnessing their wussy tendencies for an entire season now. After Rhylee told Kevin to “move along” once he bought up all the scorpions so she couldn’t have one, he went tattling to Ashton who said maybe the single most offensive thing: “Did you slap her with your dick?” Holy shit, bru.





These are also the same guys that started their night by asking, “Is Kate being too much of a bitch to stick your dick in it tonight?” to which Tanner replied, “I think I have to do it.” They ended their night with a similar conversation. “Are you still gonna bang Kate, by the way?” Brian asks? “That is the top topic!” Kevin states like a giddy loser. “I hope you’re gonna fucking give her a good fucking. Because a mediocre fuck’s not gonna do right now,” is what Ashton contributes to the conversation before the guys all burst into giggles and put on their friendship bracelets. This is not simply locker room talk. This is disrespecting women.

It would be easy to just count them out as immature douchebags, but this is a group of grown men that continue to consistently display disgusting and truly misogynistic behavior. The editing or context of the show can’t be blamed here: they said and did things that no respectable male should (and seem to be proud of themselves! Barf!). Ashton rolls his eyes and laughs it off when Rhylee accuses him of this exact behavior, but it’s the damn truth. After he punched the van window on the show last month in an effort to not punch Kate instead, he went on a series of insincere “apologies” on podcasts and Instagram stories. Not one of these instances demonstrated he had actually learned his lesson or had any plans to help himself learn, grow, or become a better person. Instead, he decided to make himself the victim.





They all have. They lash out and call the women bitches on a whim, and turn around and talk shit about them. Brian gets mad at Courtney for standing up for Rhylee (even just a tiny bit!) and accuses her of backing the wrong person (nope, bro), expecting her to always side with him and certainly not expecting her to be intelligent enough to form her own opinions. It’s not an excuse, but Tanner is young and impressionable so he goes along with the guys and hopes to get laid so he can collect high fives on the deck the next morning. Ashton, well, there’s not enough space on the internet to list all the routinely shitty things he’s done on television this season alone.





“It’s called gaslighting and we’re not gonna be a part of it,” Kate tells the dudes as they stand around drinking and smoking and making each and every one of their female coworkers cry. That’s right: all four of these women have cried this season. In every case, it’s due to emotional exhaustion and frustration with the men. That alone is bad enough, but the dudes don’t know or want to know what they’ve done to be a dicks and they certainly won’t bother to understand or remotely attempt to make it right. And that is why they truly blow.

Watching them drinking and laughing in the car is gross, as is watching them sit around and make crude comments about women, never considering they should be treating their coworkers as equals. Being a part of the boys’ crew is never cool — but thinking it is and straight-up disrespecting the women you work with is so, so stupid.





My favorite part was probably when Brian passed Rhylee in the close quarters of the hallway and told her to “smile” after that horrendous night out. He doesn’t want or need a smile from her, and certainly wasn’t trying to cheer her up. He just gets a rise out of making her feel like shit about one more dumb thing. It’s sickening to watch them not only behave like this, but get such enjoyment out of it — and show that they haven’t changed their ways at all, even now that the world has seen what pigs they are.

It’s been going on and building up for the entire second half of this season, if not longer, but this episode really made my stomach turn. This behavior is awful and despicable and after watching it play out like this, I too am “madder than a pissed on chicken.”





Share this:

Where to stream Below Deck