Below Deck Season 12 just concluded on Bravo. Overall, this season felt like a weird departure from the norm, making it one that most viewers agreed was borderline unwatchable. However, not everything was a wash this season. Instead, favorable storylines also emerged, helping to keep most viewers engaged as this season progressed.
So, which storylines worked, and which made me yearn for the days when the firings were doled out like candy? We will answer these easy-to-explain questions now. Meanwhile, I will also hold out hope that the next season of Below Deck fares better than Season 12.
Below Deck Season 12’s best moments
As Below Deck Season 12 progressed, we saw many highs and lows. Thankfully, each of these precarious moments presented us with many fair showings of drama, tears, frustrations, and, most importantly, heart.
You take the good, you take the bad, and there you have a successful storyline on Below Deck. From one unlikely, albeit touching friendship, to a nail-biting redemption season that also featured one of the driest, hardest-working stews this franchise has ever seen, here are the best and worst moments.
The friendship between Fraser Olender and Anthony Iracane
Fraser Olender and Anthony Iracane previously worked together in Season 11. Back then, Fraser was not a fan of how Anthony operated. Following more than one stressful dinner service that Fraser found lacking, he found himself speaking candidly to their boss, who ultimately fired Anthony.
But when Season 12 brought in a new chef who hit a similar snag, Fraser found himself back in the wheelhouse, pressing for the rehiring of Anthony. Thankfully, his plan worked. After a few tense weeks, their friendship shifted, leaving these men in a solid, heartwarming place. By the final episode, Fraser and Anthony were hugging, sharing talking heads, and praising each other for their efforts, making this storyline one of my favorites of this season.
The redemption of Anthony Iracane
As already explained, Season 11 was a stressful time for Anthony. It ultimately led to many timing issues, ignored dietary restrictions, and overall heightened stressors in the galley. But as Fraser noted in Season 12, Anthony took this firing well, and from what he had heard, Anthony was now killing it on other yachts.
Sure enough, once Anthony was back on board, he sautéd and slayed, fully presenting as one of the best chefs in this entire franchise.
The work ethic and dry wit of Rainbeau de Roos
Rainbeau de Roos did not have an easy first season. As experienced as she was, nothing could have prepared her for her green and zero f*cks given colleague, Solène Favreau. Now, we will admit that Rainbeau started things off on the wrong foot with Solène. Her tone was harsh, yes, but as we all quickly came to learn, any tone used with Solène, as long as Rainbeau was the one speaking, landed poorly, so we can no longer hold this over her frustrated head.
Quickly realizing that Solène was not there to work hard, Rainbeau kicked herself into overdrive. She worked herself to the bone. And when Solène presented as the opposite, her dry remarks and flat-out refusal to forgive Solène at the end of Season 12 made many viewers laugh and further cheer for the yachtie that is Rainbeau.
Below Deck Season 12’s worst moments
Below Deck is a series that once detailed the inner efforts of yachties. However, Season 12 missed this mark by a long shot. A part of me blames the production team. What was with all of the Instagram posts, rushed charter scenes, and very few teachable moments in this industry that this series once provided? Instead, the cameras chose to focus on scene after scene of failed hookups.
Additionally, while some firings took place, one obvious one did not. And for that, many viewers found themselves turning off their screens. After all, there is only so much drama that the fans will willingly absorb.
All of the hookup-fueled love triangles
While Below Deck often features boatmances, Season 12 unleashed a beast that sang a completely different tune. Gone were the crushes that resulted in one pairing. In its place, we got an incestuous crew that loved hooking up with everyone, strangers and one rumored guest included, complete with many soundbites that most viewers would now rather forget.
Sadly, once their cameras went down, certain yachties continued eating more than one slice of cake. Now, no one from Below Deck Season 12 is hooking up. Some eras get all the luck, eh?
The constant workless antics of Solène Favreau
Solène did what Solène wanted. Now, she did have one or two moments that showed her actually trying to work. However, the bulk of her scenes involved her endless pursuit of “baby breaks” and willing bedmates. They also showed her argumentative responses whenever someone asked her to do the one thing she got hired for: HER JOB.
As Fraser stressed, on any other yacht, Solène would be fired. But Fraser did not want to push a firing narrative this season, so he kept Solène on. As a result, the interior department turned into a joke, which is not what viewers want to see on a work-based series like Below Deck.
Below Deck is streaming on Peacock and Hayu in the UK and Ireland.
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