Elena Dubaich angrily stalked out of Ben Robinson’s galley on Below Deck Down Under. She was brought aboard as a replacement stew, but right before Ellie arrived, Captain Jason Chambers called her with a different offer. Would Ellie be willing to work in the galley instead? Ellie said yes, and for a while, things were great.
Ben is a chef who often works on the fly. Meanwhile, Ellie thrives in organized, controlled environments. For weeks, their differences made them stronger as a team. But the galley has come under fire in recent episodes, leaving both of these yachties stressed beyond their limits.
During Episode 8, Ellie threw in her proverbial towel and ran to their boss, totally done with Ben. But as the preview for next week teased, Captain Jason might actually be over them. Here’s what happened, followed by Ellie and Ben’s thankfully mature reactions after this episode aired.
Below Deck Down Under chef Ben Robinson clashed with Elena “Ellie” Dubaich
Ben used to be a mainstay in the Below Deck franchise. Then, he disappeared, opting for gigs on dry land instead. However, his life took a recent, unexpected turn in the form of a failed engagement. So, when an opportunity arose on BDDU, Ben jumped at the chance to get on a yacht.
As Ben explained in Episode 1, he has not worked on a yacht in six years. Therefore, he is out of sorts in the galley.
His timing is off, and his patience is running thin. This man is exhausted and stressed, so he does not always speak respectfully to his right-hand gal, Ellie. This, however, is no excuse because we are all exhausted and stressed… As for Ellie, she likes organized workspaces, clearly defined roles, and being respected. And these areas are the ones she feels Ben is lacking in, so now, these yachties are clashing in the galley.
Ellie’s approach hasn’t been the best
Ellie is doing her best to get ahead of Ben’s stressors. She has her go-face on in the galley, cutting, prepping, and cleaning, while also co-managing their daily checklist. But, realizing that she was about to pop, she sat Ben down in Episode 8 to air one of her grievances. If this area did not change, Ellie knew that she and Ben might soon come to blows.
Thankfully, Ben heard her out and apologized, yet Ellie failed to talk to Ben about her other main gripe: how Ben speaks to her. Ben uses pet names, like “love” and “honey.” It’s nothing personal, as João Franco noted. Ben does that to him as well.
Yet, Ellie hates it, so, during a high-stress dinner prep, when Ben called her yet another pet name, she popped off, “I’m never gonna have that again!” Bewildered, since Ellie never brought this problem to his doorstep, Ben calmly tried to get more information out of his assistant chef, but it was too late. Ellie was already off to see the wheelhouse wizard. As she angrily stalked the yacht, right in front of their guests, looking for Captain Jason to mediate their dealings, all Ben could do was press on in the galley, confused.
But Ben is also going about things in the wrong way
Ben is taking care of his mental health in various ways, including naps, bubble baths, and even a quick morning swim in the sea. But while he does all of these things, Ellie is left to her own devices, cleaning and organizing the galley all by herself. It has not been fair, which Ben thankfully agreed to and apologized for in Episode 8.
Apart from his self-care routines and love of other names, Ellie is also upset with how small she feels at times. Ben has a dry, sarcastic delivery, so in one tense moment during dinner service, we heard Ben asking, “Honey, do you know what the capers are?” His tone was snarky and rather dismissive, especially when you look at everything Ellie, his rather green chef, had already overcome by his side.
In her confessional, Ellie further claimed that Ben would “bulldoze” over her unless she spoke passionately about something. He also made every tiny mistake feel like a “challenge to her whole job.” That said, in examining both of their qualms, one thing is clear: Ellie and Ben are a good team, but their communication is lacking.
The BDDU pair seem to have made peace
Marking a rare plot twist, Ben and Ellie have also realized that their communication skills were poor this week. After Episode 8 aired, Ellie logged on to Instagram, where she shared her thoughts via her stories and a post. Set to the tune of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, Ellie noted that this was “The song that started playing in my head the 6000th time my male boss called me HONEY.” In her comments, Ben humbly appeared.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean any harm! Well done, Ellie! I can call you chef now,” he penned, referring to how Ellie graduated from culinary school post-filming.
In response, an equally humble Ellie wrote, Thank you kindly, Chef. [This was] a MAJOR lesson learned on my part in communicating properly because I hadn’t explained to you [how] it bothered me, but I also didn’t know I was going to reach my limit that charter. It was never my intention to fight with you to begin with, and it is my biggest regret of the season.”
Next week will still be brutal, now that Captain Jason is wading into their mess.
Below Deck Down Under is streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – WHO IS MORE IN THE WRONG, ELLIE OR BEN? WHICH YACHTIE WILL CAPTAIN JASON COME DOWN ON? ARE YOU GLAD ELLIE AND BEN MADE PEACE?
