The sun-drenched coast of Airlie Beach in Queensland, Australia, is the initial setting for Below Deck Down Under, the latest installment of the yacht-themed reality TV show, which continues its first season’s run on Peacock.

Due to celebrate its tenth anniversary next year, the Below Deck franchise has captivated audiences and reality TV show fans since its debut on Bravo. This year’s Aussie version has reinforced some of the home truths about life on a superyacht, as well as providing the usual reality TV spills (literally), thrills, and the odd surprise. Here is what we picked up from series 1.

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Captain Jack Reminds the Crew that Work Comes First

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For Below Deck fans, there is a familiar face to look out for in the guise of Aesha Scott, the affable New Zealander whose trials and tribulations as a stewardess – particularly her “boatmance” with British deckhand Jack – won her fans during her stint on Below Deck Mediterranean. Now she returns to the show, this time as a chief stewardess, and is immediately wowed by the surroundings. “It actually reminds me a lot of New Zealand, only way more tropical,” she gushes when presented with Airlie Beach during the first episode.

But to what extent is the sun, sea, and sand compensation for the back-breaking work? True, the snorkeling and the beach parties look like tons of fun. But as Captain Jason reminds some slouching crew members, when there’s work to be done, standing around won’t cut it. If anything, life on the Thalassa looks exhausting for all involved – at least when guests are aboard.

Tensions Arise Below the Superyacht Deck

A Below Deck series just isn’t complete without the requisite supply of angry exchanges, and Below Deck Down Under served us up some real doozies. A key source of tension arrived courtesy of Ryan, a bolshy American chef who immediately rubs Captain Jason up the wrong way. Ryan replies curtly to an admittedly less than diplomatic Aesha when she asks: “Are you, like, real… cheffy - like have little tantrums and stuff?” Yes, he is “real cheffy.”

Gordon Ramsay-esque levels of vitriol are thankfully absent. Still, Ryan loses no time at all in scoffing at requests for scrambled eggs and a guest’s idea of having tacos on the beach. She tells Aesha that he’ll probably “lose it” if she gives him inaccurate timings for the serving of meals to the yacht’s guests but admits that the guests will eat what they’re served.

No pressure, then. “The last thing I wanna hear as a chief stew[ard] is you’re a control freak,” Aesha confides to the camera. As it turned out, the beach party went with a swing – except for the fact that Ryan left the meat for the tacos in the fridge.

Meanwhile, Polish model turned yacht worker Magda seems to get on everyone’s nerves for not meeting the standards expected of her. Having primarily worked on smaller vessels in the past, she turned out to find the leap up to a large superyacht something of a stretch. There were things that put her in hot water before the series’ halfway mark, leading to a less than pleasant parting of the ways later in the season. These things included an untidy laundry room, phone checking while on duty, and an impromptu Marilyn Monroe-inspired “performance,” complete with a wardrobe malfunction, for some less than enthusiastic guests such as Crazy Rich Asians star Karim Gharbi and cryptocurrency influencer Eunice Wong.

Benny Gets Put on (Unglamorous) Duty

Ah, good old Benny – the happy-go-lucky member of the Thalassa’s crew. A little too happy-go-lucky, as a matter of fact. “I don’t know if Benny’s here on a holiday or here to work,” says Captain Jason at one point. Admittedly, Jason’s opinion of the Aussie deckhand improved a great deal after seeing him put his back into some not-so-nice duties – like cleaning up dirty water in the middle of the night when a toilet overflows below deck.

But Benny’s situation began to worsen as his stormy work relationship with fellow crew member Jamie continued to deteriorate. The pair were frequently at odds over what Jamie saw as Benny’s unsuitability for yacht work, with the badmouthing spilling over onto Instagram, according to Monsters and Critics.

So what lies in wait for the Thalassa’s crew for the rest of the season? Last week’s episode brought tensions to a head, ending with Captain Jason heading down to the kitchen for a conversation with Ryan, whose performance had been deemed to be less than satisfactory. Whether or not the chef will go the way of Magda remains to be seen. New episodes drop every Thursday on Peacock.