Some people say the middle parts of a thing are the hardest to figure out, creatively — beginnings and endings are inherently exciting, while the middle tends to sag. As we find ourselves halfway through this season, Below Deck is running into this problem. Conflicts are recycling themselves — Solène wreaks havoc both professional and personal; Rainbeau works herself into smithereens without speaking up for herself; Anthony keeps bringing up how mad he is at Fraser without ever doing anything about it, and every time he mentions it, which is at least once per episode, we get some flashbacks from last season. It’s a grating tic because it fills time without escalating tension or conflict. How often do we need to remember he got fired? He’s doing fine now!

After the charter ends, Kerry worries the crew is going to flatline if they become complacent — that’s the direction the season is headed if things don’t begin to happen. When we pick up this week, Fraser is stressing about the fact that it’s seven hours until the concert and there’s no sign of stage construction. But the event planner doesn’t look concerned at all, and it’s not long until Fraser gets photo updates from the dock. Fraser also attempts to redeem the absurdity of putting together an entire concert for the enjoyment of seven people by inviting the marina to bring their friends and family so the space can fill out a little.

In the meantime, the guests enjoy their day, indifferent to the strain they are putting on the crew. Anthony serves them a fresh Provençal lunch, featuring a tartelette and a Niçoise salad. But the stress of the day is weighing on both the chef and the chief stew; over the radio, they go back and forth on the dinnertime. Anthony wants to confirm it’s scheduled for 8 p.m., but Fraser tells him “between seven and eight,” the answer that most annoys chefs, and for good reason. Fraser, who looks about ready to start smoking from his ears, stomps down to the galley to say that if it’s going to be a problem, they can just say eight.

At least the deck team is reinvigorated by the calm, assured presence of Hugo, who steers the boat through the bridge competently as they take the boat back to dock — Kerry can’t contain his happiness at the ease with which the boat was docked. Meanwhile, inside, Rainbeau tries her best with Solène. “What’s your least favorite dish to wash?” she asks, painfully. It would be unreasonable to ask all the crew to be best friends, especially in a situation when cameras are rolling. It can be hard enough to connect with coworkers without the pressure to perform a character, and if everyone got along splendidly, the show wouldn’t be fun to watch. But Solène is just mean. Why not just be normal over the charter and stir shit on your night off? That’d make for much more compelling television, because we’d get to root for the fight instead of for one of the fighters.

Solène is misguided about what makes for good television, even as she’s managed to make herself the season’s main character. Kyle walks around the St. David dejected throughout the charter because Jess and Solène keep making out everywhere. Solène is “toying with people’s emotions,” he laments, “and I definitely don’t think she’s bothered about how she makes people feel.” I don’t think so, either! For her part, Jess is cuddling with Solène during their break when she admits that Solène scares her, like “all girls.” Solène takes the opportunity to remind Jess that she doesn’t usually date women, and in a confessional, she remembers the existence of poor Kyle. “Maybe we just all kiss each other,” she muses.

Bárbara is hanging out with Jess and Solène when Fraser calls her to set up the VIP section for the night. I gasped when I realized that this much-discussed VIP section would be … on the boat. Later, when the event is underway, we see the guests come down to the dock to see the performance up close and dance, but it boggles my mind that they would be on the boat at all during any of it. Where I’m from, the point of Carnaval is basically to obliterate identity in a crowd.

But what do I know! According to Kerry, there are no “unreasonable requests,” only “layers of difficulty.” The concert starts at 6:15 p.m., and the guests are punctually welcomed — after harassing the crew a little, just for good measure — by the band, dancers, and fire-breathers. The crew enjoys the performances as well, while Rainbeau gets a deserved break. Does everyone think Fraser (or, let’s be real, production) had to secure a permit for this? It’s quite the structure. So impressive, in fact, that Leslie congratulates the captain on delivering. At 8 p.m., Anthony sends up finger foods — caviar blinis, mini croque monsieurs, little soup, little steak, the menu of my dreams — and Dawn berates Fraser when he drops a plate on the ground. Amazingly, the guests go to bed at 9:30 p.m. I’m happy for the crew that they didn’t stick around, but after all of this? 

Rainbeau almost says something real to Fraser about Solène being a dead weight as they’re cleaning up the pantry. They wonder where she is, and Rainbeau guesses correctly that she’s chatting with the deck crew. She tells Fraser that Solène’s lethargy is “demotivating” and affecting her “work ethic.” Fraser assures her he sees the complacency. At the same time, on deck, Hugo is telling Damo and Jess what they have to do before they turn in for the night, as Jess and Solène whisper about sleeping together again. Damo has noticed that the two are distracting each other; we see a moment from earlier in the day when Jess was goofing around with Solène in the crew mess while on the clock and needed on deck.

During the night shift, Solène drags her feet through her work as usual, though Rainbeau has taken the time to write her a meticulous checklist. Solène claims she doesn’t know how to restock the fridges and generally meets her work — of which frankly there doesn’t seem to be that much — with a bad attitude. Rainbeau puts her foot down and doesn’t offer to do any of it for her, and she bonds a little with Damo before going to bed at 2:30 a.m. I wish these two would get together; they have great chemistry.

On the final morning of the charter, Solène is late for her shift even though Rainbeau is already up and running. Bárbara worries that Solène slept past her alarm, but she’s just kissing Jess in the cabin. The problem is so obvious that it finally wakes Fraser up — he talks to Kerry about how “some people” aren’t pulling their weight in the department while others are breaking their backs. He can predict the issue snowballing and wants to get ahead of it — Kerry encourages him to let the stews know that they’re not afraid to fire someone if needed.

By the time the guests leave, the crew is completely spent. Their pain is alleviated by a well-deserved $27,000 tip, which comes out to $2,100 each. At the tip meeting, Kerry congratulates the heads of department on a good performance for a difficult audience and tells everyone they have earned two days off at a villa nearby. They’re going to Casa Amor! Will someone have to leave when they get back to the St. David? Can it be Solène? Fraser gathers his department to “lay down the law,” as promised. Bárbara is literally lying down as he talks to them about getting too comfortable, and he has to tap her to sit up, a great illustration of how badly he needed to remind them to be more professional. He knows they’re tired, they all are, but that’s yachting. “I’m not teaching you what the idea of yachting is,” he says, pointedly. “You should know, or you shouldn’t be here.” This is the kind of leadership I’ve been expecting from Fraser, and it’s nice to see him step up, though I still think he and Rainbeau are due a conversation about how Solène is affecting the department. Fraser has noticed the symptoms, but he’s yet to treat the cause.

In between the guests leaving and the tip meeting, the boatmance landscape blows wide open. Kyle decides to tell Jess that he and Solène kissed on the first day of the charter after talking to Damo and Fraser about it. Fraser and Bárbara agree that Jess is “playing with fire”; Bárbara doesn’t trust straight girls because her ex cheated on her with a guy. We’ve been getting hints that there may be potential for something to bloom between Jess and Bárbara — during the Carnival concert, Jess told her that she needed a “birthday kiss,” but Bárbara pledged loyalty to Solène. Later, Jess asks Bárbara how she likes her coffee in the morning, so that she can bring her one, in front of Solène, who looks jealous.

That move probably had something to do with learning from Kyle about the kiss. He pulls her aside after the guests leave, and though Jess maintains that it’s not a big deal, in a confessional, she confesses that her feelings are a little hurt. Jess also apologizes to Kyle, something Solène, the real perpetrator of this whole mess, hasn’t thought of doing. In fact, when Bárbara and Fraser ask her about it, she doesn’t seem at all rattled. Jess, even-keeled as ever, apologizes to Damo and Kyle for being distracted over the charter and thanks them for picking up the slack.

Looking to cover all of her bases, Jess even talks to Fraser about her involvement with Solène, who sneaks into a bathroom with Kyle as they speak. But Kyle is being strong: He tells her she’s “making her own bed.” She doesn’t know the phrase, and anyway, the only person actually making beds is Rainbeau, who tried and failed once again to get it through Solène’s head that she cares about her job. I don’t know where Solène got the idea that “detailing is not a major problem of this boat” when Kerry walks through the entire yacht every time a guest is about to step foot on board. It’s also ridiculous that she suggests Rainbeau is going to have a heart attack before 30 for stressing about her job when she is the cause of stress. 

The episode closes with Rainbeau hyperventilating again. When Fraser asks why the sheets in the primary bedroom haven’t been brought up to the main salon, Bárbara and Solène just shrug and say it’s Rainbeau’s responsibility. Even if that’s the case, why can no one help Rainbeau out when she picks up everyone’s slack? Anthony sees Rainbeau crying and offers her some words of comfort and a hug. Things will never change as long as she keeps white-knuckling this problem; the strongest thing she could do would be to speak up.

 Fraser is finally waking up to how detrimental Solène’s laziness is to the crew’s morale, but it might be too late to save Rainbeau’s sanity.