Of everything the pandemic has taken, shows like Below Deck deserve the least of your tears. But the value of soothing television shouldn’t be dismissed
I’ve spent most of the Covid pandemic on a superyacht. My trip started in the Mediterranean but over the months I explored the Caribbean, Tahiti and
Thailand. It was great – a total escape from the undulating terror and boredom stalking the globe. I didn’t abscond to the yacht through mega-wealth or privilege, but rather via a reality-TV streaming subscription. More specifically, I compulsively binged the Bravo tent poles Below Deck, Below Deck: Mediterranean and Below Deck: Sailing Yacht.
For anyone not indoctrinated into the Below Deck multiverse, the shows follow the lives, loves and work dramas of staff during the superyacht season. Like all great reality TV it’s pulpy, boring, chaotic, unhinged and occasionally moving. I’m obsessed.