There is one good thing I must say about 'Below Deck Mediterranean' ~ that this season takes place in the beautiful country of Croatia. And there you have it.Beginning with the passengers who answered a casting call for the show from an ad placed in 'The Forward Cabin', seeking 'travelers to be treated to the lap of luxury on a yacht in the Mediterranean at a super-discounted rate' (which turns out to be around $10K a week). These temporary cast members were instructed to make outrageous demands on the crew while the yacht sails about. Kind of explains the chef being awoken during the first episode to make nachos for a passenger at 3:00 AM. Reality?Add to that the crew of beautiful people who man this ship (not an unattractive one in the bunch), who instantly have either a) a dislike for each other or b) are sexually attracted to each other. Scenarios created by the writers to give the viewer some reason to tune-in each week.Quite frankly, there is nothing really wrong with 'Below Deck Mediterranean', except that the viewer is supposed to believe this is reality TV, when there is absolutely nothing realistic about it at all.

The premise is wealthy people with discretionary income spend as much as 200,000 Euros per week prior to tipping the vessel staff do whatever they want in the safety of international waters and exotic tourist locations/ They are assisted by a staff promising to give them better than five star domestic servant assistance yet among themselves certainly not the profiles of real people likely to succeed in the real world in these jobs. The cast does a fine job with each performer even if on board for only one sail spectacular. The exotic resort settings are tantalizing in many ways travelogues of what the TV audience might wish after watching the episodes to visit. The fictitious job jostling positions and personality clash setups do remind us of what happens in real life in our committee work and on our jobs and in this way is fascinating. The penchant of the photographer and editor to photograph many of the actors in many situations in various states of deshabille gets a suitable for network television rating but not necessarily the approval of those viewers hoping for something more interesting than seeing men and women in various states of undress. A well made and fascinating series worth renewing for many seasons to come.

Spoilers added. What a bunch of total bollix !! Would really like to see comments from crew members actually having crewed on super-yachts. But they would more than likely not want to sully their repudiations by commenting on this utter claptrap. What's more than intriguing are the 'guests' knowingly signing on to this mayhem... for whatever attention seeking motives they may have. Reality shows are fueled by drama, and for those bored with most all of the mainstream offerings... maybe taking it out onto the water offers a different perspective. But it's all the same... they might be novices, but they are all just actors playing their parts.. and if you were a serious captain on a real life super-yacht.. you would steer clear and as far away from all of them as possible.And just when you believe it can't get more stupid.. season two comes along to prove you wrong. Three guys tripping over themselves, being ridiculously dumb over this one short, semi-cute, immature blonde.. YGTBK!! And a psychotic chef, who deliberately keeps screwing with the primary guest's food (cause he doesn't like his new-money attitude due to his food 'preferences'). He then purposely lies to the captain about it (to save his job.. as if no one would ever be telling her).. and her response is duh.. she has to keep him cause she wouldn't find a short-notice replacement in Croatia. Seriously.. do we have to believe planes have stopped flying there!? And then (to everyone's understandable astonishment) the primary still gives them a hefty $20K tip.. that with no rationale gets shared equally among all of them? It just goes on and on.. pick any sequence.. the stupidity is mind-numbing and endless (and guilty-pleasure habit-forming). We should all earnestly hope they do a third season... we've just GOT to see how they top this current bizarre series of offerings!

No dull waiting period--this is entertaining IMMEDIATELY. This show has it all: attractive people, vastly desperate personalities, relatable protagonists, loathsome antagonists (this honor changes, but there's one big one), money, a BIG yacht, fun, interesting, and changing locations, interesting guests, interesting world, TIGHT quarters (GREAT for drama, but not claustrophobic at all because it's so open, vacationy, and they port so much - it's the OPPOSITE of claustrophobic), both a social element and very merit-based workplace element, and just the right amount of booze (not too much though - not like some IQ lowering Jersey Shore garbage). Reminds me a lot of "Work Out," the gym-based reality show on Bravo a while ago, which I liked, but it can't compare to this, which is like that on steroids (no boring single location, much more intense drama with the demanding charters, luxury, etc). Also, for the most part, you have something unusual for a reality show: intelligence. I think this will attract a smarter audience than other reality shows because MOST of the people (not all) are noticeably intelligent, as their job demands it ("5 star staff," including a chef, veteran Captain, experienced managers, a marine biologist, a fashion line entrepreneur, and a fireman). I've seen 6 episodes now, but I was addicted from the beginning. I think the two most important components of any reality show are the "characters" and the editing. The characters are there in spades, but the editing brings us the stories, and man do they make the stories POP! Hats off to the editing staff. I think we all like to see justice because we so rarely get it in real life, and the editors don't let anyone get away with ANYTHING. When someone does something stupid, we get to see the consequences, which is a great little respite from real life, where stupid people seem to get away with a lot. I think there's something for everyone. I'm a straight dude, so seeing Hannah and Jules put on their shirts in the morning is a nice little bonus ;-). Glad I found this show, but it sucks to be "jonesing" again for another damn episode!