‘Below Deck Med’: Bugsy Is Back!

Bugs is back! As Below Deck Mediterranean viewers discovered in the latest episode, the new second stew on Motor Yacht Wellington is in fact Bugsy Drake, returning to the Bravo series after her first appearance in Season 2 of the show.

At first we see Captain Sandy on the phone and hear her say, “I’m on a boat, I’m in the Med and I’m in a jam and I just need a second stew to complete my charter season. You can help me? Oh my gosh, thank you. We’ll get your flight sorted and I’ll have you here for our next charter,” she tells the person on the other end with audible gratitude. Especially because we also see Captain Sandy get awfully peeved at third stew Jess after discovering that the laundry room wasn’t in top-top tidy shape (maybe the fact that they were down a person in their department had something to do with it, or it could’ve been Jess’s infamously messy tendencies which we also learned about this episode).

And so after Roy Orbison Jr. and Ulf from Ace of Base leave a very generous tip, Captain Sandy tells the group, “Since we’ve been down, we’ve been working very hard to get a strong second stew. It just so happens, someone that you’ve worked with before, and you’ve worked with before (motioning at Malia) is available.” Malia is shocked when she hears this news, and then thrilled when she hears, “It’s Bugsy.” Hannah, though? No reaction whatsoever.

Below Deck Med does us a solid and shows a flashback where Bugsy previously told Hannah, “I feel this season you’ve been a lousy chief stew,” as Captain Sandy also reminds us, “Bugsy is a chief stew and she’s coming in as a second stew to do me a favor.” She repeatedly tells the group “she’s amazing” and promises her chief stew, “It’s a good thing Hannah, come on now!”

Hannah promptly gets up and walks away, as Malia explains to the rest of the group, “She’s hot, she’s super cool, she’s from South Africa.” We also learn from the bosun, “Since leaving Sirocco, Bugs and I have gotten a lot closer. I know her family, very excited,” she says about her friend joining the boat. However, she tells the rest of the crew, “Her and I are very good friends but her and Hannah aren’t the best of friends.”

Captain Sandy chases Hannah to reassure her, “You should be relieved, she’s great on table settings.”

“Okay,” Hannah says flatly.

“She’s gonna kill it for you, you don’t have to worry,” Captain Sandy says, and Hannah can only respond with a small laugh.

“Thankfully she was available, you guys will figure it out,” Captain Sandy says to another small laugh from Hannah, who then goes to lay on the dock to process this information.

Later that night when the crew hits the town, Malia also tries to reassure Hannah, telling her, “You know, Bugs coming doesn’t have to change you and I.”

“I hope it doesn’t,” Hannah tells her.

“I don’t think it will,” Malia says.

Hannah admits of the news, that it “was a shock to hear it but she’s a good second stew work-wise.”

Back on the boat, Hannah queues up some tips on becoming “an effective leader,” before sharing her worries with Jess that, “It’s gonna get awkward when Bugs gets here,” and that before she even steps on the boat, “This is uncomfortable already. She was pretty bad with me.”

“At this point, I don’t even care, I just want the help,” Jess says which we can only hope aren’t what some might refer to as “famous last words.”

“I can’t really tell how Hannah’s feeling about Bugs coming,” Malia says in her interview, and adds with a laugh, “Just kidding, things are gonna change.”

Towards the end of the episode, we see Bugsy make her triumphant return in the rain, with matching luggage in hand, as Malia runs to greet her friend. And of course we waste no time learning from the preview for next week’s episode that things will be off to an interesting start for her on the boat. “I’m feeling a little bit apprehensive about Bugs,” Hannah confesses. “Will I trust her? No. Are we gonna be friends? No. Are we gonna work together? Yes,” she says, so sweetly it could rot a few teeth right out of your mouth. She’s seen showing Bugs a closet and declaring, “This is gonna be your job because I hate table decor!” while Bugs throws her hands up and cheers at the job responsibilities she already knows she will be great at.

Welcome back Bugs, and let’s all take this opportunity to buckle up.

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Monday at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo. 

Where to stream Below Deck Mediterranean