What's Below Deck Down Under About?

Set against the backdrop of the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Australia, Below Deck Down Under follows the yachties aboard M/Y Thalassa as they deal with demanding charter guests and their own interpersonal drama.

Who's Involved?

• Captain Jason Chambers, a youthful, charming skipper with a hands-on leadership style.
• Aesha Scott, star of Below Deck Mediterranean Seasons 4 and 5 and now chief stewardess aboard Thalassa.
• Chef Ryan McKeown, a hot-headed Philadelphia native with five years of super yacht experience.
• Jamie Sayed, a first-time bosun with a strong work ethic.
• Tumi Mhlongo and Magda Ziomek, second and third stews
• Culver Bradbury, Brittini Burton, and Benny Crawley, deckhands

Why (and to whom) do we recommend it?

Below Deck Down Under might be Below Deck’s first streaming-exclusive spinoff, but it’s practically indistinguishable from its Bravo counterparts — and that’s a good thing. With its strong casting, ridiculous charter guests, and night-off blow-ups, Down Under effectively captures what makes the franchise so entertaining, and it represents a return to form for a show that has found itself in choppy waters of late.

Med alum Aesha Scott is a particular highlight in Peacock’s spinoff, and viewers should enjoy watching along as she works to reconcile her free-wheeling spirit (the very thing that made her a fan-favorite in the first place) with her newfound responsibilities as chief stew. As for the newcomers, Jason climbs the Below Deck captain rankings thanks to his willingness to work alongside the deckhands, while Chef Ryan, who happily describes himself as “arrogant,” quickly clashes with Aesha’s service style. After nine years of yachtie drama, storylines like these are quite familiar, but Down Under freshens them up with a unique assortment of crewmembers, plus new dangers specific to the tropical Whitsunday Islands and M/Y Thalassa.

The move to streaming also serves the show's particular rhythms. By dropping the first three episodes at once, Peacock ameliorates the frustration typically caused by end-of-episode cliffhangers (no matter how dire Bravo makes things seem, the drama usually wraps in the first 30 seconds of the next installment). That said, the spinoff doesn’t take advantage of streaming’s relaxed standards, so curse words are still bleeped. Taken in concert with the show’s 43-minute length, the censoring suggests that Down Under will ultimately find its way to Bravo.

Pairs well with

• Below Deck Mediterranean (Peacock), if you want to see Aesha come into her own as one of the franchise's most lovable personalities.
• Downton Abbey (Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock), which exemplifies the upstairs/downstairs concept at the heart of Below Deck.
• High Seas (Netflix), if you want more luxury ocean liner drama, but in a Spanish mystery format.