![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2b8445902a2faaf9aab66bebf33df0819c-bravo-belowdeck-ep16.rsquare.w400.png\")
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Below Deck<\/a><\/p>\n Over the Rainbeau<\/p>\n \n Season 12<\/p>\n Episode 16\n <\/p>\n \n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n 3 stars<\/p>\n ***\n <\/p>\n \n Photo: Bravo\n <\/p>\n Every insane season of reality television must come to an end, and Below Deck\u2019s season-12 finale could not have been more season 12 if it tried. This week, we get a little of everything that has defined the chaos of the past six weeks: Sol\u00e8ne and Rainbeau fighting; everyone kissing everybody; feelings getting hurt; Anthony freaking out and then apologizing. Of course, we couldn\u2019t say good-bye to Sint Maarten without crossing the bridge at port one last time. \u201cThe deck team this season is the best deck team I\u2019ve had,\u201d Kerry says, with a smile on his face. He is simply \u201ctickled pink.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that the deck team pulled it together, especially after Kerry fired<\/a> Caio, the season\u2019s first bosun and my melancholy compatriot. Hugo kept his cool as his crew became increasingly ensnared in Sol\u00e8ne\u2019s machinations and managed to keep a respectable distance from the interpersonal drama of the boat. At times, this approach rippled through the interior department, as was the case with the Sol\u00e8ne-embargo fiasco<\/a>. But mostly it served him well: The deck crew worked steadily. Save from isolated slip-ups, all addressed by and mended with the captain, there were no big issues.<\/p>\n You couldn\u2019t say the same for the interior team. They were doomed from day one. Rainbeau fought to maintain her dignity and sanity on late-night shifts with Sol\u00e8ne throughout the entire season. It seems never to have occurred to Fraser to switch Sol\u00e8ne and B\u00e1rbara\u2019s shifts, or to rotate the stews in general. I have never stepped foot on a yacht, and Fraser surely knows better than me how to run a team, but it gives a person vertigo to watch the same fight time and again.<\/p>\n On the last night shift of the charter, after pouring herself a glass of wine for her hard work, Sol\u00e8ne announces to Rainbeau that she \u201cdecided [they\u2019re] not going to fight.\u201d Upstairs on the sun deck, Damo flirts with the guests and works for his tip. He suggests that they bring out the \u201cshot deluge\u201d for the ladies. The shot deluge is a curved dispenser with a spout with which to deposit alcohol straight into a guest\u2019s mouth. One of the women asks Sol\u00e8ne to do a shot with her, and Sol\u00e8ne complies. Damo doesn\u2019t say anything about how the crew is not supposed to drink with the guests. In fact, he pours the shot.<\/p>\n You can almost see smoke coming out of Rainbeau\u2019s ears when she walks into this frat-party tableau. Things only get worse when, after the guests go to bed, a tipsy Sol\u00e8ne does cheerleading stunts with Damo by the Jacuzzi instead of working. Rainbeau asks her to focus so that they all can go to bed; Damo, in la-la land, chases Sol\u00e8ne. No one mentions Kyle at all, though not hours before, Sol\u00e8ne cuddled him in his cabin and kissed him goodnight. When Damo wraps up, he asks Rainbeau if he can help her with anything. She\u2019s already done and waiting for Sol\u00e8ne to clear out her tasks before going to bed; the camera cuts to Sol\u00e8ne doing handstands in the main salon. \u201cShe\u2019s not a yachtie,\u201d Damo says to Rainbeau about Sol\u00e8ne. \u201cShe\u2019s a socialite.\u201d Damo is not, like Kyle or Jess before him, fooled by Sol\u00e8ne\u2019s attentions: He knows that she wants notoriety, and her actions have nothing to do with affection or yachting. This clarity allows him to detach from her in such a way that his involvement with her becomes inconsequential, spur of the moment. It\u2019s admirable and frustrating at the same time. He knows he shouldn\u2019t enable her, yet he washes his hands of responsibility when he acts like none of it is his business.<\/p>\n After Damo goes to bed, Sol\u00e8ne tells herself: \u201cI\u2019ll do what I have to do \u2014 it\u2019s three o\u2019clock, almost.\u201d But then she finds a half-drunk glass of wine by the Jacuzzi and gets distracted. She brings the glass of wine to the main salon, then promptly tries to hide it when she sees Rainbeau is there. At first there are tears of frustration in Rainbeau\u2019s eyes when she reminds Sol\u00e8ne that they are not supposed to drink. She pleads: \u201cThe only reason I am still awake is that you\u2019re taking so long to finish.\u201d Then, unbelievably, Sol\u00e8ne laughs in Rainbeau\u2019s face. It\u2019s so crass that it\u2019s hard to watch. Rainbeau goes red from head to toe as she says that Sol\u00e8ne is the worst, most selfish person to work with and that she is thankful they never have to work together again. Sol\u00e8ne tries to follow her around, saying she doesn\u2019t have to get so worked up, but Rainbeau is done. She texts Fraser everything that happened, including the drinking, while Sol\u00e8ne clocks out at 4 a.m. It\u2019s unclear whether or not she finished her tasks.<\/p>\n When he wakes up and sees the texts, Fraser shrugs his shoulders: \u201cWhat am I supposed to do?\u201d It\u2019s the last day of the season, the final drop-off day. He tells Rainbeau that he is sorry she had a rough night and leaves it at that. I think there was an opportunity for Fraser to sit them down and clear the air, as well as validate Rainbeau\u2019s frustration. It\u2019s one of the boat\u2019s top rules that you are not supposed to drink on charter, and Sol\u00e8ne broke it with zero consequence. Besides, left to their own devices, Rainbeau and Sol\u00e8ne can\u2019t make amends. Before they leave, Sol\u00e8ne remembers something her mother said: that the way you treat people is more important than how well you do your job (I can\u2019t even begin to unpack the levels of irony in such a statement coming out of Sol\u00e8ne\u2019s mouth). Sol\u00e8ne apologizes and expects Rainbeau to apologize, too, but when she doesn\u2019t \u2014\u00a0she doesn\u2019t have anything to apologize for \u2014\u00a0Sol\u00e8ne takes it back and says she\u2019s not sorry anymore. An evaluation performance for Sol\u00e8ne would be a waste of time, since there\u2019s no way she\u2019ll pursue non-Bravo yachting, but it seems unfair that she got away with \u2026 all of it. If nothing else, it isn\u2019t good for the boat\u2019s reputation. There may be a number of prospective stews watching and thinking they can get away with murder as long as they kiss every mouth onboard.<\/p>\n Before all that happened, though, there was the eight-course dinner, which went totally fine as predicted. Anthony was feeling okay again by the time he introduced the first course. He flamb\u00e9d a number of things, from steak au poivre to baked Alaska. His most mind-boggling concoction was a \u201cspicy cucumber-bell-pepper cappuccino,\u201d the taste and texture of which I had a really hard time imagining. When the after-dinner fireworks were set off, it felt, as Fraser had planned,\u00a0like a celebration of the whole season. The guests were delighted by the surprise fireworks show. Throughout the sequence, slightly ominous music played, which made me wonder if the boat was going to catch on fire.<\/p>\n The captain was so happy with Anthony\u2019s performance that he stopped by the galley to shake his hand. Anthony got emotional and said, \u201cThis one is for you, Daddy,\u201d which I thought was really sweet. That is a guy with very intense emotions. By the end of the charter, his relationship with Fraser is totally repaired. It seems like forever ago now, but Anthony returned to the St. David with a personal vendetta against Fraser, and their friendship only ended up stronger. We know now to take Anthony\u2019s outbursts of frustration with a grain of salt. In a double confessional, he tells Fraser: \u201cWithout you, I would never be at this level.\u201d Fraser encourages him to have more confidence. They hug and kiss and say how much they love each other three more times before the end of the episode.<\/p>\n Not everyone\u2019s bond is similarly strengthened. While the last guests were still onboard, Jess and B\u00e1rbara made loose plans for the off-season: Jess would come to New York to visit in August, once B\u00e1rbara was off, so they could spend quality time together. But as much as B\u00e1rbara likes Jess, the prospect of a long-distance relationship worries her, and she\u2019s not confident their romance can survive it. Over drinks before dinner, she tells Jess she wants to prioritize her career \u2014 it\u2019s the first time she has enough money to save up for her future. Besides, she has too many trust issues to date long-distance. Jess is compassionate and understanding. They end their fling like true caring adults.<\/p>\n At the last tip meeting, Kerry congratulates his crew on a job well done. They get a big, fat tip:\u00a0$28,000, which comes out to $2,153 each for the charter and $15,037 each for the season. Would you put up with Sol\u00e8ne\u2019s antics for 15 grand? I feel like I could do it. The captain takes them on a hike to a fort at St. Louie, where Sol\u00e8ne flashes the camera for a group photo. No one even bats an eye. Kerry laughs. If that\u2019s not enough to make you feel like you\u2019re going crazy, watch Sol\u00e8ne\u2019s behavior toward Kyle and Damo for the rest of the night. It goes like this: First, she kisses Kyle on the way back to the boat. Then, at dinner, Kyle says that he would like to see her again and asks what she would like. She says she doesn\u2019t know; in two days, she might want someone else. They hold hands.<\/p>\n At the club, everyone besides Hugo and Anthony kisses one another in various combinations. Even Fraser makes out with Rainbeau and Damo. Sol\u00e8ne tells Kyle that they should feel free to kiss whoever they want, but they\u2019ll sleep together that night. He says he doesn\u2019t want to kiss anyone else, but she makes out with Damo. At least she warned him? \u201cI\u2019m not a good person,\u201d Damo says in a confessional. \u201cEverything I do is motivated by myself.\u201d I don\u2019t like this sleazy, half-baked \u201chonesty.\u201d Damo is not a bad person; he is just being a jerk. In the vans going back to the boat, Anthony asks Sol\u00e8ne, who is sitting next to Kyle, \u201cWhy do you do this to him? You\u2019re not married, but it\u2019s not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n Back on the St. David, Sol\u00e8ne asks Kyle if he\u2019s mad at her, then makes out with Damo some more. Before we see an uncomfortably close shot of her sticking her tongue down his throat, she wonders if they are being \u201cfair to Scottish,\u201d which is crazy since she did not consider the same question when kissing Damo right in front of his face at the club. Meanwhile, Kyle sends her texts to the tune of, \u201cYou just played me so bad, it\u2019s horrible.\u201d Wrapping up with Damo, she asks Kyle to meet her in a guest cabin to spend the night together. It\u2019s far from me to slut-shame anyone. I think women having sex with as many men as they want is good for society. But this ping-ponging gives me whiplash, and besides, it doesn\u2019t reflect well on anyone. Kyle is so deeply entrenched in this mess that this is how he describes his inability to stay away from Sol\u00e8ne: \u201cIf somebody dropped a sack of ten grand in front of you and it was covered in cow shit, would you pass it up?\u201d That is a messed-up way to describe an experience with a woman. And I can\u2019t even get that worked up about it because Sol\u00e8ne didn\u2019t treat Kyle as anything more than a sack of money covered in dung, either.<\/p>\n The next morning, in the galley with B\u00e1rbara, Fraser draws a diagram of the boatmance dynamics, coming to the conclusion that all lines lead to Sol\u00e8ne. Rainbeau cries saying good-bye to Fraser \u2014 she\u2019s the MVP of the season.\u00a0She stood her ground, killed at her job, and didn\u2019t lose her head. Jess and B\u00e1rbara say bye to each other, and Jess skateboards away. Before he leaves, Kerry tells Kyle to focus on his potential rather than his partying; we can only hope he\u2019ll take the advice to heart. He and Damo leave together, buddies after all, with nothing to say sorry for. Anthony and Hugo both leave happy with themselves and in outfits that make them look like they\u2019re in 2003. Fraser gets emotional as he says good-bye to Kerry and reflects on a hard, but ultimately rewarding, season. His one goal was to keep his interior team intact from start to finish, and he did, whether or not it was the wisest choice. Kerry signs the logbook, and we\u2019re officially off. It was fun watching this unhinged season with you all \u2014\u00a0thanks for keeping me real. Until next time!<\/p>\n VULTURE NEWSLETTER<\/p>\n Keep up with all the drama of your favorite shows!<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n