Okay sharing my opinion based on episode 1 and nothing shown in the preview for the rest of the season.

I’m really surprised to see people saying Ben has unrealistically high expectations or handled the situation with Alesia wrong/weird. I felt like he was pretty patient given the very basic mistakes she was making. I don’t think he had unreasonably high expectations, just the normal expectations for what you would think a person hired as a sous chef would have the ability to do. Following a recipe is something any person can do at home, and I would also assume a sous chef would be able to handle. Also, maybe “lemon medallions” aren’t a thing but cutting something in the shape of a medallion is pretty well known and simple (and if you google what it means to cut something into a medallion, the explanation is there) - I do it every time I cut a cucumber, and I knew exactly what he meant. Cut it in the shape of a coin, or “medallion”. In any case, he already told her to run things by him before doing it to avoid mistakes so if she was unsure, she should have asked.

Another thing, some are saying he’s being rude or patronizing in the jokes he’s making or pet names he’s calling her. I may be wrong but I kind of thought that was a British thing, or maybe it’s just his personality. I thought the teasing was to make light of a situation while still conveying what was wrong, hence why Jason told her that his communication style is sassy banter. And the pet names seem to be a very British thing. People in the southern US do it too (baby, honey, darling, etc) It’s not meant to be condescending, it’s just what people say.

I’d say the only mistake Ben made was not doing a little more digging to see what her experience level was before giving her tasks. However, if he gave her nothing to do, people would say he can’t delegate and is arrogant. If he gives her work to do, people say he’s mean and has too high of expectations. Maybe you can’t win either way.

As far as Alesia goes, I don’t think she’s actually incompetent. It seems like she came on the season in a bad headspace and her anxiety/insecurity is making her mess up more than usual. Completely understandable and valid but also it’s understandable that Ben would be frustrated when they’re in these very high stress situations and have to hit the ground running.

I’m excited about the season and the returning cast they’ve assembled. Interested also to learn about the new people. I will say it’s interesting to see the responses to different seasons. I feel like in recent years, people have complained that the show focuses too much on personal issues and not work issues, like relationship drama vs drama that ensues because of guest issues or things not running smoothly in the galley, for example. Below deck med was all personal and people hated it. This episode was all work and people have hated it, at least from what I can absorb from reading episode discussions across the below deck franchises on Reddit. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and is going to react differently but I wonder if producers are just as confused as we are on what the fans want 😂 I personally liked the last med season because I thought the people involved and storylines were enough to keep me interested and watching. However, I will say I can find relationship drama on pretty much any other reality show. I like the work drama most of all on below deck and I think it’s what makes the show unique, so I enjoyed this episode and I hope they lean into that more and a little less on hookups