In Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 3, Deckhand Tom Pearson put the crew, charter guests and Parsifal III in danger. Below Deck fans think Tom finally gets fired for his latest screwup.
Last episode, Tom was too busy kissing Ashley Marti and wandering the sailboat to notice the 30-plus knot winds pushing the boat. He was negligent during his overnight anchor watch. The sailing yacht ended up aground, dragging several boat lengths against the shallow sea floor before he noticed. The $18 million vessel could’ve been shipwrecked, the charter season could’ve been over, people could’ve died. But Tom denied any responsibility and didn’t apologize when confronted by Captain Glenn Shephard.
Shockingly, Captain Glenn didn’t immediately fire Tom after the nearly disastrous charter ended. Although Glenn may still fire him, he seems to be biding his time. He spoke to his First Officer Gary King and Chief Engineer Colin MacRae, ordering them to not give Tom any responsibility in the next charter. So it looks like he may be looking for a replacement before firing Tom.
Regardless if Glenn fires Tom, here are the 7 times Tom deserved to be fired from Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 3.
1. Glenn Should Have Fired Tom For Getting Drunk & Puking The First Night
The first night of the charter season Captain Glenn was nice and said his crew could stay up and have a few drinks. However, he warned them to not get drunk. It was a “school night”, meaning there was lots of work to do for the first charter the next day.
That didn’t stop Tom. He over imbibed, getting sloppy. He slurred his words, couldn’t walk straight and had the spins. Next thing you know, he’s disturbing Captain Glenn’s rest by getting down the top of their shared bunk beds to puke in their shared bathroom. If that wasn’t bad enough, Tom made a complete mess of the bathroom. Tom then needed to disturb the captain again in order to go sleep in the mess.
Captain Glenn order his crew not to get drunk. Instead, Tom got rip-roaring drunk, disturbed the captain’s sleep and vomited all over their shared bathroom. That terrible first impression should’ve been enough to justify firing Tom.
At least Tom realized he would need to work extra hard and be extra helpful to prove himself after this. Captain Glenn did say he was “no worse for wear” the next day and worked hard after that. Unfortunately his actions didn’t keep matching his words after the first charter.
2. Tom Drunkenly Fighting With Ashley About How Mature He Is
After the first charter, Tom didn’t learn his lesson from the first night. He got fairly drunk and then argued with Ashley about how mature he is. It ended with him telling her to “f*** off” and both of them shouting.
This wouldn’t typically be close to a firing offense, but it is when you are already on thin ice. If he and Ashley woke up Captain Glenn, he should’ve been fired for again disturbing the captain’s sleep and not controlling himself while drinking.
“Look. people get drunk and they have an argument,” he told his boss Gary the next day, excusing his behavior. It all foreshadowed things to come.
3. Tom Almost Breaks The Transom Door, Downplays, Denies & Gives Attitude To Boss
He got himself in more trouble than he had to. Tom almost broke the superyacht’s transom door. Luckily, Chief Engineer Colin MacRae heard the pins jamming the door before Tom ripped the door open. After repeatedly telling Tom to stop very quickly he stopped and lowered it again.
Now, Tom only had experience on motor yachts. Furthermore, Chief Stew Daisy Kelliher on her podcast said Gary isn’t a good leader, so Tom was going into things kind of blind.
So his not knowing to remove the pins or doing it improperly may not be entirely his fault. However, he responded to his mistake terribly and deserved to be fired. From the start, Tom arrogantly said how much harder could it be working on a sailing yacht instead of a motor yacht.
“Don’t make it into a big deal. It’s not a big deal,” Tom told his boss.
“It is!” Colin responded.
“I heard it, I stopped, I pulled it in,” Tom continued.
“I did do the pin, I just didn’t hold it for long enough,” Tom continued, dismissively denying any responsibility.
Colin also found cracked paint next to where the door jammed, and Tom still dismissed the incident.
Instead, Tom took out his anger by aggressively throwing the dock into the water while Gary told him to calm down before he breaks something.
Tom where he didn’t apologize for losing his cool and continued to make excuses for himself. The bad attitude and short temper, compiled with the previous screwups should’ve been enough to have Tom shipped off at the end of the charter with Erica Rose and her husband Charles.
4. Tom Talking Back To Gary
When Gary was returning the tender he saw that Tom was dropping rope in the water. He told Tom, but it was too late and rope sunk. Gary first denied it, then blamed his mistake on Gary.
“You set me up to fail there,” Tom said, blaming his boss.
Perhaps Gary was not helping Tom out to help stir drama on the show. Below Deck season 9 Deckhand Rayna Lindsey says the show is fake.
However, if Gary was helpful to Tom, then Tom accusing Gary of setting “me up to fail” is pretty bad insubordination. It’s even worse considering the previous fireable offenses.
5. Tom Sleeping With Ashley In A Guest Cabin
In episode 4, Tom and Ashley hook up in a guest cabin. Not typically a fireable offense on its own, but without asking permission, and all the previous strikes, it could have warranted firing.
6. Tom Failing to Do Night Watch & Yacht Getting Grounded
Near the end of his night of anchor watch, Tom got distracted by Ashley and kissing her. Strong gusts of wind started to hammer the boat towards the shore. The aforementioned near-disaster should cost Tom his job, but fans will have to wait until episode 7 to see if it does.
7. Tom Drunkenly Screaming & Harassing Ashley
After the terrible charter where Tom almost let the boat become a shipwreck, he added to his job infractions.
The next night out in Spain, Tom got very drunk again. Ashley, suddenly no longer interested in Tom, started flirting heavily with Gary. As Daisy pointed out, it was a “pretty sh***y ” thing for Ashley to do. But also, Gary knew Tom was a hot head and was close to Ashley, so it also wasn’t appropriate for him to flirt back and rub it in Tom’s face. On top of that, Tom’s best friend’s dad (like a second father to him) was on life support after having a heart attack. Ashley less than 24 hours earlier had been sweet and consoling to Tom. So fans have some understanding for how much bad stuff had gone wrong in his life.
However, Tom’s meltdown was still inexcusable. He poured liquor on Ashley’s head in the hot tub, chased her around the boat and yelled derogatory things at her. He refused to listen to Daisy and Gary when they told him to leave Ashley alone. This incident alone likely warrants firing him. But considering all of the aforementioned infractions, there’s no question Captain Glenn should fire Tom.
Since the latest episode aired, Tom has taken ownership for running the ship aground. However, he didn’t address his appalling behavior towards Ashley. Hopefully he has learned from his mistakes on Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 3 for his current job on a motor yacht. And if he isn’t fired, it would be great to see him redeem himself the latter half of the charter season.
