This season of Bravo’s Below Deck is off to a great start. I personally prefer Kate Chastain’s cool demeanor as “Chief Stew” to Hannah Ferrier’s penchant for flying off the handle. Hannah tends to get a little too snippy and snooty with her crew for my liking, which is why I view Kate as a breath of fresh air. It is totally a subjective thing, a personal preference and you can feel free to disagree: Kate is more my speed.

I also had an incredible interview with Kate for Huffington Post during last season of Below Deck. We came away from that discussion with mutual admiration and respect, and exchanged some tweets afterwards. I’ll admit, that probably makes me somewhat biased and in Lisa Rinna fashion: I own it, baby.

So it’s been disheartening to hear about an overall miserable experience with Kate!

A source conveys that this is a season that resulted in more bad blood than any prior season of Below Deck. A myriad of simmering resentments have made their way over to social media, so look for clues there.

Furthermore, if my sources are correct, I only see it getting worse from episode to episode. Keep in mind that we are only at the start of the current season.

Previews indicate someone will be fired. There is already some speculation (let me emphasize that it is not confirmed at this point) that the “offense” – if that can accurately characterize what transpired – could be as grave as what put the kibosh on Real Housewives of Auckland.

(In that case, a cast mate uttered something racist that launched a scandal inviting legal involvement.)

It is my hope that the Below Deck debacle is NOT actually that grave and that these rumors will be disproven.

At this rate, I would not be surprised if we have a no-show at the upcoming reunion due to heightened residual bitterness. You might come away entirely sympathetic towards a slighted character, feeling their reactions are justified…

…or you might not.

The yacht may have docked months ago, but on land there is continued storminess, and Twitter has only added fuel to the fire.

Could this scenario involve one of the “Friends”? Or is it someone outside of that subgroup?

Update: Bravo enthusiasts have helped to find these images. It appears as if an alleged “replacement crew member” (after havoc reportedly ensued) is a young woman named Laura Betancourt. She is spotted in photos with cast members.

For clues about the unknown, be on top of who follows who, and always read Kate Chastain’s tweets.