Rescue: HI-Surf Season 1 Episode 3 Recap: The Deep End

Rescue: HI-Surf Season 1 Episode 3, “The Deep End,” gives viewers waves of emotion with multiple storylines and rescues.

As viewers now know, the North Shore is a hotspot for tourists to come and seemingly risk their lives. This time, two male kayakers hope to fish the beautiful ocean waters while their girlfriends tan on the beach.

The pair start their journey, enjoying the sunshine and catching a few fish. However, they soon notice a change in the current that worries them.

Despite being strong swimmers, they decide it’s better to be safe than sorry and begin paddling back to where they started on the beach.

But the current picks up, pulling them further away. They spot a bunch of rocks and decide to wait it out there until the water calms down enough for them to paddle back.

As they head toward the rocks, a huge wave knocks them over, pulling them out of their kayaks and underwater.

Back on land, Captain Jennings wakes up from another night of horrible sleep due to his constant nightmares about Zion’s death. He gets a phone call from the grief counselor he contacted last episode but hung up on.

In a rush to go to work, Jennings brushes off the counselor’s question about whether he still wants the available appointment. He says he’ll call back, but it’s clear he has no intention of doing so.

After enjoying their time on the beach for an hour and realizing their boyfriends haven’t returned, the girlfriends of the kayakers finally report the men missing.

Again, the current has changed, and the wind has increased, preventing the search helicopter from flying over the ocean to locate the men. The North Shore team (Jennings, Emily, Will, and Laka) jumps onto their jet skis and hits the ocean to search.

The team finds the men safe but stranded on the island of rocks in the middle of the ocean. The downside is that the rocks are being hit by the strongest part of the current.

Will and Laka have to swim from the jet skis to the men and assess whether they need immediate medical attention.

Luckily, the only injury is a cut on one of the men’s heads from hitting a rock while swimming, but it isn’t deep. The men, both strong swimmers, say they can swim to the jet skis with Will and Laka’s help.

While waiting for the men to reach him on his jet ski, Jennings becomes lightheaded and starts zoning out, replaying the trauma of Zion’s death in his head.

He shakes himself out of it enough to get everyone back to shore, but it’s pretty clear that Jennings isn’t doing the best and should definitely reach out for help.

After getting the men into the ambulance and watching Laka fail to win over the cute first responder yet again with his offer of a date, Jennings collapses and falls unconscious on the beach.

Waking up to his team around him looking worried, Emily forces Jennings to take a few days off and get the help he needs, and in return, she won’t put his health scare in the daily report.

With little choice and finally giving himself the time to heal, Jennings leaves Emily as acting captain during his time off, reminding her not to mess up her first time in charge.

Of course, she does just that. Despite being part of the team, Emily plays the hard captain card and treats the team unfairly. She assigns Hina and Kainalu together, despite Hina’s request to be separated from him, and puts Laka there to babysit them after he shows up late for roll call, which is a bit harsh.

With more free time, Jennings decides to give therapy a chance and goes to the grief counseling building. But as quickly as he walks in, he walks out after being asked to complete a welcome survey. Seeing the word “depression” on the page, he lets his stubbornness get the better of him and leaves.

His backup plan is to visit an old friend and rant about his struggle with Zion’s death, but this goes about as well as the counseling attempt. His friend tells him to “suck it up and do your job.”

Back on the beach, Kainalu informs a tourist and his wife that due to the strong current and undertow, swimming in the ocean today isn’t the safest idea. But, the tourists persist, claiming they’re strong swimmers.

Having a seemingly quiet day on the North Shore, Laka takes his break while Kainalu patrols on the AVT, leaving Hina alone to monitor the tower and the beach.

Things take a turn when Hina spots a surfer fall off her board and call for help after cutting her foot on a rock in the water. While Hina goes to rescue the surfer, the tourist Kainalu warned earlier starts to struggle, swallowing water and pushing his wife underwater to stay afloat.

Driving by on the ATV, Kainalu spots the man and radios Hina for backup, but she has left her radio in the tower. Kainalu goes in alone at first, successfully rescuing the man, while Hina arrives in time to save the wife.

Though the rescue is successful, Emily is angry about how the situation was handled. She continues to be a hard captain, punishing the team despite their efforts.

Fortunately, Jennings returns from his time off and restores order by throwing a thank-you party for the team, their families, and friends.

But the happy festivities are short-lived. The next day, the team turns on the TV and sees that the family suing the North Shore is now making the lawsuit public. There’s nothing Jennings can do to stop it. 

What did you think of this episode of Rescue: HI-Surf? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Rescue: HI-Surf airs Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.

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