This is what Rescue: HI-Surf should have been all along — a low-stakes, drama-filled show with a little action mixed in, messy characters, and emotional arcs that make you feel something.
That’s the show many people signed up to see.
Every story in Rescue: HI-Surf Season 1 Episode 17 had something to offer, and in turn, the series delivered the best hour of its first season.
It could have been overwhelming with so many moving parts, but the pace worked. While many hours can feel like a slog in certain aspects, the brisk pace of this one felt natural.
And again, it’s something I wish they’d been doing all along.
Em and Cindy were the main plot of the hour, as she dealt with the arrival of boyfriend Ron and son Ethan, who were slotting themselves right into Em’s life like she hadn’t just learned of their existence.
I’ve been prickly about the show’s insistence on not telling us things, but it worked in the case of Em and Cindy because, in the end, Cindy showed her true colors quickly.
She came to visit Em to fix their relationship, and she did seem to want that—at least, it seemed that way on the surface. But as soon as Ron showed up, he took precedence over anything, and you could see that Em was suddenly transported back to her past and a mother who had never put her first.
Poor Ethan was truly just existing and being lugged around without any agency, and you could see as the day went on that he was used to it.
Ron and Cindy got along so well because they were very similar people. They were wrapped up in themselves and ignoring the very real children in their lives.
I felt for Ethan and was glad that Em took him under her wing and that he at least felt some comfort in a place he wasn’t familiar with.
It’s easy to rag on Will because he’s the worst in so many situations, but he stepped in to give Em time to breathe after Cindy left Ethan with her, and in those kinds of moments, you can feel their connection.
It’s always there, simmering under the surface, but their horrible communication skills make it hard to root for them. Watching them dance around their feelings and TALKING has become unbearable!
But before we dive into them more, Em made a decision for herself as it concerned Cindy to cut ties, and it’s one she probably wishes she’d made long ago before she got sucked into thinking things were going to be different.
Em’s an adult, but no matter how old you get, your parents are still your parents, and you want to feel loved, appreciated, and supported by them. Em never had that because Cindy was never there for her in the ways she should have been and the ways Em needed her mother to be.
Their argument was incredibly sad because Cindy sounded like a child, continuously blaming Em as if she did anything wrong in the situation. And it was further proof that Em’s resistance to her mother’s reappearance was justified.
Hearing Em list all the ways her mother failed her was heartbreaking. As the argument continued, I knew it would end with a slap, and that’s exactly what happened.
Em didn’t deserve that, and she had every right to put up a boundary because Cindy crossed a line from which there was no coming back.
Even knowing it was the right decision and what she needed to do to protect herself from further emotional scarring, it still hit Em like a ton of bricks, and a reminder that even when you know you’re doing the right thing, it can still be difficult to accept the realities of a situation.
Cindy had repeatedly proven to Em that she was not someone Em could depend on, and for her sanity, she severed ties.
I’ll admit that Will showing up for Em was nice, as was his opening up about his strained relationship with his mother. It’s still a little wild they were together for years, living together, and this was the first time they talked about their mothers, but they both clearly had difficult upbringings.
Whenever Will and Em are alone, it feels like they’re on the verge of jumping on each other, so you could see the kiss coming from a mile away, eliciting an immediate groan from me.
These two have no business starting ANYTHING up again until they take the time to talk about what happened in the past and what just happened between them.
Have they even mentioned Julie’s name since everything went down?
Also, if they decide to try again, they’d do well to start slow.
Em and Will weren’t the only ones bit by the romance bug during this hour!
Hina was STRUGGLING with Kainalu dating Rosie, and she could deny it all she wanted, but as Laka said, she had a terrible poker face.
Hina is very much giving ‘You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone,’ but if she would just admit to herself and subsequently Kainalu that she has real feelings, there’s no doubt he would reciprocate them, though it also may be too little, too late.
Kainalu has always been much more forthcoming about liking Hina, and it was never as if he wanted to walk down the aisle anytime soon, but he was interested in the two of them moving beyond friendship.
But he does seem to like Rosie.
It doesn’t appear that he’s dating her because he can’t have Hina. He genuinely likes her.
But if Hina let her walls down and told him how she felt, it’d be hard to see Kainalu walking away from that.
The two have a lovely bond, and one of the best things about Rescue: HI-Surf Season 1 has been seeing their relationship go from “enemies” to roommates and friends.
There’s a lot of care and respect between them, and they have chemistry for days.
Hina helping Kainalu during the breath-holding contest by simply touching his arm to ground him was a small but intimate moment, further demonstrating the bond they’ve cultivated since meeting.
Now, Hina was going through it on this episode, and going through it with alcohol is never a good mix.
Laka was very sweet to Hina in a way he’s not typically, so you could see why she may have taken his kindness for something else. Her inhibitions were down, and she was obviously in her feelings about Kainalu.
But my god, the secondhand embarrassment was very real as Hina leaned in to kiss Laka, and he backed away before delivering the dreaded line about seeing her as his sister.
Hina will wake up the following day and realize she made a terrible mistake, but at least Laka was gentle with her.
However, she has to work through this Kainalu stuff because it could affect the friendship if she can’t figure things out and be truthful.
Speaking of being truthful, all it took for Sonny and Ocean to patch things up was for Sonny to express himself to his daughter and for her to hear it.
Ocean’s a stubborn teenager, and Sonny’s a concerned father, which doesn’t always jive.
The lunch with Ocean and Noah allowed Sonny to at least see Ocean outside of just being his little girl, and that’s all Ocean has wanted, for him to see that she’s grown up and capable of making her own decisions.
When Sonny went to visit Ocean, it wasn’t about trying to further tell her that she was making a bad decision but just being honest with her. This was not the way he foresaw things going for her. He’s struggling with it, but above all else, he misses her and wants what’s best for her.
Seeing Ocean show up back home, even if only for a little while, showed that Ocean just wanted to be heard by her father.
It’s unlikely to be the last time the two don’t see eye-to-eye, but it was nice to see them understand each other and for Ocean to return home.
Extra Rescue Notes
- Vince being shady was a given, but I couldn’t figure out how they would play it. I assumed he was running an underground fighting ring, but dealing drugs wasn’t something I saw coming.
- The body glider colliding with the dad rescue was crazy, and that dad was not in the right. Yes, he was scared, and it was the glider’s fault, but assaulting someone who was injured will never be okay.
- Ethan learned how to surf and saw a rescue all in one day. The circumstances were not idle, but it was a day he’ll remember forever.
Wasn’t that a good episode?
This one had everything that works for the show, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the hour, so please comment below!
You can watch Rescue: HI-Surf on FOX at 9/8c on FOX.
Watch Rescue HI: Surf Online
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