Critic’s Rating: 2.8 / 5.0
2.8
I don’t know if any show that premiered this television season has been harder to figure out than Rescue: HI-Surf.
There’s a decent show in there, and we get flashes of it when they lean into the action and even when they choose the right moments to focus on the romantic entanglements, which are the only part of the show that gives off Baywatch vibes.
But overall, the show has failed to truly gain traction because it still isn’t 100% sure what it wants to be. And that begs the question: Is what the series is doing now good enough?
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t enjoyed some of the installments. The show isn’t boring per se (despite what some have said), but it’s missing that SOMETHING that makes it the kind of show you want to talk about.
That show makes you want to get into the real nitty-gritty of the plot and characters, people you’ve grown to really care for or even despise. Whatever you’re feeling, positive or negative, at least you care.
I’m not sure that’s happening so far with Rescue: HI-Surf.
There are characters, surely, but are they making an impact? Do you genuinely care one way or the other about their stories? Is the series creating a complex and intriguing narrative that has you clamoring for more?
Or is this the kind of show that goes through the motions? The show you have on in the background when cooking dinner or folding laundry?
We’re only ten episodes in, so maybe it’s too soon to tell, but that may not be a good thing.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
Rescue: HI-Surf Season 1 Episode 10 is another one of those hours that is fine on the surface. It picks up quickly from where Rescue: HI-Surf Season 1 Episode 9 left off, meaning those entanglements were still figuring things out, and Sonny was still poised to retire.
The Sonny retirement storyline has always felt like it would ultimately be for naught because what will they do with Sonny if he retires? There are super dramatic ways to play this out, but would the show actually go there?
Em doesn’t have many fans from a professional standpoint outside of Sonny, and you have to wonder if she will eventually hit a point where Sonny can’t save her.
Would he then be tempted out of retirement to keep everything he’d built and ensure Em still had a job and a future opportunity? I could see things heading that way, but as it stands right now, Sonny is hellbent on retiring.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
Sonny has needed help for a while, and we still haven’t seen him back engaging in any meaningful therapy, but he has seemed a lot lighter since deciding to step away.
However, he’s still doing the song and dance accompanying being a captain because Em may not be ready for it.
Like any leadership position, being the captain of a group of other adults comes with its fair share of difficulties, but every captain has a boss above them, and they have a role to play.
For a lifeguard captain, this means rubbing elbows with politicians and doing things that may not align with their desires for the greater good.
It’s a slippery slope, and we’ve seen some of the decisions Sonny has had to make that weren’t ones he would have necessarily made if he hadn’t felt it would ultimately benefit his team.
But Em isn’t Sonny, and that is made pretty damn clear during the council meeting when she goes off-script.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
I loathe the word “hothead” when used to describe a badass woman who’s passionate about her convictions, but Em is opinionated, smart as hell, and determined. She’s not one to always go along with the status quo because she’s not built like that.
Sonny, of course, steps into the situation and smoothes things over, but he won’t always be around to do that if he rides off into the sunset. And I don’t see a universe where Em falls in line remotely like Sonny.
It also doesn’t help that Kenji is just waiting in the wings with a smugness that would give Laka a run for his money on his worst day.
Em’s outburst, if you want to call it that, at the council meeting brought her true feelings to light, but she’s also dealing with the whole Will situation, which has not gotten any better since the holidays.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
Here’s the thing about Em and Will and where they stand right now. It’s obvious that they still love each other and that their feelings for one another run deep, but Will has shown zero interest in breaking off his engagement, even though it’s obvious he doesn’t want to marry that woman.
So now you have to ask yourself why that is, and the only thing I can come up with is that he’s not fully over his and Em’s prior breakup and is completely unwilling to talk to Em about anything.
The two of them have quickly fallen back into old habits and their sexual chemistry, but the deep conversations are non-existent. Even their talk on the beach at the episode’s end is about Em confronting her fears and terrifyingly expressing herself.
She’s the other woman, and while it’s easy to say she has nothing to lose by being truthful, considering the nature of her and Will’s relationship, she has a lot to lose.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
They are close friends and co-workers, with Em being his superior at said job. And that’s not to mention putting yourself out there and then being rejected and how debilitating that can be on a personal level.
I don’t know how people feel about the cheating storyline here, but it’s given the whole storyline a spark.
Everything is up to Will to decide what he wants. We don’t need to wonder who he wants because it’s 100% Em, but he’s frightened to take that leap, and one has to wonder how long Em will let him leave her on the edge of that cliff without a safety net.
Elsewhere during this comeback hour, Laka is struggling after his robbery, and it’s hard to gauge his character’s future.
Laka started the series as one of my favorites because Kekoa Kekumano oozes charisma, but he’s stuck in this rut.
He’s the quintessential bad boy due for a redemption arc, and it seemed like things were headed in that direction when he finally got Jenn to go out with him, only for that to fizzle out in record time.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
Since then, he’s just been lost, and in this hour, he takes all his frustrations out on everyone around him. And Laka’s not a bad guy. He can be prickly, but he’s not horrible, especially while on the job.
It was nice to see him go back to help the woman who’d lost her ring because that’s the kind of compassion Laka has, and it’s why he would eventually be a good lieutenant when he gets his head on straight.
Sonny wasn’t wrong when he told him previously that he wasn’t ready, but he could get there. He just seems to get in his own way sometimes.
The last part of the drama is saved for Hina and Kainalu, though they handled their hook-up well outside of some awkward interactions.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
Hina was always going to be the one who felt weird about things because she’d gone out of her way to keep Kainalu at a distance. And now that the lines have blurred, she’s in a weird position.
She likes Kainalu, but her head is telling her it’s a bad idea. Not only do they work together, but they live together, and they’re from separate worlds.
It’s proving difficult for her to reconcile that even with all the complications., the two of them have a spark.
Kainalu is a bit more aloof and probably not thinking about things nearly as deeply, but he’s always had an interest in Hina. I don’t think he’s racing to get down on one knee, but if Hina gave him the green light, he’d be interested in the two of them getting to know one another.
Hina effectively shutting down their budding friends-with-benefits situation should be intriguing as surely we’ll see one or both of them dating someone else, and I’m expecting some heavy angst and pining!
Their romantic will-they/won’t-they remains the best little subplot of the series, and here’s hoping the second half delivers some more yearning and enemies-to-lover goodness.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
Extra Rescue Notes
- Sonny and Jarrah watched the council meeting like an episode of The Real Housewives, which was great.
- Kenji is going to be a problem, isn’t he?
- The man stealing the ATV and then running over that woman’s leg was the kind of action this show does well. They have the action down, but for many hours, the action is third or fourth on their list of priorities.
(Zach Dugan/FOX)
Alright, guys, what did you think about the first hour back in 2025?
Where do you stand on the Will/Em/Julie triangle?
Did Hina make the right decision by pumping the brakes with Kainalu?
Let me know how you feel in the comments so we can discuss it!
You can watch Rescue: HI-Surf on Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.
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