Reviewer Rating: 4.1/5.0
4.1
Things get tricky in Rescue Season 1 Episode 9, as Will and Em develop a full-blown romance, Raka’s wild behavior gets him into trouble, and Sheena and Kainaru The roommate situation has also become more complicated.
This makes for an interesting mini-hiatus as the show prepares to go on hiatus before returning in the new year, leaving all the major characters in a precarious position.
That leaves us with the biggest question now: Where do things go from here?
Will and Em, fresh off their impromptu kiss on “Deliverance” Season 1, Episode 8, are still into a physical relationship, and they’re not doing much to hide it.
Judging by the way the watch somehow got longer and their ruined little waterfall run, the two were fully committed to hooking up but barely talking about anything.
For most of the hour, neither of them seemed to feel particularly guilty or anything; They just get excited about each other and rekindle their passion. This is an interesting development because there is a lot to discuss.
Will is still engaged and Em still has a boyfriend, but they’re content to act like none of that exists now. But how long can this really last?
There’s also the whole “they might be captain soon” thing and how that’s going to affect all of her relationships, especially her relationship with Will.
Rescue: HI-Surf focuses on slowly unveiling everyone’s individual businesses, and it’s impressive how they made some of these storylines interesting when we know next to nothing about these guys.
But on the other hand, why did we only find out in episode nine that Will and Julie have only been together for six months? What is Will doing?
We still don’t know exactly what caused Will and Em to break up and stay so close after three years, but I think it might have something to do with her becoming a lieutenant.
It’s not the same as being a captain, but a lieutenant dating a lifeguard down there would definitely be frowned upon, but I also don’t believe that would be the only reason Em dumped him.
Will looks like the kind of guy who’s down enough to ask Em to go work somewhere else (hell, he’s ready to be a firefighter because his fiancée asked him to), so what else is going on between them? ?
Since they don’t talk, we don’t know, but this honeymoon deception doesn’t last long, and by the time Em’s friends find their tops undone in front of a spectacular waterfall, a crack has already formed!
Having to make decisions about their future means they have been avoiding difficult conversations in order to participate in physical activity. Some things can survive this way, but their connection is more than just a fleeting desire.
They both love each other, but as much as they try to hide it, there are definitely a lot of unresolved feelings about their relationship and breakup.
Before they think about jogging to more waterfalls ASAP, they need to unpack all of this and figure out what to do with their significant others (real people with real emotions!).
Speaking of Em, though, Sonny went to great lengths to make sure Em took over as captain, and even though he made all of these moves for the right reasons, it was a little hard to watch.
Once the Chief started talking about Em being a hothead (cue me rolling my eyes inwardly), it became clear that she would never be seriously considered for the role, even though she was more qualified than ten other men.
I don’t know why Sonny would preemptively tell Em she’d get the spot when he knew there was a good chance the transition wouldn’t be as easy as he made it seem, and I still think it was a bad decision.
But Sonny is at least honest with her in this hour, and he does her a huge favor by letting her know the inner workings of this kind of work and the posturing and politics involved.
It’s not always the best person for the job. Usually this is not the case.
Sonny doesn’t mind joining the fight and doing what needs to be done, as we saw in “The Surf” when he reached a tentative agreement with current mayor Emerson, which resulted in Kainaru eliminating Sheena, but Also promoting praise for his big move here.
Sonny may have finally gotten what he wanted, but he’s officially no longer in the mayor’s good graces, and he’s now on the bad side of the chief, all of which never come back to bite him in the end.
I don’t doubt that Em deserves this spot, and she wouldn’t have gotten it without Sonny’s manipulation and dealing, but what a strange position you’re in if you were Em.
It must feel disgusting and it sucks because she has dedicated her life to this job but she will never really be considered even though she is the right person for the job.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it, but I don’t believe Sonny is done on the North Shore. It’s way too early in the series to give Sonny the end, and a lot of people are angry at him right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they found a way to force him into not retiring when the time actually comes.
While no one except a select few knew that Sonny was ready to hang it up, Raka found out and ran to Sonny to seek his blessing on applying to become a Lieutenant. It was so sad to see his excitement quickly turn to embarrassment and melancholy.
Laka is an excellent lifeguard. He’s proven time and time again that he knows the job inside and out, but what about being second in command? He was late and hungover, and in my opinion, he was not the type of person to be fully committed to taking care of the business side of things.
That’s not to say he can’t get there, but he’s not there yet. He wasn’t ready for that level of responsibility.
Being cheated and robbed did end a horrific day in Raqqa, and again I asked, what was Will doing? Why is Will the worst person? His treatment of Raqqa was often poor, but to immediately blame him instead of offering a glimmer of understanding is disappointing.
Raqqa knew he messed up, and maybe he did eventually need to have a big discussion about his actions and their negative consequences, but maybe that happened after he’d had a minute to process the past few hours.
I wish Raqqa had just said to him “people who live in glass houses should not throw stones” because he deserves to hear that. Mr. Will, please think about worrying about yourself first before telling others about yourself!
While Em, Will, Raka, and Sonny end the hour in a weird way, the same cannot be said for Sheena and Kainaru, who finally get over all the sexual tension and do something about it.
After spending a solid hour being glorified by the babysitter, and after Sheena accidentally saw her roommate’s naked ass, the two started hooking up, and honestly, it was about time!
Despite the cliches of rivals from different sides of town, there’s a natural chemistry between the two, and you can tell throughout the season that Sheena’s walls are slowly coming down.
Kainaru is not a bad person, he has transformed himself into an excellent lifeguard. Through work and now getting to know each other’s lives, they both see a different side of each other, and it’s only a matter of time before they succumb to the attraction that’s always been there.
Now, do I think that when they return from their break, especially Sheena, they won’t have any major regrets? Absolutely not. I’ve watched TV before.
But now that we’ve covered the enemy, roommate, and lover angles, it’s time to get anxious! I said, go ahead.
Additional rescue instructions
- The rescues here are few and far between, but they make all the personal stories so interesting in this moment that I wouldn’t even be disappointed. You win this round, to the rescue: HI-Surf!
- Em’s friend is so disgusted with Em and Will and their deception that she can’t even pretend not to be upset.
- A Christmas episode before Thanksgiving? I know this is just an artifact of the schedule, but it felt like we came in too fast.
- Props to this young man trying to trade his flippers for a board.
The first half of Season 1 of The Rescue: HI-Surf is over! It’s been a bumpy ride, but there are plenty of stories to look forward to when the show returns.
Let me know all your thoughts on the show in the comments and what you’d like to see when the show returns!
You can watch The Rescue: HI-Surf every Monday at 9/8c on FOX.
Watch Rescue HI: Surf Online
