janedavitt (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
janedavitt) wrote2007-11-12 11:12 am
janedavitt) wrote2007-11-12 11:12 am
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Riptide episode review 'Peter Pan Is Alive And Well'
I've never done one of these, with screencaps and all, so this is going to be interesting. And long.
Okay. Some background, and to be completely open about this, I think this show is the slashiest ever and that firm opinion is going to influence the recap. I can't imagine that bothering anyone reading, but don't say I didn't warn you.
Riptide is an 80s show about three men who live on a boat in California and run the Riptide Detective Agency. The original partners (take that ANY way you want to and you'll be right, IMO) are Cody Allen (blond, with a moustache) and Nick Ryder (dark hair, mouth and arms to die for), both middle-aged, muscular hunks, ex-Army. They were joined at the start of the show by Murray Bozinsky, someone they knew back in their Army days (he was a colonel, I think because of his tech know-how) a total computer geek/genius, once wealthy because of all his patents but cheated out of his money more or less, because he's on the sweet, unworldly side. He has a robot which sometimes features in the episode, sometimes doesn't. Murray's skinny, has huge glasses, floppy dark hair, is adorably shy and easily flustered. His hands are just... no words. Long, elegant fingers and just... guh. Yes.
The three of them are best friends. There are no words for how close they are. They've ditched gorgeous women without hesitation if it's threatened the friendship. Nick and Cody share a small bedroom with two single beds. The three of them touch constantly and will put an arm around each other, or a hand on a shoulder and just keep on talking without ever bothering to remove it.
They're the sort of men who can cry and still look good doing it and the other two hover around, concerned and sympathetic and right there for their buddy.
This episode in S2 is interesting because it follows on from an episode 'Be True To Your School' where Nick discovers that his high school buddies graduated and became millionaire drug dealers. His disillusionment and heartbreak at what he sees as a betrayal of friendship and ideals is mirrored here to a certain extent as Cody meets up with a friend he used to live with and discovers that his buddy is one step below pond scum.
So. On with the review.
The teaser opens at night, by a roadside with a sleazy (smoking!) guy who's blackmailing an older woman we learn is called Mrs Melissa Belancourt. She pulls up in a car, gets shown some photos of herself with a young stud she had a fling with some months back, and is told she has to pay the blackmailer $5,000 a month or her husband gets to see them. She's also told not to contact the ex or the price will go up, which seems puzzling but makes sense later. Mrs Belancourt's pretty calm and clearly thinks that she's wiped nicer things off her shoes than this lowlife.
We can't see who the stud is, and she calls him 'what's his name' so he clearly didn't leave an impression, and blackmailer guy calls him 'your friend' but I will be a complete spoiler and tell you that it's Cody's friend who's the stud in question, depending on your definition of stud, which in his case would have to be 'lying, immoral scumbag'.
Scene change to sun and sea and the Riptide where a confused Nick and Cody are wondering why the hell the inside of the boat (do not expect nautical terms to be flung around with accuracy, or indeed at all during this recap) is littered with empty, crushed beer cans.
"Nick," Cody says, looking cutely worried in a teeny-tiny pair of shirts and an unbuttoned pink/orange shirt worn over his bare chest (standard outfit apart from the times they wear INCREDIBLY tight jeans). "You don't think Murray's developed a drinking problem, do you?"
Given the amount of cans and the fact that canonically one whiff of a soggy beermat and Murray's out for the count, I don't think so. Just as they're staring at each other, Dooley comes aboard. He's this young, irresponsible, early twenties something or other, who showed up in S2. He's dim, well-meaning, and likes to party. I consider him a waste of space that could be filled with one of the three main characters but he's harmless enough. He's bringing aboard a huge amount of empty cans in a mesh bag; Murray's apparently willing to pay cash for them; a nickel a pop, which Dooley is ecstatic about.
They tell him that they're on a case when he teases them about looking laidback and casual (although they look like this All The Time and he's dressed the exact same way) and then Murray appears.
This is not Murray as we know him. He's got an (unlit) ciggie hanging from his lips, he's wearing dark shades, not jam jar specs, his hair's slicked back, his clothes are casual, he's snapping his fingers and talking about cool cats... and although all that is jaw-droppingly out of character given what we know of the real Murray, he's looking pretty darn spiffy.
Murray high fives Dooley and then spots the cans, the shades get shoved up as he peers at them and the affectations drop away as he enthusiastically, and politely, thanks and pays Dooley for them.
Nick and Cody want to know what's with the cigarette as Murray doesn't smoke. They sound like protective big brothers here, which pretty much defines their relationship with him for me.
Cody asks if it's an experiment and Murray says yes, he's working on an experiment with 'image and masculinity' and that's why he needs the cans. (We find out later that he's trying to crush them with his fist and he can't but then, who can?). He keeps flipping between shades and glasses, normal persona and tough street guy drawl, and the other three of are grinning now, indulgent and charmed because he's just so darn cute here.
Cody then works in a neat bit of expo and tells Dooley that Murray's going undercover and they've been hired by the owner of a private beach club because someone's ripping off the old ladies there; stealing their jewelry as they sun themselves. He and Murray are going in as lifeguards; Murray's going to prowl the beach with a metal detector. Really, his usual look would match that cover better, but I'm going with it.
We see the beach at the club, with a dog running past with something in its mouth. FORESHADOWING, although at the time I just thought, ick, no, dog poop, isn't this supposed to be an exclusive beach? The camera pans to a young girl (she's supposed to be about to turn 17 but she looks older) leaning seductively on a lifeguard tower chair and chatting to the lifeguard beside her, who's in shorts and a T-shirt and is way too old for her. She wants him to come to the 'surprise' party her parents are going to be giving her at the club. She's got this whole crush thing going and the lifeguard is playing up to her with looks and hand kissing and assurances that he'll be there, wouldn't miss it for the world, though he doesn't really seem that keen.
His name is Byron, which figures as he's got this whole dark, curly haired Casanova look that a Romantic poet would have going for him, although he's not coming over as the intellectual type so I doubt he's ever actually heard of his namesake. He gives the weirdest, campiest impression ever of a young girl miming surprise at the party reveal, and I blink in silence, wondering why the girl doesn't back away slowly from the scary man, but she laps it up.
They walk off, entwined, his gold chains (essential lifeguard equipment) glinting, and in the parking lot the Jimmy (red and white open truck; pretty sure that's what it's called) pulls up with our three guys in it.
They go into the clubhouse just as Byron and girl walk in from the beach entrance and Byron says "Cody?" in a fairly happy, if disbelieving tone of voice and then again, "CODY!" followed by 'MONKEY!" from Cody and there is much hugging, back slapping and general OMG, it's you!ing, as the music swells.
Nick and Murray exchange glances that say clearly, 'Cody, you got some 'splaining to do.'
Cody then asks 'How's Jill?' and Byron cements our opinion of him as an idiot by saying 'Who?'. As Jill was Cody's might-have-been-the-one-but-you-stole-her-from-me, this scores minus numbers on the tact scale, but, as Miss Sweet Sixteen looks slightly pouty and taken aback, we find out that Jill dumped Cody and then, hah-ha, dumped Byron too, so All Is Well in Guy Land.
The girl, miffed at being ignored, as well she might, eases around the hulking muscles of Byron and shakes hands with Cody, introducing herself as Candice James. Not to be outdone, Cody introduces his friends to Byron Monk, the guy he shared a place with for a while, the year he got back from 'Nam.
He then, which had me rewinding to make sure I heard it right, tells Byron that 'These are the guys that took your place.' I don't care about Jill; Cody and this guy had something going and Cody's rubbing his face in it that he's traded up.
Sounding incredibly fey, Byron asks them, 'Hey, does he still panic every time anyone gets fingerprints on the furniture?' and my brain leaps to the Sentinel and I decide the fanon of Jim's tidiness must come from his father as the actor playing Cody went on to play William Ellison. Which, okay, makes no sense, but go with me on this; I thought it was funny.
Nick replies that Cody doesn't panic he just, 'lets out a small moan'. I moaned too, thinking of Cody moaning and just what other circumstances and events would get him to do that.
It comes out that Nick and Cody are there to see Fred Cushing the manager. Byron looks as if there's a bad smell in the room but offers to take them to him and as they leave the camera lingers on Mrs Belancourt sitting on the couch who stares thoughtfully at them all. She's wearing huge white sunglasses (it's inside! why?) and a low cut swimsuit. There's so much skin around on this show if they did a nude episode, I wonder if anyone would notice.
There's a brief scene in the office where they're told about the stolen items and Byron and Fred snarl at each other until the boys decide to start investigating.
All of which is a transparent ruse to get Nick and Cody into lifeguard gear.
It's not quite Baywatch but as they wander onto the beach, Nick tells Cody that he knows how a woman feels passing a construction site as it seems they're getting ogled. Cody agrees that it's 'unnerving', heh. They pause and Nick says insincerely that Byron's quite a guy and we pan to see the man himself on the beach, in the centre of a crowd of clustering women. It seems Byron's always been a babe magnet. Nick, inexplicably, unless you take it as read that Cody is gay, gay, gay, says, 'I guess that's why you stopped being his roommate, huh?'
Affronted, Cody tells him that he had his share, too and Nick breaks out into incredulous laughter as the man who knows what side Cody's bread is buttered on. They stride across the beach discussing 'macho-man Murray' and then a man yells for help from the water and they dive in, with Cody stripping off his muscle shirt as he runs, which is on the yummy side. The man strangely tries to drown Cody which means Nick, and the lagging behind Byron, have to save him. They end up back on the beach, all wet, with Murray's hand on Nick's shoulder then moving to Cody's as he reassures himself they're safe (aww).
Manager's office again and they tell Byron they think the murder attempt was aimed at Byron. The manager accuses Byron of being slow off the mark to save the guy, showing zero sympathy which might be suspicious if Byron wasn't such a jerk. The boys try and defend Byron but Byron stomps off in a petulant pouty sulk, like a prima donna, leaving Nick and Cody to volunteer to take care of lifeguarding as well as sneakily snooping for the thief, otherwise the beach will need to be closed for the day.
Outside, Cody and Byron have a discussion that turns sour and we see that the gilt's off the gingerbread as far as Cody's concerned. Then in the space of a few crowded seconds, a car pulls up with another woman in it (I'm losing track; I think we find out that this one is called Lizzie), Byron gets in, Candice watches from the door, disconsolate, and blackmailer guy takes some snapshots from a parked car. Whew!
Next we have a scene with a woman on the beach bemoaning the loss of a necklace she put down for two seconds while she applied sunscreen. The boys are baffled by this Very Cunning Thief but decide to spend the night letting Murray do his magic with a computer and the employee records.
The club members are all solvent so Nick brings up the 18 carat Rolex Byron has as being a tad on the suspicious side and Cody gets verreee testy and defensive with a heavy subtext of 'you're just jealous' and mutters 'we had some good times together' until he gives in and says he noticed the watch, too.
Murray suggests they all go and ask Byron about the watch, man to man, and he leaves so that Nick and Cody can have a bashful apology scene followed by Nick showing Cody a magazine Murray's been reading.
No, it's not porn, gay or otherwise, but I have to say that's where my mind went when I saw the cover.
It's entitled, "A Man - what it means to be one." Nick has, it seems, read it cover to cover and memorized it as he keeps quoting from it or telling Cody that such and such is on page x. Poor, sweet Murray has been trying to be more manly and is using the tips in the magazine to remake his image :;pets him::
They get to Byron's and he's not home; they check around the back, spot an intruder, break in and nab them, only to find it's Mrs Belancourt, keen to tackle Byron on the blackmail which she's convinced he knows about. Byron arrives and all is confusion until the boys find a camera hidden in the smoke alarm above the bed, operated from the apartment above. For some weird reason the blackmailer doesn't sit in that room, but has a lead running to another apartment altogether.
They chat to Melissa Belancourt with some really weird lighting on Nick and Cody and persuade her to call the blackmailer and tell him that Byron is going to be entertaining a really rich woman tonight who's a better target than her. The blackmailer is all oily gratitude so she buys immunity with that.
She leaves, and Nick and Murray tactfully leave Cody and Byron alone for a heart to heart. Including gems from Byron about him not knowing the marital status of every woman who comes onto him. God, this guy…
Then, in a continuity snafu, as that was night-time and the trap for the blackmailer was supposed to be that night, we go to the next morning at the beach with Murray operating his metal detector. Long story short, he finds a necklace, the smoking gun, er, small dog, grabs it and all is revealed; the dog is a magpie dog with a thing for snaffling items and burying them. It would be interesting if he was trained by a human thief, but no, he's just a stray with sadly no way of parlaying gold and diamonds into bones.
Next we go to Candice trying to get Byron to promise he'll be at her party tonight which he does in a half-hearted, blowing you off way. Poor, sweet Candice…
Back to the apartment over Byron's where they decide to follow the wire and see where it leads. Byron arrives with Lizzie (unclear if she's in on this or not, but from a comment later, I think she is) and they get down to some smooching with Murray manning the camera overhead and hanging tough.
Sleazy blackmail guy (Steiger) is chuckling at the action on his CCTV in a room close by when Cody and Nick burst in on him. This episode is low on car chases so far (thank God) but we get a brief chase of Steiger as he punches out both Nick and Cody before all ends in a swimming pool, splash, splash, surrender.
Cut to Candice calling Byron from her party and her face creasing with anguish when his girlfriend answers, though it can't be that much of a shock to her as he's flirting with everything that moves.
Byron appears behind his girlfriend, puts the phone down and starts some more smooching but outside, a Mystery Man in a car is lurking! Oh, noes! He has a gun! He shoots at the smooching couple aaaand - cut to the next morning and Byron, the knave, packing up and getting ready to hightail it out of town, convinced one of many enraged males is after him.
Cody appears and tries to reason with him that he has to stay and help the cops but he knows something Byron doesn't; last night Candice tried to kill herself and was found on the beach with an empty bottle of pills. Before he reveals that, he lectures Byron about being a '33-year old infant' and all is getting very bitter because Byron ripostes with, 'Okay, Mr Family Man; where's your wife?'
Nick? Back on the Riptide, probably...
Cody gets very worked up and says he had a shot with Jill and Byron blew it. Byron says , probably with some truth, that if it hadn't been him taking her away, it'd have been someone else. Cody says that's the excuse he's used to go on liking Byron all these years but it ends now. He says, touchingly because he really sounds sincere and disgusted, 'You know, women are not put here specifically for your personal convenience'.
Byron tries to weasel out of it by saying his women know the score and Cody reveals the suicide attempt of Candice. Byron blusters and Cody asks if he slept with her.
Byron, like the weasel he is, says, 'Cody, I didn't know she was only sixteen' and BAM, he gets Cody's fist in his face and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Then it's back to the club and Cody pulls up and collects Nick and Murray. They discover that Cushing is already interviewing for Byron's replacement even though he couldn't have known Byron was leaving town and put it together that Cushing is the shooter because, as they find out, Byron's current girlfriend used to go out with Cushing.
There's a car chase as Cushing trails Byron and the boys catch up with them just too late; Cushing's got Byron to pull over and shot him dead, dead, dead.
Then it's the wrap up. Murray and Nick are in the cabin of the Riptide and Nick, who's always very protective of Murray, is gently quizzing him about the magazine. Murray breaks my heart by confessing that he wanted to beef up his image and then makes me splutter (is twelve, yes) by saying 'I was working on those parts of me that I thought were soft.' The camera is on Nick here and I swear you can see him cracking up at that line, as who wouldn't? Sheesh!
But then he goes on, 'the way that I walk and the way that I talk' and I'm back to wanting to pet him because it can't be easy for him, surrounded by beautiful bodies on display and feeling inadequate. Major comforting needed here.
He finishes by saying that he wanted to be a man. Nick, bless him, says with total seriousness, 'Murray, you are a man'. Murray says, 'you know what I mean' and Nick tells him that he knows exactly what Murray means, and then Cody arrives and he needs some h/c, too, as he's worried that he's just like Byron, rootless, an aging Peter Pan and Nick and Murray both tell him he's not and it's all just so them, I'm smiling here.
I'll finish with Nick looking cute.
Okay. Some background, and to be completely open about this, I think this show is the slashiest ever and that firm opinion is going to influence the recap. I can't imagine that bothering anyone reading, but don't say I didn't warn you.
Riptide is an 80s show about three men who live on a boat in California and run the Riptide Detective Agency. The original partners (take that ANY way you want to and you'll be right, IMO) are Cody Allen (blond, with a moustache) and Nick Ryder (dark hair, mouth and arms to die for), both middle-aged, muscular hunks, ex-Army. They were joined at the start of the show by Murray Bozinsky, someone they knew back in their Army days (he was a colonel, I think because of his tech know-how) a total computer geek/genius, once wealthy because of all his patents but cheated out of his money more or less, because he's on the sweet, unworldly side. He has a robot which sometimes features in the episode, sometimes doesn't. Murray's skinny, has huge glasses, floppy dark hair, is adorably shy and easily flustered. His hands are just... no words. Long, elegant fingers and just... guh. Yes.
The three of them are best friends. There are no words for how close they are. They've ditched gorgeous women without hesitation if it's threatened the friendship. Nick and Cody share a small bedroom with two single beds. The three of them touch constantly and will put an arm around each other, or a hand on a shoulder and just keep on talking without ever bothering to remove it.
They're the sort of men who can cry and still look good doing it and the other two hover around, concerned and sympathetic and right there for their buddy.
This episode in S2 is interesting because it follows on from an episode 'Be True To Your School' where Nick discovers that his high school buddies graduated and became millionaire drug dealers. His disillusionment and heartbreak at what he sees as a betrayal of friendship and ideals is mirrored here to a certain extent as Cody meets up with a friend he used to live with and discovers that his buddy is one step below pond scum.
So. On with the review.
The teaser opens at night, by a roadside with a sleazy (smoking!) guy who's blackmailing an older woman we learn is called Mrs Melissa Belancourt. She pulls up in a car, gets shown some photos of herself with a young stud she had a fling with some months back, and is told she has to pay the blackmailer $5,000 a month or her husband gets to see them. She's also told not to contact the ex or the price will go up, which seems puzzling but makes sense later. Mrs Belancourt's pretty calm and clearly thinks that she's wiped nicer things off her shoes than this lowlife.
We can't see who the stud is, and she calls him 'what's his name' so he clearly didn't leave an impression, and blackmailer guy calls him 'your friend' but I will be a complete spoiler and tell you that it's Cody's friend who's the stud in question, depending on your definition of stud, which in his case would have to be 'lying, immoral scumbag'.
Scene change to sun and sea and the Riptide where a confused Nick and Cody are wondering why the hell the inside of the boat (do not expect nautical terms to be flung around with accuracy, or indeed at all during this recap) is littered with empty, crushed beer cans.
"Nick," Cody says, looking cutely worried in a teeny-tiny pair of shirts and an unbuttoned pink/orange shirt worn over his bare chest (standard outfit apart from the times they wear INCREDIBLY tight jeans). "You don't think Murray's developed a drinking problem, do you?"
Given the amount of cans and the fact that canonically one whiff of a soggy beermat and Murray's out for the count, I don't think so. Just as they're staring at each other, Dooley comes aboard. He's this young, irresponsible, early twenties something or other, who showed up in S2. He's dim, well-meaning, and likes to party. I consider him a waste of space that could be filled with one of the three main characters but he's harmless enough. He's bringing aboard a huge amount of empty cans in a mesh bag; Murray's apparently willing to pay cash for them; a nickel a pop, which Dooley is ecstatic about.
They tell him that they're on a case when he teases them about looking laidback and casual (although they look like this All The Time and he's dressed the exact same way) and then Murray appears.
This is not Murray as we know him. He's got an (unlit) ciggie hanging from his lips, he's wearing dark shades, not jam jar specs, his hair's slicked back, his clothes are casual, he's snapping his fingers and talking about cool cats... and although all that is jaw-droppingly out of character given what we know of the real Murray, he's looking pretty darn spiffy.
Murray high fives Dooley and then spots the cans, the shades get shoved up as he peers at them and the affectations drop away as he enthusiastically, and politely, thanks and pays Dooley for them.
Nick and Cody want to know what's with the cigarette as Murray doesn't smoke. They sound like protective big brothers here, which pretty much defines their relationship with him for me.
Cody asks if it's an experiment and Murray says yes, he's working on an experiment with 'image and masculinity' and that's why he needs the cans. (We find out later that he's trying to crush them with his fist and he can't but then, who can?). He keeps flipping between shades and glasses, normal persona and tough street guy drawl, and the other three of are grinning now, indulgent and charmed because he's just so darn cute here.
Cody then works in a neat bit of expo and tells Dooley that Murray's going undercover and they've been hired by the owner of a private beach club because someone's ripping off the old ladies there; stealing their jewelry as they sun themselves. He and Murray are going in as lifeguards; Murray's going to prowl the beach with a metal detector. Really, his usual look would match that cover better, but I'm going with it.
We see the beach at the club, with a dog running past with something in its mouth. FORESHADOWING, although at the time I just thought, ick, no, dog poop, isn't this supposed to be an exclusive beach? The camera pans to a young girl (she's supposed to be about to turn 17 but she looks older) leaning seductively on a lifeguard tower chair and chatting to the lifeguard beside her, who's in shorts and a T-shirt and is way too old for her. She wants him to come to the 'surprise' party her parents are going to be giving her at the club. She's got this whole crush thing going and the lifeguard is playing up to her with looks and hand kissing and assurances that he'll be there, wouldn't miss it for the world, though he doesn't really seem that keen.
His name is Byron, which figures as he's got this whole dark, curly haired Casanova look that a Romantic poet would have going for him, although he's not coming over as the intellectual type so I doubt he's ever actually heard of his namesake. He gives the weirdest, campiest impression ever of a young girl miming surprise at the party reveal, and I blink in silence, wondering why the girl doesn't back away slowly from the scary man, but she laps it up.
They walk off, entwined, his gold chains (essential lifeguard equipment) glinting, and in the parking lot the Jimmy (red and white open truck; pretty sure that's what it's called) pulls up with our three guys in it.
They go into the clubhouse just as Byron and girl walk in from the beach entrance and Byron says "Cody?" in a fairly happy, if disbelieving tone of voice and then again, "CODY!" followed by 'MONKEY!" from Cody and there is much hugging, back slapping and general OMG, it's you!ing, as the music swells.
Nick and Murray exchange glances that say clearly, 'Cody, you got some 'splaining to do.'
Cody then asks 'How's Jill?' and Byron cements our opinion of him as an idiot by saying 'Who?'. As Jill was Cody's might-have-been-the-one-but-you-stole-her-from-me, this scores minus numbers on the tact scale, but, as Miss Sweet Sixteen looks slightly pouty and taken aback, we find out that Jill dumped Cody and then, hah-ha, dumped Byron too, so All Is Well in Guy Land.
The girl, miffed at being ignored, as well she might, eases around the hulking muscles of Byron and shakes hands with Cody, introducing herself as Candice James. Not to be outdone, Cody introduces his friends to Byron Monk, the guy he shared a place with for a while, the year he got back from 'Nam.
He then, which had me rewinding to make sure I heard it right, tells Byron that 'These are the guys that took your place.' I don't care about Jill; Cody and this guy had something going and Cody's rubbing his face in it that he's traded up.
Sounding incredibly fey, Byron asks them, 'Hey, does he still panic every time anyone gets fingerprints on the furniture?' and my brain leaps to the Sentinel and I decide the fanon of Jim's tidiness must come from his father as the actor playing Cody went on to play William Ellison. Which, okay, makes no sense, but go with me on this; I thought it was funny.
Nick replies that Cody doesn't panic he just, 'lets out a small moan'. I moaned too, thinking of Cody moaning and just what other circumstances and events would get him to do that.
It comes out that Nick and Cody are there to see Fred Cushing the manager. Byron looks as if there's a bad smell in the room but offers to take them to him and as they leave the camera lingers on Mrs Belancourt sitting on the couch who stares thoughtfully at them all. She's wearing huge white sunglasses (it's inside! why?) and a low cut swimsuit. There's so much skin around on this show if they did a nude episode, I wonder if anyone would notice.
There's a brief scene in the office where they're told about the stolen items and Byron and Fred snarl at each other until the boys decide to start investigating.
All of which is a transparent ruse to get Nick and Cody into lifeguard gear.
It's not quite Baywatch but as they wander onto the beach, Nick tells Cody that he knows how a woman feels passing a construction site as it seems they're getting ogled. Cody agrees that it's 'unnerving', heh. They pause and Nick says insincerely that Byron's quite a guy and we pan to see the man himself on the beach, in the centre of a crowd of clustering women. It seems Byron's always been a babe magnet. Nick, inexplicably, unless you take it as read that Cody is gay, gay, gay, says, 'I guess that's why you stopped being his roommate, huh?'
Affronted, Cody tells him that he had his share, too and Nick breaks out into incredulous laughter as the man who knows what side Cody's bread is buttered on. They stride across the beach discussing 'macho-man Murray' and then a man yells for help from the water and they dive in, with Cody stripping off his muscle shirt as he runs, which is on the yummy side. The man strangely tries to drown Cody which means Nick, and the lagging behind Byron, have to save him. They end up back on the beach, all wet, with Murray's hand on Nick's shoulder then moving to Cody's as he reassures himself they're safe (aww).
Manager's office again and they tell Byron they think the murder attempt was aimed at Byron. The manager accuses Byron of being slow off the mark to save the guy, showing zero sympathy which might be suspicious if Byron wasn't such a jerk. The boys try and defend Byron but Byron stomps off in a petulant pouty sulk, like a prima donna, leaving Nick and Cody to volunteer to take care of lifeguarding as well as sneakily snooping for the thief, otherwise the beach will need to be closed for the day.
Outside, Cody and Byron have a discussion that turns sour and we see that the gilt's off the gingerbread as far as Cody's concerned. Then in the space of a few crowded seconds, a car pulls up with another woman in it (I'm losing track; I think we find out that this one is called Lizzie), Byron gets in, Candice watches from the door, disconsolate, and blackmailer guy takes some snapshots from a parked car. Whew!
Next we have a scene with a woman on the beach bemoaning the loss of a necklace she put down for two seconds while she applied sunscreen. The boys are baffled by this Very Cunning Thief but decide to spend the night letting Murray do his magic with a computer and the employee records.
The club members are all solvent so Nick brings up the 18 carat Rolex Byron has as being a tad on the suspicious side and Cody gets verreee testy and defensive with a heavy subtext of 'you're just jealous' and mutters 'we had some good times together' until he gives in and says he noticed the watch, too.
Murray suggests they all go and ask Byron about the watch, man to man, and he leaves so that Nick and Cody can have a bashful apology scene followed by Nick showing Cody a magazine Murray's been reading.
No, it's not porn, gay or otherwise, but I have to say that's where my mind went when I saw the cover.
It's entitled, "A Man - what it means to be one." Nick has, it seems, read it cover to cover and memorized it as he keeps quoting from it or telling Cody that such and such is on page x. Poor, sweet Murray has been trying to be more manly and is using the tips in the magazine to remake his image :;pets him::
They get to Byron's and he's not home; they check around the back, spot an intruder, break in and nab them, only to find it's Mrs Belancourt, keen to tackle Byron on the blackmail which she's convinced he knows about. Byron arrives and all is confusion until the boys find a camera hidden in the smoke alarm above the bed, operated from the apartment above. For some weird reason the blackmailer doesn't sit in that room, but has a lead running to another apartment altogether.
They chat to Melissa Belancourt with some really weird lighting on Nick and Cody and persuade her to call the blackmailer and tell him that Byron is going to be entertaining a really rich woman tonight who's a better target than her. The blackmailer is all oily gratitude so she buys immunity with that.
She leaves, and Nick and Murray tactfully leave Cody and Byron alone for a heart to heart. Including gems from Byron about him not knowing the marital status of every woman who comes onto him. God, this guy…
Then, in a continuity snafu, as that was night-time and the trap for the blackmailer was supposed to be that night, we go to the next morning at the beach with Murray operating his metal detector. Long story short, he finds a necklace, the smoking gun, er, small dog, grabs it and all is revealed; the dog is a magpie dog with a thing for snaffling items and burying them. It would be interesting if he was trained by a human thief, but no, he's just a stray with sadly no way of parlaying gold and diamonds into bones.
Next we go to Candice trying to get Byron to promise he'll be at her party tonight which he does in a half-hearted, blowing you off way. Poor, sweet Candice…
Back to the apartment over Byron's where they decide to follow the wire and see where it leads. Byron arrives with Lizzie (unclear if she's in on this or not, but from a comment later, I think she is) and they get down to some smooching with Murray manning the camera overhead and hanging tough.
Sleazy blackmail guy (Steiger) is chuckling at the action on his CCTV in a room close by when Cody and Nick burst in on him. This episode is low on car chases so far (thank God) but we get a brief chase of Steiger as he punches out both Nick and Cody before all ends in a swimming pool, splash, splash, surrender.
Cut to Candice calling Byron from her party and her face creasing with anguish when his girlfriend answers, though it can't be that much of a shock to her as he's flirting with everything that moves.
Byron appears behind his girlfriend, puts the phone down and starts some more smooching but outside, a Mystery Man in a car is lurking! Oh, noes! He has a gun! He shoots at the smooching couple aaaand - cut to the next morning and Byron, the knave, packing up and getting ready to hightail it out of town, convinced one of many enraged males is after him.
Cody appears and tries to reason with him that he has to stay and help the cops but he knows something Byron doesn't; last night Candice tried to kill herself and was found on the beach with an empty bottle of pills. Before he reveals that, he lectures Byron about being a '33-year old infant' and all is getting very bitter because Byron ripostes with, 'Okay, Mr Family Man; where's your wife?'
Nick? Back on the Riptide, probably...
Cody gets very worked up and says he had a shot with Jill and Byron blew it. Byron says , probably with some truth, that if it hadn't been him taking her away, it'd have been someone else. Cody says that's the excuse he's used to go on liking Byron all these years but it ends now. He says, touchingly because he really sounds sincere and disgusted, 'You know, women are not put here specifically for your personal convenience'.
Byron tries to weasel out of it by saying his women know the score and Cody reveals the suicide attempt of Candice. Byron blusters and Cody asks if he slept with her.
Byron, like the weasel he is, says, 'Cody, I didn't know she was only sixteen' and BAM, he gets Cody's fist in his face and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Then it's back to the club and Cody pulls up and collects Nick and Murray. They discover that Cushing is already interviewing for Byron's replacement even though he couldn't have known Byron was leaving town and put it together that Cushing is the shooter because, as they find out, Byron's current girlfriend used to go out with Cushing.
There's a car chase as Cushing trails Byron and the boys catch up with them just too late; Cushing's got Byron to pull over and shot him dead, dead, dead.
Then it's the wrap up. Murray and Nick are in the cabin of the Riptide and Nick, who's always very protective of Murray, is gently quizzing him about the magazine. Murray breaks my heart by confessing that he wanted to beef up his image and then makes me splutter (is twelve, yes) by saying 'I was working on those parts of me that I thought were soft.' The camera is on Nick here and I swear you can see him cracking up at that line, as who wouldn't? Sheesh!
But then he goes on, 'the way that I walk and the way that I talk' and I'm back to wanting to pet him because it can't be easy for him, surrounded by beautiful bodies on display and feeling inadequate. Major comforting needed here.
He finishes by saying that he wanted to be a man. Nick, bless him, says with total seriousness, 'Murray, you are a man'. Murray says, 'you know what I mean' and Nick tells him that he knows exactly what Murray means, and then Cody arrives and he needs some h/c, too, as he's worried that he's just like Byron, rootless, an aging Peter Pan and Nick and Murray both tell him he's not and it's all just so them, I'm smiling here.
I'll finish with Nick looking cute.