Rescue HI-Surf Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Drift

Critic’s Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

3.9

Sonny’s been towing a dangerous line for a while now, and things came to a head during Rescue HI-Surf Season 1 Episode 6.

He’s been struggling with Zion’s death since we were introduced to the longtime captain, and Rocky’s death only brought a lot of heavy emotions even further to the front.

And it’s curious that Em is the only one who can see it.

Rocky’s death was a significant blow to the community, a community he was strongly invested in. He had a lot of ties, and his paddle out was a solemn affair with people remembering the life of the beloved man.

Sonny took the loss especially hard. He looked at the Rocky memorial and immediately remembered Zion and his passing.

Sonny is just a walking mound of grief at this point, and that grief and loss is clouding his judgment, and it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming scary.

The father of that young family out on the beach needed to listen to Sonny’s very reasonable advice. However, what Sonny then turned around and said to him was inappropriate for the situation, even if he was trying to get his point across.

When Em gave him the ultimatum at the end of Rescue HI-Surf Season 1 Episode 5, it seemed harsh, but he does need help. And if your head’s not in the game with a job like he has, then people could die.

It’s that serious.

The paddle out was beautifully shot, and it was another moment in this show where they showed authentic Hawaiian culture. It’s a traditional Hawaiian tribute to the life of someone who passed, and many people may have never seen the ceremony before.

It was emotional but beautiful and meaningful. There aren’t better words to describe it than that.

The team took Rocky’s death hard, but obviously, Hina was struggling with the weight of everything, for the weight of what happened to the aftermath with Sonny. She wasn’t talking to anyone, which was apparent in the way Kainalu didn’t even know what happened.

For as mad as Sonny was at Hina (misplaced anger that he more or less wanted to direct at himself), they were on some kind of freaky wavelength when they both decided to ditch work for the day.

Neither one was in their right mind to be on the job that day, but leaving without saying a word was unprofessional.

Grief and loss work in mysterious ways, but in the grand scheme of things, their leaving their fellow co-workers like that was wild.

Once again, Em was the ONLY one who seemed to care about it or have any reservations about it.

Em continues to make a good case for her being the best choice to lead right now, and it’s feeling like we may be headed to a place at some point this season where a decision has to be made between the two, and their relationship deteriorates more than it already has.

But that’s speculation for another day.

Em was looking for Sonny and also the one concerned for Hina, who she knew needed someone to talk to, even if she wasn’t ready to talk.

I’m not saying everyone needed to coddle Hina. She’s an adult with an adult job and will have to face the consequences of her actions and the realities of a job that deals with absolutes like life and death.

But at the same time, she’s a rookie, and didn’t we see Kainalu make a mistake? Was he chastised in the same manner as Hina?

Not to sound callous at all, because Hina DID make a series of mistakes, but Rocky did appear to be gone by the time they got to him. It was a devastating situation, but the way things unfolded wasn’t right.

Hina second-guessing herself and whether or not she made the right decision in pursuing her dream was relatable if only because who doesn’t have a mini-crisis in the face of feeling like you let people down?

But Em so eloquently stated that theirs is a job that will see loss. They will lose people, but they will also save people, and part of the job is being able to compartmentalize that in a way.

It’s certainly not for everyone, but this being Hina’s first experience on the job, she needed someone willing to tell her the truth about what happened and help prepare her for what was going to come next.

Em didn’t get a chance to track Sonny because he didn’t spend the day at home but instead went for a ride on a motorbike with a friend who was not here for Sonny’s shenanigans.

Sonny’s daredevil antics and pushing the boundaries of safety felt like a cry for help mixed in with his need to punish himself. But he was doing it in the most dangerous way possible, putting multiple people in danger.

Sonny needs help. He’s been needing help for a long time and knows he needs it, but he’s been too scared to get it.

And while I firmly believe no one can help you if you don’t want to help yourself, Sonny’s become a danger to himself and others. He can’t possibly continue as captain without starting to process some of his grief.

Everything surrounding Sonny is so unhealthy right now, and he can’t do his job effectively carrying around such immense pain.

I was hoping that when he returned home battered and bruised, he would confide to his family what he just did, and maybe we’ll see him doing that in the following installment, but I’m about ready for someone to take a stand here.

Em has tried, but it’s getting to a point where someone truly needs to do something because it’s getting increasingly scarier.

Speaking of Em, she and Sean are going strong, and I feel like we skipped a bit of their dating phase because gift-giving and public smooches while on the clock seem like quite the leap from when we last saw them!

Sean seems nice enough, but we know nothing else about him besides being a firefighter. If his questions about Will were any indication, he’ll probably get tired of the whole Will and Em thing, but that will likely be down the road.

Someone must have heard me complaining about how we don’t know anything about Will because they decided to give us some insight into the man who doesn’t do much besides chat with Laka and look at Em.

He and Julie have breakup written all over their faces, and at least now we can see that it’s more than just the Em factor.

Will being so anti-wanting anything to do with Julie’s money to the point that he’s starting his own business for extra cash just tells me that these two are not on the same page. Granted, we’ve barely seen them together, but there’s a disconnect there, and it is larger than Em.

Who wants to place bets on them being done by the fall finale?

Extra Rescue Notes

• The man who shot himself through the foot with a fishing rod looked like he was in so much pain! That was a brutal one.

• Will and Laka often find themselves at the right place and time. This time, instead of breaking up a fight, they helped a young kid who could have been in danger if they weren’t in the area.

• Hina and Kainalu living together but clearly only communicating when absolutely necessary is very funny. Kainalu tries, but Hina can’t even pretend to like that man yet.

Coming off the action in the last hour, this one was a bit more subdued, but there’s still much to discuss. So, hop into the comment section and let me know your thoughts!

You can watch Rescue HI-Surf on FOX on Mondays at 9/8c.

Watch Rescue HI: Surf Online