Recap: Under the cover of darkness, two men clad in black shoot out the tires of a transport truck. When the rig skids to a stop, the perplexed driver climbs out to see what in blazes just happened...and the camera pans away as bullets are fired. 

The next day aboard the Riptide, Murray is urging Nick and Cody to accompany him to a seminar that focuses on strengthening relationships, adding that he's been reading a book authored by the seminar's speaker, Ann Fisk, titled Human Harmony. When Nick looks less than thrilled at the thought of sitting through a seminar on how to better harmonize with fellow human beings, Cody weakly suggests that maybe there'll be some cute women there. 

At the seminar, Ann Fisk is blathering on about relationship interfacing and harmonization. One of the attendees, Lyle Alzado, stands up and sanctimoniously shares that he turned to the seminar when his life at home and at work had "melted into a vacant cosmos of self worthlessness and alienation", prompted by his lack of self esteem and ability to harmonize relationships. When he smugly adds that he considers himself a relationship preservationist, Ann beams happily and says she's absolutely thrilled with his wankery. She then scans the audience, singles out Nick, and asks him to elaborate on what brought him here, and he glances around uneasily and curtly replies, "I'm Nick Ryder and I'm here with a friend." Cody offers much the same level of brevity in his introduction, while Murray gaily identifies himself as "the friend" who urged them both to attend. He explains that he, Nick, and Cody run a small detective agency and he figured that this seminar would help them harmonize their relationships as they work cases. Ann calls that an admirable objective - but then chides Nick for his obvious lack of enthusiasm in harmonizing relationships and asks him if something in his childhood is rooted to his hostility to human-to-human interfacing. As Nick mutely stares back at her in bewilderment, Lyle Alzado interjects and agrees that, yep, Nick definitely does seem openly hostile to the idea of honesty and sharing. A peeved Nick retorts that he doesn't give even the tiniest of rat's asses what any stranger in this stupid seminar thinks of him, and Lyle Alzado mockingly calls the trio "gumshoes in trench coats" and says they're no doubt embarrassed by their jobs as glorified peeping toms. Nick warns him to shut it or risk a punch in the face...and when Lyle Alzado snarls, "You don't have the guts", Nick springs out of his chair and delivers a face punch. Lyle Alzado punches him back...and within seconds the entire room has erupted in violent chaos. Ann Fisk looks delighted by the contrived pandemonium, cheering, "Bravo! This is exactly how the process of relationship building occurs!" 

As the trio slinks out of the venue and into the parking lot, Murray admonishes Nick for his boorish behavior in initiating a fist fight among a group of harmony seekers. Nick argues that Lyle Alzado was the one who baited him, and that he thinks Ann Fisk is a phony nutcase. As they're about to climb into the Jimmy, a woman who had attended the seminar rushes over to them, introduces herself as Sara Rafferty, and says she was so intrigued when they introduced themselves as PIs that she'd like to hire them. 

Aboard the Riptide, Sara tells the trio that she suspects her husband Chris (of three months) of having an affair 'cause 1) he gives her strange answers whenever he's late for dinner, and 2) slips out of the house in the middle of the night and never explains where he's going. She then gives some context to their relationship: they met at Bel Air Industries, and he works a very high stress job in the company's Design & Engineering Division. She says that since she's assuming the stress of the job is getting to him, she thought it might help to attend Ann Fisk's wacky seminar to see if she could learn how to better communicate with her uncommunicative spouse. She sheepishly says she never imagined she'd ever hire anyone to spy on her own husband - but lately she's become extremely desperate to learn the truth and find peace of mind.

The next day, the Riptide trio stakes out the Rafferty apartment...and when Chris emerges from the building, they follow him to a nearby hotel. While en route, Nick mutters about what a farce the notion of total honesty is - but Cody disagrees and suggests they each reveal an honest feeling about the other. He tells Nick he finds it highly annoying that he never ever shuts the wheelhouse door whenever they leave the Riptide together, and Nick rolls his eyes and asks, "You feel better now?", then shares that his biggest annoyance is that he (Cody) always borrows his 4-inch tape without asking and never replaces it. Cody denies ever doing that and dismisses the accusation as "a distortion of the truth". The two then watch as Chris Rafferty and an attractive blonde woman exit his car and link up with three men before entering a warehouse. The trio quietly exit the Jimmy and follow them - but a few seconds later, a car carrying Chris, the attractive blonde, et. al. squeals off. Murray urgently calls Nick and Cody over to where he's standing and solemnly points at the dead body of one of the three men who had just entered the warehouse with Chris and Blondie.

The next morning, Lieutenant Quinlan arrives on the scene and demands to know what happened to the dead guy. The trio recaps that they alerted police to a homicide, but can't further explain what they were doing when they stumbled upon the corpse. When Quinlan gets angry at that non-answer, Nick calmly explains that when they found the dead man they were working a case and have to respect the boundaries of client-PI confidentiality - but that if their client gives them the green light, they'd be more than happy to share everything they witnessed. When Quinlan snarlingly asks him what he's trying to pull, being so uncharacteristically agreeable, Nick amiably says he's merely trying to foster honest and open communication. Quinlan chews on that weird retort for a few seconds, then grumbles about how he has a body with no ID, and that the unfortunate John Doe will likely have to be buried in an unmarked grave. 

Murray applauds Nick for handling Quinlan so politely, while Cody chortles about how his "honest, open communication style" is obviously some kind of stunt. The two then start bickering about whether or not it's a stunt...blah blah...as they all climb into the Jimmy to meet up with Sara.

A mile or so away, two men in a van have wiretapped the trio, but are struggling to understand the gist of the nonsensical argument they're having. One of the men cryptically says that since the police now have the body, and the PIs are off to meet with the Rafferty woman...they're gonna have their hands totally full with that. 

Cody shows Sara the photos they took of the attractive blonde woman they saw with Chris, tells her the two met up with three men, and that one of them was promptly shot to death. Sara looks aghast and says she can only hope that Chris wasn't the one who pulled the trigger...then studies the photos carefully and says that the blonde woman somehow looks familiar to her. Nick, who continually cuts Cody off during the information exchange, urges her to hang onto the photos to see if anything jogs her memory...and then Murray informs her that the police have asked them, as part of their murder investigation, to share what they witnessed while surveilling her husband. Sara's all, "Ack!" and says she doesn't want anyone in law enforcement to learn about Chris's involvement in whatever he's involved in, 'cause they might arrest him - but Murray argues that perhaps Chris being in police custody is the safest option for him. He then hands Sara a micro transmitter and asks her to sew it inside a piece of Chris's clothing so that they can keep tabs on who he talks to and what they talk about.

Once Sara is out of hearing range, Cody asks Nick whassup with him cutting him off every time he was about to say something to Sara, and Nick chuckles as he openly confesses that he's been making a mockery of this episode's whole "relationship harmonization" subplot, and that he thinks the Human Harmony seminar they attended is nothing more than a scam.

The two men in the van are continuing their surveillance of the Riptide trio...and when the trio drives by in the Jimmy, the men follow behind.

The trio arrives at the police station, where Lieutenant Quinlan informs them that the body they recovered in the warehouse has somehow vanished into thin air, along with all of the documentation related to the incident. He nervously concludes, "Whoever these people are, they're using heavy artillery. I, for one, can take a hint." He advises the trio to do the same, then orders the three of them to get the hell out of his office. 

Back at the Riptide, the trio is with Sara, listening (via the micro transmitter) to Chris as he laments to Blondie that he doesn't want anything to do with murder. Blondie tells him they had no choice, then makes arrangements for them to meet up later at a fish market (Santiagos). Murray points out that at least they know Chris wasn't the killer, and that he didn't seem to be aware that anyone was going to be murdered. He then says that the blonde has a distinctively sounding Swiss accent, and Sara says she's pretty sure she once met her at a party that the Bel Air corporation threw around six months ago...and that Chris introduced her as a Swiss woman named Carla. Murray mulls that over for a few seconds, then says he'll try to hack into the Bel Air computer system and cross his fingers that something useful comes of that. Sara suddenly requests an aspirin 'cause she has a terrible headache, and Nick says that his head is also throbbing. This alarms Murray, who glances over at Roboz, who's exhibiting signs of electrical interference, leading him to suspect that a bug has been planted on the boat. They take Roboz out for a walk along the pier to see if he can pinpoint the location of the transmitter...and after a few minutes, Roboz points them toward a nearby building. They sneak inside what looks like an information hub filled with sophisticated computers and surveillance equipment, along with a bulletin board containing photos that document all of their interactions with Sara Rafferty. Cody asks Sara to go home and call them when Chris leaves for Santiagos...and then Nick and Cody somehow think this is the time and place to loudly rebuke Murray for roping them into a ginormous mess of a case when he dragged them to the Human Harmony seminar. When the bickering deteriorates into an all out scream-fest about the deep-seated disdain they each feel for one another, Nick angrily vows to move off the Riptide once they wrap up this case, and an incensed Murray says that he too is outa here.

Later, the trio arrives at Santiagos just as Chris meets up with Carla. The two then disappear behind the building...and the trio eavesdrops (via the micro transmitter) as they meet with a man, who opens a crate and says that, yep, he's definitely satisfied with the exchange. When they promptly disappear, the trio sneaks over to where Chris et. al. were just standing...and Murray peers into the crate, sees a fancy looking satellite, and says that it is indeed impressive. A few seconds later, FBI agents swarm onto the scene, blind the trio with bright lights, and inform them that they're under arrest for conspiracy and espionage in a sinister operation known as Aries.

In an interrogation room, the Feds shine a lightbulb at Nick and demand to know 1) how long he's been conspiring with foreign powers, 2) how he knew that Claus Myer was one of their operatives, and 3) if that's why he killed him. Nick bellows, "I didn't kill anybody!" and adds that he's Vietnam vet who was honorably discharged from the military. When it's Cody's turn to sit under the glare of the bright lightbulb, he tells the FBI that this is all a big misunderstanding, and explains that he's merely a PI who was hired to follow Sara Rafferty's husband around to see if he was being unfaithful. When the FBI question Murray about what he knows about Aries, he scrunches his face perplexedly and says very little, given that he's a Capricorn (LOL), then starts to detail "how boss" it is that he was able to detect that the blonde woman had a Swiss accent - until the exasperated Feds order him to shut it, then throw him into the same windowless cell that Nick and Cody are languishing inside of.

Murray complains that the Feds are violating their civil rights, and that he intends to notify his U.S. Senator once he's released and/or go to 60 Minutes, haughtily adding, "Morley Safer would never stand for this!" As they explore the cell, they soon realize that there's a recording device in the light fixture, and accurately assume they're being surveilled. Which one should probably generally assume any time they're inside an FBI holding cell. Murray whisperingly tells Nick and Cody that he suspects Operation Aries involves a satellite (that was developed in Chris's department at Bel Air) being sold to foreign agents, and that they need to escape FBI custody asap so they can stop Chris, Carla et. al. from selling this type of advanced American technology to the highest foreign bidder. In the next scene, Cody loudly says it looks like the entire operation is down the drain, and Nick concurs and says they're going to need to come clean about everything they about Aries. A few seconds later, the Feds escort them out of their cell, and Murray rushes over to the nearest fire alarm, then yanks it and yells, "Fire!" so that he, Nick, and Cody can get lost in the crowd that's heading down the stairwell and befuddle the FBI agents, who are clearly too bumblingly inept to prevent them from leaving the building.

The trio rushes over to Santiagos...and across the pier they notice that Carla, Chris, and some other bad guys are loading crates onto a fishing boat. Nick says that, yep, Aries definitely appears to involve a transfer of the satellite to some foreign buyer once they hit international waters...and Murray concurs and warns that they're probably heavily armed. Nick's like, "That's OK - I have grenades!", then hands a gun to Cody and explains that he was somehow able to sneak into the guard armory on his way out of the FBI building and loot it of its supply of grenades and firearms...'cause, yeah, that seems entirely plausible. Nick then orders Murray to call Lieutenant Quinlan, and Murray rushes off while grumbling about always getting the mundane tasks.

Carla tells Chris they're almost done loading up the satellite, and that once they've completed Operation Aries, he'll be a wealthy man. When Chris admonishes whichever bad guy fatally shot Claus Myer, Carla explains that he was a double agent working for the Americans and therefore needed killin'. Nick and Cody, meanwhile, sneak closer to the fishing boat with their guns and grenades...and then Nick abruptly leaps up and faux identifies himself as a government agent and orders them to put down their weapons. In response, the bad guys open fire on him, and Cody lobs grenades onto the boat, causing several massive explosions. Chris cries, "No more!" as he, Carla, and the bad guys quickly surrender, just as..

• Lieutenant Quinlan and his minions arrive on the scene to arrest the satellite stealing traitors
• Three hapless FBI agents stumble over to re-arrest the Riptide trio

The trio explains to Quinlan that the Feds want to bust them for espionage, even though the actual crew doing all the espionaging was just caught in the act on the fishing boat. Cody fibs to the Feds that Lieutenant Quinlan was the local mastermind and great patriot behind the operation to stop foreign spies from stealing American technology, and that he enlisted them to help out. Quinlan's like, "Er, yep, sounds like something I should definitely get the credit for" ... and as he basks in the undeserved glory of catching a group of espionage level conspirators, Nick and Cody start bickering about which of them most deserves the credit for escaping a re-arrest.

Aboard the Riptide, Murray and Nick are packing up their stuff, bickering about who owns what. They pause when Sara comes onboard to pay them, thank them, and announce that she's decided to stick by Chris despite no matter what. She credits their teamwork as her inspiration for not abandoning her idiot husband, and lays it on thick about how deeply they understand what matters most in life in order to "cut through the nonsense and get the job done". She then envelopes them in a group hug, calls them terrific, and departs the boat...and the trio glance at each other before the tension is broken when they simultaneously burst into laughter and decide to celebrate the end of Season 2 with a drink at Straightaways. As they gaily head above deck, Nick once again forgets to shut the wheelhouse door...and Cody has to backtrack and close it, light-heartedly chuckling to himself.

Recap: In the depths of the ocean, a diver (Tony Guirilini) exits his shark cage to swim around and explore the ocean floor. He finds a bunch of dead fish and picks one up, puts it in a bag, and returns with it to the shark cage. When he heads back up to the ocean's surface, he's confronted by two men on a boat, one of whom aims a harpoon gun at him and fires. The two then watch as the water turns red with Tony's blood...and when he doesn't reemerge, the men appear convinced that he's dead and motor off.

Murray has invited Nick and Cody along to a party for oceanographers, explaining that through his sister he became friends with Angelo Guirilini, a stereotypically loud Italian man who gestures wildly with his hands and adds superfluous vowels to words whenever he speaks. Angelo spots Murray across the room, greets him with a loud yell, chides him for being too a-skinny, and hands him a plate of food from the buffet. Murray says he's not actually hungry, then calls over Nick and Cody and introduces them...and when they gush to Angelo about how much they loooooove his TV specials about ocean diving, he beams delightedly and nicknames the two Cody the Moustache and Nicka the Pilot. A few seconds later, Cody spots an attractive woman at the buffet and wanders over...with Nick in tow. The woman introduces herself as Giovanna Guirilini (Angelo's daughter) and, much to Cody's annoyance, starts bantering with Nick in Italian. She remarks to Nick that she thinks Cody is a very bello signore, a compliment Nick refrains from passing along to Cody.

As everyone at the party starts dancing to lively Italian music, Tony stumbles onto the scene, bloody and injured from his harpoon wound. When he collapses down a flight of stairs, the Guirilinis rush to his side, gasping in horror when they realize that he's their beloved family member. 

Over at the hospital, Giovanna informs the Riptide trio that Tony lost a lot of blood, is in critical condition, but is expected to make a full recovery. She theorizes that someone must have mistaken him for a shark when they shot him, and Nick contorts his face into a seriously? expression and points out that it's kinda hard to mistake a person for a shark. Across the corridor, Angelo is ranting at a doctor as he demands to see his son...and Giovanna rushes over and tells him to shut it, while the trio urges him to go back to his boat (named the Arrivederci) to get some much needed rest. 

The Riptide trio accompanies Angelo and Giovanna back to the Arrivederci...and they're confronted by two intruders, aka the two men who harpooned Tony earlier. The bad men open fire, then manage to escape via a small motorboat...and the Guirilinis begin to suspect that whoever hurt Tony probably did so deliberately.

The next morning, Lieutenant Quinlan arrives on the scene, behaving in a surprisingly professional manner as he chats with Angelo and Giovanna about the break-in and concludes that nothing of value - save for some dead fish that were stored in the small aquarium - was taken from the boat. Angelo confirms that no money was stolen, adding that it's kind of a moot point - since his friend Harry the Oilman takes care of funding all of his underwater expeditions. He tells Quinlan he can only assume that the same people who shot Tony broke into his boat last night, and Quinlan nods in agreement and promises to get to the bottom of it as soon as is humanly possible. When Nick and Cody remark on how uncharacteristically engaged in law enforcement he is, Quinlan explains that he's honored to serve the world's foremost oceanographer and scientist. When a miffed Murray points out that he's a foremost scientist, Quinlan dismissively scoffs, "You're a goofball with taped glasses" and says he's a huge fan of Angelo's underwater TV specials. He then asks Angelo for his autograph, and Angelo obliges, gives him a hug, and calls him a good man. 

Aboard the Arrivederci, Murray is staring at the empty aquarium, and Giovanna explains that they've been using it to store diseased, dead, or injured fish so they can do further analysis. Across the room, Nick finds Tony's underwater camera and suggests they develop the photos in case they're able to provide clues as to what happened to him. Angelo, meanwhile, wrings his hands about whether or not they should cancel the upcoming expedition, and Giovanna points out that Tony would be disappointed if his injuries were the cause of the cancellation. Murray suggests he take them (meaning the Riptide trio) along so that no one messes with their boat, and Angelo chuckles at the notion of Murray acting as a body guard - but then agrees that, yep, it probably couldn't hurt to have some [heart-throbbish] muscle onboard, in the form of Nick and Cody, for a little added protection.

Across town in a restaurant, Harry Silverman (aka Harry the Oilman) asks his two henchman whassup with Tony Guirilini not being dead after the harpoon attack. One of them says he has no idea how Tony survived being shot, and the other concurs and says he seemed really dead, given all the blood that was gushing from his wound. Harry rolls his eyes in disdain, then further admonishes them for nearly getting caught after breaking onto the Arrivederci. One of the henchmen argues, in their defence, that some good actually came of it:

• They were able to remove the diseased fish from the aquarium and dispose of it [despite there being many more in the ocean that could easily be retrieved]
• After glancing at some research documents aboard the boat, they determined that Angelo's team is mostly interested in studying the mating habits of sharks

Harry snaps, "We've got to stop that expedition, and we've got to stop it soon!", smirkingly pointing out that shark hunting is dangerous, and that something could easily go terribly wrong while underwater. He then orders his henchmen to ensure that something does go terribly wrong during the Guirilinis' next dive. 

Angelo, Giovanna, the expedition crew, and the Riptide trio are aboard the Arrivederci and heading out to the spot where Tony was harpooned. Angelo says he now regrets filming all of those underwater TV specials - but Murray argues that they're oh so wonderful, and Nick points out how many people he's been able to educate about the ocean. Angelo wonders aloud if it's morally right to film the ocean, since so many people have no respect for it - just as one of the crew members (Pietro) brings over a stack of photos Tony took the day he was nearly harpooned to death. Murray studies one of the photos and notices a shadow looming over the water's surface and says it looks like a second boat was in the area. Nick agrees and says it's pretty clear that there's someone out there who doesn't want them diving in that particular spot...and he intends to figure out why.

​Nick wanders over to Cody, who's studying an Italian phrasebook so he no longer feels left out whenever Giovanna lapses into Italian banter with Nick. As Nick playfully needles him about his desire to hit on Giovanna, she suddenly appears on the deck below and asks if either of them would be interested in accompanying her on a dive. When Nick offers up Cody, she happily says she'll ask Pietro to get him a wetsuit and an oxygen tank...and Cody blushingly thanks Nick for stepping aside and says he definitely owes him one.

In the next scene, Cody is clad in a wetsuit, looking warily at the shark cage that Pietro is preparing for the dive. Giovanna sees the fear etched across his face and assures him it's very safe, and then the two climb inside and get lowered into the ocean. When they reach the desired depth, they exit the cage and spot a large of number of deceased fish littered along the ocean floor. They pick one up and put it into a bag, then notice the presence of several deteriorating tanks - just as an aggressive looking shark swims towards them. As they hastily swim back to the shark cage and give the signal to Pietro to raise them up, a yellow submarine suddenly motors over and parks itself atop the cage, while the shark terrorizes them by repeatedly crashing into the steel bars. Aboard the Arrivederci, Pietro confusedly informs Angelo that the tether is stuck...so Angelo instructs him to go down inside the other cage and see whassup. As the henchmen aboard the yellow submarine beat a hasty retreat, Pietro is hastily lowered into the ocean, beats back Jaws with a large baton, then motions to Giovanna and Cody to swim over to his shark cage so that they can be safely lifted out of the ocean and return to the safety of the Arrivederci. 

Giovanna and Cody inform the research team that clearly someone doesn't want them diving in this spot, possibly because:

• They found large tanks buried on the ocean floor, which are starting to deteriorate and look as though they might possibly contain toxic waste
• There are scores of dead fish with what look like cancerous tumours all over them

Murray says he noticed that the plants in the aquarium he was looking at earlier are all dead, and theorizes that the fish that had been stored there must have contained enough toxic waste to kill the plants. He says he'd like to test the aquarium water and determine its toxicity levels - just as Angelo gets a call from the hospital, informing him that Tony is going to be A-OK.

Nick and Cody head over to the local ocean vessel rental shop and spot a yellow submarine that looks suspiciously like the one that had tried to interrupt the dive. Nick summons the owner (Marcus) over and banters with him in Italian as he tells him that they're members of Angelo Guirilini's expedition crew and are in the market for a submarine, and that they'd really loooooove to talk to everyone who has ever rented the yellow submarine from him. Marcus lights up at the mention of Angelo's name, says he's a ginormous fan, and that he has nothing in the form of a privacy policy that would prevent him from simply handing over the personal information of everyone who's ever rented his yellow submarine.

When the Riptide trio informs Angelo that the two men who last rented the yellow submarine are employees of the Vertrox Corporation (aka the one Harry the Oilman runs), he scrunches his face in puzzlement. He stupidly concludes that Harry must unwittingly have hired people who, for some inexplicable reason, are out to destroy his underwater expeditions, and that Harry needs to be made aware of this asap. He picks up the phone and calls Harry, who answers it while flanked by the two henchmen.

Angelo, along with the Riptide trio, head over to Vertrox headquarters to meet with Harry. As Harry ushers Angelo and Murray into his office, Nick and Cody lurk around the reception area, waiting to search for any helpful intel they can find. To that end, Cody calls the receptionist from a nearby pay phone, posing as someone from the photocopy office, to tell her she left her car lights on...and after she rushes off, Nick and Cody infiltrate the reception area and start rifling through the filing cabinets. 

Angelo asks Harry if he thinks they should dig up the strange tanks that his team found during a recent dive, and Harry's like, "Sure, why the hell not?" A solemn-faced Murray asks him if it's possible that someone in his corporation is secretly disposing of toxic waste in the ocean, and Harry pretends to have no idea 'bout any of that and says he definitely wants to know if there are any bad apples working for him [who are so dumb they don't even use aliases when renting a submarine for the purpose of terrorizing Angelo's diving team].

Over in the reception area, Cody finds a folder containing paperwork on a lawsuit that the EPA filed against Vertrox regarding waste disposal - but the charges were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence. Additional documents suggest that because the company's reputation was so damaged, Harry began funding underwater expeditions so that he could look a good guy. Cody hastily puts the folder back into the filing cabinet when he hears Angelo sounding like he's wrapping up his meeting with Harry...and Harry looks less than thrilled when he sees Nick and Cody seated in his reception area. Angelo introduces them to Harry, then happily announces that he (Harry) has agreed to help extract the tanks from the ocean floor so that they can get to the bottom of whatever is killing all of the fish in the area. 

The next day aboard the Arrivederci - as Angelo's crew, Harry, and one of his henchman (Landers) look on - one of the deteriorating tanks is hauled out of the ocean. Murray conducts a quick toxicity test and accusingly informs Harry, "This barrel contains toxic waste from your company", and Giovanna chimes in and says that that's what's killing all the poor fish. Harry concurs that, yep, the contents of the tanks he ordered to be dumped into the ocean are extremely lethal to fish...and then he and Landers pull out their guns, a move that prompts Murray to use the electronic gizmo that's attached to his belt to signal Nick (who, along with Cody, is hovering nearby aboard The Screaming Mimi). Nick immediately choppers over to the diving site, while Harry tells Angelo that he now has no choice but to kill them all. Angelo stares back at him mournfully as he sadly retorts, "You were my friend", to which Giovanna snarks that he was never a friend - but rather, a jerk who only ever wanted to use him. A few seconds later, Mimi arrives and hovers the boat, and Murray yells, "Hit the deck!" as Cody lowers a rope ladder and opens fire on the bad guys. Harry lunges onto the rope ladder in an attempt to attack Cody, which I thought was courageously optimistic of him, given his age and portly form. As Cody easily fights him off, he (Harry) loses his balance and haplessly plunges into the ocean - just as several hungry looking sharks approach. Cody manages to safely leap onto the deck of the Arrivederci...and when the crew glances over the railing, half-heartedly searching for any sign of Harry, Angelo shakes his head and hastily declares Harry to be lost at sea, adding that it's largely 'cause of how little respect he had for the ocean. That he had, Angelo. That he had.

Tony is released from the hospital, gets introduced to the Riptide trio, and says he's eager to resume diving - but Angelo urges him to chillax until he's fully recuperated. Murray and Giovanna, meanwhile, are about to head off to dinner...and when Cody gets wind of their date he's all, "Wha-a-a-a?" and asks Murray if he wooed the beauty by asking her out in Italian. Murray's like, "Nope" and says he simply asked her in English: "Would you like to go out to dinner?" Lol.. As Cody digests that befuddling tidbit, Giovanna returns above deck and suggests to Nick in Italian that he take Cody out to a movie, since he seems so glum...and once Giovanna is safely out of earshot, Cody begs Nick to tell him what she just said about him - but Nick refuses, hands him the Italian phrase book, and says he needs to give flirting with Giovanna another shot. 

​Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!

Recap: A murderer and all-around bad guy named Tony Davenport is on a beach, frantically digging for the lost treasure he buried seven years ago - a tan colored briefcase filled with a $100,000 ransom fee - when he's interrupted by Carl Davis, who snaps several Polaroids of him digging for the cash. Carl menacingly tells Tony that if he does find the briefcase, he wants his cut (50%), and Tony assures him he'll get his cut, then reminds him he's been in prison for the last several years. Carl gets all in Tony's face and warns that he'll be watching him...and that if he doesn't get his cut soon, he's going to circulate the Polaroid photos he just took to the entire town so that everyone will know to watch out for him and cut off any possible chance of escape. 

The next morning, the Riptide trio is enjoying a day away from King Harbor, floating around on their boat in the middle of nowhere, fishing. Nick sourly complains that Murray is somehow catching fish after fish, while his pole keeps coming up empty...so Murray explains that the fish are attracted to the new lure he just invented, which sends out low frequency impulses. Nick snarks that that's really not a sporting way to catch fish, and Murray concurs that, yeah, it is pretty unfair to entrap the fish with an electronic gizmo, so he empties the bucket containing all the fish he caught back into the ocean. A few seconds later, the two hear an alarming sounding popping noise...and Cody pokes his head above deck to report that the Riptide just blew an armature, and that they're going to have to rig up a raft and row to shore to see about getting the defective part replaced.

The trio docks their raft on the shore of a creepy looking island...and as they amble towards the nearest house to use the phone, Murray jokes about how their arrival in this spooky place is the stuff of horror movie plots. When they ring the doorbell, a demented old lady named Florence answers and waves a machete at them as she demands to know what they want. She's promptly hushed by a nicer looking old lady, who chides Florence for scaring her guests, then introduces herself to the trio as Ruth Davis. When her friend appears beside her in the doorway, she introduces her/him(?) to the trio as Eleanor Grant...and there's no way "Eleanor" isn't a man in drag who's donning an unsightly grey wig and has caked a horrendous amount of makeup on his face in a half-hearted attempt to pass himself off as an elderly female. Eleanor asks Cody if he's Jake Tyler, and he's all, "Uh, no..?", and Ruth somehow already knows their names and introduces each of them to Eleanor before inviting them inside so that she can offer them the use of her rotary phone.

Ruth advises the trio to call Wally Parke to get their boat repaired..and Cody's like, "Uh, thanks..?" and asks her how in blazes she knows their names and why they stumbled upon this island. Ruth explains that she's somewhat of a clairvoyant and saw them and their broken boat in a vision. She adds that she didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night, 'cause her mind kept replaying a vision of the imminent murder of her douchebag nephew Carl, and how the sheriff is going to assume she shot him and subsequently charge her for the murder. When she describes his death - the bullet being fired into Carl's heart, and him dropping to one knee as blood spurts out of his chest and mouth as he gasps his last breaths - she matter-of-factly adds, "It's not going to be pretty." LOL. Nick's like, "Er, OK" and suggests they head over to Wally Parke's shop so they can see about getting the Riptide fixed and get outa this weird fuckin' place asap.

Ruth offers the trio the use of her old car Nellie to drive over to Wally's shop...and so they drive off - just as Carl Davis squeals over to his aunt's house, crashes his car through her white picket fence, and flattens a bed of flowers. When Ruth cries that he just ruined her front garden, he snaps, "Shut up! You give me a headache" ... and Ruth suddenly stops fiddling with the broken fence to stare into space and look as though she just had another troubling vision.

Carl is in the process of looting Ruth's jewelry collection when she rushes upstairs to confront him, then tries to warn him about the terrible vision she had about his impending murder. When she notices him stealing his uncle's wedding band, she implores him not to take the valuable heirloom and tries to grab it away from him...and he reacts by smacking her across the face and snarling that if she touches him again he'll break her arm. After he storms out, locking the door behind him, Ruth mutters, "Not going to put up with this.." and grabs a pistol out of a drawer and shoots the doorknob.
​
The trio is at Wally's Complete Auto Repair shop, marvelling over the ancient looking gas pumps. Wally makes a sudden appearance, pointing a rifle at Cody and referring to him as Jake Tyler, barking that he still owes him $55. Cody tries to explain that 1) owing anyone $55 doesn't warrant having a gun shoved in one's face, and 2) he's not actually Jake Tyler...but when Wally responds by firing his rifle a few inches from his feet, Cody quickly gathers together $55 (with the help of Nick and Murray ) and hands it over.

​As the trio drives over to a nearby diner, Cody boasts that he and Wally are tight, now that his "debt" has been repaid, and that the curmudgeonly mechanic even agreed to help tow the Riptide to shore so that he can do all of the necessary repairs. The three then enter the diner, seat themselves at a table, and are bewildered when a waitress (Pauline, I'll presume) silently hovers over Cody and warily shoots him the stink-eye. A few seconds later, an oafish yokel named Larry storms into the diner and rails at Jake Tyler for what he did to his Pauline, so Cody again tries to explain that he's not Jake Tyler...and that he's been threatened and fired upon as a result of the mistaken identity. When Larry grunts that he's not buyin' it and needlessly starts a skirmish that comes to blows, Murray says that their new friend Ruth Davis can vouch for them. The sheriff magically appears and announces that he just placed Ruth under arrest for killing her nephew Carl...and when Murray asks him if Carl died the exact way Ruth had described - the bullet being fired into his heart, and him dropping to one knee as blood spurts out of his chest and mouth as he gasps his last breaths - the sheriff glares at him and says that since 1) he thinks Cody is Jake Tyler, and 2) it's kinda suspicious that they know so much about the slaying, he's going to haul the three of them to the station.

In the next scene, the Riptide trio is languishing in the jail cell adjacent to that of Ruth, who's staring contemplatively into space as she has another vision: a wide open field in which someone is chasing a black mailman. She abruptly stops talking and admits that it's too fuzzy a vision to make any real sense of. After that, the sheriff informs the trio that their fingerprints have been sent off to Sacramento, meaning that their IDs can be confirmed within a couple of days. When the topic of conversation turns back to Ruth's arrest for Carl's murder, she insists to the trio - who tells her it'd be totes understandable if she did kill her nephew in self defence - that she didn't kill him, and that she's miffed they'd think she was capable of such a heinous crime. She pouts in her cell and and sadly mutters, "I loaned you Nellie."

The sheriff tells the trio he'll release them if they can come up with the bail money...and when they promptly pay the paltry amount, Murray laments to Nick and Cody about how visibly upset Ruth got when they made it clear they didn't believe in her innocence. The three agree to help the kindly old gal get her bail, so she happily tells them she has oodles of cash stashed around her house in various weird hiding places, and that there's a spare key under a giant rock in her front garden. 

While digging around the garden for Ruth's spare key, Nick stumbles across a film canister, along with a baggie containing several Polaroids that were recently taken of a guy digging. A few seconds later, Murray finds the spare key to the house...and the three happen to run into Florence just as she's storming off. They ask her if she happens to know anything about a black mailman, so she helpfully snarks back that the only black mailman in town is a man named Wilfred Tolley. Inside Ruth's house, Murray finds a pile of cash in the freezer, then glances out the window at the guest house, aka the place where Carl was shot to death earlier.

The trio enters the guest house...and we see that Tony Davenport is sneakily skulking inside of it. In his rush to flee, he knocks Murray down, then races off too quickly for Nick and Cody to catch him. Nick wonders aloud if perhaps the intruder was searching for the film canister and the Polaroid pics he just found in the garden, then says they should develop the film asap and see what the photos reveal. 

The diner owner grumbles to the sheriff that it's going to cost at least $1,000 to fix up the place, and that he's annoyed at him for releasing Jake Tyler on bail. The sheriff says he didn't have anything solid to keep him locked up and points out that Larry was the dumbfuck who started the diner fight. He then shrugs and says he wouldn't be able to prevent anyone from attacking Jake Tyler on a public street...and says this as though he's not the most senior law enforcement officer in the town who should probably refrain from even subtly advocating any form of vigilante justice, particularly when the situation is this nonsensical. 

​The Riptide trio heads over to the home of Wilfred Tolley, who they instantly dismiss as a murder suspect, not least 'cause he's a sweet 92 year old man who worked for the postal service for 70 years. They ask him if he knows anything about Carl Davis, and Wilfred makes a blech face and says, "Someone oughta take him outside and shoot him" ... and when Cody informs him that someone did, in fact, shoot Carl to death, Wilfred lets out a happy chuckle and says that that's the finest news he's heard all day. And even from the little I've seen of Carl this episode, I couldn't agree more.

Wilfred's wife, Sarah, calls up a fellow local named David Miller to report that three strangers just dropped by unannounced and appear to be digging up a hornet's nest by asking Wilfred questions about Carl Davis. David thanks her for the heads up, then urges her to not to reveal anything to the trio and to be sure that Wilfred also keeps mum.

The Riptide trio heads back to police headquarters to put up bail money for Ruth, who says she just had another fuzzy vision about someone being fired. As they all climb into Nellie, Cody remarks on how little the townspeople seem to care that Carl was just murdered, so Ruth tells the sad tale about a horrible crime that continues to traumatize the residents of this weird little town: seven years ago, a young girl (Terri Miller) was kidnapped by a local boy named Tony Davenport and murdered shortly thereafter. Tony managed to escape prosecution before he could be arrested, and most of the townspeople believed that since Carl Davis was good buddies with Tony, he too must have had something to do with the slaying. A few seconds later, the four realize they're being followed by a jeep filled with armed local yokels...and Murray tells Ruth that her premonition must have been that they're about to be fired upon (as opposed to just fired) before the yokels abruptly turn tail on their menacing attempt to intimidate Ruth and the trio and motor back from whence they came. 

When the trio returns to Ruth's place, they're aghast to see that her guest house has black smoke billowing from the windows...and as they rush over, Tony Davenport pops up and watches their harried reaction to the fire. 

After the commercial break, the trio quickly determines that someone must have ransacked the guest house before setting it ablaze. They (+ Ruth) then head over to the Riptide to show Ruth the photos they developed from the film Nick found in the canister...and she's aghast to see that they're photos of Tony Davenport hovering over the mutilated body of Terri Miller. The trio tells her they strongly suspect that Tony returned to town and was being blackmailed by Carl...hence Ruth's fuzzy vision of a black mailman running in an open field. Murray, meanwhile, logs onto his computer so that he can look up the license plate of the jeep that chased them earlier and figure out who might have been at the wheel.

Over at the public library, Ruth and Cody tell the mannish Eleanor (who seems to be employed there) that they want to look at all of the newspaper articles that covered Terri Miller's murder. As Cody and Ruth pore over the articles, they learn that the kidnapper(s) had asked for a ransom of $100,000, and that that's probably enough money for Tony to risk returning to town for. Cody surmises that Tony and Carl were in cahoots in the kidnapping/murder, and that Tony likely stashed the money somewhere before he high-tailed it out of town...and then years later, Carl found Tony digging for the cash and took the Polaroids. Ruth gazes admiringly at Cody for his ability to summarize the crimes and lay out a plausible theory...then says that before they head out, she wants to go thank Eleanor for all of "her" help. 

Cody exits the library and is confronted by the same gang of yokels (Larry, Marty et. al.) who were in the jeep earlier. They're armed with rifles and bats, accuse him of being Jake Tyler - a man they seem to want to beat to death for whatever reason - and an exasperated Cody tells them he's a PI who's looking for Tony Davenport. When Larry flinches at the mention of Tony Davenport and says that he's the cretin who killed Marty's fiancé, Cody tries to calmly point out to the half-wit that it'd be a helluva lot more useful if they stopped trying to beat him up and instead help him look for Terri Miller's killer. Marty's like, "If I were the sharpest knife in the drawer, that'd make total sense" and proceeds to swing his bat at Cody, who ducks to avoid a serious head injury. A few seconds later, Nick pulls up in Nellie, fires his pistol into the air, and warns the idiot yokels to back the fuck off. 

The Riptide trio (+ Ruth) head over to the home of David Miller, and he greets them by pointing a rifle at them and ordering them to get lost. His wife Sheila emerges from the house and wails at them to let their daughter rest in peace, so Cody explains that their primary mission this episode has become to find the man who murdered Terri.

In the next scene, the trio (+ Ruth) show the Millers the Polaroid photos Carl took of Tony digging to find the ransom money on the beach...and David studies them carefully and says he's pretty sure he can pinpoint the exact location. He then informs them that since new construction has been planned for the area, Tony is likely going to try to dig up the money again very soon. In the next scene, he supplies the trio with a tan colored briefcase that looks almost identical to the one he used for the ransom money seven years earlier...and Murray inserts a homing device inside of it so that they can track Tony's movements once he digs up the thing.

As predicted, Tony returns to the scene of the crime later that day, digs up the suitcase that the trio planted, and races off with it. While the trio (+ Ruth) is staking out the area, Ruth has another of her visions: Tony is holding Eleanor against her will. Using Murray's homing device, they're able to track Tony, who (not shockingly) ends up at Eleanor's house. 

Murray, Nick, and Cody sneak into Eleanor's house while Ruth waits in the car...and look perplexed when they find a hamper full of men's clothing, along with a grey wig. It suddenly dawns on them that Tony and Eleanor are the same person - just as a grey-wigged Tony appears out of nowhere and attacks them with the tan colored briefcase. He then races out of the house towards Nellie, barks at a confused Ruth to slide over into the passenger seat, then takes the wheel and squeals off. 

Marty, Larry, and the rest of the local yokels show up at the house...and when they start attacking the trio, Cody explains that Tony Davenport just fled the scene seconds ago, and that he took Ruth as a hostage. The yokels scrunch their faces confusedly and tell him they just saw Ruth in Nellie and that it looked as though she were going for a drive with Eleanor, so Cody breaks the not astonishing news that Eleanor is really Tony. The yokels chuckle at the absurdity of a freakishly mannish woman who wears a horrible looking grey wig and wretched face makeup actually being a guy in disguise - but agree to keep an open mind.

Tony races onto the dock and leaps aboard the Riptide - but since it hasn't been fixed yet, the motor won't start. In the meantime, Marty and Larry et. al. arrive on the scene with their rifles and baseball bats, and are visibly mind-blown to see that without the grey wig and the grisly makeup, Eleanor is, in fact, Tony Davenport.

Back at the diner, David Miller thanks the trio for solving his daughter's murder and giving him and his wife a new start on life. A few seconds later, Marty enters the diner, stares bewilderedly at Cody, and says he just saw him at the bank a few minutes ago, collecting the reward money for helping capture Tony Davenport. Cody looks alarmed and cries, "Jake!" and the trio races out of the diner and towards the bank.

​Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!

Recap: Under the cover of night, a meowing cat is the only eyewitness to a group of shadowy figures who break into a minority-owned building, plant a bomb, and then rush away and squeal off in their car - just as the building explodes. 

Across town, the Riptide trio are out on a triple date in Chinatown...and Murray, who's not bespectacled and is rocking an unflattering flattened 'do, makes corny jokes about how Chinatown is a place people want to return to after half an hour [perpetuating the trope about how Chinese food only fills you up for half an hour...though personally I'm usually stuffed after eating that kind of takeout]. Nick urges their lady friends to head over to a nearby shop so they can ask Murray what in the royal fuck is up with his dorkier than usual behavior, flat hairdo, and the 'no glasses' thing. Murray giddily says that his date (Kimberly) told him he had sexy eyes - hence the decision to go without glasses for the evening - and that he's trying really really hard to come off as young, hip, and happening. When he adds that he went to the library and researched all the current slang so that he'd have an ample number of colloquialisms in his back pocket to draw from, Nick and Cody urge him to spread his "happening hipness" throughout the evening and maybe not try to cram all of it into a single conversation.

A block or so away, a father and son (Kyle and Chad Jennings) have just enjoyed a scrumptious Chinatown meal and are ambling along the street when a van suddenly pulls up next to them. Three men spill out of the side door and attempt to grab Chad and drag him away with him - but the Riptide trio witness the attempted abduction and jump into the fray to protect the hapless teenager. After a successful beat-down, the three men flee back to their van and squeal off...and Nick, Cody, and Murray dust themselves off and ask Chad if he's OK. He assures them he's fine, then glances over at his father, who pretends he has no earthly idea who the men in the van were, and why they would want to snatch his son.

The next day, the trio heads over to police headquarters to report the abduction attempt they witnessed in Chinatown, and Lieutenant Quinlan bitches about how their description of the crime doesn't include enough details for him to do anything with. He grumbles that his hands are full, 'cause some nutcase is blowing up various buildings all over town, then puts in a pin in that and opens the window blinds to the adjoining interrogation room (with a two-way mirror) and asks them if they recognize the woman sitting at the table. The trio tells him they have no idea who she is [other than she played the uppity Felice Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210], and that they're 100% certain they didn't see her in Chinatown last night. Quinlan tells them her name is Sally Jennings, and that she's Kyle's ex-wife, and an alleged "bad head case". He tells the trio he suspects her of having something to do with the attempted kidnapping of Chad - but that since he has no evidence, he has no choice but to cut her loose. 

As the trio leaves police headquarters, Sally rushes over to them, freely admits that, yep, she did try to have her own son kidnapped, and wants to hire them as PIs to help her. Nick declines to take the case and advises her to talk to Kyle about a formal custody arrangement, to which she cries, "Pleeeeeeease help me!" and explains that her son is being kept away from her and that she has no one else to turn to. 
 
The trio (+ Sally) head over to a nearby restaurant to fully discuss the sitch. Murray chides, "You know, kidnapping is not the solution to anything", to which Sally says she had no choice...not least 'cause trying to get through to her ex-husband is like talking to a brick wall. She then sheepishly confesses that at the time Kyle asked her for a divorce (four years ago), she was a pill-popping, stressed out, drunken mess...but is doing much better now and would like to have access to her son. She adds that Kyle is doing everything possible to keep her from Chad, who she barely knows anymore. Nick chews on that for a few seconds and remarks that the school day is about to end...and Sally moans, "Kyle will kill me if he finds out", but then eagerly leaves the restaurant with the trio to see about paying her son an impromptu visit.

Over in the schoolyard, Chad has provoked a fight with a black classmate (Kevin) ... and the two are going at it when the Riptide trio (+ Sally) arrive at the school. Nick and Cody quickly determine that this punchfest looks serious, and race over to break it up - just as Principal Goldstein appears and orders all of the onlookers to disperse. Kevin tells the principal that Chad started it...and when the principal gives him a sympathetic nod, Chad growls, "Are you color blind or something?" He then notices his mother standing there, agape, and asks her why she's here...and Principal Goldstein interjects and informs Sally that her idiot son has been causing a lot of racist-fuelled ruckuses lately. She orders Chad to report to her office and tells Kevin to go see the school nurse, and Chad glares at her hatefully and snaps, "I'll tell you what the problem is: you, Goldstein!" and stomps off while Sally stares after him in incredulity. Murray, meanwhile, picks up the pile of books that Chad left behind and finds a folder filled with brochures touting white supremacy bullcack that was published by a Nazis in America group...and the trio (+ Sally) are all, "The fuck is he doing with that kind of garbage propaganda?"

Kyle Jennings learns of his son's detainment in the principal's office and storms over to the school to rail at Goldstein for hassling his son. When the Riptide trio expresses disgust at the Nazi literature they found among Chad's things, Kyle just shrugs and says, "It's a free country. At least it used to be when I was in school." He snarkishly reminds the principal that a judge awarded him sole custody of Chad, then makes a beeline for the door - just as Nick stops him and tells him that earlier he heard a whole lot of hatred and bigotry spilling out of Chad's mouth. Kyle's all, "Well duh" and says it's no doubt the result of teaching his son about how the world really is, snarlingly adding, "I teach him all about the commies, and the homosexuals, and the Jews, and the Blacks." Sally stares at him ashen-faced, somehow looking as though she had absolutely no idea that her openly racist ex-husband harbored these views...and when Kyle eggs Chad on to agree with his hate-fuelled rhetoric, the teen half-heartedly says, "Uh, yeah..? We can't let them take over the white race." Kyle announces that he's pulling Chad from the school...and when Sally implores Chad to get a clue and realize that the way he's talking and behaving is so ass backwards wrong on every level, he yanks his arm away from her and toddles out after his father. 

Back at the Riptide, Murray does some computer research on Kyle and learns that he's been with the same employer for ten years and was honourably discharged from the U.S. military. He remarks on how shitty it must be for Sally to watch her son be indoctrinated as a Hitler Youth, and Nick concurs and says if they can pin some kind of criminal activity on Kyle, Sally might have a case for filing for sole custody. As Murray researches further, he learns that Kyle is the director of an organization called the Peninsula Boys Institution. Nick says he's heard of it, and describes it as a detention camp in which runaways and juvenile delinquents are housed. Murray points out that if Kyle is teaching underage boys (other than Chad) to embrace the notion of white supremacy, they might actually have a criminal case against him. Cody concurs and says they're going to need to infiltrate this boys institute with someone who can pass as a youngster - just as Dooley climbs aboard the Riptide and chirps, "Anyone home?" Nick tells their boneheaded sidekick that they need someone his age to perform an important task...and when he asks Dooley if he's capable of cutting the bull and carrying out an important undercover mission, Dooley says that, despite his staggeringly low level of intelligence, he's pretty sure he'd be able to pull it off.  

Nick, Cody, and Murray arrive at the headquarters of the local Nazi party, glance disdainfully at all the swastika flags flapping around, and find Commandant Kefler in his office, engrossed in footage of Adolf Hitler spewing out one of his spittle-laden, hate-filled speeches. Kefler finally shuts it off, stares reverently into space as he says, "One day the world will see what a genius the Führer was", and asks the trio whassup with them stopping by. As he waits for a response, he opens his drawer, pulls out a pistol, and lays it on the table, explaining that he's merely putting it there to protect himself in case they try to shoot him first. Nick's like, "Whatever, fucktwat. You know damn well we're unarmed" and hands him the white supremacy brochures he found among Chad Jennings' things, and Cody explains that the lad was handing out these stupid things at his school. Kefler informs them that his Nazi group does not accept juvenile members - but that he's very familiar with Kyle Jennings, adding that since Kyle doesn't like to follow their policy of operating within the law, they have no use for him. He tells the trio that this weekend they plan to protest the upcoming deportation of an alleged German war criminal at the federal building and look forward to going toe-to-toe with the various church groups who want the cretin barred from ever returning to the U.S. Nick and Cody roll their eyes in dismay and call him out for always baiting people into making the first move, and then reacting to that reaction with violence...and Kefler just kind of shrugs and smugly pronounces, "If provoked, we will defend ourselves."

Over at the Peninsula Boys Institute, Kyle shows Chad one of six bombs he's planting inside a van, cackling about his nefarious plan to level an entire city block. He says he'd like them to commit this act of terrorism as kind of a father-son activity...and that he's delusional enough to assume that the world will interpret the mass carnage of innocent civilians as a statement of strength and power, and not the actions of a deranged lunatic who's considered too stupidly radical for even the local Nazi party. He then abruptly changes the subject to Sally, and assures Chad that she's not going to be able to harass him again anytime soon.

Across town, Sally is walking home with her groceries when one of the Peninsula Institute boys grabs her from behind, warns her not to come near Chad again, then presses a button on a detonation device that triggers the bomb they planted inside her car, blowing it to smithereens. After that, they give her a hard face smack.

The Riptide trio drops by the hospital to look in on Sally and inform her that the police don't have much to go on, in terms of catching her assailants. She's like, "Seriously?" and says that since they're clearly connected to Kyle, the police should just go arrest the mofo. The trio informs her that Kyle has an airtight alibi during the time she was attacked, and that he's claiming she staged the assault for the purpose of framing him. Cody suggests that if they can prove her attackers came from the Peninsula Boys Institute, it could be the key to nailing Kyle...and then informs her that they've placed their doofus sidekick inside the organization to see what kind of criminal activity he's able to expose. 

Back at the Peninsula Boys Institute, Dooley provokes a spat with a black teen, who looks like he'd be more than capable of smashing Dooley's head in - but backs off when he sees Kyle enter the cafeteria. An intrigued Chad stares over at Dooley...and when Kyle nods approvingly, Chad follows Dooley out of the cafeteria and compliments the way he harassed the black teenager for absolutely no reason. As the Riptide trio listens in on the conversation, courtesy of the secret wire Dooley's wearing, Chad offers to introduce Dooley to people who buy into the kind of white supremacy nonsense he and his idiot father espouse, and Dooley's like, "Kewl. Why not?" Nick says he's thrilled and more than a little surprised that Dooley was able to convincingly pass himself off as a potential Nazi recruit, and Murray remarks on how it looks as though Kyle is using Chad to build a Hitler Youth army from among the inmate population at the Institute.

Chad gives Dooley a tour of a super secret area where young Nazi-ified hopefuls train in karate and do target practice. Chad says his pa allows only the whitest and easiest-to-manipulate young men to use these facilities, and Dooley pretends to look impressed and is all, "Whoa, dude. I definitely want in." LOL. As Chad hands him a pistol to see how good of a shot he is, the Riptide trio looks visibly appalled by the way Kyle is training these kids for combat. Murray, who's been continuing to research Kyle on his computer, says he's just discovered he was an explosives expert in the the Navy, and Nick points out it's pretty non-coincidental that Sally's car was just blown up as an act of retribution for visiting her son. Cody agrees and says they're going to need to find out what type of bomb was used in that explosion so that they can cross-check it against the kind of bombs Kyle used to tool around with during his time in the military.

Commandant Kefler drops by the Peninsula Institute to alert Kyle Jennings about a trio of detectives asking about his white supremacy activities, then snidely asks him if he's operating on his own again. Kyle openly confirms he is, and that he's doing it "for the good of the movement". Kefler warns him to keep his Nazi-ing within the parameters of the law...and when Kyle refuses and smugly points out, "You can't control me", Kefler gives him a face smack and dismissively calls him a weak coward. A few seconds later, Chad appears with a pistol pointed at Kefler, followed by a large group of fellow Hitler Youth. Buoyed by the support, Kyle barks at Kefler to get off of his property...and once the commandant is safely out of earshot, Kyle whines about how miffed he is that Kepler called him a weak coward, and that he needs to be taught a lesson. To that end, he orders Chad to have the bomb-filled van ready to go tomorrow. Eeeeeek!

The Riptide trio alerts Lieutenant Quinlan about a possible new bomb attack, and that they strongly suspect Kyle Jennings of being the King Harbor bomber, not least 'cause he's a white supremacist radical who has military training in explosives and was most likely behind the blowing up of his ex-wife's car. Quinlan decides to depart from his usual 'fuck off, you useless beach bums' attitude towards the trio and puts out an APB on Kyle Jennings, and reminds them that in a few hours there's going to be a demonstration at the federal building protesting/supporting the deportation of the German war criminal. 

Nick races over to the airstrip to get The Screaming Mimi airborne, while Cody and Murray drive around in the Jimmy, attempting to get within range of Dooley's wire.

​Back at the Peninsula Boys Institute, Chad asks Dooley if he'd like to come along on a mission to bust some non-Caucasian heads, and Dooley's like, "Sure, I'm totes into it" - just as a number of other Hitler Youth gather round. Chad hands him a Nazi shirt to wear, and Dooley (who's visibly nervous about the hidden wire underneath his sweatshirt) says he'll get dressed in private and meet them outside. The Hitler Youth order him to change into the Nazi shirt now...and when Dooley tries to make a break for it, they grab him and in the process rip open his sweatshirt, exposing the wire that's taped to his chest. A concerned Murray, meanwhile, reports to Cody that the transmission from Dooley's wire just went dead. 

Dooley is marched over to Kyle and outed as a spy, and Dooley's like, "The DEA made me do it!" [Er...huh?] Kyle glares back at him and orders the other boys to shove him into the van so that he can get blown up with the rest of them...and a few seconds later, the zombified disciples dutifully climb aboard while Kyle gets behind the wheel.

From aboard Mimi, Nick radios to Lieutenant Quinlan that he just saw a bunch of people from the Peninsula Institute climb into a van, and that he can only assume they're en route to carry out the bomb threat. Quinlan's like, "Roger that", then stares worriedly into space.

Commandant Kefler and his Nazi men arrive at the federal building and start arguing with people in the church groups who really really want the German war criminal raus from their country.

Nick spots the bomb-laden van heading downtown and gives Cody its specific location. Cody tells Murray they're going to have to somehow stop the van...'cause, for whatever reason, the entire King Harbor police force has decided to leave the work of preventing a catastrophic explosion in the city center to three PIs who run their failing agency out of a tiny boat. 

Chad informs his pa that there's a fugly pink chopper hovering over them that looks to be tracking their route. Nick radios Quinlan, Cody, and Murray to share that he has the van in his sights and that everyone should be gravely concerned that it's headed for the federal building and that someone may want to, uh, do something to stop it from mowing down and/or blowing up a whole lot of people. Cody's like, "On it!" and maneuvers the Jimmy as close to the van as possible, then tells Murray to take the wheel so that his stunt double can leap into the driver's window of the van, punch Kyle in the face, and take control of the wheel. Kyle reacts to Cody's assault by activating the many bombs wired throughout the vehicle, and when Chad reveals to Cody what Kyle just did, Cody's all, "Ack!", drives the van to an abandoned area near the pier, then barks at all the Hitler Youth to get out and flee. A few seconds later, the van explodes into a huge fireball...and as that's happening, Kyle shoots Chad an extra squinty stink-eye before Dooley grabs him and forcibly steers him away, leaving Chad staring after him in perplexed contemplation.

Cody radios Nick to report that everyone who was in the vicinity of the explosion is A-OK, and that he should pass along the good news to Lieutenant Quinlan that Kyle's plan literally "went up in smoke". Har har. 

The Riptide trio drives a now de-Nazified Chad to the hospital so he can visit his injured mom. An anxious looking Chad says he has no idea what to say to her, given all the white supremacist shit he's been embracing lately, so Cody urges him to just come clean and tell her whatever he's feeling...and Nick hands him a bouquet of flowers, so that he doesn't arrive for the visit empty-handed. 

A few seconds later, Chad tiptoes into his mom's hospital room. She looks visibly happy to see him...and as he hands her the flowers, she reaches for them while the camera zooms in on their hands touching.

​Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!

Recap: Two henchmen (Ziegler and Bollings) arrive at the office of their crime boss (a nondescript grey-haired man named E.G. Shaw) to report that his former chauffeur, Mack McPherson, has authored a manuscript about the criminal organization they work within...and that he went so far as to name names. Ziegler expresses disbelief that a seemingly loyal flunky like Mack would so brazenly spill the beans like that, while Bollings sanctimoniously says he never trusted the cretin. Shaw grumbles that McPherson was always somewhat of "a shaky commodity" and calls the manuscript a serious omertà breach. He orders Ziegler and Bollings to permanently silence McPherson quietly and efficiently and see to it that no one besides them learns of the existence of his 'tell all' manuscript. 

Murray has dragged Nick and Cody to the Crow Bar Express, a gritty bikers' bar, to meet with a potential client (Mrs. Farringham). A biker/waiter arrives at their table to deliver drinks...and in the process, splashes beer all over them. An irked Nick and Cody tell Murray they really really want to flee this dump, and that Mrs. Farringham can just stop by the Riptide if she wants to talk to them about a case. The waiter jumps in and asks, "What if they already got to her?" and starts nattering about how "they're everywhere". Nick stares at him suspiciously for a few seconds, then reaches over and pulls off part of his fake beard, and explains to Murray that this faux biker is Mack McPherson, aka a pain-in-the-ass clown he and Cody met during their time in the Air Academy. Mack tells them he's in real trouble, produces a $100 check in exchange for their help, and promises to explain everything.

Ziegler and Bollings arrive at the Crow Bar Express, presumably after getting a tip that Mack was last seen inside the seedy watering hole...and as they amble over to the club, a sketchy looking guy appears out nowhere and stares intently at their car. 

Mack glances around nervously as he explains to the Riptide trio that he just finished writing a manuscript about his former crime boss that could get him killed...and that since he's being tracked by a couple of goons, he can't get to his apartment to feed his pet parrot (Otto). He hands Nick a second check, this one for $200, along with the key to his apartment, and Murray tells him they'd be happy to look after Otto. When Nick and Cody shoot him the stink-eye, Murray says they're unlikely to encounter any trouble doing something as mundane as caring for someone's pet parrot...and Cody just shakes his head as he glares at Mack and mutters, "You'd be surprised." 

Mack spots Ziegler and Bollings enter the bar and preemptively creates a diversion by insulting the burly biker who's playing pool. When a full-on brawl ensues, Mack sneaks out the back door...and a few seconds later, Ziegler and Bollings run out after him, followed by the Riptide trio.

As Mack squeals away from the scene in an old pickup truck, Ziegler and Bollings are dismayed by the sight of their car, which has been stripped of its tires. When the Riptide trio emerges from the bar, they grumble about how miffed they are about getting sucked into the bar fight diversion, then pile into the Jimmy to head over to Mack's apartment to see about taking care of Otto. When they enter the apartment, they're startled to find it completely trashed. Otto, who's sitting in his cage in the middle of the living room, squawks, "Freeze turkeys!" ... and the Riptide trio instinctively raises their arms - until they quickly realize they're taking orders from a parrot.

A few seconds later, the trio hears someone approaching the front door, so they grab whatever they can find to use as weapons and hover by the door. A woman enters the apartment, and when she sees the three men brandishing makeshift weapons, she's all, "Ack!" and starts hyperventilating. The men assure her they're not going to hurt her, and Murray hands her a paper bag to breathe into...and when she's finally able to speak, she introduces herself as Gloria Burghoff, aka Mack McPherson's fiancée. The trio looks surprised that any real live woman would seriously consider marrying a doofus like Mack, then urges her to accompany them to the Riptide for safety reasons. While en route to Pier 56, they pepper her with questions about all the naughty things Mack's been up to lately, but she says she knows nothing about whatever Mack gets himself into, deadpanning, "We didn't really talk very much. Mostly we just had sex."

Mack is at Hank's Airfield, renting a helicopter so he can go airborne and stage his death [by making it look as though he crashed into a desert mountain] so that E.G. Shaw's goons will finally stop tracking his whereabouts.

After news of Mack's faux death has circulated to the public, Cody reads over the crash report, and Gloria remarks on how she was able to memorize the entire report after just glancing at it 'cause she has a photographic memory. She then suggests they pre-empt any investigation by the FAA and scour the crash site themselves...and when Cody points out that it could be traumatic for her to see the place her fiancé just died, she concurs and instead offers to stay behind and make herself useful by writing down everything Otto is currently squawking in case it can provide clues about what Mack was up to before his untimely demise. Nick pulls Murray aside and tells him to turn on Roboz so that they can monitor whatever Gloria does when she doesn't realize she's being surveilled.

E.G. Shaw is annoyed at Ziegler and Bollings for not finding the manuscript before Mack turned up dead, and they tell Shaw he probably had it with him when he perished in the chopper crash. They also inform Shaw that Mack was seen talking to three guys at the Crow Bar Express, and that a woman named Gloria Berghoff is in town, trying to track Mack down. Shaw chews on that for a few seconds and ordered them to scour the crash site to see if there's any proof that the manuscript was destroyed...and Ziegler and Bollings agree, though it remains unclear how it would actually be possible to confirm that a stack of papers got destroyed during the course of a fiery crash in mountainous terrain.

Nick pilots The Screaming Mimi over to the crash site with Murray and Cody on board. Murray scours the area with binoculars, remarking on how there's pieces of debris everywhere (though no sign of Mack's body) - just as a small plane piloted by Ziegler and Bollings charges at them as they open fire. Murray and Cody fire back...and the skirmish ends when Nick realizes that Mimi took too many bullets to be able to stay airborne indefinitely.

When the trio returns to the Riptide, Murray checks in with Roboz, who reveals that Gloria made a phone call during their absence. When Nick tricks Gloria with a fishing photo of himself and his cousin Tony and IDs Tony as Mack, Gloria is forced to admit that she's never actually met Mack McPherson and has no idea what he looks like. Cody dials the number she had called earlier and is astounded to learn that it's the offices of the FBI...and after another bout of stress-fuelled hyperventilating, Gloria explains that she's an FBI stenographer who always aspired to become an agent - but flunked the physical, no doubt 'cause she tends to hyperventilate every time she gets stressed. Her boss sent her to King Harbor to take a statement from Mack regarding his connection to E.G. Shaw - but she had no idea at the time that Mack had written a manuscript about his experience as the crime boss's chauffeur. She says she'd looooove to crack this case with the hope that the FBI brass would magically promote her to agent, then abruptly changes the subject and offers to show the trio her notes to determine whether or not Otto squawked anything useful while they were away. 

Gloria shows them the phrases Otto squawked at her, but nothing seems particularly useful - until the bird suddenly begins reciting numbers that sound like the combination to a safe. Nick jots them down, and the trio heads over to Mack's apartment to see about getting into his safe. 

Ziegler calls E.G. Shaw from Hank's Airfield to report that he and Bollings flew over the crash site, but all they found was charred metal. He adds that they ran into a fugly pink chopper while they were there and figured 'why not shoot at it for no real reason?', and E.G. Shaw asks them to pass along the aircraft's ID number so he can find out who the lookie-loos were and suss out whether or not they know anything about Mack's manuscript. 

The trio heads back to Mack's apartment, finds the safe located under where Otto's cage was placed, and open it. They don't find anything of value - except for a business card for Sidney Harnack, aka the chief editor for a tabloid rag called The National Investigator Newspaper.

The trio heads straight over to the newspaper's headquarters to ask Harnack if he knows anything about an exposé on E.G. Shaw...and Harnack pales and wails, "That's supposed to be top secret!" When he suddenly clams up, Cody fibs that they're all from the FBI to investigate the matter, urging Gloria to show him her name tag and parking pass. Harnack immediately cracks and says he's been in contact with the exposé's author - just this morning, in fact - and that he just sent that person a check in the mail. Cody perks up and is all, "Wuh? This morning?" and leaps to the conclusion that Mack McPherson must have staged his death - but is actually very much alive. Harnack provides them with the PO Box on the return address of his message, and the trio decides that their next move will be to stake out the post office to see who shows up to retrieve the check. 

​Later, at the post office, Mack has disguised himself as a bearded old man with a limp when he hobbles into the post office...and after he opens the PO Box the trio is monitoring, they surround him and are all, "Ah ha!" as Murray tears off his fake beard. He stares at them sheepishly and chucklingly asks, "Is this a coincidence or what?" It's, um, what.

While en route to Pier 56 in the Jimmy (with Gloria in tow), Mack cheekily tells the trio he doesn't hold a grudge against them [for what exactly remains unclear], and an incredulous Nick points out that throughout this episode he's lied to them and nearly gotten them killed, bitterly mumbling, "Everything you touch turns to trouble." Mack explains that he got tired of working for an uppity employer like E.G. Shaw, so he figured 'why not write an exposé about the murderous criminal and then shop around for a newspaper to publish it?' Gloria reads over the manuscript Mack's been carrying around with him, remarks on how he "named names", and deduces that, yep, he's a dead man. LOL. The trio then introduces her to Mack as a wannabe FBI agent-in-training who's been hanging out with them in order to observe the escalating problems of the self-inflicted schmozzle that he (Mack) has so stupidly gotten himself into.  

When the five arrive at Pier 56, Ziegler and Bollings squeal over, grab Mack and shove him into their car, then shoot the tires of the Jimmy so that viewers don't have to endure a long car chase sequence just yet.

Murray declares, "Mack's a dead man, guys" and says he can only assume that E.G. Shaw is going to kill him at his earliest convenience. After that, the trio (+ Gloria) puts their heads together to think of something they might bargain with...and the only idea that comes to mind is that since Gloria has a photographic memory and can create a copy of Mack's exposé, they can make E.G. Shaw think there's at least one other copy floating around. Why yes...that sounds just crazy enough to work!

Over in the lion's den, Mack assures E.G. Shaw that he was only joking about approaching a tabloid to publish an exposé that goes into grisly detail about all the crime-ing he witnessed during his employ...then hangdoggishly admits that it was very wrong [and fairly idiotic] to ever write something that could so easily get him killed. He tells Shaw he has $50,000 in savings and would be more than happy to hand that over in lieu of being murdered - but Shaw just demands to know who else knows about the manuscript. At that point, Mack proceeds to throw everyone involved under the bus and names Sidney Harnack, the Riptide trio, and his parrot Otto, who really functions more as a "sort of a tape recorder with feathers". A few seconds later, Cody calls Shaw to make a faux deal: he'll hand over all existing copies of Mack's exposé in exchange for Mack. When Shaw says he doesn't believe there's actually another copy of the exposé , Cody begins to read the draft that Gloria was able to hastily write up...and Shaw's all, "Drats" and agrees to make the swap - but only if they show up in their underwear. 

The Riptide trio (+ Gloria) arrive at the rendezvous spot, and it looks as though only Cody and Gloria obeyed the 'come in your underwear' edict. Cody explains that the last existing copy of Mack's manuscript is underneath Otto's cage, then hands the cage to Ziegler and Bollings while Mack is permitted to walk over to where Nick is standing. E.G. Shaw covertly tells the goons to just kill everyone once they get what they came for, and they're like, "Roger that." Ziegler fiddles with the bird cage to pull out the manuscript, which triggers a mini bomb that I'm guessing Murray must have rigged. The chaos of the explosion turns the tables on Ziegler and Bollings, who are quickly subdued at gunpoint by Murray and Gloria. Mack, meanwhile, is all, "Nooooo! Otto!", so Nick and Cody hastily assure him they used a fake bird for the purposes of swapping him for the manuscript, then jump into the Jimmy to pursue E.G. Shaw, who has fled the scene in his big blue car.

After what seems like a really loooooong car chase on and adjacent to the beach, E.G. Shaw crashes through a guardrail, then is thrown from the car before it plunges off of a cliff. Nick and Cody roughly haul the old man to his feet as he stares despondently into space.

Back at the Riptide, the trio is celebrating Gloria's promotion to Director of Interrogation Analysis. As they toast her smarts and ambition and dig into a plate of fried chicken, Dooley bursts aboard, glares at the plate of dead bird, and leaps to the conclusion that they're dining on Otto. Nick assures him they're not, explains that they used a fake bird for the bomb distraction, and that Mack took Otto home, where both are now safe and sound. A placated Dooley directs his attention to Gloria and asks her if she remembers all of the cheesy one liners she documented while Otto was squawking nonsensically, 'cause he somehow thinks it's not at all stupid to repeat them while he's flirting with women...and when she says she does and would be more than happy to recite each of them, he grabs a pad and pen and starts to write them down, much to the visible annoyance of Murray, Nick, and Cody.

Recap: Under the cover of darkness, two sisters (Rainey and Annie Chambers) meet up for their nightly act of burglary. They sneak onto the front doorstep of an expensive looking house, override the electronic security system, and tiptoe inside. A few seconds later, a patrol car pulls up...and when the officer approaches the front door, Rainey and Annie crouch down and manage to sneak out unseen through the back - but without stealing the big ticket item they came for: the computer.

Cody is at his gal pal Francine's place and is hiding in the bathroom to avoid being attacked by her aggressive (yet adorable) little dog Bucky, who growls at him menacingly. Francine orders Bucky to his dog bed, then rescues Cody from the bathroom and explains that her pooch is only acting up 'cause he's upset that she's leaving tomorrow to go on a vacation. She then links her arm with his and steers him over to her dining table to show off the elaborate spread she prepared for lunch, telling him she went so far as to call his mother to ask whether or not he likes to eat Cornish game hen. A weirded out Cody's all, "You called my mother?" then says they really really need to talk - but Francine seems oblivious to his torment about being in any kind of relationship with her and giddily pours two glasses of champagne. 

Lieutenant Quinlan tells Murray and Nick that they're suspects in a string of burglaries that have been occurring in a nearby upscale neighborhood, 'cause apparently a computer manual that Murray wrote (which details how to bypass security systems) was left behind by the burglars in one of the houses they robbed. Nick tells Quinlan it's nuts that he's considering them suspects based on such a flimsy connection, while Murray admits that, technically, he did invent a "digital impulse relay" that could be used to bypass security systems. Lieutenant Quinlan points out more circumstantial evidence to give weight to his theory: lately they seem to have all kinds of cash, as is evidenced by their purchase of a new motor for the Riptide, along with a new radar system. Murray explains that they're so flush with cash these days 'cause of all the royalties he's been earning from the aforementioned computer manual. Quinlan demands proof of that, then warns them to not leave his jurisdiction while he investigates the recent burglaries. A few seconds later, Cody returns home with a basket of cookies, courtesy of Francine. Nick fills him in about Lieutenant Quinlan suspecting them of burglary, then suggests they conduct their own investigation in order to clear their good names. He then glances warily at the cookie basket and asks Cody how breaking up with Francine went - but Cody clams up and refrains from admitting that he couldn't bring himself to dump the weirdo.

Murray tells Nick and Cody that after researching the burglaries, he discovered that they all took place while the owners were on vacation...and has deduced that the thieves must have been somehow privy to their travel plans. 

While out jogging, Rainey tells Annie she no longer wants to break into people's houses...and when Annie reminds her about the 20K debt they owe Joey Dietz, aka a local loan shark and all-around bad guy, Rainey just shrugs and suggests they calmly explain to him that they want out. Annie doubts he'd give even the tiniest of rat's asses about them not wanting to rob people, 'cause all he cares about is getting his money back - but Rainey digs in and stubbornly declares, "As of right now, I'm retiring from the burglary business" and jogs off.

The Riptide trio heads over to the upscale neighborhood that's been the target of the various robberies and check out the Coldwell residence, aka the site of last night's attempted robbery. As they check out the backyard, an armed neighbor (Lyle Babcock) advances on Cody and Murray, points his gun at them, and warns them to put their hands up. Nick, meanwhile, grabs a garden hose and sneaks behind Lyle and shoves the hose nozzle into his back and orders him to drop his weapon or he'll shoot. Lyle is so filled with terror that he promptly faints...but then quickly regains consciousness after Nick spritzes him with the hose and asks him who he is. Lyle introduces himself, explains that he's been on edge 'cause of all of the home invasions in the area, and reveals an interesting tidbit: the Coldwells boarded their dog Ginger at Camp Wellington (a luxury pet hotel) while they're out of town...and that the owners of every home that's been burglarized lately also boarded their pets. 

The trio returns to Pier 56, jazzed that they've established a common thread regarding the robberies. As they approach the Riptide, they notice a Bon Voyage Boys poster...and Nick correctly assumes that 1) Francine hung it there, and 2) Cody hasn't yet found the courage to break up with her. They enter the boat, which has been decorated with a tropical motif, and find Francine wearing a slinky bikini, sipping a fruity cocktail as she pets Bucky. Murray perks up at the sight of Bucky and gives him a canoodle, which is well received by the pooch...much to the confusion and dismay of Cody. Nick and Murray excuse themselves to go above deck and discuss a plan to lure the burglars into a trap...and when they head back downstairs to share their plan with Cody, they find him consoling a sobbing Francine. Nick assumes that Cody finally had the cajones to dump her and starts nattering about how they'll still all be friends - but Cody hastily interrupts to explain that Francine is sobbing 'cause she can't find anyone to take care of Bucky while she's vacationing in Club Esprit. Murray offers to look after Bucky...and as Francine profusely thanks him for being part of the solution, Nick ushers her above deck and wishes her Godspeed on her journey. When Cody chides Murray for offering to take care of a high-strung mutt like Bucky, Nick points out that they can use him to infiltrate Camp Wellington.

Rainey and Annie bravely inform Joey Dietz that they no longer want to rob houses in order to repay the 20K he loaned them, and he smarmily says he can think of a lot of ways a coupla hotties like them could repay him, creepishly adding, "The longer it takes, the better I'm going to like it." When he reaches out to caress Rainey's face, she reacts by slapping him...and he counter-reacts by shoving her onto the ground and snarling, "You retire when I say you retire!" He then warns that if they don't continue burglarizing houses, he'll do heinous things to their husbands and children.

Murray arrives at Camp Wellington with Bucky, who causes a ruckus when he barks aggressively at the other dogs. When Annie appears at the reception desk, Murray tells her he's checking in his pet Buckminster (lol), then makes a point of adding that he's well-to-do enough to be off to Acapulco for the next month. Annie visibly perks up at that tidbit and says she'd be happy to book Bucky in the luxurious Bel-Air suite, which comes furnished with a doggie water bed.

While en route to pick up their kids from school, Annie tells Rainey that a new client at Camp Wellington is a perfect target for their burglarizing 'cause he's rich and will be out of town for an entire month, She excitedly chirps, "It's going to be our last job! It's going to be perfect!", and Rainey perks up when Annie tells her that the client lives aboard a yacht (!), and that he's a well known, wealthy scientist. The women are horrified when they arrive at the school and see that Joey Dietz and his thugs are standing beside their kids. Rainey leaps out of the car and angrily warns Dietz to not come near their kids ever again, while Annie assures him they have a job lined up that's going to result in the kind of loot they need to fully pay off the 20K loan. Joey menacingly says they have until tomorrow to pay up, then threatens to rough up Annie's husband if they don't come through. 

Later that night, Murray is monitoring Pier 56 when he spots two figures clad in black approach the boat...and he promptly alerts Nick and Cody via walkie talkie that someone's about to sneak aboard. A few seconds later, Annie and Rainey sneak onto the Bozinsky "yacht", look around, and express disappointment that there's nothing of value for them to steal. Murray suddenly bursts into the room and yells, "Freeze or you're fish food!" and the women are all, "Ack!", throw a lamp at Murray, and flee the boat. The trio chase after the women, who run to a nearby amusement park that's closed for the night...and when they eventually emerge from a hiding spot beneath a pinball machine, Murray punches one of them. When they're subdued by the trio and remove their head coverings, Murray stares at them in shocked bewilderment and exclaims, "I hit a girl?"

Back on the Riptide, Annie and Rainey sheepishly offer to make amends for their attempted robbery of the boat, then explain that Joey Dietz is forcing them to rob innocent people 'cause they're in debt to him for 20K. When the trio's all, "Wuh? You owe that creepy loan shark that much money?", Rainey explains the nonsensical genesis of their financial woes: Annie has a numbers-specific form of dyslexia, yet for some reason is in charge of the finances of her family's business, Camp Wellington. During tax time, she accidentally filed a wildly inaccurate tax return due to her tendency to invert numbers, and then spent all the excess money the government issued as part of the tax return. And so...instead of 1) telling Michael (Annie's husband) so that he has a clue about what's going on, and 2) working out a reasonable repayment plan with the IRS, the sisters figured 'hey, let's borrow 20K from a sleazy loan shark', who's now forcing them to rob houses in order generate a daily revenue stream. They tear up and self-piteously lament that they have no one to help them out of this contrived financial disaster, and Murray clucks sympathetically and says that surely the Riptide Detective Agency could do something to help. When Nick and Cody look less than thrilled at the prospect of involving themselves in this conundrum, Murray pleads with them to reconsider, pointing out that Joey Dietz might actually harm the women's families...and that maybe they can figure out a way to get the sisters off the hook by implicating Dietz in all of the robberies. 

Lieutenant Quinlan drops by a pawn shop run by Joey Dietz's crime ring to snarlingly warn the loan shark that he strongly suspects him of being behind the recent burglaries. After he huffs off, Joey tells his thugs he can only assume that Annie and Rainey have been blabbing to the cops, and that they're going to have to "fix that".

Annie calls Joey Dietz to inform him that she's planning on robbing the yacht belonging to Murray Bozinsky, and supplies him with Murray's personal info. Joey orders his thugs to find out where Murray lives, and that he also wants them to kidnap "the two broads" and dump them in the ocean asap.

That evening, Rainey and Annie show the Riptide trio the warehouse Joey Dietz has been using as storage for all of the stolen items from their robberies - but are dismayed to see that it's been totally emptied. Cody tells the two women that since they have no proof of Dietz having possession of the stolen loot, they may have no choice but to bite the bullet and confess all of their crime-ing to the police. They tearfully concur - but insist on telling their families prior to spilling the beans to law enforcement.

When the trio returns home, they're startled to see that the Riptide has been totally emptied of everything. Francine, who has just returned from her Club Esprit vacation, emerges from the lower level and cries, "They took it all! Even Bucky!"

After the commercial break, Francine admonishes Murray for abandoning Bucky at Camp Wellington, railing, "I trusted you!" - just as Annie rushes aboard to report that Joey Dietz and his thugs have just abducted Rainey. Cody implores Francine to please leave so that they can deal with this far more urgent crisis...and Murray suggests they begin their search for Rainey by tracking Roboz, who the thugs apparently stole along with the rest of the Riptide furnishings. The trio (+ Annie) heads over to Camp Wellington so that Murray can 1) use their computer to track Roboz's whereabouts, and 2) retrieve Bucky from his Bel-Air dog suite.

The camera pans over to Roboz and Rainey, who are in the back of a truck, being driven out of state with all of the stolen property. As Murray shows them the tracking map, Annie sobs and clutches Nick (yum!) before they all head out to execute a hastily-cobbled-together rescue plan.

From aboard The Screaming Mimi, Murray - with the help of Bucky (!) - is tracking the signal being given off by Roboz...and eventually he's able to locate the criminal caravan: the truck containing the stolen property, and Joey's car. In a death-defying move, Cody's stunt double leaps off of the chopper and lands atop the truck, and nearly gets thrown off of it a few times before he's able to climb onto the side of the truck and into the cab, where he punches the driver and takes control of the truck. Nick then lowers Mimi in front of Joey's car, which forces it to crash on the side of the road - just as Cody brings the truck to a stop. An uninjured Joey and his thugs emerge from the overturned car, and Murray keeps them subdued by holding them at gunpoint.

Annie rushes to the back of the truck and is relieved when she finds Rainey unhurt. The trio is able to quickly get control of all the bad guys - except for the armed truck driver, who sneakily exits the passenger side of the truck and orders everyone to put their hands up. Cue Bucky, who leaps out of the chopper and runs over to the gunman and bites him...which gives the trio all the distraction they need to quickly disarm him. Hurray for Bucky!

Cody is practicing his breakup speech for Francine...and Nick and Murray nod approvingly and assure him that it comes off as firm, but also humane. A few seconds later, Francine arrives with her new beau (Garth), a bland looking accountant she met at Club Esprit. She breaks the news to Cody that she's hereby dumping him for Garth, who's everything he isn't: strong, determined, a real man. Ouch. She casually says, "Have a nice life" and saunters off with Garth...leaving a dazed Cody to mull over the humiliation of losing a wack-a-doodle like Francine to someone who's nowhere near being in his league of hotness. 

Recap: Terrified geologist J.J. Hafner is fleeing down a darkened alley while his business partner (Michael Harris) chases after him and opens fire. While that's happening, J.J.'s oblivious daughter (Juliet) is making dinner for the two of them. When she hears scuffling noises outside her front door, she rushes to open it and is horrified to find her father collapsed on the doorstep.  

The next morning, Nick and Cody amble over to the post office to fetch their mail, and Nick is all swaggerish about getting a letter from a hot ex-flame. A skeptical Cody grabs the letter out of Nick's pocket, sees that it's actually a chain letter, and laughingly tells Nick he's forced to comply, warning, "Break the chain, feel the pain" - just as Nick nearly trips on the sidewalk.

The two return to the Riptide, where Murray is huddled on the couch with a despondent, faraway look in his eyes. Cody informs him he has a registered package at the post office, then asks him whassup with the long face. Murray explains that he just got a call from Juliet Hafner, the daughter of his dear friend and geologist J.J. Hafner, to report that he was shot and killed last night. Murray adds that Juliet asked him to deliver the eulogy at tomorrow's funeral - but he's having a lot of trouble collecting his thoughts. Nick's advice is to pick one memorable story that stands out in his mind and just share that with the other mourners. 

After the funeral, Juliet thanks Murray for his touching tribute to her father - just as Michael Harris - ack! - wanders over to tell Juliet that she should feel free to let him know if she ever needs anything. She coldly retorts that she can take care of her needs herself...and as he ambles off dejectedly, Nick and Cody walk over and offer their condolences. Juliet thanks them, then shares the police's latest update on her pa's killing: they have zero idea who killed him and think J.J. might have gotten caught in the crossfire of gang-related violence. She says she doesn't believe that...and when Murray offers to do some investigating on her behalf, she happily takes him up on that and says she really really needs to find out who killed her dad and why. 

Aboard a gambling boat named Royal Flush, Michael Harris is being ripped a new one by a humorless looking hustler named Rick Osborne. Rick asks Michael why he'd be so stupid as to kill his partner before getting the tapes that he and his boss - a Caribbean Cartel Kingpin named Segura - are desperate to get their hands on. Michael sheepishly says he had no idea that J.J. was going to move the tapes from where they were usually stored, prompting Rick to grab him by the collar and remind him about the sizeable debt he's racked up whilst gambling aboard the Royal Flush, which he'd be more than happy to cancel after he hands over the tapes. He adds that he's not a patient man and really really wants to be able to do Segura's bidding by passing along the tapes to him...and after Michael nervously scurries off, Rick orders his henchmen to follow him and put his lights out if it becomes 100% clear that he never going to be able to deliver the tapes.

Over at Juliet's house, Juliet tells the Riptide trio she has no idea who would want to hurt her father. Nick asks her whassup with her being so cold to Michael Harris at the funeral, so she explains that her father thought Michael initially showed promise as a geologist...but that she, on the other hand, found him to be an insincere asshat. She says her father eventually saw through the creep, and so she could easily sense the palpable tension that developed between the two men. She then pauses and suddenly gets up from the couch to study the shelves, noticing that her things have been moved around. She says it's clear that someone's been rifling through her stuff...and a few seconds later, they all hear scuffling noises by her back door. The trio races through the living room and sees the back of Michael Harris fleeing to his car and squealing off. The trio then tells Juliet they're going to head over to Michael's place and cross their fingers that something useful comes of that. 

A few minutes later, the trio finds Michael's car parked in his driveway...and his body still in the driver's seat. They quickly deduce that the gunshot someone just fired through the windshield was most certainly the cause of death. 

After the commercial break, Lieutenant Quinlan and his flunkies show up at Casa Harris to process the crime scene. He glowers at the Riptide trio in his usual glowery manner and snarls, "You just out window shopping?" Murray takes offence to the remark and and reminds the curmudgeon that he, Nick, and Cody are licensed professional detectives, and as such deserve to be treated with respect...then turns to stomp off, but makes a buffoon of himself when he trips over a set of garbage cans. Lieutenant Quinlan somehow refrains from laughing aloud at Murray's clumsiness and instead applauds his chutzpah in standing up to him, then switches his attention back to the task at hand and asks Nick and Cody what they know about the deceased. They tell him that Michael Harris was seen snooping through their client's house shortly before being shot to death, and that their client's father is the recently deceased J.J. Hafner. Lieutenant Quinlan chews on that for a few seconds and says that J.J. kept company with some terrible people, namely Rick Osborne. He adds that Rick only allows high rollers aboard his gambling boat, and that he does not take kindly to people not paying their debts.

Back at the Riptide, Murray looks up Rick Osborne on his computer and quickly learns that he's a career criminal with an extensive police record. The news is then gently broken to Juliet that, at the time of Michael's death, it was discovered that he had been carrying a check for $1,500, and that it had been signed by her dad and made out to Rick Osborne. Juliet gets defensively prickly and insists that her dad wasn't a gambler, and that the allegation is "a bunch of garbage" that's only serving to destroy his memory. When she huffs off angrily, the trio runs after her and explains that it's normal protocol when trying to crack a case to consider every possibility. Nick warns that she may not like what she learns about her sainted father, so she concedes that while J.J. was a great pa, he may not have been a perfect man...and so is clinging to her determination to find out why he met an untimely end. Nick stares contemplatively into space for a few seconds and says he doesn't think that directly approaching Rick Osborne is a good idea, then asks Murray to please work his computer hackery magic to boost their credit rating - just for one night - so that it looks as though the three of them are wealthy high rollers. 

Later that night, Murray, Nick, and Cody are decked out in tuxedos. As Nick boasts about what a savvy gambler he is, Murray implants tiny transmitters inside their ears so that they can maintain three-way communication in case they get separated while aboard the Royal Flush. A few seconds later, Juliet drops by, admires their hotness in the tuxes, and announces that she managed to get a big wad o' cash from her dad's lawyer so they can look like the well-to-do gamblers they're trying to pass themselves off as.

Royal Flush! We get a lot of superfluous footage of the gambling boat's slot machines, blackjack tables, and the shapely legs of the sexy women on board. The Riptide trio makes a grand entrance, looking as wealthily cool as possible...and then Nick and Cody saunter over to the blackjack table and order a couple of drinks. After playing a hand - Cody wins, while Nick loses (which Cody attributes to bad luck 'cause of ignoring the chain letter) - Cody decides it'd be better if he spoke to the attractive card dealer (Rhonda) while she takes her break at the bar, in order to gauge whether or not there's anything she's willing to share that can move this investigation forward. He wanders across the room, seats himself beside Rhonda, and tells her he heard about the Royal Flush from the likes of J.J. Hafner and Michael Harris. Rhonda makes a yeech face and dishes about what a degenerate gambler and overall slime ball Michael Harris is [was, RIP], and that she can't fathom why Rick Osborne would even allow him on his boat. Cody's like, "Speaking of Rick Osborne.." and says he'd loooove to talk to the man about some possible investment opportunities - but Rhonda warns that Rick doesn't deign to meet with anyone on the boat - except if they're caught cheating. 

In the next scene, Nick and Cody are roughly hauled into Rick Osborne's office to face his wrath for their brazen efforts to cheat at poker. Rick's thugs report that the two were caught using hand signals...and while Nick and Cody deny all wrongdoing, Rick looks them up in his credit ratings file and sees that their faux annual income is listed at $1 million. Rick tells his thugs that since these two are so rich, they must have misinterpreted the hand signalling, and apologizes to Nick and Cody for the manhandling they just endured. He then gets a call from a second set of thugs, informing him that J.J.'s tapes haven't been found yet - but that their illicit snooping of his stuff did produce a post office receipt addressed to a Murray Bozinsky. When Rick's all, "Hmmm...Murray Bozinsky you say?" and remarks on how familiar that name sounds, and Nick and Cody exchange subtle expressions of 'oh shit' and promptly tap on their earpieces as a signal to Murray that they need to abort Operation Dig Up Intel On Rick Osborne, like pronto. 

Murray is winning big at poker when he gets the signal via his earpiece, so he causes a ruckus by loudly declaring that the cards he's been playing with are marked - just as it suddenly dawns on Rick that Murray Bozinsky is one of the guests aboard his boat. Nick and Cody react to their jig being up by launching an attack on Rick and his thugs before fleeing the office. They run into the casino part of the boat, grab Murray, and hop aboard a dinghy while Rick's men open fire on them...but in vain, 'cause every bullet misses.

The trio returns to the Riptide to retrieve the post office receipt that's addressed to Murray. Nick and Cody suggest they head over to the post office post-haste, break in, and retrieve the package J.J. addressed to him - but Murray declares that move unethical. When Nick and Cody urgently point out that there are dangerous men with guns who are desperate to get their hands on the package, Murray gives in, albeit extremely reluctantly.

Rick reports to his boss - the moustachioed Segura - that he's pretty sure a computer nerd named Murray Bozinsky is in possession of the tapes he's so desperate to obtain. Rick's thugs chime in and add that Murray lives aboard a boat with his two PI friends...and Rick chews on that for a second and correctly assumes that the PIs are the two guys who were just in his office after being accused of cheating. Segura chides Rick for lying to him about having the tapes in his possession, shrieking, "My entire operation is in peril!" He then orders Rick and his thugs to head over to the Riptide and find the tapes...and after that, he'll [needlessly] think of a way to permanently silence J.J.'s daughter. Eeeek!

While the trio is breaking into the post office, Rick Osborne's thugs are aboard the Riptide, looking for the package. Their fruitless search prompts one of them to remark on how much he's not looking forward to telling Seguara and Rick that they failed to find what they came for.

Back at the post office, Murray finds the package that J.J. had addressed to him, remarking that there's blood on it...which he interprets to mean that putting the thing in the mail was the last thing J.J. did before he died. A few seconds later, a security guard enters the post office, roams around looking suspicious as he yells, "Who's back there?" ... and the trio subdues him by putting a mail bag over his head so that they can flee unseen with the package. 

While en route inside the Jimmy, Murray opens the package and finds a series of tapes documenting the Wanderlust geological survey that  J.J. had been working on. He says he's going to need more complex computer equipment than what he owns in order to properly analyze the tapes, adding that he has a friend at Caltech he's sure wouldn't mind letting him into the building so that he can access the computer lab. Cody suddenly twigs onto the fact that since the bad guys are insanely desperate to obtain J.J.'s tapes, Juliet might be in grave danger...and Nick agrees and promptly drops him off at her house, then continues on to Caltech with Murray.

Cody urges Juliet to pack an overnight bag 'cause he thinks she'd be safer at the Riptide - which is highly questionable, given that the bad guys know where they all live and were just there to conduct a fruitless search for J.J.'s package.

Over at Caltech, Murray studies the tapes and tells Nick it looks as though J.J.'s geological survey had discovered a massive oil reserve within the U.S. ... which he can only assume means that these tapes are worth a fortune. Nick looks both intrigued and alarmed, then picks up the phone and dial's Juliet's number, but gets a message from the operator that the line is dead. Assuming that something is amiss, Nick and Murray eject the tapes and rush out...and while that's happening, Cody realizes that Juliet's phone is dead when he tries to call them a cab, and a few seconds later the lights abruptly go out. The camera then pans over to the feet of one of the bad guys who's just broken into the house...and he fires his gun just as Juliet screams and slams into his arm so that he can't get a clean shot at Cody.

The next morning, Lieutenant Quinlan is summoned to pretend to have an interest in investigating the gunshot that was heard inside Juliet's house last night, along with her/Cody's sudden disappearance. Nick and Murray put their heads together to hash out a plan to use the transmitter that's still implanted in Cody's ear to 1) locate him and Juliet, and 2) relay a message to him during the rescue attempt.

Cody and Juliet are being held captive aboard the Royal Flush, which by this time has been brought out to sea. Cody covertly tells Juliet he's almost certain that Nick and Murray will try to locate them via his ear transmitter and will no doubt rescue them before the end credits roll. 

Aboard The Screaming Mimi, Nick tells Murray he's going to criss-cross the ocean and keep his fingers crossed that they'll stumble across the signal of the transmitter implanted inside Cody's ear. 

Rick demands that Cody give him his Riptide phone number...and when Cody needlessly blurts out a sassy retort, the thugs punch him. Segura calmly explains that he's open to the idea of arranging a trade (the two of them in exchange for J.J.'s tapes) - but in order to do that, they're going to need his phone number.  

The Riptide phone rings - but since Nick and Murray are busy criss-crossing the ocean in search of Cody and Juliet, no one's there to answer it. An irritated Segura hangs up, chides Rick for playing him for a fool, and says he's leaping to the wild conclusion that Nick and Murray aren't at home 'cause they're out making another deal for the tapes. He orders his henchman to bring Cody and Juliet to him. 

Aboard Mimi, Murray finally detects the signal emanating from Cody's ear transmitter. Hurray!

Segura informs Cody and Juliet that, based on absolutely no proof, their so-called friends are sacrificing them to make their own deal for J.J.'s tapes. When they ask him what in blazes is on those tapes, he's only too happy to reveal that they contain geo-coordinates for one of the largest crude oil deposits in geological history, which he's estimating is worth trillions of dollars. He further explains that he definitely doesn't want this information to be released to the world 'cause the criminal enterprise that he represents, the Caribbean Oil Cartel [which I'll translate to mean mostly Venezuela], would be in direct competition with this monster crude oil deposit. Cody ponders Segura's logic for a few seconds before deducing that if the U.S. no longer needed the cartel's oil, they'd quickly go bankrupt. It's unfortunate they don't yet know how stupidly shortsighted this plan is, given that in just a couple of decades Canada will, by far, become the largest exporter of petroleum to the U.S. and leave the "Caribbean Oil Cartel" in the dust - but then I'm a recapper, not an expert in the supply of crude oil to the U.S. by non-OPEC fictional oil cartels.

Nick hovers Mimi over the Royal Flush and tells Murray to open fire when he gives him the green light. A few seconds later, bullets start flying, giving Cody all the distraction he needs to punch Rick and his two thugs into submission, then jump aboard the dinghy to prevent Segura from fleeing. Cody knocks him out with one punch, then glares down at him in disgust as he mutters, "Looks like you crapped out." Pun intended.

When all is safe once again, Juliet is aboard the Riptide, serving the trio some freshly baked apple pie. They agree on what a fun time they had while gambling this episode - but then Nick solemnly points out that their most important accomplishment was solving J.J.'s murder. Cody gets up to make them some coffee and just happens to come across a bunch of outgoing letters from Nick, aka proof that he opted to avoid the 'break the chain, feel the pain' threat after all. Nick vehemently denies buying into that nonsense and proceeds to rip up the chain letters...but when he lowers himself to sit down, the chair breaks beneath him. Womp womp!

Recap: Under the cover of darkness, Colonel John Litvak meets up with a KGB agent (Tanya Petrov) to discuss their nefarious plan to faux recruit Murray Bozinsky to a pretend job under false pretences. John assures Tanya he knows exactly the right buttons to push in order to successfully lure the geek, smarmily adding, "Stick with me, you might learn something." When he gets all touchy-feely, the humorless Tanya grabs his hand and gives it a painful twist, then snappishly warns him to not fucking touch her like that ever again. Haha!  

Murray has wrapped himself in a blanket and is pacing outside the Riptide, loudly hiccupping - a disturbance that's preventing Nick and Cody from being able to sleep. The two go above deck to ask Murray what has him so stressed to the point that he's hiccuping nonstop, so he reveals he has a major life decision to make. He explains that he just got a call from an old college professor - Bradley Stivers - to offer him a job (in Sunview, CA) heading up the Artificial Intelligence division at a new Silicon Valley firm called Techno Trend.

The trio head inside the boat, and Nick reminds Murray that he quit his last corporate job during the series pilot...and not, to say the least, under the best of circumstances. Murray insists that that toxic situation was totally different from this new opportunity, and that he's intrigued by the idea of working in the AI field, aka a new frontier in the world of technology. He glumly adds he was hoping they'd be happy for him, and Cody assures him they are - but then expresses concern about the survival of the detective agency without his gadgetry and advanced computing know-how. Murray promises to continue to be there for them, then laments that breaking up their threesome is the most difficult decision he's ever had to make. 

In the next scene, Murray is enjoying his Boz Voyage party, to which everyone in King Harbor has been invited...including curmudgeon Lieutenant Quinlan.

Bradley Stivers tells Nick he hopes there are no hard feelings towards him for recruiting Murray for the new AI job, and Nick assures him there aren't...but then warns that, sooner or later, Murray is going to crave the excitement of a perilous car chase. Bradley chuckles at that...and when he starts sneezing, he explains that he developed a new allergy the minute he arrived in California. Nick files away that tidbit before he and Cody present Murray with their farewell gifts: a mini Screaming Mimi that also serves as a radio, and a dart board with Lieutenant Quinlan's face on it. Hee! Murray thanks the two, who he makes a special point of calling his best friends and partners, then announces that he's leaving them Roboz in order for them to have continued technical support for the agency. He tells the rest of the King Harborites he'll always cherish the time he spent with them...and drones on and on as if he's delivering a commencement speech - until a buxom Contessa babe wearing a skimpy tank top sexily sashays over to the stage and shuts him up with a giant smooch.

Nick and Cody get into a bitter argument as they pack up Murray's computer equipment...and as Roboz mutely observes the snipefest, he no doubt curses Murray for abandoning him to two men who bicker like they're an old married couple. Eventually Nick and Cody call a truce and chucklingly recall the first time they met Murray, and subsequently enjoy a flashback about their time serving in the U.S. military..

Nick and Cody, both decked out in full military garb (yum!), are summoned by their superior officer to provide air transport for Captain Murray Bozinsky, who's been detained after punching one Colonel John Litvak in the face. As the three board The Screaming Mimi, Murray explains to Nick and Cody that he only struck Litvak after he got wind that the scoundrel had stolen a software program he had designed to promote world peace, and intended to use it for some unspecified, abominable purpose. As he starts to natter about his interest in computers, the flashback fades out...and Nick and Cody decide to load the computer equipment onto Mimi and surprise Murray by flying it directly to his new digs in Sunview. 

Nick and Cody land in Sunview - but are puzzled when they learn that the address for Techno Trend is an abandoned construction site. They ask a construction worker ambling nearby if he knows anything about Techno Trend, and he says there was supposed to be a new office building on the site - but the lot owners skipped town without paying him and his crew for their labor. Nick and Cody chew on that for a few seconds, strongly suspect that Murray's job offer must be part of a scam, and worriedly conclude that whoever's running the scam now has Murray.

Nick and Cody head over to the Sunview Police Department and report Murray's disappearance as part of a suspected scam. They tell the police captain that a man named Brad Stivers is supposed to be residing in the area as well, and she listens concernedly and promises to promptly look into the matter...which has to be a refreshing change from the callous way Lieutenant Ted 'I don't give a shit 'bout nuthin' Quinlan would surely have responded.

On a rural property outside of Sunview, a hiccupping Murray tells Bradley Stivers he's sooooo dismayed he'd betray him like this - but Bradley denies doing any such thing and says he too was duped into thinking that the AI job was a legitimate offer. A few seconds later, two thugs enter the locked room...and when Murray demands answers about why he's being held in this house against his will, Bradley lunges at them and yells at Murray to make a run for it. Murray races out of the room and reaches the front door - but before he can figure out how to unlock all the bolts, he's tackled by the thugs and then hauled over to a makeshift office. He's stunned when the man sitting behind the desk is none other than Colonel John Litvak. He smarmily says, "Welcome to Sunview California, Dr. Bozinsky" ... and when Murray asks him if this whole thing is some kind of elaborate hoax, he says that while he's enjoying having the likes of him under his thumb, the real motivation is money. Murray sourly assumes this means he's going to be forced at gunpoint to work on some kind of malevolent research project - but John clarifies, "I'm planning to sell you to the Soviet Union." As Murray stares back at him in horrified bewilderment, John explains that the Soviet regime is desperate to recruit the best AI scientists the world has to offer...and that he was the first candidate who came to mind.

Nick and Cody wander around Sunview and post missing person flyers that feature a sketch artist's rendering of Murray's bespectacled face. A random woman wanders over to the bulletin board, carefully studies the flyer, and says she saw Murray at a local airstrip...and that he seemed really drunk and referred to her as Myrna. Nick and Cody scrunch their faces confusedly, then recall that the only Myrna they know of is a New Orleans hooker who deflowered Murray while he was facing charges for Litvak's punching. The two then stare contemplatively into space as they indulge in a second flashback..

While hanging on Bourbon Street, Murray giddily ogles a brunette hooker from across the street. He admits to being a virgin - to which Nick and Cody are all, "Wow, shocker" - then abruptly announces that he needs to go to a drugstore, pronto, so he can stock up on breath mints, mouth wash, and nasal spray. 

And speaking of nasal spray...

Back in the present day, Nick wonders aloud if perhaps Bradley Stivers might have needed some prescription nasal spray to control his sudden California allergy...and if so, they could use the address on the bottle to track his whereabouts. As they amble over to the nearest drugstore, Nick bitches about all the parking tickets they've gotten since arriving in Sunview, and then he and Cody approach the drugstore clerk and tell her they're here to pick up a prescription for Bradley Stivers (while crossing their fingers that a prescription under his name just happens to be waiting for pickup). The clerk confirms that, yep, indeed she does have a bottle of nasal medicine for a Bradley Stivers...and across the store, one of Litvak's thugs just happens to be close enough to eavesdrop on the interaction. 

Murray resorts to loud shrieking in an effort to get rid of his hiccups, then explains to one of his confused captors that shrieking can sometimes help, then recalls another activity that can quell hiccups as he dreamily flashes back to the time he got his wick dipped in New Orleans..

In the lobby of a New Orleans hotel, Nick and Cody lament the unfairness of a tenderhearted dweeb like Murray Bozinsky possibly getting sentenced to seven years for punching a colonel in the face - particularly an assbag like John Litvak...and highly doubt he'll last in the stockade for seven minutes, let alone seven years. They put their heads together to think of a high ranking officer who owes them a favor and come up with General Bernie Collins. A few seconds later, a dazed looking Murray descends the staircase with Myrna...and, yep, it definitely looks as though getting busy with a streetwalker has cured his hiccupping problem. 

Back in present day, Murray is returned to his room. When he sees that Bradley Stivers is no longer there, he demands to know what has happened to his friend...but in vain, 'cause his captors offer no explanation.  

Nick and Cody race over to the address that was on Bradley Stivers' prescription bottle and find him in the garage, slumped in the driver's seat of the car, with the motor running. They drag him out of the garage and attempt to revive him - but it's pretty obvious he's been a goner for awhile. A few seconds later, the thug who was in the drugstore comes squealing over in his car and opens fire on them...and after a brief car chase, a policeman standing nearby jumps into his patrol car and pulls over Nick and Cody while the thug gets away.

Nick and Cody are in a holding cell at the police precinct, grumbling about the injustice of the police suspect them of killing Bradley Stivers. As they bicker about which of them is most to blame for their current predicament, someone in another cell yells at them to shut up...and they pause and longingly wonder, "Where's General Bernie Collins when you need him?" 

During another flashback, General Collins says he's reviewed all the facts in Murray's case, deems the charges "disgusting", and calls out Colonel Litvak for his generally retaliatory-type behavior. He announces that a new trial date will be set, and tells Murray that in the meantime he's free to return to his research post. Once the General has exited the room and is safely out of hearing range, an enraged John Litvak glares at Murray and seethes, "Someday you're going to pay for this - like you've never paid for anything in your life."

​Nick and Cody tell the Sunview police captain that they strongly suspect John Litvak of being behind the kidnapping of Murray and the killing of Bradley Stivers. She promises to look into where Litvak might be holed up - just as Nick suddenly recalls the many parking tickets he and Cody have amassed during their short stay in Sunview. He asks her if he can look through the precinct's parking ticket files, and she's like 'sure, why the hell not?'.

As a crouched Murray is being locked inside a wooden crate, John Litvak smugly points out to Tanya Petrov that he delivered Murray as promised - but she looks unimpressed, reminds him he still has to transport Murray to the trawler, then chides him for selling out his own countryman. Seems like a counter-productive statement to her own agenda, but OK.

As Nick and Cody sift through the pile of parking tickets, they come across one issued to John Litvak, whose home address is a rural property outside of town. The police captain perks up at that lead and agrees to meet them there asap. 

Nick and Cody fly to the rural property via Mimi - just as John Litvak is burning whatever incriminating evidence he didn't want to leave behind after his human trafficking of Murray. When he sees the chopper coming, he flees to his car to escape - but before he can drive anywhere, Cody leaps off of Mimi, tackles him, and hauls him aboard the chopper to get him to spill the beans about Murray's whereabouts. John immediately caves and says that the KGB has their friend, adding that the Russians paid him a fortune to obtain the geeky genius.

Tanya Petrov and a KGB goon are driving a truck with the crated Murray in the back when they suddenly realize they're being hovered over by a fugly pink chopper. Cody laments not having any firearms aboard, 'cause they hadn't anticipated being in a gunfight while in Sunview, so he proposes throwing Murray's computer equipment atop the truck to get the driver to stop. Nick concurs with that plan, so Cody begins tossing things off of the Mimi...and eventually one of the computers hits the truck's windshield, causing the goon to lose control of the truck, which is then plunged into a nearby pond. Tanya and the goon emerge from the overturned truck and crawl to shore...and then Cody wades into the water to drag the floating crate to shore. Nick races over and breaks the lock...and when a conscious Murray spills out, Cody jokes about how they finally figured out how to use his computer equipment. A dazed Murray chews on the loss of his entire hardware collection for a few seconds, but then grins happily at the joy of being rescued from a life of Soviet slavery.

Back at the Riptide, Nick sheepishly admits to a weary looking Murray that he told Cody to throw his computer equipment out of the chopper to stop the KGB agents - but Murray assures him he totally understands, and that he can easily replace it all. He expresses sadness at the loss of his friend and mentor, Bradley Stivers, and says he's deeply moved that the two of them risked everything to locate and rescue him. He points out that if weren't for them he'd just be another computer geek, and thinks of them as his brothers. As the three absorb the fuzzy warmth of that shared sentiment, Cody suggests they take an impromptu vacation. Murray says he's way too tired to go anywhere...but when Nick asks, "Too tired for New Orleans?", Murray perks up and is all, "Hell no!" and says he'd loooooove to look up Myrna and see if she's up for another romp...which, if she's still walking the streets in search of johns, she'll no doubt be willing to indulge him.

​Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!

Recap: On a dark and stormy night, Murray is watching a horror movie as he works on some kind of science experiment. He's alarmed when the lights suddenly begin to flicker and he hears noises outside the boat. He calls out for Nick and Cody in the hope that the noises mean that they're back from their errand, then nervously peeks out the window. 

Nick and Cody, meanwhile, are in a nearby convenience store, buying ingredients to supply Murray with his experiment. They happen to glance down at the local newspaper, which features a story on their heroic role in the recent arrest of a drug kingpin - while the useless police just stood by and did fuck all. Cody remarks on how great the story is going to be for the agency, but Nick argues that Lieutenant Quinlan will, no doubt, be extremely pissed off that they made him look like the inept law enforcement flunky he is. 

Murray is fumbling around in the dark...and when the lights suddenly come back on, he notices that - ack! - a strange man is seated in the chair across the room, staring at him intently. He introduces himself as Albert Trumonde, wanks Murray about what an awesome computer genius he's famous for being, and says he'd like to hire the Riptide Detective Agency to locate a boat called the Mary Aberdeen. He says it was originally owned by Jessup Taylor, then issues an ominous warning: many people associated with this haunted boat have suffered horrible, untimely demises. He hands Murray a business card, along with a stack of bills totalling $1,000...and a dazed looking Murray says it's a sufficient deposit, but that he still needs to get an official OK from his partners to take the case. He tells Albert to stay put for a few minutes, then heads up to the main living area.

​When Nick and Cody return home from their convenience store errand, Murray tells them he just scored a client who wants their help locating a haunted boat. He describes Albert Trumonde as a very strange character, then ushers them down to his room...and is baffled when it appears as though Albert has vanished. 

A mystified Murray insists that Albert was sitting in his chair a few minutes earlier, then shows them the $1,000 he received as a deposit to find the haunted Mary Aberdeen. He hands Albert's business card to Cody, who calls the number and is directed to a cemetery called Hillside Acres, aka the final resting place of the deceased Albert Trumonde. Nick leaps to the conclusion that this whole thing is some kind of practical joke that Lieutenant Quinlan is playing on them - but Murray insists that Albert was aboard the boat, and that he's a legitimate client.  

The next morning, the Riptide trio heads over to Jessup Taylor's mansion to kickstart their investigation. Jessup tells them that Albert Trumonde has been dead for eighteen years, and that he and Jessup's also deceased son (Donald) were business partners. Jessup's two thuggish grandsons grumble about how Albert murdered their pa...so Jessup explains that Albert rigged a magic trick that was performed in Vegas, and it resulted in tragedy. Jessup says he's intrigued that anyone would pose as Albert for the odd purpose of searching for the Mary Aberdeen, then gets a faraway look in his eyes as he remarks on how much he misses the old boat and all the memories it held of his dearly departed Donald. One of the grandsons reveals that Tiny Tommy purchased the boat after the death of their pa...and then Jessup opens his safe, pulls out a wad of cash totalling $5,000, and hires the trio to locate the mystery boat. After they scamper off, Jessup tells his grandsons he's 100% certain Albert Trumonde is dead, given that he personally threw him and the magician off the side of the Mary Aberdeen as vengeance for their role in Donald's death. He scrunches his face concernedly and mutters, "Somebody knows something.." and assumes there's a piece of evidence on the boat he didn't have the opportunity to destroy. He then orders his grandsons to head over to Tiny Tommy's to do whatever's necessary to discourage the Riptide trio from pursuing the investigation further. 

The trio arrives at Tiny Tommy's Used Boat Sales shop...and when they tell him they're here to inquire about the Mary Aberdeen, he pales and moans, "Oh no! Not again!" and explains, "Seems like all I do is sell that stupid boat - then buy it back when somebody dies on it." Unfazed, the trio asks him if they can take a look at his customer files, and he hands them a file that documents his father's original purchase of the Mary Aberdeen from Jessup Taylor, then goes through the subsequent timeline..

• Sold it to the Hamiltons in 1966 - before Mr. Hamilton died after getting his foot caught in the anchor line
• Sold it to the Thomases in 1975 - before Mr. Thomas was shot by his wife while aboard the boat
• Sold it to the Lewises in 1978 - before it was returned after yet another unspeakable tragedy
• Sold it to Cody Allen in 1981 (ack!)

Murray gasps and warns Cody that his boat "will kill again", while Nick remains convinced that this case is a prank being perpetrated on them by Lieutenant Quinlan - but that notion is quickly dispelled when Jessup's psychotic grandsons descend on the boat shop and open fire on them with their machine guns.
​
Lieutenant Quinlan arrives on the scene and rails at the trio for even thinking that he'd be involved in a boat-related prank...and Nick sheepishly admits he now realizes that Jessup Taylor is the dark force behind their attempted murders just now. Murray explains to a disinterested Quinlan that Jessup paid them $5,000 to locate the Mary Aberdeen, then describes the mysterious visit he received from Albert Trumonde, who also commissioned them to find the haunted boat. Quinlan chuckles about the notion about a haunted boat and makes it clear he's going to do fuck all about the fact that Jessup Taylor's grandsons just tried to kill them (+ Tiny Tommy) with a spray of bullets. After he exits the shop [to, I guess, continue not policing the community], Murray wonders aloud if maybe they're dealing with an actual curse, and a wigged out Tiny Tommy says he'd really really like them to leave 'cause he's pretty sure that, yep, they're definitely cursed. 

Back at the Riptide, Murray uses his computer to look into Jessup Taylor's background and learns that the cretin was found guilty of embezzling, gambling, and real estate fraud. He then links a special camera to his computer that can determine whether or not there's any "leftover energy fields" from the boat's deceased inhabitants. The camera immediately detects a presence just outside the boat, so Nick and Cody covertly sneak outside to see who's lurking around. Cody runs into a ghostly looking black-cloaked stranger, who punches him in the face and runs off...and when Nick races over, Cody cries, "He had no face!" Nick then pursues the ghost before he's nearly run over by a car that squeals off in the night.

Nick and Cody head over to Casa Taylor to ask Jessup whaddup with sending a hit squad after them, pointing out that he and his grandsons were the only people who knew they were going to be at Tiny Tommy's boat shop. Jessup gets angry at the accusation and yells at them to get out, and Cody smugly says there's clearly something about the Riptide that's piquing his interest. Nick then hands Jessup his $5,000 back 'cause they no longer want to be on his payroll.

Dooley arrives at the Riptide - just as Murray is spritzing a chemical spray he calls ghost repellent. Dooley chuckles about their demon problems, then says he stopped by for some more Boz-Again oil for his car motor. Murray gives him a small bottle, warning him to only use a few drops 'cause it's very powerful stuff. 

After conducting more research, Murray reports that Donald Taylor was involved in a number of shady dealings during the 1960s. Apparently his father (Jessup) bought him a hotel club for his twenty-first birthday...and shortly after that, he was reportedly killed on stage by a rogue magician. Nick chews on that tidbit for a few seconds, then points out that their original client had to have known that the Riptide is, in fact, the Mary Aberdeen...which leads to the conclusion that only an illusionist could have started this case in all of its mystifying mysteriousness. They suddenly hear a sneeze coming from the closet - no doubt from all the ghost repellent Murray's been spritzing - and Nick and Cody aim their guns while Murray flings open the door and finds a sheepish looking Albert Trumonde huddled on the floor and staring up at them. 

While dining out, Albert reveals that he's really Martin Stonewell, aka "the world's greatest magician" ... and that he's been hiding aboard the Riptide ever since the episode's opening scene and was getting very hungry. He explains that the Vegas partnership between Albert and Donald wasn't working out so well, so Albert deliberately rigged his equipment so that Donald would perish during a magic trick...and I can't help wondering if it was a gruesome outcome of the 'sawing a person in half' trick. Martin admits that, yeah, he probably should have gone to the police to report the crime - but he was so desperate to get back his friend's diary that Albert, for whatever reason, had in his possession...and dangled the promise of handing it over to him as long as he kept his mouth shut. Later that day, the two met up on the deck of the Mary Aberdeen, beneath which the diary was alleged to have been hidden - but they ran into Jessup, who was so enraged about his son's untimely death that he tied them both up and threw them overboard. Martin chucklingly says that as a master illusionist he had no problem untying the restraints...then adds that before being thrown overboard, Albert told him he had enough evidence to convict the corrupt Taylors. A miffed looking Murray chides Martin for putting him and his friends in danger, and snarks that a $1,000 deposit doesn't justify the grave risk to their lives.

Martin rushes out of the restaurant after Murray and earnestly explains that he's been forced to take on the identity of a dead man for years - even though it prolly would have been equally as safe/dangerous for him to have simply retained his own identity. He says he eked out a living making appearances at backstreet carnivals and side shows, then contritely acknowledges that he had no right to involve three nice people in his Quest for the Missing Diary. As he shuffles off dejectedly, Murray asks, "Where beneath the boat?" and Martin beams, gushes about how thrilled he is that they're going to help him, and promises to be honest with them from this moment on. When the question arises of who's going to go diving beneath the Riptide to retrieve the diary, everyone stares expectantly at Cody. 

Across the pier, Jessup's grandsons are staring over at the Riptide through binoculars, waiting for the right moment to set off the bomb one of them just planted beneath the boat. They spot Martin Stonewell, (somehow) recognize him instantly, and express surprise that he's alive. Cody, meanwhile spots the ticking time bomb attached to the bottom of the Riptide and removes it...and when he swims up to the surface he throws it to Nick (!), who then whips it out to sea - just as the idiot grandsons accidentally set it off while arguing about when they should set it off. When they realize that their attempt to bomb the Riptide has been foiled, they decide to once again open fire on the trio (+ Martin). Nick and Cody dodge every bullet as they grab their firearms and chase after the murderous brothers, who are able to quickly hop into their getaway vehicle and squeal off.

Cody says he didn't find the diary beneath the ship - just as Nick happens to notice a framed photo of the ship that Cody says came with the boat when he purchased it, along with a defective compass. Amid Cody's protests, Nick smashes the picture frame and finds a secret map behind the photo, which provides instructions on how to locate Martin's friend's missing diary.

After flying (via The Screaming Mimi) to a remote beach, Nick and Cody eventually conclude that they're digging in the wrong place - just as Murray informs them that when he lubricated the defective compass with some Boz-Again, it began working properly...and theorizes that the map in the picture frame must have been altered by 90 degrees in order to match the once defective compass. Sounds perfectly reasonable. He says this all means they need to head over to Bluffside Acres, aka the cemetery that houses the grave for the woman the boat was originally named after: Mary Aberdeen.

Dooley radios Mimi and tells the trio they need to return to Pier 56 pronto, 'cause Lieutenant Quinlan is raising a stink about the ticking time bomb explosion. Nick says to tell him they can't 'cause they're on a case, but that he can meet up with them at Bluffside Acres...and after he hangs up, we see that Dooley was being forced at gunpoint by Jessup and his grandsons to learn the whereabouts of the trio (+ Martin).

​The trio (+ Martin) arrives at Bluffside Acres, and they quickly locate Mary Aberdeen's gravesite and begin to dig. 

Dooley is able to escape from the back seat of Jessup's car, races over to the nearest vehicle (a hearse!) and motors over to the cemetery to give his friends a heads up about the imminent danger they're in.  

As that's happening, Nick and Cody dig up the coveted diary: Harry Houdini's Best Illusions. Murray gasps and calls the discovery priceless, and an elated Martin thanks them for giving him back his life...and then he and Murray wander off together to fully absorb the monumental unearthing of this mystical treasure.  

Dooley arrives at the cemetery while Nick and Cody are looking over a ledger they discovered was buried with the diary, which contains enough documentation to implicate Jessup in all manner of criminal activity. Dooley urgently warns that the Taylors are en route - just as Jessup and his grandsons squeal over in their car. Jessup storms over to the gravesite, snatches the ledger away from Cody, and mutters about how the magician was intent on finding this incriminating proof against him. The grandsons asks him what they should do with Nick, Cody, and Dooley, and he glances around and nonchalantly says, "It's a graveyard. Do what comes natural."

From a hiding spot several feet away, Martin uses his illusionist ingenuity and tosses a fireball in Jessup's direction...and the distraction gives Nick and Cody all the time they need to physically subdue the grandsons before jumping into the hearse to race after the fleeing Jessup. They chase his car around the cemetery for what seems like a really looooong time - until Cody finally manages to smash into him. At that moment, Martin stands on the edge of the nearby cliff, clutching the diary, and imperiously announces, "Jessup Taylor, I take back what is due me!" ... and a wigged out Jessup cries, "Nooooo!! I killed you!" He then opens fire on the illusionist and watches as Martin appears to plunge off the cliff, prompting Murray to shriek, "Noooooo!!" and run towards him. He peers over the cliff's edge, but sees no sign of his friend.

Back aboard the Riptide, Nick and Cody assure a distressed Murray that disappearing into thin air is what Martin does best, and that they can only assume he's hiding somewhere safe...pointing out that the police weren't able to locate his body [though it's highly doubtful that Lieutenant Quinlan would expend the energy or resources to look very hard]. Cody says that surely Martin is laughing about all of this, then reminds Murray of their most significant accomplishment this episode: getting an old-man criminal off the streets. He then suggests they all go out for drinks...and as they amble above deck, we hear the sound of Martin Stonewell's maniacal sounding laughter. 

Recap: Aboard a corporate helicopter, Eugene Kay (an engineer in the R&D division of Baxter Aviation) implores his corrupt boss (Stanley Weston) to make the much-needed adjustments in the design of their new fleet of helicopters, warning, "You'll never get away with it." Stanley coldly tells Eugene he's no longer needed...and his henchman growlingly informs Eugene he's been abruptly terminated. As Eugene stares back at him perplexedly, Stanley says, "It's been a pleasure having you in the company" and watches as the hapless engineer is shoved out of the helicopter somewhere over the ocean.

Over in King Harbor, a grumpy security guard shoves a homeless man down a flight of concrete stairs...and Murray just happens to be standing at the bottom of the stairs, witnessing the abuse. The security guard threatens to lock the bum up if he ever catches him panhandling on the premises again - but the bum argues that he's an inventor and has the right to gain access to the U.S. Patent Office. Murray chimes in and concurs that if the bum has official patent business, he shouldn't be barred from the government office. When the security guard loses all interest in the matter and wanders off, the bum admits to Murray that he actually was panhandling, 'cause he's trying to raise the patent fee for his new invention: a small square thing that prevents people from falling asleep in front of the TV. Sounds like an odd thing to invest even an ounce of energy in, but OK. The bum says he can't get the thing to work properly, primarily 'cause people tend to...uh, blink while they watch TV...so Murray chews on that conundrum for a few seconds and suggests implementing "a micro digital time delay" to around thirty seconds. The bum joyously chirps, "Yes, yes! You've done it!" and tells Murray he owes him one, then asks for his contact info...and when Murray indulges him and then asks what his name is, the bum introduces himself as Baxter Bernard. 

As Nick and Cody work on the The Screaming Mimi's deteriorated wheel assembly, Murray tells them about his run-in with Baxter Bernard - but the two express their deep skepticism that he just happened to run into the richest man in the world. Nick reminds him that Baxter Bernard is the owner of around twenty companies, including Baxter Electronics and Baxter Aviation. When Cody goes off-topic and grumbles about how much time, money, and maintenance Mimi regularly requires, Nick gets all bitchy-defensive and says it takes a lot of work and money to maintain a classic. Murray ignores their bickering and insists that the bum he talked to was definitely Baxter Bernard, and that he helped him work out a kink [that anyone with a semblance of programming knowledge should have been able to figure out on his own] in his latest invention - but Nick and Cody tell him they suspect the guy was "Larry the Bum", a local vagrant who's been seen panhandling in the area. They urge Murray not get his hopes up about what was probably a faux celebrity sighting. 

​A fancy blue helicopter - the new BaxterCraft 1000! - lands in the nearby landing space. A woman climbs out of the cockpit, asks which of them is Murray, then tosses him the keys as she brusquely says, "A gift from Baxter Aviation." She then strides over to a waiting cab and climbs in, ignoring calls from the Riptide trio to stop and explain the unexpected delivery. Murray cackles about the "boss" gift, which he estimates is worth around $5 million...and a dismayed Nick concedes that it's a great piece of machinery, but then stubbornly insists, "If you want character and personality, you gotta look to the Mimi." He then climbs inside the cockpit and can't help but be impressed by the sleek, top-of-the-line control panel, while mumbling that it's kinda weird to get a big ticket gift like this from a mere acquaintance. He hands Murray a note addressed to him from Baxter, asking them to please pick him up from the top of Point Dune...and Nick immediately perks up at the prospect of flying the spiffy new chopper.

Nick revs up the chopper and makes lift-off...and unnerves Murray and Cody by doing some fancy flying tricks and deep dives. They approach Point Dune and spot Baxter, who's waving up at them - just as a second chopper suddenly appears out of nowhere. A couple of thugs leap off of it and chase after Baxter in a brazen attempt to abduct him...and as Nick tries to land close enough to rescue him, the bad guys open fire. Nick is mystified when, a few seconds later, the BaxterCraft suddenly starts to malfunction and spin in circles. He manages to safely land...and after he, Murray, and Cody leap off and hide in some nearby foliage, one of the thugs shoots at the empty chopper, resulting in a massive explosion. The trio stares at each other in puzzlement and vow to learn who those men were, why they would want to abduct Baxter Bernard, and why a brand new helicopter functioned so shittily after being shot at. 

The trio hitches a ride back to King Harbor on the back of a dilapidated pickup truck, then discuss how shocking it was that a brand new chopper malfunctioned after being riddled by a few bullets. Nick says he intends to call the FAA to file a report - just as they see that there's a brand new replacement chopper parked in the landing space with a big red bow across the front hood. An intrigued Murray glances around the cockpit, but doesn't find a note this time...and a few seconds later, Baxter Bernard appears. He removes his mangy grey wig and beard, introduces himself, and apologizes for them nearly getting blown up just now. 

Over at Baxter Aviation, the woman pilot who gifted Murray with the first helicopter (Denise McKean) is summoned to the head office to be questioned by Stanley Weston (the CEO) and his nefarious VP of Security (David Brady) regarding Baxter's whereabouts. She says that despite being his personal pilot, she has no clue where he is...and can only share that she received a memo, instructing her to deliver a new helicopter to the address provided and leave the keys in the co-pilot's seat. David informs her that they had to shoot down a new BaxterCraft today and are curious about who was inside of it, but she just shrugs and cheekily retorts, "You should have asked first." Stanley reminds her that members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are going to be present for a delivery ceremony that will demo the new BaxterCraft 1000 fleet, and that it's critical everything runs smoothly...and Denise is like, "Yeah, whatever" and exits the office. Stanley asks David who in blazes keeps issuing company memos without their authorization, and David explains that some unknown person keeps accessing their internal computer system and directing staff to do things. On top of that, they just learned that an additional chopper has gone missing...and can't help but come to the obvious conclusion that Baxter is somehow behind it. Stanley orders David to have Denise followed, 'cause he's pretty sure she knows more about Baxter than anyone else at the company. He warns David that they need to put an end to the shenanigans before the big unveiling ceremony - otherwise their evil [and really stupidly short-sighted] scheme to put a fleet of defective helicopters into circulation that will imperil army pilots could blow up in their faces. No pun intended.

Denise makes a beeline over to the nearest pay phone to call Baxter at the Riptide to make sure he's OK. He assures her he's fine and warns her about all of the trouble brewing at Baxter Aviation. She tells him that Stanley and David just interrogated her regarding his whereabouts and isn't sure she convinced them she has no clue where he's holed up. She then asks him if he took a second chopper, and he promises to explain everything once they're face to face. 

Baxter sheepishly explains to the Riptide trio that he hasn't been running Baxter Aviation for the last ten years...and during that time, Stanley Weston has been involved in various plots to defraud the government. When he explains that Stanley is about to sell a fleet of BaxterCraft 1000s to the U.S. military, knowing it has a deadly design flaw, Murray looks aghast as he points out that army pilots could die as a result, and angrily asks him how he could allow such a thing to happen. Baxter says he does blame himself, and that Eugene Kay had reached out to him to discuss the impending catastrophe - but when he failed to show up at a meeting they arranged in secret, he's leaping to the (accurate) conclusion that the poor man is dead. Baxter then says he needs some hard proof before he can start blowing the whistle - despite the fact that he's the owner of the company and could step in and blow the whistle, like right now - and officially hires the Riptide Detective Agency to gather incriminating intel. He hands over his credit card for any expenses that might be incurred, then gets distracted by all the buxom, bikini-clad nymphets aboard the adjacent boat (the Contessa) ... and they giggle, wave, and invite him to join them for cocktail hour. 

Cody uses Baxter's credit card (that has a limit of 400K per month!) to make some over-the-phone purchases needed to crack this case, while Murray taps on his computer and complains that Baxter Aviation is way too locked up for him to be able to hack into. He says it'd really help if he had photos of every BaxterCraft 1000 in the fleet, taken from various geometric angles, so he can feed them into his computer and scrutinize the images from various geometric angles and determine the design flaw. Sounds digitally implausible - but then I'm a recapper, not a helicopter blueprint design flaw analyst.

Murray meets up with Denise, who tells him she knows how to bypass Baxter Aviation's firewall through a back door that Baxter created. She then logs on, while Murray adjusts to the unfamiliar dynamic of having to watch someone else take the lead on a computer-based task. 

As Nick and Cody take apart the BaxterCraft to see if they can determine the design flaw, they call Baxter's recommended food service...and a few minutes later, a red van arrives, and a deliveryman/chef sets up a table, chairs, and serves them a scrumptious looking gourmet pizza. 

Denise types up a memo to authorize a couple of military press photographers to access the Baxter Aviation airfield and take photos, then suggests to Murray they send in Nick and Cody. Murray concurs with that plan, then asks her to check on the status of Eugene Kay...and when she taps in his name, his record indicates that he resigned two days ago, which she calls impossible, given that he's been an engineer with the company for over two decades. 

Nick and Cody, aka faux military photographers, get welcomed to Baxter Aviation by Pat Wolfson, the company's very chipper PR director. She gabbles about how the unveiling ceremony is tomorrow, and that it's a very exciting day for the company. As Cody starts snapping photos of all the choppers, Stanley and David arrive...and a puzzled Stanley tells David he thought that photographers were only going to be present during tomorrow's ceremony. David shrugs and says his secretary got a memo about a photo shoot happening today, and Stanley snaps, "Memo?!" and orders David to check the "photographers'" IDs. Nick and Cody stonewall David for as long as they possibly can...then hit him with their lighting panel before fleeing to their car and squealing off. David opens fire on their car before Stanley snarlingly orders him to 1) find out who they are by tracing their car, and 2) kill them. Eeeek!
 
Back at the Riptide, Murray feeds the photographs of the helicopters into his computer so he can somehow perform an analysis of the aircrafts' internal geometrical makeup and magically diagnose the design flaw.  When Denise asks why the chopper Nick flew wasn't able to self-diagnose the problem, Murray explains that because the self-warning system has been tampered with, the fatal design problems only present themselves when they're under stress conditions: aka, being shot at. Nick, meanwhile, is on the phone with Lieutenant Quinlan, who reports that marine patrol just recovered Eugene Kay's splatted body. When Baxter learns the sad news, he looks visibly upset and grumbles, "It's one thing to steal or cover up a crime, now they're murdering people to save a few million of my money." He bitterly adds that Eugene paid for his diligence with his life...and Denise offers to make him his favorite beverage while he processes his grief. 

Nick assures Baxter that the bad guys running his aviation company are about to go out of business, courtesy of the Riptide Detective Agency...and Baxter says he'd happily give everything he has to make that happen.

Cody discreetly asks Denise if she and Baxter ever hooked up, so she explains that she met him (years ago) when she was in college. He was standing on a street corner, dressed in a rabbit's costume, ringing a bell and holding a bucket for people to donate their spare change. Apparently, it was a needless experiment to prove that people are in the spirit of giving - not only at Christmas time, but at Easter time too. Denise says that after she and the weirdo became fast friends, he offered to take her anywhere in the world she wanted to go...and she assumed he was kidding - until they were on a private plane, en route to Paris. She clarifies that there was never any kind of hanky panky between them, and that he was more of a mentor to her who got her hooked on flying. He helped put her through flight school and helicopter training...and got her to sneak him in and out of the Baxter Aviation compound once a week. Despite the fact that he's the owner of the company and shouldn't have let things deteriorate to the point that he had to be sneaked in and out of his own property. 

The Contessa nymphets are aboard a dinghy chanting, "We want Baxter"! and invite him to come over for a special surprise. Cody, Nick, Murray, and Denise urge him to go next door and have fun, so he figures 'ah, why the hell not?' and climbs aboard the dinghy. 

Murray continues to analyze the photos of the BaxterCrafts and deduces that the tail rotor is the weak spot. Nick says it makes perfect sense, since the occurrence of high stress manoeuvres while airborne wouldn't be obvious when simply viewing the blueprints. He asks Murray to print out these findings so he can warn the army asap. 

Next door, the Contessa nymphets tell Baxter they're throwing him a birthday party and chirp, "All your friends are here!" ... and a puzzled looking Baxter says it's not his birthday, then pales when he sees that Stanley and David are also aboard. One of Stanley's henchmen waves his gun around and tells the nymphets the party is officially over, then smugly reveals to Baxter that they were able to track him after "the PI clowns" he hired made purchases using his credit card. They force him above deck and onto a speedboat...and as he cries out for help, the Riptide trio rushes over to the Ebb Tide - only to discover that someone cut the fuel line. And when Nick races over to The Screaming Mimi, he's dismayed to see that it too was tampered with and not fly-able. 

Stanley and David ply Baxter with truth serum, then ask him how much the Riptide trio knows about the design flaw of the BaxterCraft 1000s...and Baxter mains, "Tail rotor, piece of junk" before passing out. Stanley chews on that for a few seconds before ordering David to kill the three Riptide PIs, along with "the broads next door". Eeeek!

Stanley's henchmen show up at Pier 56, notice that the Riptide isn't in its usual boat slip, and leave. Dooley, who's covertly standing nearby, radios the trio to warn them about the henchmen stopping by...and Murray breathes a sigh of relief that they got outa there so quickly. Nick then calls Denise, who informs him that Baxter is scheduled to be at the unveiling ceremony later today, remarking that she has no idea how Stanley got him to agree to that. Denise asks him if she can pilot Mimi [which somehow got repaired in record time] ... and when he reluctantly agrees, Cody and Murray chuckle over Nick's visible discomfort with someone other than him sitting in the pilot's seat.

As the ceremony gets underway, a zonked looking Baxter slumps in his chair while Stanley introduces the BaxterCraft 1000 to the guests. He then announces the live demonstration and gives the thumbs up to the pilot sitting in the cockpit of one of the chopper models. He quickly goes airborne, then employs some fancy flying moves - but in doing so, triggers the problems associated with the defective tail rotor and starts spinning out of control. From the nearby Mimi, Nick alerts him to the tail rotor problem, and the pilot's all, "Ack!" and parachutes out of the chopper, which then takes a nose-dive and explodes on impact, 'causing the ceremony guests to recoil in horror. Stanley sheepishly assures the General in attendance that he can explain what just happened - just as Denise safely lands Mimi so that Nick and Cody can leap off and chase the bad guys on ground level. When Nick sees David and a henchmen squeal off in a car, he radios Denise to get Mimi back into the air and pursue them from above. 

Murray strides over to the General and tells him he knows exactly why the BaxterCraft went down, and that he has documented proof of a large scale cover up involving a fatal design flaw. 

Denise closes in on David and his henchman from above...while Nick and Cody race over and are able to subdue them by holding them at gunpoint.

When Stanley is ushered off by the General to explain his role in The Tail Rotor Conspiracy, Baxter thanks Murray for providing proof of the design flaw.
 
While waiting for his limo to arrive, Baxter tells the Riptide trio he's been working on a new invention: the boomer ball, intended for kids who have no one to play catch with. He then tosses the ball to demonstrate, but it goes all womp womp when he accidentally throws the thing into the water. He grimaces and says, "Still a few bugs in the system." He then tells the trio he's really going to miss them, now that he's returning to Baxter Aviation to take over the role of president. He shakes their hands, tells them he'll never forget them...then pulls another boomer ball out of his pocket, tosses it to Murray, and tells him to work out the kinks. 

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