Recap: Dooley is on his way to the beach to go surfing when he's accosted by two men wearing business suits. They shove a large package at him, order him to plant it aboard the Riptide, and threaten him with a beating if he fails to do their bidding. A few seconds later, they squeal off, running over his surfboard with their car in the process. Dooley dutifully presents the package to the Riptide trio and explains what just happened. Murray says that if the package contains a bomb, he's fairly confident he can diffuse it...and when Dooley hears the word bomb, he quickly backs away and is all, "It was nice knowing you guys, but..." LOL. Cody gives him the keys to a vacant boat next door and tells him he can hide out there with a walkie-talkie so they can keep in touch, then sternly emphasizes that he is not to touch anything. After that, Murray urges Cody and Nick to leave the boat so that the three of them don't all blow up if the package does, in fact, contain a bomb...then sweats buckets as he begins to carefully cut open the box. Above deck, Nick tells Cody that this whole package thing "doesn't feel right", and so the two head back inside to hover over Murray's shoulder so they can get a first hand look at the package's contents. Murray pulls out a black bag, inside which is a giant bagful of white powder. Cody assumes it's a whole lot of cocaine and suggests they quickly swap it out for powdered sugar. He then orders Murray to set up a video camera inside the Riptide so they can document the conversation with whoever's about to come knockin'. That evening, two men who identify themselves as FBI agents show up at the Riptide and inform Nick and Cody that they have a record of them serving in Vietnam with General Douglas "Pittbull" Johnson...and Murray interjects to inform the men that he too served in the same unit - but in an information technology type capacity. The FBI guys are like, "Er, OK..?" and tell Nick and Cody that they need to "borrow" them for a special assignment concerning national intelligence, as in right now...so the four head out. Cody suddenly pretends to be chilled and says he's going back inside to fetch their jackets...and in the process slips the giant bag of cocaine into Nick's jacket pocket. He also gets a tracking device from Murray and tells him to track wherever they're about to go. Cody surreptitiously puts the tracking device on the underside of the Corvette, while Nick ambles over to the FBI car to tell the agents they'll be in the fancy red car...while covertly the bag of cocaine into the back seat. In the next scene, the four arrive at what appears to be a bustling FBI field office, and Nick and Cody are ushered into a private meeting room with Agent Mike Sharp. He briefly goes over each of their military credentials, tells them they're about to undergo a top secret briefing, and shares that the FBI suspects General Douglas Johnson of using military aircraft to smuggle cocaine across the U.S./Mexican border. Their mission is to get in touch with Johnson, pretend that they're a couple of strung out veterans having trouble adjusting to civilian life, and see if he puts them into his drug smuggling pipeline. Nick and Cody tell him they don't believe their old boss would ever be involved in anything illegal, but ultimately agree to what Mike promises will be a financially profitable undercover gig. Back at the Riptide, Nick and Cody leave a message for General Johnson that they plan on dropping by the base with their dorky friend Murray. Nick and Cody agree that they both hate feeling like they're selling out their old friend, then suspect the FBI of planting cocaine on their boat in "a classic spook manoeuvre". The Riptide trio heads over to the base to meet with General Johnson, and he greets Nick and Cody by single-handedly knocking them to the ground in what looks like a painful yet playful wrestling match. They spend several minutes reminiscing about their tour in Vietnam, blah blah...and then General Johnson suggests they go out for something to eat. As one of the FBI guy sits in a corner of the restaurant and covertly takes photos, Nick and Cody lament to General Johnson about how horribly their lives have sucked since being discharged from the military, and that they both became hopeless drug addicts and are barely able to eke out a living "flying stuff" across the southern border via Nick's decrepit Mimi chopper. General Johnson assumes that by stuff he means narcotics, and rails about how much worse they are than "the guys from the Orange Grove", who apparently like to take the easy way out. He shoots them both a look of disgust before storming out of the restaurant...and Nick and Cody grin happily at each other and take this as proof that their dear friend couldn't possibly be part of a drug smuggling ring. They exit the restaurant a few seconds later and witness General Johnson being attacked on the street, then shoved into a car. The three rush over to their truck to begin a heart-stopping car chase sequence, but it soon becomes obvious that the bad guys messed with the truck's engine to preemptively knock out any pursuit. Nick, Cody, and Murray return to Pier 56 and notice that Dooley has not only ignored Cody's 'don't touch anything on the boat you're hiding out on' edict, but has brazenly thrown a dance party to which he's invited a gaggle of bikini clad women. A few seconds later, Lieutenant Quinlan shows up with a search warrant and storms aboard the Riptide. As Nick and Cody exchange knowing glances, Quinlan quickly finds the package that Dooley had given them, opens it, and pulls out the large bag of white powder. He cackles about how screwed they all are for being in possession of so much coke - until Nick smugly informs him that the white stuff is actually their stash of powdered sugar, which Cody laughingly says they can use to sweeten the coffee he just brewed. Quinlan does a quick taste test and grimaces at the fool he's just been made of, and accuses them of calling in the anonymous tip just to make him look like the horse's ass he is. Cody points out how nonsensical that theory is and urges him to listen to their side of the story for a damn change, and asks Murray to fire up the footage of their recent interaction with the two FBI guys. Quinlan admits that the anonymous tip he received included a stack of photographs of the Riptide trio eating at the restaurant with General Johnson, and Nick says there's no way any reasonable person wouldn't conclude that this whole thing is an obvious setup. Quinlan mulls that over and asks them why the FBI would want to hang a drug charge on two bozo detectives, and they concede that that's a pretty damn good question and quickly head over to the FBI field office, which is now completely vacant. The trio correctly assumes that the men who had approached them about the secret mission weren't really FBI agents, and that they likely just abducted General Johnson with the intention of killing him. Nick, Cody, and Murray don their army uniforms and drive over to the Fort Sumpter military base. They tell the officer at the entry gate that they're here regarding General Johnson, and are promptly directed to the office of his aide, Colonel Davidson. When they enter Davidson's lodgings, they're dismayed to find that it's been ransacked...and when they search the bathroom, they find the body of Davidson (aka Mike Sharp), who looks like he was recently drowned in the bathtub. As the three sift through Davidson's files, they come across a device that detects radiation and somehow intuit that it's an integral clue in solving The Mystery of General Johnson's Whereabouts. Murray swiftly MacGyvers a makeshift computer by hooking up his keyboard with the phone, then linking it to the TV so it can function as a monitor. He easily hacks into the base operations network, then enters the serial number of the radiation detector, which the makeshift computer tells him is part of Operation Orange Grove. They quickly recall that General Johnson had sourly referenced Orange Grove when they were at the restaurant, so Murray queries 'what is Operation Orange Grove?', and is informed that it's a storage area for Agent Orange. He then queries 'where is it?', and a helpful map promptly appears on the screen, indicating exactly where Operation Orange Grove can be located. Nick asks Murray to use his old army login to book a military helicopter for four hours of flight time so they can speed over to the Orange Grove, and Murray taps away at his keyboard and books the aircraft. Murray gushes about all the state-of-the-art gadgetry that's installed inside the military helicopter, and proudly tells Nick and Cody that he helped design the system. As Nick flies them towards the Orange Grove, Murray checks his car tracking receiver and informs them that the car the fake FBI agents were driving the other night (which he placed a tracker on) is in the vicinity. He correctly guesses that the car is parked at Operation Coke Smuggling Headquarters, where Johnson is mostly likely being held. The bad guys who are based in the nearby restricted zone are informed that an unauthorized helicopter is headed in the direction of their drug den, and in response they scramble their fleet of helicopters. Nick lowers the chopper close enough to the ground so that Cody and his assault rifle can leap off and perform a ground rescue of General Johnson. He enters a warehouse, finds the General tied up and blindfolded, and manages to free him while simultaneously firing on a large crew of bad guys and avoiding getting himself shot. General Johnson tells him that the bad guys tried to force him to sign a suicide confession - but that he refused, which is probably the only reason he's still alive. The two then flee the warehouse without getting struck by the gunfire coming at them from all directions and climb aboard the helicopter being piloted by Nick, who then does some slick manoeuvring inside a canyon so he ends up hovering over one of the bad guys' helicopter. General Johnson warns them via loudspeaker to land their chopper, otherwise they'll be shot at...and when the bad guys meekly surrender, General Johnson cackles, "Damn that's fun, ain't it boys?" Early the next morning, Lieutenant Quinlan bursts aboard the Riptide to yell at the trio for not giving him any credit for the massive cocaine bust they're being lauded as heroes for...or filling him in on why Colonel Davidson turned up dead. Murray explains that Davidson was killed by the other bad guys after he started to have second thoughts about Operation Orange Grove...and a cranky General Johnson admonishes Quinlan for so loudly interrupting them so early in the morning. Quinlan dismissively tells him to go pee up a rope, then is all, "Ack!" when Cody informs him that their houseguest is the Brigadier General Douglas Johnson of the U.S. Army. Quinlan stares open-mouthed at the high ranking General, then salutes him before rushing off, red-faced...leaving General Johnson to chortle about what a jackass he is. The men then notice that Dooley is somehow still partying with the bikini clad women next door, and General Johnson perks up at the prospect of getting in on that action and hurriedly pulls his clothes on before heading next door to do some man-on-ladies mingling. Nick, Cody, and Murray mull over the idea of joining in the fun, decide 'sure, why the hell not?', and merrily follow the General. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
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Recap: Season 2 kicks off with some (not unexpected) gratuitous footage of bikini clad women and buff surfers - before the camera finally pans over to the roadside where the Riptide trio has been delayed while making an airport run 'cause of a flat tire. Nick changes the tire and grumblingly tells Cody they're now twenty minutes late picking up Marion, aka the daughter of Cody's rich friend (along with her two gal pals). As soon as he's finished changing the tire, the three hurriedly pile into the truck and speed to the airport. A private plane lands at the local airport, and three well-heeled, high maintenance looking young women disembark and gush about the warm California weather and how it's sooooo much warmer than Minnesota in November. The quietest of the girls, Heather, says she needs to use the restroom and scuttles off in the direction of the terminal...and Marion wryly remarks to Portland that she's probably off to call her shady boyfriend, Tony. A few minutes later, a stretch limousine pulls up, and a beefy looking guy (whose name we eventually learn is Matt) pops out of the back seat and tells Marion that he's a member of the Sigma Chi pledge class and was instructed to pick up her and her friends and transport them to their hotel. The girls are all, "Kewl!" and rush towards the limo - just as the Riptide trio arrives. Cody sees Marion about to enter the limo and calls out to her...and when she scrunches her face confusedly and goes, "Cody..?", Matt roughly shoves her and her friends into the limo, then climbs in and orders the driver to hit the gas. Nick and Cody take off after them, unintentionally ditching a discombobulated Murray behind while they embark on a lengthy car chase sequence. The limo driver eventually terminates the chase at a construction site, where he and Matt abandon the limo and run off. Cody opens the back door and asks the girls if they're OK, and they emerge from the back seat looking unfazed about the car chase 'cause they still believe that the two men were a couple of Sigma Chi pledges who were egged on to fake kidnap them. Cody says he's pretty sure that the situation is a lot more serious than that, reminds Marion he promised her parents he'd look out for her during her stay in California, and orders the girls to crash aboard the Riptide until he can ensure their safety. Portland looks aghast at being confined aboard a boat and threatens to "gross out" if Cody's safety measures interfere with her Thanksgiving vacation...and Nick and Cody are all, "Er, OK..?" then head towards the truck. In the next scene, Portland complains about being "crammed in a tuna boat in the middle of a harbor", but Cody insists that they stay aboard the Riptide until he, Nick, and Murray can get to the bottom of the botched kidnapping attempt. He adds that he checked with all the local fraternities and found that none of them knew anything about a pledge to fake kidnap a group of girls. Portland dismisses Cody's concern as paranoia, and Marion concurs and says they have no intention of missing out on this afternoon's yacht party. Cody mulls that over and says he'll allow them to attend - but only if they're willing to take him, Nick, and Murray as their dates. The girls are all, "Ew! Gross! You guys are, like, ancient!", but eventually agree to be escorted to the party by the thirtysomethings. The yacht club party is underway with young, preppy looking people dorkily dancing to '80s music. Cody radios Dooley, the valet for the event and Riptide's temporary new sidekick, to ask if he's noticed anyone suspicious. Dooley, who doesn't seem remotely dependable enough for a detective agency to be relying on to maintain any kind of alert presence, ogles a leggy blonde crossing the street and mumbles, "Nope. Nothing suspicious here." Matt arrives at the party and quietly skulks around - but is quickly noticed by Nick and Cody, who charge after him in a less-than-subtle fashion. A pursuit ensues through the kitchen, where the three make a giant mess bumping into as many employees and food plates as possible...and eventually Matt locks himself inside the bathroom and climbs out the window. Nick and Cody race outside to the parking lot, where Dooley is clutching his head after being knocked to the ground by a fleeing Matt. A few seconds later, a panicked Murray runs out of the club and informs them that Heather is missing. After the commercial break, Heather is quickly located in the ladies room, where she's touching up her makeup. Cody tells the girls that since their attempted kidnapper followed them to the yacht party, they're going to have to remain under their protection aboard the Riptide until further notice. The girls bitch and moan about Cody's edict...and continue bitching and moaning while en route back to the harbor - until Cody finally snaps at them to shut the hell up. Matt's evil cohort - who's (squeal!!) played by a young George Clooney - has been tailing/spying on the girls and informs Matt that they're currently aboard a boat called the Riptide. Matt says he's pretty sure they'll be able to pull off the kidnapping despite the bodyguards, then cackles about how the nefarious deed is going to earn them a cool million. Nick and Cody inform Murray that the limo that was used in the failed kidnapping attempt was rented out to George Clooney, who has a criminal record in Minnesota...and Murray digests that tidbit before showing them the tiny tracking devices he attached to each of the girls' sunglasses so they'll be able to keep tabs on their whereabouts. The girls freak out when the menfolk enter the main living area of the Riptide - and Portland is so horrified at being seen by males when she has only one eye made up that she races to the bathroom to hide herself. Murray gives the girls back their sunglasses and urges them to wear them all the time 'cause he applied retina protector across the lenses that'll protect their eyes from the sun. Cody breaks it to them that they're going to have to spend the better part of their Thanksgiving vacation aboard the Riptide - but that they can still have fun doing stuff like suntanning or waterskiing. Heather whines that that doesn't work for her 'cause she wants to go shopping, and Nick's like, "Can do" and offers to personally escort her to the mall. When the girls simultaneously voice their dissatisfaction at being so closely monitored, Cody snaps at them to shut up, that they're doing things his way, and that they're going to damn well enjoy themselves. Nick chases after Heather as she irritably flounces off the boat...and eventually gets her to agree to take a drive with him in his vintage red Corvette. While on the road, she whines about her oppressive parents, which Nick correctly translates to mean that they rightly disapprove of whatever dumb schlub she's currently dating. She grins and tells him about her boyfriend Tony, and that he doesn't "fit the mold" for her parents 'cause he's a blue collar guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Nick asks her if she's dating him 'cause she loves him, or is trying to make a statement to her disapproving parents...then reveals that he was once the blue collar guy in a relationship with a rich girl, who ended up dumping him 'cause he couldn't afford to buy her a ginormous diamond ring. Ouch. Heather mulls that over before asking Nick if they can make a pitstop at a nearby gas station so she can pretend to use the can. Cody takes the Riptide out to sea so he can take Marion waterskiing on the Ebb Tide while Murray keeps Portland company as she suns herself on the Riptide's deck. Marion has such a good time aboard the Ebb Tide that she convinces Portland to join her at the wheel of the speedboat while Cody takes his turn waterskiing. Nick is waiting at the gas station for Heather to emerge from the restroom, and eventually he grows impatient and honks his horn to get her to hurry the hell up. Matt and George Clooney spy on Cody with binoculars as he waterskis behind the boat that's being manned by Marion and Portland. A few seconds later, the two speed over via their motorboat and smash into Cody before advancing on the Ebb Tide to force Portland and Marion into their boat before racing off. Later, aboard the docked Riptide, Cody presses an ice pack atop his head and assures a shaken Murray that he's fine. Nick suddenly bursts in and announces that Heather's missing, and can only assume that the bad guys somehow sneaked into the ladies room at the gas station and abducted her through the window. When he adds that, unlike Marion and Portland, she's at least wearing her sunglasses, Murray perks up and immediately gets to work pinpointing her location. Heather, meanwhile, finishes up a clandestine appointment with a gynaecologist, then makes a beeline over to the nearest pay phone to call Tony. Murray is able to track Heather to the local airport...and he, Nick, and Cody sit in the waiting room, watching in irked dismay as she greets Tony after his plane lands. Heather is startled by the sight of the Riptide trio, then introduces them to her boyfriend...and they grimly inform her that Portland and Marion have been kidnapped. Matt is yanking Portland's hair as he demands that she give up her parents' phone number - but she screeches that that her parents are currently visiting her grandmother in Boston and that she has no idea what her phone number is. George Clooney menacingly yells, "Liar!" and around waves a knife in front of Marion's face and snarlingly says that for her sake he hopes she knows her father's phone number. Marion looks unimpressed at being threatened by the sweet-faced pretty boy that is young George Clooney, who someone in the casting department somehow thought would be convincing in the role of a sinister kidnapper. Outside the building of the local telephone company, Murray sets up his portable computer atop the hood of the truck and explains to Nick and Cody that he's going to link up to the phone company's network so he can forward every call that gets placed to Marion's parent's house to the nearby pay phone. When Nick and Cody ask him how he plans to hack into the telephone company's network, Murray assures them that his inherent dorkiness will be all the camouflage he needs to fit right in. He then enters the building, slips inside the computer room amid the other IT dorks, and quickly gets to work on one of the computer terminals. As luck would have it, George Clooney dials Marion's parents' house...and unbeknownst to him, the call is intercepted and forwarded to the pay phone that's answered by Nick. As that's going on, Murray is able to pinpoint the address of the originating call - just as the IT supervisor finally twigs onto the fact that Murray is not a phone company employee. He pulls the plug on the computer terminal and asks him who the hell he is and what he's doing here, and Murray proudly introduces himself as the Murray Bozinsky - but doesn't have ID on him to offer proof. When the supervisor barks at someone to call security, Murray activates some kind of alarm and swiftly makes a break for it. He races outside, tells Nick and Cody he knows exactly where to find Marion and Portland, and the three squeal off in the truck to launch Operation Rescue Two Kidnapped Women. Portland and Marion are whining to their captors about needing sunburn cream and something to nosh on when Nick and Cody suddenly burst into the room so forcefully that they somehow break the door clean off its hinges. LOL. As they point their guns at Matt and George Clooney, Marion and Portland decide it's the perfect time to leap into their arms to express their enormous relief at being rescued, which results in George Clooney escaping the room, and Matt attacking Cody. Nick chases after George Clooney, then steps aside as two stunt doubles tumble down the stairwell. At the foot of the stairs, Nick punches George Clooney into submission, while Cody subdues Matt...and Portland reacts to all the violence around her by examining her sunburned skin and wondering aloud if she'll peel. Tony becomes enraged when Heather tells him she's pregnant, and accuses her of pulling "a fast one" on him. Heather insists that she didn't plan to get knocked up and isn't trying to trap him - just as Cody calls the Riptide to inform her that her friends have been rescued. When she hangs up and tells Tony the good news, he pulls out a gun and grumbles about his idiot cohorts screwing the pooch on their million dollar scheme by letting Portland and Marion be rescued. Over at police headquarters, a less-hostile-than-in-Season-1 Lieutenant Quinlan tells Portland, Marion, and the Riptide trio that George Clooney and Matt confessed that Tony was the mastermind of the kidnapping, and that they had planned to flee to Mexico after collecting the ransom. Marion says she's not at all surprised, given that she's always had Tony pegged as a gold digging thug and believed he was only with Heather for her money. As the five start to head out, Nick and Cody notice a bruised Dooley in the next room, giving the police a statement. When they asks whassup with him being here, he explains that he was in the process of saving a girl who was being dragged aboard the Ebb Tide when her abductor knocked him out with a face punch. Nick guesses that Tony's probably on his way to Mexico and decides it's time to crank up the decrepit Mimi for a dramatic chopper-on-boat rescue. Aboard the Ebb Tide, Heather pleads with Tony to turn back and tearfully cries, "I love you!" and he snarls back that he's void of all feelings for her and was only ever interested in looting her family's wealth. When Mimi makes a sudden appearance above them, Heather grabs a waterski and whacks Tony with it...and when he turns around and wrestles with her, she loses her balance and falls overboard. From Mimi, Cody tosses her a life preserver before leaping aboard the Ebb Tide, punching Tony, and easily taking control of his boat. Hurray! After the dust settles, Heather sadly assures Nick and Cody that she'll be A-OK, despite having her scoundrel of an ex-boyfriend's bun in her oven. Nick and Cody advise her to tell her parents about her delicate condition and then focus her energy on rebounding from this traumatic experience. Murray enters the room and tells Nick and Cody that there's been a sudden change of plans...and Portland and Marion bound in and gleefully inform everyone that Minnesota is snowed in, which means they have to stay put in California for the next two days. Nick and Cody, who were just about to light cigars in celebration of ridding themselves of the brats, exchange wary glances and quietly put out their cigars. Womp womp! Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"! Recap: Two bad guys have kidnapped an out-of-it looking guy named Roy, who's clad in a wet suit. They're holding him hostage inside the back of a moving van and are demanding info about "the stash" ... and Roy easily cracks under pressure and reveals that the stash can be found at Pacific Ocean Park. When the bad guys mull over whether or not they find that claim believable, Roy manages to unlatch the van's back door - then tumbles onto the street, where he's promptly killed by an oncoming car. RIP, Roy. Nick and Cody are on a double date, riding bumper cars with two lovelies, when Murray interrupts to gabble excitedly about all the studying he's been doing on ultrasonic dolphin waves. He then gushes about Jody Kremer, the smart, beautiful dolphin trainer at Pacific Ocean Park he's become hopelessly smitten with, and adds that her colleague was recently killed in a fatal hit and run accident. Over at Pacific Ocean Park, Jody - who, no surprise, is a stunning brunette - is putting on a public show with her dolphin performers, Buffy and Cupcake...and we get lots of fun, superfluous footage of her riding the dolphins like water skis and getting them to perform cute ball tricks. In the bleachers, a giddy Murray tells Nick and Cody he's sooooo excited for them to meet his future girlfriend...and a few seconds later, the camera pans to the right and we see that the two bad guys from the van are also seated in the bleachers, staring ominously at Jody and her dolphins. After the show, Murray hugs Jody hello, then rushes off to say hey to Buffy and Cupcake. Jody gives Nick an appreciative once over ['cause well duh, she's a hot-blooded American woman] and takes him up on his suggestion of getting some lunch so they can get to know each other. Nick picks up on the non-subtle flirty vibe, and when Jody scampers to her office to change out of her wet suit, he and shoots Cody a grim sideways glance and groans about the unavoidable rift this is about to put between him and Murray. Jody unwittingly walks in on the two bad guys ransacking her office, I'll assume in search of Roy's stash. When Jody demands to know what in blazes is going on, one of them grabs her, which causes her to screech for help...which, in turn, prompts Nick and Cody to race over to see whassup. They spend a few seconds wrestling with the bad guys, one of whom needlessly shoves Murray into the dolphin tank - and the fighting comes to an abrupt end when one of the bad guys fires his gun in the air so that he and his cohort can race off. An ashen-faced Jody bursts out of her office and presses herself against Nick for comfort [who could blame the girl?], and everyone stares bewilderedly into space as the screen fades out for a commercial break. Jody informs the Riptide trio that the bad guys stole Roy's dolphin diary, which contained detailed reports on the dolphins' training progress. Nick wonders aloud why two guys who are so clearly up to no good would want to steal a dolphin diary, and Jody shrugs and says that Roy was very proprietary about his research and often used a cryptic shorthand to jot down his notes. Nick suggests they head over to the police station to see about getting her some police protection, then dissolves into uncontrollable giggles with Cody over the visual of a wet suit clad Roy stumbling on the street before getting mowed down by a car. An irked looking Jody somehow refrains from pointing out that it's probably in poor taste to be laughing about a guy who got fatally hit by a car, even if he happened to be out of context in his wet suit at the time. In the next scene, Lieutenant Quinlan is laughing heartily at Roy's demise, then tells Nick and Cody that Roy had an arrest record for using/dealing drugs. When Nick inquires about getting Jody some police protection from the bad guys who just ransacked her office, Quinlan lets out a derisive snort and says there's no chance in hell he's even going to entertain the notion of acting like a law enforcement professional and take the armed robbery of Jody's office seriously, despite the suspicious death of her colleague. When he says he highly doubts "there's anything to this", Nick points out that Roy's body had burn marks everywhere, indicating that he may have been tortured before his death. Quinlan says that since the man was wearing a wet suit when the car hit him, he can only assume the dude was a kinky, rubber clad freak who clearly "had it coming" ... instead of a dolphin trainer who ran afoul of some bad guys and likely didn't have a chance to change out of his wet suit before being abducted. Quinlan then snarls at the Riptide trio to get lost so he can get back to not-policing King Harbor. Nick and Cody return to the water park to tell Jody that since the police in this hamlet are next to useless, they're going to have to put their heads together and theorize about what the bad guys might have been looking for. Jody says she'd be happy to reveal everything she knows about Roy over dinner...and by over dinner, she means a one-on-one, romantic night out with Nick. After Cody wisely saunters off, Nick makes it clear to Jody that he has no intention of taking out Murray's girl...and Jody chuckles and says if she were Murray's girl, she wouldn't be coming on to him like gangbusters. Nick's like, "Ahhh.." and explains that Murray has deluded himself into thinking the two of them are a lot more than just friends, then scrunches his face disapprovingly and says he hopes she hasn't done anything to lead him on and give him that impression. Jody assures him she's never so much as flirted with the geek, and that she shouldn't be penalized just 'cause he came to the wrong conclusion about their friendship. She then tells Nick if he wants to learn everything she knows about Roy, he's going to have to meet her for dinner tonight. She gives him a time and place and rushes off, leaving Nick staring worriedly into space. Cody urges Nick to accept Jody's dinner date, mostly 'cause he's worried that the bad guys will target her if she's left without protection. Nick says he's reluctant to go on anything resembling a date with a woman Murray is smitten with, refuses to sneak around behind his back, and is planning to come clean about it right now. As the two board the Riptide, they find Murray walking around with a dazed expression as he reports that Jody just called him to cancel their dinner plans for tonight...and that he's really really upset about it 'cause he thought he had been playing it sooooo cool when he asked her out. He idly wonders if there could be another guy in the picture, then sadly says he had the whole night planned: he was going to dress up in his best suit, borrow Nick's Corvette, and wine and dine the future mother of his children. As Nick stares sheepishly into space, Murray shrugs sadly and says he'll just stay in tonight and mopishly reread his ultrasonic dolphin wave notes. Over dinner, Jody tells Nick everything she observed about Roy and his training methods, then says she noticed he taught Buffy some odd tricks she never performed in her shows, e.g. retrieving pieces of coral from the bottom of the tank. She then changes the subject to Nick's irresistible mmm hmm hotness and asks him why he agreed to go out with her if he's still so conflicted about Murray's crush on her. Nick says he's only here 'cause he feels a responsibility to keep her safe from the bad guys...and that he's going to resist any kind of mutual flirtation, 'cause the way he sees it: Murray thinking she's his girl is the same as if she were actually his girl. Jody's eyes sparkle with admiration as she calls him "quite a guy" and agrees to call it a night. As the two exit the restaurant, the bad guys suddenly descend upon them, knocking Nick down and dragging Jody over their van. Nick's all, "Nooooo!!" and leaps into his Corvette to pursue the van - but has to give up the chase when one of the bad guys smashes his windshield with an oxygen tank he just happened to be driving around with. Nick races to the Riptide to alert Cody and Murray that Jody has just been abducted by the bad guys. An alarmed Murray says they should head over to her apartment pronto to see if the bad guys left behind any clues...and before Cody can blurt out that Nick and Jody were out on a date this evening, Nick sheepishly admits that he and Jody were out to dinner at the time of her abduction. Murray lets that betrayal sink in as he lowers himself into a chair and stares despondently into space. Nick assures him it's not what he's thinking - but Murray snidely says that what he's thinking is that Nick stole his girlfriend after listening to him natter on and on earlier about how desperately he wanted to go out to dinner with her. Cody interjects Murray's heartbreak meltdown to suggest running the serial number on the oxygen tank the bad guys hurled through Nick's windshield to see if that can move this storyline forward, and Murray agrees to do it despite how callously Nick has just wrenched his now broken heart from his chest. LOL. Murray taps the serial number of the oxygen tank into his computer and tells Cody (not Nick) that it belongs to a scuba shop, then reads aloud the shop's name and address. The next morning, the Riptide trio heads over to the scuba shop wearing fake badges so they can pretend to be employees of the non-existent Scuba Safety Commission. The clerk at the store, a buxom woman wearing a crop top and short shorts, says she's never heard of their bogus commission, but is taking seriously their nonsense about how all oxygen tanks with a particular serial number are faulty and should be taken out of circulation asap. She says she's just a lowly employee, and that they should probably get in touch with her bosses - bad guys Dennis and Alejandro - and jots down their home address. The trio races over to the bad guys' house, and Nick and Cody tiptoe towards it with their guns drawn. A thug working for a drug kingpin named Villanova grabs an unsuspecting Murray, who's waiting by the car, and orders Nick and Cody to drop their weapons...then says they have only once chance to locate Dennis and Alejandro. Nick and Cody scrunch their faces in puzzlement and are all, "Wha-a-a-a?" The thug shoves the Riptide trio onto a couch so that Villanova can loom over them and demand they reveal where his missing dope is. When Nick and Cody are like, "Dunno", Villanova says he heard from Dennis and Alejandro that two [attractive, muscular] beach bums were giving them some trouble...and Murray gets offended that he was clearly not included in the beach bum category and starts prattling about how insulting it is to always be typecast as a dork 'cause of how unspeakably dorky he is. As Villanova and his thug stare at him in bafflement, he changes the subject to Jody and commiserates to them about how Nick got so jealous of his new love that he decided to be a real dick and steal her away. Nick rolls his eyes and explains that Jody was the one who came onto him...and when Murray looks startled and is all, "Wuh? Really?", Nick says he only went to dinner with her so he could extract whatever intel she had on Roy. Cody, meanwhile, devises a plan to escape their current peril and tells Villanova he has an idea about how he might be able to get his missing dope back. Dennis and Alejandro have brought Jody back to Pacific Ocean Park so she can test her theory about Roy having trained Buffy to make his drug runs underwater. Villanova, his thug, and the Riptide trio arrive at Pacific Ocean Park and find Jody and Dennis and Alejandro on the deck of the dolphin tank. Cody tells Jody they're here to pick up the missing dope from Buffy's drug run and winks at her as if to say 'just follow my lead', and Jody gives him a covert nod - just as Buffy resurfaces with - wouldn't you know it - a bag of dope dangling from her snout. Villanova is thrilled by the recovery of his missing cocaine, but makes it clear how annoyed he is by the screwup and reminds Dennis and Alejandro that he doesn't give second chances. He orders his thug to get rid of them, along with everyone else present...and Jody gives Buffy a signal, which she responds to by leaping into the air and bellflopping into the water. The splashing causes enough of a distraction for Cody and Nick to overpower and disarm Dennis, Alejandro, and the thug - but Villanova is able to slip away and escape the park aboard a conveniently placed dinghy. Jody releases Buffy into the ocean so she can pursue Villanova and take the lead in his capture. She races towards the dinghy with lightning speed, then butts her snout against the side of the dinghy, causing it to capsize. As Villanova falls into the water and loudly acknowledges being foiled by the crafty mammal, Nick, Cody, and Jody are watching from the pier, joyously laughing and cheering Buffy on. Hurray! Jody walks along with beach with Murray, giving him the foreordained 'I'm just not that into you' talk. She tells him she too has been on the receiving end of a disinterested crush - and that he should take heart in what a special friend he has in Nick. With that said, she gives Murray a chaste cheek kiss and saunters off, leaving him to dejectedly amble over to where Nick and Cody are loitering. Nick tells him there will be no need for awkward apologies in this season finale, and a relieved looking Murray gets a sudden burst of gaiety and suggests they "hit the street and find some broads". And that's a superfluously misogynistic wrap for Season 1! Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"! Recap: A goon named Ted Cardwell makes a photocopy of The WWII West Coast Connection, a research article written by Melba Bozinsky. In the next scene, he hands it over to his goon friend: John McMasters, aka an associate editor of a historical rag. John looks impressed by the article and says that this Melba Bozinsky has thorough intel they've never seen or heard of...and guesses she got help from her good friend, an Austrian historian named Heinrich Von Schlauser who has a seemingly endless of supply of first hand info about WWII. John tells Ted that if he were to publish the article, everyone and their dog would descend on the Pacific Ocean to search for the cache of lost gold...therefore, his plan is to hang onto Melba's article for as long as possible, then return it to her with a letter of regret that cites 'a lack of evidence' as the reason for declining publication. The two cackle with delight at their nefarious scheme to use Melba's research to unearth the gold treasure for themselves. Aboard the Riptide, the trio is playing Scrabble and lamenting about how bored and broke they are during a current dry spell of zero clients and/or helicopter tours. When they hear someone step onto the boat, they head up to the deck and find a woman wearing funeral attire. She tells them she's in a lot of trouble, then natters about a hired assassin on a train before handing Cody a small falcon statue she wants delivered. When he opens it, a fake snake pops out...and both the woman and Murray dissolve into a fit of giggles. Murray applauds her "great entrance", and the woman - played by Geena Davis! - strips off her veil hat, wig, and shapeless black dress to reveal a smokin' bod. As Nick and Cody openly ogle her, Murray introduces his sister as Dr. Melba Bozinsky, a PhD Harvard graduate. Melba gives Nick and Cody an appreciative once over and declares them hunks, then shakes Nick's hand, which she zaps with a joy buzzer. As Murray ushers her below to get something to eat, Cody tells Nick he's shocked that a dork like Murray could have such a hot sister...and the two agree that to avoid any "stickiness" (pun??), they're going to have to treat her like she's their sister. Melba tells the trio that her article, The WWII West Coast Connection, was rejected for a lack of evidence, which she thinks is total B.S...and while she's telling them this, she's playing footsies under the table with Cody while winking at him coquettishly. She summarizes the general thesis of her article: during the 1940s, gold bullion was being smuggled out of the U.S. by foreign agents in order to finance Hitler's war effort. Through her extensive research, she learned that a submarine filled with gold left the U.S. coast - but never made it to its destination: the Channel Islands. She pauses playing footsies with Cody to give Nick a sensual head and neck massage (!) and says she's determined to find the lost submarine. Murray's all, "This is sooooo boss!" and also perfect timing for them to get involved in this "case" on account of they have nothing better to do lately except play Scrabble. Melba says that before they do anything, she's going to need to get in touch with her good friend and WWII expert, Heinrich Von Schlauser. Over at Heinrich's place, Melba tells her old Austrian friend she's pretty sure that a boatload of gold bullion is at the bottom of the ocean somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. He mumbles about how tough it is to find stuff in the ocean, so Murray says they're more than welcome to use his sonar equipment in order to pinpoint an exact location. Heinrich says he's skeptical of "zis pipe dream", but agrees to help in the recovery effort however he can. After using Mimi to drop sonar buoys in the ocean, they take the Riptide out to sea to closely monitor the sonar readings. As Murray taps in the coordinates on his computer, they're startled to hear a loud pop above deck and soon realize that a helicopter is hovering over them as someone shoots at them with a machine gun. Nick grabs his gun and suggests they flee aboard the Ebb Tide (which seems far less safe than taking cover inside the Riptide, but OK) ... and as they motor across the open water [and somehow avoid getting hit by the constant spray of bullets], Nick returns fire on the helicopter and pierces the fuel tank, forcing the bad guys to retreat whence they came. Back in King Harbor, Nick and Cody patch up all the bullet holes while Murray says he'll work on finding out who was piloting the attack helicopter. Melba gazes at Nick and Cody with a dreamy look of admiration and tells them how terrific they are to be such good friends to her dorky brother. She says that, unlike the friends he usually hangs with, they're handsome and virile...then gives them both a long smooch before going below to join Murray on the computer. Cody and Nick stare at each other in shocked wonderment at that PDA weirdness, then get into a scrap about the "special vibes" each of them believes Melba is sending specifically to him. As they argue about that, Melba makes a sudden announcement about a new location for where the sunken sub likely ended up. As the trio + Melba and Heinrich heads out to sea again, Murray taps away at his computer and quickly learns that the helicopter that attacked them was rented out to a man named John McMasters. Melba suddenly squeals excitedly when she sees something interesting appear on the sonar monitor and says she'd like to dive down right now to see if it's the lost sub - but the trio warns her that it's too late in the day and therefore much too dangerous to go diving in the dark. She mulls that over and agrees, then suggests they return to King Harbor and put on their dancing shoes for a fun night of boogying! Ted tells John that now that Melba and Heinrich are involved in the search for the lost sub, he wants to kill them and anyone else who might know about the gold - but John suggests it'd be easier to let Melba live long enough to find the gold, steal it from her, and then kill her and everyone around her. He recalls that the name of the boat they shot at is the Riptide, and that they should creep onto it while no one's there and see whassup aboard the floating detective agency. Murray shows Nick and Cody photos of himself and Melba as children...and everyone gushes over their adorableness. Heinrich declines an evening out and says he's going home to rest...and Melba throws a fake rubber snake at Nick and then giggles devilishly, which freaks him and Cody out and makes them seriously rethink her appeal. As they glare in Melba's direction, she happily announces that she's ready to go out to dinner and get started on that boogying. At Straightaways, Melba is coaxing Nick to boogie more enthusiastically than the awkward looking side shuffle he's currently doing. From the table, Murray remarks to a sour looking Cody how cute Melba and Nick look together and that it'd be great to have Nick as a brother-in-law. Max ambles over and informs Cody and Murray that she just saw someone skulking aboard the Riptide, and they're all, "Wuh?" and race off to find out who the intruder is. Ted and John are poking around the Riptide when they see the trio + Melba coming and abscond on a speedboat. The group rushes aboard to see if anything is missing, and Melba finds what looks suspiciously like a bomb. Nick and Cody assume she's playing another of her infantile pranks on them, so Nick takes the bomb and half-heartedly throws it overboard...where it explodes a few seconds later. Oops. Lieutenant Quinlan grumps over to the Riptide and rails at Nick for "throwing a bomb in the water for jollies" and accuses him of doing it for the pure joy of scaring the bejeezus out of everyone in the harbor. Melba stares at the buffoon in complete incredulity and tells Murray he's "hysterical" ... and Quinlan glares at her and asks Murray who "this bimbo" is. As Melba giggles and calls him "too cute", Murray haughtily informs Quinlan that this bimbo is Dr. Melba Bozinsky, then implores him to consider functioning like a cop and maybe look into who planted the bomb on their boat - the likeliest suspect being John McMasters, the guy who opened fire on them from his rented helicopter. Quinlan rolls his eyes and asks what they did to make the man shoot at them (!) and Murray clams up and says he's not at liberty to say. Quinlan - who, by this point, should probably give up the charade of policing altogether - says he really couldn't give a rat's ass that some crazed gunman (and alleged bomb maker) is out there trying to kill Melba and/or the Riptide trio and announces that he's going home and back to bed. Once he's out of hearing range, Cody suggests they do their own investigating into the historical magazine that Melba submitted her article to...so Murray punches something into his computer and discovers that John McMasters is the associate editor of the historical rag. From this, he and Cody quickly deduce that McMasters probably wants to loot the gold bullion from the sunken WWII submarine - and Melba shrieks at the collective genius of the Riptide Detective Agency for figuring out a motive she should have twigged onto when a gun toter on a helicopter appeared at the exact location she outlined in her article was the site of a sunken treasure. She rewards Cody with a long, hard smooch. As Operation Provide a Decoy To Fool the Bad Guys gets into motion, Nick lands Mimi on a nearby remote island and waits for word from Cody. Ted and John are flying around on their rented chopper, once again scanning the ocean for the Riptide. Cody is aboard the Ebb Tide by himself, floating around the previous sunken treasure site, 'cause apparently the plan is for Nick to blast over on Mimi to launch a chopper-on-chopper attack on the bad guys and put them out of commission for good. Sounds just crazy enough to work. Murray tells Heinrich and Melba he's pretty sure he now has the correct coordinates for the lost sub, and Melba excitedly puts her wetsuit on so she can leap into the ocean and start searching through the wreckage. When the bad guys' helicopter appears on the horizon, Cody radios Nick, who assures him that he and Mimi will be there, pronto. When he finally gets the decrepit old bird airborne, he flies over to Cody's location, opens fire on the bad guys' helicopter and punctures their fuel line. The bad guys are all, "Ack!" and are forced to make an emergency landing on the nearby remote island. Nick and Cody land on the island and subdue the bad guys at gunpoint. Ted begs to allow them to work something out...but when they're accused of planting a bomb aboard the Riptide, Ted and John are all, "Wuh?" and insist they didn't have anything to do with any bomb, and that they can't begin to guess who else would want them all dead since they haven't told another soul about the sunken treasure. Nick and Cody decide they're convinced of Ted's/John's innocence about the bomb and mull over the possibility that Heinrich Von Schlauser is the bomb planter. Melba is easily able to locate the sunken submarine...and we get a lot of superfluous underwater footage of the vessel's decomposing interior. Melba finds a large safe where the gold was likely stashed, then signals to Murray and Heinrich that they can begin reeling it in. When the safe is safely aboard the Riptide, Heinrich pulls a gun on Melba and Murray and says, "I vas hoping it vouldn't come to zis." Nick and Cody scramble to get decrepit Mimi into the air to race over to the Riptide in the nick of time. They try radioing Murray, but get no reply.
Heinrich ties up Melba and Murray, back-to-back with cartoonishly thick rope, and explains to Melba that her landmark discovery of the WWII submarine has made "certain conclusions necessary". He says that while he's extremely fond of her, the only thing that's ever meant anything to him was the "glorious Third Reich and Mein Führer". Melba and Murray are all, "Seriously, dude? The war's been over for decades" - but Heinrich says that, as incomprehensible as it may sound in 1984, duty calls. And by duty, he means he's going to destroy the safe, the boat, them on the boat - and only then will the war finally be over for him. He caps off his nonsensical blather with a Heil Hitler! Nazi salute, then places a bomb atop the safe, nods a curt goodbye to Melba, and hops aboard a dinghy to flee the impending explosion. When Murray hears Nick and Cody attempting to call them on the radio, he turns on Roboz with a voice command and instructs the orange bot to pick up the radio receiver so he can loudly inform Nick and Cody that they're tied up and about to be blown to smithereens. With only seconds to go before the bomb is set to detonate, Mimi arrives at the Riptide's location, and Cody leaps aboard, throws the bomb as far away as he can, and watches it explode in the ocean. Phew! Nick, meanwhile, chases Heinrich down with Mimi and bellows on his speaker system, "It's over!" Melba wraps up the episode by informing the Riptide trio that no gold was found inside the safe, just some boring paperwork revealing details about the impending Normandy invasion. Melba solemnly points out that since the Germans never received this intel, the outcome of WWII was forever changed. Nick mulls over this fictional retelling of the war, then pretends to drop the historical papers from the safe overboard...and when Melba dives into the water to retrieve them, he's all, "Haha...you fell for my lame prank", and everyone chuckles at the well deserved payback. Recap: A hooker who's decked out in animal print and leather skimpwear is hovering over her naked john, telling him she's going to slow things down 'cause she has a special surprise for him. She orders him to close his eyes, then quietly walks over to the patio door to let in two thugs, one of whom fatally shoots the naked man. The gunman shows his boss, Mr. Burtane (it's Andy Sipowicz from NYPD Blue!) the note that the hooker left with him before absconding to an unknown destination: Dear Mr. Burtane, Pay me $200,000 or I go to the cops. Love, Marcy Mr. Burtane snarks at the gunman for so stupidly letting Marcy just walk away after giving him the note. The gunman concurs that, yep, it's definitely a problem, and promises to track her down asap. Aboard the Riptide, Murray tells Nick and Cody to dress up for their evening out, 'cause he's treating them to dinner/a surprise. In the next scene, we see that the surprise is a Cupid Connection dinner, which a giggling Murray describes as "a supermarket of single ladies interested in meeting men". Nick and Cody groan at the prospect of spending the evening being picked over by a group of disconsolate women...and when Murray giggles joyously after a couple of ladies walk by and brazenly check them out, a visibly irked Nick advises him to suppress his innate geekiness and try to act more aloof. A downbeat looking woman asks Nick if he would possibly consider dancing with her...and when he grimaces and goes, "Yeah, I guess so", she's like, "Really?!!" and quickly ushers him over to the dance floor, where she launches into a tirade about how little trust she has in men. A fuzzy haired brunette named Sheila Hayward hones in on Cody as he accidentally spills punch all over his suit...and after the two chuckle at his clumsiness, they stare hungrily at each other. When they hit the dance floor, she explains that the only reason she's here is 'cause her aunt bought her a ticket to the Cupid Connection dinner and forced her to go in the hope that she'll find herself a nice mate. Later, the two sit at a table and enjoy some get-to-know-each-other chitchat. When he tells her he's a PI, she looks troubled and says she had a fight with her sister a month ago, has no idea how to reach her, and gets the strong sense she's in grave danger. The following day, Nick is suntanning in all of his bare-chested glory - yum! - while snarking at Cody for offering Sheila the resources of the Riptide Detective Agency pro bono in order to locate her missing sister. He reminds Cody that they agreed on no more freebies for pretty women 'cause it always gets them into trouble, but Cody breezily argues that this is merely a small favor for his newest squeeze. After suntanning, Cody tells Nick and Murray that Sheila told him Marcy's landlord refuses to respond to any calls about his missing tenant, then says he has a hare-brained scheme in mind to extract intel. The Riptide trio heads over to Marcy's decrepit apartment complex, pretending to be a TV production team. Cody - who, for some reason, has decked himself out like a cheap street pimp - tells the landlord (Barney) that he's a producer who's very interested in leasing parts of the apartment complex to film a new TV show. He hands Barney his faux business card and says he'd be willing to pay around $1,000/day, and Barney looks intrigued by the prospect of earning such easy money. Cody wanders over to Marcy's apartment and says he'd really like to start filming in this particular unit, and Barney says the tenant hasn't been there in weeks, but that it's OK with him if he wants to go inside and check things out. The trio enters the stank apartment, notices that there's a lot of weird, S&M type stuff laying around, and spots Marcy's day planner. Murray leafs through it and quickly learns that Marcy was employed at The Leather Castle, and sees that she has helpfully documented the appointment times for her various johns. When Cody spots a cigarette still burning in an ashtray sitting on the windowsill, he's like, "Egads! Someone's been here!" - just as Burtane's two thugs emerge from out of nowhere, swing a few punches, and flee out the window. Nick and Cody leap through the window after them and pursue the two by car...but the chase ends when a slow moving truck suddenly pulls out in front of them and blocks the intersection. Barney's wife, who was instantly suspicious of the faux TV production team, has called the police. Murray is promptly arrested...as are Nick and Cody when they return to the apartment complex to collect Murray. As the Riptide trio sits in a holding cell at the police department, Murray waxes on about how utterly fascinating he finds this case, and needlessly recaps what has happened thus far in the episode. Nick rolls his eyes and says it's pretty obvious that Marcy is a hooker who specializes in S&M, but Cody says he's reserving judgement and calls it "an unproven theory". Marcy calls Mr. Burtane to once again demand that he give her 200K. He assures her he has the cash, and agrees to meet her this afternoon at a nearby pier. Lieutenant Quinlan cackles gleefully at the sight of the Riptide trio sitting in the holding cell, and mocks them by referring to them as The B Team...and cackles harder as he informs him that no one is coming to bail them out. Cody tells him they're working on a very important case, and that their client will be arriving any minute to spring them. Quinlan says that's unlikely 'cause they're being held for trespassing, burglary, and breaking and entering. Even though they didn't actually 'break and enter' considering that Barney freely gave them access to the apartment. Sheila arrives and gets the charges dropped against the trio after explaining to police that her name is on the apartment lease, and that she has no problem with them entering her apartment. After exiting the police station, she offers to take them out for dinner to make it up to them, then rubs up against Cody and gives him a giant smooch. After she ambles to her car, the trio is confronted by Burtane's thugs, who dismissively call them "low life PIs" and warn them to stop nosing around Marcy's apartment. Murray uses his portable computer to look up the deets on The Leather Castle, and sees that it's a fancy S&M whorehouse owned by Earl Burtane. He then logs into the King Harbor County Hall of Records [that was somehow completely digitized in 1984] and quickly learns that Mr. Burtane has a criminal record. Nick and Cody "disguise" themselves as gas company employees, then enter the grounds of The Leather Castle, which looks to be really derivative of Hugh Hefner's Playboy estate. As they ogle the scantily clad women roaming around, Nick nods appreciatively and remarks on how much he'd enjoy being a member of this raunchy sex club. They run into a bikini clad woman, introduce themselves as gas company employees, tell her that someone named Marcy Hayward reported a gas leak, and ask her if she knows where Marcy is. Bikini girl, who looks completely unconcerned about a possible gas leak in her midst, says she hasn't seen Marcy for several days and suggests they inquire with her boss, Earl Burtane. After she sashays off to her impatient john, who can be heard calling out to her from whatever headboard he's chained up to, Nick and Cody notice Burtane and his two thugs climb into a car after loudly announcing that they're off to abduct Marcy. LOL. Nick and Cody rush back to their car to follow them, and this time they're able to keep up with the bad guys. Mr. Burtane and his thugs arrive at the pier, find Marcy, and promptly surround her. Burtane orders Marcy to come with him - but she refuses and makes a run for it. The thugs fire their guns, which naturally freaks out the innocent bystanders...and as Nick and Cody draw their weapons and exchange fire (!) with Burtane and his thugs, Marcy races past them, avoids all the flying bullets, and manages to escape. [Note: somehow no passersby were accidentally shot during the filming of this scene.] In the aftermath of the botched abduction, Burtane admonishes his thugs for not being able to shake Nick and Cody...and/or for not realizing that they were being tailed in the first place. He orders them to kill the two cheeky PIs, then track down Marcy's sister and see if she knows anything about her whereabouts. Later, Murray tells Nick he dug up everything he could find on Marcy Hayward...and Nick looks over the intel, furrows his brows, and murmurs, "How do you tell a woman her sister is a slutty hooker?" Cody and Sheila, meanwhile, are lip-locked on the Riptide. She tells him that locating Marcy is the most important thing to her, and he's like, "Oh...really?" and swiftly changes the subject. Smooth, Cody. During dinner at Straightaways, Nick tells Murray he's bummed that Cody is so enamored of Sheila and worries that he'll get hurt. Murray looks intrigued by this admission and urges him to spill his guts further, so Nick says he has a weird feeling about Sheila and can't help but wonder how on earth she could have a sister like Marcy. After searching King Harbor for Nick and Cody, Burtane's thugs manage to locate their car, which is parked near the marina. During a cozy dinner-for-two aboard the Riptide, Sheila remarks to Cody that he seems very quiet tonight and asks if his quietness is somehow related to Marcy. He nods and tells her she's OK, but that it looks like she's gotten herself mixed up with something criminal. He tells her that earlier today he and Nick saw Marcy almost get grabbed by Burtane and his thugs, and Sheila gets angry at him for waiting until now to drop that bomb. When she demands that he share everything he knows, he reluctantly adds that it looks as though Marcy may be involved with a raunchy S&M prostitution ring. During the course of his research, Murray quickly learns that Sheila hasn't told Cody everything about herself, e.g. she has a criminal record. They return to the Riptide, where they spot Sheila standing on the deck staring up at the sky, then go below where Nick breaks it to Cody that they managed to dig up some stuff about Sheila he should know 'bout...and by stuff, he means that she was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Cody's all, "Wha-a-a?!" and refuses to believe it, then chides them for digging up dirt on an innocent woman. Murray solemnly says there's more, then tells him that when he hacked into some bank records, he learned that Marcy closed her bank account the very same day that Sheila made a big deposit into hers. Nick tells Cody he's letting his judgement be affected by how desperately he wants to bone Sheila, and Cody accuses him of being jealous that Sheila fell in love with him without even giving him (Nick) a second glance. Nick sternly replies, "I thought we were better friends than that", and Cody snaps, "So did I." Sheila, who has been eavesdropping on the conversation from the deck, enters the room and explains that Marcy voluntarily gave her her money for safekeeping, and that the deadly weapon arrest occurred after Marcy lied to the police about being attacked by her. She tearfully asks Cody to take her home now, and the two beat a hasty retreat. Burtane's thugs, who have been staking out the Riptide, watch Cody and Sheila leave and recognize Sheila as Marcy's sister. They follow the two in their car...and after a few minutes on the road, Cody notices that they're being tailed. The thugs smash into their car and run them off the highway, then pull Sheila out of the ensuing wreckage. They tell her they're looking for her sister, and she insists she has no idea where she is. One of the thugs checks Cody's pulse and declares him a goner, and a devastated Sheila screams, "Noooooo!!" Nick tells Murray he blames himself for the car accident...and Murray nods absently as he scans the hospital's records on his computer. He's startled when he discovers that both Sheila and Marcy were admitted to the hospital on the exact same day and time, which somehow seems impossible...unless.. The nurse gives Nick permission to briefly visit Cody, who's all bandaged up and is in serious condition. Murray, meanwhile, hangs out with the nurse and helps her out with the video game she happens to be playing while on the job, and blushingly explains that he's an expert 'cause he's the person who designed it. Cody regains consciousness when he senses Nick hovering over him, and weakly tells him that the thugs ran him off the road and abducted Sheila. Nick apologizes for upsetting him earlier and points out that it's not true that women are always attracted to him [though, let's be real, it's likely almost always], and insists that all he wants for him is happiness. Cody clutches his hand in response, then admits that the romance between himself and Sheila was probably moving way too fast. Duh - ya think? Over at The Leather Castle, Burtane tells Sheila that Cody is dead, and that his thugs are out looking for Murray and Nick so they can off them too. He then orders a flunky to lock Sheila in Marcy's room and hopes something useful comes from that. Murray bursts into Cody's room to share a startling finding: Sheila doesn't have a sister, but rather a split personality. He explains that he confirmed this from the hospital's records, and learned that Sheila has been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder...and that Marcy is "her dark side". Cody looks wigged out, while Nick mulls over the shocking revelation and points out that sooner or later, Burtane is going to realize he actually has Marcy [if, up until now, he's been too clueless to recognize her as one of the regular hookers in his creepy S&M stable]. Nick promises Cody he'll do his best to not let anything happen to Sheila/Marcy, and then he and Murray rush off. Sheila looks over "Marcy's" wigs and S&M gear before slipping into a skimpy get-up. She then fake cries for help...and when one of Burtane's armed thugs enters her room to investigate, she knocks him out from behind and grabs his gun. Burtane and his entourage enter the estate's bar/dining room...and a few seconds after that, Marcy struts in. Nick and Murray arrive at the entrance of The Leather Castle, and Nick tells Murray he'll find a secret way in, and orders him to wait by the security gate for the cops. Nick sets off the sprinkler system in the bar/dining room, which foils Marcy's plans to shoot Burtane. After some gunfire is exchanged and Marcy suffers a non-fatal gunshot wound, Nick kneels beside her, removes her wig, and assures her she'll be OK...then gives her the good news about Cody surviving the car accident. On the hospital grounds, Cody limps to where Sheila is sitting, seats himself next to her, and tells her she looks great. Sheila tells him she was bewildered to learn that she has nine personalities (not sure if that's in addition to her "dark side" Marcy personality, which she was aware of), and Cody says he's keeping his fingers crossed for her full recovery. She tells him that the Sheila he got to know this episode may not exist anymore and that she now has to figure out who she really is, and Cody shrugs and says that since he's not terribly picky about the women he hooks up with, he'll probably like whatever personality she eventually morphs into. She thanks him for everything he's done for her this episode, and the two share a final canoodle. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"! Recap: Two American gun smugglers are on a remote runway in Cambodia, loading up a plane with gun filled crates. A few minutes later, the pilot (Stu Pittman) takes off...and after he reaches a safe cruising altitude, he points his handgun at the other guy (Marty Valentine) and tells him he's outlived his usefulness in this illegal gun running scheme. Stu puts the plane on automatic pilot [I'll assume], so the two can wrestle around in the storage area of the plane. Eventually, Stu gets a clear shot at Marty and fatally shoots him, then tosses his body into the ocean below. Over at Pier 56, Murray and Nick are doing their yearly scrubbing of the Riptide's exterior when Cody returns from an errand, clutching a newspaper. He informs Nick that Mean Mick Matthews, a scary mental case they helped get locked up after he burned down a colonel's garage, is being released from prison today...and assumes that his first order of business will be to exact revenge on the two of them. Nick's all, "Ack!" and suggests they take the Riptide out to sea and go deep sea fishing until further notice...and when a dismayed looking Murray asks if they're seriously going to hide from this felon like a coupla neutered fraidy cats, they're like, "Uh, yes..?" Stu, meanwhile, lands his plane in Point Mugu, CA and tells his cohort on the ground he got rid of Marty...despite the stupidity of doing such a thing considering that Marty's father is Sam Valentine, a local mob boss. A few seconds later, two of Sam's thugs arrive at the hangar to pick up Marty, and Stu just shrugs and tells them that Marty got drunk last night and failed to show up at the airstrip. The thugs tell him this is definitely a problem, and that they'll be back in touch after Sam instructs them how much torture they should subject him to in exchange for answers. Once they're out of earshot, an oddly unconcerned Stu tells his cohort he doesn't think that offing Marty is that big of a deal, 'cause surely Sam Valentine must know what a complete moron his son was. As the cohort begins unloading the gun filled crates from the plane, he notices that one of the crates contains fresh food scraps and clothing. He picks up a red t-shirt and tells Stu it looks like he had a stowaway...and when he examines the crate more closely, he sees that the stowaway stupidly left behind a business card for The Riptide Detective Agency. Murray is dismayed that Nick and Cody are fleeing the harbor 'cause of their fear of Mean Mick, but Nick insists that it'd be tantamount to suicide to sit around and wait for Mick to attack. Murray's like, "Whatever" and heads out...then sees something that appears to trouble him. He calls out to Nick and Cody and says, "I think we have some company" ... and since the two assume they're being visited upon by Mean Mick, they each grab a handgun and leap onto the deck shrieking, "OK, Mick. We're ready for you!" They're stunned when "Mick" turns out to be two Cambodian children. The boy, Chin Lee, grins at Nick and chirps, "Hello, Nicholas-san!", aka the man who signs his letters to them Long Distance Daddy, then points at his sister and introduces her as Mai. Nick's face breaks into a huge smile as he warmly greets the two, and explains to Cody and Murray that Chin and Mai are his Cambodian sponsor children he's never so much as made a passing reference to. Like ever. As Cody stares confusedly into space at the implausible notion of his [smokin' hot, but let's face it: vacuous, brain-wise] partner shelling out money for anything resembling a charitable cause, Nick asks the kids how they got here. Chin vaguely says they traveled by way of aeroplane, then explains that the purpose of their trip is to get Mai the heart valve operation she so desperately needs, 'cause the Cambodian orphanage they live in can't offer that level of health care. Nick scrunches his face in puzzlement and asks who's paying for the surgery, and if he's even found a doctor to perform it...but Chin just shrugs and says he figured that he (Nick) would be more than happy to sort all that out for them. Nick's like, "Seriously? I couldn't afford to get myself a heart operation" and Chin's all, "Wha-a-a-a?" and gets visibly upset. [By reason of sanity, I'm going to avoid belaboring the hammy way Chin continually talks about himself in the third person and, in his quest to get Mai the surgery she needs, is obnoxiously obsessed with how much everything's worth: "Tell Chin how many American dollars this boat costs" or "Chin want to know how many American dollars he can get by selling this computer", fuckin' etc.] Max wanders over and asks the Riptide trio if they just got a babysitting gig, then chuckles heartily when she learns that Chin and Mai are Nick's sponsor children and cheekily asks, "Is that like a love child?" Bwahaha! She tells them some guy just stopped in at Straightaways to pass along to them a film canister that needs to be delivered via helicopter to Catalina Island...and said he wants it there, pronto, and is willing to pay $1,000. Murray likes the sound of making such easy money and suggests 'why not also endanger two children by taking them along for a ride aboard the decrepit Screaming Mimi?' As everyone piles aboard the derelict pink chopper, which Nick stubbornly refuses to get serviced, Chin and Mai look alarmed as the engine coughs, sputters, and excretes black smoke before the propellers finally kick in. As Mimi flies over the ocean en route to Catalina Island, a black chopper appears from out of nowhere and speeds after them ominously. The pilot, Stu, tells his cohort that the bomb should go off in thirty minutes - eeeek! - and Nick gets suspicious and tells Cody to open the film canister to see what's inside. Cody discovers an explosive with a timer attached and promptly flings it out of the chopper and watches it explode in the water below - just as Stu's cohort opens fire on Mimi. Cody grabs his rifle and returns fire...and Stu quickly gives up on the attack and returns his bullet riddled chopper to Point Mugu. Nick and Cody summon Max to the Riptide to ask her to give a description of the man who dropped off the film canister. She says he was tall, thin, and had dark curly hair (in other words, not Mean Mick) ... and Murray punches this info into his computer and generates a rendering of the culprit's face. Nick suggests they show it to the valet at Straightaways to see if he can help ID the guy. The valet confirms that the rendering looks like the guy who parked there earlier to deliver his film canister, then hands the trio a garbage can and leaves it to them to fish out the relevant receipt that has the license plate number written on it. The Riptide trio then rushes back to the boat, where Murray punches in the license plate number and quickly learns that the man's name is Stu Pittman. He jots down his contact address so that Nick and Cody can follow up on this lead...then is challenged to a game of jacks (cash upfront!) by Chin. Nick and Cody drive over to the Point Mugu hangar and see the black chopper riddled with bullet holes. They covertly break inside the cockpit and find a Russian assault rifle, which Nick says looks brand new...then wonders aloud if they've unwittingly stumbled upon a gun smuggling operation. They jog over to the nearest building and peek inside the window, and see that Stu is being restrained by thugs while Sam Valentine interrogates him about Marty's whereabouts. Stu repeats his lie about Marty not showing up at the airstrip, and Sam snarks that he's a liar and that he's been in touch with witnesses who were on the ground in Cambodia and who confirmed that Marty boarded the plane. Before Sam can greenlight his thugs to unleash unspeakable acts of torture on Stu, Nick and Cody kick their way inside and yell, "Freeze!" - LOL - and Sam's men pull out their guns and start firing indiscriminately. Amid the chaos, Stu manages to escape to a nearby car and race towards his chopper, while Nick and Cody's stunt doubles leap into Nick's Corvette and chase after him...but in vain, 'cause Stu is somehow able to dive into the cockpit and get the chopper off the ground within seconds. Nick and Cody return to the building to search the office for any clues that could help move this idiotic plot forward. Cody finds a red t-shirt that looks like something Nick owns...and Nick stares at it confusedly and says he mailed it to Chin months ago. He suggests they head back to the Riptide and ask Chin how in blazes his t-shirt got into the bad guys' possession. Sam Valentine quickly learns that the red Corvette which pursued Stu belongs to a Nick Ryder...and Sam assumes that Nick must have been involved with his son's disappearance. He tells his flunky he's well aware of what a dumbfuck Marty was - but still wants to find out what happened to him and is determined to interrogate "this Nick". Back on the Riptide, jacks has graduated to poker - and in order to stay in the game, Murray has bet all of his computer equipment and lost it to Chin. Nick and Cody are all, "The fuck?" ... and after a quick examination of the cards, Nick notices they're marked. When he calls out Chin on his brazen cheating, the lad hangs his head shamefully and says, "Chin do anything to pay for operation." As the Riptide trio stares sadly at the chastened orphans, Sam Valentine and his thugs announce their arrival at Pier 56 by firing their guns in the air for no intelligent reason, then storm aboard the Riptide. When Sam demands to know where his son is, Nick and Cody stare back at him blankly and tell him they have no idea...and while that's happening, a giant man dressed in monk's robes - Mean Mick Matthews! - leaps aboard, grabs Sam and his goons, and tosses them overboard. When there's no explanation of Mick's unexpected change of heart in not wanting to do harm to Nick and Cody (e.g. also throwing them overboard), the Riptide trio + Chin and Mai leap onto the Ebb Tide and flee to safety. The five escape to a tiny deserted island, where a visibly irked Nick asks Chin to give him an honest explanation about how he and Mai got to the U.S. His pissed off tone prompts Mai to tear up, so Nick dials his anger back and gently assures the mute moppet that everything's fine...then turns his attention back to Chin and orders him to do some 'splaining. Chin confesses to sneaking aboard the Americans' plane and hiding himself and Mai amid the gun filled crates...and says he was afraid to say anything 'bout that 'cause he knows they entered the U.S. illegally. He says he witnessed Stu shoot Marty Valentine and throw his body off the plane, then snappishly asks Nick if he's seriously going to stay mad at two hapless, third world orphans. As Nick looks shame-faced, Murray suggests they track down the smuggled guns...and Mai perks up at that and squeaks out the word hangar. Chin translates this to mean that Stu and his cohort had unloaded the gun filled crates in Port Mugu, and that he overheard them saying they were going to make a big exchange today. Nick and Cody decide it's the perfect opportunity to lure Sam Valentine to the hangar and gather all the bad guys in one place...and Murray excitedly says he could lead in the cavalry, meaning Lieutenant Quinlan and a small team of his police officers. When Nick and Cody ask how on earth he thinks he can pull that off, Murray cockily says he's just going to lay out all the facts for Quinlan...and that he'll have the bitchy dickwad eating out of his hand in no time. Over at police headquarters, Quinlan snarks at Murray to get lost and says he doesn't believe a word he's saying about any Cambodian gun smuggling ring...then laughs heartily [and understandably] when Murray tells him the part about Nick being a sponsor father to two Cambodian orphans. As Quinlan continues to mock and guffaw, Murray implores him to gather a squad of armed men so he can lead in the cavalry and help facilitate their biggest gun bust of the year. Quinlan snidely says he's not going to be leading anything, and a frustrated Murray responds by punching him in the face and then running out of the precinct. He hops into Nick's Corvette, with Roboz seated in the passenger seat interestingly, and squeals off while Quinlan races out after him and orders his officers to help him chase the dork down. Nick and Cody hide behind a stack of crates as they watch Stu and his cohort load up the black chopper with the smuggled guns...and when there's no sign of Murray/the cavalry, Nick and Cody decide they can't wait any longer to take action. They run over to the black chopper and open fire, then quickly wrestle Stu and his cohort to the ground. A few seconds later, Sam Valentine's chopper appears overhead...and Cody opens fire on that and forces Sam's pilot to land - just as Murray, Quinlan, and several police officers arrive on the scene. As Sam exits the chopper with his arms up in surrender, Quinlan bellows, "Busted!" ... then glares over at Murray and tells him how shocked he is that he was telling the truth, and Murray looks insulted and informs him that geeks are almost always truth tellers. Mai is in a wheelchair, post heart valve operation, waiting in the airport with Chin to catch a flight back to Cambodia. Nick applauds Chin for his heroic actions in getting Mai to the U.S. and convincing an unnamed charity to pay for the operation - but Chin just stares despondently into space and says he's sad to leave his American friends. Nick half-heartedly says they're welcome to visit any time - just as a pretty flight attendant ambles over to inform them that the flight is ready to board. After a round of good-byes, Chin wheels his sister toward the gate...then turns back to look at Nick one more time and races into his arms for a final, barf-inducing hug. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"!
Recap: A rock band named Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), whose music seems highly derivative of the Beach Boys, is performing in a recording studio when their manager, a rude douchewad named Dell Turner, interrupts to snappishly tell them that their performing sucks and to take it from the top. A record company president, Alan Singer, drops by the studio for a one-on-one with Dell...and the two end up in an argument, after which Dell storms out and loudly declares that he has no intention of signing PCH with Alan's "chicken sandwich" label. One of the band members, Chip, races out of the building after Dell and asks him whassup with him walking out on Alan, and Dell snarks that he's sick of Alan's abuse...and if the rest of the band doesn't like it, they can find someone else to manage them. He climbs into his car and asks Chip if he's coming along or not, and Chip makes the fateful decision to jump into the passenger seat. Dell puts a PCH cassette into the tape player so the two can bop to their music during the drive...but a few minutes later, Dell realizes his brakes aren't working and crashes into a guardrail. Both men get thrown from the car...and while Dell looks relatively unharmed, Chip's lifeless body is laying face-down next to the crashed car. RIP Chip. Two earnest looking dorks - Candy Lane and Gerald Smith - arrive at the Riptide Detective Agency carrying a large bouquet of flowers and a stack of get well letters. They tell Murray they're here on "a very grave matter", then explain that they're the executives of the PCH Fan Club and want to deliver these flowers and letters to Dell Turner...if only they had any idea where he was being hospitalized. There's been nothing revealed about his current whereabouts in the press, and the record company is being dickishly uncooperative, so they've decided they have no choice but to hire PIs to deliver the stuff...and also take a photo so they have hard proof that the delivery was made. Murray decides 'yep, this is definitely a case worth taking' not least 'cause the Riptide trio isn't in any position to be picky about whatever work happens to come their way...and he readily agrees to accept the job at the reduced rate of $200/day. Nick is annoyed at Murray for putting them in "the flower delivery business", and at a reduced rate no less. As Cody grumbles about what a boooooring case this is going to be, Murray hits the ground running by punching Dell Turner into his computer. He quickly learns that Dell is in Room 309 at the Steinholtz Hospital, 'cause yeah...in 1984, hospital employees were diligently entering this type of information on computers so it could be accessed over the Internet in real time. The Riptide trio is dismayed to learn that the Steinholtz Hospital has a scary amount of security. While parked across the street, they spot a pretty blonde nurse (Elizabeth Parker) making her way towards the security booth...so they quickly open up a briefcase filled with quasi disguises. Nick selects a blue bandana, Cody puts on a thick pair of bifocals and stuffs his breast pocket with pens so his aura screams nerd, while Murray decides he needs nothing to further emphasize his nerdy aura and chooses to adopt a 'come as I am' persona. The three rush over to Elizabeth...and Cody introduces himself as Wendell Wicks, while Murray calls himself Darly Smith and introduces Nick as Billy Buckwheat. Nick's like, "Billy Buckwheat..?", then decides it'd be extra realistic for a bandana clad man whose last name is Buckwheat to lapse into dumb sounding Valley boy lingo. They tell Elizabeth they're in charge of the PCH Fan Club and offer her a small payment to deliver a bouquet of flowers and a stack of get well letters to Dell Turner's hospital room...and then take a photo for proof she actually delivered the stuff. Elizabeth perks up and says she had no idea that Dell Turner was being treated at this hospital, then says she'll happily do the favor for free. They're like, "Great!", load her down with the flowers, letters, and camera, and tell her they'll wait for her here. Elizabeth tiptoes into Room 309 and is putting the fan club loot on the night stand when a semi-conscious Dell starts mumbling, "They're trying to kill me.." She's all, "Wuh? Who's trying to kill you?" and hovers over him to attempt to hear his reply - just as a mean looking nurse bursts in and demands to know what she's doing here. Elizabeth relays what she thought she just heard Dell mumble, and the mean nurse snaps, "He's delirious!" and adds that he's scheduled for brain surgery in the morning. She grabs Elizabeth by the arm, but Elizabeth is able to break free and flee the room. The mean nurse promptly calls Dr. Baronson to report that Dell Turner may have talked to nurse Elizabeth Baker, and Dr. Baronson says he'll take care of this unexpected [but yet totally preventable] security breach. As Elizabeth rushes toward the outdoor security booth, the guard receives a phone call, instructing him to detain her. He dutifully says, "I'm on it!" and grabs her - just as the Riptide trio races over in their vehicle, wrestles Elizabeth away from him, and squeals off. After a car chase involving two Hospital Security vehicles, a bewildered Elizabeth asks what's in blazes is going on, and they're like, "Uh...we have absolutely no idea." Alan Singer demands to know how Elizabeth Baker was able to get into Dell Turner's hospital room so easily, and Dr. Baronson's like, "Dunno" and says he's pretty pissed off about it too...even though he's the one in charge of the hospital part of this criminal operation. Alan orders him to take care of Dell asap, and Dr. Baronson's like, "Can do" and says he's planning to perform Dell's life-ending brain surgery first thing in the morning. Aboard the Riptide, Cody apologizes to Elizabeth for getting her tangled up in their mess, and that they had no idea delivering flowers to an injured rock star could become dangerous. Elizabeth's like, "Don't worry about it!" and says that something is clearly amiss at the hospital...but that she's not at all sorry this happened 'cause of how happy she is to have met them. Cody flirtily replies, "Me too" and promises to get her out of trouble asap, then waxes on for several minutes about how much he looooves being a PI and living life on his terms. Elizabeth looks intrigued by his self-absorbed nattering, and the two press up against each other and start smooching. Murray has enlisted Roboz to start comparing the voice patterns from PCH's music on their older albums with that of the post-Chip memorial album. After that, he hacks into the hospital's records while Elizabeth informs them that there's a rumor about a team of researchers who have had their medical licenses revoked and are performing unauthorized genetic experiments on the second floor. Yeech. When Murray is able to access Dell Turner's medical chart on his computer, Elizabeth studies it and notes with alarm that there's no CAT scan on record, and says it's highly unusual for anyone getting a brain operation to not have a CAT scan. Murray says that, according to Dell's chart, the operation is scheduled for 6am (two hours from now), which means they're going to need to break into the hospital and save him from certain death by posing as garbage men making a 6am pickup. Yep, sounds like a plan that's just crazy enough to work. Murray, who seems overly excited about driving a garbage truck for the impending rescue, is sitting behind the wheel, while Cody and Elizabeth are snuggled together in the passenger seat. When they arrive at Steinholtz Hospital, the truck gets waved past the security booth...and Nick and Cody leap out and dash inside the hospital, run up to the second floor operating room, and hold the surgical staff at gunpoint while they snatch Dell Turner from atop the operating table. Nick straps Dell onto his back (LOL) and manages to flee the building with Cody close behind. They leap into the dumped garbage part of the truck (yuck), seconds before Murray hits the gas and crashes through the security gate. Nick and Cody call in a doctor friend to look over "their cousin" Dell, and he gives Dell a clean bill of health and says it's puzzling that he was about to have a brain operation when there's absolutely nothing wrong with him. After he leaves, Murray remarks on how grateful Dell is likely to be to them for saving his life, and Nick says he's mostly hoping for a cash reward. A few seconds later, a scowling Dell enters the room and snarkishly asks whose "chicken sandwich" shirt he's wearing, and why he was brought aboard this floating turd of a boat. [Incidentally, I wonder if Dell's repeated use of the phrase "chicken sandwich" is the writers' way of coming as close to saying "chicken shit" as was possible on an '80s network TV show.] A crestfallen Nick says that the t-shirt they so graciously lent him is one of his favorites, and Cody wryly says they're aboard the boat he spent his life savings purchasing - as Elizabeth watches this from across the room and shakes her head in dismay at Dell's rudeness. Dell rolls his eyes and is all, "Whatever" and asks them if they could please supply him with some grass and other illegal mood enhancements...and when Cody piously tells him they don't do that stuff, Dell gets on the phone with one of his flunkies and barks an order to score some weed and cocaine. He pauses to ask what the address of this godforsaken boat slip is, and Nick offers up the address of local police headquarters, much to the amusement of Cody and Murray. Haha! After that, Dell studies the memorial album for PCH that Alan Singer's record company must have released five minutes after Chip's death, then remarks that he has absolutely no memory of whatever horrendous things might have been done to him at Steinholtz Hospital. Nick, Cody, and Murray go up to the deck to theorize that whoever tampered with the brakes of the Dell's car is most likely a part of the plot to finish him off on the operating table. They decide they have no choice but to report all this to Lieutenant Quinlan. Dell calls Alan and smugly says, "Nice try, but I slipped the punch", and tells Alan he owes him for Chip's murder and his attempted murder...and by owes, he wants 100% of the sales of the memorial album, and wants it in writing asap. Outside police headquarters, the Riptide trio draws straws to see who will have to go inside and deal with Lieutenant Quinlan...and Cody draws the short straw. Dell meets up with Alan and a female notary in Ocean Park. Alan hands Dell a pen and invites him to sign the contract that entitles him to 100% of memorial album sales, then makes it a point to urge him to keep the pen. Dell ignores that red flag and unsuspectingly puts the pen in his shirt pocket...and a few seconds after he drives off, Alan hits the blow up button on a remote detonation device. Dell's car promptly explodes, killing him instantly. While Cody is telling Quinlan that he knows the whereabouts of Dell Turner, a cop rushes into the room to report to Quinlan that Dell Turner and his car were just blown to smithereens near Ocean Park. Cody pales and mutters, "Oh shit.." as Quinlan glares at him and orders the cop to hold him for complicity in the murder of Dell - with, naturally, zero proof or evidence. Cody says he was joking just now about knowing the whereabouts of Dell, and that if he's detained at headquarters without cause, he's going to hire a shark of a lawyer and sue the fuck out of this police department. Quinlan rails to no one in particular about having to put up with the three Riptide stooges, then reluctantly tells the cop to release Cody back into society. Cody rushes back to the parking lot to inform Nick and Murray that Dell just got blown up. Nick breathes a sigh of relief (LOL) and says they can finally drop this pesky case - but Murray argues that he's not ready to do that 'cause there's something very fishy about the memorial album Alan Singer's record company released so quickly after Chip's death. Back aboard the Riptide, Murray uses Roboz to analyze the voice pattern differences between PCH's old albums and the memorial album and determines that neither Chip's nor Dell's voice is on the memorial album. He asks Roboz to compare the memorial album's voices with that of each band member, and Roboz quickly deduces that the singer on the memorial album is the band's third backup singer: Pete Frank, aka Hot Dog Pete. Nick and Cody reprise their PCH Fan Club identities from earlier in the episode and pay Alan Singer a visit. They tell him that Hot Dog Pete called them to confess some wrongdoing related to the memorial album, and Alan says they really shouldn't rely on anything Pete tells them, given his drug abuse problems. He then urges them to quit fan clubbing and get a real life - but Cody solemnly retorts, "It'll never be over as long as their music remains." Alan's like, "That's nice. Off you two go now" ... and once they're out of earshot, he summons his flunky Bob and informs him that Hot Dog Pete has been blabbing to a couple of fan club nerds about his singing role on the memorial album. Bob shrugs and says they were going to kill him anyway, and Alan nods approvingly while muttering, "The hot dog's about to be roasted." Alan and Bob arrive at Dell's memorial ceremony in the park, and Bob rushes off to locate Pete. The Riptide trio arrives a few seconds later, and Nick and Cody grab their guns and race into the park. Bob easily finds Pete in the crowd and tells him that Alan wants to talk to him, then lifts his jacket to show him he's armed. When Pete refuses to leave and tells Bob he knows that Alan killed Dell, Bob pulls out his gun and fires into the air. He then drags Pete over to Alan's car, forces him inside, and squeals off...and seconds later, Nick and Cody rush back to their vehicle and squeal off after them. A shootout breaks out in mid-chase, which causes Alan to lose control of the car and crash. Nick and Cody swiftly rescue Pete, then smugly tell Alan and Bob they're in a whole lot of trouble. Along with the evil Dr. Baronson, no doubt. The Riptide trio + Elizabeth celebrate the resolution of this case with dinner at Straightaways. Max saunters over and hands them a bill, then says she'll give them a break on the amount they owe if they'd be willing to deal with a drunken Lieutenant Quinlan, whose drink was spiked by the bartender (for no explained reason). Sounds like the bartender should be forced to clean up his own mess. Nick and Cody head over to Quinlan's table, where he's drunkenly railing about how some joker delivered three ounces of cocaine to police headquarters, which somehow exploded and got everyone inside the precinct high. The higher ups suspended him for three days without pay (not sure why they figured this was his fault), and in mid-babble, he passes out and hits the floor. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"! Recap: Nick is piloting a helicopter tour aboard the decrepit Mimi for a terrified looking couple whose terror mounts when the chopper starts making choking sounds while smoke billows out the back. The husband begs Nick to land his hunk of junk, and Nick's like, "We don't have much choice" and somehow manages to return the chopper to its regular landing spot. He apologizes for the "wind current" they must have caught - but the husband snarks that he'll be hearing from his lawyer, then storms off with his ashen-faced wife. Cody and Murray rush over to excitedly inform Nick that they have a case - and that it was referred to them by their newest frenemy, Myron Bell. Nick rails about how much he hates Myron and all the shitty clients he's been throwing their way...but when pieces of Mimi start falling off and clattering to the ground, Nick concedes that they could definitely use a payday. Get that dilapidated thing serviced already! The Riptide trio meets up with Myron, who tells them that their prospective client is a creep named Roger Ramsdale who wants them to get hard proof that his estranged wife is a money grubbing whore. The Riptide trio + Myron head over to Roger's house and find Roger lounging by the pool, barking at someone named Craig Walters over the phone. Myron introduces him to Nick, Cody, and Murray...and Roger scowlingly says, "I want you to prove that my wife is a slut", then orders the willowy blonde who's hanging around nearby to fetch him a beer. He glares disdainfully at Nick, Cody, and Murray and growls at Myron for bringing him three such obvious lightweights...and when a fed up Nick says he's ready to walk, Myron stops him and tells him that Roger, while an undeniable douchewad, is an important client who throws a lot of lucrative business his way...then adds that he's prepared to pay the Riptide Detective Agency $5,000 to dig up proof of his wife's sluttiness. Murray asks Myron if he's absolutely sure that the woman is a slut, and Myron's like, yep, she's the supreme queen of all slutbags, then points out that any woman who would debase herself by marrying Roger has to have at least a few screws loose. Fair point. Nick says he hates the way this job is starting to shape up, but agrees to work the case, given their dire financial situation. Myron's like, "Yay!" and gives them the name of their target: Joan Ramsdale. The Riptide trio heads over to Joan's suburban house and stares confusedly at her lovely flower garden and white picket fence. Inside, Joan is meeting with her own PI, an attractive brunette named Tracy who will soon demonstrate her annoying habit of saying 'get outa town!' whenever she hears something that displeases her. The trio appears on Joan's doorstep just as Tracy is on her way out, and they decide it'd be plausible to pretend to be vacuum cleaner salesmen and pretend that Roboz is a convincing vacuum cleaner prototype. Joan smiles warmly and graciously invites them inside while Tracy climbs into her car and gets a call on her car phone from her PI partner Jane, aka the willowy blonde woman who was just hanging out undercover at Roger's house. Sneaky! Jane tells Tracy that Roger just hired three detectives - two hot guys and a bespectacled dork - to dig up dirt on Joan. Tracy shrieks, "Get outa town!" and tells Jane she's pretty sure she just encountered them on Joan's doorstep. A stern looking man pastes a photo of Roger on his calendar, then glares stonily at it before drawing his gun and aiming at it. Joan allows the Riptide trio to dump dirt on her carpet so they can demonstrate Roboz's vacuum cleaning abilities - even as Roboz is roaming around the house, snapping photos that might provide evidence of Joan's slutty lifestyle. Cody apologizes for their non-functioning vacuum cleaner and says they'll bring it back to the lab to make the necessary tweaks...and Joan's like, "No problem!" She says she sees Roboz's potential and would like to put down a deposit on the contraption, then smilingly says she's confident they'll get it working. The trio stares at her in stunned disbelief, agrees to put her name on a nonexistent waiting list, then beats a hasty retreat. When they climb into their car, they notice that Joan is on her way out and decide to follow her. Tracy, who's watching them surveille her client, calls Jane and tells her to get over here pronto so they can launch a tag-team tailing operation. The Riptide trio follows Joan on her wholesome errands, which conclude at the Children's Hospital...and the photos Roboz snapped at her house prove to be just as fruitless in revealing her to be a shameless harlot. They decide their next move will be to head back to Roger's house to tell him they're no longer going to spy on his squeaky clean wife - but only after they corner Tracy and Jane and call them out for tailing them...then invite the two ladies to join them for lunch. Tracy and Jane advise the Riptide trio to dump Roger as a client on account of what a ginormous asshole he is, and Tracy expresses her exasperation with anyone who'd ever agree to work for Roger with another 'get outa town!' Jane explains that around the time Joan left Roger, she noticed some oddities in his finances...so she hired her and Tracy to look into it. Nick and Cody says they're A-OK with throwing in the towel on this dead end spy job and invite Jane and Tracy to come along to Roger's house so that all five of them can participate in the [spoiler] impending car chase. As Tracy waits in her car, Nick, Cody, Murray, and Jane enter Roger's house - but when they call out his name a few times, he doesn't respond. Nick quickly discovers Roger's bullet riddled body in the bathroom - just as Jane spots an armed man, who's clutching a silver briefcase, race out of the house and into his car. The four run out after him and pile into Tracy's car so they can pursue the likely killer...and Nick and Cody unleash a string of misogynistic insults at Tracy to loudly express their disdain for her sub par driving abilities, then groan in incredulity when she dutifully stops at a red light. As Nick and Cody rail about her deficiencies as a female PI, she and Jane snap at them to shut it, and smugly tell them that they both managed to get the killer's license plate number. The Riptide trio + Jane and Tracy arrive at the Children's Hospital to inform Joan about her husband's death, and are stunned to see that Lieutenant Quinlan and his team have already arrived and are in the middle of arresting Joan. Jane and Tracy run over to ask whassup with him arresting an innocent woman...and when they identify themselves as private investigators, Quinlan laughs condescendingly and says, "Lady investigators, that's all I need." When he asks them if they're on The Case of the Stolen Recipes or Knitting Needles, Jane gets all in his face and calls him out for his ridiculous-even-for-'80s-TV-standards misogyny while Tracy wearily mutters another of her 'get outa towns!'. When Nick and Cody rush over to break up the altercation, Quinlan derisively asks them if siccing a couple of lady PIs on him is their idea of a joke, then informs all of them that Joan Ramsdale has just been arrested for conspiracy in her husband's death. And that if they have a problem with his impetuous-to-the-point-of-unlawful style of policing, they can suck on it. Over dinner at Straightaways, the Riptide trio + Jane and Tracy discuss the latest development in the case: the authorities are suspicious about a $5,000 check that Joan refuses to explain, so they're leaping to the assumption [with absolutely zero proof] that she used the money to hire a hitman to kill Roger. Jane proposes they all work together to solve this case before the end credits roll, and Nick says he's willing to try - but only if they refrain from hitting them over the head with their "women's lib stuff". Tracy wryly tells him that women in the U.S. have been liberated for quite some time...then says, similarly, that she and Jane won't put up with any idiotic, testosterone-fueled competitions that men of their ilk like to engage in. Murray laughs aloud at the many pissing contests he's seen between Nick and Cody over the past eight episodes, then contorts his face into a serious expression when he informs everyone that he just recalled a critical piece of information that could crack the case wide open. Aboard the Riptide, Jane and Tracy gush to Murray about how impressed they are with all of his fancy computer equipment. Murray says he suddenly remembered that when they first arrived at Roger's house, he was having an argument over the phone with someone named Craig Walters...so he figures that maybe that guy could be the murderer. He then punches Craig Walters into his computer and finds a profile on the man, which somehow indicates that he's the owner of a 7mm gun. [Interesting that a person's gun purchasing history would be available online in 1984.] Jane remarks that 7mm is a very unusual size for a gun...and when Cody snidely asks her if she's a gun expert, she shrugs and says she can hold her own at a gun range. Tracy proposes they drop by Craig's house first thing in the morning to follow up on this lead. The Riptide trio + Jane and Tracy head over to Craig's place, and we learn that Craig was the stern looking man from earlier who had pointed his gun at Roger's photo...which, jackpot! After rifling through his stuff, they find photos of a pregnant woman named Ellie Thompkins...and a few seconds later, Murray spots Craig running towards his car, then leaps inside it and squeals off. Nick smugly tells Tracy, "Now you'll see a proper car chase!" before he and Cody race out of the house and jump into his red Corvette. When Nick runs a red light, he's promptly stopped by a traffic cop, and he and Cody sheepishly agree to not mention a word of this humiliation to Jane or Tracy. The next stop for Operation Solve Roger's Murder is the restaurant where Ellie Thompkins, who's visibly pregnant, works. The Riptide trio + Jane and Tracy ask her if she knows Craig Walters, and she's overly forthcoming about how he quickly became her more-than-just-platonic friend and Lamaze coach, and that he's been a UGE help to her ever since getting knocked up by Roger Ramsdale, her douchebag ex-lover who was recently killed. She adds that when she told Roger about the baby, he became enraged and ordered her to get an abortion - but she refused. When she ambles off to wait on other tables, Cody wonders aloud if the $5,000 check Joan refuses to account for was her way of helping out the woman her moron of a husband so carelessly knocked up. Jane and Tracy visit Joan in jail to ask her about the $5,000...and she admits that, yep, since Roger refused to take responsibility for the sweet, naive woman he impregnated, she decided to help her out with a little spare cash. She then checks the time and says she needs to go now 'cause she promised her cellblock-mates she'd teach them how to knit. The Riptide trio mulls over everything they've learned this episode, then theorize about the series of events that likely led to Roger's murder: Roger refused to pay for the baby he knocked Ellie up with and ordered her to get an abortion...and when she refused, he hired a hitman named Craig Walters to kill her - but Craig promptly fell in love with Ellie and decided 'why not just kill Roger instead?' Seems like a reasonable change of plans. Nick and Cody decide that their next step will be to ambush Craig at Ellie's next Lamaze class, and enlist Jane and Tracy to give them cover by posing as their pregnant wives. Ellie squeals happily when Craig makes an appearance at her Lamaze class. She gabbles about the people who dropped by the restaurant where she works at the other day to ask questions about him...and when Nick, Cody, Jane, and Tracy enter the room, she's like, "Hey, there they are!" Craig's all, "Ack!" and makes a break for the exit and manages to climb inside of his car...and after Cody misfires at the car a few times, Jane grabs the gun out of his hand and shoots out one of Craig's tires, then smugly tells Cody that she's an expert marksman...er, markswoman. A few seconds later, they get the news that Ellie has just gone into labor, and they all start scrambling around to get her to a hospital, stat! After what seems like a pretty short labor, Craig enters the waiting room to announce to the Riptide trio + Jane and Tracy that Ellie just had a baby girl. He says to pass along to Ellie that he loves her, then allows the police officer, who's been waiting politely inside the hospital this entire time to arrest him (LOL), to handcuff him and lead him away. Everyone looks bummed at the arrest and hopes that the judge will go easy on Craig, given that he only killed Roger to protect Ellie. With that said, they all decide to celebrate the successful wrap-up of this dreary case by heading over to Straightaways for some sustenance. Jane and Tracy tell the Riptide trio that St. Joan is now interested in doing whatever she can to help Craig and Ellie...and also that she's eagerly awaiting her robot-style vacuum cleaner from the three charming salesmen who dropped by her house earlier in the episode. As the trio chortles at the impossible naivete of the woman, Myron pops up from out of nowhere and tells Nick and Cody that he has a new client for them: a man who wants to get hard proof that his daughter's punk boyfriend is a transvestite. I'm sure that the daughter will discover that for herself in due time - but that's all I'm going to say 'bout that. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"! Recap: Three beefy men, who are clearly up to no good, pull up to what looks like a rich person's house...and the most psychotic looking of the three, Carter, clutches his gun, tells the other two he'll only need five minutes to commit his nefarious deed, then exits the car. As that's happening, a pretty blonde woman named Sherry climbs out of a cab, tells the driver to wait for her, then dashes toward the front door of the house. Eeeeek! Sherry rings the doorbell and comes face-to-face with Dr. Robert Atkins, her until recently lover. Robert irritably tells Sherry to dry her tears, accept the fact that he gave her the dumperoo, and go home. A tearful Sherry wails, "You're not worth crying over!" and storms out of the house, climbs back into her cab, and gives the driver her home address. Carter, meanwhile, sneaks into the house, shoots Robert in the chest, then puts on a pair of latex gloves before rifling through the dead man's drawers. He finds a set of keys to a boat called The Endeavor and cackles to himself about how awesome it'll be to sail on to Mexico. In the next scene, Carter and his pals - Lou and Dennis - have docked The Endeavor at King Harbor and are partying hearty while harassing the scantily clad Contessa babes. Aboard the Riptide, Nick and Cody are wearing nose bandages after a night of brawling with military men whose girlfriends they decided it was a wise idea to flirt with. Cody says he's sick and tired of getting his nose broken for what most men would consider easily avoidable behavior and declares that, starting now, he's going to adapt his communications approach to the more non-violent recommendations he's been reading about in his favorite new book, The Conversation Game. Nick rolls his eyes derisively and scoffs at the notion of not letting every hostile confrontation degenerate into a fist fight. Tammy gets so fed up by the noisy harassment that she storms aboard The Endeavor to ask the men to please lower the volume of their partying...and Carter responds by looming over her and dickishly asking her to repeat her complaint. When she firmly reiterates, "Keep. It. Down", he grabs her by the arm, cackles about how he's now going to make her stick around, and forces her to dance with him...and Lou and Dennis cackle about how Carter "finally got one". Ew. Tammy yells at the creepy psycho to let her go, then smacks him hard across the face...and he responds by tossing her overboard. A few seconds later, the Riptide trio hear Tammy's screams and are all, "Wha-a-a-t was that?" As Tammy swims back to the dock, unhurt, the Contessa babes tell Nick and Cody about the annoying loudmouths who have parked themselves in the slip next door and suggest they call the police. Cody decides this is the perfect opportunity to test out the advice he read about in The Conversation Game and greets Carter, Lou, and Dennis all friendly-like and assures them he's not looking for any trouble. Carter snaps back that he and his beefy pals are looking for plenty of trouble...but then quickly backs off when Nick pulls out his gun and orders them to get the hell out of King Harbor. While out at sea, Carter brandishes his gun and tells Lou and Dennis he wants to turn the boat around and punish the beach bums for publicly threatening him...and by punish, he means completely overreact by pumping lead into both of them. Dennis reminds the psycho that they're about to pick up their pal Davey, who's getting released from prison soon...and if they can avoid committing any superfluous murders, they could be in Mexico within a day or two. The Riptide trio are out for dinner at Straightaways with a couple of Contessa babes, listening to the comedy performance of the new Straightaways/Contessa manager, Max. Interesting...I guess Mama Jo decided to abruptly leave the nubile Contessa babes in her charge for greener pastures elsewhere. After wrapping up her schtick, Max ambles over and reminds the babes they should get to bed at a decent hour 'cause they have an early morning charter...and then, apropos of nothing, Murray starts bragging about all the cash the Riptide Detective Agency made last year, and that he's heading back to the boat to pore over their tax records. Er, OK..? Carter sneaks aboard the Riptide a few seconds before Murray returns. He sneaks behind Murray and puts a bag over his head before kicking him unconscious...then knocks poor Roboz over when the cheeky robot makes a grabbing motion at him with his little hook hand. Nick and Cody are on their way back to the Riptide when they see Carter sneaking off the deck and stupidly yell, "Hey you!", which prompts Carter to shoot at them before racing off on a small motor boat. Nick and Cody leap into a dinghy that just happens to be stationed nearby...but the chase quickly ends when Carter's bullets deflate the dinghy and force the two back to shore. Murray tells Nick and Cody that their tax records got pooched during the break-in, then quickly gets to work looking up who the registered owner of The Endeavor is. Murray's computer search leads the Riptide trio to the home of Dr. Robert Atkins, whose lifeless body is being wheeled by first responders. The trio mulls over the best disguise with which to sneak past police in order to independently investigate the murder and decide on pool cleaners. Nick and Cody put an Al's Pool Service sign across the side of their vehicle and change into matching beige jackets and caps...then hide Murray in the back seat before pulling up to the Atkins driveway. In cartoonishly bad southern accents, they tell the gullible police officer guarding the perimeter that they're here to turn off the faulty pool pump in order to avoid a massive flood on the property...and once they're inside the gates, Murray and Cody disguise themselves as medical researchers so they can sneak inside the house and poke around for helpful clues. The cab driver who was chauffeuring Sherry around on the night of the murder has been summoned to the Atkins house, and is now talking to a detective. Murray and Cody slip into white lab coats and tell the officer on duty that they're here to collect the petri dishes they were working with Robert on...and alarm him about the contagion-related perils if the bacteria laden experiments are allowed to remain in the house. The officer's all, "Oh no!" and allows them roam about freely in this ridiculously unsecured [even by Riptide standards] crime scene. Cody and Murray see a police detective questioning Sherry - just as Lieutenant Quinlan bursts into the room, asks the detective why he's wasting time questioning a suspect, then barks, "Book the broad!" One has to wonder how in blazes this Neanderthal became [and continues to be employed as] a police lieutenant. Cody and Murray exit the house before Quinlan can spot them, then fetches Nick so the three can safely squeal away in their car. As they muse about a blonde woman being the primary murder suspect, they suddenly see her pop up from the cargo area of their vehicle with a gun clutched in her hands. After the commercial break, Cody makes use of the skills he learned from The Conversation Game and tells a highly distressed Sherry that they're willing to listen to whatever she wants to say about her fears and anxieties...preferably after she puts the gun down. As she mulls that over, Nick grabs the gun from her, prompting her to wail, "Wah! I just wanna kill myself!" The four stop off at a fast food restaurant, where Sherry insists to the trio that she had nothing to do with killing her ex-lover. Murray says he believes her, not least 'cause the mood ring they made her wear just prior to this conversation is glowing orange - which confirms that, yep, she's telling the truth. They reveal to her that they're PIs who recently had a nasty run-in with the three thugs who stole Robert's boat and likely killed him...and Sherry tells them everything she knows about the boat, along with Robert's shady business manager, Sidney Gorman. When Sherry wonders aloud what she should do now, Nick advises her to steer clear of turning herself in to Quinlan, who's just going to treat her like an insect stuck to the bottom of his shoe while she's in his custody, and suggests she instead hide out aboard the Riptide. Carter, Lou, and Dennis pick up their friend Davey after he's dropped off via a local sheriff's ferry. Carter gives him a rugged man-hug, then tells him he stole a fancy boat so they can all sail to Mexico in style...but before they do that, he has a score to settle with two beach bums who sassed him earlier. He hands Davey a gun and asks him if he's into committing a double homicide, and Davey's like 'Let's see...I just got out of prison ten minutes ago, but why the hell not murder two random guys I've never heard of for no coherent reason?' The Riptide trio heads to Sidney Gorman's office, pretending to be officials from the U.S. Coast Guard. After flashing their phony badges, they demand whatever info he has on The Endeavor, and tell him they suspect it's being used for drug running. Sidney looks visibly edgy and unconvincingly says he doesn't know nuthin' from nuthin'...and after the trio exits his office and hide in the hallway, they spot Sidney rushing out of his office and down the nearest stairwell. The follow him to an apartment complex and watch as he bangs on one of the apartment doors yelling, "Carter! Open up!" ... and when no one answers, he races back to his car, roughly shoving Nick out of the way in the process, and starts driving so excessively fast that Cody is forced to abandon the chase. Murray theorizes that perhaps Robert was planning to fire Sidney, who responded by hiring Carter to kill him. Nick and Cody decide that that sounds like as good a theory as any the writers are likely to come up with...and that they need to find Carter asap so they can force him to confess and thereby clear Sherry of any wrongdoing. The trio returns to King Harbor and notices that - ack! - Sherry and the Riptide are both gone. Murray pulls out his ginormous "portable" computer and suggests they use Roboz's signal to track the boat, and Nick says he'll go start up the decrepit Mimi's engines so they can launch a dramatic, by air rescue. Aboard the Riptide, Carter puts a bag over Sherry's head and snarls, "You're coming with us." Eeeek! While aboard Mimi, Murray easily tracks Roboz's signal and gives Nick the coordinates. The bad guys mull over the idea of pawning Murray's fancy computer gear, then joke about using Sherry as their personal maid. Sexist jerkwads. Dennis stares at a nervous looking Roboz, who makes a popping noise when Dennis amuses himself by pouring beer over the orange bot's head. While hovering over the stolen Riptide, Nick gets on the blowhorn and orders the bad guys to surrender...to which they respond by firing on Mimi. Murray and Cody fire back, then lower a dinghy and leap into the water after it. Cody gets close enough to throw a grenade at the bad guys, which causes them to flee to a nearby island...then tackles two of them at once, while Nick quickly lands Mimi and attacks Carter before punching him into submission. Hurray! Over dinner at Straightaways, we learn that Sidney Gorman was stealing money from Dr. Atkins, who then threatened to fire him, who was then killed by Carter. Good guesswork, Murray! The two Contessa babes amble over to smugly inform Nick and Cody that they're having dinner with Todd and Mitchell, two volleyball coaches they all met off-screen. Cody grumbles that the men seemed like good talkers and probably read The Conversation Game...and this prompts him, Nick, and Murray to chuckle heartily. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"! Recap: An attractive flight attendant named Connie Moreci arrives at the house of her friend, Arty Truman, just as he's telling someone on the phone how paranoid he's getting that someone is following him, and that he doesn't think it's safe to have it anymore. After the call, he lets Connie in and gives her the package he wants her to deliver to his brother, Walter. She remarks on how "edgy" he's acting, but then just kind of shrugs amiably and gives him a cheek kiss goodbye before heading back out. A few seconds later, an armed man breaks into Arty's house and advances on him - just as the camera pans over to Connie, who looks as if she's forgotten to tell Arty something. When she hears a gunshot, she rushes up to the house and peers through the living room window and sees the armed man standing over Arty with his gun. When he glares over at her, she's all, "Ack!" and swiftly totters down the street in her high heels. With the killer in pursuit, she races to the nearest busy city street and spots an excellent hiding place: a movie theater. Aboard the Riptide, Nick and Cody are preparing for a double date with two buxom hotties, Tammy and Bambi from the Contessa, whose curfew has been temporarily suspended while Mama Jo is out of town to care for her sick Aunt Nellie. Murray returns to the boat with a pizza and cheerfully tells the two that dinner is served, and a pained looking Nick explains that when he and Cody sent him out for pizza, they expected him to stay gone for the entire evening so they could work on nailing the Contessa babes...in weirdly close proximity to each other, apparently, given the limited square footage of the boat. Murray looks hurt for a few seconds, then points out that dating anyone who opts to live under the thumb of a woman who refers to herself as Mama Jo constitutes a lack of ethics, but Nick and Cody assure him that any bonings that occur are entirely consensual...and that they're horny, shallow men whose penises have basic human needs. They then urge Murray to get out there and find a girl of his own, then give him whatever cash is in their wallets, along with the keys to Nick's red Corvette. Murray seems adequately placated with that and ambles off, just as Tammy and Bambi arrive. Murray is aimlessly wandering the streets when he comes upon the same movie theater that Connie found refuge in earlier. He loads up on popcorn and candy bars, tiptoes inside the theater, and finds himself seated next to a sobbing Connie. He tries to comfort her by reminding her it's just a movie...and when he offers her some popcorn, she declines and rushes out. Murray follows her to ask her if she's OK, and she's like, "Not really, there's a gunman waiting for me outside" and explains that she witnessed him shoot her friend Arty. Murray perks up and tells her that this sounds like a case for the Riptide Detective Agency and convinces her to bring her case to his two associates. When the two exit the theater, Connie spots the gunman across the street and points at him and squeals, "There he is!", and he reacts by scurrying to his car and driving off. Seems like a weird thing for a murderous gunman to do after going through the trouble of stalking her all those hours. Murray then decides 'why not pursue an armed murderer in a car that I'm, in no way, adept at driving?' and engages in an erratic car chase that entails him running red lights, swerving onto sidewalks, and crashing into piles of garbage. When a policeman finally pulls him over, he implores the officer to cut him some slack so he can continue pursuing the bad man who's been stalking Connie all day after murdering her friend. The officer responds by glaring at him in stony silence, then shakes his head in dismayed incredulity. The Riptide phone starts ringing just as Nick and Cody are rounding third base with the Contessa babes. When they finally get around to answering the phone, Murray tells them he's in jail and implores them to bail him out...and before he's able to prattle nonsensically for more than a few seconds, Cody gruffly replies that he and Nick will be there, pronto, and abruptly hangs up. Murray commiserates with his cellmates about the appalling conditions of their holding cell, and insists that he's an innocent man. A pimp, who's dressed in unmistakable pimp-wear, concurs and says that he got picked up by the cops 'cause of what he was wearing while trying to market his goods...and when Murray asks him what type of goods he markets, Pimp deadpans, "Encyclopedias." A few seconds later, Murray is sprung from the holding cell...and after complaining to Nick and Cody about his arrest and lamenting the plight of falsely imprisoned encyclopedia salesmen - LOL - Connie appears from out of nowhere, gets introduced to Nick and Cody, and grimly reports that someone has sneaked into Arty's house and made off with his dead body. Ew. Walter Truman is at the Lima, Peru airport, waiting for Connie to arrive and deliver his brother's package. When she doesn't make her usual appearance, he asks a flight attendant whassup with Connie not being on the flight, and she shrugs and informs him that Connie didn't show up for work today. Connie takes the Riptide guys over to Arty's house, shows them where she saw the gunman shoot Arty, and deduces that he must have returned to the scene of the crime and stolen his body. When Nick and Cody look visibly skeptical, she explains that she regularly delivered packages from Arty to Walter (in Peru), which contained insulin for his diabetes and various other harmless toiletries. Nick asks her if it's possible Arty was slipping something illegal inside the packages, and Connie's like, "Dunno" and pulls out the package Arty gave her earlier. Nick rifles through it and finds nothing out of the ordinary - diabetic chocolate and insulin - and then the camera pans over to the gunman, who's parked in a black van across the street and eavesdropping on their conversation via a bug he must have installed inside Arty's house. Murray suggests they all head back to the Riptide so he can punch Walter's name into his computer and see if anything useful comes of it. The gunman watches the four exit Arty's house and drive off...then covertly follows them. Murray doesn't have any luck finding info on Walter or his current whereabouts and is about to throw in the towel on the whole thing when the gunman calls the Riptide from a nearby pay phone and reports that he has information on Arty Truman's dead body, and to meet him on Fisherman's Island in thirty minutes if they want to know more. Nick and Cody decide 'hey, let's leave Murray and Connie unattended to run this fool's errand!' and opt to travel separately (in case it's an ambush) to Fisherman's Island via the decrepit Mimi and the Ebb Tide and keep in touch via radio. Murray remarks to Connie how bizarre it is that an anonymous tipster would know to call the Riptide, and Connie concurs that it's definitely weird, but not any kind of red flag that should be alarming her right now. She stands up and nearly stumbles from diabetes induced dizziness, then tells Murray that since she's in desperate need of some insulin she's just going to take a shot of Walter's. Nick and Cody have arrived on different ends of Fisherman's Island, but there's no sign of the anonymous tipster. Connie takes a shot of insulin and says she's feeling better, but warns Murray that she's going to need to eat something in about half an hour. She then studies Walter's insulin bottle more closely and notices something sparkly inside...and upon further scrutiny, she realizes it's filled with diamonds. When it finally dawns on Nick and Cody that they were lured away from the Riptide so that the gunman could harm/kill/kidnap Murray and Connie, they're all, "Hey! We've been had!" and race back to the pier. When they arrive at the Riptide, the boat is in total disarray...and Murray and Connie are nowhere to be found. One of the Contessa babes, Tammy, pops by to warn Nick and Cody that Mama Jo will be returning home tomorrow, along with her sick aunt...and if they're still interested in coupling up, it's going to have to be tonight. Nick looks pained as he declines and explains that Murray and their latest client were just kidnapped - and Tammy says a few minutes ago she saw Murray, Roboz, and Connie leave with a man who was driving a black van. Nick and Cody somehow deduce that the gunman must have been eavesdropping on their earlier conversation via a bug in Arty's house, and race over there in the hopes that the bug can be traced to the gunman and his current location...which doesn't seem remotely plausible, even within the context of Riptide's general state of suspended reality - but then I'm a recapper, not a bug/surveillance expert. The gunman orders Murray to use all of his power as a dorky computer whiz to to track down Walter Truman, and Murray agrees to do it if he gives Connie something to eat so she doesn't go into diabetic shock. The gunman impatiently tosses Murray some kind of processed snack, then points his gun back at him and orders him to get busy computing. Nick and Cody rush over to Arty's house, wave a detector around, and find the bug under the living room table. To their surprise, the detector goes off again when Cody waves it near the diabetic chocolate bar, which they soon realize has a safety deposit box key embedded in it. On their way out, they encounter Arty's brother, Walter, at the front door. When he asks them if they know whassup with his brother, they tell him that something nefarious has happened to him, then urge him to tag along with them to the police station. Murray surreptitiously types a 'help' message to his besties - SOS, Nick and Cody: I'm in Warehouse 3 at the docks' - which superfluously gets sent to everyone within a ten mile radius who's currently sitting in front of a networked computer, and results in a lot of confusion for employees in a nearby cube farm...as well as a local weatherman, who reads the message on the air. While en route to the police station, Cody spots the SOS message on the electronic sign adjacent to a bank...and immediately makes a u-turn to rescue Murray. Murray tells the gunman that the satellite service he needs to perform a Google search on Walter Truman doesn't work so well during business hours, but the gunman continues to point his gun at him and barks at him to keep trying. Nick and Cody arrive at Warehouse 3 and tiptoe inside while Walter waits by the car. Murray, meanwhile, pretends that one of the keys on his keyboard is stuck and tells the gunman he needs something thin and plastic to unstick it. The gunman stupidly hands over the thinnest plastic thing in his wallet, his driver's license, and Murray notes his name (George Bobbitt) and taps it into his computer to get the man's deets. A few seconds later, Nick and Cody storm into the room...followed by Walter, who aims his gun at the group and [not fatally] shoots George Bobbitt. Murray tells everyone that, according to his computer, George Bobbitt is an ex-CIA operative who's devoted his life to chasing an assassin known as The Lynx, aka Walter Truman. As Nick and Cody are all, "Wha-a-a?", Walter demands the stuff that was in the latest package that Arty had passed along to Connie, so Nick hands him the safety deposit box key that was embedded in the diabetic chocolate, along with the insulin. Walter contemplates his gun for a few seconds, then informs the Riptide gang that since he only has two bullets left, he's going to have to dispose of the four of them more efficiently, aka lock them inside the storage room and set the warehouse on fire. As smoke starts seeping into the room, a quick thinking Murray orders Roboz to use his extra strong computer hook-hand to break open the doorknob on the flimsy door that I'm sure Nick or Cody could probably have easily kicked down - and the three (plus comatose Connie and wounded George Bobbitt) safely make their way out of the warehouse. Walter grabs a cab and speeds over to the bank to empty his safety deposit box, while Murray examines the imprint the key made in the diabetic chocolate so he can identify which bank it belongs to. Walter accesses his safety deposit box, which is filled with diamonds. He carefully packs them up and quickly exits the bank - just as Nick and Cody pull up, leap out of the Corvette, and tackle him to the ground. When the diamonds scatter across the sidewalk, Walter looks at his lost fortune in disbelief and moans, "My diamonds!" On a restaurant patio, the Riptide gang and Connie chuckle heartily about how George Bobbitt's lifetime quest to capture Walter Truman took them a mere day and a half. Connie lifts her wine glass and toasts "three helpful men" - just as Mama Jo lumbers over with her sickly Aunt Nellie. Mama Jo smugly tells Nick and Cody that she and Nellie - meaning, not Tammy and Bambi - will be joining them for dinner...and the two men look none too pleased about being so unexpectedly cockblocked. Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying TVofYore's recaps, consider thanking me by buying me a "coffee"! |
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Recapper: Isabel K. French
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