 "The Incident" Written by Kimmer Ringwald
When Caroline responds to a nighttime boating accident, she think she has rescued all of the passengers. Later, when it turns out that one of them was accidentally left behind to drown, Caroline blames herself. A group of five teenagers, all under legal drinking age, go out partying on a boat with plenty of beer. Throughout the day, Caroline warns them about their unsafe boating and threatens to confiscate their beer, but the teens pay no attention to her. That night, the teens are out on the boat shooting off bottle rockets. One of them errantly flies back onto the boat and sets a tarp aflame, and the fire quickly engulfs the boat. Too drunk to put out the fire, the teens stumble into the water. On Scarab night patrol, Caroline spots the pandemonium and calls for backup. Despite the ensuing confusion of darkness, fire, and resuscitations, Caroline and the other lifeguards save all of the teens--or so they think. Actually, one of them is left behind and drowns. Upon hearing this unsettling news, Caroline starts blaming herself for the drowning of the young victim. Mitch, Stephanie and Cody realize that Caroline is going through Critical Incident Stress, and attempt to console her, but Caroline pushes everyone away. Her depression and guilt over her perceived failure becomes a downward spiral that leads straight to Neely and her biker friends. Caroline starts losing all sense of responsibility. She quits her lifeguard re-check halfway through, stays out all hours of the night, and starts drinking and partying with Neely and her friends--including Rawley, a tough biker dude who has taken more than a passing interest in Caroline. One afternoon when Caroline is on the back of Rawley's Harley, they start racing a fellow biker, Eddie, down Pacific Coast Highway. The speed gets faster and the situation more dangerous until Eddie loses control and flies off the cliff into the ocean below. Now, Caroline is forced to deal with her guilt. If she doesn't quickly overcome her fear of repeating the situation with the teens in the boat, Eddie will become another statistic. SERIES REGULARS: GUEST STARS:
|
