C.J. befriends Max, an eccentric old man who dwells on the beach and claims he was a famous Hollywood costume designer and after he suddenly dies, she is shocked to discover that his will leaves her with $4 million. Meanwhile, Manny Gutierrez, a Latino teenager from East Los Angeles, moves to Malibu after his mother gets a job as a maid for a wealthy family and immediately tries out for the Junior Lifeguards. Cody assigns Hobie to coach Manny while dealing with his wild friends, Connor and J.B., pressuring Hobie to go with them to a tattoo parlor.

When a heat wave hits Baywatch, a long chaotic day begins with Secret Service agent Duddly Dawson arriving to take charge of the beach before President Clinton's afternoon jog there while he's in town. Agent Dawson's antics nearly drive Mitch and Samantha up the wall. Meanwhile, Cody suffers through relentless rescues with Newmie plus a visit by an IRS agent auditing him, and C.J. has to go to a dentist for a root-canal filling. Hobie helps Neely with various mishaps, including an obnoxious lost child, Manny deals with two lost kids of his own, and Jordan receives attention from another lost girl who grows attached to her. Also, Caroline meets a homeless man in a garbage can and later stops him from killing himself, and he's apparently the only one who seems to care that today is her birthday.