Caroline Holden returns to Baywatch and sparks fly between her and JD while sleaze-ball reporter "Riptide" Roger Pelton (Shadoe Stevens) plagues the lifeguards with insider scoops. The tables are soon turned when his cameraman falls in the shark-infested ocean and his copter sinks.

The Santa Ana winds blow an air of mystery into Baywatch, as well as a deadly creature that is disturbing the ocean calm. April's love life is reeling as she has to choose between Manny and Hobie.