The BEST episodes of Baywatch season 1

Every episode of Baywatch season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Baywatch season 1!

This long-running series follows the adventures of a team of lifeguards on the crowded beaches of Los Angeles County. Veteran lifeguard Mitch Buchannon watches over the younger lifeguards that come and go with each passing season as they keep the beaches safe for vacationers. Frequently he must take action to save them from the raging seas and from the raging tempers that sometimes flare up between the young guards in this stressful job.

Last Updated: 12/12/2024Network: SyndicationStatus: Ended
Muddy Waters
star
7.94
52 votes

#1 - Muddy Waters

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/2/1990

Cort takes a friend of his with him and go para sailing. By doing that, Cort breaks the lifeguard rules and Mitch has to lie to Captain Thorpe in order to cover for Cort. Because of that, Mitch lets Cort go to The Raging Waters Theme Park, a water-slide park. There, he is supposed to teach some teenagers what life-guarding is all about. He tells Eddie that Mitch wanted him to go too. Therefore, Eddie follows him there. One of the teenagers, named Sarah, has a crush on Eddie. This upsets Tad, another teenager who likes Sarah. When Tad doesn't qualify to be a lifeguard, he starts sabotaging the water-slides. Everybody thinks that Joe Madden is the guilty one. His son committed suicide at the park a year earlier. But when Cort has spoken to Madden, he finds out that he didn't do it. It turns out that Tad is the guilty one. And after a race up and down the water-slides, Garner is able to capture him. Meanwhile, Hobie's class are supposed to come to Baywatch. But in the last minute, Hobie's

Directors: Paul Schneider
Watch Now:Amazon
The Big Race
star
7.84
50 votes

#2 - The Big Race

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/16/1990

Cort has donated $ 5 000 every year to a convalescent home. The owner is named Gwendolyn Pierce. When she comes to Cort for another $ 10 000, he can't tell her the truth. Instead he tells her that she will get the money. He tries to sell the shop over the phone. Mitch and Craig hear this and lend him $ 3 000. He appreciates it and when a guy hangs up a poster in the shop about the Avalon Ski Race, Cort buys a speedboat for the money. The winner of the race get $ 15 000. Mitch and Craig become upset when they find out about the boat, but Cort talk them into joining him for the race. While they are out testing her, Cort falls and can't compete anymore. Then Craig is persuaded to do it. While they are working on the boat, Gwen arrives and finds out about the truth. She gets angry at first, but then she realizes that he has been donating $ 5 000 every year, even though he hasn't been rich. It turns out that Cort's uncle, whom he grew up with, lives there. Before the race, Mitch convinces G

Directors: Kevin Inch
Watch Now:Amazon
The End?
star
7.80
41 votes

#3 - The End?

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/6/1990

A massive earthquake shakes up the southland. Cort and Craig go diving and when they return to the boat, they discover that two fishermen on another boat are dead. Then Cort smells poisonous gas and they swim away from the boat. When there's an aftershock, they get trapped inside a cave. Mitch and Garner locate them from a helicopter and Mitch has to use dynamite to get them out. Gina is up on the roof, repairing the damage the earthquake caused, when the aftershock comes. She falls down through the roof and is trapped under something heavy, with sharp pieces of glass hanging in the roof right above her, just waiting to fall down on her. But when Hobie and Rocky arrive, Hobie is able to save her just in time. Garner has to make a rescue and get wet because there's a boy in trouble on some rocks. Mitch teases him about it. Eddie's truck gets stuck in the sand when the earthquake strikes. A pregnant woman named Valerie rescues him. When Valerie goes into labour, Eddie and Shauni has to d

Directors: Reza Badiyi
Watch Now:Amazon
The Drowning Pool
star
7.80
70 votes

#4 - The Drowning Pool

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/3/1989

An old couple named Lloyd and Ellie are having a blast at the beach, and they are documenting everything on a tape. Lloyd is using a big floatation device in the water, so Jill is forced to tell him to bring it to shore. In the meantime, a man named Fred spots a man in the water that is drowning. He notifies Jill who heads out to rescue him. But the victim is nowhere to be seen, until he suddenly floats up to the surface and Jill can bring him to shore. He is already dead when she gets to him. The victim turns out to be a rich man named Alex Benton. Alex's drowning is filed as drowning due to heart attack, but Jill is suspicious of the circumstances and starts an investigation of her own in order to find out what really happened. When Jill gets involved with Derrick Benton, Alex's son, she is shocked to discover that he may have murdered his own father. All evidence points to him. His scuba gear is missing, although he claims someone stole it. Derrick is also the one who will inherit m

Directors: Mario Di Leo
Watch Now:Amazon
The Cretin of the Shallows
star
7.77
56 votes

#5 - The Cretin of the Shallows

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/1/1989

Just when a new beachfront hotel named Santa Monica Shores Hotel is about to open, someone is murdering some people. All the witnesses say that he is a freakish looking man. Craig doesn't think the opening of the new hotel and the murders are just a coincidence. Therefore, he does some investigation of his own and finds out that the senator, who will speak at the ceremony, knew all the victims. The victims are Victor Polson whom got killed on his boat and later was recovered in the water by Jill, Arnold Anderson whom got killed at the construction site and Mary Polson whom gets killed on the beach right in front of Craig and Eddie. At a party hosted by senator Hastings, the murderer arrives and takes Gina hostage. Mitch, Craig and Eddie follow him and they are able to capture him. The murderer turns out to be Garth Dickinson, Nadine Dickinson's son. The senator and his staff murdered Nadine when she refused to sell her house. They needed her house for the beachfront hotel. Also, Gina l

Watch Now:Amazon
Shark Derby
star
7.76
54 votes

#6 - Shark Derby

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/2/1990

Bucky Allen, the owner of Bucky's Ocean Grill has arranged a shark derby. He does it just so that he can gain publicity. In order to try and make the derby more successful, Bucky sends two brothers, Roy and Matt, down to the bottom of the ocean to plant a device that attracts sharks. The water becomes full of sharks and even more sharks arrive, when the entrants start traveling back and forth on the water. Cort and Eddie enters the derby. Thorpe and Hobie are also in the derby. At the beach, Jill is forced to make a daring rescue, when a shark approaches some kids in a raft. She manages to rescue all the kids, but when she has brought the final one to Shauni at the Baywatch boat, the great white shark attacks Jill and drags her away. Mitch is too far away from her and can't rescue her. Later, while Jill recovers at the hospital, Cort and Mitch go down in a shark cage and hope to record something under the surface. They record a high frequency sound and they are convinced Bucky placed i

Writer: Terry Erwin
Watch Now:Amazon
Home Cort
star
7.73
55 votes

#7 - Home Cort

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/12/1990

John D. Cort comes back to Baywatch for his ten days as an L.A. county lifeguard. He meets a girl named Melinda in a bar. When he has beaten up her boyfriend Red and two of Red's friends, he steals Red's motorcycle. When they drive on the beach, Cort sees Mitch in a lifeguard truck. Mitch is very surprised to see Cort and so is everyone else. But Eddie doesn't like Cort. Cort takes Eddie's locker and claims that he always uses it when he stays at Baywatch. Eddie gets mad and hits him right in the face. However, later on Cort and Eddie befriend each other. Cort's old friend Sam has opened up a surf shop nearby in Venice. Cort wants Sam to help him carry out a shady deal from the bottom of the ocean. The merchandise belongs to a man named Jack Burton. Burton pays Cort some money every time he goes diving for his merchandise. But during the diving, disaster strike. It turns out that a bomb is attached to one of the boxes and Sam doesn't see this, and dies. This upsets Cort but Burton tel

Directors: Paul Schneider
Watch Now:Amazon
Shelter Me
star
7.69
58 votes

#8 - Shelter Me

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/8/1989

The Baywatch crew prepare themselves for an on-coming tropical storm, when Garner gets shot under the pier by two robbers who thought he recognized them. Craig and Gina is having an argument about whose parents they visit the most. Gina also accuses Craig of being predictable. According to her, he never does anything spontaneously. Mitch totally agrees with Gina when he finds out about it. When Mitch and Craig go on patrol, they find an homeless man named Henry along with the two robbers Dick and Frank in a restroom. They bring them all back to headquarters. When Gina arrives to headquarters, she and Craig make up again. When Jill is about to call Eddie and Shauni, Frank thinks that she is calling the police, and pulls his gun on them. Meanwhile, Garner has been able to get himself to a tower. From there, he calls headquarters and Mitch lets him know that the bad guys are there. When Garner arrives at headquarters, he cuts the power and Jill and Dick head down-stairs to check it out. I

Directors: Scott Brazil
Writer: Terry Erwin
Watch Now:Amazon
Second Wave
star
7.67
114 votes

#9 - Second Wave

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/1989

Eddie's old friend Jimmy Roche from Philadelphia has arrived to L.A. But Eddie isn't happy to see him. When Eddie is out shopping for groceries, Jimmy stops by and talks to Gina. When Eddie comes back, he gets angry and Jimmy is forced to leave. Another day, Jimmy challenges Eddie on the way to a rescue, so Eddie beats him up with his lifeguard can. For that incident, Eddie is suspended for 30 days, but put back on duty, when he tells the truth. It turns out that he and Jimmy robbed a bank when they were 16 years old. Eddie didn't want to do it and started to fight with Jimmy. During their fight, the man behind the counter pulled a gun and Jimmy ended up in prison and Eddie in a foster home. Garner finds out that Jimmy is a wanted felon in several states, and therefore when Jimmy wants to meet him, Eddie brings Garner. But Jimmy finds out about it and leaves. Then he torches Eddie and Shauni's tower on fire with them in it. But they get out safe and Eddie is able to capture Jimmy. Mean

Directors: Scott Brazil
Writer: Jill Donner
Watch Now:Amazon
Rookie School
star
7.64
66 votes

#10 - Rookie School

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/10/1989

Howard Ganza's girlfriend Amy has stolen a book that belongs to him. She is chased by Vincent, Ganza's helper. When Amy arrives to the beach, she ends up in the middle of the rookie competition. Without knowing it, she becomes one of the first to enter the finish line, and by doing so, she becomes a member of rookie school. Eddie becomes interested in her and lets her stay with him in Craig and Gina's apartment, while they are away for a romantic weekend. She tells Eddie that she has been robbed. A couple of days later, when they are in the apartment, Ganza and Vincent arrive and bring Eddie and Amy to a warehouse. Meanwhile, Garner shows Mitch a picture of Amy and tells him that her name is Catherine Baker and that she is involved with Ganza. Mitch knowing that Eddie and Amy haven't shown up, becomes suspicious. When Trevor receives a phone call from Amy, Mitch decides to tag along. Trevor is supposed to return the stolen book to Ganza. Amy's sister has sent the book to headquarters.

Directors: Bruce Seth Green
Watch Now:Amazon
The Reunion
star
7.63
54 votes

#11 - The Reunion

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/15/1989

At a reunion with high school friends, Mitch rekindles a romance with his former love named Allison. This leads to rivalry with Craig who also dated her in high school. When Craig left for New York to attend college there, Mitch and Allison became a couple. Now, Craig can't stand seeing Mitch and Allison together. And when Mitch is late to the preparation of the dory, they end up fighting. But later on, they decide to enter the dory race anyway. Halfway out there, they stop rowing and Mitch tells Craig that he had been in love with Allison from the first time he laid eyes on her. When Craig hears this, he forgives Mitch and they end up winning the dory race. They beat their friends Tony and Paul at the finish line. Eddie is frustrated because he doesn't have a car. So when his lifeguard buddy Corey offers him a Mustang in terrific shape for only $ 2 000, he buys it. Later, when he shows it to Trevor, he tells Eddie that the Mustang has been stolen. The serial number is missing. It turn

Directors: Rob Bowman
Writer: Reed Moran
Watch Now:Amazon
Armored Car
star
7.59
59 votes

#12 - Armored Car

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/5/1990

The Seal Beach Pro-Am Mixed Doubles Volleyball tournament is being played in L.A. Trevor wants to team up with Jill who used to be a pro. But she has retired and doesn't want to play anymore. She changes her mind when her old partner and ex-boyfriend Chris Barron shows up for the tournament. She left him when he cheated on her. Both Jill, Trevor, Chris and his partner Curran, qualifies for the finals. But Jill has injured her shoulder and can't play anymore. She decides to play anyway, because she doesn't want Chris to win the money so easily. Despite her injury, she and Trevor end up winning the tournament. Meanwhile, the Beachfront Pier is supposed to be torn down. In order to save it, an exhibition takes place on the pier. Also on the pier is an armored car full of money. But the armored car is too heavy for the pier. So when a little girl sits in it, the car falls halfway down into the water below. Eddie and Shauni who spend a day together on the pier, rescues the little girl. Now

Directors: Michael Rhodes
Watch Now:Amazon
Cruise Ship
star
7.58
60 votes

#13 - Cruise Ship

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/24/1989

Eddie doesn't like Shauni's new boyfriend Andrew. And you can't blame him because when Andrew doesn't get what he wants, he hits Shauni. When he comes over to apologize, Eddie is there. But Shauni forgives Andrew, and Eddie leaves upset. During another night, Eddie gets a phone call from Shauni. It turns out that Andrew has hit her again and not only that, he has wrecked her apartment as well. This time, Shauni doesn't accept his apologies and breaks up with him for good. Eddie supports her all the way and they become closer. Meanwhile, Trevor is forced to rescue a bride that falls overboard from a boat. The boat is driven by Tom Logan who organizes big parties on his boat. Craig warns him about it. Some days later, Craig is right when the boat engine starts burning. Then Logan is unable to steer the boat and Craig is forced to make a daring rescue. After that, Tom Logan is out of business for good. Also, Hobie's friend Jenny follows him around. He isn't able to spend anytime alone fro

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Eclipse
star
7.54
57 votes

#14 - Eclipse

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/23/1990

When rookie lifeguard Kirby tells Eddie that he saw an apparition of a young girl in a nightgown running through the surf, Eddie doesn't believe him. Later on, Kirby is found dead in the water by Eddie and Cort. Shortly after that, Eddie sees the same girl running down the beach. When he tells Mitch and Captain Thorpe about the girl, Thorpe is convinced that Eddie has lost his mind and sends him off to a psychiatrist. This upsets Eddie and revives some painful memories from his sister's drowning a couple of years back. She drowned in a pool back in Philadelphia. Eddie couldn't save her back then because he couldn't swim. Later, while she is in a shop, Gina finds a painting that looks just like the woman Eddie described. When she shows it to Eddie, he is convinced that she is the same girl. A man named Escudero painted the painting way back in 1923. Escudero. The painting shows a lighthouse on fire at De Vargas Point. When Craig talks to Mitch, he finds out that there was a lighthouse a

Directors: Paul Schneider
Snake Eyes
star
7.48
48 votes

#15 - Snake Eyes

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/9/1990

Cort brings Eddie, Shauni and his date Ruby to an illegal offshore casino. A man named Laurence Danvier runs the casino. Eddie is bitten by the gambling bug and returns several times to the casino. He finds himself in debt after a few days of bad luck. When he can't pay, one of the bad guys drag him after a boat. Craig sees Eddie when he tries to reach shore totally exhausted. When Cort finds out about this, he goes to the casino and discovers that the establishment uses marked cards and loaded dice. After that, Cort and Craig decides to beat them at their own game. Craig and Gina go to the casino as a couple, pretending to play. Cort uses a smoke bomb and thereby makes everyone think that there's a fire on the boat. Then he finds the room with all the money. When Danvier arrives and pulls a gun at him, Craig stands outside hearing everything. It turns out that Craig is wired and that the police are nearby. Cort tries to take some of the money, but Garner and Craig force him to leave i

Directors: Gus Trikonis
Heat Wave
star
7.41
128 votes

#16 - Heat Wave

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/29/1989

During the hottest day of the summer, Craig has to choose between his career as a lawyer and the job he loves being a Baywatch lifeguard. The choice is made when two boys get trapped in a storm drain which is rapidly filling with water.

Directors: Gus Trikonis
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Sky Is Falling
star
7.36
70 votes

#17 - The Sky Is Falling

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/27/1989

After their plane crashes, two robbers attempt to retrieve their suitcase full of stolen money from the ocean. Meanwhile, Mitch and Gayle go to court over custody of Hobie.

Directors: Kim Manners
Watch Now:Apple TV
We Need a Vacation
star
7.34
50 votes

#18 - We Need a Vacation

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/26/1990

Craig has worked too hard for the past couple of weeks and needs a vacation. When he hears that Cort and Eddie are going to Mexico to surf, he joins them. They drive to Mexico in Craig's jeep. But their holiday is ruined when a man steals Craig's jeep, while they are surfing. They are forced to walk to a village named Miraflores. Cort has been there several times before. On their way there, Eddie asks the guys several times if they see any scorpions. He is really afraid of them. When they arrive to Miraflores, the villagers don't show any kind of hospitality. Cort wonders why and finds out that a gang of bad guys has been terrorizing the village for quite some time now. When the guys are in a bar visiting one of Cort's old girlfriend's Ines, the bad guys arrive in Craig's jeep. A big fight takes place and the bad guys end up winning the fight. The gang leader is named Kyle Rigler. After a while, Craig goes to the bad guys' cabin to get his jeep back, but he is caught and brought back t

Directors: Gus Trikonis
In Deep
star
7.28
127 votes

#19 - In Deep

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/22/1989

Playing hooky from summer school, Lt. Mitch Bucannon's son Hobie gets dangerously involved with reckless jet skiers.

Directors: Peter H. Hunt
Old Friends
star
7.26
50 votes

#20 - Old Friends

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/30/1990

Mitch, Craig and Garner take a weekend hang-gliding trip. While hang-gliding, Mitch has a terrible accident and crash-lands in some trees. When he falls down from the tree, he breaks his leg. Even more bad luck is to come. Mitch also gets bitten by a rattlesnake and falls down into a rock quarry. After a couple of minutes, Craig goes searching for him and finds him unconscious in the quarry. When Garner is about to get help, the jeep won't start. Then he is forced to use the hang-glider. He can't control it and crash-lands right next to Shauni's tower. When the Baywatch gang finds out about Mitch, they head for the mountains to rescue him. Eddie, Shauni and Garner drive there in a lifeguard truck, while Thorpe and Newmie take the helicopter, when the storm calms down. Meanwhile, Mitch doesn't show any gratitude whatsoever towards Craig. But when he is finally rescued by the Baywatch gang, he thanks Craig for all he's done. Meanwhile, while spending some time with a girl on a boat, Cort

Directors: Douglas Schwartz
Message in a Bottle
star
7.21
73 votes

#21 - Message in a Bottle

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1989

Hobie overhears his divorcing parents arguing and boats away to a deserted island with two friends, only to have their boat drift away, leaving them stranded on the island with modern day pirates!

Directors: Kim Manners
Writer: Terry Erwin
Panic at Malibu Pier
star
7.19
166 votes

#22 - Panic at Malibu Pier

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/23/1989

Craig rescues a woman that develops a fatal attraction to him, placing Craig's wife Gina in mortal danger. A fishing trip goes horribly wrong when the boat explodes! Mitch and his mentor Al have to rescue its passengers, including Mitch's son Hobie trapped underwater in the sunken wreckage.