The BEST episodes of Baywatch season 3

Every episode of Baywatch season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Baywatch season 3!

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: 3/17/2024Network: SyndicationStatus: Ended
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Strangers Among Us
star
7.78
59 votes

#1 - Strangers Among Us

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/18/1993

While Slade is winning a surfing competition in Australia, a diamond-smuggler named Dirk puts some diamonds in a surfboard that looks identical to Slade's. He marks one of the fens, so he can find the right surfboard. When Slade is receiving his trophy, Dirk switches the surfboards and when Slade comes back to California, Dirk and his partner Lila follow him to the beach. When Slade leaves his van to go and sleep on the beach, Dirk enters Slade's van using the keys. Then Matt arrives on his motorcycle and when he sees Slade's door closing, he decides to pay him a visit. But in the van he finds Dirk instead and Dirk pushes him out of the way and jumps onto the back of their jeep. Lila then drives away, but Matt manages to jump onto the back of the jeep. But Dirk pushes him off the jeep and he falls down a hill and lands in the sand. When Matt tells Slade about it, Slade tells him that he still has all of his surfboards left. When the smugglers finds out that they have the wrong surfboar

Directors: Alan Myerson
Watch Now:Amazon
Rookie of the Year
star
7.74
66 votes

#2 - Rookie of the Year

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/5/1992

The episode starts with Mitch driving a lifeguard truck on the beach. Suddenly he sees something in the water and calls it in requesting all available units. But the victim turns out to be a paper bag. So about 20 lifeguards was sent to rescue a paper bag. Later when Mitch enters the shower, everybody is wearing a paper bag. Rookie school begins. Guido, an Italian guy wants to become a lifeguard and he bothers Mitch. When Guido enters the meeting room, he sees the terrible mess there and decides to clean the place up. When Stephanie enters, she thinks that everything in the room is new, but Guido has just polished it a bit extra. In the real rookie competition, the rookies are competing in a race called the Gauntlet. And they also race the Gauntlet for practice. When Summer has climbed up to the top of the pier and is about to jump, she chickens out and has to walk back to the beach. On the beach, C.J. starts talking to her and reveals that she had the same problem when she was a rooki

Directors: Gus Trikonis
Watch Now:Amazon
Shattered (2)
star
7.69
54 votes

#3 - Shattered (2)

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/26/1993

Paralyzed during a heroic rescue, Mitch undergoes a vigorous rehabilitation regimen.

Directors: Douglas Schwartz
Watch Now:Amazon
Dead of Summer
star
7.66
64 votes

#4 - Dead of Summer

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/1992

Governor Neil Dickson is going to hold a speech on the pier. Sam Dietz handles the security and he doesn't want to have anyone close to the pier. Meanwhile, three bad guys are planning to blow the pier into little pieces and they plan to do it with a boat. They are going to do it by placing a transmitter on the pier and then drive a boat towards the pier. One of the bad guys will steer it there. Later Garner discovers Louis Zane on the pier. It turns out that Zane is there to kill Governor Dickson, because Dickson gave the death sentence when Zane's brother Raymond was executed. Barnett and C.J. are going to patrol the water around the pier in two scarabs. The bad guys hijack C.J.'s scarab and places the bomb in her scarab. When C.J. doesn't respond to Mitch's calls, Mitch understands that something is wrong. He tells Barnett to drive up alongside C.J.'s scarab. Then they see the bomb and C.J. unconscious at the steering wheel. Mitch jumps onto the scarab and manages to turn it away fr

Directors: Cliff Bole
Writer: Terry Erwin
Watch Now:Amazon
Tequila Bay
star
7.64
64 votes

#5 - Tequila Bay

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/28/1992

Mitch is happy to announce that he is going to work on the beach again, when a new lieutenant arrives to Baywatch. The new lieutenant turns out to be Mitch's old flame Stephanie Holden. Ben meets her first and suspects that Mitch isn't going to like this. When Mitch sees her, he becomes upset and calls Chief Thorpe. Thorpe tells Mitch that it's up to him to decide if she can stay or not. Both Mitch and Stephanie has flashbacks back to 1989 when they first meet. Stephanie was substituting for Jill back then. He met her in the men's locker room. They had a little romance and decided to spend a weekend together in Catalina. But Stephanie never showed up and Mitch was upset for a long time. Now, Stephanie tells him that her ex-husband came to her and wanted her back. She accepted this and left Mitch behind. Mitch and Stephanie rescue a man together and Mitch realizes that she is a good lifeguard. He writes a letter to Chief Thorpe that she can stay. Meanwhile, Matt is ordered to patrol on

Directors: Lyndon Chubbuck
Writer: David Braff
Watch Now:Amazon
River of No Return (2)
star
7.63
65 votes

#6 - River of No Return (2)

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1992

Mitch, Eddie, Shauni, Hobie and C.J. try to track down the infamous "Gold Boot" buried along the river which leads to a dangerous underwater cave.

Directors: Douglas Schwartz
Watch Now:Amazon
Vacation (1)
star
7.58
60 votes

#7 - Vacation (1)

Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/25/1993

The Baywatch lifeguards set sail on a romantic cruise, only to encounter a dangerous fugitive, who forces Mitch and Stephanie overboard into the stormy Pacific Ocean.

Directors: Gus Trikonis
Writer: David Braff
Shattered (1)
star
7.45
55 votes

#8 - Shattered (1)

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/19/1993

When he risks his life to save three teenagers, Mitch fractures his spine and is paralyzed. Hobie, Stephanie, and Sophie, his physical therapist, rally to repair his shattered life.

Directors: Douglas Schwartz
Island of Romance
star
7.40
30 votes

#9 - Island of Romance

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/11/1993

C.J. and Stephanie go to Catalina for their women-only-weekend. On their way there, they have to rescue a family from a burning boat. The Coast Guard assist them and asks if they can join them in Catalina. C.J. is very positive about it, but Stephanie points out that they have a women-only-weekend. At Catalina, they meet Clay Burgess in the water. When Roger Lawrence from the Coast Guard arrives, he immediately recognizes Burgess as a former jewel thief who escaped conviction on a technicality. Roger is convinced that Burgess is diving for a hidden loot, a bag full of jewelry. To get to his jewelry, Burgess has to put out some dynamite on some cliffs. Meanwhile, C.J. and Stephanie are inside a cave. When the explosion come, big rocks block the entrance to the cave and C.J. and Stephanie are trapped. When the Coast Guard find their boat and notice that they have been underwater way too long, Roger and Lucas go down looking for them. They are able to find the cave and rescue them. They a

Lifeguards Can't Jump
star
7.39
61 votes

#10 - Lifeguards Can't Jump

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/16/1992

When Mitch and Stephanie are running on the beach, they see a dead man on some rocks. Garner identifies him as Tito Washburn who was once a promising basketball-player. In order to find some information about his death, Garner visits his old playground again. There he meets the old bookie Ozzie, an old friend of his. He will give Garner some information if he agrees to play some games. Garner plays and beats a tall white guy because Garner can't miss any shoots he takes. Then Garner decides to talk Mitch into playing with him. He does so and they win some games. Then they find out that Tito's wife Cookie would receive a lot of money if Tito died. They also know that a man named Trey Harris has been seen with Cookie for a while now. If they can get some of his blood to the lab, they will find out if he killed her. When Trey has fallen and started bleeding, he wipes of the blood on a towel. Stephanie takes the towel to the lab and it turns out that the blood matches. When the game is ove

Vacation (2)
star
7.30
56 votes

#11 - Vacation (2)

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/1/1993

The wounded Stephanie and Mitch are stranded treading water in the shark-infested waters of the Pacific, trying to stay alive.

Directors: Gus Trikonis
Writer: David Braff
A Matter of Life and Death
star
7.25
28 votes

#12 - A Matter of Life and Death

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/4/1993

Mitch's parents Al and Irene Buchannon, come to visit. Al has never approved of Mitch abandoning is architectural degree. Al wanted Mitch to stay in the family business, but instead, Mitch chose to become a full-time lifeguard. Mitch finds out from his mother that Al is dying of Lymphoma. Because of this, Al wants Mitch to take over his architectural firm. Al wants everyone to leave a ""legacy"" after one dies, such as a building or a home. This is impossible to do if you're a lifeguard. When Mitch have found out that Al is dying, he have second thoughts about returning to his father's firm. However, when Al witnesses a rescue Mitch is forced to do, he suddenly realizes that what he once considered a wasted profession is far more valuable than his own profession. Al finally comes to terms with his son's direction in life. He also tells Mitch that he will leave many more ""legacies"" in the lives he saves than any building he could design. Meanwhile, during the search for a dead body, Summe

Directors: Sidney Hayers
Kicks
star
7.20
56 votes

#13 - Kicks

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/3/1993

Matt is competing in kickboxing. Mitch, a former champion kick boxer himself, is his coach. Matt easily beats his opponents during the first rounds. His next opponent is an aggressive young fighter named Steve Thorn. During the fight, Steve uses an illegal elbow strike and Matt is knocked unconscious. Matt ends up winning the fight because Steve loses on a technicality. Summer has been watching the fight and she is a bit attracted to Steve. When the fight is over, Mitch is surprised to meet Michael Branson again. Branson used to be Mitch's student in kickboxing during Mitch's time as a Navy SEAL. Mitch got Branson fired from the navy when he broke a man's arm on purpose. After the fight, Summer befriends Steve and finds out he lives in his car. Branson stops by his car and offers him big money if he agrees to fight at his restaurant. Steve accepts Branson's offer and brings Summer to watch. When Branson tells Steve that he going up against him in the ring, Steve no longer wants to figh

Directors: Michael Berk
Fatal Exchange
star
7.17
23 votes

#14 - Fatal Exchange

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/10/1993

Kaye has returned to Los Angeles again. She has traveled a lot after the closing of her newspaper. An exchange-lifeguard from Australia named Wiley Brown is working at Baywatch. Mitch doesn't like his methods because he captures a dog in trouble with his lasso. Stephanie says he doesn't like him, just because they are exact copies of each other. But Mitch tells her there is something else. In 1983, Mitch was in Australia working as a lifeguard. Then he was forced to rescue a surfer named Sheila Gold. Then when the waves were high, Mitch made a big mistake and placed himself between the victim and the pile. He was knocked out cold and Sheila died. But apparently she was already dead when he rescued her. She had died when she fell of her surfboard. Wiley was there that time and he still remembers. Later weird things happen at headquarters. Matt finds a rattlesnake in Mitch's locker and then when Wiley has fixed Mitch's truck, the brakes doesn't work and Mitch almost dies. When Mitch find

Directors: Paul Cajero
Writer: David Braff
Pier Pressure
star
7.17
70 votes

#15 - Pier Pressure

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/1992

Slade is surfing under a pier and everybody adores him for it. Hobie who likes a girl named Heather tries to imitate Slade just so that he can impress her but Hobie's friend Landon tries to talk him out of it. But Hobie goes surfing anyway and falls under the pier. Mitch has to rescue him with Summer's help. When the rescue is completed, Summer's truck starts rolling down the beach and Mitch has to rescue a woman and gets a slap in the face as a thank you. Summer apologizes to Mitch and it turns out that she forgot the parking brake just because Slade was there. Slade invites her to the surfing competition he is going to compete in. Summer tells Jackie she has a date with Slade. After the competition that Slade wins, Summer meets Courtney Bremmer and Tiara English from Malibu Beach High School. She makes a fool of herself when she tells them that she has a date with Slade, when he has a date with another girl, and Summer gets real upset. Later she meets Courtney and Tiara on the beach.

Directors: Gus Trikonis
Showdown at Malibu Beach High
star
7.06
35 votes

#16 - Showdown at Malibu Beach High

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/19/1992

The summer is over and school is about to begin. When Slade surfs in the water near the Bremmer's land, Courtney makes a move on him and offers him a sponsor. She spends a lot of time with him at school and Summer gets jealous. When Slade and Summer share a passionate kiss at Matt's beach party, Courtney interrupts them. But Slade has shown her where his feelings are. One day, Slade's father Nicholas pays him a visit. He tells Slade that he will resign from the army and settle down in California. Slade tells him that he will do fine without having him around. Then Nicholas pushes him and tells him to stay in school no matter what, because he can't live on his surfing and then he breaks his surf-board in half. Meanwhile, C.J. has taken the job as a Volleyball coach at Malibu Beach High School. A friend of Matt's named Bear Sutter is a chumash-indian. He claims that the land that is supposed to be taken away in order to build apartments, is holy chumash-land. In order to prove that, he c

Directors: Douglas Schwartz
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Tower
star
7.00
31 votes

#17 - The Tower

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/8/1993

A psychopath murderer named Jacob Kilmer escapes from prison and his hurried departure finds him on the Will Rogers Beach, close to Baywatch headquarters. The police close the beach and everyone is cleared from the beach. Lieutenant Sloan from the Police Department, is in charge. When almost everyone has cleared the beach, Kilmer hides himself in Stephanie's lifeguard truck. When Mitch calls her on the radio about some missing children, she lets him know she's in trouble by telling him that she is looking for a child's parents. But the lifeguards doesn't do that, they take the kids to headquarters and let them wait for their parents there. Mitch tells Sloan about this and now everyone knows that Kilmer is in Stephanie's lifeguard truck. Kilmer and Stephanie drive to Summer's tower where Kilmer takes both women hostage. Slade tries to rescue them, by sneaking up to the tower from the ocean. But Kilmer sees him and Slade is shot in the shoulder by Kilmer. Kilmer demands that a helicopter

Masquerade
star
6.80
35 votes

#18 - Masquerade

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/9/1992

When the Baywatch gang has found Beverly Lowry, Gordon Lowry's wife, dead in the water, Stephanie is convinced that they are dealing with pirates, but Mitch and Garner doubt that. Then Mitch and Stephanie get a yacht from one of Stephanie's friends and acts as a newly wed rich couple named Trevor and Lilly van Tress. There is a man in the marina named Fred Adler who meets all the couples and he has the information of who is rich and who isn't. Garner and C.J. follow Mitch and Stephanie in the scarab when they sail off with their yacht Venus. Garner becomes seasick and tells C.J. to slow down. When Mitch and Stephanie are playing the role-play, thy get attracted to each other and almost makes love. But they are interrupted by Fred Adler and the pirates who have just arrived to their yacht. Meanwhile, C.J. is forced to do a rescue and transport the victim to shore. Then Garner takes another boat but boards the wrong yacht. Then Mitch is forced to go to shore and get all their money. Mean

Directors: Heather Hill
Stakeout at Surfrider Beach
star
6.77
30 votes

#19 - Stakeout at Surfrider Beach

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/15/1993

Mitch finds himself falling for an Italian actress who is being stalked by ruthless robbers. Meanwhile, CJ and Stephanie help Guido pretend to be a lifeguard in order to impress his visiting mother.

Writer: David Braff
Point Doom
star
6.49
35 votes

#20 - Point Doom

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/26/1992

When Matt is out driving his motorcycle on the cliffs above Malibu, a woman on a motorcycle drives by him. He follows as the mystery girl with flowing blonde hair and a knockout body, races down Point Dume Road. But Matt can't catch up with her and she leaves him in the dust. Now Matt is wondering who she is and where she comes from. Then back on the beach, he sees her again. This time, she asks a guy named Hudson if he wants to race her at Point Dume Road. The winner can keep both bikes. He accepts and then he drives away from her with his gang. Later the mysterious girl goes down to the beach and Matt asks her out. They have a wonderful time together, but when Matt wakes up in the morning, she is gone. The next day, when the mysterious girl is leading the race, Hudson throws a chain around her back tire. Then she falls down into the water. Mitch and Stephanie who are out swimming, see the accident and swim to the rescue. They rescue her and then Matt finds out that her name is Jessie

Princess of Tides
star
6.46
35 votes

#21 - Princess of Tides

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/2/1992

When Mitch and Newmie are in a boat race in Ben's scarab, C.J. comes into the race orbit and their opponents almost runs her over. Mitch and Newmie are forced to stop and see how she's doing. By that they only finish in fourth place. The winner James Lewiston is very happy and Mitch is angry and wants another race. Lewiston is engaged to a princess named Catherine and she wants a taste of the real world before she gets married. Her father doesn't want her to leave the boat because terrorists have threatened them. Therefore she elope and near the beach she is very tired and almost drowns. Mitch has to rescue her. Mitch and Catherine falls in love and she tells him she can't get in contact with her friends. Later when Hobie is looking in some newspapers, he finds out that Catherine is a princess. When Hobie and Catherine is out on roller-blades, two terrorists try to kidnap her, but Hobie helps her to get away from them. He also tells her that he knows who she really is. Then Catherine c

Directors: Parker Stevenson
River of No Return (1)
star
6.25
71 votes

#22 - River of No Return (1)

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/1992

Mitch and friends travel to northern California's rugged gold country to investigate the death of Mitch's prospector uncle where they find an old treasure map leading to a valuable gold nugget along a rough river.

Directors: Douglas Schwartz