Another Baywatch review just a day later, it's quite unlike me. Yesterday when I was looking up Shauni's father name, I accidentally saw that my concerns were unfounded, she is in fact in season 3. This means I'm sure Eddie is as well. I'd better not spend too much time writing this one, I spent way too much time on here yesterday.
I'm adding this later, I did, in fact, spend hours on it again.
Thoughts on the Title
With a title like 'Summer of '85' I thought it was going to be a flashback episode, how would that work though? Perhaps it would be focused around Ben, there's been an episode or two before with Ben flashbacks but they were only 'B' or 'C' plots. Ben is barely in the show though so I knew it was unlikely, he's never the focus. I'm glad though because who cares about Ben? I don't really know why he's even in the show and from accidentally seeing some pictures of season 3, he's still in it. To be fair, the reason why I don't care about him is most likely just because he doesn't get much screen time. He'd be more interesting if they'd built up the character. Evidently I don't think Ben shows up once in this episode.
Synopsis
Shauni and Eddie go to see a fortune teller who informs them that Eddie is going to meet his first true love, much to both of their dismay. Eddie is bothered by this but he doesn't believe in fortune telling anyway. Shauni is put out by the prediction and is jealous when Eddie seems interested in some other woman, however this turns into concern for Eddie's safely when she returns to the fortune teller to find out more. She then goes on to investigate and warn Eddie.
Thoughts on Summer of '85
Here we have the final episode of season 2 and it doesn't feel like a finale at all. I thought they were going to go for an action packed disaster type thing like they did at the end of season 1, oh boy, that feels like it was long ago now. Not only is this a rare one plot only shindig but it's also the second Eddie and Shauni one in a row, I think this is the first time it's happened, ever. Eddie gets more time in the lime light than in 'Game of Chance' though, so that part is reversed.
My guess is that Summer of '85 isn't a popular episode but I quite liked it, however my favourite characters are Eddie and Shauni so of course I'm going to like it. However they'd have a run for their money if Craig Pomeroy was still on the show. I realised that the episode was pretty good when I paused to check my phone, only to find that there was only ten minutes left. Unlike yesterday. I'm going to make some bullet points;
- They do something sort of clever - The fortune teller tells us that Eddie is going to meet his first true love, which leads us to believe that he doesn't love Shauni and that they'll split up. They also seem to believe this. The thing is, Eddie then does meet his first true love, that being Rosalind from seven years ago. You get it? Eddie's first true love was in the past, she was only the first.
- Eddie kisses Rosalind on the lips, it's just a peck but I feel like this doesn't fit with Eddie's character being devoted to Shauni. I don't think the writers intended it to be cheating but it did come off as that.
- At the end, Eddie says to Rosalind "The only thing I kept from that summer was my baseball". This is most likely a sly way of telling us that he lost his virginity to her. It's very subtle and not like Baywatch at all, my guess is that they sneaked it in. Oh yes did I forget to mention that? They sleep together and Rosalind is an older woman. This fact is handled very well and very maturely, better than TV shows would handle it today.
- Some of the acting in this episode is a bit dodgy, especially the guy playing as young Eddie. Rosalind also is a bit bad. You might be thinking that all Baywatch acting is bad but it's usually just fine.
- Speaking of "young Eddie", that actor didn't look much like Eddie, he actually looked a little taller.
- Mitch doesn't appear at all, this is unusual. His son doesn't either but that's not as uncommon.
- This may devalue this episode by pointing it out but... it's a bit like 'If Looks Could Kill' from earlier on in the season. However it involves different characters and the Femme fatale turns out to be innocent. Also in that old one we knew the Femme fatale was a murderer from the start.
Not Really About This Episode, More About Harvey and the End of His Run
- For some reason Harvey goes to the fortune teller with Shauni later on, the fortune teller randomly tells him that 2 is an unlucky number for him. I thought this was going to lead to Harvey's death, since this is the last time he's in the show. But no, he slips and breaks two ribs in the small action sequence at the end, he's perfectly fine, of course. This means I'm sure they'll drop some random line in season 3 explaining why Harvey left, it'll just be something like "He got a better job somewhere else". Harvey is barely in this episode so the breaking his ribs thing seemed totally pointless.
- Speaking of Harvey, the episode starts with him watching some sexy woman on the beach. His proclivity for women was a trait that only came up a few times in his run even though I felt that they originally wanted to lean into it more. I remember the only time I thought Harvey was going to be interesting was early on, where they painted him as being unable to get a girlfriend. He was flirty but no one was ever interested. He seemed kind of sad and lonely, but this was only a small part of a single episode and they never went back to it. R.I.P Harvey, I'll miss you... kinda. The season 1 characters we lost were a bigger hit to me.
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