'Rescue: HI-Surf' Reviews: "Set on Oahu’s North Shore, “Rescue: HI-Surf” delivers just what its title promises. Surf. Rescues"

         On September 22, 2024, FOX premiered 'Rescue: Hi-Surf', which has received a predominantly positive reception from critics. In the series, "the personal and professional lives of the open-water lifeguards who patrol and protect the North Shore of O'ahu, the most famous and dangerous stretch of coastline in the world. Each episode features dedicated, heroic and adrenaline-seeking first-responders saving lives in the difficult and often life-threatening conditions of Hawaii's Seven Mile Miracle." The ensemble cast includes Adam Demos, Robbie Magasiva, Arielle Kebbel, Kekoa Kekumano, Alex Aiono, and Zoe Cipres. But what did the critics say?

        Therese Lacson of Collider notes, "There's a plethora of first-responder television shows out there. From paramedics to firefighters to cop procedurals, the land of network television is littered with these types of shows. Normally, the series follows a ragtag gang made up of a mix of veterans and rookies who tackle day-to-day emergencies and save the lives of the locals around them. In that manner, Rescue HI-Surf follows the typical procedural formula: A group of open-water lifeguards patrol the perilous waters on the North Shore of Oahu. Created by Matt Kester, who is probably best known for his work on Animal Kingdom, the freshman season of Rescue HI-Surf offers a perspective on an often forgotten group of first responders, but as far as TV shows go, Rescue HI-Surf doesn't live up to the potential of some of its contemporaries." Adding, "Despite the authenticity of the series regarding being a lifeguard, where it fumbles is where the show is meant to build the most heart: its leading characters. Rescue HI-Surf primarily centers around the team's captain, Sonny, played by Robbie Magasiva, and his fellow lifeguards. Arielle Kebbel plays Em, an experienced veteran who is a natural leader and often acts as Sonny's right hand. Adam Demos plays Will, an Australian who had a previous relationship with Em and is currently trying to leave the beach to become a firefighter. Kekoa Kekumano plays Laka, a seasoned guard who is also a carefree partier, with a wild lifestyle that may become a problem. Joining the lifeguards are two rookies, Alex Aiono as Kainalu, the son of an influential politician on the island who has to prove he's far from just a nepo baby to his fellow co-workers, and Zoe Cipres as Hina, one of the few female guards coming in who has shown a lot of promise and graduated at the top of her class."

Photo by Johnny Such on Unsplash

       Robert Lloyd of Los Angeles Times says, "Set on Oahu’s North Shore, “Rescue: HI-Surf” delivers just what its title promises. Surf. Rescues. (Fox is currently running two other rescue shows, “9-1-1” and “9 1-1: Lone Star,” whose final season begins this week.) Here again is that combination of lightly developed workplace issues, romantic complications and wisecracking banter one finds in most every broadcast procedural, a formula that can keep viewers watching for years. All conflicts are put aside, naturally, when lives are at stake, which here requires regular plunges into the Pacific in aid of tourists too dim to read the posted warnings or follow a lifeguard’s good advice, as well as the merely unlucky. Robbie Magasiva plays the captain of the ocean safety team, who has bad dreams and oversees a crew leaning appropriately, if slightly, to Hawaiian and Asian actors; Arielle Kebbel is his lieutenant, who wants to be a captain herself. Adam Demos is her engaged ex, a laid-back Australian studying to be a firefighter, Kekoa Kekumano the hard-partying wolf, Alex Aiono the rich kid whose politician father weasels him a place on the team and Zoe Cipres the more talented poor girl whose place he takes (though she’ll get her own by the end of the pilot)." Adding, "John Wells, of “The West Wing” fame (and “ER” and “Third Watch” and so on), who worked with creator Matt Kester on “Animal Kingdom,” directs the first two episodes and shoots the action in a dizzying array of camera angles and lenses, careening movements, drone shots, underwater shots and on-the-water shots, rapidly piled one upon another higgledy-piggledy; the effect is akin to being slammed by big waves, which might be the intended effect but makes the crises and the rescues seem more staged than not. I would have liked a little boring local culture instead of the B-roll clips that speed by between scenes — lots of chickens — but that’s just me. Everybody’s pretty, the scenery’s nice, there’s some surfing. I can see people tuning in. “Baywatch” ran for 11 years."

       Rob Owen of Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was less impressed, stating, "Rescue Hi-Surf” (9 p.m., Fox): Lifeguard drama set and filmed in Hawaii. Some character arcs, but largely it’s all about the rescues. Much less wild (and less entertaining) than “9-1-1.”