Season 5 - Episode Guide

The team arrives in Los Angeles to place an underwater seismometer in the Malibu fault. Stephanie agrees to be their safety officer because she is in love with the team leader Riley Ferguson. Reily is an expert oceanographer and free diver. It is revealed that Summer left Baywatch to enroll at Penn State University.

The big earthquake was a 7.2 on the Richter scale. While Stephanie is rescuing Max and Tom on the surface, Riley is trapped underwater under some rocks, Jackie is in big trouble as her trailer is about to go off the cliff and Mitch rescues Hobie in the garage just before the big heavy boat engine is about to fall down on him.

Mitch reunites with Gayle for Hobie's sake, but she changes her mind when Mitch leaves the wedding for a rescue. Logan and Matt fight over Caroline. But, after a rescue that requires them to work together, Logan recommends Matt for the Medal of Valor. 

After a year in Mexico, John Cort returns to Los Angeles. He gets Mitch to join him in a grueling dune buggy race in Baja, Mexico, unaware that John plans to smuggle artifacts across the border. Also, Caroline chooses Logan over Matt, and Matt soon falls for C.J.

Mitch and Stephanie partner for a 24-hour shift on a busy day where they help each other with accident victims and even try to rekindle their lost romance once again. With his father away, Hobie falls for a new girl from his school and throws an ill-advised party at the house to impress her. The next day, disaster narrowly avoids Hobie when he tries to stop two of his wild friends, J.B. and Connor, from flying Mitch's hang glider off a cliff.

After completing rookie school, Logan earns the title "Rookie of the Year." Caroline begins her first day on the job as a lifeguard, and her infatuation with Logan causes her to miss a rescue. Hobie befriends a young boy who is ashamed of his father's dwarfism; the father almost drowns while saving a girl and her dog.

An arrogant FBI agent working undercover as a lifeguard in Mitch's tower annoys him as they stake out a dangerous criminal's girlfriend. They wait for the escaped convict to make contact. After Matt rescues a Dutch woman, she intends to repay him with her servitude, which evokes jealousy in C.J.

Treasure enthusiasts flock to the beach when a radio DJ announces a competition for hidden treasure, and Matt and C.J. become involved in the festivities.

The Santa Ana Winds usher in some unusual beachgoers and strange times for the lifeguards: Caroline helps an insane man who swears his daughter drowned in the ocean; a meek man torments Mitch because the man's fiancee remains infatuated with Mitch from her rescue 11 years ago; and a romantic older couple makes love under a blanket on the beach.

Matt considers fulfilling his dreams of playing professional volleyball when he's given a chance to partner with a pro. Mitch meets the beautiful Tracy, who tries to sell Baywatch a hovercraft for rescues. Garner literally chokes when he tries to sing in public. C.J. protests oil drilling in the bay, and the lifeguards must rescue the drillers who become trapped underwater.

Mitch and the Baywatch lifeguards deal with snow, romance, little people, and a con artist at Christmas. Mitch and Tracy fall in love. Mitch and Hobie let a lost boy stay with them during the holidays, only to discover he's a con artist. C.J. believes a priest has developed romantic feelings for her. Matt suspects that a group of vacationing little people are really Santa's elves.

At Christmas, Mitch tries to reunite Joey with her mother; C.J. worries that a priest is leaving the church for her; and Matt investigates whether Santa's elves are really vacationing at Baywatch.

Logan and Gator take on Matt and Barnett in a rubber ducky contest; Mitch and Tracy become romantically involved, but she keeps a personal secret from him.

Stephanie ponders whether to travel the world with her boyfriend Riley. A ship is seen off the shore and it is a woman named Coral. They meet her and all goes well. Stephanie confronts Coral after seeing her load explosives on her boat. The two begin to fight. After a brief scuffle, Coral is too strong as she overpowers Stephanie and knocks her unconscious. She ties up Stephanie's helpless body. Will she succeed in her evil plan?

Mitch discovers that Tracy is reluctant to marry him because she's terminally ill from cancer. So, they make the best of their remaining short time together. Logan and Caroline confront two reckless youths on wave runners causing harm on the beach.

In an homage to the movie Sleepless in Seattle, Hobie tries to help his grieving father ease the pain of Tracy's death by calling a radio station for advice. A woman listener in San Diego decides to contact them. Caroline rescues and performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a man with AIDS, causing problems between her and Logan.

Mitch discovers that his late father was actually proud of his career as a lifeguard when his mom gives him a mysterious package made by his father in 1988. Logan's strange reaction to a boat fire prompts Caroline to take him to a hypnotist. He experiences recurring flashbacks about the traumatic death of his father during a boat fire that he witnessed as a child. 

Andy Jamieson, an old friend of Mitch's and a sheriff, arrives at Baywatch to complete four days of part-time lifeguard service to remain on the active roster. But Mitch disapproves of Andy's overly aggressive tactics in dealing with two belligerent vagrants harassing beachgoers. Meanwhile, Logan annuls his marriage to the heiress Kathleen because of his love for Caroline, jeopardizing his immigrant status and Baywatch career. So, he asks a reluctant Stephanie to help him acquire a green card fast.

Matt and C.J. help a homeless man, former lifeguard John D. Cort, sleeping under a lifeguard tower. Depressed due to his increasing loss of eyesight, John finds a purpose for living when the potential donor for a 10-year-old boy with leukemia is reported missing. Mitch and John search for the seriously ill boy's missing brother, who drug smugglers force to dive a shipwreck for its cocaine cargo. 

Mitch rescues a Chinese immigrant woman clinging to a raft after she escaped from an illegal refugee boat. Mitch is injured attempting to track down the woman's sister, only to discover that the woman he saved is pregnant and cannot return to China for fear of losing the child. Mitch and Caroline sidestep the law when they help her stay in America. Garner and Matt try to stop a beautiful con artist and her partner from ripping off beachgoers when she exposes too much.

Kaye hires Molly, a young Englishwoman panhandling on the beach, as a singing waitress at the Sandy Cay Cafe to boost business. In addition to wanting to be a famous singer, Molly also has a young teenage runaway girl under her wing, as well as her jealous and possessive fiancé from England shadowing her. Meanwhile, British daredevil stuntman Richard Branson arrives to set a new world record by water skiing from behind a blimp and Mitch and Matt have to handle the safety for the event. Also, Stephanie begins to get on Caroline's nerves once again when Stephanie tries to keep Caroline in check from making mistakes as a rookie.

A new lifeguard named Neely Capshaw transfers to Baywatch from Huntington. She requests to work with Matt so he can train her in basic procedures. In their tower, Neely comes on to Matt, but he rejects her telling her about his relationship with C.J. Later, Matt arrives at Neely's tower but doesn't find her available, which forces him to rescue a little girl in trouble. Then for revenge, Neely accuses Matt of sexual harassment getting him in trouble. 

Hobie is thrilled when the "Johnny Danger Stunt Show" comes to the beach, but Johnny's questionable morals make Mitch worry that Hobie may follow his example. As Hobie's new hero, the motorcycle stunt rider encourages teenage drinking.

Mitch, Stephanie, C.J., Matt, Caroline, and Cody travel to Hawaii to train with Hawaiian guards. Once there, Stephanie finds romance with a Hawaiian lifeguard. Logan competes in a surfing competition, and a fishing trip becomes dangerous for Mitch and Matt when a scorpion fish stings Matt. After being rescued by Hawaiians living on a jungle island, one of the villagers hunts Mitch and Matt as they proceed on their perilous journey. Stephanie continues her romance with a Hawaiian lifeguard. She also helps an unlucky cameraman find love after he returns the lava rock that brought him bad luck. Caroline accepts Logan's proposal of marriage.