For what age: 8+
How many episodes in 9 season: 22 episodes
In the teaser, Mitch is approaching a tower while talking to Craig over the radio. It turns out that tower 14 has been washed very close to the shoreline. As a result of a storm, the tower's ramp has been moved from the tower. When Mitch is about to leave the tower, a huge wave knocks him off his feet and he becomes all wet.
Mitch receives a phone call at home about the plane crash. Later, Craig finds out that it's Cody and April's flight. When the lifeguards arrive to the scene, Mitch is relieved when he finds Cody alive in the water. Meanwhile in the first-class compartment, Francine starts having contractions. If that's not enough for April to handle, Hans freaks out and is convinced that he is going to die. April is forced to calm him down. Then disaster strikes as the first-class compartment sinks to the bottom of the ocean.
Mitch and Cody witness a disaster involving a parasailer and a boat. When they are heading for the rescue, they are once again beaten by Bayguard, a new firm that specializes in privatizing lifeguards. When the rescue has been completed, Mitch is introduced to Alex Ryker. She is the CEO of Bayguard. She tells Mitch that she plans on going up against him for the county contract. Baywatch's contract with the county is about to expire.
When Mitch and Cody have rescued a little girl, it all turns out to be just another training exercise for some kids. While doing this, they are observed by Alex's nephew Timmy. Timmy is a mildly autistic boy who doesn't speak. Timmy loves dolphins and because of that, his mom Valerie is taking him to Hawaii where he can visit Dolphin Quest. Dolphin Quest is an organization that specializes in giving young children extraordinary experience of swimming with dolphins. When Valerie arrives to the beach and tells Alex that she can't get away from work, Mitch convinces Alex to take Timmy there. Cody joins them because he is going to participate in an outrigger race.
The episode starts with someone rescuing a surfer in trouble. When the rescue has been completed, the phantom lifeguard is nowhere to be seen. A minute later, J.D. arrives in a lifeguard truck and he is able to see tracks in the sand showing clearly that someone else made the rescue. He tells Cody, Sheryl and Bridget about the incident.
While Mitch and Newmie are walking down the beach, Mitch tells Newmie about a confrontation he has had with a gang. He tells Newmie that he talked them out of coming back again. Then Mitch's tower explodes. That's a warning from the gang.
When Mitch and Hobie are walking down the beach after a tough day, they notice a strange smell in a tunnel. When they have entered the tunnel, Mitch recognizes the smell. Some workers have accidentally damaged a gas line. One of the workers drops his cigarette into the tunnel and Mitch and Hobie have to run out before it explode.
A little boy named Tanner hangs around Mitch's tower all day. He even imitates Mitch's moves. When Mitch gets a call about a missing boy, he knows that Tanner is the one. His father is furious when he arrives and he slaps Tanner before he drags him of the beach. Mitch and Alex are very shocked about this but there's nothing they can do.
Jessie has hired medical supply salesman Ed Symes as her stunt instructor. She found him in the yellow pages. But Ed is of course a terrible stunt instructor. When Jessie throws a punch at him, he is knocked out cold. Later when he is jumping from the balcony at headquarters onto a mattress, he misses the mattress and lands beside it instead. Jessie does the same thing and lands on the mattress. After that accident, she fires Ed for his own safety. But she doesn't get rid of him just because of that.
The Baywatch gang is preparing some kids for the Special Olympics. One of the kids, twelve year old Kayla is deaf. Her father Gavin has been a friend of Alex's for years. When his job forces him to go to San Diego, Alex convinces him to let Kayla stay with her.
Cody has started swimming again. But he is clearly frustrated with his times. They aren't half as good as his times during the qualification races for the Atlanta Olympics back in 1996. Cody couldn't go to Atlanta because of a diving accident (6.22 Go for the Gold).
Some spectacular stunts are performed by a group of skydivers outside headquarters. Mitch, Cody, Jessie and J.D. look at them in amazement. When they have landed on the beach, Mitch goes down to greet an old military buddy named Ben Frazier. They catch up on each other's lives and then Mitch meets Tracy McCabe again. Tracy is his old Commander's daughter. She has grown up know and since she joined the military, her relationship with her father has been strained. Jessie introduces herself to Ben and Tracy and asks them if they can teach her some of the stuff they can do in the air. The promise to do that.
While Alex and Mitch are walking down the beach, they get a distress call. When they arrrive to the scene, a lot of people are coming out of the water holding their stomachs. Mitch thinks that the water has been polluted and immediately closes the beach. But the water is not polluted. It was just a hot dog vendor who sold bad hot dogs. At headquarters when they are taking care of the victims, Newmie answers the phone and when Mitch picks up the phone he is surprised to hear Tanner's voice. But the phone call is cut off.
Craig returns to Baywatch after spending three weeks in Washington D.C. Both Mitch and April notice a change in him. He seems more depressed than usual. During a rescue, Mitch rescues the woman, while Craig is stuck with a 300-pound man. Craig is almost knocked unconscious by the man, but Mitch arrives just in time to bring them both back to safety. Mitch is concerned about Craig's health after the rescue. He tells Craig that divorces can be tough and if he needs someone to talk to, Mitch will always be there to listen. Craig just tells him that everything is fine. Mitch and April decide that he needs to talk to Craig. Therefore he plans on taking him paddle boarding.
Tanner has received an E-mail from his cousin Damon. Damon is a racecar driver and he is coming to Los Angeles for a race called "Kragan Auto Parts 200". Mitch tells Damon that he used to race once. His parents gave him a trip to racing school in graduation gift when Mitch left college. When Damon meets Alex, they are attracted to each other. Damon places Tanner behind the wheel and asks him about Alex. Her favorite food and if she is seeing anyone right now and stuff like that.
Mitch, Alex, April, Jessie, Cody and Jake Barnes from Zuma Beach is participating in a big rescue. A car has ended up in Bologna Creek. When the driver has been brought back to safety, Mitch notices that Jake is missing. Jake is trapped under a fallen tree. Mitch finds him and rescues him. Later at headquarters while they are in the shower, Jake's ex-wife's boyfriend, Eric Barnett, stops by. He tells Jake that his ex-wife Clare is dead and that he has a son named Terry. Jake didn't even know that Terry existed.
Terry leaves the house in the morning and leaves a note for Jake. He goes to the dock where Clare's sailboat is. He takes his dog Spencer with him and sails away. Jake finds the note and tells Allie and Jessie that he needs some clues about where Terry is hiding. Allie tells Jake that he can go through Clare's old stuff and maybe find a clue there. Jake is surprised to find his old 1963 Corvette in Clare's garage. He didn't think she had kept it all this time. While looking through her stuff, he finds a letter Clare was supposed to send him. In the letter, Clare has written that she had to leave him because he could never settle down at one place. He then realizes that Terry is a lot like his mother. And he knows that Clare always went sailing when she faced a big decision. He tells Allie and Jessie about it and they go up in the air to search for him.
When Mitch and Cody are out paddling on their surfboards, Cody tells Mitch that his relationship with Lani is over. She is engaged to someone else. He tells Mitch that he is having a really bad luck when it comes to women, first C.J. and now Lani. He decides to stay away from women a while. Then they see a beautiful violin-player on a yacht. She plays really good and Cody falls in love with her immediately. Suddenly a woman comes out on the deck and forces her to quit.
Mitch arrives home with his date Carrie, only to find Hobie with his date Kate in the couch. Mitch doesn't expect this and tells Hobie that he and his date has to leave or double date with him and Carrie. During their argument, Carrie and Kate decide to leave instead. After this incident, Hobie decides that it's time to move out. He wants to movie in with J.B. and Connor, but their landlord only allows two people to live there. Then Neely offers him to stay at her place if he helps her take care of Neely. This makes Mitch furious because he and Neely is not the best of friends. But Hobie has made up his mind and there's nothing Mitch can do about it. Later Hobie stops a car-thief after a big chase and some assistance from Alex.
Neely finds Hobie in the weight room. He has hurt a muscle and Neely offers to massage him. She massages the affected muscle just as Mitch is entering the room. He becomes upset and wonders what Neely is doing. He thinks that her behavior is inappropriate and is convinced that she comes onto Hobie just to get even with him. When Newmie and J.D. enter headquarters, she starts crying and tells Mitch how hard she is trying and that she is sorry for all the mistakes she might have done. J.D. and Newmie are shocked and Mitch tells them what a good actress Neely is.
Newmie and Alex are spending a lot of time together riding SeaDoos, go scuba diving and stuff like that. Newmie is convinced that Alex's got the hots for him and plans to make a move on her. He tells Mitch about it, but Mitch tells him that it can't be true. When Newmie invites Alex to join him for dinner on the beach, Mitch tells her what Newmie is really after. Alex can't believe it when Mitch tells her about Newmie's intentions. Alex tries to talk some sense into Newmie but he keeps interrupting her all the time. When Newmie finally goes to check on the food that is being prepared by Armond, Alex calls Mitch and tells him to come to the beach and join them for dinner.
Alex asks Mitch if he wants to escort her to her best friend Sam's wedding. Sam later calls her from New York and tells her that Diane will arrive the next day, but he can't make it until Friday. He asks Alex if she can take care of Diane until he gets there and she agrees to do it.
