H2O: Just Add Water 1×10: The Camera Never Lies

I love and hate this episode. On one hand, it’s monumentally crucial for H2O’s character and plot development. On the other, Emma is…well…Emma.

We get to see a new side of Zane, adding depth to his character, thanks to his father’s influence. 🤌

You can watch H2O for free on YouTube. I also embed the full-length episodes on each episode’s recap before the spoiler alert.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT! This is a recap of H2O, episode 10 of season one, “The Camera Never Lies”. The show is no longer active; proceed at your own discretion.

Heroes

At the JuiceNet Cafe, Lewis’s winning film from the last year’s Junior Filmmaker’s Competition plays on the TV.

Rikki doesn’t understand why they need to be wary of the rules, as a “short film contest” is self-explanatory. Last year, they rejected an entry that was seven seconds over three minutes. 🥴

This year’s theme is “heroes”. Zane’s father is judging the competition and doubled this year’s prize money. Rikki assumes Zane will win the competition, since his dad’s judging. Emma and Cleo tell her about how he windsurfed to Mako Island and back in record time.

Zane doesn’t like talking about his dad, “the hero”. Rikki makes a joke about Zane being a “tremendous disappointment” to him.

Emma’s brought romance movies for research. Rikki is in it for the money, but Emma says the art is more important.

No way

On his boat, Harrison reschedules his patient’s appointments.

Zane arrives and shows his dad articles he found from the library. Harrison prides himself in his record that has held for 20 years and will continue to hold for that much more.

Zane implies someone might break it, an idea Harrison rejects because Mako Island’s a shark breeding ground these days. If someone did manage to, Harrison would “kiss the feet” of anyone capable of breaking Harrison’s record while keeping his limbs intact.

Harrison wants to get the DVD Zane made of the articles on a loop for his office.

No

At the JuiceNet Cafe, the Rikki asks Lewis what he’s doing for the contest.

Emma thinks they should go with her idea, since they only have a few days: a feature focusing on her mother.

Rikki doesn’t want to do it. She orders juices for the three of them and takes a competition flyer for herself.

Backup plan

At Emma’s, Lewis and the girls film Emma interviewing her mum, who’s awkward on camera and gives short answers. Lewis sways from the boredom like he’s gonna doze off.

Rikki asks for a break, and Lisa is ready for one as well. Rikki leaves with Lewis to do some “camera tests”. At the dock next to his boat, she shows him her plan for the contest: filming sharks at Mako Island, using an underwater camera.

She knows Emma’s idea will never win the contest. Lewis declines because it’s too dangerous.

Very, very close friend

At Mako Island, Rikki films the aquatic life, including sharks, near a reef.

At the JuiceNet Cafe, Zane asks Wilfred for an entry form. Because his dad is a judge, Zane’s ineligible. Zane argues that his father being on the panel won’t do him any favors; Wilfred doesn’t budge.

On his way out, Zane purposely bumps a kid and causes him to spill his juice.

Zane finds Lewis fishing off a dock near his boat. Zane proposes him windsurfing around Mako Island on his dad’s windsurfer board at the JuiceNet Cafe, breaking the record, and Lewis filming the whole thing. It’d be a tribute, like Hillary’s son climbing Everest.

Lewis doesn’t like Zane enough to do him a favor, but he’ll do it in exchange for Zane’s video camera.

Nothing’s gonna go wrong

Back at Emma’s, the girls film Emma interviewing her mother once again. Emma and Cleo are bored out of their minds.

Zane sneaks into the JuiceNet Cafe that night and steals his father’s windsurfer off the back wall. The next day, Lewis explains the slight modifications he made to the board.

The waterproof mini cam will send messages directly back to Lewis on the boat.

An earpiece with a microphone will allow them to stay in contact in case anything happens. Prideful Zane is sure nothing will go wrong. 🥴

Lewis begins two stopwatches and follows Zane as he windsurfs to Mako.

Back at Emma’s, Cleo’s running late. In the most infantilizing way possible, Emma instructs Rikki to roll the camera. Rikki pauses the filming to “save tape” whilst Emma figures out what to talk about and leaves to “run more tests”.

So far, Zane’s on his way to beating his father’s record. Lewis’s engine shuts off halfway to Mako and sputters when Lewis tries to turn it back on. Zane continues on his path. He tells Zane he’s flooded the engine.

Emma and her mum chat about her being a junior lifesaver and managing to save one person — Harrison Bennett, when she was 12. He would’ve drowned had she not saved him. She’s sure Harrison has forgotten all about it and doesn’t want it going public.

She had a crush on him, but he avoided her after she saved him. 👀

While Zane windsurfs above the shark breeding ground near Mako, Rikki films underwater. He sees something in the water and asks what it was, but Lewis is still in his boat in the middle of the ocean.

A shark swims up and bumps the windsurfer, causing Zane to fall overboard. He gasps for air and begins freaking out as sharks surround him.

Now Lewis’s boat turns on. 🙄 He’s on his way.

Rikki swims up the surface and hears Zane screaming for help. Meanwhile, the mini underwater camera records Zane panicking.

Rikki rushes over to him, underwater. She uses her powers to boil the water around them both, so the sharks swim away and leave them alone.

The sharks leave, and so does Rikki.

Zane rushes to climb back onto the windsurfer. Lewis arrives, and Zane quickly climbs into the boat. He’s still shaking with fear from his near-death experience. Lewis doesn’t see anything.

This charade

On Harrison’s boat, the boys watch the footage. Harrison’s disappointed in his son and finds him embarrassing. No sharks were caught on film.

Harrison’s also disappointed that Zane took the windsurfer from Wilfred; Zane says it’s not Wilfred’s. Harrison doesn’t want to see Zane on film behaving like that, especially when he’s on the judge panel.

Zane insists there were multiple 20-foot sharks out there. Harrison thinks Zane has made up the shark danger because he knew he couldn’t beat the record.

Winners

Emma brings her mother a frames junior lifesaving certificate. They still had it on file at the club.

Cleo, Rikki and Lewis arrive ready to film.

“We’ve talked about it, and we’re going to help you no matter what we think personally.” ~Cleo

Emma has changed her mind about her documentary idea.

Rikki pulls Lewis aside to ask him for help cutting her fantastic shark footage into a film. However, she has no way to explain how she shot that footage without revealing she’s a mermaid. She can’t use the footage to enter the contest.

At the cafe, Zane’s panicking and cries for help play on the TV. Lewis has cut the footage of Zane screaming for help and splashing in the water to look like he’s terrified of a giant, glowing goldfish.

Rikki chides him for formatting Zane’s trauma into a joke; Lewis feels awful after learning there really were sharks swarming around Zane — that his life was legit in danger and he’s not acting.

Lewis wins for the second year in a row, though he’s not proud of himself. Zane wins the award for Best Actor, even with his father abstaining from voting. Zane donates the prize money to the cafe and concludes by saying, “The Bennetts are winners. Right, Dad?”

At the marina, Rikki has a heart-to-heart with Zane. He thinks she’s complimenting his acting, but she’s talking about his windsurfing around Mako. He smiles at her, and just like that…I ship them. 😭