Seeing these recaps published on my blog has me feeling warm and full of light. 🥰 I know it’s only three episodes thus far, but I feel like I’m finally blogging in a way that feels 💯 right to me.
Full-length episodes are posted on YouTube for free. You can also watch this episode below. 😉
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT! This is a recap of H2O, episode 3 of season one, “Catch of the Day”. The show is no longer active; proceed at your own discretion.
My price has gone up
At Cleo’s house, her family is watching great white sharks on TV. Kim asks her dad if he’s ever seen one. He’s only seen one, when it took half his catch for the day and shredded his net. Great white sharks aren’t to be messed with.
Cleo calls Kim to the kitchen to discuss why she hasn’t washed the dishes yet. Kim asks for $10, even though she only charged $5 yesterday. Kim says the price has gone up if Cleo wants her to keep doing her chores for her.
Kim would rather watch TV. She knows Cleo is scared of water, but this is ridiculous. Cleo relents to paying her sister $10 to do her chore.
Don, their dad, calls Cleo over to witness the shark’s feeding frenzy. She asks him how he can even watch this stuff and walks away.
That’s great…
Rikki and Emma swim around reefs.
At the JuiceNet Café, they tell Lewis they can hold their breaths for 15 minutes. The two girls are fascinated by this.
Lewis tells Cleo as she’s approaching the table, who dives into discussing their homework.
Rikki tries to convince Cleo that the water is amazing, but Cleo’s not interested.
“I didn’t ask for any of this to happen to us.” ~Cleo
NOT one of those things
At school, Byron encourages Cleo to come down to the beach because the first of the season’s sea turtles laying eggs that morning at the beach. It was amazing, but one of the turtles got caught in a net when heading back out to sea.
Byron leaves and passes Lewis, who was watching the interaction. Lewis asks Cleo if she wants to hang out at the mall later, but she’s busy.
He says she can’t hide forever, just because she’s a mermaid.
“I’m not one of those things. I’ve never liked the water, and I never will.” ~Cleo
Lewis asks if she’s going to hide from water for the rest of her life. She walks away. Emma and Rikki approach. Cleo watches on from the staircase; Lewis says he’s sure she doesn’t want to talk about being a mermaid.
Emma says it’s a girl thing and leave Lewis to chat with Cleo, who says there are more important things in life than seeing how long you can hold your breath underwater and “frolicking with dolphins” — like sea turtles getting caught in nets.
“I don’t frolic. I glide.” ~Rikki
Rikki calls Cleo a hypocrite, because her dad’s a fisherman and the turtles are getting caught in his nets. Cleo said he’d never do that and walks away.
That’s not an answer
At home, Don offers Cleo coffee. Cleo asks him if he’s ever caught any sea turtles. He tells her that he does what’s right, which isn’t an answer.
“We do everything by the book. We have nets with grids in them. If a turtle comes in, it’s directed to an opening. Plus, we fish miles away from the nesting beaches.” ~Don
She says some turtles are still getting caught; Don says they’re not being caught by him or any fisherman doing the right thing.
Rogue shark
Rikki and Emma swim out to a boat near the nesting beaches and see a sea turtle caught in the net. A guy comes out from the driving area to yell at Jake, who’s cutting rope with a knife, about meeting quota.
Jake puts the knife near the edge of the boat, and Rikki picks it up to cut the turtle free, then puts it back. Jake pulls up the net, and the girls smiles.
At the JuiceNet Café, patrons (Emma, Rikki, Byron and others) watch the news, where commercial fishermen have reported incidents that may involve a rogue shark.
Cleo walks in; Byron tells her her dad’s on TV. Don says the only thing that causes damage like that is a “huge, rogue shark”.
Rikki tells Cleo that her dad caught a turtle, not a shark. Emma says they cut the net to set it free. Cleo says her dad wouldn’t catch turtles. Emma says, “It’s true, Cleo. I’m sorry.”
It’s the law
At the docks, Cleo meets her dad on his boat. He asks if she saw him on TV. She says, “You don’t really know what gets caught in your nets, do you?”
He asks if it’s about “that turtle thing again” and explains that he doesn’t break the law. Cleo expresses her disappointment and walks away.
She passes Eddie on his way onto the boat. He’s surprised to see Don, who is starting to think he shouldn’t go away. Eddie apologizes for losing half the catch; Don says no one can predict a shark attack.
Eddie says the net was shredded. When Don asks where it is, Eddie says he tossed it. Don leaves the boat.
Really awful
At the JuiceNet Café, Cleo tells the girls her dad denied everything. They explain that Don was using illegal nets, without the grid things.
Cleo is shocked that her dad would do something like this. Rikki says they didn’t see her dad specifically — just his boat.
Shark
Rikki and Emma walk and talk at the docks, where every fisherman there is eager to catch the shark. Eddie overhears them and says the shark is sushi.
Emma says they’re “grounded” until the shark frenzy cools down.
Mermaid woes
At the Café, Lewis finds Cleo leaning against a column at the entrance. Rikki and Emma told him about her dad, to her dismay. She asks him what he’d do, and he makes a joke.
Cleo reveals she’s scared of being a mermaid. He tells her she’s amazing and can do anything; she says her powers don’t make her amazing and walks off.
Lewis didn’t mean the powers. 🥹
Flexible
At home, Cleo soaks in a bubble bath and pouts about being a mermaid.
At dinner, Cleo’s family discusses the shark problem. The council put out a bounty, so everyone’s keen to find it.
Don puts a platter of fish on the table. Cleo isn’t hungry. Don says he caught it that morning, from the Esmerelda. Gus is in hospital, so Don is skippering the Esmerelda until he’s back on deck.
“When you own three boats, you’ve gotta be flexible.” ~Don
Cleo infers that Don hasn’t been on his own boat, which means he has no idea what it’s been catching or where it’s been fishing. Don says Eddie’s skippering for him and that he trusts him not to do anything wrong.
Old nets
At the docks, Eddie tells Johnno to hurry up because he doesn’t want to be the last to leave again and they need to make up for the catch lost yesterday. Eddie says they’re going to Patterson’s Beach; Johnno says it’s a no-go zone.
Eddie mentions using old nets, too, and Johnny says the boss won’t like that. Eddie says he’s the boss on the boat.
Cleo watches them from afar and runs towards the end of the dock as they drive away. Lewis walks up behind her and asks what she’s doing there.
Cleo points towards them. She says they’re using the wrong nets and going to the wrong place — and she’s going to stop them. She tells him to tell the others; he doesn’t understand what she means until he hears the water splash from her jumping in.
Underwater, Cleo holds her breath as she struggles to swim up to the surface. She stops and relaxes before going above water, smiles and swims on her way.
Eddie tells Johnno and Jake not to slack off today and lookout for the shark. Johnno says the shark’s the least of his problems; Eddie threatens his job.
Dangerous game
Cleo swims towards the boat, which releases the nets into the water.
Eddie sees a turtle in the distance and moves the boat in that direction. Johnno warns him of the turtles, that it’s illegal to fish in their waters. As long as Don doesn’t find out, it’s fine.
Cleo shows up on Eddie’s radar, and he focuses on catching her in his net. It’s not a turtle, but looks like “that shark”.
Cleo’s tail is caught in the net as she tries to escape it. The more she fights against the net, the more tangled she gets.
Lewis runs into Emma’s house (does no one lock their doors?!) and tells them Cleo is in the water. The girls don’t understand the problem. He struggles to catch his breath and explain, so he motions for them to follow and runs back out.
Cleo continues to struggle in the net until she passes out. Johnno tells Eddie the shark’s in the net, who instructs him to get the net up before it’s ripped to pieces.
Emma and Rikki arrive as Cleo is being lifted up. Emma freezes the net wheel from underwater. Eddie and Johnno are baffled by the ice.
Rikki works on untangling Cleo from the net after ripping it.
She and Emma pull Cleo up to the surface. Cleo says she lost count at 16.5 minutes. They swim back.
Something wrong
Cleo meets Don at the dock where he parked the Esmerelda.
“Dad, I have to tell you something, and you’re not going to like it.” ~Cleo
On Don’s boat, Eddie confirms that Johnno got rid of the net. Don asks, “What net, Eddie?” Eddie is shocked, so Don asks again.
Eddie struggles to answer. Don calls over Johnno to explain what has been going on.
Full of mystery
At home, Don tells his family he fired Eddie for breaking every rule.
Don: How’d you know he was using the wrong nets and fishing in the wrong areas?
Cleo: I heard a whisper. Full of mystery, the sea. Right, Dad?
Cleo apologizes for doubting him and kissing his forehead. Her phone rings. She answers and tells Lewis she wants to show him tomorrow morning.
Cool
At the his fishing spot, Lewis uncovers a sea turtle nest. He shows the girls, who arrive in their beachwear.
He covers the nest and stands up. “So, you wanted to show me something?”
The trio runs into the water wearing just their swimsuits. Lewis sits on the rock and grins as the girls turn into mermaids. He says, “Cool.”
My thoughts
- The first time I saw this episode, I was terrified for Cleo talking to her dad like that. Then I was confused, because their dynamic was nothing like I’d ever thought a parent-child dynamic could be. 👀
- Cleo still gives me autistic vibes. 😅
- The episodes where I think Emma is a great friend are the ones she barely says anything. 🤐
- Byron feels like…if a plot device was a character. His character feels so pointless to me beyond being the hot surfer dude all the girls crush on.
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