Promo Blurb
Linc tries to infiltrate the Yost inner circle by making another pitch to Mitch about sponsoring Shaun; Barry has
a change of heart about the fate of the motel; Shaun has unexpected results
when he takes part in a surfing competition; Butchie is confronted by a drug dealer at the motel, but bad news changes the tone of the meeting.
Episode Synopsis
Day Two opens once again on Mitch Yost's private surfing beach, but today he's being watched by Linc's mysterious partner Cass. As Mitch is coming out of the water he's joined by Kai who has surfed too far down the beach. They join up with the approaching Cass, and Kai is openly hostile when Cass tells Mitch about her teen-aged crush on him. Kai excuses herself completely as Cass gently flirts with Mitch and asks him to participate in a documentary she's filming about "legends". Mitch takes her card, obviously intrigued.
Linc approaches Shaunie at his home while Mitch is away with a proposition to get him back into the Huntington competition. When Mitch arrives home he's bitterly opposed but listens to Linc's pitch when Cissy asks him to "think of Shaun first". Moved by Linc's arguments, Mitch agrees - with stipulations - to let Shaun compete.
In parallel story lines, Bill calls the police to ask about John's fingerprints and Linc tells Cass she made a huge mistake letting Kai see her with Mitch. John and Butchie wake up at the motel, and in the funniest running gag of the episode fight over "taking a dump". Barry meets up with Meyer and Ramon at the Snug Harbor Motel and in an oddly joyous mood tells them he's decided not to raze the motel but to renovate it instead, beginning with Room 24. But he discovers he's still haunted by whatever happened to him there years before. Steady Freddy arrives at the motel and demands to see Butchie.
Shaun invites Bill to join him and his grandparents at the competition in Huntington, but Bill declines, thinking it will be a good family bonding experience and hopes they can get Butchie to join them. The drive over is a rare experience for Shaun and his grandparents - everybody seems at peace, almost happy - even when Shaunie tries once again to call his father over Mitch's humorous sarcasm: "Why don't we get out of the car and go bang our heads against a lamp post?"
In other scenes Kai calls Butchie urging him to go to Huntington to watch Shaun compete. Cass comes by the shop to try to win Kai over, but Kai remains distrustful and subtly reminds Cass that Mitch has a wife.
Butchie and John go on a shopping spree with John's credit card and John tells him he's from Cincinnati. Returning to the motel they're met by Steady Freddy, who uses fists to the chin, angry over the drug exchange that went wrong. Their argument is
interrupted by an earthquake that also frightens Bill and his birds.
Shaun's self-conscious at his first mete - intimidated by the other surfers and the attention he's getting from young girls, but he becomes completely confident once he hits the waves. Several successful runs put him clearly in the lead as a proud Mitch and Cissy watch from the pier. Cass is on the beach filming the event and Kai has also snuck away from the shop to observe. The earthquake causes Shaunie's wave to suck him under and in a freak accident
he fails to resurface. Mitch and Cissy race to Shaun as rescuers arrive.
Butchie's argument with Freddy is interrupted by a call from Mitch who angrily tells him Shaun broke his neck. Butchie takes off for the hospital and a surprisingly sympathetic Freddy drives him there, making him promise to do right by the kid. Bill also hears about the accident through a television report.
At the hospital Mitch and Cissy are informed by young Dr. Smith that Shaunie has devastating injuries and is unable to breath without a machine, that he's brain dead with no chance to recover.
Protocol calls for further tests, which a teary eyed Mitch finds irrelevant and orders the doctor to let Shaun die. After the doctor leaves, Cissy tells Mitch he'll never share her bed again if he takes the life support away from Shaunie. Mitch's insensitive words are dispelled by his obvious pain, but Cissy only hears the sarcasm, and she acidly chastises Mitch for his own cowardice when he almost lost his leg years ago in his own
surfing accident. After their acrimonious exchange Mitch leaves the hospital, running into Butchie and John as they're getting off the elevator. Cissy takes Butchie in to see Shaun and introduces him to Dr. Smith as "Mitchell, Jr."
In related scenes Cass tells a nurse she's available day or night to assist the Yost family in any way she can. And Kai openly confronts Cass when she and Linc pretend to be strangers.
An oddly comedic story line parallels the drama with John pretending to "take a dump" in the hospital bathroom, getting his clues on how to behave from another dumpster in the stall next to his. John is obviously not human, but is he from outer space or is he an Angel?
In the final scene of the episode
Bill arrives and seems to be in an odd mood. Once inside Shaun's room he removes his resurrected bird Ziggy and touching the bird to Shaun's cheek repeats the words that seemed to cause Ziggy to come back to life the day before. Shaun's eyes open with a start.
