History Main / BeachEpisode

* ''VideoGame/TheUntoldTalesOfTheVocaloids'': After defeating [[spoiler: Garon and Onigami]], the Vocaloids except Teto and Gumi decides to take a break and go to the Mizuki Beach. The Vocaloids' swimsuits are from the swimsuit modules in VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDiva.

Often combined with or immediately following a RecapEpisode, in a lot of shows, the Beach Episode generally exists [[{{Fanservice}} solely for the purpose of getting the cast]] into [[SwimsuitIndex bathing suits]], either for titillation or just because some people want to see what the characters' bathing suits look like. Sometimes the bathing suits can be PlayedForLaughs if they look similar to the characters' already-LimitedWardrobe's. For example, if Alice generally wears purple, expect her swimsuit to be purple too. In shows that small children can watch as well as the adults (therefore being child-friendly), they have a beach episode because the beach is typically considered fun. [[FetishRetardant Sadly]] for the {{fanboy}}s, beach episodes are usually (except for the romance genre in which it is part of the plot) considered extreme examples of {{filler}} and [[OffModel treated accordingly]]. Sometimes you'll meet the SurferDude here, and the MuscleBeachBum. Also a good spot for a random BeautyContest. Besides having a dip, characters may also hit the nets for a game of beach volleyball. Japanese works might also show them [[SmashingWatermelons trying to smash a watermelon or two]]. And since people usually go barefoot at the beach to feel the sand and surf, shoes and socks are usually the first things to go. Even if the cast isn't changing into bathing suits, they'll probably shed their footwear at the very least to avoid being labeled a tourist like the derided "[[WesternAnimation/RocketPower shoobie]]", so don't be surprised if this happens, and/or this sets up someone [[AgonyOfTheFeet to step on something sharp or jagged while barefoot]] (often followed by a GreenAesop if that something happens to be a piece of beach litter). Also expect some {{Beachcombing}} and someone getting [[BeachBury buried in sand]].

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The U.S. 2008 Presidential Election had one of these. In between serious debates on Energy Policy, Climate Change, Terrorism, and Healthcare Reform, someone leaked a picture of [[http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=5jP&resnum=0&q=barack%20obama%20swimsuit&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi/ President Barack Obama in a swimsuit]] and a media storm ensued. All serious discussions were put on hold for the day while every major news network focused on then-Senator Obama's washboard abs. Only in America.
* And then, a couple of weeks later when Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, the media spent another day focused on a clearly faked picture of [[http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/palin.asp her in a bikini holding a gun.]]
* Pretty much any anime club you'd find on a college campus of a near coastal town could have a themed "Beach Episode" where the group will carpool to the beach.
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* ''WebAnimation/EtraChanSawIt'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SunTzckpAY A video]] has Karin try to enjoy a day at the beach but unfortunately all the antagonists disregard the lifeguard's warning about the waves being too rough to safely enter the water, and she has to rescue them.
* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' has a few of these, most notably ''Wipe Out'', in which [[HumanPopsicle Cro-Marmot]] takes on Lumpy and some of the other characters in a surfing competition.

** Chapter 43, which is the start of a [[VacationEpisode vacation arc]], focus on Naruto and his TrueCompanions having fun together at some beach in a resort town. Among other things, [[SandBlaster Gaara]] builds a sandcastle that results in Shikamaru having BlankWhiteEyes given its size, while Naruto and Kiba both have a {{Nosebleed}} upon seeing Hinata and Mina in their swimsuits.

* ''VideoGame/WarioWare'': 'WarioWare: Move It!" has this as its main aesthetic.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The ''Series/Batman1966'' episode "Surf's Up! Joker's Under!" features Batgirl wearing a sexy one-piece bathing suit... and Batman and the Joker wearing swim trunks ''over'' their regular suits for a surfing contest.
* It can be argued that ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' was nothing but an endless series of beach episodes. That is largely the source of its high ratings.
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' Season 4 opener in Hawaii is both textbook and an extended beach episode. Particularly with the scenes involving Greg surfing (and having his surfing accident), Greg later going girl watching and later the episode-clinching luau. Not much plot, as Barry Williams later pointed out in his autobiography "Growing Up Brady," although it was a great way to get guest star Vincent Price involved.
** An episode from later in Season 4, "Greg's Triangle," features Greg's babelicious (but conniving) girlfriend Jennifer Nichols (Tannis G. Montgomery) in a 1972-era bikini, in a scene set at the beach.
* One episode of ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'' features Brittas whisking the staff off to their regular holiday at the fictional seaside town of Burbage-on-Sea, where Gavin takes Colin's potato-powered lilo for a ride and gets captured by RuthlessModernPirates as a result.
* The ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' 5th season opener starts out as a beach episode, but mere minutes in, Willow ignites a cookout fire with a spell that causes an elemental imbalance and a sudden storm. End of beach time. Of course, it's also possible that the storm was due to Dracula plonking his castle down outside of town.
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' is set in Miami FL specifically for the purpose of setting up meets either on Miami Beach or a swimming pool or hot tub, with tons of extremely attractive women in teeny-weeny bikinis parading past the camera before we focus on whoever Michael is meeting at the moment. This qualifies because Michael could as easily meet at the park or a deserted alley, but no, it has to be somewhere where swimwear is required. Partially justified because (as Michael says in a voice-over) "The beach and pools are great places to meet if you don't want to have to search people for weapons or microphones". He has never figured a good way to hide a gun in a swimsuit and even hiding a listening device (somehow) tends to get skewed when meetings are held in hot tubs.
* ''{{Series/Charmed|1998}}'': Season 6 premieres at a beach party where Phoebe is there to interview the DJ for her magazine. Features Music/SmashMouth performing and Creator/AlyssaMilano in a bikini.
* ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' had an episode with a crew filming an InUniverse movie of the titular hero in Acapulco. El Chapulín has to fill in AsHimself when the main actor [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere gets fed up and quits]]. Naturally, HilarityEnsues all over the place.
* ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' also had a two-parter in Acapulco, starting when La Chilindrina buys a ticket for a raffle to get a full-paid vacation for herself and her dad. Everybody else in the vecindad decides to follow suit and coincidentally, they all end up staying at the same hotel. Like the above, HilarityEnsues.
* ''{{Series/Chuck}}'' quite gleefully embraced its use of {{Fanservice}} with several episodes a season that put characters in bathing suits (or less, with one episode set partially at a nudist retreat). ''Especially'' Sarah, though Ellie and Devon at times got in on the action. Hilariously, one episode in season 5 involved ''Casey'' trying to balk at an on-again[=/=]off-again lover[=/=]rival trying to get him into a banana hammock, with Sarah immediately {{Lampshading}} how many skimpy outfits ''she'' had been required to wear over the course of the series.
* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'':
** The show tried hard to avert the filler aspect: Sean leaves in a Beach Episode.
** There's also another one that introduces Paige's brother Dylan. And Spinner has to choose between Jay's friendship and Darcy's love in yet another.
** All together it's not quite OnceASeason but rather a lot happens at the beach considering the school year and beach season only overlap by a month or so at either end in the Great Lakes region...
** Most of "Don't Look Back" takes place at the beach.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The pre-1989 show had "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E5PlanetOfFire Planet of Fire]]", the opening portion of which is set at broadcast date on a beach on Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands, leading to new companion Peri being introduced in a bikini with much MaleGaze and outgoing companion Turlough first appearing in some very small swimming trunks. (With MaleGaze of a different nature.)
* The short-lived ''Series/FalconBeach'' was pretty much nothing ''but'' this. How did this show not survive? Oh, right, ScrewedByTheNetwork, which gave it a horrible time slot. And no, this wasn't {{Creator/FOX}}'s fault. Actually, FOX would be a logical place for this show...
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'':
** The third season episode "Scratch 'N' Sniff" is set on a PleasurePlanet, with brief beach scenes and many other scenes with scantily-clad extras.
** Portions of the season 4 opener "Crichton Kicks" occur on a beach... in Crichton's head... with Aeryn in a bikini... pregnant.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' seemed to enjoy [[SubvertedTrope subverting]] this trope.
** In the third season finale "The One At The Beach" the gang arrive at the beach house but it's pouring rain and everyone has to stay inside. The house is filled with sand due to flood damage, which at least means they're able to [[BeachBury bury]] Joey in a mermaid-shaped pile of sand. Played straight by the fourth season premiere, "The One With The Jellyfish" where the weather clears up and Monica, Chandler and Joey are able to go out...but then Monica gets stung by a jellyfish and Chandler has to pee on her leg to kill the pain.
** Happens again in season 9's "The One in Barbados" because they arrive there during hurricane season. The storm ends briefly but the gang can't go out because they have to attend a presentation Ross is giving. By the time it ends the hurricane has resumed, forcing them to stay inside ''again''.
* ''Series/GavinAndStacey'' had pretty much every main character headed over to the beach in Series 3 Episode 5. Bearing in mind, though, that Doris and Bryn were among those getting into their swimsuits, [[{{Fandisservice}} fanservice wasn't really the word for a lot of it.]] It did move the plot along considerably, though.
* The third season-opener for ''Series/GrowingPains'', titled "Aloha," was set in Hawaii.
* ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'' is set in Australia's sunny Gold Coast, and consequently takes advantage of its beach setting in ''many'' episodes. The fact that the protagonists are Mermaids certainly helps.
* ''Series/HappyDays'' had a multi-part beach episode. It involved Fonzie and a shark.
* ''Series/HeadbangersBall'' did one with Music/AliceInChains at a water park.
* The ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' episode "The Apple" featured our heroes at a beach. It's heavier in plot than most beach episodes, but the fangirls get to see Hercules and Iolaus almost naked. And Iolaus invents surfing! The series itself is already known for quite a bit of regular fanservice every episode as well.
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' has its Jersey Shore episode where the gang goes to the beach for a relaxing vacation. Dennis and Dee wish to show Charlie how great it is and rekindle their fond childhood memories of vacationing there while Frank and Mac are unenthusiastic. Dennis and Dee wind up having a terrible time, while the other three find it enjoyable.
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'':
** The episode "Life's a Beach".
** There was also another episode that initially seemed to be this but ended up being about being stuck in a traffic jam. Peg, Kelly and Bud even occasionally walked their way back and forth between their car and their house.
* ''Series/TheMonkees''. As they live in a shabby house on the beach, scenes from many episodes take place on the beach. Most notable is the episode "Monkees at the Movies".
* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': "Loch Ness Murdoch" starts with Inspector Brackenreid at the beach during a heatwave, with other characters joining him later.
* ''Series/MyRosyLife'': In episode 22 the whole family goes to Jeju Island for a beach vacation. Sung-moon, who was cheating on his wife Soon-yi and behaved just terribly to her, has been TheAtoner after finding out she is dying of cancer, and takes her to the beach to spend some happy time with the time she has left.
* ''Series/{{Neighbours}}'' episode #417, listed on an Iconic Episodes DVD set as "[[Music/KylieMinogue Charlene]] on Beach in Bikini." To be fair, it was part of a "Scott and Charlene" disc.
* ''Series/NoahsArc'': The last episode of the second season, during the Pride beach party. Though the first half of the episode plays the trope straight (purely fanservice and relatively relaxed), the last half cranks the drama up a pinch.
* ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'' has an episode where they went to the beach. Or rather, the side of a lake. Subverted in that hopes of beachy fun and Pam in a two-piece were dashed as Michael used it as an excuse for a ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' style event to pick his successor, and the episode features some of the best character development to date.
* Subverted in ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' season 2 when Reese searches for a serial killer on Owen Island. He points out that he's going to the beach, except its hurricane season.
* ''Series/{{Pizza}}'' has a Season 5 episode, Beach Pizza Parts 1 & 2. The day explodes into mayhem as pizza deliveries go wrong and Habib and Rocky accidentally start a riot with lifesavers. The media then interview Pauly and he is taken out of context and blamed as the instigator of the Cronulla Beach riot. So it is against the Lebs vs. Aussies.
* Commonly seen in [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers the]] [[Series/PowerRangersZeo first]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo few]] [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace seasons]] of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', though it got both the males ''and'' females into fanservice outfits. Which explains one of the reasons why [[PeripheryDemographic older fans of either sex may have loved the show so much]]. While these episodes were almost always {{filler}} as usual with the trope, it must be noted that 85% of any given early season of ''PR'' is filler anyways. You also see a lot of the beach in ''[[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Ninja Storm]]'', what with it being New Zealand and everything.
* Music/SClub7's TV series had its first two seasons set in Miami and Los Angeles respectively, requiring beach settings in many episodes. However, one specific ''Miami 7'' episode centered around a volleyball game and therefore more time on the beach than normal. An episode of ''LA 7'' also had Hannah and Tina trying to learn how to surf to impress a pair of {{Surfer Dude}}s. One of the band's music videos played this straight too (see 'Music' below).
* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'':
** Parodied in Season 6 when her aunts cast a spell as Sabrina and friends go on their spring break - and they end up living one of the 60s beach party movies having "Good Clean Fun". Frankie Avalon stars AsHimself.
** Earlier in the Season 3 finale, the Spellmans go to a family reunion in Hawaii. There is however the resolution of Sabrina's family secret - that she has an EvilTwin - but they do take advantage of this to put the females into flattering beach wear.
** One of the TV movie spin-offs was ''Film/SabrinaDownUnder'' - about Sabrina visiting Australia and meeting the local merpeople.
* Six episodes of ''Series/SavedByTheBell'''s third season featured the main cast working in a beach resort over the summer.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' has [[spoiler:The Janitor's and Lady's Wedding]] set in the Bahamas.
* ''Series/SkippyTheBushKangaroo'' has at least one beach episode, featuring a surfing contest.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E04Aqua Aqua]]", in which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark]], [[TheSmartGirl Chloe]], [[ComicBook/LanaLang Lana]] and [[ComicBook/LoisLane Lois]] goes to the Crater Lake. [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} shows up to save Clark being TheOneGuy.]]
* ''Series/SouthOfNowhere''[='=]s "Girl's Guide to Dating" had Spencer and Ashley ditching school for the beach, and end up missing a lock-down. Doubles as a ComingOutStory.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': The episode "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." has Worf and Dax take a vacation on Risa, a PleasurePlanet featuring beaches that look suspiciously like Malibu. Of course, Worf is in no mood for fun in the sand and gets into trouble with some {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s.
** Oddly enough, ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' premiered "Future's End" at about the same time, which being set in 1996 Los Angeles also featured [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative lots more swimwear than the average episode]] (well, it did until the plot kicked in).
* In the commentary for the ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode "Sanctuary", Creator/TorriHigginson and Creator/RachelLuttrell express a desire for a beach episode... before realizing that Rachel would almost certainly be put in BarelyThereSwimwear while Torri would be way overdressed.
* ''Series/StepByStep'': The Foster-Lambert family travels to Hawaii for the two-parter "Aloha."
* Actor Creator/JensenAckles likes to joke that he's been trying to pitch the "Demon Surfer" episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' so they can film in Hawaii and have a Beach Episode. Strangely, this tends to happen in a lot of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' fanfics.
* The Creator/DisneyChannel original movie ''Film/TeenBeachMovie'', an AffectionateParody of the aforementioned '60s beach party films in which two modern-day teenagers [[TrappedInTVLand get sucked into one]].
* Even ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' had a beach episode: the party conference episode in series three, for which the action moved to a hotel in Eastbourne. Being ''The Thick Of It'', this was just as unglamorous as all the other episodes. No swimsuits were seen: the closest we got was Terri in her cagoule on a windswept beach.
* ''Series/TheTimeInBetween'': One episode during the Morocco arc features Rosalinda, Sira, Felix, and Marcus taking an impromptu trip to the beach to get away from their problems in Tetuoan.
* ''Series/TropicalHeat'', like ''Baywatch'' mentioned above, was basically a beach episode every time, being set in UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}.
* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' had "Welcome to Paradise", where Elena arranges a party at a local lake.
* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' has the cast go to a beach, but end up getting trapped in an RV.
* ''Series/WonderWoman'': "Skateboard Wiz" is set on a beach complete with Diana Prince sunbathing before being accosted by {{mooks}}. She reminds them forcefully that she is a trained amazon before transforming into Wonder Woman and then really working them over.
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* If you get a high enough total score in ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'', you can unlock a picture of the agents at the beach with some rather fanservicey material for both genders (J surfing with a dolphin, Spin playing volleyball with Missy, and Chieftain apparently checking out Foxx's body). The tenth stage is also on the beach, essentially.

* ''VideoGame/{{CookieCats}}'' went to the beach, 2 times!

* ''WebAnimation/{{Anon}}'': Tucker and Hunter's sister got married at the beach house and Chelsea and Dani get invited.

* After the protagonist of ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'' [[spoiler:gets out of jail on bail]], Amanda takes him to the beach. She reveals that a time when he saved her from drowning was when she started getting romantic feelings for him. It is also a pivotal scene when [[spoiler:the player can choose to stay with Amanda, or to be with one of the other women instead]].

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie'': The Mishelam Vacation Daydream lets the combined Class VII (as well as Celine, Duvalie, Elise, and Princess Alfin) put on swimsuits for a "beach vacation" at Mishelam Wonderland, featuring mini-games like splitting a watermelon blindfolded with a wooden sword, or riding a banana boat being pulled by a boat while collecting flags. Through downloadable content, the Special Support Section (as well as KeA and Rixia) can do the same.

* ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles'': Chapter 43, which is the start of a [[VacationEpisode vacation arc]], focus on Naruto and his TrueCompanions having fun together at some beach in a resort town. Among other things, [[SandBlaster Gaara]] builds a sandcastle that results in Shikamaru having BlankWhiteEyes given its size, while Naruto and Kiba both have a {{Nosebleed}} upon seeing Hinata and Mina in their swimsuits.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: In "Spies From Saturn" Diana and the Holliday Girls take a trip to Virginia True's family beach house. While there they go swimming, attend a party, and discover a spy from the planet Saturn has a submarine there from which he is helping his Emperor plan an invasion of Earth.

* Episode 15 of ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'' features the school forcing all the students to go on a mandatory field trip to the beach. It results in Dib, Zim, and Tak's groups all having to [[EnemyMine team up]] to defeat a [[spoiler: demon]] sea hydra.
* The Prince's Rebellion Arc in ''Fanfic/OnePieceParallelWorks'' starts with the Capricorns going to the beach, but it ends with [[spoiler: Yuki-Rin being led to the castle of the ArcVillain]].

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' has absolutely NoHuggingNoKissing, all Matoran are UsefulNotes/{{Asexual}}, [[CanonDiscontinuity the creators have never hinted at ''any'' romantic interactions between Macku and Hewkii]], [[BlatantLies and they absolutely, most definitely did not dedicate an entire]] Beach Episode to them! And even if they did, the two certainly would not have had an AlmostKiss! I don't know where the fangirls get all these silly ideas from...

* ''Fanfic/TouhouGalaxy'': Chapter 19 of Odyssey is this as the gang arrives at Bubblaine where most of the gang such as Ezra and Pit go to relax and in the process are reunited with Byleth, Dorothea, Kamui, Camilla, Sakura, Elise, Claude and Hilda. Unusually, it's not all fun in the sun: Marisa overcomes her aquaphobia to save Reimu from Maw-Rays and Gray has to talk down Bea from wanting revenge on Esdeath due to Esdeath's "The strong live and the weak die" really angering Bea. This works once Gray points out that Bea is losing sight of herself and that's what happened to him before he was temporarily killed by Esdeath. Bea apologizes which Gray accepts saying it happens to the best of them. The team then fights and beats Mollusque Lanceur. The chapter ends with the gang relazing some more and Chapter 20 has them setting off again.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'', Musse's final bonding event takes place at Ordis' beach and she and [[TheHero Rean]] are in their swimsuits. [[spoiler:She also ends up [[TeacherStudentRomance kissing Rean]] in this event, which catches Rean off-guard.]]

** In “Let’s Go to the Beach, Roys Bedoys!”, the Bedoyses (including Charlie, but excluding Panther) go to the beach. ** Attempted in “We Can’t Go to the Beach, Roys Bedoys!”, where the Bedoyses try to go to the beach, but can’t, because first Joys gets an upset stomach, then it rains.

* Due to location, as many as half of all ''Series/CSIMiami'' episodes qualify.

Often combined with or immediately following a RecapEpisode, in a lot of shows, the Beach Episode generally exists [[{{Fanservice}} solely for the purpose of getting the cast]] into [[SwimsuitIndex bathing suits]], either for titillation or just because some people want to see what the characters' bathing suits look like. Sometimes the bathing suits can be PlayedForLaughs if they look similar to the characters' already-LimitedWardrobe's. For example, if Alice generally wears purple, expect her swimsuit to be purple too. In shows that small children can watch as well as the adults (therefore being child-friendly), they have a beach episode because the beach is typically considered fun. [[FetishRetardant Sadly]] for the {{fanboy}}s, beach episodes are usually (except for the romance genre in which it is part of the plot) considered extreme examples of {{filler}} and [[OffModel treated accordingly]]. Sometimes you'll meet the SurferDude here, and the MuscleBeachBum. Also a good spot for a random BeautyContest. Besides having a dip, characters may also hit the nets for a game of beach volleyball. Japanese works might also show them [[SmashingWatermelons trying to smash a watermelon or two]]. And since people usually go barefoot at the beach to feel the sand and surf, [[DoesNotLikeShoes shoes and socks are usually the first things to go]]. Even if the cast isn't changing into bathing suits, they'll probably shed their footwear at the very least to avoid being labeled a tourist like the derided "[[WesternAnimation/RocketPower shoobie]]", so don't be surprised if this happens, and/or this sets up someone [[AgonyOfTheFeet to step on something sharp or jagged while barefoot]] (often followed by a GreenAesop if that something happens to be a piece of beach litter). Also expect some {{Beachcombing}} and someone getting [[BeachBury buried in sand]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The pre-1989 show had "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E5PlanetOfFire Planet of Fire]]", the opening portion of which is set at broadcast date on Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands, leading to new companion Peri being introduced in a bikini with much MaleGaze and outgoing companion Turlough first appearing in some very small swimming trunks. (With MaleGaze of a different nature.)

* The Music/{{Sugababes}} (or, as they were known at the time, [[Music/MutiaKeishaSiobhan MKS]]) filmed the video for "Flatline" in Venice Beach, Los Angeles.