For a Sci-Fi show, Ocean Girl above all, has quite a number of genuine heartwarming moments. These include:
Season 1:
- After Brett and Jason both get their first glimpse of Neri, Jason winds up saving Neri from a sea net. While she's initially wary, Jason admits that they just want to be friends with her and don't want to harm her or take her away. Neri responds in kind by showing them her home and treating them as though they've always been friends.
- Episode 4 has one: After Damian is humiliated in the galley, he takes refuge on ORCA. Lee finds him and comforts him, staying with him right through the earthquake that follows shortly after and giving him the confidence boost needed to get out.
- Episode 5 has Jason on the island, upset that his dad couldn't appear for Brett's birthday. He breaks down. Neri comforts him (in the only way she knows how) and proceeds to explain to him her backstory without any prompting.
- Episode 7 gives us a brilliant one: Commander Lucas (who has been threatening to send his daughter to a boarding school through this entire episode and is otherwise not happy with the presence of children onboard) ends up being confronted by his daughter shortly after ZENCO (their funding partner) is revealed to have "dumped" some dangerous goods in the reef (albeit unintentionally). Lucas makes it clear that he wanted Lee to go to boarding school because he believed she'd get more attention there. It's then revealed that Lee just wants her dad. Cue touching hug.
- You can tell that this has stuck as well by the end of the series. Compare his reaction to Lee's defiance in this episode to the end of series.
- Episodes 11-13 have Dianne slowly morphing from a scientist who is initially curious about the "girl from the sea" that her boys have befriended, to a person who genuinely cares for Neri and treats her like the daughter she's never had. The crux comes when she deletes all the scientific data that she's gathered on Neri (not on Charley) up to that point, simply because she wants to keep Neri safe.
- In a similar vein, Commander Lucas pretending it doesn't exist.
Season 2:
- Episode 6 has Mick asking Vanessa out on a "date" to a dance onboard ORCA. Unfortunately it turns out to be a cruel prank and she manages to handle it in her usual Vanessa style (ie dumping a jug of punch over his head), but confides in Neri that she's very deeply hurt. Neri simply hugs her and provides some of the most simple comforting words to her:
- Neri: Vanessa, I am always your friend. And Mick, he is very wet.
- Episode 11 is pretty much heartwarming from beginning to end, with the following scenes:
- Neri and Mera opt to rescue Mick (who wound up hitting a buoy while on a jetski) despite the fact he's been nothing but a Jerkass to Neri and the gang, by threatening to go to UBRI.
- Mick (whose learning difficulties have become public knowledge) has finally been told to "work" on his reading problem from his mother. Humiliated and frustrated, he ends up throwing the book across a room and into the path of Neri. While Mick is initially upset and fearful that Neri will tease him about it, she proves to not only be non-judgemental, but manages to get Mick to overcome his reading problem (to a point) and results in Mick's Heel–Face Turn.
- Shortly after that, Froggy winds up losing HELEN and while he's upset, Zoe proceeds to comfort him.
- Episode 12 has two small scenes between Vanessa and Mick:
- The first is that Vanessa offers to help Mick with his reading. Note that SHE is the one to offer, not Mick. Later on we see her patiently listening to him read and then sticks up for him when his mother confronts them (believing that Mick is "larking about" with Vanessa)
- At the end of the episode, the two of them have a small exchange where their feelings for each other are revealed. Mick admits his feelings and Vanessa gets up, thinking he's pranking her, only for Mick to stop her by admitting his feelings are genuine. Vanessa is stunned.
- The same episode also has Dianne tearfully admitting to Neri and Mera that it's up to them if they wish to stay or not, but that she'll always see them as her children and that she will always be a mum to them.
Season 3:
- Lena leaving her father's house after a vicious confrontation around Lena's "loyalty" (she had saved the ORCA kids from stranding and capture, something that UBRI was not happy with). You can tell that Hellegren at this point is heartbroken at Lena's decision, as he makes a small, sad (emotionally) effort to get her to stay, but when she leaves, he clutches the portrait of Lena and you can see a tear rolling down his cheek.
- Dianne taking Lena in also counts. She was reluctant to do so at first, fearing Lena would turn them over to Hellegren. Her fears go unfounded.
- After Neri and Jason film the "failed" coral reef spawning (It Makes Sense in Context), Neri is visibly upset on the beach. Jason's reaction is wordless and simple: he simply puts an arm around her and lets her cuddle into his shoulder, crying all the while.
- Late in the season, Cass and Morgan (who've been at each others throats all this season) get into a particularly nasty spat. Morgan later pierces her hand on a stonefish and is in hospital. Both Cass and Jason get a Heartwarming Moment here: Cass for staying with her sister from beginning to end (despite the nasty fighting) and Jason for not only comforting Cass, but also pulling her out of the upcoming scheme they had planned, ensuring that she stays with her sister.
- Sallyanne also gets one in the same episode, after comforting Jason (who had witnessed Morgan getting attacked by a stonefish). Poor girl can't catch a break however, and while her attempt at consoling him appeared to be genuine at first, it quickly devolved into a "I want to tell you how I feel" situation.
- Hellegren at the end of the season. He's all ready to control the sea, when Lena jumps into the water where she could be harmed. By this point, he's ready to stop everything to save his daughter and he has to stop Kellar from finishing the task. There's a later scene between Lena and Hellegren where they reunite on a beach. Hellegren by this point is a Broken Bird and all Lena does is just sit with him.
Season 4:
- The entire Jason and Neri relationship. Period.
- Also later on, when Neri discovers her mother is still alive, Dianne reveals that no matter what, Neri will always be a daughter to her and she is always welcome to call her "mother."
