Reporter Wendy Hewitt drowns at the beach, apparently the victim of the lifeguard on duty falling asleep. When he passes out, he is taken to Community General. This brings about the attention of Gretchen McCord, the IRS Agent Mark was facing at the beginning of the season, as the lifeguard is her nephew Rip. This inspires the duo to once again unite and solve the mystery of Wendy's death.
"Sea No Evil" displays symptoms of the following tropes
- And Starring: Sam Jones as Lt. Buck Denton.
- Asshole Victim: Ronnie and Larry, seeing as they were the mastermind and the button man on Wendy's murder respectively.
- Bait-and-Switch: The opening shows Wendy going to swim in the beach, and calling out for help, which sends the lifeguard in the tower running in to save her. When he approaches her, he then proceeds to help her... drown much more efficiently.
- Blackmail Backfire: Larry threatened to tell Buck Elektra's past as a con in order to get her to steal the lifeguard trunks for his disguise. He then demanded money and sex after the murder. Well, he's the one in Community General's morgue, sooo...
- Bludgeoned to Death: Capt. Schwarz was murdered by having his head knocked in with an oar.
- The Bus Came Back: The return of Agent McCord.
- Caffeine Failure: Rip McCord believes himself to suffer from this while working as a life guard, resulting in a woman drowning. However, it turns out that someone added tranquilizer to one of his coffee, allowing him - as the audience already knows - to murder this woman in the sea.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The homemade beach Lt. Denton made in his house, as it provides the evidence that he is Ronnie Schwarz's killer.
- The combat maneuver Elektra uses in a fight with Spring, which Jack says he learned from his uncle. He uses it himself to disarm her when she's revealed to be Larry's killer, and clarifies that his uncle learned the move in the prison yard, meaning Elektra served time at one point in her life.
- Cigar Chomper: Ronnie Schwartz, the episode's ultimate villain often has a stogie between his fingers. Surprisingly enough, the more heroic and serious Buck Denton also fancies them, which seems odd for such a devoted lifeguard.
- Dead Guy on Display: Ronnie's corpse is found in his restaurant's lobster tank. It's safe to assume Buck put him there after his death, as there is no logical reason Ronnie would be standing in it.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When Buck saw the stolen lifeguard trunks in Larry Tivnan's car, he soon figured out he murdered Wendy on Ronnie's orders, and killed Captain Aflab for it.
- In-Series Nickname: The lifeguard that's Agent McCord's nephew's real name is Jake McCord, but more often than not goes by the nickname "Rip".
- GPS Evidence: Buck is ultimately undone by the beach he put in his home, as some of the sand found near Ronnie's body contained conch not native to California, but the Caribbean where Buck got his sand from. The fact that conch isn't on the Fish Shanty menu seals the deal.
- Likes Older Men: Spring Tatum, as she has apparently slept with both Lt. Denton and Ronnie Schwarz. For sake of reference, Sarah Buxton was 29 at the time this episode premiered, Sam Jones was 40, and Robert Miranda was 42.
- Meaningful Name: An episode centering on lifeguards in Los Angeles and one of them is named Elektra. You do the math.
- Outlaw Couple: Elektra and Larry Tivman were this before coming to Los Angeles. He used it to blackmail her into getting him a pair of lifeguard's trunks for use in the murder.
- Punny Name: Jake "Rip" McCord.
- Tempting Fate: Lt. Buck tells Jack a long history of the rescue can lifeguards use in their work. It bores Jack stiff, but he covers saying someone should write a book about it. Buck then pulls out a manuscript for "History of the Rescue Can", which is apparently handwritten and currently 7 chapters long.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Ronnie is planning to put an oil rig on the beach by his restaurant and properly dig for oil. He throws back in Lt. Buck's face that the planning commission gave him permission to do so, so the lifeguards can do basically fuck all to stop him. Buck tells Jack he is positive that Schwarz bribed one of the commissioners to get it, as that was the story Wendy was working on before she drowned.
- Shout-Out: Two to Gilligan's Island, both used in mockery of Ronnie Schwarz:
- Gretchen dismissively calls him "Skipper" based on his attire when she is at his restaurant.
- Jack calls him an "Alan Hale look-alike".
- Slipping a Mickey: Ronnie slipped barbitals into Rip's coffee to leave him asleep when Wendy went for her swim.
