TV Episode Review: The Hardy Boys - Wipe Out

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Fun elements.  Mystery does come together at end.

Cons: Poor acting.  Confusing first half

The Bottom Line: 

A bit of a mess

Still, several fun elements

Save it in the end

They Almost Reviewed This Episode with the Title

A surfing competition in Hawaii.  Shaun Cassidy singing Beach Boys songs.  Lots of blue sky and water.  How could that possibly go wrong?  That's what I was think as I sat down to watch Wipe Out, the fifth episode from The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries to star the famous teen brother detectives.  Sadly, the first half is a complete mess.

Frank (Parker Stevenson) has been saving for a year and a half to enter a surfing competition in Hawaii.  He and his brother Joe (Shaun Cassidy) are ready to enjoy a week of sand, surf, and local girls.  Frank looks like he'll do well in the competition, too, making their vacation even better.

But then their hotel room is robbed and everything of any value, including money and their tickets home, is stolen.  But they aren't going to take that sitting down.  Instead, they leap into a surprising action.  Will they catch the crooks?

The first half of this episode is a complete and total mess.  It's like the writers didn't know how to explain things.  The Hardys took an action that I absolutely hated.  When that action is explained later, it does make some sense, but that even so it doesn't fully explain what was happening.

Fortunately, the plot of the second half of this episode does make more sense, and the resolution is satisfying.  But I still can't shake the fact it feels thrown together quickly with little to no thought for logic.  And logic is a key ingredient in any mystery.  Still, they do manage to throw in a few nice touches in the second half that save things.

Couple a weak mystery with the worst acting in the series to date.  Okay, I've always said that this show has a certain cheesy charm to it, and that's been reflected in the acting.  It's not perfect, but it's competent to get the job done and fits the tone of the series.  That still holds true for Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson, the only two actors we've seen in this episode before.  That even holds true to the local girls they meet up with and a few of the cops.  But some of the other actors?  Holy cow!  They can't even deliver straight forward standard lines with any ease.  I'm just glad they didn't have to do anything other than utter menacing lines because they couldn't have pulled off any depth if their lives had depended on it.

Of course, the parts I was looking forward to most still entertained.  The surfing scenes looked pretty good.  Shaun Cassidy has a good voice and covers the classic songs and obviously has lots of fun doing it.

So Wipe Out turns out to be a weak episode in what is admittedly not a strong TV show to begin with.  As much as I complained about the weaknesses, it does have its moments and is still worth watching, but only if you get it as part of the first season set of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.