Original subtitles

Normally, when I have to make a choice, I'm pretty sure of what to do. I just

track my instinct.

And more often than not, they have proved to be the best guide I could

want. Fortunately, I trusted my instincts more often than not while I'd

here, and like everyone else, I felt my year was going pretty much to plan.

Okay, this week marks our halfway point, everyone.

And the good news is, you're all on track for qualifying for the final surf

So, let's see the points tally, shall we?

Now, Charlie, we've averaged your points for when you're away six, so you are

sitting on 29 .5, along with Guy. Yeah!

Lauren and Cassie, you're a snip ahead on 30 points. Yeah!

But Bridget's fantastic school assignments and Adam's dishwashing

given them a secret edge, so they both lead with 31 points.

Hey! Since when have Adam's dishwashing skills been better than mine?

Since... Just about always.

Well, I should point out that Adam's surfing contributed somewhat to his top

weight. Congratulations to all of you. It's been an excellent first half year.

And if you keep going the way you have been going, you'll all qualify for the

finals easily.

Well,

hey, this calls for a celebration dinner. What do you say, Beth?

Actually, we already have a dinner guest tonight.

Who's that?

Anker Sleek. Isn't he the guy from the company that owns Solar Blue?

That's the man. Come in to dinner.

Yes, we'll find out tonight.

Anyway, thank you for that fine meal. And I've got to say, it's a pleasure to

see how far you've all progressed.

So, Angus, what's the real reason you're here? Is it true you're going to stack

Beck and Garrett?

As you can see, Angus, they have total confidence in us.

Sorry to disappoint you, Guy. I'm actually here to talk about Solid Blue

starting to earn its keep.

How do you mean?

I tell you what, I've got something out in the car, so why don't you all gather

in the living room and I'll go and get it.

As you know, Matsusito has invested a lot of money in Solar Blue. We see the

surfing market as a big commercial opportunity.

I'm always available for hire, Angus. Ten grand a day and I'm any once.

Now look, unfortunately you won't be getting any money for this.

What you will be doing is helping ensure that Solar Blue has a future. Angus,

the suspense is killing me.

Ah, yes.

There you have it.

That is awesome. These are the prototypes of a new board we're going to

manufacture. We plan to have about 10 ,000 of these on the market for summer.

10 ,000? That's huge.

But we don't do things by halves.

Angus, I don't get it. What's this got to do with that?

Well, these are solar blue boards, so we want them to be promoted by our solar

blue surface.

How do we do that?

Well, you use them in competitions.

Having you guys win on these boards gives them credibility.

It'll be the best publicity we could ever ask for.

Wow, it's really light.

That's right. We're aiming them at kids under 13, so obviously we want them to

be able to carry it easily.

Angus, I wonder if Gary and I could have a chat with you.

In the office.

Yes, of course.

Have a good look at these guys.

I've got one for each of you.

You can start practising on them tomorrow.

There was nothing especially bad about this board.

And it did look good.

But for some reason, every instinct I had was telling me it's both trouble.

Angus, why weren't Gary and I informed of this?

What are you talking about? We are supposed to be in charge around here,

we? Yes, but... Then if you want us to work with new boards, you should tell us

beforehand, not just bring it on us in front of everyone. I don't get it. I

mean, you're getting a whole bunch of new boards here. I mean, what's the

problem? The problem, mate, is that all surfboards are different. It can take

weeks to get used to a new board. You can't grab any old one and get out there

and start competing.

Well, I'm sorry, but in this case, you're going to have to.

Excuse me? We need our publicity campaign to be underway immediately.

Now, you mentioned there was a surfing competition this weekend, right?

You can't seriously be suggesting... Look, I'm not suggesting, Gary. I'm

you. Now, we've booked a photographer and the chief executive is coming to see

the event. No, you'll have to cancel them. Well, that's impossible.

It's not that simple, Andrew. Yeah, well, you'd better make it simple, Gary.

Now, your futures and the future of Solar Blue depend on making a commercial

contribution to this company. Now, we left you alone for the first half of the

year. Now it's time for you to pay your dues.

All right, guys, look, let's just use this morning as a familiarisation

OK?

Get a feel for the board, see how responsive they are. The rails are a bit

thick, aren't they? Yeah, they don't feel like the most manoeuvrable boards.

know, I know, but let's not prejudge things, all right, guys? Let's start

simple, then work in some complex moves as you get used to them.

Gary, we need to hold off on the surfing for a while.

Why, what's up?

Before we start, I just want to take a few shots with the team posing with the

board. This is Joe.

I'm one of the best commercial photographers in the business. Hello.

You don't mind, do you, mate? It'll only take about half an hour or so. Suit

yourself, Angus.

You're the boss.

Right. Okay.

They're all yours, Joe. Okay, thanks.

Okay, here we go, girls.

All right.

All right, Joe.

Hold the doors under the arm.

Get the gents in here.

Something like that. Out in front of you.

Yeah,

lovely. Yeah, it's all right.

It's lovely, yeah.

That's very big wind.

Oh, that's aggressive. I like it.

Oh, nice.

All the girls in?

Let's have boy, girl, boy, girl for something different.

You're going to have a smile there. Come on, Adam.

Okay, let's go try something a little bit different.

Yeah, that's it.

Okay, Adam, just move your board over a little bit.

You go over here, thanks.

One more and I'll hold you here.

Terrific stuff.

They're all yours, mate.

Good? Yeah. Okay.

All right, guys. Wacked up. Get out there. We'll see what you can do. Now,

remember, take your time. Get a feel for them, all right?

Angus?

I think we need to hold off on the surfing shots for a while. We just need

to get themselves up to speed.

Don't be so pessimistic, Ben. I mean, I'll take to these boards by dutch to

water.

Getting you to a new board isn't always easy.

It's hard to explain, but it's a bit like trying on a new pair of shoes.

If they're too loose or too tight, it's hard to walk properly.

And if you choose the wrong pair, you can easily end up falling flat on your

face.

We've got out the back rowing. Get more.

Beck, maybe you were right. They need a little bit more time to get up to speed.

It's like trying to surf on a feather. As soon as you stand up, they

disappear from under you. Yeah, it's so hard to get any momentum up. Look,

granted, these boards are different.

But they've been design tested in the lab for months. We know they work. Well,

they're not working for us. This isn't exactly a lab, is it? Hey, you've had

session on them, right?

Now spend the whole day on them and then see how you feel. What if they're still

not working for us? Don't even think that, Cassie. It's not an option.

Now you guys are elite surfers, right? Now it's your job to go out there and

make them work.

After Angus landed on the line like that, we realised we had no choice.

So we spent the rest of the day working our butts off trying to make our new

shoes fit.

By late afternoon

we'd all begun to walk the walk.

But what's the point of walking when you know you should be dancing?

I'm very disappointed in both of you. You should be supporting me in this,

showing some enthusiasm. It's my job to run the academy.

It's his job to coach the kids.

Neither of us signed contracts to promote product.

No one is asking you to sell your souls.

Just be a bit helpful and positive.

I mean, is that too much to ask? It is if it requires us to put unreasonable

pressure on the kids.

Okay, look, I'm going to be honest with you.

That would be appreciated.

There are a number of senior people in the company that think we should close

Solar Blue down.

Since when?

Well, they think we should focus our sponsorship dollars on the bigger

Football, tennis, stuff like that.

But surfing's huge all around the world.

But not huge enough, apparently.

So if we could use Solar Blue to directly promote a money -making

well, it'll silence our critics.

And it'll ensure the Academy's future for years to come.

Well, what happens if we don't manage to pull this off?

Well, then I'm sorry, Beck, but...

I can't ensure that any of us will have a future here.

That night after dinner, Beth and Gary sat us down and explained the situation.

It was pretty clear that if we wanted Solar Blue to survive, then we'd have to

use the boards in the comp tomorrow, whether we liked them or not.

As you can guess, none of us liked them at all.

The fact is, the boards are crap.

Yeah, and that's putting it nicely.

We all know that, but we have to make the most of them. Bec, the boards are

too light. There is no way that we can compete at our best on that. Well, look,

you don't have to be at your best. Just a good, competent performance is all

that's needed.

What if we fail, though?

Has anyone thought of that?

Yeah, if we don't win this comp tomorrow, does that mean we're all on a

home?

Look, I'm not going to lie to you. From what Angus has said, it's a real

possibility. What?

He can't be serious.

He is.

But hey, you know what? We can do this.

We get out there, we use those boards and we do well.

Okay, well I guess we'll give it our best shot then. That's all we can ask.

Hey, oh cool, you got those photos.

Ha ha, look at this hot couple.

Definitely A -list celebs.

Have you thought about that?

That they're going to be using our photos to promote these boards?

Yeah, it's going to be weird seeing our faces in the pages of some magazine. No,

I mean...

We're going to be telling kids to buy these boards even though we know that

they're not that great.

Not exactly telling them. Oh, well, as good as.

So what, you're saying that we shouldn't let them use our photos for the ad

campaign? I'm just saying that I feel really uncomfortable promoting stuff

we know is dodgy.

Listen, I agree with you on the boards. They're not great. But who knows, they

might get a whole bunch of kids who wouldn't otherwise surf to take it up.

once they get into it, they can move on and get themselves a really good board.

So you think it's all right for us to persuade kids to buy them? Well, you

Gary. It's not like we really have a choice.

There's no point beating yourself up over something that you can't do

about.

Anyway, good night.

Hey, it's not like we're persuading kids to take drugs or become axe murderers.

It's just a surfboard.

Just a surfboard?

Maybe Adam's right. Maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion.

But if he is right, why is every instinct in my body telling me that this

thing is no good?

Stop thinking, Kathy.

Just go out tomorrow and surf yourself silly. That's all you have to do.

All right, guys, look.

Let's not go crazy out there. Just some good, solid surfing will do it. Yeah,

we'll be trying.

Hey, girls are up first.

Are you ready? Ready as we'll ever be. Good luck.

Thank you.

Tell me I'm not seeing what I'm seeing. Oh, wish I could.

They'll be lucky to get ten points between them. Really?

That was pathetic.

Never mind, all right? We've still got this afternoon's here, okay? It's not

over yet. Yeah, well, it might as well be.

Okay, boys, you're up.

Just do what you can.

Isn't there anything we can do to help?

I'm a coach, Beck, not a miracle worker.

I can't watch this. I'll meet you guys back at the house.

Another good performance from Long Beach.

It's chalked up a team total of 19 points.

That's a seven -point lead out of the Solar Blue Boys. You're coming with 12.

If you move your weight to the front, then the whole board just nosedives. And

if you move your weight to the back, then the board just flips out from under

you. So just try to minimise the weight shift, OK? Stick to the centre of the

board. Back.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Let me introduce Mr Yamato, the CEO of Master Theatre.

Pleased to meet you, Mr Yamato. I'm Bec Sanderson.

Bec. I'm Gary Miller.

Nice to meet you both.

And you must be our star taffers.

Angus has told me about you.

Please, don't let me down. Go ahead and finish your lunch.

Mr. Yamato saw some of your heat this morning from up on the headland.

Unfortunately, Mr.

Yamato had to take some calls and was unable to see how brilliant you all

That's a shame. But I've switched my phone off and now coming down to watch

the beach to see everything past us.

Good? Vic, perhaps you could escort Mr. Yamato down to his seat.

Certainly, if you'd like to come with me. Thank you.

You all need to step up out there this afternoon.

Everything hangs on what you do out there.

It's your future.

Remember.

Just be your best guy.

It's all anyone can ask of you.

Okay. We may as well get this over with.

Angus was right. Our futures did hang on what we did this afternoon.

And my instincts, which I'd nailed up and put a lid on for the last two days,

told me that in spite of what everyone had said, we did have a choice.

And now it was time to make it.

What are you doing, Cass?

Getting my board.

Before, you can't use it.

Yes, I can. What are you talking about? You know we have to use those solar blue

boards. That's the whole point of this. Not me.

You guys can use them, but I'm surfing on my own board.

Cassie, you know the deal. We have to perform on the Solar Blue boards or

will be no Solar Blue.

We're finished.

But we're finished already.

And if I'm going to go out, then I'm going to go out being myself.

And if saying it's Solar Blue means I have to persuade kids to buy some

piece of crap, then I don't think I want to stay here anyway.

I'll see you guys down.

As you can see, they're lightweight, so the kids can carry them easily. And the

designs have been market -tested to appeal to the target age group.

And do they work?

Oh, absolutely, as you'll soon see when our surfers use them in competition.

Cathy, which one of these boards are you going to use?

I'm sorry, Angus, I'm not.

I beg your pardon?

There is no way that I can compete using those boards.

I figured at least I could show Mr Yamato that I can surf.

Beck, Gary, what's going on here? I think you've got a slight rebellion on

hands, Angus. One surfer doesn't make a rebellion.

No, that's 60.

Go with chassis.

We figured if we're going to go down, then we might as well go down in style.

No, no, no, no, wait.

What's going on here?

What's going on, Angus, is that we can't use these new boards.

They are ridiculous.

And if that means that solar blue has to end, then that's awful.

But at least we won't be sell -out.

But now what do we do? I don't know about you, but we're going surfing

I

Know nothing about the sport

why don't fit here and explain things to me certainly

Oh, my God.

Yeah,

Warren!

What do you say now, Coach?

All I can say is that it's good to see some decent surf.

Yeah? I'm going to put it better myself.

All right! The WFW Blue Girls had an extremely good life.

They're combined for a tally of 28 points for Long Beach with 17 and a

Betting for girls from Pasola Blue, 39 points and 35 and a half.

Way to go, girls.

That was awesome.

and a solar blue sure must be good. The solar blue boys pulled in an amazing 29

points on that set while Long Beach collected 20.

That gives the boys comp for solar blue with a total of 41 to Long Beach's 39.

While it was great to win the comp and get back to surfing properly, we also

knew that we'd signed our own death warrants.

Now we just had to hear the judge pass sentence.

So... I gather that you don't much care for our new south boats.

No. Sir, I'm sorry.

Angus, how much money have we spent on developing and testing these boats?

About a million, Mr. Yamato.

One million dollars.

That's a lot of money.

Wouldn't you agree?

But if they're no good, then they're no good.

It is better that we face that fact now rather than try to hide it.

You did the right thing today in telling us that. It hasn't exactly done so much

good, though, has it? How do you bet?

Well, promoting those boards was supposed to be our way of making money.

Now we can't do that.

Doesn't that mean you'll have to close us down?

Oh, think about this.

In a few days, Agnes will come back to you with our decision.

We should go, Agnes.

Yes, sir.

I enjoyed your staffing today, and I was pleased that you won.

Congratulations.

What does all that mean?

Yeah, are we still alive here, or what? Your guess is as good as mine. So what

do we do now? We keep going with our normal routine.

Until we hear otherwise, it's business as usual.

It might have been business as usual on the outside, but inside it's some sort

of churning.

For the next three days, none of us could concentrate on anything while we

waited to hear what would happen to Solar Blue.

And more importantly, what would happen to us.

Okay, guys, gather round. Take a seat.

What's all this?

Don't tell me Solar Blue are producing body boards now. On the contrary, these

are your lifelines.

Lifelines to what? To staying here at Solar Blue.

Stop speaking in riddles, Angus. You're making me nervous.

Yeah, what's the decision?

The decision is Mr. Yamato would like you to keep surfing and to keep winning.

Well, what's the catch?

Yeah, there's got to be something.

Well, Mr. Yamato was very taken by the photographs we shot with the surfboard.

Oh, Angus, we are not promoting those boards. It's all right, Cassie. You

have to worry about that.

So, what's the deal? The deal is, that's a theatre that distributes a large

range of leisure wear. And Mr. Yamato thinks that using real surfers to do the

fashion shoots will make for a great ad campaign.

In that way, it helps him justify the expense of running solidly.

And it won't interfere with your surfing or the running of the academy.

And that's it.

That's it.

Now begins Guy's career as a professional male model.

Instincts are funny things.

If you listen to them, they can help you make a choice, even when you think you

have no choice.

But if you don't, then the chances are you'll never work out which is really

right top to wear.

Which maybe goes to prove that every girl should have her own personal style.

Come to think of it, it's not such a bad idea, really.

There's too much choice and none at all.

It's too far.