Palermo and Baywatch lifeguard LANI McKENSIE launch M.E.R.I.T. -- a new program putting Paramedic-level care and advanced life-support equipment on the boardwalk alongside the Pacific Blue patrols. One of the paramedics, ALEXA CHOLAK, is Palermo's ex-girlfriend. During a triage situation at a bombed-out building, Alexa violates protocol and performs CPR on Palermo after he's electrocuted. When another woman dies at the scene from internal injuries, both Alexa's career and the MERIT program are threatened.

T.C. and Chris investigate the president of a radical environmental organization called GreenEarth, whom they suspect in the explosion of an office building which kills the executive of an oil company. Further investigation reveals that a ""security officer"" at the oil company planted the bomb to frame GreenEarth and get rid of the executive, who was feeding company secrets to GreenEarth personnel.