Pilot

"Pilot" is the first and debut episode of Season 1 of Rippled Water. It aired on Thursday, 12th June.

Plot Synopsis
The episode begins in the jungle of Panoi, a private island that is cut off from the rest of the world. The silence in the jungle is broken by the screams of Chrissy, who along with her boyfriend Caleb, is running through the jungle, to escape an unknown entity. Both Caleb and Chrissy appear to be suffering from an unknown sickness, causing them to sweat profusely, and bleed from every possible orifice. Chrissy is injured while running, with a large wound appearing on her leg. Caleb returns to help his lover, but leaves her upon realizing there is no hope for the two of them to survive. Despite Chrissy's pleas, Caleb continues to run, eventually crying when her screams fall silent. Caleb breaks out of the jungle's edge, falling face first onto the beach. Caleb looks up, spotting Malani, an island across from Panoi.

Over on the island of Malani, staff of the Phoenix Resort prepare for the arrival of famous billionaire and owner of Phoenix Holidays; Nigel Draft. Within Bar 9, one of the resorts popular restaurant/bars, Monroe stands frying breakfast for several guests, while listening to the local radio. James stares blankly into the distance, before co-worker Dee comes over, explaining that he needs to concentrate due to the arrival of draft, who had fired half the staff during his last visit, due to not meeting his "expectations". James notes Dee's advice, before getting back to work. Leon, another member of the staff at Bar 9, rushes through the kitchen, still trying to get his uniform on, not wanting to be late on the day of inspection.

Elsewhere in the resort, several guests are seen preparing for their day of relaxation. Kam is sat in his bedroom, watching a tape on positivity, and how positive thinking makes for a positive day. Cynical Kam reacts badly, immediately shutting off the television, throwing the remote down on the side. He grabs a small bag, containing a book on relaxation and positivity, before leaving for Bar 9. Laura is seen dressing herself in her bathroom, before heading out to the pool area, asking a staff member for the hotels wifi-codes. The staff member reveals connection is generally bad, and that the only way to make overseas calls is via the manager's office. Still inside her room, Dana awakens next to older boyfriend Del, before preparing herself in her bathroom. She turns and looks at Del resentfully, before walking out and heading for breakfast.

Away from the resort, a small cargo plane descends on one of the islands sole landing strips. Within the plan are lone travelers Jackson and Dexter, along with British foursome Bryanna, Martin, Joey and Jacob. Couple Bryanna and Martin go ahead, while Joey and Jacob step back to talk, with Jacob appearing to be acting strangely. The passengers all make their way to the Phoenix Resort hotel in order to check into their rooms.

Back at Bar 9, Dee makes sure James is on the ball, getting him to serve Dana in order to keep him looking busy. Heaven, the last member of the Bar 9 staff arrives, putting on her apron, getting several tables set up before the morning rush. Heaven goes over to serve Kam, who is sat alone reading his book at one of the tables. Laura also enters the bar, annoyed due to being unable to make a call to her friends. She sits and is served by Leon, who takes an immediate attraction to her. However, the prospect of flirting is immediately shut down when Leon is forced to deny Laura an alcoholic drink, as hotel policy denies alcoholic beverages from being served before 12pm.

Manager Elton sits in his office, making calls in order to find out where his replacement staff are for the new season, as the number of workers have dwindled in recent weeks, leaving the resort feeling somewhat deserted. Elton walks out into the hotel lobby, noticing the new guests arriving, which immediately sends him into a panic, resulting in his retreat back to his office. Jackson goes to check in, heading up to his room where he begins to unpack. Dexter also checks in, but heads to the bar in order to get some breakfast. Jacob and Joey spend their time in the lobby talking, with Jacob continuing to act in a strange manner, which begins to irritate Joey, who is forced to stay with Jacob, as friends Martin and Bryanna have gone up to their rooms alone.

Laura raises a small scene in Bar 9, calling out Dana for having possession of an alcoholic beverage, which she was just denied by Leon. The scene raises a few eyebrows, with Dee calling the front desk in order to get more staff over to prevent a fight from breaking out. Robb, the front of house, runs to Elton, informing him of the scene which has arisen in the bar. An infuriated Elton storms over to Bar 9, walking in to find the scene died down before it even kicked off, angering him even more, wanting everything to be perfect on the day of Draft's arrival. Elton heads into the kitchen, where he finds Monroe and Heaven talking about her parents, who live in a nearby village, with Heaven hoping to take time off to go and visit them. Elton snaps at Heaven, who he mistakenly refers to as "Heather", stating she isn't paid to "lean on counters", with Heaven immediately leaving the kitchen to get back to work. Elton then informs Monroe that he needs to shut the bar soon, as the staff are being briefed about the arrival of Draft, giving them the do's and don'ts for during his stay. Elsewhere in the bar, Dee is talking with Dexter and Kam, who are bonding as sole tourists.

James continues to deal with Dana, who is becoming slightly tipsy after drinking from her bottle of vodka, with James struggling to deny her more food, despite knowing it will make her ill. Heaven walks out of the kitchen, informing James that she'll take over the bar, and that he is needed to assist Monroe in the kitchen. Davey, a lone photographer, walks into the bar, with Dana immediately catching his eye. He walks over to Dana, and begins aggressively flirting with her, and despite her initial disgust, she eventually begins to respond to his comments with interest. Dana agrees to meet with Davey at the bar that evening, before leaving the bar for her bedroom. Upon reaching her bedroom, Dana informs a now woken Del that she intends to con Davey, spiking her own drink before accusing him of sexually abusing her. Del agrees with her plan, finding her devious mind attractive. Del then slips into the bathroom, prepping his arm before he injects heroin into himself, the same drug that he got Dana hooked on. Dana steers herself away from the temptation, leaving the room before Del offers to share a needle.

Leon decides to take a mini-bottle of champagne from behind the bar, which is usually meant for the hotel mini-fridges. He walks over to Laura, discretely passing it over to Laura, who he hopes to impress. Another small bit of commotion breaks out at the bar, with unusual guest Jacob stirring up trouble, resulting in Leon and Elton escorting him from the bar, along with companion Joey. The bar then begins to close down, with the guests inside leaving for the beach and pool area, while the staff follow Elton to his office, accompanied by Robb. Elton gives a briefing to the staff, letting them know that if they "screw up" that Draft wont hesitate in shutting the resort down, putting them "all out of work". Elton then asks Robb to send in the custodian/cleaning staff, but Robb informs Elton that all the housekeeping had left, and that the replacements have still failed to arrive.

In the kids daycare at the resort, Kris and Simon are babysitting several children, including Tommy and Alexa. Kris, who has feelings for Simon, makes several actions implying her feelings towards him, although Simon still remains oblivious.

While the briefing goes on, the guests sit on the beach, with Laura and Jackson sunbathing and applying sunscreen on one another. Davey heads into the poolside toilets, where he proceeds to masturbate over a picture of Dana he had taken earlier. Kam goes and joins the others on the beach, but says nothing, sitting down alone. Back at Bar 9, Leon and James talk about Laura while out back, with Heaven bringing hope to Leon after passing on a 'thank you for the champagne' from Laura. The staff then wait inside the bar, keeping watch while the rest of the staff deal with Nigel Draft's arrival. The three on the beach notice a helicopter flying overhead, before landing around the back of the hotel. The helicopter grabs the attention of every guest and member of the staff, with it also waking up the children in the daycare, who are calmed down by Kris. Nigel Draft and his personal assistant Evie exit the helicopter, walking directly to the entrance of the hotel, where they are greeted by Elton. Nigel and Evie are then passed over to Robb, who leads them both to the penthouse suite, where they will stay during their tour of the resort. Upon reaching their room, Nigel begins to caress Evie's face, before demanding she unpacks his bags while he takes a shower.

Monroe pours several glasses of whisky for his co-workers, allowing them to sit down and drink before their busy evening ahead. Heaven decides to leave the bar, heaving outside for fresh air, while Leon and Dee begin to prepare the bar area for the guests. Monroe, having gotten slightly intoxicated, begins to ramble on to James about dangers on the island, and why Draft is really visiting. Monroe insists that people have gone missing around the island, noting that he himself saw first hand a young woman being abducted by men, some of whom he identifies as "shadows", while noting that one had a "cloudy eye". Despite the sadness coming through Monroe's voice, James appears to be unconvinced about Monroe's story, angering Monroe, resulting in him storming off, taking the bottle of whisky with him.

The bar once again re-opens, this time for the evening rush. Laura, Kam, Jacob, Dexter and Jackson all head to the bar, where they're served alcohol for the first time all day (with the exception of Laura). James begins to have an awkward encounter with Kam, while Dee also has one with Jacob, with both encounters holding slight animosity between the two. Dee then tells Jacob to leave the bar, for the fact he refused to show identification, and that he was banned from the bar several hours previous. Dana and Davey are sat at a table together in the bar, with Davey making sexual comments towards Dana, which she returns, as part of her plan to con him out of money. Before Dana's plan can go any further, Davey points out the track marks on Dana's arm, angering her, causing her to storm out of the club, with Davey following.

Back in Dana's hotel room, Del sits in the bathroom, prepping his arm once again. An unknown individual walks into the room, which Del assumes in Dana, who he proceeds to talk about their plan to. Before Del can finish talking, he is struck over the head with a large desk clock, rendering him unconscious. The unknown individual then proceeds to frantically search the room, empting out drawers and suitcases, before finding the pairs needles and supply of heroin.

The bar begins to close down for the night, with just James, Leon, Dee, Kam and Azure inside. Elton enters the bar in order to congratulate the staff for a successful evening. Outside on the beach, Azure's younger brother Colin is sat on the beach, where a injured individual suddenly appears, limping towards the bar, breathing heavily. The individual is revealed to be Caleb, who is looking far worse then he did at the beginning of the episode, with more skin decaying on the side of his face. Those inside the bar stare in surprise, with Elton convinced that Caleb is a drunk guest. Caleb tries to speak, unable to say the word 'help'. Elton takes hold of Caleb, trying to escort him back to the hotel to find his room number. Caleb suddenly spews blood from his mouth onto Elton, covering his face and chest. Caleb then falls to the floor, with blood once again pouring from his eyes, mouth and nose. Elton stands horrified, staring at the wall shaking, while the others stand in total shock.

Appearances
• James Amazon • Heaven Chiaro • Leon • Diwata • Monroe Jones • Elton Yates • Robb Jarden • Manuel • Kam Azar • Davey Westwood • Laura Miller • Jackson Hart • Dexter Alvarez • Simon Corr • Kris Shepard • Nigel Draft • Evie • Jacob Newman • Joey East • Dana Vasquez • Del • Azure Jinks • Colin Jinks (no lines) • Tommy • Alexa (no lines) • Martin Hudspith (no lines) • Bryanna McLain (no lines) • Caleb • Chrissy

Deaths
• Chrissy

Trivia
• This episode was originally going to contain the deaths of both Caleb and Chrissy. • Manuel, Alexa and Tommy were not part of the original cast for this episode. • La was originally going to make her first appearance this episode. • Evie was originally going to seduce Nigel upon their arrival. However, this was cut as I decided Evie would be a more sympathetic character, as opposed to the driving force in their affair.