This post contains spoilers from The Waterfront season 1 episode 2 from this point forward.
Picking up after the debut episode's reveal that the sheriff is dirty and Bree has been working with the DEA as an informant, The Waterfront season 1 episode 2 opens with the recovery of Curtis and Troy's bodies in the ocean. The sheriff watches Cane watching from the distance. Shawn rides up on his bike and bugs a testy Cane with questions. He seems particularly interested in the Buckley family's business.
Speaking of the family business, Belle meets with businessman Wes Benson (Dave Annable) about breaking ground on a new project. They have a deal and they also seem to have some chemistry. While she tries to forge ahead with some legitimate business, Harlan and Cane are corralled by Sheriff Porter to do another run. They don't have a choice in the matter. Further complicating things, Bree spots Diller at work and finds out Harlan gave him a job. She's worried about losing visitation rights.
The Buckley family brain trust — Harlan, Belle, and Cane — realize they need to raise millions of dollars quickly to keep from going under. They also want to find Porter's supplier in order to free themselves from him. Belle wants to partner with the developer to build out the beachfront. Harlan refuses to touch that land. Little does he know, she's doing it anyway. The state of this family! Side note, Belle and Peyton seem to have a very icy relationship. Is it the run of the mill mother/daughter-in-law tension or more?
Not only is Bree informing for the DEA, she's sleeping with Marcus. They meet in a motel and break a dresser while having sex. Both recovering addicts who met in rehab, they relate on that level. She tells him to follow Cane to find Hoyt. He wonders about her parents, who she believes are oblivious or at least not involved. She has her "reasons" to hate Cane, but she doesn't elaborate. The truth always has a way of coming out.
A disastrous drug run and double date
While eating dinner at their restaurant, Belle has her suspicions about Shawn, and Harlan wants to give Bree more responsibility. Belle won't let that happen yet. But she tests Shawn with complicated drinks to prove he might not actually be a bartender. (She even questions him the next day.) Cane and Harlan take the drug shipment and complete the drug run in the morning, but not without trouble. Bree snoops on Cane's computer to learn the truth. She promises Diller she won't tell his dad about his job.
Out on the water, Harlan and Cane are supposedly 10 kilos short. An altercation occurs and guns are drawn. Cane goes against his dad's advice and talks. He insists they call Owen (who is Sheriff Porter for those confused). One of the guys makes the call, but talks to someone named Grady. They clear up the confusion and no one gets hurt. But someone might when Belle has dinner with Wes and the flirting continues. When they part that evening, temptation gets the best of Belle and she kisses him.
Cane and Jenna meet before their double date with their spouses. They have a drink and Cane catches up with Jenna by having one of her weed gummies. The dinner is awkward. Cane and Jenna talk a lot about the past, and her husband Scott makes the mood very tense with his apparent dislike for Cane. Peyton also isn't very thrilled with how the double date turned out. Maybe the past isn't so far away, and Cane and Jenna were just too stoned to realize that.
Shawn's shocking secret, Peyton's fiery attack
Harlan confronts Porter about shorting the shipment. Well, he didn't do it, but he knew that Hoyt had dipped into it and wanted to see how Cane and Harlan would act in a sticky situation. Harlan punches him in the face and pushes him to the ground. Porter tries to reclaim control by bringing up Harlan's dad getting killed and talking a big game. But Harlan now learned that Grady is his supplier. The look on Porter's face is priceless. Harlan refuses to go on runs until he meets Grady.
Peyton's furious with Cane over the dinner and how he acts just like his dad. She warns him to get his act together or she will leave him, without saying as much, and then literally leaves him at the restaurant without a ride home. Apparently moved by his wife's words, Cane and Harlan have a conversation wherein Cane condemns Harlan's behavior and "protection" that's actually control. "At least I'm not you" is quite the mic drop. When Peyton returns home, two men are waiting for her. They throw her to the ground, douse her in gasoline, and light a match.
Turns out that snooping on Cane's computer resulted in Bree finding a smoking gun. She brings Marcus a flash drive featuring information Cane doesn't want out because it would "crucify" him. Does it have to do with the boat ownership shuffle or something else that we don't know about yet? In the restaurant, Belle catches Shawn having a heated conversation on the phone. She knows that he's been lying and assumes that he's a DEA informant. He finally admits that his mother died and Harlan is his father.
Watch The Waterfront only on Netflix.