Where predescessor Piha Rescue was all moody, wild and vaguely Scandi set on black sands, Bay Patrol is awash with hyper-saturated summer colour.
The bluest ocean, yellowest uniforms, goldenest sands, greenest maunga and motu, tannest skin.
What I'm saying is: We, the Bay, look bloody good up there, team.
Well, not me. I spent summer bouncing between air conditioned rooms at home and work, I remember none of these sun-soaked coastal dreamscapes.
When I did fancy a swim, I headed inland to the Lakes district - with its stony beaches, many jetskis and non-threatening wildlife (except swans) - after a parade of shark sightings at home in Tauranga.
I know they've always been there and my fear was probably not any more justified this year than any other but damned if I didn't feel vindicated when, minutes into Bay Patrol, we meet "Jimmy".
Jimmy is apparently lifeguard radio code for shark. "Men in grey suits" is another less efficient alias allegedly used.
In this case, Jimmy - papped from the air as he moseyed around Moturiki - stayed far enough offshore to not be considered a threat to the boogie-boarding masses.
The show moves swiftly from a shark sighting to a missing kid.
The most striking thing about this sequence was the emotional burden lifeguards - predominantly young people - are taking on when they put on those yellow shirts.
Some of them are really young, just teenagers, and they are taking charge of incredibly charged situations, coaxing information out of panicking parents who believe their seven-year-old is lost in the surf.
"Every parents' nightmare," says the voiceover.
Not all fun and games indeed.
Not far from anyone's mind would be the death of Aucklander Michael Finekifolau, 22, who died after going swimming at the beach in November.
Forgive the spoiler, but the search for the 7-year-old thankfully has a happy ending.
When the drama is all over, the camera takes us to guards racing to scoff Weet-bix and dash around on the beach, looking like normal teens again, not carrying the weight of life and death and parents' nightmares on their shoulders.
No doubt there will be more drama to come this season as our summer rewind of surf and sharks, dreams and nightmares on our home beaches continues.
