Four years ago, 100 Foot Wave premiered on HBO. The surfing docuseries presented a fascinating look into the bravado-fueled personas who dared ride the giant waves off the coast of Nazare, Portugal.
100 Foot Wave Season 3 features Garrett McNamara, his wife Nicole and her brother CJ, British surfer Andrew “Cotty” Cotten (as well as familiars from Season 2 mixed in with a couple of new faces) returning to the wintry swells of the sleepy Portuguese town turned surf mecca.
On paper this all sounds rather boring. Is this yet another season of personality profiles filling the space between footage of surfers navigating the treacherous waves the sizes of buildings? Season 1 was such a fascinating deep dive into the souls of these daredevils — but how many more times can you keep doing this?
This question is answered resolutely in the 100 Foot Wave Season 3 premiere titled “Risk” by asking that very question — “How long can you keep doing this?”
This question is posed to all the players in the premiere, and is done in an honest, sober way that you, the audience, cannot help but wonder what the answer is yourself.
Throughout the episode we see what the effects of big wave surfing has done to all of them physically. Now, for any sports documentary that’s to be expected. We see this on Hard Knocks all the time. However, when the premiere start diving into the long term effects of big wave riding — not just physical, but the psychological and emotional — that’s when this series gets extremely compelling.
Season 1 focused on how Garrett helped put Nazare on the map with his initial world record. Throughout that season we saw him getting injured from bumps and cuts to his famed wipeout at Mavericks, which sidelined him for most of the show’s first season. So, as we progress with the series, seeing him sustain injuries isn’t surprising.
While we aren’t shocked at a broken bone or a gash on Garrett’s salt and pepper head the audience is presented with an undeniably fear-inducing aspect of McNamara’s career — his numerous concussions. Nicole brings up changes in Garrett’s mindset and attitude. Doctors talk about how detrimental these injuries could be to his long-term way of life. McNamara, with his trademark smile and doggedness in tow, decides to go to work to keep himself in peak physical shape as well as wrapping himself in state-of-the-art surfing gear. While his determination is undeniably admirable it’s also highly worrisome. You get that sense of worry from not just his wife, but his brother-in-law CJ (himself recuperating from a previous, serious surfing injury) and longtime surfing partner Cotty. As an audience member, you find yourself with hands clutched in nervous anticipation every time footage of him surfing comes on screen.
The same can be said about the other surfers in the episode. We see one Tony Laureano and Justine DuPont who’s previous team-ups lead to disastrous results. We see the footage of their work with Tony towing Justine in and it’s absolutely nerve-racking. Seeing their struggles as a duo play out while monster waves are crashing in on them is horror movie level frightening.
This is what makes 100 Foot Wave more than just a docuseries about surfing. It’s about the human drama of riding oceanic giants and the physical, mental and spiritual toll that takes on a surfer and the people in their lives. It’s absolutely gripping television that keeps you fully invested from the initial tow-in to the final ride onto the sands of Nazare.
