‘Why is it we’re not helping thousands of people evacuate and instead we’re looking for one missing person?’
S01E15 Maybe it’s the Stockholm Syndrome finally kicking in, but dang I actually kind of enjoyed Hawaii Five-O this week.
I know, I know. I didn’t want to, but this episode really fired on all the gears Hawaii Five-O had set in motion. It finally found the right balance of the overly ridiculous and well, the overly ridiculous. It really hit the right tone and made for a compelling hour of television that was tense and fun. I’m not sure if the producers and writers could deliver an episode like this every week but it was rewarding to finally see the show reach its full potential.
What made this episode special wasn’t the necessities called for by my patent-pending Hawaii Five-O Grade Scale, though it did fulfill most of the categories in it. In fact, “Kai e’e” started off by taking care of the most important part of my grading system: Grace Park in a bikini! FINALLY. It’s been months, but the writers finally put Park back on the beach and it was glorious. CBS was nice enough to provide us with stills from the episode commemorating such a momentous occasion which I gleefully used as the header image seen here. Love it.
But of course doing one thing well doesn’t mean everything went as such. While there wasn’t much bickering between Danno and McGarrett, they did drop off Danno’s daughter Grace with Teila Tuli again. He got some great lines and topping it off was watching Grace take his family for a run in five-card draw. Gotta love kids who are good at gambling. There weren’t any guest stars, save for Tuli, nor were there any gratuitous product placements. We did have a “Book’em Danno,” but it was really sad (more on that later). And the only really cool stunt of the week was watching Danno completely deck a hacker with the boom of a sailboat. That’s right, its called a boom, and yes, I definitely knew that before writing this article and didn’t look it up on Wikipedia (citation needed). And sure, the forklift-through-the-warehouse-door could be considered, but come on: after a motorcycle-through-a-front-door any type of vehicle running through a gateway just doesn’t cut it.
‘You couldn’t walk him down the stairs?’
By normal accounts, what usually makes this show great (or at least approaching awesome) wasn’t there. The difference? The story actually hyped up the ridiculousness to an appropriate level. The island is threatened by a huge tsunami. The police have started evacuating everyone to higher ground but our gang is called in because the lead “investigator” has gone missing. I wasn’t quite sure what the guy was supposed to be, but he was important.
But the numbers that they were getting weren’t adding up; things were too weird. That tipped McGarrett off and myself actually. I was wondering how they were going to destroy most of the island with a tsunami because I know the budget they get must be big but I didn’t think it would be THAT big. There had to be a trick! And sure enough, all the satellites they receive their information from had been hacked and they were getting false signals.
‘You’re a hacker. Hack.’
Again, I’d like to point out how CBS knows its audiences fear and misunderstanding of technology when Danno stupidly hands the hacker her laptop and says “You’re a hacker. Hack.” Granted, I don’t know the difference between breaking an email encryption and overriding a satellite’s signal, but I would imagine it be a little different than plain old “hacking.” But whatever, I’ll sacrifice more techno-babble for expository ramblings any day.
And then things get interesting. Of course someone was using this false tsunami as a diversion and it turns out someone was going for the stash of $28 million that our gang knew about. In case you forgot, the show gave us a nifty little flashback of our boy Chin with a bomb strapped to him being held hostage, reminding us that McGarrett basically stole the money and subsequently lost it. Looks like they’ll finally have to face the fact that they have seriously been taking the law into their own hands. Sure they have been doing good, but still, I kind of agree with Danno. McGarrett has gone a little nuts.
‘Be there in ten commander.’
‘Be there in five, governor.’
‘Competitive much?’
But, DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN, the money is all there! Who put it back? Does someone know what happened with McGarrett? Who has the ability to lend someone ten million dollars? CONSPIRACY! What a delightful little twist. It was surprising enough that it caught the regular viewers off guard and vague enough that it hooked in viewers. Of course, it’s Wo Fat, the series’ current arch-villain and of course it will have to do with McGarrett’s parent’s death, but for now, let’s enjoy it. Sit back, take a sip of your fruity alcoholic beverage, watch the sun set and enjoy this one little perfect episode of Hawaii Five-O.
This episode was shown after the football game a night earlier then it normally airs. This means one thing, the ratings for this episode were HUGE. Hawaii Five-O has already claimed the top spot among new broadcast dramas and with that boost it’s just going to keep on rolling. I am glad they picked one hell of an episode to show this massive audience. If people are as easily hooked as I was, Hawaii Five-O’s ratings are about to go crazy. Hopefully, and I am saying a few prayers about this, they won’t screw it up.
