The word of the day on the set of "Hawaii Five-0," as the cast and crew gathered Wednesday for the annual Hawaiian blessing of the start of production, was "eono," which is Hawaiian for "six."
But Kordell Kekoa, kahu of Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama, wanted a play on words as he blessed the show’s sixth season on the Koko Head Elementary School playground, which was serving as a base camp for the cast and crew shooting scenes in a Portlock home nearby. Kekoa was thinking of "ono," the Hawaiian word for "delicious."
"We want this season to be delicious," he said. "For this season, it is really about making this tantalizing, delicious, wonderful, and not just for the people standing here but all of us connected with ‘Hawaii Five-0.’"
Production began right away and will continue through April as "Five-0" shoots 25 episodes. The first episode involves an unusual flashback to Hawaii in the 1800s and a raid by pirates, said executive producer Peter Lenkov.
The blessing is a big day on the "Five-0" calendar, but Lenkov had no official word from CBS on the fate of the show’s centerpiece event: the Sunset on the Beach season premiere. CBS has hosted one each year, drawing thousands of people to Waikiki Beach.
On Wednesday, only cast members Grace Park and Ian Anthony Dale were involved in scenes, but the blessing drew cast members Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, Jorge Garcia and Chi McBride. Local favorite Dennis Chun was there, too, checking his email to discover that the daughter of Leonard Freeman, the creator of the original "Hawaii Five-0," was wishing cast and crew a good season.
O’Loughlin, who plays Steve McGarrett, smiled like a kid on the first day of school.
"I’ve never been this far in a show," he said as the morning sun cut through overcast skies behind him. "This is six years, our sixth season. Everyone is very excited. By now we certainly know what to expect as far as the workload goes. I think there is a certain ease that goes along with getting this far in a show as well."
With a thick beard he started growing at the end of last season, O’Loughlin’s first order of business was going to be a shave. He doesn’t start work until Thursday.
Kim, casual in shorts and slippers, spent the hiatus between seasons working and traveling. He went to 12 cities around the world, continued developing his production company and spent time in Atlanta filming the third installment of the "Divergent" movie series.
He hopes the sixth season of "Five-0" will explore the things fans love about the show: action, character relationships and the "carguments" between McGarrett and Danno (Scott Caan, who did not attend the blessing).
"The good news about season six is we are on a bit of cruise control and we know what the fans like, we know what we do and we know our brand," Kim said.
Although he made his directorial debut last season on "Five-0," Kim said he has no plans to do that in the sixth season. "We’ll see how it goes for season seven though," he said, grinning.
Jeff Cadiente, stunt coordinator for "Five-0," wouldn’t say what he planned to blow up, crash or drop from the sky for the new season.
"We’re always looking to try and do something different," he said. "There are not too many things we haven’t done so we will probably come up with some stuff the audience hasn’t seen and surprise everybody. Can’t let the cat out of the bag yet."
