Anyone who has even watched “Hawaii Five-0” knows that actress Grace Park, who plays Officer Kono Kalakaua, adds more to the team than just a touch of feminine beauty. In every instance, she is on equal footing as the rest of the team and can hold her own in any kind of fight — fists, guns, and cars — you name it — she’s your man.

Since the start of the series, when she exploded out of the ocean to take a big swing at a fellow surfer who dropped in on her wave — only then did we begin to see the surface of her strength. Her ability to hold her own within the Five-0 task force is common knowledge, and while she may look fantastic in a bikini, she’s not there just for eye-candy.

When we first meet Kono in season one, she is a week away from graduating from the police academy, and because she is Chin’s (Daniel Dae Kim) cousin, he suggests to McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) that she help them find John McGarrett’s (William Sadler) murderer, Victor Hesse (James Marsters) . Both McG and Danno (Scott Caan) are quite taken with her surfing skills, as well as her right hook — which she flippantly calls “a love tap” — and agree to use the fledgling cop in their investigation.  

Kono joins the Five-0 Task Force after proving herself in an undercover sting operation in order to catch human trafficker, Sang Min (Will Yun Lee), who they think will lead them to Hesse. Chin’s rationale in bringing her onto the team is because he trusts her since they are ʻohana and blood relations, and because she has not yet entered the ranks of the HPD so she doesn’t owe anyone any favors or debts. Chin also thinks that because she is his cousin, she will not get a fair shake by the other officers — because Chin had himself been unceremoniously kicked off the force for supposedly stealing from the HPD asset forfeiture locker. He feels that other cops will think she is just like Chin and not help her or treat her fairly — which is a dangerous position to be in for any cop.

Yet Kono joins the Governor’s task force — which eventually becomes the Five-0 Task Force — not just because of her connection to Chin, but because of her ability to keep her cool when things got rough (like when Sang Min made her strip to see if she was hiding a wire), as well as her abilities to give and take a punch like any other member of the team.

But Kono is no longer a rookie, and because of her association with the task force, she goes through some pretty tough cases. At the end of season one she has her badge taken away because she is accused of stealing (like her cousin) from the asset forfeiture locker and she is forced to work for IAB to uncover other dirty cops. Captain Fryer (Tom Sizemore) kept Kono undercover and didn’t allow her to tell her cousin or Five-0 what she was doing — causing the team to think that Kono had gone rogue.

Of course, the team joins in Kono’s case to catch corrupt cop Frank Delano (William Baldwin) which leads him to seek revenge on Chin by kidnapping both Kono and Chin’s new wife, Malia (Reiko Aylesworth). Chin is forced to choose between saving his wife or his cousin — and he enlists Kono’s new boyfriend Adam Noshimuri (Ian Anthony Dale) to help him save Kono. This cements the new couple’s relationship and begins the love story of Kono and Adam — star-crossed lovers from two sides of the law. Adam is the son of Yakuza boss Hiro Noshimuri and this of course, puts Kono in a sticky situation.

Adam works hard to come clean, to move his business to the right side of the law, in order to eventually marry Kono. Unfortunately, this means that Adam must give up all of his money and assets — which for simple girl Kono, who needs nothing except a good board, her badge, and a roof over her head — makes for an easy decision. Really Kono just needs her team, her ʻohana, and Adam. When Adam and Kono eventually marry in season six, we think that her world has finally come into balance.

But bad guy Gabriel Waincroft (Christopher Sean) has other plans for Adam’s money and ruins Kono’s honeymoon by forcing Adam to turn over his assets in order to save Kono’s life. Really can’t a girl catch a break? The sweet couple had already gone through so much — they spent most of season four on the run from the Yakuza group who had backed Adam’s wayward brother Michael (Daniel Henney), and were separated for several months after Adam gave himself up in order to once again, save Kono.

When Kono and Adam reunited in a coffee shop in Canada, I was among the many who was super happy that they could finally be together. Alas, I suppose I thought for sure things would be amazing for the two — but so far it seems that just when things seem to be looking up — it just gets worse. By the end of season six, Adam is serving an 18 month sentence for killing two Yakuza goons in self-defense. Kono is faithfully waiting for him, and even though Gabriel is gone, it seems as if the Yakuza still want him dead.

I swear the Yakuza should have better things to do than to chase one guy who is completely broke and married to a cop who’s part of a major police department task force. Still, it does give us some good drama between our two lovers, as I suppose watching Kono and Adam argue about who’s going to do the laundry would be rather mundane.

But sometimes I wish Kono would be allowed to have a normal life. Being a wife and a cop seems like it would be stressful enough, but let’s throw in having no money and people trying to kill you and your husband just to keep it all interesting. I know, it’s a television drama — and we do love Kono and Adam together, so we don’t want to get bored watching them just love each other.

But Kono is anything but boring. I’m sure we can all agree on that. Annemieke van Heezik, a Five-0 fan from the Netherlands said in the fan favorite survey, that Kono is her favorite because she is a “fighter, not afraid of anything, and follows her heart.” Many fans also spoke about how they love Kono and Adam and their unwavering love for each other. Fans also love how Kono is always in the action, never just sitting on the side letting the guys do all the shooting and fighting.

When I think of all the action in Five-0, some of my favorite moments have been when Kono has taken out the bad guy in a way that is always super cool and on the mark. Her sniper skills are amazing, and on many occasions she has been put in the sniper position to back-up the team. I still remember when she took out Toothpick (Karl Herlinger) — who was tasked by Frank Delano to kill her — by jumping on the hood of his car and shooting him point blank. Kono is never one to sit on the sidelines or wait around for the rest of the team to catch all the bad guys.

We all love Kono, and Grace Park plays her with amazing strength and honesty. She is not one to sit around and wait for a man to come and rescue her. We know that she loves her man, cherishes her friends, and adores her family. She will do anything for them, and anyone who hurts them should beware — Kono is a force to be reckoned with.

REDUX SIDE NOTE

This week’s “Hawaii Five-0” repeat “Ka Pōhaku Kihi Paʻa” (“The Solid Cornerstone”), brought back Will Yun Lee as former-bad guy Sang Min and special guest star Michael Imperioli, who plays lawyer turned barber Odell Martin. Fans love Odell, who uses his rusty legal license to save Sang Min in this season six episode.

The July 29 CBS repeat is “Kanaka Hahai” (“The Hunter”), which brings back Mamo Kahike, played by recurring cast member, Al Harrington. Mamo helps Danno and his children Charlie (Zach Sulzbach) and Gracie (Teilor Grubbs) get home after Danno’s Camaro is stolen. Mamo drives a city bus, and in true Five-0 style, Danno has to take a long short cut to get the entire bus to safety.

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Wendie Burbridge is a published author, playwright and teacher. Reach her via Facebook and follow her on Twitter  and Instagram.