Five-0 Redux: Looking toward season 10, ‘Hawaii Five-0’ faces several dilemmas

Hawaiians believe that every member of group matters and when one person in a community faces a dilemma, the entire group is affected by the outcome. The Hawaiian ʻolelo noʻeau, “Hoʻokahi e poʻino, pau pu i ka poʻino,” is often said about those who are important to the community — when “one meets misfortune, all meet misfortune.” The same can be said about the “Hawaii Five-0” characters who make up the Five-0 ohana.

In the ninth season finale, McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and the rest of the team were left facing several crossroads. Some team members have to make a difficult choice and others are dealing with situations that can no longer be ignored. Junior (Beulah Koale) has been disowned by his dad; Lou (Chi McBride) is going into business with his brother Percy (Clifton Powell) and Flippa (Shawn Mokuahi Garnett); Kamekona (Taylor Wily) is making a go of McGarrett and Danny’s (Scott Caan) former restaurant; and Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) seems to be starting a relationship with yakuza heiress Tamiko (Brittany Ishibashi).

It seems the more pressing issues have to do with the possibility of Danny getting back together with Rachel (Claire van der Boom) and if Tani (Meaghan Rath) and Junior might become more than just partners on the job.

However, the biggest dilemma the team has to face, which will affect the entire group by its outcome, is which member of their team has been shot — Jerry (Jorge Garcia) or their stalwart leader McGarrett.

WHO SHOT McG?

While it’s actually no secret who shot at McGarrett and Jerry — it is a mystery which team member took a bullet. At the end of the finale, Azra (Yasmin Dar), the wife of Omar Hassan’s (Ben Youcef), comes to see McGarrett and show her son “a mother’s way — that the most merciful person is the one who forgives when he is able to take revenge.” As McGarrett walks her out of Five-0 headquarters, Jerry cries, “Gun!” just as she pulls out a 3D pistol and shoots toward McGarrett. The screen goes to black and all we hear is Danny exclaim, “Oh, my God.”

We are left wondering which team member has been shot — McGarrett or Jerry? Either way, someone has been shot and we are nervously waiting for “Hawaii Five-0” to return in the fall to answer some of our questions. Fans don’t want either character to be injured and don’t want the shot to have been fatal, but if nothing else, this kind of cliffhanger is apt to keep everyone waiting impatiently for the new season to begin.

DANNY’S DILEMMA

One storyline that fans have been tracking is the potential reunion between Danny and his ex-wife Rachel. While some fans feel that Danny should not renew his relationship with the mother of both of his children, many are curious to see if the woman Danny seems to have always loved will become a more permanent part of his life. Many don’t trust Rachel as she lied to Danny about Charlie (Zach Sulzbach) being his son and that betrayal makes her undeserving of Danny’s love.

But it seems as if Danny is taking this slow as he has been burned by Rachel many times. Over the last few seasons, Danny and Rachel’s relationship has definitely improved. He helped her when she divorced Stan (Mark Deklin). And when Grace (Teilor Grubbs) was almost killed in a car wreck, the two parents found solace in each other. Danny even gave Rachel and Charlie shelter during a hurricane, and it seemed as if they were much closer than just two parents trying to help their young child not be frightened during a major natural disaster.

In the season finale, Danny admits to Steve that he lied to him about going to New Jersey the week before, that he had actually spent some time with Rachel “without death or kids” on Kauai. He tells McGarrett it was nice and fun, but before they can discuss the outcome of their weekend getaway, McGarrett is interrupted by the arrival of Azra and her son. Still, we know this will definitely be an issue that will be revisited and adds to the anticipation of the new season.

TANI AND JUNIOR FACE THE TRUTH

It might have been two years coming, but the minute Tani started calling Junior “Joons” — we all knew they would be headed down this road at some point. So when Tani takes Junior as her plus one to a wedding and gets jealous when another girl asks if he is available, we all can see that something real is blossoming between the two — and it’s a little more just than mutual affection between a brother and sister in blue.

Not much is said to solidify the relationship, and in the season finale Junior is much more concerned with finding his father, but we can see that Tani and Junior are moving toward being more than just partners in Five-0. This is certainly something we all want to see progress — if nothing else to see two of our favorites happy and in love — which we’d love to see for all of the members of the team.

Wendie Burbridge writes the “Five-0 Redux” and “Magnum Reloaded” blogs for staradvertiser.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.