Five-0 Redux: Start of season launches theories on fate of ‘Hawaii Five-0’ favorites

As in the past nine seasons, “Hawaii Five-0” started off their latest season Thursday with a traditional Hawaiian blessing to celebrate the first day of filming in Hawaii. The cast and crew were led through the ceremony by Kahu Kordell Kekoa, who also officiated the “Magnum P.I.” blessing on July 8. While only half of the “Hawaii Five-0” main cast members were in attendance for the ceremony, it was still heartfelt and special as the cast launched their 10th season on CBS.

Cast members Alex O’Loughlin, Beulah Koale, Dennis Chun, Kimee Balmilero, Shawn Mokuahi Garnett, Al Harrington and Laura Mellow, all attended the ceremony, which for the first time was missing executive producer Peter Lenkov, who was in Canada for his mother’s memorial. The blessing is always the first sign to fans that a new season has begun and after the excitement of seeing their favorite cast members back from their summer hiatus, the real speculation starts about the new season. Mainly fans wonder about the fate of Steve McGarrett, played by series star O’Loughlin, and his best friend and partner, Danny Williams, played by Scott Caan. Yet other characters are equally as important as the complete the entire picture of the Five-0 ohana.

Three major plot ideas and character arcs have been discussed pretty consistently since the end of season nine — including what happened to McGarrett and fellow Five-0 task force member Jerry Ortega (Jorge Garcia) in the season finale. Other storylines include the fate of exes Danny and Rachel (Claire van der Boom), as well as the future of Tani (Meaghan Rath) and Junior (Beulah Koale) as a couple. Besides these major plotlines still up in the air, there are several other side stories that face the characters of “Hawaii Five-0” that leave the door open for several theories that are to come in this momentous 10th season.

ADAM FACES THE YAKUZA

The fate of Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) seems to be headed toward love and heartbreak after he ended the ninth season walking into what looks like a new relationship with Tamiko Masuda (Brittany Ishibashi). Adam has known Tamiko all of his life as Adam’s father, Hiro Noshimura, and Tamiko’s father, Hajime Masuda (Sonny Saito), were both high-powered members of the yakuza. Tamiko’s father is still a yakuza boss and even saved Adam from being framed for his half-sister Noriko’s murder.

Still, Adam’s familial connection to the yakuza has often hurt him in the past, especially after he broke away from his underworld business ties in order to marry Kono Kalakaua, a former member of the Five-0 task force. So it leaves fans to theorize that perhaps this love match between a yakuza princess and a member of Five-0 — could bring even more heartache for Adam.

DUKE’S DEEPER CONNECTION TO MCGARRETT

Last season gave us a very important episode for Duke (Dennis Chun) and showed us more of his backstory. In the episode, “Ke ala o ka pu” (“Way of the Gun”), Duke’s story about being saved by McGarrett’s father (Ryan Bittle) after Duke and his partner are ambushed, lead McGarrett to help Duke find closure for his partner’s death. The theory that Duke may bring even more stories about John McGarrett to light for his son is a strong one.

Duke has really added an interesting character arc to the series, as he has been on the force long enough to not only know how the Five-0 task force works but also how the McGarretts work — both John and his son, Steve. As McGarrett no longer has his father and lost Joe White (Terry O’Quinn), perhaps Duke’s role of showing him more about where he came from, could be a strong addition to the 10th season.

NOELANI’S NEW FUTURE

While Kimee Balmilero seems to be doing double-duty between “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I.”, her character, Dr. Noelani Cunha, seems to have gone through some painful growing pains in last season. In the episode “O ke kumu, o ka mana, hoʻopuka ʻia” (“The teacher, the pupil — let it come forth”), when her former mentor Dr. Tara Chu (Page Leong) betrays her, she finds solace in McGarrett’s words of wisdom about forgiving herself for not being able to save Chu’s life.

While Noelani is always in savior mode for the Five-0 team, it seems as if the one time she cannot save someone hits her the hardest. Perhaps this disappointment may have her trying to do more for the team. While that seems like a positive thing, it could come back to haunt her, which might make for an interesting story arc for Noelani.

While each storyline and change in character arcs will add more conflict and drama to the overall plot points for “Hawaii Five-0,” all of the actors can certainly handle the added dimension and depth. It will certainly help continue the success of the show, as the blessing hopes for at the start of each season.

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