Riding a Dangerous Wave
I did not see that one coming.
I knew the writers would bring back the “ghost of the 10 million dollars,” but so soon? And then to hit me with that ending . . . it was like I got hit with a brick wall of water. Nice use of the tidal wave metaphor, writers Melissa Glenn and Jessica Rieder, in more ways than one.
And I never thought the return of “Book ‘em, Danno” would be so sad. It’s a little sappy, but I about cried. I mean, one of two things could have happened. McGarrett would be fired and/or the whole team disbanded, or they would all be “booked” themselves. Right?
All right, let’s pull back the water from our shocked brain cells. Too much tsunami symbolism? Sorry, I get carried away by the use of metaphors.
Speaking of something big, yet perhaps less watery, Kamekona, played by Taylor Wily, was back. He’s by far my favorite recurring character. His use of sock puppets to act out the unification of the Hawaiian Islands by King Kamehameha and five-card draw with chips of candy was classic. I would warn Kamekona to perhaps never play poker with a kid from New Jersey, home of Atlantic City. Just a thought.
The Five-0 team was at their best; Chin and Kono were busy analyzing evidence with their high tech toys. Got to love those gizmos and gadgets, but it was refreshing that the clue that helped them break the case was just a regular old sand bag. Meanwhile McGarrett and Danno raced around the island in record time. And yes, if there was NO traffic at all you could maybe drive from Ewa to Kahala in about 30 minutes, going HPD in-pursuit speed, of course. Don’t try any of this at home, folks. Well, if you live on O’ahu, you can’t.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the Danno surf lesson. At last we got to see the talented Scott Caan in shorts and, yes ladies, shirtless. I find it ironic that an actor who grew up surfing in Southern California plays the one character on the show who seems to not enjoy the ocean, sand or slippers. And if you didn’t catch his line, the reason Danno is learning to surf is because his daughter wants to learn and he wants to surf with her. Now we know why the ladies love Danno.
And there was a bit of love in the air with this episode. We got a revisit from Catherine to the McGarrett love-nest and Chin seemed to be “back in touch” with Dr. Malia. Yes, he was just making sure the hospital was being evacuated, yada yada yada, but Kono saw right through his use of police procedure. Good try, Chin.
Tonight was one of those episodes where the characters obvious love and care for each other was palpable. And even though we didn’t get to see the tsunami tonight, I’m a little concerned that right now the water is receding and we’re going to be in for one huge wave. Because you know that whoever replaced the $10 million holds all of Five-0’s cards.
Redux side note: If you did not see the Hawaii News Now segment on actor Dennis Chun, who played Sgt. Duke Lukela in the episode, look for it on their website, because it is worth seeing. Dennis is the son of Kam Fong who played Chin Ho Kelly in the original “Hawaii Five-O” series. Dennis played the HPD officer who was in the scene with the Coast Guard Commander and saw McGarrett slice open the sandbag full of money. It was touching when Dennis spoke about carrying around his father’s HPD tie clip in the news segment. I did not know that Kam Fong had been an HPD officer before he took on the role of Chin Ho Kelly.
Wendie Burbridge is a published writer, playwright and a teacher of literature and fiction writing at Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama. Most recently, her story “The Cave Man’ was published in “‘Oiwi 4, Kupa‘a Makou ma hope o ka ‘Aina (We Stand Firm Behind the Land) — Kanaka Maoli Voices on Annexation, Statehood, and Ceded Lands.” As a student at Gonzaga University she studied Theatre Arts and acted in and directed productions in Spokane, Wash. She also worked in Extras Casting for NBC and Warner Brothers on various television shows and films in the Pacific Northwest.
19 responses to “Riding a Dangerous Wave”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I dvr’d the HNN segment with Dennis Chun & I teared up watching it…very touching segment & it was really cool to hear about his connection with the original Five-O! Oh & another great blog, WJ!!! 🙂
Great analysis, Wendie. It was very moving when Chin, Kono and Danny showed up to the Gov’s office to face the music with McGarrett. Also, you bring up a good point regarding the sudden return of the $10 mil. I wonder who did that and what it will mean for the H50 crew. Very interesting. And Danno learning to surf…classic! LOL regarding his daughter and the poker game. Bet on Jersey or fugetaboutit!
Great analysis, Wendie. It was very moving when Chin, Kono and Danny showed up to the Gov’s office to face the music with McGarrett. Also, you bring up a good point regarding the sudden return of the $10 mil. I wonder who did that and what it will mean for the H50 crew. Very interesting. And Danno learning to surf…classic! LOL regarding his daughter and the poker game. Bet on Jersey or fugetaboutit!
First off Mr. V really likes your choice of picture for this one. HAHAHAH! As for the episode, it was a really great character building one, which in my humble opinion is how to make a good show into a great one. The more we know about the characters the more we come to love and appreciate them. This concept worked great on Mr. V’s all-time favorite show LOST. As for the money, Mr. V is almost certain it will be Wo Fat who put it there to get the crew into his back pocket. Oh, and best line goes to Mamo for “blowing smoke up someone’s okole.” Classic. HAHAHH!!!
Maybe the Gov replaced 10 mil from the Hurricane and Rainy day funds. Maybe Wo Fat has a hand in this. Hmmmmmm………..
Nice! 🙂
Great analysis!
The character development and the inclusion of Kamekona as a trustworthy familial character is what makes me view each week in addtion to great writiting. Your assessment of the show is on point and look forward to reading each week. I love the fact that the Five0s stick together as one family. There is a guardian angel or a sinister plot is afoot. We all must wait to watch and see the episodes unfold. Thanks CBS for a great show!
Seems live the gov “covered” for the Five-O team. For Wendie…CBS put this on after the games because guys are the majority viewers and guess what…they’re not looking at Caan! No, it’s Grace that catches our attention.
Thanks. A great and enjoyable review of Hawaii Five-0. The entire cast was awesome and so exciting to watch.
Great review of a terrific episode, Wendie! I personally, l think the governor is Steve’s guardian angel, for whatever reason. She just seems to be pretty wrapped up in the McGarrett family, and she’s told us more than once that she was a personal friend of Steve’s dad. BTW – Danno wasn’t only shirtless, he was tie-less for the better part of the show, too!
Personally, I was disappointed by the supposed scenery location at the Pacific Warning Center in Ewa Beach. Having lived many, many years in Ewa Beach, and being familiar with the Center, I was surprised to see that Ewa Beach has grown some mountains!! (The scene where Dano is trying to convince his daughter to go to higher ground with Kamekona shows verdant mountains in the background. Now anyone who knows anything about Ewa Beach knows that there are no mountains, {the closest being Makakilo} and only the old cane fields got that green!!)
I was also wondering where they filmed that segment, but I recognized the interior of Diamond Head. Good enough for TV purposes…. The other thing that caught my attention was sandbag wall around the Territorial Bldg. I didn’t think that sandbags would help that much if a 30′ tsunami hit–but that’s probably a minor detail. There are moments in the storyline that stretch the imagination–but that’s fine. Hawaii Five-O is supposed to be entertaining, not a documentary.
That was me playing puppets and cards with Kamekona! I was the one with the purple shirt that got the quick shot of being pissed off that we lost to Gracie!
Quick bit of “spot this”. It may have gone by too quick but it IS there. When we were about to shoot the cards scene I asked the director if it would be ok if I keep one of the sockpuppets on as a callback to the earlier scene. He thought it was a good idea so if you watch closely, I still have it on my left arm (wanted to keep the right arm free to see my tats!)
I’m so going to watch my DVR again to see you! Thanks for the nice comments! 🙂 Mahalo nui!
I used to see Kam Fong shopping in the Safeway dressed just the way he was for the show. I often walked passed the real police station, the one I was told was formerly the old Sears; Fong looked just like the local detectives in their suits at that time. Danno’s comments about wearing a suit are all the funnier when I remember this.
[…] memorable, as she was in two pivotal scenes with McGarrett. In season one’s tsunami episode “Kai e‘e,” when McGarrett is called to see Governor Jameson regarding the supposed “missing” money in […]
[…] cake recalls Borth’s scene with Alex O’Loughlin in “Kai e‘e,” and during the Q-and-A she shared a story about how the scene was shot. Borth said it was her first […]