Calm before the storm

I have to admit, I still love “Hawaii Five-0” even when the show acts like that interesting guest at a family lūʻau — the one who brings her own tupperware for leftovers and loudly points out the sashimi tastes fishy and the poi is too fresh.

Sometimes, you need to keep your bright ideas to yourself.

Really, can’t viewers ever get a storyline to just wrap up and end without a cliffhanger? Fans have been hanging on for oh-too-many seasons trying to figure out where Momma McG is, where she has been and if she is ever coming back. And now we’re going to be wondering when Cath (Michelle Borth) is ever coming back, as well? Poor McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin). The women in his life really know how to leave a guy hanging.

I know I’m skipping ahead here, but this was the preview for this episode. The big McG Pops the Question set up. Sadly, he never even got the chance to ask. He set up the operation, secured a ring and was waiting to execute the question, to no avail. Cath had her bags packed and was ready to go. To Nepal, she said. To help the Red Cross, she said. She wants to be needed, she said.

Really, all I heard was: “I’m giving excuses because we have to have a tearful ending to the relationship no one has really addressed for a year.”

I’m sorry if I’m being snippy, but I’m just so disappointed the writers didn’t just allow McGarrett one ending that would help him move on with his life. Sure, he would have mourned. Sure, he would have been hurt and sad. But what better way for us to see him dealing with the five stages of grief like a normal person.

Right. He’s not a normal person. He’s McGarrett and he’s supposed to be immune to pain and suffering. But Super SEAL McG really does have feelings and I, for one, would like to see him allowed to get some kind of closure. For McGarrett, the relationship is over — so why leave the door open for Cath to return? Just say aloha and let’s move along.

This week’s episode, “Ua ʻoʻolokū ke anu i na mauna” (“The Chilling Storm is on the Mountain”), was a good balance of Five-0 character arc with an interesting police procedural. Directed by Joe Dante, the story by Peter Lenkov and teleplay by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt was fast-paced and included a good amount of team moments that helped keep me wrapped up in the story. It was sort of ho-hum until the nice twist at the end.

Of course, Gabriel (Christopher Sean) would be connected to the murder of wannabe drug dealer Miko Mosley (Eric Jabarri Combs), who was printing counterfeit money to pave his way to deal with Gabriel. What better way to bring our favorite villain back onto Five-0’s magic table? Thank you, writers, for bringing Gabe back onto the radar.

Not that he ever really left. But I like the fact that the team needs to find him and he seems to be popping up everywhere they turn — and yet he is still just beyond their reach.

I loved how the episode started with the sun rising, the morning mist climbing over the mountains, bringing with it a storm of trouble. And what a treat to watch Chin (Daniel Dae Kim) take an amazing morning commute over the H-3 on his new all-electric motorcycle. He took the long way to cousin Kono’s (Grace Park) house, riding over the Koʻolau mountains on his way to Kāneʻohe … which is pretty much in the opposite direction of Mānoa. No matter; the ride is really beautiful.

Kono found an unwelcome wedding present from Gabriel outside her door in the form of two dead Yakuza wrapped up in a stakeout car. The men had been sent there to put pressure on the newly minted Mr. and Mrs. Noshimuri to remind them they still needed to send all of Adam’s (Ian Anthony Dale) hard-earned money to the Yakuza. Kono was worried that the Yakuza boss, Goro Shioma, would blame Kono and Adam for the death of his men. So cousin Chin called in Kono’s excuse note so she can get a pass, and the two hoped it would keep the Japanese mobster off their backs.

For most of the episode, while the gang looked for a gun that killed Mosley as well as a local diver and artist, the team also dealt with their own personal issues. Chin and Kono continued to struggle with their looming Yakuza problem as well as the unwelcome return of Gabe within both their personal and investigative lives.

Danno (Scott Caan) also dealt with a lot in this episode. His nephew, Eric Russo (Andrew Lawrence), returned this week to add some fun humor as well as good forensic evidence to the team effort. While he definitely needs to drink “less caffeine and tone down the misogyny,” he does add a new dynamic to the forensic team. Together he and Max (Masi Oka) are a trip of comic geekery. Still, I miss Charlie Fong (Brian Yang) and his Geek God status. But if Eric keeps up the energy drink-fueled commentary, Danno may have no choice but to ship him back to Jersey in a body bag.

While poor Danno dealt with his over-eager nephew, he also spent a lot of time trying to “take care of his boy.” We all love when Danno tries to help McGarrett. The boat bromance, when McG and Danno headed out to south shore surf break Rockpiles to find evidence, was lovely and I so adored Danno trying to convince McG to look at his glass as half-full. But McG’s spidey sense was telling him Cath was halfway out the door, regardless of her sexy morning wake up call or the fact he had already bought the perfect ring to pop the question.

The scene where Danno met Cath at the gorgeous Diamond Head lookout — it’s where we all meet when we want to have a good heart to heart — and told her, “He deserves to be happy. I’m asking will you stick around for good,” really was a sweet moment. I just wish we knew why Cath decided to take off, even after telling Danno there was nothing she wanted more. I guess the code-laced conversation she had with an unknown voice who addressed her as “Lieutenant” at the end of the episode basically means she might be back in the Navy working undercover on something majorly classified and tied in with McGarrett.

Is this Momma McG’s doing? Something Joe White has cooked up?

Whatever the case may be, I just hope McGarrett can find some kind of closure and a way to be happy. Perhaps this is just the calm before the storm, with much more out there waiting on the horizon.

REDUX SIDE NOTE:

Hawaiʻi actor Kekoa Kekumano returned this week in a short scene with McGarrett as Nahele Hikala. I loved how he gave McG a lot of good-natured grief about spending so much money on a “metastable allotrope of carbon” instead of a new truck. Some might remember Kekumano’s character was introduced to McGarrett after he stole McG’s prized Mercury Marquis in season five. 
 
Fans may have also recognized Youngaisa Wily, who played Ani, Jerry’s (Jorge Garcia) paid intern. Wily is Taylor Wily’s son and was last seen in season five when he helped Jerry with some computer programming.
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Wendie Burbridge is a published author, playwright and teacher. Reach her via Facebook and follow her on Twitter.