Major spoilers for the episode, well obviously. Just so you know…

Just some random thoughts about the episode. It’s not a review per se. It’s more like thoughts that popped into my head with the one or other scene.

What got my attention right from the start was that there was no five-minute  foreplay before the title sequence. I must admit at times I find the time until the murder occurs too long. Like on 3.04 with the headless polo player. That took way too long. I like it much better when Five-0 get right to work. This time it only took 49 seconds. That was very refreshing and nice.

Speaking of nice. I love Catherine’s car and wondered since we saw it first if Steve drives that one as well, or if he gets banned to the passenger seat? Any thoughts? Oh, and of course it’s nice to know that she has a house. So Steve and Cath could get away from mom, if they needed some alone-time. 😉

I think it was interesting to see that Catherine helping Steve does have consequences from time to time. Even though I didn’t feel much sympathy for the Federal Marshal.

Here comes our victim, and as Kono said he had a great day. Shot, burned and hit by a car. Guess that would be enough for everyone.

Alright, this is a game I’m going to play from now on. I bet we will get at least one shot of something ‘Microsoft’ in every episode. Show, we get it; you are sponsored by Mr. Gates. Subtlety is still not your strong suit.

And one other thing, Skype in that quality? Yeah right, I like to see that.

It didn’t take them long to find out about their first suspect. Well, in Steve’s eyes, their only and guilty suspect. Olivia Victor, the victim’s therapist.

Here comes my first question that might be a critique point. Why does Olivia live on Maui when she has her offices on Oahu? I mean, I understand that the show wants to show the other islands, and I think that is great. But quite frankly, this doesn’t make much sense. Maui is not just around the corner.

Oh, what a power play. Steve sparring with the psychoanalyst was fun to watch. I totally got his frustration about the case. He knew that she was guilty the second he laid eyes on her. As was I, she just had ‘the look’. 🙂

But no one was willing to believe him, everyone questioned his judgment, except one. And I love her for it even more. Catherine, you go, woman!

I was feeling for Steve when his team didn’t really believe him. I thought it was sad that they were more trying to prove him wrong than prove that she did it. Of course they investigated, but I felt it was more against Steve than trying to figure out the truth. That might not be very objective, but it’s the vibe I got off the episode. And that reminded me of all the times his team, and especially Danny had told him that he was not a cop. I’m sure he had to listen to a lot of bull for running the task force as a non-cop, a military guy coming and leading a prestigious task force. But he does have damn good instincts. What he did before Five-0 is not that different from detective work. Anyway, this episode reminded me of those times where he had to listen to all kinds of accusations that he has no idea how police work is done.

When he and Kono came back from Maui, Danny and Chin looked rather skeptical about his suspicion. Even Kono didn’t believe his theory. Side question here. Why did they need a pilot for the helicopter? Why didn’t Steve fly that thing? Would have saved them some money, wouldn’t it?

Okay, here is my second ‘complaint’ about why I think it didn’t make much sense to be on Maui. How in the world did she make it back to Oahu and talk to the witness before Steve and Kono did? And I’m sure they had their helicopter waiting for them. How did she do that?

After talking to the victim’s wife, our two boys have a great cargument. I loved it how Danny was not believing Steve and trying to tell him without also pissing him off. And how Steve defended his point of her being the killer. That was a really good one.

Okay, now let’s talk about the second string of the episode. Catherine Rollins and Ex-Marshal Chris Channing on Doris’ protection detail. I think they opened a can of worms with this particular storyline. First question that popped into my mind was about the timeline. 37 years ago? Didn’t Doris tell Steve she quit the business when she became a mom? But that her actions came back to her when Steve was 15? So, if she killed Mengosta 37 years ago, why didn’t he go after her during the 15 years before her ‘death’? That is all very fishy, why would the death of a ‘housewife’ heighten her profile and give the bad guy a hint about his ‘killer’? Best not to think about it too much. Anyway, I really liked this part of the episode, until the end, but we’ll come to that.

After this we get another ‘argument’ between Danny and Steve. I really wonder why Danny, the so-called  detective, doesn’t see that something is not right with that therapist? I loved it how Steve kept his cool. With Danny and before that during the great scenes in the therapist’s office.

I think Danny is enjoying this way too much. And another question, can the court issue a restraining order against an officer investigating a suspect? That would be counterproductive, now wouldn’t it? But we will find out later how she managed to get that one and probably a lot more.

I loved Catherine worry about Steve and him asking her to help him. Those two are just too good together. I really hope they are not going to mess this up.

Steve’s next moves were not the cleverest, but gave us another round of power play. This episode was really cleverly written. Not much action in it, but their confrontations were really great. And I truly hope we haven’t seen the last of that doctor.

That woman is just a bit too sure of herself. I never doubted Steve was right, but I can understand how he was pretty much alone with his opinion.

In an earlier episode, we learned that Steve and Catherine worked together in Naval Intelligence. After seeing her doing her thing in this episode, I would LOVE to see them working together.

I absolutely loved the total happiness of coming closer to figuring out what was going on. And I was so happy that Danny finally admitted that Steve just might be right after all. Finally, Buddy. 😉

Getting her at the airport gave not just me great satisfaction, but I’m sure Steve as well.

Okay, I did not expect this. I know Doris is a trained killer for the CIA, but this, well that was a bit of a surprise. She doesn’t seem to have any boundaries. It will be interesting to see how far she will go on this show and what is still to happen.

Come on, what kind of stupid crap was this? Steve is no idiot; he knows that Doris has enemies other than Wo Fat. And he knows that her past was not that of a harmless housewife. So, her reasoning for Catherine not to tell Steve is total bogus. And Catherine to agree to not telling Steve about this, is the only critique point I have about this episode. I so wished she said that she wouldn’t tell, but not lie to him either if he brought  it up. Steve trusts Catherine, and if he would be betrayed by her, that would be a fatal blow for him. I truly hope they won’t do that. But I’m pretty sure this is what will put their relationship, whatever that is, in jeopardy. I hope the show will not mess these two up. I would be royally miffed about that.

So… what do I give this episode?

• I loved it.

• The case was intriguing.

• They really got me with the prostitute stuff. I didn’t see that one coming.

• I loved the sparring not just between Steve and Olivia, but Steve with almost his whole team. Great.

• I loved Action-Catherine, using her skills to protect Doris.

• And helping her friend.

• And not objecting to the term ‘boyfriend’.

• Love you Catherine.

• This episode will have a lot of repercussions. As soon as Steve finds  out what happened. And there is no doubt in my mind that he will. That will not be pretty.

• I really liked Danny in this one. Okay, I’m not a fan of him, as you know, if you read my reviews regularly,  but I really liked him in this one. I even liked him ‘attacking’ Steve for believing so strongly in the doctor’s guilt. This time Danny was really good. And no, I don’t think it was because he was missing the first 11 minutes. I just think in this episode his ‘rants’ and his actions fit. I can’t explain it any other way, but I think this is the very first episode that I didn’t find Danny annoying at all. Not for a single second. It seems there is still hope for me. 😉

I give this one a big fat A.

Warning – major spoilers in this one. If you haven’t seen the episode, read at your own risk.

Thinking about last night’s episode disappointment comes to mind first. But thinking about it for a bit longer made me see that it was my own fault to feel that way. I was expecting a very different episode.

But let’s not jump the gun here, let’s talk about the positive aspects of Ohuna. And we all know there are always positive things about an episode of Five-0. Always things to love. And this one wasn’t any different.

• How great was big brother Steve?

• Mary, I expected better from you. Again not holding a job? Girl, your brother put his word in for you last time you were in town. But you will obviously never grow up. It’s no secret that I don’t like Mary, probably mostly because I watched the deleted scenes from the pilot episode. Since then I can’t say anything positive about her. I know she is not completely at fault for her ways, but her brother was nothing but supportive all her life. I just have a problem with how she is treating him. First time we ‘officially’ saw her on the show back in season one, she was not even really there and already in trouble. And as soon as she opened her mouth she blamed Steve for everything bad that has happened to her over the years. I guess it got a little better lately, but she is still aimlessly drifting through life. Maybe now that mom is back, she will finally find a purpose and will become a likeable person. I sure hope so. Not just for her sake but mostly for Steve.

• And of course Steve is the one telling his mom that her daughter doesn’t want to see her.

But what did she expect? That Mary comes running to her? I think Mary’s initial reaction was great, it was clear that she needed some time to process everything.

• Doris was acting rather strange. She should be thankful that her son is so willing to give her as much as he is. Even though he doesn’t trust her, but he realized right away that she is his mom after all, and there was no other way but to let her into his life again.

• The case. I think it was pretty good. Young computer hacker getting kidnapped right after being released after completing his sentence? That was intriguing. I had all kinds of scenarios in my head right away.

• I’m not a fan of Kono, but she did a good job. We will come to the negative part a little later.

• Not sure if this is positive or negative, but could we do the product placements a little bit more subtle? Positive of course is that Microsoft is willing to invest so much money in Five-0. Their products are very heavily promoted on the show. I must confess they were already successful with me. Since Five-0 introduced it, I’m a user of SkyDrive. A great, free service from Windows Live.

• Five-0 surprised me. And believe me that is not easy, but they manage it from time to time. I did not expect the victim to be dead. That was kind of a wow moment.

• And the case got more interesting by the minute. Why would someone torture that boy? What information could he have that are worth such an elaborate kidnapping, which even results in his death. And the kidnappers were not even done yet.

• Aw, Toast. So good to see you coming back. He was last seen in early season one. I love it that they get back to some of their characters.

• It was clear that Doris wouldn’t give up to meet with her daughter. I was hoping she wouldn’t force her though. I think the scene with her watching Mary was very well done.

• Okay, I know I said I wanted Mary to come to her senses, but I must admit, this was not very believable. Not to me anyway. She always acted like she was really mad at her dad and resented him big time. And now she is breaking down at his grave? That was a bit too much for my taste. Yeah, yeah, I know with her mom being ‘not dead’ and all, she and her dad are suddenly on the same betrayed side. But still, I didn’t buy it. Sounds almost like this was a negative, doesn’t it? No, not really, I liked the scenes, but only because of mom. I think she realized for the first time what she had done to her kids. Good for her.

• Okay, question here. Can someone please tell me what Steve and Danny were doing while Chin and Kono were busy working and plotting? Just asking.

• Ah, here you are, at least one of the boys. But I would really like to know what they were doing in the last five minutes of show time.

• What I love most about ‘leader’ Steve is his ability to know right away when something is wrong with his people. He showed that a few times in the last seasons, and I really like how he’s always offering to listen to them and how he offers advice.

• I really like Chin in command. He is doing a way better job in Steve’s absence than Danny, at least I think so. He is a lot more like Steve, keeping his cool and being in control. I do believe they are working as a team, but I also believe that Chin is the official second in command. In this scene he again told Danny what to do. Besides, it makes perfect sense. Chin has more experience than Danny, he outranks him, and he knows how the island ‘works’. I wish they would play this card more often, at least when the action stuff is involved. I think Steve and Chin are great together.

• Alright, I love BAMF Steve, but please makeup and prop department, what the heck was this? Kevlar vest and tee shirt gets shredded, but the perfectly tanned smooth skin doesn’t even get scratched? Please! This called for road rash big time.

• Of course Chin and Danny also work well together. Great action scenes, even though I wonder how they managed to be completely alone on the street.

• Okay, I’m sure all the Kono fans were squealing in delight, but I only cringed. There is just no way in hell that tiny little Kono would kick that highly trained military guy’s butt. Those scenes are simply ridiculous. That was even worse than Kono pulling her cousin up when he was hanging from the roof in 3.03. That was just as stupid. Even Steve wasn’t able to pull a guy up in season two and had to let him fall to his death. But Kono pulls her cousin up. Right. And this falls into the same category. I look the other way quite often, but if it comes to physical impossible things, I’m sorry, but that just goes too far.

• But at least Kono had some battle wounds, contrary to Steve, who just needed a new tee shirt.

• And one other thing to complain about. This was just too much. Of course the old guy had a heartbreaking story to tell. Which of course made Mary realize that she had to talk to her mom. Hear me groaning?

• But that lead to this, and who would not love their reunion. That was a really great emotionally, heartwarming scene. Very well done.

• And let’s not forget this scene. Their reunion made one guy obviously quite happy.

So, I guess now it’s time for the verdict. After my initial disappointment about not having any  scenes of Mom, Steve and Mary together, I must say I really liked this episode.

It will not make it into my top 10, simply because of way too much Kono, and almost no Danny and Steve in it.

But I still rate it a good B.

I must admit I was rather reluctant to watch this episode. I was kind of dreading it. Why? Because I’m not interested in Danny’s back-story. Danny Williams is played by an actor who is in my opinion overacting in almost every scene. What other people see as great acting is for me annoying. I think it’s not a testament to good acting when you recognize the actor ‘acting’. Too much is not a good thing in my opinion. But that is a personal preference, and has nothing much to do with the quality of the show in general.

Anyway, seeing that I’m not a fan of Mr. Caan’s acting ability, and knowing that this episode would be heavily on his character, well, let’s just say, that is not my idea of a great episode.

But we’re talking about Hawaii Five-0 here, and despite my dislike of Danny Williams, there is always a lot to like about an episode. And to be fair I mostly like Danny when he’s with the others.

I really liked the unusual beginning with the scenes from the East Coast. It’s in such contrast to the colors of paradise we normally see as the opening of an episode.

And it was nice to know even back then Danny didn’t drive his car. 😉

I must say the whole entering the warehouse and of course getting captured by the bad guys dragged on too long. Not just in the beginning but mostly later when we get back to the ‘interrogation’. That was way too long for my taste.

Cut to Waikiki present time. Nicely done.

Okay, little nit picking here. I think it’s highly unlikely that our two heroes would have split up to go after the bad guy. But okay, fine.

Danny hot on the chase, and jumping over a scooter. Short guy… small obstacle.

Steve, hot on the chase and jumping over a car. Tall guy… big obstacle. Cute.

And here comes the prove that Danny is really not the smartest guy around. Danny, really, every rookie knows that you never, ever touch a guy with a bomb belt. What was he hoping would happen? That he would be able to disarm the bomb? Come on, Danny, you are not an expert whatsoever. I would have understood if Steve would have touched it, but not Danny. That was just stupid. Writers, you could have come up with another way for Danny to get in harm’s way, without letting him look like an idiot.

Oh, and welcome to the party, Steve. Took your own sweet time, didn’t you? Stopped for coffee on the way maybe?

Another nice cut to yet another timeline. Nine hours before all this started. And another little nit picking. That was a very strange body blown to pieces by an explosion. It didn’t look like a blast victim, not that I have seen many victims of such a blast in real life, but I have seen documentaries and wonder why the prop people obviously haven’t. That is not how a body looks like after being in close proximity of an explosion.

Loved the team banter on the scene. Very nice to see, even though I wonder about Chin. He seemed very cool about joking with Danny and referring to his wedding. I think we will see Chin crashing soon.

I still really like Catherine’s role on Five-0. I like that she is not just McGarrett’s girlfriend but a capable agent who helps out whenever she can. And this time Five-0 didn’t just need a favor. This time, I think she was there in an official capacity.

After this we got a Danny rant. And quite frankly, I think they could have done a lot better with the point they wanted to make. Yes, it is terrible that the world changed after 9/11. But please, Danny, look around you. Your buddy is right, you over dramatize it. Have you ever thought about the millions of children who live every day in a country that is at war or in civil unrest? Have you ever thought about the children that die every day because they don’t have enough food or no clean water? Who die of diseases no child need to die from anymore? And you complain about airport security being a bother? I know what they wanted to say, but they did a really poor job with it. And by the way, ‘we’ grew up during the cold war, and believe me, that was no fun either. There will always be a threat of some kind. This kind of ranting is the perfect example why I often don’t like Danny.

What I liked most about this episode, up to this point, is how they investigated the case. Everyone was involved and one puzzle piece led to the next. That was really neat.

And did you notice that Danny is the only one who is not wearing a thigh holster? Well, I guess it doesn’t go so well with dress pants. 😉

Okay, aside from the cool scenes of finding out where the bomb is placed and the evacuation and all that, I do have another little nit picking going on here. How the heck did the bad guy drive that highly unstable (as we learned earlier from Steve) armed bomb around Hawaii to park the car at Fort Shafter? He did not arm it in the parking lot. So, how come that guy didn’t blow himself up while driving around with it? Just saying.

Please put these two in a car and lock the doors; you will be entertained for hours on end.

I loved it how they fast forwarded back to the beginning with Danny almost triggering the bomb. And I loved how they portrayed the differences between Steve, who could pull out the SEAL in him, who was totally calm, collected and in control, so he could calm his friend down, so they all would live to see another day. And Danny, who was barely able to keep it together. I think these were the best scenes of the whole episode. They both did an amazing job with it.

I still think the time we spent with Danny back in 2001 in New Jersey was too long, but the scenes were not as bad as I thought they would be. At least they used the guest stars for more than a minute. It was very dramatic though that his partner Grace was killed. I didn’t expect that. Very cool.

If I would complain about something other than the length of that part in NJ, it would be the makeup they used to make SC look ten years younger. I don’t know what they were thinking, but he looks older than he does now. Not a good job.

It was a very cool reference to 9/11. Danny was saved by one of the biggest tragedies in modern times. We can’t choose what life serves us; what will result in tragedy for some might be the cause of being the luckiest day of another person’s life. That is just how life is.

I simply loved the last minutes of the bomb scenario. That was brilliant work, not just by the two actors, but by camera and editing. Just brilliant.

Two grown men crying… no words needed.

And how cute was the ending of the episode! Aww.

Okay, time for the verdict.

Despite the fact that I don’t really like the scenes in New Jersey 2001 that much, this episode gets a solid A. It will not make it into my top 5 because of too much Danny in it, but it’s a really great episode.

• LOVED the beginning after the title sequence

• Steve’s plan of seduction was solid, even though who falls for Chucky? Steve, really?

• The poor boy had to watch The Notebook… twice – aw, what you do for love

• Danny, she ditched you? Get used to it. Gracie is growing up. That was actually really cute, seeing Danny as the irritated dad.

• What a creepy and sick baddie, not even to mention his grandma. Wow.

• MAX! For the win! He is the coolest ME ever. I just love him.

• Chin’s new haircut. No, I’m not ashamed to say how much I love Chin.

• Great scene with Grace and Cath. I really like how they slowly integrate Catherine into the show and the team. She is there but not.

• Some might say there was not enough background on the killer. But do I really need to know why he did the things he did? I don’t think so. That he was off the rocker was very obvious, and what led to that is not really important in my opinion.

• Aw, the end. How great was that?! Of course our two lovebirds would get interrupted again. But that led to some great scenes. Loved it.

All in all a very solid episode, I’ll give it a B. But with the beginning and the end scoring an A+. Can’t get much better than that, even though I’m sure Five-0 will prove me wrong.

Side note. Did you notice the ‘mom-spoiler’ in this one? This was supposed to be episode seven, after the reunion with Mary. Which we’ll get in two weeks. It seems to me it went over rather well since she is still staying at Steve’s place.