Major spoilers coming up. If you haven’t seen the episode… don’t read any further!

First of all, I’m really happy that we get a few episodes in a row. And two more are still to come. It’s not a Monday without Hawaii Five-0. 😉

We had the pleasure of watching nine shows now, and I can already say that for me, this season is the best yet. I might have complained about the one or other thing so far, but all in all, this season is just great. And the last episode was no exception to that.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Max is patiently standing in line and waits for ‘his’ teller to be free. Okay, I confess, I really like Max. I think he is a quirky and interesting character, and I’m happy that he has snatched a bigger role on Five-0. He is a bit strange, but not so much that you only shake your head and move on, but you are curious and interested in him. And I think Masi Oka is doing a great job with him. (He and Greg Grunberg were my favorites on Heroes.)

His explanation why he has to come to the bank every week was really cute. It’s a good thing that his ‘soon to be girlfriend?’ understands him none the less and agrees to see him on a date before he even finishes his awkward asking-her-out-speech.

That brings me to the first question. You didn’t think I wouldn’t have any, did you? If Max comes to the bank every Friday to deposit his paycheck, does that mean he makes 2,700 $ a week? I really can’t imagine that, I mean it is quite a lot of money for a state employee. She should hang on to him; he’s a good catch. 😉

Now with this little cute bit of Max finished we get into the episode. And right into the middle of a bank robbery. By the way, have you noticed, if you are associated to Five-0 in any way, you are always in the middle of things no matter where you go. Depositing your paycheck? Busted. Going on a camping trip with Uncle Steve and Danno? Busted big time. I couldn’t really help myself, had to get that in here. Okay, back to the show.

I must say, seeing that robbery, my imagination went wild. Why? Simple. I have read the spoiler that Steve would be taken hostage by the bank robber, and instead of getting killed, the bank robber would talk to him because Steve knew a secret about him. And then during the robbery I heard the robber say ‘hit the deck’. Bam, imagination goes flying around the block. I saw him as an ex-military guy, who else says ‘hit the deck’? And this whole scenario was only to get McGarrett to hunt him down. Why? No idea, doesn’t even matter. In my mind I was spinning a wild story about his military background, and at some point the two must have crossed paths. Well, we all know THAT was not what this was about. LOL

After the bank robbery goes wrong in the worst way, we cut to the credits. And to the second case of the episode. And I can tell you right away, I could have done without it. First of all, I will never understand the fascination about half-naked women who seriously need something to eat. Anyway, the ‘acting’ of the models was not as bad as I feared it would be. But don’t give up your day jobs just yet. This whole part about the threat was okay, but in my eyes unnecessary. And the most important part, it took Danny out of the equation. Okay, stop it, I saw that eye roll. You’re right; I’m not a fan of Danny. But as I said I really like him with Steve. And after last week’s episode and now this one, we are really lacking in the Steve and Danny department. That said, I was glad that Danny was not a total idiot with the models. He had his fun, but he was still a professional. And there were some fun scenes. So, I took it as what it was: sponsoring by Victoria’s Secret.

And I don’t have a problem with that. Some complain about the product placements. I only find it amusing, and yes, you will get the Microsoft shot later. I don’t think it’s a big deal. I mean, I don’t care what brand of Cola they drink, what sandwiches they eat, or what car they are driving. But I do care that the sponsors ‘are’ sponsoring my favorite show. So, let the money come in, and I might even go and buy a Subway sandwich next time I want one. But I’m also fairly certain that my next car will not be a Camaro or a monstrous truck. Just saying.

Here you go, hello, Windows 8. I told you we would get one every episode. Let’s stay on the lookout for more of these subtle hints. 😉

The cool trick of the robbers with the lights sewed into their clothes played right into my theory about the professional military guy going after Steve. Or Steve going after him. Whatever. I think that was a pretty neat trick, one I haven’t seen before.

Danny in model heaven. LOL. I must say his questioning of the models was rather funny, and I enjoyed it even though the part of the models, and their problem was not interesting or important to the episode at all. But as I said they did a decent job with it.

Okay, that first interview of the surviving witness had me kind of stumped. Something was off with that guy, and my so nicely laid-out  theory got little cracks in it. Darn.

And poor Chin was confined to the office most of the time. I must say, I would have preferred him and Steve out there, instead of Kono. Even though I enjoyed Steve and her also very much, I think Chin and Steve are really good together. First time actually that she was okay for me. Yeah, yeah, not a big fan of her.

I have complained about Kono not being able to kick-ass quite often. Just because I don’t think she has it in her. And most of the time it’s her stunt double even for the simple things. But that is okay. I just wish they would stop trying to sell her as a female McGarrett, because she is not. And if anyone needs anymore proof, well, here you go.

My grandmother would swing herself faster, and with more grace over that little fence than Kono did. Jeez, what kind of crawl was that?

However, I think I never laughed so much during Five-0 than during this hilarious chase after the nekkid guy. And Steve’s tackle and jumping away from him? That was just too funny.

After this funny bit, we get back to the other story in this episode. And here comes my second question. How the heck do they always get a match with their facial recognition software in a matter of seconds? Such a search can take hours, if not days with all the footage they have to go through. But Five-0 is almost always able to do it in seconds. But maybe it’s a good thing in this case, or we would have spent even more time with the model stuff.

Oh, and one other thing, it’s really scary how many people are able to fly on all TV shows with fake IDs. I truly hope for all our sake it’s not like that in real life.

I really like to see all those little ‘helpers’ Five-0 has, like Charlie Fong. Good to see him again.

This case got more confusing by the minute, and I had given up on any theory minutes ago. Two strangers partner up for a bank robbery. Then they go away with five thousand dollars, only to throw them away? What the heck was going on? Maybe if Steve were  able to win this great parcour chase, we would find out. Great action sequence.

After some very weird information why the shot guy from the bank did what he did, to redeem himself in the eyes of his family, and finding out about their connection, we are now finally ready to take down the killer. Or so we thought. And here is my only real complaint about this episode.

There is no way that Steve wouldn’t have taken out that guy. Come on, Cordova made his first mistake in getting into the three feet radius. He practically put his gun on Steve’s person. You don’t do that unless you want to get knocked out. It’s the first mistake to get too close to a trained person. It’s ridiculous that Steve surrendered, but maybe he wanted to be taken hostage to find out what was going on. But this was kind of ridiculous. In this position and this close, it would take a SEAL or any other trained person not even a second to disarm the attacker.

Oh my goodness, what is going on? They are allowed to drive a Ford? A new deal with another Auto Company? We need to keep an eye on that. By the way, I am driving a Ford, and my next one will probably be a Ford as well. Damn their ads are already working. 😉

At this point, I was asking myself what Cordova really wanted from Steve? Secretly, I was still hoping my military theory would play out somehow. LOL

All that because these two terminally ill people wanted to end it? And wanted redemption in the process? It’s not that easy, and it shouldn’t be. One good deed (or what they thought was a good deed) does not make up for everything else they did. And suicide by cop? That was not gonna happen.

Very cute scenes with Max and his girl. Even though I doubt we will see Rumer Willis again. It’s a pity too; they were good together.

No words. Danno, Gracie and Uncle Steve. Awww.

And just for the fun of it.

Now, after you patiently listened to my rambling, I think it’s time for the verdict.

I’m inclined to give this one a B, but I’m in a really good mood, and the show really entertained me last night. So, I think I’m willing to overlook the not so great acting of the completely unnecessary B-plot and the kind of lame A-plot and give this one an A minus. Just for the entertainment factor. Sometimes that is enough to make me reasonably happy. But only sometimes. 😉