Sorry I’m late with this one.

Well, one thing is for sure, this episode was not as slow as the original. Even though it was pretty much the same, Five-0 had a very different feeling to it.

Thanks to CBS and http://bookemdanno.net/ for this picture.

I don’t think it would be fair to compare these two shows. I’m sure Hawaii Five-0 back then was on top of their game, but today it is almost torture to watch an episode. I kind of remember watching the show as a kid, but I have no real recollection of it. I did watch a couple of episodes now just for fun, but I stayed away from this particular episode to avoid any spoilers. I think the show is very outdated, and their unnatural acting was ‘in’ back then, but today it is barely watchable. Actually, that has nothing to do with one show in particular, it’s the same with all those old shows. That said, I really don’t think that you can compare the modern version with the old one. The characters may have the same name, but that is where the similarity ends. And since this blog is clearly not about the old show, but about the totally hip, fun, and great modern version, let’s get right into it.

Check out the ‘star’ behind the hands. It’s a very inspiring story.

http://www.jasonkoger.com/

He, or better his prosthetic hands were the stand-in for Peter Weller’s character Curt Stoner.

The episode starts with a funeral procession that is escorted by a police officer on a motorbike. If I remember correctly we never learned whose funeral it was.

Parallel to that we see our killer walking to the spot from where he is going to take his first kill shot. Watching this I was wondering why on earth was he walking over hills and through the valleys to get to his spot? Why didn’t he simply drive there? As we could later see, the spot was accessible by car. That is not really logical, but was the same in the original version, only difference back then was that the scene in 1973 was really boring and loooooong. 😉 Oh, and one more thing, this time the choice of music was far better, even though the ’73 version won an Emmy. I think it was unbearable to listen to. But, I guess that is a question of personal taste.

After countless hills and what felt like miles of walking he finally reached his spot. While his target was still driving around. I must say they paid a great homage to the old show, some scenes where exactly the same. Great work.

Let’s have a little word about physics here. If you are driving a car in a forward direction, and it comes to a sudden stop, let’s say because it hits another car, or a wall, everything inside that car will move forward. The casket would also move forward; it would not be pushed out the back door. So if the car hits a brick wall, it stops. However, the passenger, or in this case the casket, will continue to move under conservation of momentum until a force stops him/it. I know it’s not really important, but something like that simply bugs me. You can’t just ignore the laws of physics.

Now we can start the episode. We have a killer and a dead person. And not only any dead person, but a dead cop.

This will probably be the only episode that will have an English title. They even used the old yellow font.

Okay, I have a question for you. When Steve met Danny at the crime scene, I got the feeling that he arrived there after Danny. He said ‘he heard it was cop that was shot’. So, I was looking for his truck, but it’s not there. He came there in the Camaro. Now my question, how did Danny get there, and why didn’t they drive together? AND why is Steve driving the Camaro without Danny? That scene might call for a ‘Fill in the blank’-story. 😉

Anyway, Danny informs Steve that the killed officer was Ben Keoki, a bike cop on funeral detail. It was quite a shock for McGarrett to learn that the best friend of his father had been killed. And again we learn something about Steve. In season one he told us that he didn’t always live in the house on the beach as a child. He was talking about his ‘old neighborhood’ when he and Danny went to meet Mamo. And here he is saying that Keoki lived in the corner house of his block. He is obviously not talking about the beach house but about some kind of apartment.

By the way, Keoki was not a very good dead body; he had a lot of facial movement. 😉

And as you can see there is a street leading to the spot from where Stoner took his shot. So, why not driving there? Why walking for miles over hills and through valleys, always in danger of being seen. I mean it’s not like he is very inconspicuous, with two prosthetic hands and a silver suitcase.

This doesn’t bode well for the investigation. It’s more than obvious that Keoki was the intended target. Of course that also gives them a lead. If someone went through such planning with even engraving the shell case, that means he left a trail behind. They only need to find it.

I must say I always like the scenes at HQ. It’s my favorite HQ of all crime shows I’m watching, and no, this has nothing to do with the actors or characters they are playing. I just really like Five-0’s HQ.

I just noticed something; don’t you also think Danny always looks like he is half asleep, even when he is listening intently?

And please look at Steve’s desk. Is that a seal on his desk? No, I’m not talking about Steve.  Look at the bronze figure. It looks like a seal, or something like it.

I think the show did an amazing job with integrating the hands. Even though I highly doubt that engraving like that free hand style is possible. I did a lot of engraving, with a machine and free hand, and that is not as easy as they made it look like. And certainly not with prosthetic hands. The names looked really good, especially later the McGarrett ones. But no matter what, it gave a completely new meaning to the saying ‘a bullet with your name on it’.

And hello to Fong again. It’s great to see him so often, even though it almost feels like he has more screen time than Catherine lately.

What I didn’t like in this scene was Kono. Or rather what the writers put in her mouth. I thought it was kind of ridiculous that she told the expert how the shell case could help them. They have tech experts for that; they for sure don’t need Kono for it. I just wish they would give her something useful to do, this was not it.

I totally forgot lately, but here is another shot of Mr. Gates support of Five-0. Thank you Microsoft for investing into the show. I really mean that.

The meeting with the guy he set up to take the fall, and to get his next victim, was the only scene during the episode that I think was too long. I just think it was not necessary to show all that in such detail. And to put the rifle together was really not needed, but I guess the simply wanted to show the hands again.

After this, we get the show’s best cargument so far. At least, it was for me. As I said a few times before, I love the brooding Steve. I love it when he turns out the world, and you can practically see him thinking. And this time I loved it even more, because he shared his emotions with us. He told Danny what was eating him. About his guilt of not getting in touch with Keoki when he came back to the islands. Of his sadness about his childhood friend’s death.

This was something we can all relate to; we all had people in our lives that we wanted to get in touch with at some point, but never did. For whatever reasons.

Steve is right, time slips away, and before we know it, it is too late. I loved these scenes. It showed the vulnerable and very human Steve, and I really truly enjoy this side of him. We so rarely see it, but when we do it is always great.

Our boys get interrupted by a call from Kono, who tells them that HPD is in the middle of a shoot-out with a suspect. Of course, Steve and Danny need to be a part of that.

I must say I’m getting really miffed at the writers by now. They are writing Danny as a complete idiot. And even I’m getting tired of complaining about his stupid ranting. What the hell is his problem? Why do the writers let him complain that Steve takes the megaphone to tell the suspect to surrender his gun? Isn’t that police procedure? Steve is doing things by the book, and Danny is still complaining? I’m really sorry, that is just not funny or anything. I think that is simply stupid and makes Danny look like an idiot. Not that I have anything against that, mind you, but sometimes I feel they put stupid stuff in his mouth because they are running out of things he can and should complain about. This really pisses me off.

I think it was the right decision not to wait for SWAT. HPD told them that the area was not cleared yet, which means civilians could still be in harm’s way. The baddy was shooting like a mad man, so their job was it to end this as soon as possible. I think Steve took only a small calculated risk. There was a lot of cover, and not even to mention the back-up from HPD.

And if nothing else it will be a really nice drug bust.

I don’t think anyone believed that he was the sniper. As Steve said he couldn’t hit the side of a barn. So, question now is who set him up and why?

The why they will find out right away. I knew that he would die, but still I thought it was really sad.

MAX! For some reason, it feels like we haven’t seen Max in like forever. So glad he’s back, and has vital information about the shooter and the dead cop. He was surely not killed by a stray bullet, but was targeted. Just like Keoki.

And with the help of Fong and his laser thingy, they got the proof that this was a very cleverly planned killing. Their killer is not some stupid hot head. His careful patient planning makes him even more dangerous.

Ups, where did they suddenly come from? 😉

It for sure will not be easy to protect everyone who might be on the shooter’s list. For that they need to figure out the connection of the victims. Hopefully, they will figure that out, before Stoner can hit another cop.

I was very happy to see the Governor again; I wished we would see him on a regular basis. I truly like him. But seriously, what was he thinking? Telling Steve not to take it personally, and to keep it professionally. Of course they will all take it personally; their friends and colleagues were killed. But to tell Steve to keep it professional? I found that offensive. Steve never let the personal outrage, revenge or his feelings get in the way to do his job. He could have easily killed the killer of his father, but he didn’t. He arrested Hesse. He could have easily killed Wo Fat, but he didn’t. He arrested him. He never ever lost his cool. Why would he now? Maybe the Governor should take a second look at who Steve is and what he represents, and what kind of training he had. If he did, he could have saved his breath on this one. On the other hand, it gave us a really nice scene.

Uh oh!

You know, the shop owner was right. Danny is a nasty human being. Speaking his mind without thinking about the consequences. The minute he sat foot into the shop he was making nasty comments to Steve and to the shop owner. It doesn’t matter that he has a different opinion about guns, even though we don’t even know what Steve’s stand about guns in civilian’s hands is, Danny was nothing but nasty to them both. He should keep his opinions to himself and act professionally, but he is obviously not capable of that. And that is why I think he is not a good detective. Without Steve, he would not have gotten any information from the owner. Danny is simply an idiot.

But I think the show handled this issue about guns very well, without taking any side.

But I had to laugh at one point. Danny was talking about two real cops. Since when does he think Steve is a real cop? That is news to me, and I’m sure this comment will come back to him in some form.

And LOL about Steve. “Just ignore him.” Steve, is that what you are doing? Maybe you can teach me how to ignore Danny.

I don’t think the next scenes really fit our shooter. First of all, he was always planning very carefully. This time he didn’t know that there would be a witness disturbing him? I don’t buy that. And him being so close to his target, and missing? No way. Besides, all his shootings so far where from a greater distance, why would he suddenly change his MO? And fleeing the scene directly in the line of vision of Steve and Danny? Nope, this was not very well done.

But again, it gave us great scenes. 🙂

We were robbed. Of some great scenes. Look at these two, they are clearly wet. Steve has wet clothes on, and Danny’s hair is still messed up and wet. They jumped into the harbor, and we didn’t see it. Not fair. 😉

Now we learn who the shooter is and what happened to him. Hopefully, they won’t be too late for the others involved.

NO! Not Lukela. Don’t you dare let him die.

Nice work, Max. Again, the science guy gives the crucial clue. I like that Five-0 has the CSU department involved but not as heavily as on CSI or even NCIS. I really like it that the show’s focus is mostly on the other aspects of a case.

I have just one tiny question. Why would the state of Hawaii give Stoner such expensive high tech prosthetic hands?

And this is Jason Koger as an extra.

Getting into the end phase of the episode it is picking up speed. Finding out where he is hiding doesn’t take long, but of course he is gone when they get there.

Finding out who the next target is. You better duck!

And we will get a second shoot-out in this episode. Thinking back over the course of the seasons, I don’t think they ever used as many bullets as in this season.

To make one thing clear, of course I don’t want Steve to get hit. Well… 😉 Anyway, this shootout was almost as bad as the one with Wo Fat. The Sniper had so many clear shots, and he was not able to even hit the car? Yeah, right.

Yeah, Danny, what’s the matter with you? This worked like clockwork. Perfect, flawless plan. Even your car got away without a scratch.

I loved the ending. Yeah, it might be a bit cheesy, but I’m so happy that Steve finally found some closure. Sure, Wo Fat is still on the run, but he brought the man who actually pulled the trigger to justice. And he caught Wo Fat once, I’m sure he will do it again. And more importantly, his dad told him it was alright. That he is proud of him.

It doesn’t even matter if it was just in his head, or if there was something real about it. Steve found closure; that is all that matters. And that is what I loved about it. He made his peace with his dad.

Thank you Peter Lenkov for that. And for this wonderful emotional scene.

I thought last week’s ending was great, but this one was even better.

So, there is really not much left, just the verdict.

Storyline: I thought it was great how they integrated the past with the present. A job really well done.

Action: Except for again no hand to hand, which I’m still waiting for, this was great. Lots of action, and so very well done.

Awe-factor: I think the last scenes are what this category was made for. That was so wonderful. So emotional and just… perfect.

Steve-Awesomeness: Do I even need to say anything?

Danny-bearableness: Sorry, but Danny again was almost unbearable to watch. Some scenes I really liked, but mostly I wished the sniper would shut him up. No, seriously, I think the writers need to take a really good look at what they are doing to his character. He was kind of funny in the beginning, but now he is only a nastily bitching idiot.

Support group: Fong, Max and Duke are great, and I’m happy to have them. But I’m still missing Catherine. I know she will be back today actually, but I want to see more of her.

Personal Enjoyment: This was one hell of an episode. One that will make it into my top 10 easily. I loved it from start to finish. A + for sure.