Random thoughts on 3.16

I apologize in advance that this is so late and will not be my usual picture spam and thoughts in ranting form. It’s just due to lack of time that I have to do this one a little differently. But I still hope you will find it interesting. I’m only going to ‘talk’ about the parts that really held my interest.

Raise your hand if you didn’t think that one of the girls would be the victim of the week. That’s what I love about Hawaii Five-0, among a lot of other things, they manage to surprise me. I didn’t think that the murder victim would be in the trunk of the car involved in the crash, and the four girls were nothing but witnesses. I liked that.

Mick, the P.I. – I have no idea whose idea that was, but I think it was really cute. Loved those scenes. And it was nice to see that Steve is on good terms with his former colleagues and COs. I love to see people from Steve’s past, and this one seems to be a really interesting one. Of course it was clear from the beginning that it was not a good idea to hire a P.I. to spy on his mother. What the heck was he thinking?

I think it’s great that Kamekona got a bigger part in this one, and I liked every minute of his scenes. He was great from start to finish. If they would just bury the idea of him behind the stick of a helicopter. I’ve seen BTS pics of them filming it. That is SO ridiculous. I’m afraid that will only look stupid, and that would simply be a shame. Never in a million years would he get a pilot license.

Anyway. I liked his involvement in the case. Of course I think we should discuss a few things about it. Kamekona is a parole, as he told Steve in 1×24. He has a record. And it’s an absolute no go for him to be involved in any kind of gun dealings. Not for himself or for others. I can understand that they looked the other way in 1×24 when he was helping out Steve. But what about now? He is obviously still involved in some shady activities. Remember I said they should look into his dealings when he was undercover with Sang Min in Season 2? I’m not so sure they can and should look the other way. There should be consequences for his actions. Of course I don’t want him to go back to jail, but I think something should be happening.

And one other thing, I really wonder how Mr. Williams ever made detective? Every idiot knew what Steve was up to. And he, Steve’s partner for three years, had no clue? What the heck are the writers thinking? They constantly make him look like an idiot.

There is a lot that could be said about Steve’s mom. But I’m not going into that, simply because I truly enjoy Christine Lathi in the role. She is doing such a great job. When we learned about Steve’s mom not being dead, I was dead set on hating the whole idea, and her. No matter how it would turn out. But then Christine Lathi came, and all my resentment flew out the window. I really like ‘mom’. She brought some great scenes to the show, and gave us a lot of emotion for Steve. And even though I can’t understand how someone could let her children believe their mom died a horrible death, I like to see her back. This whole thing she did to protect her family is just stupid. If that was the case she would have taken her kids with her and disappear into wit sec. But that is a different story.

I loved every scene with her and Mick. That was so much fun to watch. They are both great in their roles. And of course she knew from the beginning what was going on. Loved it.

Okay, I’m going to skip most of the COTW stuff. I didn’t find it very interesting. Even though fans were going crazy about Summer Glau guest starring. Well, I wasn’t. She was the only one I didn’t like on Firefly. So, I couldn’t care less about her being on the show. And I thought her character and the whole Fight Club, secret fight technique stuff was not really interesting.

Now we had another confrontation with Kamekona. And I must say I loved to see Steve having his hand on his gun. And Danny trying to handcuff him was rather funny. A citizen’s arrest? Well, Danny and Steve both found that rather funny.

They obviously knew that the house would be empty, or why didn’t they put on any protection? But luckily the only casualty was Chucky. 🙂

In my eyes, the blue room never gets old. Such great coloring.

A little tip for where to put your players. It might not be the smartest idea to put the shortest guy the farthest away from the camera. Doesn’t really make him look taller. Just saying. 🙂

Stevie, I’m with Danny here, this will end badly. If you think your mom will never find out, well then you will be in for a surprise. I enjoyed not only the cargument, but also Mick and Doris at lunch. That was really great, loved Mick’s cover story.

It’s always good to see Max. I think he was kind of missing for a while, wasn’t he?

So, after going back and forth, and investigating here and there. More or less interesting, we come to the final confrontation at the ‘Fight Club’.

I have been complaining a few times now that I’m missing hand to hand combat. Well, we got it this time, but still with the wrong people. And I’m sure many people will disagree with me, but two women fighting? It’s the stupidest thing ever. Like women boxing. Sorry, but that is just not for me. I can’t take it seriously. And I couldn’t take this fight seriously. And I truly don’t mean any disrespect with it. I know they train just as hard, and they would win against the one or other men, but for me, that is just NOT what I want to see.

So, I was glad when Five-0 showed up and ended this fighting stuff. And I simply loved how they did it. Was there anyone who didn’t think about Indiana McJones? 🙂

And now, finally here comes what I was waiting for the whole episode. Catherine and Steve.

I truly believe these two need more screen time. They are so great together, and I for one want to see more of them. And I want to see more passion. I admit I love their relationship. They are extremely comfortable around each other; they simply can read one another perfectly. They know each other, and I love that. But I also want to see the other side of their relationship. I would be happy with a shower scene, or a scene on the beach, or whatever. Just a scene where they are not interrupted by any of their friends or Steve’s mom. That is not too much to ask for, I think. I mean they do spent a lot of time together; they for example go surfing together. As Cath said ‘they’, whoever they are, were missing him yesterday morning. It seems a regular thing they are doing together. That is just the stuff I like to see, and I’m sure I’m not alone with that wish.

But anyway, I just loved these scenes. I totally love Catherine for not making fun of Steve, but using his cravings to her advantage. That was so cute. And I can totally understand that Steve would miss his old life in some form. That it would manifest in wanting to eat an MRE though? Well, ok-ay.

I hope we will see more of Mick and Doris, I really like them together.

Yeah, right, Doris, he should have just asked you. As if you would tell him the truth. Maybe we will learn the truth at some point, I at least hope so.

I’m not sure why Steve is keeping his dealings with his mother a secret from Catherine. Maybe he already knows that Cath didn’t tell him the whole truth about what Doris did. I think he would wait for Cath to tell him, or to confront her at the right time. I just hope this will not be the reason why they break up. At least for a while. But I’m sure that is what is going to happen. Sigh.

So, to get this to an end there is only the verdict left.

For me this was an okay episode, with some great scenes in it. But frankly the COTW didn’t hold my interest at all. And even though I don’t watch Five-0 because of the good crime story, it still needs to interest me. This didn’t at all. But Kamekona, Doris, Mick, Steve and Cath made up for it.

I’m not even ranting much about Danny this time. This episode felt like Mr. Caan simply phoned his performance in. I felt like he was really not interested in giving a good performance. Don’t know, but it felt like he wished to be somewhere else during the entire episode. And I think it showed.

Anyway, I still give this one a B.

I’m sorry it took me a whole week to post this. The review from this Monday will be up before the weekend.

Random thoughts on 3.15

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.

Random thoughts on 3×14

I apologize in advance for the picture spam that will be in this post. But the whole team looked so darn good, one guy in particular. So, I hope you will forgive me.

Wow, what a week. Three episodes in eight days. How great was that? Unfortunately, that also means we are well into the second half of season 3. And depending on how many episodes we will get, I heard it will be 24; we only have 10 more to go. Can you believe that? I still remember the long wait over the summer, and how happy I was when the season finally begun. It feels like it was just yesterday. Even though we didn’t win the lottery and didn’t attend SOTB. But there is still hope for next year. Girls, our numbers are still in the game. Just so you know.

Talking about a game. Who was playing a game in this exciting episode? The Governor, Wo Fat, The Politician, The Campaign People? All somehow working together? Or totally unrelated to each other? Huh. And let’s not forget an important part of this show. The custody hearing.

But let’s start at the beginning.

For me, it was no question who this was, but I wondered why she went to meet him. Did she know him prior to this meeting at the lounge? She seemed happy to see him. But I guess her happiness didn’t last that long. Although I have a question about something I don’t understand. Why did Wo Fat pull the trigger? He didn’t shoot her. Just to scare her off? She was plenty scared already, and shooting in the middle of the night would only draw attention to them. So why do it?

Those were two mighty nervous men waiting for the hearing. That was without a doubt one of the best bromance scenes the series has produced so far. How cute was the fixing of the tie, which I’m sure Steve left like that on purpose so Danny could have a little distraction? I mean really, Steve was in uniform half his life; he knows how the tie has to look with his uniform. No way was that not intentional. But no matter what, I loved it. And that way SC could get back at Alex for fixing his tie.

I think this was a great scene to show Steve and Danny’s friendship. The court hearing of course didn’t go according to plan, well actually, I think it did. I don’t even know why Danny prepared a speech and put it down on paper. As if he would have read from it. Danny is neither organized nor in control, so why even bother with something like that? His strength lies in the improvisation, and I think that was a lot better anyway. I loved how Steve stood up as a character witness, I don’t think Danny can do much better than that person standing before the judge. In his uniform and all. I mean come on, she was a goner as soon as she saw him.

Of course, the Governor had to call during the hearing. Steve couldn’t hold him off any longer than he did, it’s not in his nature to ignore a call from his superior. But he said what needed to be said, and I was sure everything was good.

If you don’t want to listen to me ranting about Danny, you might like to skip to the next pictures. Just a friendly warning.

It is surely no secret that I don’t like Danny that much. But lately he has grown on me, simply because season three is so great, and he was not really bothering me. And as my friend Cokie tells me, I have to love him because Steve loves him. I try; I swear; I really try to. But in this episode, he did it again. He p/ssed me off.

Really, Danny? You still hate Hawaii? You’re still in the same place as in the beginning of season one?

I must say I was miffed when he said “I hate Hawaii”. Because for me that is not just the islands, but includes everything associated with it.

I thought it was sad to say his daughter is his whole world. There is nothing there that he even remotely likes? With his words and attitude, he puts everyone down. His friends, his work, even himself. And it doesn’t make it any better that he said it’s his home. Because it is only so because his daughter is there.

He is still just like in 1.24 when he said to Rachel there is NOTHING in Hawaii for him.

It’s just him and his daughter? Well, Danny, I feel bad and sad for everyone who considers you family. It’s a shame that you don’t feel the same way. With words like that you don’t deserve the friends you have.

I thought Danny was at least somewhat feeling like being at home. And that he realized that he had a family outside his blood family. It seems to me that even his words in the hospital last week, or all his other actions showing that he considered his coworkers as Ohana, were just an act. Because his words before the judge belie all his behavior.

When he said all that in court, I don’t think Steve’s face only showed that he thought how stupid it was to say that before the judge, but I also think he felt sad that Danny still feels like that. Not just a minute before he said how important it was for him that Steve was there for him, and now he says that he has no one but Grace. How must a friend feel to hear that from his best friend? I’m sure that was really great to hear.

Okay, rant over. And I would really like to hear your interpretation of what Danny said. What did you hear?

Now we can start with the crime of the week. A strangled woman in the Governor’s friends’ house.

Denning’s attitude felt very manipulative, and I was curious how long McGarrett would let him get away with it. I thought it was amusing that Danny wanted to butt heads with him right away, and Steve was willing to play along for the time being. It seems to me that Danny really doesn’t know when to shut up. I loved it how Steve reminded him what the last time happened they went against him. I mean Danny should know that Steve wouldn’t sweep anything under the rug anyway. So why the aggressive stand? Why not investigating first, and then making some noise?

And Steve is right; it doesn’t matter if it’s official or a favor, it’s an order from their boss. I found it offensive to compare Steve to a string toy, following orders without thinking. Getting a directive and follow through with it, that is what the chain of command is, Danny. But maybe that is just me, and others think Danny is funny. Well, I don’t.

It’s nice to see that Chin is back and seemingly well. But I hope there will still repercussions from what happened to him with Malia and from killing Delano. But we’ll see.

‘Houston we have a problem’ is right. Finding a dead hooker in the bed in a house that belongs to friends of the Governor? Not good at all. And nobody liked where this was going, surely not Steve, who realized that he was being played by the Governor. And as we learned in 3.08, he hates being played.

Any of you thought the Governor had something to do with it? I didn’t. I just thought he was going about all this the completely wrong way. Not telling McG the truth was not a good idea. But I never doubted him. First, I like him, and second, we already had a corrupt Governor. Surely, they wouldn’t repeat that? Well, on the other hand, with Peter Lenkov you can’t be sure of anything.

Excuse me, but did anyone else think that ‘student’ was a bit too naïve? It’s nobody’s business what she’s doing with her body? Well, missy, I hate to tell you, but you are wrong. Last time I checked, prostitution was against the law in the United States. And the IRS might also be interested in what kind of money you are making on the side. How stupid can one person be? And she’s a student? Well, then good night.

While Kono and Chin have discovered they have a tail, Danny has to inform Steve that Governor Denning isn’t very eager to get the investigation forward. Stalling them any way he can? It’s not a hard prediction that he will get an unpleasant visit from McGarrett very soon.

Nice try to catch the guys in the car. At least now they know they were from the government.

I loved McGarrett’s and Denning’s power play. I truly believe that Denning was conflicted and thought he did the right thing. Of course he has no right to intervene with an investigation in that way. Deciding what evidence is legit and what not. That is surely not his job or his right. And trying to manipulate Five-0 in that way is never a good idea.

You know what, Danny? Just stop, just shut the heck up. The investigation is a waste of time, they are not going to tell us anything? It is your job to investigate; it is your job to make them talk and find out the truth. I am so sick and tired of Danny’s constant complaining and constant negativity. How anyone can stand even five minutes with him is a mystery to me. In this episode, he is totally getting on my nerves. I don’t find it funny or even amusing at all. I thought it was… two years ago. But it’s always the same. And now it is only annoying.

I know people will say, well, it’s just how he is. Yes, it is, and it’s fine. For him. But it is a personality trait I could never put up with. I think everyone has things that drive him/her nuts. And Danny’s ranting is my thing. I just can’t stand it. It’s a fine line for me. I love most of their carguments, or wherever they happen, but Danny’s bitching is something I can’t tolerate at all. I know; I should just roll my eyes and move on. Going to do that now.

I loved how they confronted the Congress man’s aid, or whatever his job is. Guess they had questions for him he’d rather not answer.

Okay, seriously, were we supposed to believe that this guy had something to do with the disappearance of Freed? Yeah, right.

But I must say the whole ‘interview’ was entertaining, and I was actually laughing out loud at Steve’s face about the bathroom. Come on, Steve, you never… If that is the case you should rectify that situation really soon. Preferably with Cath, who we will hopefully see soon.

After they had the proof that the teacher didn’t do it, this case got even more interesting.

Amy was back. And what has the opponent politician to do with all of this?

When Amy showed up, it was pretty clear that Wo Fat was somehow involved. The question only was, was he manipulating one of the candidates or also the Governor? Or was his game something completely different?

It was pretty obvious that Amy was lying; question was why. And what does she really know? Fong, thanks for having him again, solved another piece of the puzzle. It seemed that Freed didn’t have anything to do with the killing. That begs the question was he even ever with her, or anyone else like her?

What I liked most about this episode was how they pieced together every little detail until they had the big picture. Pulling in all resources to figure this one out. And we learned when this was supposed to be, on December 2. And that Amy spent quite a bit of money. And I loved it when they found out that Wo Fat was trying to get back into the game with buying another Politician.

I really liked it how Freed stood up to Wo Fat. He reminded me a lot of McGarrett and the Governor actually. I think those three are very much alike.

From now on the talking is over, and we progress rather fast towards trying to free Freed and capturing Wo Fat. That sure doesn’t happen without casualties.

If I were a sniper leaving a crime scene, I would not speed out of a parking garage and draw every attention to me. How stupid do writers think criminals are? I mean, fine, we got a little shooting and a bit of jumping, but really, that was not very clever.

Oh, and by the way, remember Steve last week? Danny doesn’t open his eyes either while shooting. 😉

Criminals shouldn’t use cell phones. At least not in Hawaii. Five-0 always seem to be able to track them down. Last week, they found out where Chin was, and this week. they figure out where Wo Fat is. All due to a little phone call.

I really loved it that the guy got away. Didn’t think of that, huh, Wo Fat? 😉

His list of crimes gets longer and longer. Now we can add kidnapping to it. Again. And there is a witness alive that can testify to it. Bad for you Wo Fat.

How did he know where to go to? Freed could have gotten in any direction. Best not to think about it, or that he stumbled over the hunter.

Well, I could say that the confrontation with Wo Fat was kind of ridiculous.

That Steve should have put the helicopter between Freed and Wo Fat, put it down on the ground.

I could also say how ridiculous it was that Danny didn’t make Swiss cheese out of the bike and Wo Fat. Or that Wo Fat didn’t hit Steve with his rifle, or a vital part of the helicopter.

But I’m not. 😉 Instead, just enjoy the rescue. But next time, please make his escape more believable, because this, well, it was not.

I wonder who is responsible for the props? Or maybe this was the responsibility of the stunt coordinator? Did you notice; Danny was with harness, without harness, with it again?

First of all, someone should watch out for stuff like that, and second, if I were the actor, I would realize that something is missing. Wouldn’t you? I know they are filming this mostly on a platform, but still, these are stupid goofs.

I’m sure Wo Fat left his cell phone intentionally for Five-0 to find. That way, he made sure that he wasn’t the only one going down.

So, in the end, they got everyone except Wo Fat. But what else is new?

I read on a few posts that people were wondering why Steve didn’t do anything to protect his mother when he learned that Wo Fat was on the islands. I didn’t need to see that. He did it either off screen, or Doris is still with her friends on Maui, or he simply heeded her words that she will take care of herself. Besides Wo Fat made it very clear that he was not after Doris. I’m sure Steve made arrangements, but I don’t need to see every little detail on screen. And I think he is way past the stage of freaking out because danger might come near his mother. And I’m absolutely okay with that.

And now we can finally come to the end of the episode. One of the best endings, if not THE best ending. I simply loved it. I loved the serious Steve, brooding over what happened that day. And I’m not sure it was only about Wo Fat; I think he also thought about what Danny said in court.

And no matter how often Danny says they had no choice but to leave; he’s wrong. This was a botched up rescue, and Steve knows it. There was no need to abort, Freed was not seriously injured, and five minutes wouldn’t have made a difference. They had the power to get Wo Fat, and they made the wrong decision, if Danny wants to see it or not. They had more firepower and were in the better position than Wo Fat. Aborting was wrong. And that is something Steve has to come to terms with, and Danny seems totally blind to the fact that they screwed up. He is pretty big on excuses and talking until he believes what he’s saying.

Anyway, I loved that Denning came to clear the air, and apologize. And that Danny won his case. This was truly a great ending. Just enjoy the pictures. Guess I got a little overboard with this episode. So many absolutely glorious pictures.

Oh, and one more thing, thank you Global for again giving us a lot of this episode without the logo. I greatly appreciate it.

Well, I guess all there is left now is the verdict.

Storyline: I truly enjoyed this one. Wo Fat trying to get some of his earlier power back, and a murder mystery, kidnapping, and corrupt Politicians. I truly liked how everything came together and how everything was slowly revealed. For me a solid A.

Action: Except for any hand to hand, this one had it all. And again, Steve flying a helicopter. Seeing that makes up for everything. But actually, they didn’t even need to make up for anything at all. This was an A for sure.

Guest-Star: This is a category that won’t live past this episode, just because guest stars are unimportant in my eyes. If one makes an appearance, I will pick this up again.

Fun factor: Well, not really much fun, except maybe before the court started.

Awe-factor: Can they be any better than before the court, or at the end? I loved them. YES, I can love them together, no matter that I shred Danny to pieces from time to time. I love them together, but not him alone. It’s just how it is.

Steve-Awesomeness: Oh my goodness. That man in a uniform is beyond words. And we had not only that, no he was behind the stick again. And I just LOVE him brooding. I could watch that for hours. So, this was just awesome with a capital A.

Danny-bearableness: This was the episode where I could barely stand him, and in other scenes loved him. But sadly, barely stand him out weighted this time. Sorry, Danny, lost a lot of points with me. No matter the cute beginning and the great ending.

Support group: Where is Max? And please find something to do for Catherine. Pronto. She’s a regular now; I like to see her regularly. If you can’t find anything legit for her to do on the show, besides lending technical equipment, then show her in other ways. Hell, she has a boyfriend. I would be happy to see them in the shower, in bed, in the ocean, hell, having lunch together. That shouldn’t be so hard. She could even bring lunch for all of them. Spend a few minutes, listen to their case and leave. But show her!

Personal Enjoyment: I LOVED this episode. From start to finish. There is always stuff in every episode that I will question. But even my ranting about Danny, or plot holes, or whatever, very seldom lessens my enjoyment. And this one I enjoyed immensely. No question about the verdict here. Absolut A.

Oh boy. Now, after this is done I like to hear what you thought about this episode. Or any of my ramblings.

Random thoughts on 3×13

I’m almost worried to tell you my initial reaction after the episode.

‘I want action like that with McGarrett!’ 😉

This was one darn great thrill ride. A solid A for me. You are probably wondering why is she giving us her verdict up front? Well, simple, there was no warming up in the episode either, we started right in the middle of it. So, here we go, let’s just dive right in.

I am not an expert on cars, well at least not as much as to tell the difference between a model from 2010 and 2012. Didn’t they say during SOTB that they would get ‘new’ cars? And wasn’t Alex even pointing to ‘his’ new Camaro in the background? At the one with a two colored hood? When are we going to get those new cars, or are these the new ones, and nobody told us? 😉

I must confess I’m not a fan of any of the Baldwin brothers, but I think it’s very cool that they were able to get the real brother to play this part. Way to go show. One other thing. Do any of the bad guys really think a gold chain around the neck looks cool or any kind of bad ass? Really guys?

Okay, just some silliness here. Steve, you might hit your target even better if you opened your eyes. 😉

Okay, here is my first tiny little beef I have with the show. How deep must one sleep to not wake up if you get handcuffed to the bed? Oh, and have you noticed, Steve and Chin bought the same bed? And they were obviously both unable to put it together properly. Both beds are shaking like crazy even if no acrobatics are happening in it. I would get seasick in a bed like that. 🙂

As I have mentioned numerous times, I am not a Kono fan, and I must say I’m already sick and tired of this ‘romance’. I just don’t buy it. It is not believable in my eyes. Even though I think Adam is a very cool guy, and I wonder what he is up to. But Kono? Well, at least it seems that she is not as stupid as she was since we saw her first with Adam. Maybe there is still hope for her. Maybe. I think their relationship is pretty much over. Now that she broke Adam’s trust.

And of course I would like to know who he was talking to.

Yeah! Catherine’s back. And in uniform. Double YEAH!

Okay, here is a little hint for the wardrobe department; could we please not put Danny in stripes? I don’t know who spread the rumor, but stripes do not make him look taller. He is as tall, or short, for that matter, as he is. Live with it.

And really, Steve, expand your horizons? Wasn’t it you, who almost ran when Kame cooked you breakfast with spam in it in season 1? Now you like it? I think the writers were kind of confused here; I would bet that Steve would never eat spam, unless someone forced it down his throat.

I like to petition for something. Can we please have Steve eat in every episode? I don’t know why, but I simply love it. And talking with his mouth full? He can pull it off. Spam wrapped in a sock. Sounds delicious. LOL

This is for sure not a very nice place for a vacation. Chin Ho locked up inside Halawa? Not a good thing. By the way, does anyone else think that Halawa must be the most unreliable Correction Facility in the entire United States? It seems that everyone can come and go as he pleases. Wo Fat even murdered Hesse in there completely undisturbed. Hess stabbed Steve, and no one was watching. Chin took Delano out without any problem. It seems to me that the institution has a huge problem.

I just realized something. I watched this episode on my big screen without seeing it. But now doing the screen caps, I realize there is no logo on the screen. Why is that? Maybe because the episode was aired at the same time on all coasts? My version is from Canada and normally there is the Global logo on it. Could we please have this more often? Without the logo, I mean. Did any of you watch it with the logo?

Sorry, I couldn’t resist using one of my favorite Steve shots to show the logo. Hope you don’t mind.

Well, hello. Friendly face in an impossible environment. Or is he a foe? We’ll see. One thing is for sure, things will get interesting with him around. Sang Min. He is probably the most popular villain (if you can call him a villain) in the Five-0 fandom.

I’m always amazed what a little difference in haircut and such a nice suit can do for a person. I think Chin looks very different to his normal persona.

And is there anyone out there who didn’t know that he was a bad guy? Didn’t think so.

I’m not so sure what I think of Kono pulling friends into her mess. If she wants to do things that are clearly against the law, like tapping a phone, that is her problem. And hopefully one she will have to pay for later. No immunity and means, and certainly not for her private stuff. I hope this will not get swept under the rug. But to pull her friends into it? She is using Fong, and I don’t like that. She at least should come completely clean and tell him what he will be a part of.

I like to have a little word with the writers please. I get that Chin doesn’t have a good stand in prison. He is a cop. One who put a lot of people behind bars. So, it is clear that a lot of people want to see him dead. I get that. What I don’t get is why doesn’t the same apply to Kaleo, and before that to Delano? That is simply stupid. Kaleo is a dirty cop, yes, but he is still a cop who put people in the very same prison he is in now. Same goes for Delano. And excuse me if I say that Kaleo doesn’t strike me as THE man. He was not a big wig when he was arrested; he was only a small stupid guy who got paid to warn the drug cartel of investigations or raids. And suddenly he has free reign in prison and practically runs the joint? Sorry, but I think that is ridiculous. And it looks like Chin is also a bit surprised about it.

Chin said something interesting before they started their fight. He said that good men died because of Kaleo, and he surely is right about that. And he said ‘you belong here. I don’t’. Well, Chin that is debatable. Does that mean in your eyes it only counts when ‘good’ men get killed? May I remind you that YOU killed a person in cold blood? I think it is very questionable if Chin belongs behind bars or not. Shouldn’t every human life be worth the same? Is it okay to kill a bad guy, but punishable to kill a good guy? I think the writers’ moral is pretty screwed up. I can easily overlook crimes in the name of the greater good, like stealing ten million to get Chin free. Or lying to the Feds, or other ‘crimes’. But Chin killed a person. He fired his shot gun into the person’s face. That was cold blooded murder. And if he is getting away with it, the writers should at least not paint him as if he didn’t do anything wrong and didn’t belong behind bars.

But I must admit these two fighting was pretty cool.

This next scene totally made me laugh. How stupid did they cuff these two together? Look at the handcuffs. They are cuffed above the pipe. They only need to get up and walk around the pole, and can move freely around the room. Why not cuff them below the pipe? This is just stupid. I know, I should probably not care about such trivia things, but I do. Because I would never get away with writing something like that. 😉

I loved that they brought up The Pilot; the scene that plays right into my opinion that Chin, despite his Zen attitude is pretty uncontrolled and of a violent nature. I’m not even starting to talk about his preferences to shot guns. Back then he hit Sang Min with an ashtray, an act that was not called for in any way. I liked it that Sang Min got back to him for that. Maybe I should clear something up, I love Chin. But he is not what he seems. And I’m looking forward to see what else will be happening with this character.

She didn’t actually break privilege; it is her duty to call in help if she sees a danger to her patient. I think it’s great that we learned that Chin went out to get help with his grief. It is just a pity that he thought he would look week if he told anyone.

Alarming Five-0 finally gets the search for Chin going. It’s about time.

Meanwhile at Halawa Chin and Sang Min fight for survival during the riot in the hope that help will be coming from the outside. Those were pretty cool scenes. Lots of extras, lots of stuntmen doing a great job.

I liked it that Fong was so busy in this episode. He is a recurring character I really like. He and Max are great additions to the show. Thinking about it, I think they are generally doing a pretty good job finding the right guys for the roles. Except for the one or other guest star, but that should be a different post.

Now they pull in all the help they can get. And they better do, doesn’t look good for Chin right now.

One thing is for sure, they will be looking at one hell of a clean-up job after this riot. I think the set department did a great job making us believe we’re looking at a prison under attack from the inmates. Great job, guys.

Look who we found. Of course Chin has to help that doctor; he wouldn’t be Chin if he didn’t. Every decent person would have gone to her aid. Do I even want to think what would have happened to her in the next few minutes? No, I don’t think so.

I’m a little bit torn about this stylistic device they were using for the second time after 3×06. On the one hand I like the colors and the fast-forward of the scenes, but on the other hand, we have already seen what has happened. They are kind of wasting valuable time. Time which they could have used for new material. What do you think? Do you like to see those scenes twice?

Steve was right. Find Delano… find Kelly. Didn’t take them long to figure out where he is.

I think this is where Chin made a stupid, almost fatal mistake. Why send her to open the door and stay back? To ward off who? There was no one there yet. It was just stupid to separate and stay back. That is what I really don’t like in writing a scene. This simply wouldn’t happen. All three would have gone to the door, open it as fast as possible and slip out. No one in his right mind would stay back and wait for inmates who they can’t even see yet. And of course the guard is back and Chin gets captured. Could have told you that back at the door.

Now we’re talking! Five-0 on the scene. What kind of lame ass Chief of Halawa was that? He was totally in over his head, and I hope this will have consequences for him. They didn’t really think they could stop Five-0 from getting to their man, did they?

Could I get another petition going? Please put Steve in a helicopter every other episode. I just love seeing him fly.

Really doesn’t look good for Chin. His team mates better hurry if they want to get him out of there alive. And seeing these scenes I got really worried that they would kill off Sang Min. That would have been a shame.

This is my favorite scene of the episode. Five-0 flying in to the rescue and Duke smiling knowingly. I just loved that. And I’m so very happy that we see Duke so often.

Those were some great fight and rescue scenes. ‘One more’ – I was really hoping that Sang Min had waited for Five-0. He had a real good chance to get out of there legally. Now he is on the run again. I’m a little disappointed about that.

After all the action and drama it was time for a little light ending. Even though it felt kind of rushed.

Poor Chin. He also had to be subjected to Kamekona’s new experiment, hopefully it will not hinder his recovery. I don’t think there is a new love interest for Chin in the near future, but I wouldn’t mind to see her again.

With all the excitement going on I almost forgot about these two. As I said earlier their relationship is doomed. Frankly, I never saw the love between them. You don’t gag and bound the one you love. You don’t threaten to kill the boss and friend of the one you love. You don’t spy on the one you love. And I think they both know it is over.

Storyline: I guess there wasn’t really a crime of the week. But the storyline was great. Put a cop in prison and see how he’s faring. Great idea, even though they make it all look so easy to get him into Halawa. But after all that happened there I don’t question that anymore. 😉

Action: I don’t think anyone can complain about lack of action in this one. This was one hell of a ride. Great stunt work as usual.

Guest-Star: none to mention.

Fun factor: Well, fun might the wrong word, but this was an episode to enjoy.

Awe-factor: That was for me when they flew in to get their man. They don’t care about protocol or anything when one of their own is in danger. And it was a great scene with the helicopter over the prison.

Steve-Awesomeness: I’m going to change this to Chin-Awesomeness for this one. Chin for the win.

Support group: Call in all the resources they have, and everyone from Fong, over Kame to Cath is willing to help any way they can. Great.

Personal Enjoyment: I loved this episode. A solid A for me. Sure, I could have done with more Steve, but I’m always saying that, so it doesn’t count. Chin was great in this episode, and he deserved this one. An episode of his own, and what a great one it was. Well done.

I would love to know what you thought about this episode. Use the comment function if you like to share your opinion.

Please forgive me any grammar or spelling mistakes. If there is anything in it you just can’t live with, please let me know and I’ll correct it.

Random thoughts about 3-11

I’m sorry I took so long to post this one, but RL is very demanding at the moment.

Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t watched… blablabla… Now let’s get this photo show, I mean rambling, no, review… ah, whatever, on the road.

“Something on your mind?”

No, Steve, not at all. I’m sure it was Catherine’s dream to have breakfast in the car for quite a while now.

Men are really clueless. But this guy is so cute that I wouldn’t mind having breakfast with him, no matter where that would be.

Steve, if you concentrate really hard, maybe you can figure out what your girlfriend would like.

DON’T interrupt when Steve tries to learn something.

That wanna-be-carjacker had to learn not to mess with Steve on a date the hard way.

And I absolutely loved Sgt. Lukela’s reaction to learning that someone tried to carjack Steve. “You sure picked the wrong car, brother.” Oh, he is so right about that. LOL I think it’s really great that Sgt. Duke Lukela (Dennis Chun) seems to be a permanent fixture in season 3. I think he is a great character. He flows very naturally, and he fits very well into the show. The show does a terrific job with these smaller recurring roles.

Steve seems to enjoy this little episode with the idiot of a robber. And I have to say I enjoyed these first two minutes immensely. For me, it was one of the most funny, light and charming openers of an episode so far. I absolutely loved it.

Okay, now here comes my first question. Would Steve really be asking about the kid? Not that he isn’t a caring guy who can emphasize easily. But I wonder if he would ask about the kid sitting with handcuffs at some desk? Not that I’m complaining, because it gave us some great scenes, heck the whole episode was built on the next scenes. I simply wonder what woke his interest in the story about some random boy in a police station? Give me your thoughts about that.

They have had some really great young actors lately. Last week’s Lucy was just wonderful, and I think this week’s Ethan was very good as well. I knew I saw him before, but I had to look it up on imdb. Here is the trailer for the movie I saw him in. I think it looks like a film to watch.

Ethan Awana – Tristan Lake Leabu

Ethan obviously managed to get Steve’s attention. I don’t know how the procedure really is, but I would think if a minor would come to a police station someone would listen to him if he told them his dad didn’t come home, and he is alone right now. I mean he is just 13, and that station is not some over flown precinct in some not so nice neighborhood in NY, LA, or any other major city. So, I thought someone would have time to listen to him, before he had to use the drastic measures like throwing in a window. Just wondering about that. On the other hand, that neglect gave us the task force leader taking care of a young boy. 😉

Danny, my new friend, for once you are absolutely right. This was a ridiculous idea. And I’m not even talking about hiring Danny. Danny, who has absolutely no idea about helicopters or anything that flies, to negotiate a better price? If I wanted to buy that thing, I would have asked Steve. For certain not Danny, even though he got the job done in the end. Getting back to being ridiculous. I’m talking about Kamekona getting a helicopter to fly tourists around in that thing. Excuse me? First, he wouldn’t even be allowed to get his licence. No offence, but have you looked at Kamekona lately? And second, how the heck would he even fit behind the stick? I was hoping that talking about him getting a helicopter was a one-time fun joke, and that’s it. But no, they seem to be serious about this. It’s laughable, and not in a good way. I don’t think it’s funny at all. It’s unrealistic and stupid.

Sorry to be so harsh about this, but it angers me. And another question, where did he get 170,000 $ from? I find that very suspicious. He was in jail for drugs, weapons and other stuff. And we know that he probably still has those weapons stashed away somewhere. Remember the season one finale?

And remember season two with San Min? Maybe what he said back then was the truth, and his shrimp truck is just a cover. That would be cool. If I were Five-0, I would investigate him.

Now that brought memories back. Remember Magnum P.I.? I loved that show back then. No idea if that was the original chopper T.C. flew, but I loved the homage to that great eighties show.

Just a little side note here, we are five (yes, 5) minutes into the show and already have 13 pictures. Guess my normal 20ish will not be enough this time. Hope you don’t mind.

I really liked Cath and Steve carefully ‘interrogating’ Ethan on the way to his dad’s store. I think Steve and Cath are making a great team. And I think Cath is really good with kids. She was great with Grace in the Halloween episode, and she’s really great with Ethan.

“Come to stay with us.” Steve, who exactly is ‘us’? You and Cath? Does that mean something is going on we don’t know anything about yet? I mean you two have a thing, right? Steve, you are so busted. I loved how they are both thinking they are together, but not really acknowledging it TO each other. So funny. Well, I guess the end of the ep takes care of that, but we’re not there yet.

I completely forgot to deliver the Microsoft shot in the last review. But actually, I’m not sure there even was one. This time Mr. Gates was again very prominently placed. 😉 Oh, and by the way, can I please get a Batsignal like that? Maybe for Christmas? Please?

Okay, I have a confession to make. I was so well entertained the last ten minutes that I totally forgot that we might need to start investigating the Crime of the week. I was completely content to watch Steve/Cath/Ethan and Kame/Danny. But of course this is a crime show, well of sorts, so let’s start the investigation.

No, Danny, I don’t think you’re an idiot for saying yes to Grace flying to Vegas to visit Stan. He might not like it, but Stan is Grace’s step dad. And personally, I think he is not a bad one. And I’m sure Grace also loves Stan, not like her dad, but still she lives with him, and if all the pictures are any indication, they do live a happy life. And I think it’s only natural that Rachel would spend Christmas with her husband and her two kids. So, Danny, you did the right thing. Be thankful that you could see her every Christmas until now. She will be back, and you will have a great time with her after Christmas.

I think this cargument was pretty good, but of course, I have a question. Why does he do that? Why does Danny always have to pick on Steve? Why can’t he imagine that maybe a Christmas at McGarrett’s house is actually a really nice event? Giving out Guns and Ammo magazine subscriptions? Really, Danny? Can’t you imagine that your buddy might actually be really nice to his girlfriend and pick a really great present for her? Or even for his mother, who he didn’t have on any Christmas day for twenty years? You can’t imagine that he might be looking forward to this Christmas for even the first time in twenty years? He even told you back in season 1 that he had missed EVERY major holiday. But no, you have to make fun of him, belittle him. Practically telling him that he and all McGarrett’s are not capable of spending time together with the spirit of love and joy in mind and heart. That really pisses me off. Sam, take a deep breath. I know most people don’t see it like that, and think his words are only funny, and said in good fun. But I don’t see it like that. I think what he says is hurtful and inconsiderate. And shows me how very little he knows about his so-called best friend. Rant over. On with the show. But I like to hear your thoughts about Danny’s words. Really, I do. Even if you most likely think I’m nuts having this opinion.

Kono! Welcome to the show. 😉 On it for only seconds, but delivering the first lead. Good job.

Well, that’s what I call ‘covered in blood’. Poor guy looks pretty guilty.

I’m still not quite sure what Chin dug out, or in, or whatever, but I think it was pretty hilarious. Poor guy.

I must say it looked more and more like Bruce was one of the bad guys, and I didn’t like that. But he would be in trouble anyway, even if he was a good guy. Possession of an unregistered firearm is a criminal offence. It doesn’t look good for him.

Okay, now I was officially stumped about what was going on. Where the heck does this money come from? No way, he made that with his store. My first thought was maybe insurance money from his dead wife? But why would that be in the basement?

And to make it even more fun, and to say it with Danny’s words, a mystery on top of the mystery. Really, a John Doe?

Aw, Max, I for one love your long-winded explanations. Don’t listen to Danny. Please stay your adorable self.

Now we’re slowly, very slowly getting closer to what is going on. It seems that the shotgun victim was producing ‘moonshine’ – or at the very least drinking it.

Fun Fact: Do you know where the term ‘Moonshine’ comes from?

Moonshine, also known as ‘white lightning’, mountain dew (nope, not the soda kind), hooch or Tennessee white whiskey, is a very high proof, often 190 proof (95 % alcohol), distilled spirit, generally produces illicitly. The word is believed to derive from the term ‘moonrakers’ used for early English smugglers and the clandestine (i.e. by the light of the moon) nature of the operations of illegal Appalachian distillers who produced and distributed whiskey.

The Moonshine Man of Kentucky, illustration from Harper’s Weekly, 1877, showing five scenes from the life of a Kentucky moonshiner

Okay, let’s get one thing straight here. I like guest stars, and I understand the need for them. So, I’m good with that. But I’m not good with how they use them, or in this case how they present them. George Takei as Chin’s uncle was surely great. But I think he was really wasted. Not because I expected him to have a bigger role, which guest star was seen longer than a few minutes on Five-0 anyway? No, because we saw his complete part in the sneak peek. I think that is just dumb. Promote a guest star, who we know will be on for a couple of minutes, and show his whole act before the episode even airs. Shaking my head here, that is a concept I don’t understand.

Speaking of promotion for a product. Peter Lenkov’s R.I.P.D. is now being filmed and will come to the movies in 2013. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon and Mary-Louise Parker.

“A recently slain cop joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department and tries to find the man who murdered him.”

Everyone who didn’t know that Ethan would run, please raise your hand. That was SO obvious. Cath, that was not your finest hour. 😉 But I think she and Steve, did a great job with Ethan.

Please tell me something. How did they get there right when Ethan is about to climb the fence? A second before that we saw the taxi pull away and there are no other car or people in sight. But next second they are right there. Did they beam there? But for that they had the wrong guy from Star Trek on their show. That actually is a pet peeve of mine. When people materialize out of thin air. I mean so many people are watching a take, at least one of them must realize, at the latest in the editing room, that there is something happening that is impossible. Most viewers probably don’t even realize that or don’t care about it. But something like that drives me up the wall. Where the heck did they come from?

I must admit I was kind of lost with all the new players in this case. Now comes another one, and Ethan’s dad pulled a gun on him? Okay, I just thought I wait it out from now on. It may be best not to think about it anymore.

I have to say I was really surprised to see Mako again. Didn’t they arrest him? Or at least take him in for questioning? I thought he was still with HPD or at Five-0 HQ. Well, now he is being arrested. But somehow our two heroes look almost as confused as I was. 😉

And his story doesn’t make this whole thing any clearer. Some secret dude buys some secret stuff from Bruce and pays in cash? For what? And who is he? Frankly, I kind of lost interest in the COTW.

I love the blue interrogation room. Really nice colors on Five-0. Blue seems to be their color. Now even Danny is wearing blue. Maybe someone should tell the costume department that there are, in fact, other colors one could wear. Steve in gray, pale green might be nice from time to time. I mean blue is my favorite color, and he does look darn yummy in it, but all the time? And now Danny too?

Okay, at this point I gave up. A bank robbery from five years ago, and the robber pays Bruce with the stolen money? Bruce buys stuff for Stuart Rizzi (the bank robber) and gets his money back with the stolen money? And why would Rizzi buy property with the stolen money? I don’t get it. And it looks like they don’t get it either.

You all know I’m not a Kono fan, but why wasn’t she with the boys? Why was she staying at HQ at all times? Is there a logical reason for it? Or was that RL interfering with filming? Like GP needed time off or something? I found her absence illogical.

From now on, it’s clear that we will see some Action-Cath. The bank robber has Bruce and now also Ethan as a hostage. But why? I thought he was the one paying Bruce the money? And now he comes back for it? I really don’t understand this whole plot. The dead guys are all part of the gang that wanted to steal the money after they learned about its existence. I get that. And I understand that Rizzi killed the two guys on his property. What I don’t get is why he is now after the money he gave Bruce? His two million are all gone? That money is the only money he could get to go into hiding? That sounds pretty weak to me. I would think he has some of it stashed in different places. But maybe he really isn’t that smart. Tell me what you think about it.

Cath for sure knows how to take care of herself and the situation. That was a great fight. No need for the boyfriend to save the damsel in distress.

I think the wrap-up of the episode was at least as good as the beginning. Even though we didn’t learn if Ethan’s dad is charged with anything.

I could get used to this.

I’m really, truly enjoying the team get-togethers we had this season. I think it’s great to see them enjoying each other’s company after work. And I loved Max’s innocence about the Mile-high-club. That was so cute.

I don’t think there could be too much of this. I mean this is IT.

I had to laugh at their faces. Just look at Kono. Of course Danny thinks he is funny. Sorry, Danny, but you are not.

So, I guess this makes it official then. In front of the whole team. Steve, no denying of having a girlfriend anymore. 😉

I’m sure his surprise worked. First throw the girlfriend off with a ‘special breakfast’, and then show up to sweep her off her feet for a really special dinner. Smooth, Steve.

I’m sure they will have a very enjoyable dinner. IF they make it to dinner that is.

Wow, thanks for sticking with me through this monster of a non-review. Well, I guess the pictures were not that hard to look at. At least, I hope so.

Okay, now let’s take a look at the rating system after all my ramblings.

Storyline: Well, I was thoroughly confused for quite a long time. I guess that is a good thing. At least it is better than figuring it out after five minutes. But I think this was not really about the crime of the week. Which I’m still not sure what it was. So I will just take it as what it was, some bad guys doing something and in the end all is well again.

Action: Not really that much in it. Except for Catherine’s fight. And that was pretty awesome. This gets an A for sure.

Guest-Star: George Takei was good, sure, but again with the two-minute stints. Oh well.

Fun factor: I enjoyed this episode tremendously. It was funny, without being stupid. It had such cute scenes. I loved the whole tone of the episode. An A without a doubt.

Awe-factor: Oh boy. 007 in da house. Enough said.

Steve-Awesomeness: This is the Steve I absolutely adore. He was funny, cute, sensitive, bad-ass. Simply a guy you would want to be around. And I love him with kids. Give us more of that. This was A plus worthy.

Danny-bearableness: You had my Danny rant above, nothing to add to it. He didn’t make any points with me this week. But he was watchable. LOL

Support group: Chin had some great scenes; he can do humor really well. Kono? Was Kono even in this one? I didn’t miss her, don’t get me wrong, but I thought her absence was kind of strange. Max. Ah, Max, I love you. And it was nice to see Kamekona again.

Personal Enjoyment: I really, truly enjoyed this episode from the first to the last minute. I wouldn’t even skip any scenes if I watched it again. Okay, when I watch it again. For me, this was an A plus for sure.

I’m really looking forward to your thoughts about this episode. Did you like it, hate it?

Random thoughts on 3-10

Major Spoiler Alert ! If you haven’t watched the episode, don’t read any further.

I’ll go about this review a little different this time around. I came up with a rating system. I can already hear you groaning, but please bear with me. I think it’s not really fair to give an episode just one grade. It simply doesn’t do it justice. So, I came up with a few factors that should come into consideration.

Storyline: the crime of the week

Action: Do I need to explain that? Guess not.

Guest-Star: That’s pretty obvious too – or not, you’ll see.

Fun factor: It could be the humor, or anything else that was just fun to watch.

Awe-factor: that would be, for example ‘the couch scene from Halloween’ or ‘Steve and Cath from 1.05’ or the ‘Doris and Mary reunion’.

Steve-Awesomeness: how good/cool/funny was he this week?

Danny-bearableness: could I watch him without cringing? 😉

Support group: Chin, Kono, Cath, Max, Fong

Personal Enjoyment: That will be my final verdict, taking all the factors into account.

Okay, now with that out of the way, here you go, my random thoughts on “Camping with Uncle Steve” or simply “Trouble in the Jungle.” Oh, sorry, that was not the title either. However, I think both fit pretty well; go anywhere with Steve, or Danny, for that matter, and trouble WILL find you.

Here you go, my review, or in this case more like a photo-story.

Okay, seriously, who wouldn’t listen to Steve with rapt attention talking about wild boars he encountered in India. And tigers, don’t forget the tigers. Well, to be honest, I would listen to him reading the phone book, but that is a different story completely.

Of course, Danny is not too happy with his buddy right now. Telling them about killing a boar and stuff. But really, Danny, making a pillow out of flowers? LOL

I’m sure everyone would rather learn how to throw a cool knife like Steve. Those kids are smart and eager. Ohhhhhuuuuhhh. That was so cute. He definitely had their attention. J

Of course it can’t take long for Steve to encounter trouble in the form of ‘Ron, fifty years old, deep laceration, dehydrated, possibly in shock’. Lucy, you are a gem.

Credits roll and we skip to Kono and her lover, Adam. I could start complaining about Kono again, but I will spare you that. Just one thing. Is she really that naive, love-blind, or whatever? Does she really think it is that simply to turn a business legit? How is that even working? Adam is using his father’s projects and money, dirty money, drug money or worse, to create his now legit business? How is that any better than what his father, the head of the Yakuza did? I’m sorry, but this whole thing with Adam and Kono is just stupid. And don’t even get me started with his brother. Although they are both nice to look at. But I would only trust them as far as I can throw them.

Okay, back to the jungle. Danny and the kids get locked into the supply shed. And the girls are well on their way to their first aid badge. I had to laugh at Danny. Maybe the reason you were kicked out was because you cheated? These girls don’t do that, so, no hidden food. J All these scenes with the girls were a pure delight to watch. Really fun scenes. Lots of them, way too many to capture or mention them all.

Digging themselves out. Those girls really earn every badge one could think of. Cool bunch of kids.

Ron, you’re an idiot. You should have listened to your guide. No, seriously why did he take Steve to help him find whatever he had lost in the jungle, if he’s not listening to him? They could have avoided those two miles hiking for nothing. That is my next complaint; I couldn’t take ‘Ron’ seriously at all. He was a ridiculous bad guy. And he jumped out of a plane? Yeah, right. This really is something I have a problem with. This week just as much as last week. Steve is a Navy SEAL for crying out loud. Show, use him as such. He had ample opportunity to knock Ron out without putting Lucy in any danger. Of course, I know it had to be dragged out for dramatic effect, but please then give us a baddie that is a real danger. Not a dumb guy traipsing through the jungle, waiving his gun around like an idiot, turning his back to Steve like an imbecile. And, show, don’t make Steve look stupid in not putting that idiot out of his misery. Give us some real gangsters, some real threats. Not some lame wanna be criminal overpowering a SEAL. – Rant over.

“Next time, I’m gonna shoot you.” I don’t think so. From here on out it was clear that Ron’s lifespan would come to an end soon.

20 minutes into the show and finally Chin makes an appearance. About time. Even though I completely understand his absence, and it’s okay in this case, but it’s still good to see him. And maybe, just maybe he might be able to make Kono see the light. Just maybe.

So, the little girls got the busted phones to work. J And the search/rescue can begin. One question that popped into my head. Why were there no weapons in the trunk? Steve has stashed a whole arsenal in there, and don’t tell me they went on that trip without a weapon. Sorry, but that I don’t buy. Not Steve, and probably not even Danny would go unarmed.

Here comes another question, who the heck did write this part of the story? Gracie asks about Lucy, but NO word about Uncle Steve? I guess the writer fell asleep or something, because she would ask if her Uncle Steve would be alright and that Danno would save them. That really bugged me.

Loved her, and yes, Danny, you do need her. Or you would be the next one lost in the jungle.

And now finally a really bad guy comes along. Of course at the most inconvenient of times. Right after Steve overpowers Ron and Lucy is on the run. Oh well.

That was a nice surprise, I thought he was dead.

Isn’t Steve a lovely witness? Telling the new guy who else was all a witness and that Five-0 is already on their trail. Clever Steve. Now you and Lucy only need to sneak off.

Aw, man, these two are just adorable together. I truly hope we will see her again.

How cool is that little girl? Her first words to Chin: “You have to help Steve.” Guess she is really taken by him, even though he is not an astronaut. 😉

And Steve really needs help after the really bad guy caught up with him.

But not to worry, Danny to the rescue.

Now, here comes my biggest and loudest complaint. And this time I’m really serious. Where the heck was Lucy? Come on, guys, I wanted to see Steve and Lucy reunited. He promised her to come back for her, and I for one wanted to see that. They were so great together. I think the show robbed us of some great scenes. Seriously. WTF?

And when did Danny get such a nice house, or apartment? Down the street from Steve’s? Even though Steve told him to forget about it in 2.09?

After the sweet scenes with Danny and Grace, we’re ending the episode on a serious note. What is Adam’s brother Michael up to? What did he do with Kono’s gun? He will cause trouble, not just for Kono.

Alright, now we’re done with the photo-story, time for the verdict.

Storyline: So let me get this straight. Ron and Hines stealing diamonds, with Hines the mind behind it all. But the plan gets screwed and Ron lands in the jungle, injured and taking Lucy and Steve hostage, to help him find the diamonds. So far, so good, but that storyline had so many holes in it, just wow. First of all, why the heck didn’t he use the GPS tracker to find his diamonds in the first place? And don’t tell me because he was injured. He still was after kidnapping Lucy and Steve, that jacket around his leg wouldn’t make a difference. There was no reason for him being even near the girl’s camp. I hate it when the writers don’t explain something like that to my satisfaction. And him all action man and jumping out of a plane? As if. Sorry, but that will not give them any points. The only positive thing was the other guy out of the blue. Hines.

So, the storyline will only get a C.

Action: Well, not really action in this one. Not the fast moving kind anyway, like a car chase, or any other high speed stuff. But traipsing through the jungle, running from bullets, landing in the water, digging holes, and did I mention traipsing through the jungle, counts as action in this case.

And all that stuff was great, and that’s why I will give it a B.

Guest-Star: Well, the guest star gets an A plus. And I’m not talking about Tom Arnold; I couldn’t care less about him or his character. But Lucy! Lucy, girl, you were spectacular.

Emily Alyn Lind – write that name down!

Fun factor: I don’t need to say much about that. Solid A.

Awe-factor: Steve and Lucy. “I promise to come get you.” No wonder Lucy wants to marry Steve when she’s grown up. Those two had the best scenes. And the little girl explaining to Danny how the phones work. That was such a great scene.

There were so many great, cute scenes in this one, an A will only be fair.

Steve-Awesomeness: I don’t think it can get much better than this. A plus

Danny-bearableness: Danny, Danny, what should I do with you? Man, you’re growing on me. 😉 He gets an A. Third ep in a row that I really truly liked him.

Support group: No Cath (second ep in a row), no Max, no Fong, almost no Chin, and barely any Kono. But since they really couldn’t have done anything more than they did, I’ll forgive this and will not rate it. BUT bring Cath back, and not as a side note in the next episode, which I’m fearing will be a Danny/Chin episode. Again no Steve and Danny.

Personal Enjoyment: I know I ‘complained’ again about a lot of stuff, but don’t take that too seriously. There was really nothing that dampened my enjoyment. Well, except the lack of Lucy and Steve in the end.

This episode is practically a festival of missing scenes. Just imagine, Danny asking Steve to accompany him on the camping trip with the girls. That alone would be hilarious. Then of course the part of Steve and Lucy after everything is done, maybe Steve even talks to her parents. I’m sure he did. Of course there should have been a scene with Rachel and Danny, even if it were only to learn how they are standing with each other at the moment. Will we ever learn what is going on with them? And don’t forget Steve coming home, wet and slightly injured. Well, I can tell you my fingers are itching to write at least two of those scenes.

This episode was a pure delight from start to finish. Not in my top five, for that it was too ‘light’, I love drama. But it was an absolute joyride, one I will enjoy a few more times I’m sure.

So, I’m happy to give this one a really good A.

Thanks, show, it was a joy to watch, and more than worth to get up at 3 a.m. to do so.

Random thoughts on 3×09

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. 😉

Random thoughts on 3.08

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.

Random thoughts on 3.07 Ohuna

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.

My thoughts on 3.06

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.