Episode Title: "Hana 'a'a Makehewa"
Writers: Carol Barbee and Kyle Harimoto
Director: Chris Fisher
Story:
The hour opens with McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) and Danno (Scott Caan) arriving on the scene where Chin Ho (daniel Dae Kim) has a bomb collar around his neck and no recollection of how it got there. When the phone in his pocket rings, McGarrett and Dano receive instructions from the person behind the terrifying plot.
We then flashback to the day before. Danny is in desperate need of a Kris Kringle suit which shaved ice kingpin and Santa costume connect, Kamekona (Taylor Wily) is trying to help him with. Then a call comes in from HPD and Danno is off to the races. A known arms dealer was found dead offshore, apparently shot execution style. The team connects the dead gun dealer to Victor Hesse (James Marsters), astonished to learn that he's still alive after McGarrett shot him off a boat in the pilot.
After using the ole' "wet SIM card in a dry bag of rice" trick, Chin Ho is able to pull the call log off the floater's phone, which includes several calls to another sketchy lowlife, Trent Agustin (L.J. Batinas). McGarrett and Danno pay a trip to his cockfighting den and learn that Hesse received medical attention from a black market doctor, who's now apparently on a trip around world. While visiting his house, Kono (Grace Park) finds the good doctor dead and wrapped in plastic.
On the way to question imprisoned informant Sang Min (Will Yun Lee), McGarrett and Danny have a brief discussion about why Christmas in New Jersey is better than Hawaii and again we are reminded that Danny is a bitter divorcee. At the prison, the boys make a deal with Sang Min to arrange a meeting with a dude named Kishimoto (Chaz Mann). But it turns out the whole thing is a plot for Sang Min to go on the lamb, with the help of Victor Hesse.
However, thanks to the tracking bracelet he's been outfitting with, Chin Ho is able to follow Sang Min and Hesse on his motorcycle to a boat, while not wearing a helmet I might add. Not sure what the law is out there but safety first, always. Once on board, Hesse knocks out Chin Ho, thus taking him hostage with the bomb collar.
The boys catch up with Chin Ho and Victor Hesse relays his demands; ten million bucks and safe passage off the island. When the governor refuses to negotiate with a terrorist, McGarrett and Danny learn that Chin Ho has access to something like twenty-eight million dollars, locked up in some secret evidence room, accessible through a tunnel. Ok, sure.
Despite Danny's reluctance to use the money, McGarrett and Kono, posing as city workers, sneak through the tunnel and get the cash. However, when McGarrett shows up to make the drop in exchange for Chin Ho's life, Hesse tosses the cash in the fire he's made, reasoning that he'd rather make McGarrett suffer the loss of a friend than take the money. But Kono manages to take down, but again not kill Hesse from afar with a sniper rifle.
Chin Ho is freed from the bomb collar but all is not well. There's that ten million that went up in flames, which McGarrett chose not to tell the Governor about, Sang Min on the run and now, unbeknownst to McGarrett, this Wo Fat (Mark Decascos) character asking an incarcerated Hesse how much McGarrett knows about his father's death. But at least Danny gets to play Santa to Grace, with the 5-0 team and Kamekona, bearing the holiday spirit, in attendance.
Breakdown:
It's Christmas in Hawaii which means it's time for the obligatory rendition of "Mele Kalikimaka" and Danny's unconvincing Santa Claus act for his daughter, Grace. Now, now don't call me Scrooge, I'm all for holiday themed episodes and "Hana 'a'a Makehewa" (which means "desperate measures") wasn't terribly overbearing on that account, which was nice. And there's always bonus points for bringing back "5-0's" favorite German terrorist with an Irish brogue, Victor Hesse.
I maintain that "Hawaii Five-0" is at its best when the focus is on the action and not the forensics and data sniffing. And with tech whiz Chin Ho locked up in a bomb collar that would make Jigsaw proud, there was thankfully little time spent in HQ, futzing around with the giant iPad police computer he and Kono like to play with.
While "Hawaii Five-0" is one of the few procedurals with real comedic chops, thanks to Danny and McGarrett, it's bound to delve into the corny cop joke book from time to time. Tonight's case in point? Kono's remark about the dead doctor wrapped in plastic and stuffed in a closet not making anymore house calls. Groan. Do doctor's even make house calls anymore, really? Let's leave the comedy to the pros, Danno and McG. However, I will say Kono's explanation to the nosey old lady who's wondering why she and McGarrett are poking around a manhole was pretty funny. So was the end of that sentence actually...
James Marsters was great as the diabolical Victor Hesse but I gotta say when they hand out awards for "Best Portrayal of an Irish Terrorist by an American Actor" I'm gonna have to stand behind Titus Welliver on "Sons of Anarchy." But James is certainly deserving of recognition. And the fact that McGarrett, and now Kono, still haven't killed him means it's possible we haven't seen the last of Hesse.
On that note, the notion that Hesse just wanted to make McGarrett suffer by killing Chin Ho, and letting ten million bucks go up in flames, seemed a bit far fetched. If that were the case, why didn't Hesse detonate the bomb collar immediately after he tossed the money into the fire. As a trained terrorist, Hesse had to know that Navy SEAL McGarrett was going to have a sniper in position with him in their crosshairs. The fact that it was rookie cop Kono was also a bit confounding but then again, the whole money drop was a rogue operation, so I suppose it's plausible.
I always love to see McGarrett engage in a little hand-to-hand combat so of course I enjoyed the scene where O'Loughlin pulled some serious "Gymkata" moves on Marsters. And also back this week, we had the slimy "Asian John Travolta" in the mix, Sang Min. Leaving him alone in the car, unsupervised seemed like a rookie move for Danno and McG but now we get to watch the boys track him down at some point in the future. And this Wo Fat dude, who's closely tied to the Daddy McGarrett conspiracy looks like more criminally good times in the 808 state.
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10.
