Episode Title: 'Ka Iwi Kapu'
Writer: Tara Butters & Michael Fazekas
Director: Joe Dante
Story:
The team is called to a sacred Hawaiian burial ground known as a "Heiau" to investigate the murder of two young documentarians. Despite the rest of 5-0's insistence that he wait for a priest to perform a necessary ritual at the crime scene, Danno (Scott Caan) charges ahead and finds a camcorder next to one of the victims. Moments later, he also finds a rock through his windshield.
Dr. Max Bergman (Masi Oka) finds a fingerprint on the female victim's glasses belonging to Greg Straithan, who was shot and killed by his girlfriend, a week earlier. After talking to the female victim's roommate, Kono (Grace Park) learns that a strange homeless man was bothering the two filmmakers while they were at the Heiau.
The team theorizes that the Straithan actually faked his death. McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) and Weston (Lauren German) question the girlfriend, who is now committed to a mental institution, but she insists she shot Straithan.
Chin Ho (Daniel Dae Kim) has Straithan's casket exhumed and finds it empty. Meanwhile, Fong (Brian Yang) finds footage of a book bag left at the scene, with a human hand inside, belonging to Straithan. When Danno finds another rock through his car window, he and McGarrett apprehend the homeless man, (Robert Englund). However, after interrogating him, McGarrett suggests they're looking for a more competent killer. After Weston discovers multiple bodies recently buried at the Heiau and all missing various parts, Dr. Bergman says likely the killer likely has medical experience.
With the theory that the killer is selling body parts on the black market, the team looks at the mortuary attendant who begrudgingly had Straithan's casket exhumed. However, when Weston and McGarrett search the mortuary, Weston finds the attendant embalmed. Moments later, she's knocked out by the real killer.
When the team learns that the bodies at the Heiau were all signed out by a nurse named Jacob Garrison, they find him at a warehouse property he owns. Inside, McGarrett warns Danno about the highly flammable formaldehyde everywhere. Once cornered, Garrison opens a lighter, drops and quickly goes up in flames as the team makes their escape just before the place blows.
Later, Danno prepares to move into Straithan's old apartment, cutting a deal with the landlady thanks to the fact that the apartment's former status as a murder scene makes it a challenge to rent. However, he has second thoughts when the land lady informs him that the old lady he met outside a few days ago died five years earlier.
Breakdown:
It's Halloween in Hawaii and that means something frightening is about to go down. Let me amend that statement by saying something frighteningly dated is about go down in the form of a cold open that pays homage to "The Blair Witch Project." But hey, that movie is still one the scariest of all time, if you ask me.
Before the case of the week gets underway, Danny decides to take little Grace trick-or-treating…at the fleabag motel he's staying at. So yeah, when the guy next door fills her plastic pumpkin with mini-bar vodka, what do you expect, Danno?
But this week, Danny was all about obstinance, both in trick-or-treating and in working the case. When a crime scene turns up at a Heiau, Danny, who we're to believe is of some sort of Christian faith, based on his car-convo with McGarrett, poo poos Hawaiian custom and trounces all over the ancient burial site. Danny's always struck me as a superstitious sort so this came as a bit of a surprise but it made for fun little subplot, culminating in the revelation that the nice old lady and her dog that he met at the apartment complex are actually ghosts. It was enough to make a believer out of Danno.
This week's big guest star, Robert Englund, hammed it up as a crazed, machete-wielding homeless guy obsessed with protecting the Heiau from the "Blair Witch" wannabes. I appreciate the casting but I still wish "H50" would have a little bit more fun with its gueststars. Englund's turn this week was at least a step in the right direction.
The case of the week was a bit dull, with way more talking and theorizing than action, aside from the budget-busting explosion at the end. I love watching stuff blow up but it felt a bit pointless and anti-climatic. We need more McGarrett action and less time spent on silly red herrings. Although in this case, it was worth it to wedge Robert Englund into the hour.
A few other notes on 'Ka Iwi Kapu' which means "Sacred Bones"….
- The no-nonsense Officer Laurie Weston is growing on me. A hook-up with McGarrett is likely but the lead-up has been pretty painless thus far. And we had a nice little character moment with Weston telling McGarrett not to make such a big deal about her getting hit over the head by a grave-robbing body parts dealer. Awww, you guys!
- Also nice to see Autumn Reeser back as Dr. Asano. Obviously, the dinner date with Danno went well.
- Max dressing up as Neo while on the job? C'mon, what is this, "Psych?" On that note, we never did find out who Weston went as at her Halloween party…
'Ka Iwi Kapu' was fine as "H50's" obligatory Halloween episode, although it was a little too light on action for my taste. But I can't lodge too many complaints about an episode that featured Robert Englund and a seedy dude at a motel giving Danno's kid some sauce. Nice trick, "Hawaii Five-0."
Crave Online Rating: 7 out of 10.
