It’s Sunday morning. I should be doing all kinds of different things but I’m not. I’m still on my sofa, lap top at my fingertips, searching, viewing, saving anything and everything I can absorb from last night’s Hawaii Five-0 Season 5 Sunset on the Beach. This, after I spent all night last night watching it all unfold on my computer.

First off I want to say a huge thank you to Mike Gordon (@crankydad) and everyone at the Star Advertiser (@StarAdvertiser) and Honolulu Pulse (@honolulupulse) for stepping up and providing not only a great live blog of all the festivities but a continuous live video feed from the red carpet. Thanks to their efforts we were treated to great red carpet interviews from several of the Five-0 stars.

I’m not going to try to do a complete review here. There are plenty of them out there and from writers much more talented than I, those with much more experience than me and from those lucky enough to actually be there. So I’m just going to give you my take on why this event is so important.

Most of us who watch and love this show do it from locations very far removed from Hawaii. While some of us have been lucky enough to be able to visit Oahu there are many many more who will probably never get there. To be able to share in this event, through the internet and social media gives us the opportunity to feel like we are “part of it”, that we’re not just a number on some ratings list somewhere but really are part of the Ohana. I mean, think about it. I know plenty of people in my everyday life who watch this show who have no idea there is a social media world that swirls around it. They didn’t watch SOTB online, because they don’t even know it exists. WE know because WE are part of the Ohana. That makes it special and I for one am very proud to be a part of it, even in such a miniscule way.

And for the people of Hawaii, especially Oahu, it is a huge thank you given from the heart of everyone associated with the show. As Alex said so perfectly, on stage and with practically every person who interviewed him on the carpet:

“People let us into their homes,” he said. “We block their streets off when they’d like to get their kids to school. They let us blow up their cars. They let us trample their doors in. They’re the unsung heroes. Without our Hawaii Ohana, we don’t have a show.”

Yeah, it is a hell of a lot of fun to watch the festivities, to see all our favorite stars interacting with the fans and to hear them interviewed on the carpet.  I’m also completely willing to admit to raging fangirling  over all the gorgeous guys and how amazing they always look.   And I fully admit to displaying a shocking shade of green while I sat and watched and wished I could be there too.  SOTB is all those things but it also means so much more.

So thank you Peter Lenkov and all TPTB, the entire cast and crew, the people of Hawaii and everyone who took pictures and videos and posted them so we could all share online a night of great fun and the anticipation of a great new Five-0 season. Mahalo nui loa

NOTE: NONE of these photos are mine. All of these photos are courtesy of Honolulu Pulse