Last week’s H50 season premiere was pulse pounding, as I’d expect a premiere to be. Many times, after such an episode, the next one is a bit more, I guess you could say, low key. I’ve never figured out if that’s a deliberate thing or just a matter of viewer perception. I mean, every episode can’t be over the top, action packed, save the world types of episodes. This week’s episode, written wonderfully by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt was not what I would call low key at all. It had me on the edge of my seat and managed to do it the old fashioned way. Not with drones, explosions and military grade weapons but with something just as powerful……pure raw emotion.
It was all about the fathers in this story. Lt. Jeff Larkin, US Navy SEAL, fighting for his country overseas and not even aware of the war going on at home to save his little girl. Eric Porter fighting to save a child not his own. Jason Hollier grieving and traumatized with guilt over the death of his baby girl. Danny and Grover…two fathers who have both been on the other side of that terrifying telephone call.
My take (in no particular order):
• In usual Five-0 fashion the story starts off with a red herring. Making the dad of the kidnapped girl a SEAL even though it eventually had nothing to do with the case made it more of a connection for Steve. The theme of a “family” man ran through this entire episode and through practically every man on screen. There were 5 family men in this story, 6 if you include Steve in the total and I do include him. When Steve told Angela Larkin that she and her family were Ohana to him that spoke volumes about how SEALs see each other and the bond of family they all share. When something happens to one of them, they take it personally!
• I also have to comment on the music as the SEAL team is deploying. It was incredibly moving. Made my stomach do all kinds of flip flops of emotion, pride in what these men do for us every single day. Keith Power and Brian Tyler really do an awesome job with the score each week. They add a layer that always makes every story better.
• The whole child kidnapping thing has been done…dare I say, even overdone on Five-0. I mean, I’ve lost count of the number of children that have been taken on this show. So when I saw the promos and press releases about another child taken I was a bit disappointed. But this story did not disappoint me at all. I was following along quite nicely when the phone rang in the Porter household and I realized …oh damn…they grabbed the wrong kid. I was not expecting that one bit and the not so run of the mill kidnapping case had me totally hooked. I should have known better than to believe the promos and sneak peeks. Silly me!
• As a long time LOST fan I fully expected William Mapother to be a creepy sinister bad guy. How nice to be wrong about that. Having the motive for it all be revenge and not money, was a great twist and another reason why I love this show so much. I love it when I look at the clock and its well past the half hour and I still have no clue who the bad guy is.
• And who the bad guy was had to be one of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever seen on this show. The flashback to the crash when Jason Hollier’s daughter is killed is a scene no parent can watch without being on the brink of tears. Jason taking Sophie, thinking she was Maggie, was unthinkably wrong but the grief and guilt he was weighed under is even more unthinkable. The fact that he couldn’t go through with his threats and his remorse for taking Sophie shows that he was ultimately a good man brought to the brink of insanity by grief at all he’s lost. Honestly, for a moment there I was scared to death he was going to turn the gun on himself.
• And Caroline Porter. Even with what Jason did, it is Caroline I see as the true villain in this episode. She’s a mother and yet she allowed faulty child safety seats to be sold. Ok maybe I could understand if she thought the one failed test was a fluke but she didn’t. She KNEW those seats were faulty and she not only let them be sold she had all the evidence destroyed and had her people threaten Alan Pollard into silence. His confession was another one that brought me to tears. It wasn’t stated if he was also a family man but the grief in his voice at the loss of baby Olivia made me think he was too.
• My hubby was chuckling at me when I literally screamed at the TV “DON’T KILL HIM….YOU NEED HIM” when Steve and Danny caught up with Michael Wiley, the guy who took Sophie. When will these guys learn that killing their one chance at finding what they need isn’t the best approach?
• Everyone who knows me knows I am a McGarrett girl through and through and while I like nothing more than to see Alex on my scene as much as possible in reality it doesn’t mean I have to see him be “Captain America” every single week. After 4 years there is nothing Steve has to prove to me in the bad-ass department. He is the leader of a team. A damn fine one at that. Six well trained, well equipped and highly intelligent people and I am more than happy to see stories that relate to them as well. Yes, I know, there are several McGarrett arcs which have not yet been resolved. But Peter Lenkov has already stated we will see many of those things tied up in the 100th episode. So for now, I’m willing to wait and watch the other great actors on this show take some spotlight.
• I’m looking forward to seeing Danny take an active role in dealing with Reyes. Personally, I could care less about Matt Williams. It was a nice story back in Season 1 but if we never see him again I won’t cry over it. I am looking forward to this for the chance to see Scott really stretch in the acting department. We all know the actors LOVE the character stuff and Danny dealing with his family or any threat to his family is sure to bring a KILLER performance from Scott.
• And I have to say I am LOVING Jerry as a pseudo part of the team. I just really like having him around. There is something else going on with him besides his “ongoing investigation” into the book store going by that little exchange he had with Kono in HQ. I wonder if Jerry ever did try to work in the real world but his conspiracy laden mind sabotaged him. He seemed to know a bit more about the nature of a corporate cover up then just what he learned on this case.
• There really wasn’t too much for Kono to do in this episode. I loved her as the undercover delivery person but other than that she didn’t do much but man the magic table and talk to the kids. Well, I’m sure she’ll have more to do next week. Everyone can’t be front and center every week after all.
All in all this was a very enjoyable episode for me. I don’t need explosions and car chases every week. A story that engages my mind and touches my heart is just as enjoyable. Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt have a wonderful grasp of who these characters are and I look forward to every episode they write. They have yet to disappoint me. Can’t wait for the next one.
Hawaii Five-0 Kool-Aid 
Thank you, thank you, thank you for highlighting the fact that every episode doesn’t have to be McG heavy! I was so bothered last night reading some comments that it was a bad episode because he wasn’t the center of attention. It’s not the Steve McGarrett and others hour. It’s Hawaii 5-0. It focuses on the Task Force. McGarrett isn’t the only one who is dealing with issues outside their work life!
We’re only in the second episode of the season and I’m sure Alex will have plenty of opportunities to shine.
I was so worried about how the “balance” would be affected by adding Grover and Jerry, but I must say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how easily they’ve been able to integrate themselves without if feeling awkward!
I also wanted to comment on Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. These two have easily become my favorite writers on the show. They have such an amazing grasp on the characters and I love how they integrate little things from previous seasons. The flashback scenes were fantastic!
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Thanks for reading and commenting. I too saw many of those tweets last night and they bothered me as well. I don’t really know what that contingent really want. I suspect they’d be happy if Steve spent all his time curled up in a ball grieving Catherine’s absence and crying into her pillow? I read that thread on Twitter. They also were complaining that there wasn’t enough Steve being all badass McG. It seems to me that all they care about is seeing Steve..PERIOD. One was complaining that she doesn’t care about anything related to Danny nor wants to see stories about anyone else because all she cares about are the stories for Steve. I am a McGarrett girl to the core but that would be THE MOST BORING SHOW EVER.
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I thought this was a good solid episode with lots of twists and turns. Jerry and Lou are fitting in well and once again everyone got a bit of the action. I’m following your blog because I appreciate your positive approach. I don’t do twitter, but some of the comments are kinda sad – there’s just no pleasing some folks. I think this is going to be a great season……..and perhaps those who expect action packed every week could take a moment to think about the actors and what pushing out a 25 episode season means to them. I’m looking forward to and appreciate whatever they do.
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting. The sole reason I started this blog was to provide a bit of a positive spin because I felt the fandom was becoming mired in shipper wars and that the negative feedback would harm the show. I don’t think my simple little blog will change the course of the show nor how those who insist on always looking on the negative side of things think but if I’m able to give someone like you a place to just have a bit of fun, I’m happy!
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We never get enough Alex or McG but these first couple of episodes allowed Alex to do some stuff in real life that fed our need. I really enjoyed this week’s episode and it allowed the ensemble to shine. Makes for longevity for a TV series.
Thanks Linda for the review.
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Thanks Brenda! I really appreciate your input!
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I enjoy your blog because it is positive. The show will never please everyone, but some complain all the time. So thanks for a great review and keep up the good work.
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I come to one of my “happy places” when I read your KoolAid blog, Linda! Having been in the H50 fandom from the start, I have watched it go from universal love (after the Originals – you know them, the gripers who couldn’t see around Jack Lord’s plastered hairdo and condescending scowls – were weeded out) to a split down the middle fandom who refused the possibility that anyone could have a different opinion in what the show should be, or where the show was lacking.
I got tired of people telling me I am naive, or basically just stupid, because I very rarely, if EVER, find much fault in H50. I have been so disillusioned, not with the show, but with a number of bloggers and tweeters who spend their time tearing down an episode, sneering at the inprobabilities of plots, complaining about the lack of Alex heavy storylines, griping loudly, and often unkindly, about the presence of some characters, and blaming the executive producer for lying to the fans if he doesn’t say what they want to hear. It has sucked the enjoyment of much of the social media aspects of the H50 fandom right out of my soul.
I guess that’s why this blog is so refreshing! It harkens back to the days when fans truly enjoyed the show for what it was, entertainment. The show had enough mystery and drama going for it that was fun to watch and gave rise to theories and predictions (some far-fetched and some pretty close to reality!) so that fans could interact and discuss without anyone being told they were naive.
We, as fans, have no right to expect H50 writers to do what we demand they do with their show! If I don’t like the direction a television show is going, I make the conscious effort to turn the channel. I do not continue to watch it simply so I can take pleasure in getting online and denigrating the writers of the show – or blasting negative comments arounds to make other viewers anxious or left wondering if they are watching the same show – or worse, wonder why they aren’t seeing all these bad things that others see! So now, I am making an effort to purge my reading material of negativity. Hey, if an episode is really bad, for whatever reason, Iromise I will acknowledge that fact, but until that happens I intend to enjoy S5 and interact with others who are enjoying it to the fullest, as well!
Having said all that, let me just say, that once again, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and I didn’t see a recycled plot, or too much Danny or too little Alex, etc.
Thanks for providing a happy place for me, Linda!
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I agree with you babe! I have never understood, since all the way back to Season 1, why people who see so much wrong with this show that they spend practically all their time complaining, criticizing and belittling those who like it, don’t just watch something else. I has never made any sense to me. And that was just when it was the actual plots they didn’t like. Now, throw in the shipper wars and it’s gotten even worse. I don’t understand it and I don’t like it.
I ship no one, I like pretty much everything, when I see something that I feel could be better I will acknowledge it but I will not seek out things just for the sake of finding something wrong. It’s just not my nature. Besides…it gives the Kool-Aid a bad flavor and, well, we just can’t have that, now can we? ♥
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I really liked the episode. I also thought it was the same bad guy, wife, husband or business partner wanting money for something the family did, but it was man, who was pushed to the edge and was thinking clearly. I don’t need things going boom every episode and I hope Scott will put his skills to good use with the Matt’s story. I w
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Thanks Linda for another great review, I agree this episode didn’t disappointed, looking forward to next week’s!
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Forgot to mention that I am loving to have Grover and Jerry, great addition to the team!
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