Courtesy of Belle Anderson ‏@SurfBelle2f

Hey everyone!  Well, the NCAA was down to their “Final 4” but thankfully they didn’t need our Friday night again!  Welcome back #H50Friday!!!  Of course, you know I’m going to say I loved this episode.  I’m nothing if not consistent (although there are those in the Twitter world who call me less complimentary things for my point of view. LOL)

The episode itself was really good and the fact that it was two Friday’s (three full weeks) between new episodes made it even more enjoyable.  But I think, the gift of our Season 7 renewal, given to us over a month early by CBS, made this episode feel even better.  As a matter of fact, that gift is going to make the rest of this season, which from spoilers and BTS pictures already looks to be a killer run to a heart stopping finale, extremely enjoyable.  Finales, especially if they are cliffhanger finales, are stressful enough without the fear that it will be the last.  Mahalo CBS for sparing us that stress this year!

This week’s crime of the week was a real thought provoker.  It’s so easy to think things like this just don’t happen anymore.  That people being sold or kidnapped into slavery is something in a shameful, long ago past but, of course, we know that’s not true.  The modern vernacular may call it “human trafficking” these days, but slavery it is.  And it’s a theme Five-0 has used many times over the years, reaching all the way back to the Pilot when we first met Sang Min, a human trafficker helping Victor Hess get off the island.

It’s unclear as to how our two fishing boat escapees became slaves on the ship in the first place.  Since it wasn’t really explained I’m going to assume the Thai guards in the prison where Wattana was held, used his name, executed someone else and sold Wattana into slavery to line their pockets.  I’m also going to assume he wasn’t the first nor the last man to meet that fate.  Was for Edward Torres?  A simple family man, he was probably just in the wrong place and the wrong time.  Again, all assumptions on my part, of course.

As you know, I am an unabashed Jerry fan but, even so, I don’t think they need to find a way to shoehorn him into every episode.  So, I really love it when there is a legitimate reason for him to be brought into a case.  Jerry traced the life preserver on which the men were clinging to a ship called the “Sea Falcon”, decommissioned and in dry dock for ten years.  Adding to that, the “official” report that Wattana died six years prior, of course, Jerry immediately and excitedly deduced the Falcon was a ghost ship with a ghost crew.  The look on Jerry’s face as he rattled off the names of other “ghost ships” was priceless.

As was the look on Lou’s face when Steve totally punked him with his story of the “The Dress White Ghost” from The USS Hornet.  I’m sorry but Alex and Chi really do have THE best facial expressions ever.

And speaking of facial expressions, as the team listened to Edward Torres tell his tale of capture and cruel mistreatment on the ship, his devastation at being torn from his then pregnant wife and the grief of never seeing his now 3 year old child, you could feel the sorrow in the room.  But it was the look on Kono’s face, as Edward described the frightening days of floating around in the ocean not knowing if he’d ever be found that was the most gripping.  No one knows that feeling better than Kono!  The determination to bring this operation to an end was more than evident on every face in that room.

As a friend (thanks Lynnette) pointed out on another site, the “over-arching theme” for Five-0 has always been family so ending this story with a family reunion between Edward, his wife and the most adorable three-year-old girl was a great touch.  You’re right Lynnette.  Five-0 has always done these so very well.

It’s become a H50 standard that we have two or more stories going on in an episode many weeks.  And, it’s also standard that our second story be totally separate from the main one.  I don’t really like this approach because I will always feel the strength of this show is in the whole team working together to solve a case.  I also don’t like that, more times than not, it’s Danny who’s off on his own.  But, it is what it is, and I have to say, I did enjoy Daddy Danno and his kids adventure.

Courtesy of Belle Anderson ‏@SurfBelle2f

Poor Danny.  He just got the Camaro back after having it shot to hell in the last episode and poof…. in the middle of a nice day trip with his kids for sunshine and a chicken lunch it’s stolen!  I loved how this story started.  Charlie Edwards is absolutely adorable and hearing him call Danny “daddy” was the best but I can’t help but wonder when that development happened.  I mean, we haven’t seen Charlie since Halloween and he was calling him “Danno” then.  I know we don’t see him anymore but it made me think of Stan.  Danny gained his son, he always had Grace but Stan has lost everything.  His wife and his son.  I just can’t help but feel really sorry for him because Stan was always a good guy. He never deserved this.

I also really loved that the writers are finally….. finally…. writing Grace as the teenager she is.  I was getting really tired of them constantly writing her like she was still 10 years old.  Watching her roll her eyes at her father and complaining that if something hasn’t been immortalized on Instagram it hasn’t really happen, gave me flashbacks to my own daughter and the old days of MySpace.  I’m with Danny on this one 100%.  There is nothing that looks more ridiculous than a family out for an outing with everyone’s faces planted in their phones.

And the fact that Danny also didn’t have his phone on him doesn’t bother me in the least.  It’s his day off.  He doesn’t need to have his phone turned on, on his person, 100% of the time.  He didn’t leave it at home, he left it in the car.  A car they were going in and out of all day for their outing.  I’m sure both Grace and Danny would immediately check their phones the moment they got back into the car.  Since they were having lunch, what could that have been? 30-40 minutes?  If there had been a reason for Steve to get in touch with Danny, he would have left a message which Danny would have gotten the moment he got back into the car.  I see no problem with that at all.

I’m also willing to bet there are people complaining that Danny commandeered the bus to chase after his car and that he did it with his children in the bus.  But, if these people would watch with unbiased eyes they would see he did no such thing.  He did not commandeer a bus to chase his car.  He and the kids got on a bus to ride back into town, not to chase the car.  The guys who stole the car were shooting up a convenience store, that’s why Danny followed them.  He couldn’t call it in because he didn’t have his phone.  And even if he did, he, like everyone else on that bus, couldn’t get a signal anyway.

And, even then, he didn’t commandeer the bus to follow them.  He had Mamo follow at a sedate pace as to not tip the crooks off. It was only after Mamo made the mistake of not staying inconspicuous, that the crooks realized they were being followed.  That put everyone on the bus in danger.  Only then did Danny order everyone off the bus to safety before he took over.  So, no… Danny did not commandeer a bus and put his children and innocent civilians in danger just to chase after his car.

I loved how Danny met up with Vance the hunter.  I also loved how Vance wouldn’t let Danny go off on his own with a weapon he was unfamiliar with into an area it was obvious he was even less familiar with.  Danny and that bow was totally hot.  Watching him yank that arrow out of the leg of the first crook so he could reload and take aim on the second was almost as good as watching him lock and load his gun back in 5.01.  It’s too bad, well at least for the crooks, that his aim is nowhere near as good with that bow as it is with his gun!  As for Vance, it would be totally cool if we get to see him again.  He was awesome paired up with Danny on their hunt.

Courtesy of Belle Anderson ‏@SurfBelle2f

And then there is Abby.  We left off at the end of the last episode with Abby looking like she was going to come clean to Chin so it was good to see that’s exactly what she did.  I loved the scene of her throwing her SFPD badge into the sea.  A symbolic “I will not be a part of this and I don’t care what the consequences are”.  Abby didn’t know she was being used, being duped into the investigation about Five-0.  I said this before and I still firmly believe she thought everything she was told about Five-0 was true and this was going to be the bust of her career.

But, the very day she realized that wasn’t the case, the moment she realized this is Coughlin’s personal vendetta and not a legitimate investigation, she did exactly what she should have done.  She came clean.  The team understands that.  They are not holding it against her and I agree with them 100%.  I will agree that sleeping with Chin, before she knew the investigation was bogus was probably not the brightest idea but there are times when the libido wants what the brain knows is wrong and things just happen.  People are human, after all.

I’m happy that Steve asked her to stay and overjoyed that Chin is happy she is staying but I fear for how this will turn out.  I know that Julie Benz is in a new CBS Pilot for next season.  Even if that show is not picked up, does Five-0 really need a 6^th team member?  I honestly don’t think so.  And, while I want nothing more than for Chin to be happy, I have always stood by my wish that the love stories of these characters stay back burner.  How can that be if Abby is part of the team?

No, I don’t think Abby will be staying long term as part of Five-0.  I just hope that when the time comes for her character to end it does not end in anything that will cause Chin more unbearable heartache.  Maybe Abby will be offered a fantastic job back on the force in San Francisco, an opportunity she can’t pass up.  I honestly believe that Coughin’s vendetta will be found out, the SFPD will realize Abby did the only thing she could do, and they will take her back.  That way she and Chin could part ways as friends, with the hope of seeing each other again, and Chin won’t have his heart broken again.  Just please guys… don’t kill her off!

I know my point of view on this is not going to be liked (not that I give a flying…..) in certain circles but I’ll try to explain why I feel this way and why, in my view, it is totally different than the Catherine situation.  I know I have said this before, and it’s usually conveniently forgotten when I’m being bashed, but my beef with Catherine is not her “lies” because I have never seen what she has done as lying.  I never held it against her when she kept Doris’s secret from Steve because Doris put her in an extremely difficult position and she felt she had no choice.  Steve was able to move past it, and that’s good enough for me.

I have never held Afghanistan against her because she went there to help people she felt she owed an enormous personal debt to.  And she did not drag Steve there with her.  He showed up at the airport and went with her on his own.  When he was captured by the Taliban, she did exactly what she should have done.  She protected those children and called Danny (the one person she knew would move heaven and earth for Steve) for help.  She did not abandon him.  She stayed behind to continue her personal mission and he was forced to leave by the military.

I even understand the year she stayed away and whatever this mission is that she’s on now.  If she was recruited back into service and ordered on this mission, she has no choice but to obey.  No… my beef with Catherine as nothing to do with any of this because I don’t consider any of this “lies”.

No…my beef with Catherine is how she trampled on Steve’s feelings.  When Steve made it home from Afghanistan and received that call from Catherine, his first concern was for her.  The physical relief he felt at simply hearing her voice was evident.  But not once during that entire conversation did she ever inquire about him, never asked him if he was ok, never showed any kind of relief that he made it home safe.  No one knows better than her what happens to Taliban prisoners, especially military.  But all she did was talk about herself, her mission, what she had to do.  Nothing about him.

Why did she come back to Oahu?  “What are you doing here?”  “I couldn’t miss Kono’s wedding.”  Ouch!  Then she stayed, living in his house, making him and everyone else believe she was there to stay only to rip his heart out again when she knew all along that’s exactly what she was going to do.  That’s what I can’t forgive. It has nothing to do with so-called lies.  It has to do with what I see as a total disregard for Steve’s feelings, a man she is supposed to love.  She has to do what she’s ordered to do but she didn’t have to totally destroy him to do it.

Abby?  She has strong feelings for Chin and he for her.  Yeah, starting a relationship with someone you’re supposed to be investigating is not the brightest thing to do but once she realized what was going on she put a stop to it and when she found out what Coughin was really up to she resigned her position with SFPD and came clean.  Also, Chin and Abby have been together what? A few weeks?  That is a huge difference than a relationship that has spanned over 10 years of love and trust.  Sorry, I have no problem forgiving Abby.  Catherine? I have no problem overlooking her “mission”, overlooking her “lies” but I will be extremely hard pressed to forgive her for what she has done to Steve’s heart.

Anyway, there you have it.  Another great episode.  Next week, Lou and his family go on the run from his past.  Looks like an exciting episode and I’m looking forward to seeing the entire Grover family together.  I have no doubt they will all make it out just fine!

Have a wonderful week my friends.  Aloha. Mala Pono.

Note:  Selling a house while simultaneously trying to find and buy a new one is a monumental time suck!  Every week I apologize for posting so late on Sunday afternoon and here I am posting this practically at bed time.  I’m really sorry but the entire weekend totally got away from me.

As a matter of fact, I didn’t even re-watch the episode yet so I’m writing this from memory of my one watch on Friday night.  Needless to say, no re-watch means very few personal screen caps except for a few I grabbed after I finished writing this.

Thank heavens for CBS promo shots and great friends with talent.  Mahalo to Belle Anderson ‏(@SurfBelle2 on Twitter) for the use of her screen shots and her great work with collages.  Luv ya sistah!