Photo Credit:  Ian Anthony Dale on Instagram

Hi everyone!  I hope you’ve all had a great week.  Here we are again, enjoying yet another really good H50.  I was a bit worried about this episode, for no other reason, except that it was coming after last week’s extremely highly emotional one.  Sometimes, that leads to the next episode being a bit of a letdown but, thankfully, that wasn’t the case here.  While this episode, co-written by Chi McBride and directed by Ian Anthony Dale, didn’t have the highly touching impact that last week’s episode had, it was still pretty emotionally charged in its own right.  And it was a single-story episode with not only the entire team working together but with lots of Steve and Danny togetherness as well.  My absolutely favorite type of episode.

Chi’s scripts always seem to revolve around the Grover family and this one was no different.  We met Lou’s niece Siobhan only seven episodes ago when she told Lou she wanted to follow in his footsteps and be a cop. And here she was, already a stand-out recruit at the HPD Academy. That didn’t take long.

Photo Credit:  CBS

The opening scene between Danny and (we now know her real name) Joanna’s sister was extremely touching.  Annika Marks managed to tear my heart out again.  She was so incredibly believable in Marie’s grief.  And Scott played Danny’s reactions to her perfectly. You could see there were so many things he wanted to say, so many ways he wanted to comfort her, but he was so choked up all he could manage to say was “I’m so sorry” over and over again.  Of course, Marie understood. She read the police report. She knows what Danny did to try to save Joanna.

I do wish we could have had at least one line to say that the jerk who killed Joanna had been taken into custody but, honestly, the way the scene ended with the two of them clinging to each other in their grief was so poignant and heartbreaking I really didn’t need to hear it. I’m just going to assume that he is.

I, of course, liked this episode a lot but I have to be honest, it kind of gave me a similar feeling to Danny’s story in last week’s episode.  I really enjoyed that story as well, particularly the fantastic acting of both Scott and Kate Siegel, but it felt to me that the only reason why that story was being told was to concretely show that Danny was 100% ready to move past Rachel.  That’s the same feeling I got watching Bonnie’s story.

It was a good story, but it really felt like the only reason for it to be told was to further the “what the hell is Adam doing..” story.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love Nia Holloway as Bonnie and no one can turn on the emotional waterworks as well as Chi. He’s so good at being able to go from frantic worry, to murderous rage, to desperation in the span of only moments.  It’s always a gut punch whenever a big strong guy dissolves into tears and no one does that better than Chi.

Photo Credit:  CBS

Of all the guys Bonnie could have gotten involved with, she had to pick a Yakuza plant within the Academy. Of course, she didn’t know he was Yakuza, but he had to know her uncle was Five-0.  No, Bonnie isn’t a blood relative of Lou’s and, obviously, doesn’t share his last name but I can’t believe in the “getting to know you” part of their relationship, Bonnie didn’t mention why she wanted to be cop and the person who inspired her to do so.

This is where the story gave me the same feeling as last weeks did.  Bonnie’s bad-boyfriend could have been anyone. But Chi and Matt Wheeler chose to make him Yakuza.  Joanna came into Danny’s life to propel his character away from Rachel and Endo and Bonnie’s story was only told to further advance whatever the hell Adam’s story is supposed to be.

I’m going to say this again…. I do not like this story one bit even if I love what Ian is doing with the material.  Especially in this episode, I was very impressed with the amount of time Adam was on screen considering that Ian was also directing. The old adage “a good actor can elevate the material” really applies with this story.

Photo Credit:  CBS

For the life of me, I can’t figure out what the hell is going on here.  I pray to God this is a long con of some sort, like when Kono was undercover for Fryer back in Season 2, because this behavior of Adam’s makes no sense.  And this story is turning the team into something I never thought I’d see them be.  Distrustful and secretive.  Steve and Danny are searching Adam’s apartment behind his back while Lou, all buddy-buddy with Adam, is keeping him busy and distracted while they do it.

Photo Credits: CBS

I fully understand Steve’s desire to “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” but the fact that Adam has now found himself in the latter category is very disconcerting. Steve has had his doubts about Adam for a while but now it’s downright outrage coming from Lou.  If looks could kill, when Adam walked out of that jungle, he would have perished on the spot.

I did notice something after Adam got Bonnie back to Lou.  He walked out of the jungle and he and Steve made eye contact.  There was a very subtle nod between them.  It was definitely there but I can’t decide what it could mean.  It seems pretty obvious that if Adam is undercover, he’s doing it for someone much higher up the food chain and that Steve doesn’t know anything about it.

There’s no way Steve would have put on a charade of searching Adam’s apartment in front of Danny because Steve wouldn’t deliberately keep Danny in the dark over something so important.  He would trust Danny with the truth. Steve was definitely in the dark when they were there.

But that nod between he and Adam? Could Steve have found out something after the search of the apartment?  Was that nod an understanding of some sort between them?  Or was it simply “I’m happy you were able to get her back safely but don’t think we’re not going to be talking about this.”

UPDATE:  A huge thank you to @ernsand2 on Twitter for capturing the exact moment for me! ❤️❤️❤️

Whatever it is, Adam sure has a hell of a lot of explaining to do.  No, I do not like this story one bit.  However, the acting of everyone involved in it is making it easier to bear.  But I really can’t wait until it’s over and hope to God that when it is, we have our old Adam back again.  Maybe there is some hope…..

Yup, this is the kind of episode I love. One story, everyone working together to solve the problem and lots and lots of Steve and Danny time.  The Steve/Danny feels were all over this one.  Right from the start, when Danny was called into the ME’s office to meet whoever arrived from Joanna’s family, there’s no way Steve was going to let Danny go alone.  And Steve knows Danny so well that when the usually overly talkative Danny didn’t want to talk about his meeting with Marie, Steve didn’t push.  When Danny’s ready to talk, Steve will be there.

The last scene between them at the house was golden.  The scene was one of blissful domesticity.  First off, it was wonderful to see that Eddie is his old, cheerful self again while the guys banter over scrambled eggs and “bacon days”.  I honestly don’t know if most of that scene was adlibbed or not, but it sure felt like it was.  If it wasn’t, Matt and/or Chi wrote it perfectly.

There were several throw backs in this scene as well.  Steve and Danny have been going at it over eggs and breakfast since way back in Season 1. There was also the line “you get what you get and don’t get upset” which is exactly the same thing Danny once told Charlie at the dinner table.

Then there was that look, that fleeting look, on Steve face when Danny told him the repairs on his house were almost complete, so he’d be able to go home soon.

Steve had that exact same look when Junior told him well over a year ago that he was looking for an apartment.  Just like he was happy that Junior was beginning to feel settled in Hawaii, Steve’s happy that Danny’s life is getting back on track.  But those good feelings are immediately tempered with the dread of the house being empty again.

Steve really likes having a full house, having a “family” living under its roof again.  With Junior deployed, Danny has filled the void.  If Danny leaves, and Junior is still away, I don’t think Steve can bear the thought of rattling around an empty house again.  It’s a pretty safe bet that Danny will eventually go home.  I just hope it’s not for a very long time because I just adore all the time they are spending together.  I really don’t want to see it end.

Lastly, I want to send a truly heartfelt Congratulations to Ian Anthony Dale, his beautiful wife Nicole and their adorable son Roman on the birth of their second child, a baby girl.  Ian shared the wonderful news via his Instagram account this past Monday with an adorable picture of himself, Nic and the little lady.  I’m sure you all will join me in sending them all the warmest of best wishes.  Ian is embarking on an adventure he can’t fathom yet.  There is nothing in this world that can reduce a big, strong man into a gooey puddle like a little girl.  I know he’s totally ready to be a phenomenal #girldad!

Well, that’s it for this week my friends.  I know this review isn’t quite as long and rambling as usual (maybe that’s not a bad thing, eh? 😉🤣) but I’m in the process of preparing for a little winter vacation.  I’m up to my neck in prep so not a ton time for screen caps.  Just a few this week.

I’m not sure when I’ll get to see next weeks episode but I’ll try to throw together something if I can.  Until then, Have a great week.  Aloha.  Malama Pono