REVIEW: Hawaii Five-0 – Episode 1.12 “Hana ‘a’a Makehewa”

Hana ‘a’a Makehewa:: Desperate Measures

Remember when Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) killed Spike, I mean Victor Hesse (James Marsters), at the start of the season? Well, it turns out, the jerk didn’t die! Instead, he returns to make this a very stressful episode. (He should have known that you can’t kill a vampire with two .9mm slugs, or am I getting my shows mixed up?)

Seconds after the show begins, McGarrett and Danny (Scott Caan) blew past law enforcement in a full blast suit to get to their friend, Chin Ho (Daniel Dae Kim). Chin is on his knees with a bomb strapped to a collar around his neck. Clearly, this episode was not going to be full of fun and games; a team member’s life was on the line.

Rewind a bit and we see where all this began. Dead bad guy, seen on camera with none other than the murderer of Daddy McGarrett, Irish terrorist Hesse, very pissed off team leader… Danny and McGarrett use their prison pal Sang Min (Will Yun Lee) yet again to track down Hesse. Unfortunately, the two make a dumb mistake and Sang Min gets away, with Hesse. And it spirals downward from there.

Hesse wants money for Chin’s life, but the governor says no negotiating with terrorists. Not that she offered any other solution… Kono (Grace Park) refuses to see her cousin end like this, and she gets Chin to tell the team about a secret police lock-up with loads of confiscated cash. The cash comes from the same case that caused Chin to be accused of being a dirty cop… And now, if they want to come out of this with their Chin held high, and in one piece, it’s time to be real dirty cops.

The seriousness of the episode left little room for the light-hearted tiffs between Danno and Steve, but there was still a good brief bit when Danny wanted to gauge the level of insanity in their plan of action. And, for a little more humor, Danny ends up with a Charlie Brownish Christmas tree via the internet and a Santa suit ala Kamekona (Taylor Willy), which looks more like it was made to fit Kamekona and not a trim, 5’5” Danny.

In the end, Hesse is in jail, Sang Min is on the lamb, Chin had blueprints for the super secret lockup, McGarrett knows how to sew, Grace gets her time with Santa, and the Iron Chef is cahoots with Hesse. That’s right, Wo Fat (play by Iron Chef Chairman Mark Dacasos) shows up to ask Hesse if McGarrett was onto the case his dad was investigating. Oh yeah, and McGarrett lost $10 million in stolen cash.

Episode side notes:

Danny calls Sang Min “babe.” I just LOVE when he calls people babe. But, I love anything Danny does…
How corny was it when they find the dead doctor and Kono turns to say “Guess he wont be making anymore house calls”??
Merry Christmas! (No Mele Kalikimaka with Danny around!

I’m sad we have to wait till after the holidays for more Five-0! There is so much left unsolved after these last few episodes. What are you guys looking forward to in the Hawaiian new year???