REVIEW: Hawaii Five-0 – 1.15 “Kai e’e”

Kai e’e:: Tidal Wave

Could anything possibly be better than shirtless Scott Caan, badass Alex O’Loughlin, and football? Yes. Shirtless Scott, badass Alex, and season two of Veronica Mars. What? I’m not a fan of any of the teams in the playoffs, and I have a soft spot for Jason Dohring & Kristen Bell… I’ve got my own priorities over here. And sleep was one of them, so I apologize for not getting my stunning review out to you last night.

But, it’s Monday morning you say? You didn’t happen to miss this week’s Hawaii Five-0 did you?? I warned you that it would be on Sunday rather than it’s usually Monday slot. Surely you listened, because you wouldn’t have wanted to miss the opening scene of Kono (Grace Park) and Danno (Scott Caan) scantily clad on the beach. Danno, feeling rather silly pseudo-paddling through the sand, was getting surfing lessons from Kono when alarms began sounding all over. It’s a tsunami siren, alerting the residents that not everything in paradise is perfect and that they should head for the hills.

Meanwhile, back at casa de McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), we get a half-a-six-pack view as McGarrett comes barreling down the stairs, girlfriend Catherine (Michelle Borth) in tow, to answer his cell phone. It would appear, as the two are getting dressed while talking to their respective bosses, this tsunami came at a rather inopportune time. McGarrett looks pretty hot trying to tuck his shirt in and fasten his pants with one hand though.

Ex-Mrs. Williams and Step-Stan are out of town, leaving Danno to take care of a tsunami and his daughter, Grace (Teilor Grubbs). Unfortunately, a missing scientist and head of the Tsunami Warning Center means that Danno has to work. Luckily, McGarrett knows a perfect babysitter. Kamekona (Taylor Wily). At least she’ll get all the Hawaiian Ice she can eat…

Our two guest stars this week, Joel David Moore and Jojo, got much less screen time than I was expecting. Joel David Moore, playing the second in command at the tsunami station, is frazzled as can be because the data coming in was all over the place (was I the only one who thought that sounded suspiciously like fake data??). Jojo played the daughter of our missing scientist, and didn’t really do much at all…

I don’t want to give away the rest of the plot, because there are some decent twists this week. I will however, skip ahead to something that we knew would come up eventually. Remember when Victor Hesse (James Marsters) was going to blow Chin’s (Daniel Dae Kim) head off, so McG stole 10 million from the evidence lock-up? Well, that money is in danger this evening, and saving it means exposing the fact that it is short exactly the amount that McGarrett had asked the Governor for a few months ago… But, not saving it means our super crime fighters wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. So, of course, they do what they can.

Fast forward to the closing scene à McGarrett is standing stoically, and sexily I might add, outside the Governor’s office, waiting to see her and be told “You’re fired” and potentially “You’re going to jail for a long long time.” The rest of the Five-0s show up to stand with him, but the Gov only wants McGarrett… It was a quick meeting; McGarrett makes the slow walk back to the team to break the news that the Governor wants to THANK THEM ALL FOR RECOVERING ALL $28 MILLION.

So, er… all the money huh? Not, all the money minus a few million? I think someone will come knocking on their door soon, expecting a favor or ten for saving their asses. Perhaps Wo Fat?

Episode Side Notes:

Only minor banter between Danno & Steve this week. Are we holding back on account of the potential new viewers?
Not only did we get a few minutes of shirtless Danno, we got a whole episode of tieless Danno! Hooray! He looks so nice with those first couple buttons undone.
I’m a huge fan of the young Mr. Caan, and as you see, I’m glad for the skin we got to see this week. However, I’m going to need you to pull the shorts up a tad please.
The moment Grace said “five card draw,” I knew she’d be taking those fellas for every gumdrop they had!
Gotta love Danno’s unorthodox ways, from the opening of a man’s mouth to last night’s sail boom to the face.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Was it worthy of a post AFC time change? Do you think it was their best bet to gain new viewers? Where did the missing $10 million come from??