Thoughts on Season 10 (*spoilers*)

Although I'm not actually watching these episodes on disc, it's convenient to organize my posts this way. This post does include *spoilers*.


"The Descent of the Torches"
No. in season: 5
Directed by: Douglas Green
Written by: Alvin Sapinsley
Original air date: October 20, 1977

Unfortunately, this episode (the only Season 10 episode Mike Quigley gave a four star rating) isn't available on the streaming site I'm using. I have to skip it for now.


"The Ninth Step"
No. in season: 6
Directed by: Dennis Donnelly
Written by: Robert Pirosh
Original air date: October 27, 1977

"The Ninth Step" guest stars Gil Gerard as Marty Cobb, a former HPD officer and recovering alcoholic.

Some thoughts:

- It's been years since I've seen it, but it couldn't be more obvious to me that the car crash footage at about 4:10 is recycled from the Season 9 episode "Chairman" er, "Target - A Cop". However, I know that the fireball is a Season 10 addition because I previously wrote about "Target - A Cop":

Impressive stunt work at the 38 minute mark as Ryder's car flips and rolls. How refreshing that the car didn't burst into flames. - alpha128 (me)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/217656622?p=2&d=217763761#217763761

(The Tenth Season is) the year this once-great series was starting to show its age, and its gradual decline began to set in. The average episode is still okay, but the gems are fewer and farther between and this season has more than a few dogs.
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/46453/hawaii-five-o-tenth-season/

Thanks for posting your episode reviews, alpha!

"Up the Rebels"

- At about 6:15, the white van driven by Foley, one of the bad guys, almost hits a bird! If you watch closely you can see the bird frantically swerve to avoid colliding with the van!

- At roughly the nine minute mark, I have to wonder how the unremarkable James Ryan ended up with such a babe for a girlfriend.

- Speaking of babes, Elayne Heilveil, who played Casey Fogarty, was very attractive. According to the IMDb she is still alive and was acting as recently as 2002.

- The musical score during the scene where Casey visits Sean Rourke (Stephen Boyd) at his hotel (20:05-23:45) is very effective. It seems to reference the Civil War song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home".

- Stephen Boyd gave an excellent performance. He'll always be "Grant" from Fantastic Voyage (1966) to me. I was sorry to learn that he died three weeks after filming this Five-O episode at the age of 45.

- At 37:19 I thought it was very clever how Rourke "paid off" Foley when he got too greedy.

In conclusion, Mike Quigley gives "Up the Rebels" three stars and I would not dispute that. My only complaints about this episode would be that McGarrett seemed a bit old by then to leap from a drawbridge to a ship below, and the rest of the team seemed a bit underutilized.

Speaking of returns, this episode is full of them:

- Paul Stanley, who had been directing Five-O episodes as early as Season 1, and as most recently as Season 7, is back. Stanley directed one of ringfire211's and my favorite Five-O episodes, "Rest in Peace, Somebody" (1971).

- Henry Darrow, who played two different gangsters in Seasons 4 and 8 is also back, this time as Stewart Longworth, a "respectable" character.

- Moe Keale, last seen as Din Lee in Season 8's "Legacy of Terror", also returns as Joe Moala, an ex-con bus driver who is framed.

- At about 6:45, the Governor tells McGarrett, "You Irish are all alike, hotheads!"

- Watch closely from 13:23-13:36 while Danno searches the bedroom of Joe Moala (Moe Keale). You can clearly see that the room is a set with no ceiling and with spotlights mounted on the top of the set wall!

- I was amused when, around 47:00, McGarrett lectures Terri O'Brien while leaving her gagged and unable to respond.

This episode is also full of returns:

- At 29:37 we are introduced to Charlie, the pretty female Che Fong. I guess that's one way to deflect comparisons between the two characters.

- We finally learn, although it's no big surprise, that the villain's plan is to tunnel into a bank next door to the record shop. This is a plot similar to Season 4's "Didn't We Meet at a Murder?" not to mention the Sherlock Holmes' story "The Red Headed League". I can see what James McArthur meant when he said that, after Leonard Freeman's death, the series told and retold the same kind of stories.

Although I'm not actually watching these episodes on disc, it's convenient to organize my posts this way. This post does include *spoilers*.

"Deep Cover"
No. in season: 9
Directed by: Steven H. Stern
Written by: Robert Janes
Original air date: December 8, 1977

This is the fifth teleplay from writer Robert Janes so far this season. Overall, I liked "Deep Cover" better than the previous two Janes scripted episodes "Shake Hands with the Man on the Moon" and "Deadly Doubles".

Some thoughts:

- The episode opens with a submarine being tracked by a U.S. Navy ship on the surface. Then, as the production credits roll, we suddenly switch to a beach.

- At 3:35, we see past and future Bond girl Maude Adams coldly and bloodlessly shoot some guy named Dominic. Later we learn this is Navy Lt. Commander Dominic Rizzo.

- Starting at 4:25, the bad guys hide Dominic's body in the trunk of his own car. They have to slam the lid twice to get it to stay closed!

- At the five minute mark, a mysterious frogman emerges from the ocean. Right before he collapses, he is told by Maude Adams, "everything is ready." Who is this guy? What is ready?

- What is it with vehicle lids/doors in this episode? At 6:43 an ambulance door almost closes on the mystery frogman's stretcher as it's being loaded!

- At 7:13 we see mystery frogman being treated by mystery doctors who apparently work for the U.S. Navy.

- Speaking of mysteries, by 7:37 I'm reminded of the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" episode of Pod People (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0776186/combined). The featured movie also suddenly cuts from one unrelated group of people to another - multiple times. To paraphrase one of the comments, "And now in Episode D we have these people playing Frisbee, 'D' for 'dumb'."

- At the fourteen minute mark, McGarrett pays another visit to the lab where a different female Asian named Dolani has apparently replaced Charlie. Boy, lots of turnover in the crime lab this season!

- At the seventeen minute mark, I finally figured out what the heck is going on in this episode. Mystery frogman was admitted to the hospital so he could remove his fake beard and take the place of Navy Commander Harner, who was at the hospital for his physical examination. And thirty seconds later it's confirmed I was right! Perhaps the creators thought since they had a Bond girl in the cast, they should add some Bond plot, in this case from the beginning of Thunderball.

- Around the twenty-one minute mark, there's no doubt that the secluded house (exterior) where Maude Adams is hiding is the same one used as a hideout in "A Cop on the Cover".

- At 22:47, we see McGarrett in his naval uniform for the first time since, IIRC, the Season 8 opener, "Murder -- Eyes Only".

- At 28:20, a Navy dentist examining "Harner" says he'll send for duplicate dental records. I have a feeling that dentist's life expectancy just dropped significantly! Sure enough, at 31:35 Danno informs McGarrett that the Navy dentist was found dead in his apartment. Can you tell I've seen the nine previous seasons of Hawaii Five-O?

- At 42:46, McGarrett says, "There's a double, Admiral" and then shortly thereafter says, "We're dealing with people who are both deadly and extraordinarily resourceful". I have to wonder if this is an in-joke from writer Robert Janes, whose previous Five-O script was titled "Deadly Doubles".

In conclusion, Mike Quigley gives "Deep Cover" two stars and I agree with that rating. Once you get past the confusing first act, it's not a bad episode. But, with the brainwashing of a naval officer and all the naval hardware on display, this one comes across as a low-rent "Murder -- Eyes Only". Janes' scripts for "Up the Rebels" and "The Friends of Joey Kalima" were better than this.


"Tsunami"
No. in season: 10
Directed by: Harvey S. Laidman
Written by: Don Balluck
Original air date: December 22, 1977

Unfortunately, this episode (voted best of the season by IMDb users: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls006725156/) isn't available on the streaming site I'm using. I have to skip it for now.


"East Wind -- Ill Wind"
No. in season: 11
Directed by: Reza Badiyi
Written by: Edwin Blum
Original air date: December 29, 1977

Likewise, this episode isn't available on the streaming site I'm using. I have to skip it for now.


"Tread the King's Shadow"
No. in season: 12
Directed by: Reza Badiyi
Written by: Harold Swanton
Original air date: January 5, 1978

As ringfire211 noted in another thread (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/217656622?p=14&d=245696706#245696706) this episode is "basically a love story between a haole girl and a Hawaiian boy."

Some thoughts:

- At 6:35 Debbie Cameron, the haole girl, decides to run away. She removes the keys from the ignition of her father's car and tosses them into the landscape. I have to write "landscape", because we don't actually see if it's lawn, woods, or brush. Regardless, she doesn't take the keys with her, which would be a far more effective strategy to avoid pursuit.

- At 10:32, Debbie's father, George Cameron, addresses Governor Paul Jameson as "Phil". So not only is he a bigot, he can't remember his friends' names!  Apparently somebody in the new Five-O management did minimal research, and they confused Richard Denning's one appearance as treasury agent Philip Grey (in "Twenty-Four Karat Kill") with his ongoing role as the Governor.

- At 11:32 a fantastic line from McGarrett, "I'm not going to railroad a kid just because moneybags there resents the color of his skin." I had to pause the playback so I could laugh out loud (in a good way) for a few minutes!

- Despite the major continuity error with the Governor's name, I really enjoyed the scene in the Governor's office. There was real fire in Jack Lord's performance. I don't think we've seen that much fire since the previous season's "Man in a Steel Frame".

- At 16:18, I enjoyed McGarrett putting Cameron in his place with the line, "We're all vulnerable even you." And that's why I call him, "Lord Jack"!

- As the second act begins, David and Debbie sail away in the boat of David's uncle Noah. I now recognize that Noah is played by John Marley, who memorably played Kono's relative Sam Kalakua in Five-O's first season finale, "The Big Kahuna".

- At 18:30 I noted, as did Mike Quigley, that the musical score is similar to an instrumental version of The Carpenter's "Close to You". This doesn't bode well.

- At 23:45 a gas station mechanic retrieves for Danno clothes that Debbie left behind. The mechanic's hands are smeared with grease. I don't think Debbie would appreciate him handling those!

- At 24:16 Danno finds a vital clue in Debbie's (now grease stained ) clothes, an appointment slip for a "Mrs. Jane Thompson" at the Mission Clinic in Honolulu. This must be how Debbie found out she was pregnant.

- Right after McGarrett leaves Uncle Noah's home, we cut again, at 26:37, to the "revolving door" house. This season alone this home has been the residence of Stewart Longworth, Frank Devlin, and now apparently George Cameron. The weird thing is Cameron seems to reside in a completely different house at the beginning of the episode! Is "Moneybags" Cameron so rich that he owns two palatial homes in the islands? Or this is another major continuity error like the Governor's name?

- At 33:45, we see a doctor played by none other than Kwan Hi Lim. According to the IMDb, this was his twenty-third out of a total of twenty-five Five-O episodes.

- At 45:13, Cameron's man Fletcher asks Uncle Noah, "Where's the girl?" Noah yells, "You go to hell!" When Fletcher says he's coming aboard Noah's boat, Noah threatens to "crack you one" with a boat hook! Way to go Uncle Noah! Even the much younger Fletcher is afraid to tangle with him!

- Mike Quigley calls this episode's ending terrible, but I thought it was OK. When we first see the City of Refuge and hear its story, I recognized that Cameron represented the modern-day King, but I didn't realize they would be so literal about it at the end. My only real complaint with the ending is that I was waiting for Cameron to get his comeuppance from McGarrett, and it didn't happen. McGarrett doesn't even lecture Cameron about wasting his time and taxpayer money when no crime had been committed. But I liked how David stood up to Cameron. At the end, Cameron just turns and walks away, which I admit is a bit anticlimactic.

In another thread, ringfire211 delivered the following damning assessment of this episode:

You'll come across what I consider to be the worst episode in the show's long run - "Tread the King's Shadow". I know you hate "Diary of a Gun" but let me tell you that "Diary" is like the Mona Lisa compared to the insipidness that is "Tread". Ugghh!! - ringfire211
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/217656622?p=14&d=245696706#245696706

This is my next post in the "Thoughts on Season 10" thread, and it does include *spoilers*. Although I'm not actually watching these episodes on disc, it's convenient to organize my posts this way.

You can read my comments on Disc 1 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299

You can read my comments on Disc 2 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=245814263#245814263

You can read my comments on Disc 3 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?p=2&d=246026403#246026403


"The Big Aloha"
No. in season: 13
Directed by: Marc Daniels
Written by: Gerry Day
Original air date: January 12, 1978

This episode is a whodunit about the murder of a Dr. Gideon Webb, a legendary local surgeon who has been practicing medicine for fifty years. But Webb's competency has recently come in question after a surgery he performed allegedly resulted in the death of the patient. A colleague of Webb's, Dr. John Palahana, has been campaigning for Webb to put down his scalpel and take on an advisory role. A hospital board meeting is scheduled to review the charges against Dr. Webb, but before they can meet, Webb's body is discovered in the surf while a party in his honor was being held nearby.

Some thoughts and observations:

- At 1:42, Dr. John's speeding car comes to a sudden stop on a very dusty road. *cough* *cough*

- At 11:50, we see for the first time this season long-time Five-O alum Yankee Chang. Yankee Chang started his Five-O career as the tour bus driver in the pilot episode. His previous appearance was as Po Ling in last season's "Nine Dragons". According to the IMDb, he appeared in a total of seventeen Five-O episodes.

- At 13:17, we see an increasingly rare sight, the entire Five-O team assembled in McGarrett's office for a meeting. Strangely, there is an uncredited stenographer named "Ronnie" on McGarrett's right taking notes. After being largely absent for the last several episodes, Chin Ho is given minimal screen time here. He's the first to leave the meeting and his entire dialogue consists of, "On my way."

- At 14:15, we get a good look at the "Kincaid Ranch Hospital" where the late Dr. Webb worked. It looks like a rather nondescript institution, considering Dr. Webb's esteemed reputation.

- At 18:34, we finally get the first "Show the Wave" (act break). That seemed like an rather long first act.

- Then at 25:46, we get the second "Show the Wave" (act break). That was an unusually short second act - barely over seven minutes long!

- After the break, at 25:54, the locale changes to Hong Kong. I'm not sure, but this may be footage originally shot for "Nine Dragons". Chin gets a little more screen time here, during a call back to McGarrett.

- There's a nice moment for Duke at 28:45 where he figures out that a passbook of favors Dr. Webb maintained should be checked for the initials of hospital board members. McGarrett says approvingly, "Score one for you, Duke!"

- From 43:59 to 44:50 there is a nice three-way phone conversation between McGarrett, Danno, and Chin Ho. So in the final analysis, Kam Fong got a nice part in this episode after all!

I've mentioned before that many tenth season episodes recycle plots from previous, and usually better, Five-O shows. This episode gives us a serving of "Nine Dragons", with a heaping helping of Season Eight's "Honor is an Unmarked Grave". The plot elements shared with the latter include:

An illegitimate child is conceived between two young people, one rich and white, the other one poor and non-white. Furthermore, the child's true identity is kept secret. In "Unmarked Grave", the father is rich white Brian Henderson and the mother is the Maru, the underage Asian daughter of a family servant. In "Big Aloha" the races/classes of the young parents are reversed, and the sex is consensual.
A rich older widow figures prominently in both episodes. In "Unmarked Grave" the widow is Agatha Henderson, while in "Big Aloha" it is Constance Kincaid.
In addition, both scripts are, in Mike Quigley's words, "structured in such a way that you don't know what is really going on until the end, when several plot issues are finally revealed and summed up." (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log8.htm#180)

Speaking of Mike Quigley, he is quite harsh on this episode, giving it 1.5 stars out of 4. He says it has "too many red herrings" and a "majorly disappointing" ending (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log10.htm#227).

But once again I'm going to break ranks with Mr. Mike, this time more significantly. I found this episode to be rather good. I attributed the plethora of red herrings to a successful attempt to construct another episode like "Honor is an Unmarked Grave". I liked that I was kept guessing until the end. So I'm giving this episode 2.5 stars out of 4 on the MJQ scale. That would place it about on par with the likewise unoriginal but competent "The Friends of Joey Kalima". For the record, I gave "Honor is an Unmarked Grave" a perfect 4 out 4 rating.


"A Short Walk on the Longshore"
No. in season: 14
Directed by: Don Weis
Written by: Richard DeLong Adams
Original air date: February 2, 1978

This episode isn't available on the streaming site I'm using. I have to skip it for now.


"The Silk Trap"
No. in season: 15
Directed by: Dennis Donnelly
Written by: Robert Janes
Original air date: February 9, 1978

This episode is set in and around "The Miss Pacific Islands Beauty Pageant", where Congressman John Richard Carr (David Birney) is one of the judges.

Some thoughts and observations:

- At 1:45, we see that the host of the beauty pageant is none other than long-time Five-O alum Doug Mossman. According to the IMDb, Mossman appeared in a total of 27 Five-O episodes. Most notably, Mossman appeared in Season 7 thirteen times as Frank Kamana, the unofficial replacement of Ben Kokua (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/season7.pdf).

- The twelve finalists and the colors of their swimsuits are:
1. South Korea (purple)
2. Hawaii (black)
3. Malaysia (black)
4. Australia (purple)
5. Philippines (black)
6. Taiwan (red)
7. Singapore (red)
8. Cambodia (purple)
9. New Zealand (red)
10. Thailand (black)
11. Tahiti (red)
12. Japan (purple)

For the record, I was rooting for Miss South Korea.

I noticed a couple of interesting things:
This pageant has a very loose definition of "Pacific islands". South Korea has islands, but it's mostly a peninsula. The same is true for Cambodia and Thailand. Malaysia is half peninsula and half island.
The sash of "Miss Philipines" (sic) is misspelled. It should of course be Philippines.

- At 5:12, we see Miss Malaysia, Jane Kuan, employing the old "drugs/poison hidden in the jewelry trick". A few moments later, we see the old cabinet de voyeur trick like in From Russia with Love.

- At the seven minute mark, wow! I initially thought they would try to blackmail Congressman Carr for adultery. I never suspected they would try to frame him for murder!

- At 10:36 we see another familiar face, Soon-Teck Oh (AKA Soon-Tek Oh and Soon-Taik Oh), who ultimately appeared in eight Five-O episodes. I think his most memorable previous appearances were as the serial killer in "Wednesday, Ladies Free", and as Tom Wong in "The Jinn Who Clears the Way". The latter is one of my all-time favorite episodes (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls005352325/).

- At 13:28, Danno interviews a chaperone played by yet another familiar face, Jo Pruden, who most recently played Mrs. Longworth in "The Cop on the Cover".

- At about 17:15, we see that the beauty pageant is continuing unaffected by the loss of Miss Malaysia. We also learn that the fictional talent portion of the beauty contest sucks as bad as the real thing.

- At the twenty minute mark, we see that the part of Jonathan Kaye has been recast yet again, with Lyle Bettger taking over the role. Bettger's performance is nothing great, but at least he's better than Miss Australia on the guitar!

- At 38:37 we learn that Congressman Carr's wife has been kidnapped by the same two thugs who killed Miss Malaysia. That was an effective act break!

Mike Quigley gives "The Silk Trap" 2.5 stars out of 4 (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log10.htm#229). Although I admit this episode has more visual interest than usual, I think he's being too generous.

This is the sixth teleplay from writer Robert Janes so far this season, and I'd place "The Silk Trap" about on par with "Deep Cover". In other words, it's better than "Shake Hands with the Man on the Moon" and "Deadly Doubles", but still falls short of the standard set by "Up the Rebels" and "The Friends of Joey Kalima".

For example, I thought Andrea King (the boss of the beauty contest) being part of the blackmail plot was both contrived and unnecessary. Why was she involved, anyway? What did she hope to get out it? Money? Her motivation is never explained.

Furthermore, King's contribution to the plot was minimal. So she called the chaperone away to type some letters, big deal. Are we meant to believe that one chaperone was otherwise capable of watching twelve different contestants 24 hours a day? I don't think so, because one of the contestants told Danno that they're all grown women and could pretty much sneak out at will. Therefore, King's biggest "contribution" to the criminal enterprise was to call the thugs holding the Congressman's wife, thus tipping off McGarrett to the location of their hideout. In the final analysis, I give "The Silk Trap" only two stars.


"Head to Head"
No. in season: 16
Directed by: Jack Whitman
Written by: Leonard B. Kaufman
Original air date: February 16, 1978

This episode gets its title from a showdown between McGarrett and Al Marsh, an agent of the U.S. Department of Justice, who is protecting Jack Fabian, a murder suspect wanted by Five-O.

Some thoughts:

- About 4:30, Barney Kawala (Five-O's undercover man) is introduced to "Number 1" in the drug cartel. This part is played by John Russo, AKA Barry Russo, who played three similar roles during Season 9.

- Around 6:15, good stunt work by James MacArthur or his stunt double. If it is a double, they found someone who closely resembles MacArthur.

- At 7:35, I recognized the voice of the bearded Fabian as belonging to Charles Cioffi, AKA Charlie Bombay II from Season 8's "McGarrett Is Missing".

- Great line from McGarrett at 9:09, "Sammy, if (Barney) dies, and you're not telling me the truth, you're gonna go the distance. And that's gospel."

- Starting at 11:17, Barney's soon to be widow says, "Ten years in Denver, fifteen years here. Never a scratch." This dialogue is very similar to McGarrett's lines in the ninth season episode, "Dealer's Choice... Blackmail". When Sgt. George Tatupu died in that episode McGarrett said, "Twenty years on the force. Twenty years without a scratch." Ironically, both Sgt. George Tatupu and Barney Kawala were played by the same actor, Ernest Chan.

- At about the fifteen minute mark, the entire Five-O team is back in McGarrett's office. I'm going to treasure these moments. Barney's death has made me painfully aware of Chin Ho's impending demise.

- I noticed, as did Mike Quigley, that an interesting camera angle is used from 17:40-17:53 as McGarrett and Danno knock on the door of an apartment house. They, and the man who answers the door (federal agent Al Marsh), are filmed from beneath.

- There's a great exchange between Marsh and McGarrett at 20:28. Marsh tells McGarrett, "You're asking for official trouble." McGarrett replies, "Really? I have a feeling it's the other way around." And that's why I call him, "Lord Jack"!

- Around 31:20 Jack Fabian calls his girlfriend Luana Watkins at her flower shop and she asks him, "Where are you, Fred?" I was confused until I went back and confirmed that the new identity given to Fabian by the Justice Department is "Fred Jackman".

- I would like to point out the obvious fact that Fabian somehow missed at 45:20. An empty plastic pail is not an effective weapon!

- The musical score in this episode, apparently by Don B. Ray, is quite good.

Mike Quigley gives "Head to Head" 3.5 stars out of 4 (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log10.htm#230) and I think he's being way too generous. I agree this episode is a cut above the typical Season 10 show, but it's not that good. For example, I gave 3.5 star ratings to "A Touch of Guilt", "Legacy of Terror", "The Last of the Great Paperhangers" and "Man in a Steel Frame". This episode does not belong in that esteemed company. I give "Head to Head" 2.5 stars.


Recap of Season 10 (so far):

I did miss a handful of episodes, but I think I've seen enough to give a fair assessment of Season 10 (so far).

Two thirds of the way in, I find myself watching five two-star episodes in a row, and describing the fifth as "another typical Season 10 episode". I also find myself writing (earlier in this post), that "many tenth season episodes recycle plots from previous, and usually better, Five-O shows." This is the nature of Season 10.

Beginning with Season 8, I've rated every Five-O episode that I've seen on a scale of one to four stars. Looking at just the first two-thirds of each season, and comparing these ratings, the decline of this once-great series couldn't be more evident:


Season 8 Season 9 Season 10
Excellent 60% 40% 18%
Good 33% 33% 27%
Fair 7% 13% 55%
Poor 0% 13% 0%
---- ---- ----
100% 100% 100%


Despite this, I am enjoying watching and writing about these episodes as I have never seen any of them before. In addition, my last period of intense Five-O viewing was nearly five years ago, so I have missed the series. But to be honest, the highest praise I can give this season (so far) is that I have yet to encounter an episode that I truly despise. Season 9 had delivered two such episodes by this point.

This is my next post in the "Thoughts on Season 10" thread, and it does include *spoilers*. Although I'm not actually watching these episodes on disc, it's convenient to organize my posts this way.

You can read my comments on Disc 1 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299

You can read my comments on Disc 2 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=245814263#245814263

You can read my comments on Disc 3 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246026403#246026403

You can read my comments on Disc 4 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246392996#246392996


"Tall on the Wave"
No. in season: 17
Directed by: Ronald Satlof
Written by: Bill Stratton
Original air date: March 2, 1978

As noted above, this episode is written by Bill Stratton, who had been writing for Five-O as far back as Season 4. Stratton's previous credits include several notable episodes: "Pig in a Blanket" and "Engaged to Be Buried" (both from Season 5), as well as "Target - A Cop", "A Capitol Crime", and "Blood Money Is Hard to Wash" (all from Season 9). According to the IMDb, Mr. Stratton died less than a year ago - RIP.

Stratton's long Five-O career puts him in the position of having written one of my all-time favorite episodes (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls005352325/) and one of my least favorite episodes (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003076358/). However, I double-checked my lists, and this happened more often than you would expect:


WRITER FAVORITE EPISODE *LEAST* FAVORITE EPISODE
------------------ ----------------------------------- ------------------------
Bill Stratton "Engaged to Be Buried" "To Die in Paradise"

Anthony Lawrence "Death with Father" "To Hell with Babe Ruth"

Jerome Coopersmith "I'm a Family Crook - Don't Shoot!" "Diary of a Gun"
"Retire in Sunny Hawaii... Forever"
"Nine Dragons"

Bud Freeman "How to Steal a Masterpiece" "Let Death Do Us Part"
"Honor Is an Unmarked Grave"



This particular episode deals with a surfing competition at which Danno is one of the judges.

Some thoughts and observations:

- At 4:31 we see that Danno's civilian clothes include shoes with (for a man) very high heels.

- Around 6:30, the familiar face of Moe Keale is brought into McGarrett's office by Duke and an HPD officer. Based on his attire and the brief conversation with McGarrett, Keale's character "Charlie" must be a pimp. Interestingly, Moe Keale also played a pimp in the Stratton penned "Tricks Are Not Treats" (1973).

- At 7:55, McGarrett tells Danno, "Be sure you judge the surfers, not the bikinis." Yeah, I can see how that could happen.

- A great exchange at 9:53 between Lorca Davidson and her ex-lover Gavin McNabb. Gavin says, "Go ahead, walk by me like I'm a parking meter." Lorca replies, "Why not? Your time's expired!" . But unfortunately for Lorca, things soon take a tragic turn. The two struggle and she falls from the cliff, tearing off a piece from Gavin's T-shirt in the process.

- At 11:39, emergency services show up in response to Lorca's fatal fall. In real time, it takes a mere twenty-eight seconds for them to appear. I find that a bit hard to believe. Are we meant to believe that the site of Lorca's fall is a heavily trafficked area? It looked pretty remote to me!

- Lorca's boyfriend Ben Hanakea (Kimo Kahoano) is a friend of Danno's. I know it's a TV show, but shouldn't Danno recuse himself from the investigation?

- Around the sixteen minute mark, Doc Bergmann calls the Five-O office, but he is not seen. During the call Danno tells him to "get the fabric over to Charlie for analysis."

- At 18:55, we see that Gavin put his torn T-shirt in Ben's garbage can. Danno discovers this vital clue and in response Ben runs off into the jungle! It doesn't look good for Ben! Show the wave!

- At 30:44 we finally get some action! From the first act break until now, there was a long dull stretch.

- At 31:28, we see that the white truck in pursuit of Danno's car has a spare tire mounted on some kind of swinging boom, and it's loose!

- Wow! At 32:09 Danno drives his regular car off a dirt road and plows into a sandy beach. The front of Danno's car looks seriously dented after (and before!) doing this. However the damage seems to have miraculously repaired itself when Danno screeches to a halt at 32:23. Actually, it's pretty obvious that this is a completely different car. Mike Quigley notes the same on his website (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log10.htm#231).

- At 33:39 Ben finally sees the light of reason and turns himself into Danno. Way to go buddy, you managed to pad out the episode by nearly fifteen minutes! Show the wave!

- After the break, we're in the crime lab and finally see the outcome of the fabric analysis by Charlie (not Moe Keale ).

- At 35:39, hey it's Chin! I think this is the first time we've seen him this episode! Blink and you'll miss him though.

- At 38:48, it's Chin again and this time he speaks! Actually the interrogation of Ben in prison turned out to be a pretty decent dramatic scene.

- At the forty-six minute mark, oh wow! Lorca's friend Elaine Sebastian just speared Gavin McNabb!

- At 46:23, we see Elaine trying to escape from Gavin McNabb along the same cliffside trail Lorca fell from early in the episode. I was expecting the pursuing McNabb to fall to his death, but instead he's collared by Duke and McGarrett.

In conclusion, Mike Quigley gives "Tall on the Wave" two stars out of four and I agree - barely. This episode was flirting with a 1.5 star rating. It's quite dull at times and, like many Tenth Season shows, heavily padded. But in the final analysis it is better than "To Die in Paradise".


"Angel in Blue"
No. in season: 18
Directed by: Allen Reisner
Written by: Irv Pearlberg
Original air date: March 9, 1978

As noted above, this episode is directed by Allen Reisner, who had been directing for Five-O as far back as Season 4. Reisner's previous credits include "Skinhead" and "Hookman", two episodes from my all-time favorites list (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls005352325/). He also directed "Study in Rage", one of my least favorite episodes (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003076358/). So the question is, which will "Angel in Blue" more closely resemble?

This particular episode deals with a major drug shipment from Hong Kong headed first for Hawaii, and then the mainland. In the opening scene the body of an undercover cop named Bradley is found floating in the ocean.

Some thoughts and observations:

- At 2:16 we see a new medical examiner, who we've never seen before, has pulled three slugs from Bradley's body.

- At 5:43, we meet officer Valerie Bates, played by Carol Lynley. I remember her as "Nonnie" from "The Poseidon Adventure". Needless to say, it takes McGarrett a little convincing to accept a woman for this dangerous assignment. Ironically the police chief in this scene is played by Ernest Chan who (as previously noted in this thread) played two murdered undercover cops in previous episodes.

- At 7:36, we meet mobster Marty Lynch, played by Vic Tayback. Tayback had of course previously appeared on Five-O in "Bones of Contention" (1975).

- At 8:26, we meet thug and murderer for hire "Surfer", played by Nephi Hannemann. Hannemann would ultimately appear in eleven Five-O episodes.

- Oddly, at 9:03, Marty Lynch emerges from the next room in the process of changing his shirt. What was wrong with the other one?

- At 9:32 we see Valerie Bates sunning herself on the beach in a bathing suit. Hubba hubba!

- At 11:39, I was highly amused by Danno's report back to McGarrett on Valerie's undercover skills, "She's good, Steve. She's playing (Kimo) like a ukulele."

- At 15:54, we see that Valerie is now back in her bathing suit and sunning herself next to Lynch's pool. I approve!

- After the break, around the nineteen minute mark, we see that the "Matzo Cable and T-V" van is actually Chin Ho running surveillance. This is the first time Chin appears in this episode.

- From 19:05 to 19:54, Valerie and Kimo walk along the beach while the still swimsuit clad Valerie tries to unobtrusively pump Kimo for information about the drug deal. Originally I assumed the title of this episode referred to Valerie's job as a cop. But now I notice that her swimsuit is also blue. "Angel in Blue" indeed! 

- Around the twenty minute mark, we meet TV newsman Jimmy Akana, played by Five-O veteran Doug Mossman.

- Around the twenty-one minute mark, there is a tense scene as Valerie attempts to plant a bug on Lynch's phone and is possibly discovered by Surfer in the process. The music in this scene is very effective.

- From 29:10-29:40 we learn that the plan is to smuggle the drugs onto the mainland inside hollow wooden Tikis. That is Kimo's contribution to the criminal enterprise, as his uncle owns the "Hameo Woodcarving Co." In exchange Lynch is supposed to erase Kimo's gambling debts. This setup is reminiscent of that in Season 6's "The Flip Side is Death", where stolen money is stuffed into 8-track tape cartridges bound for the mainland.

- At 33:04, Kimo cleverly detects the bug Valerie planted earlier by seeing its reflection in the glass tabletop the phone is resting on. This leads into another tense scene with effective music, where Kimo decides to conceal the bug from Surfer and Lynch.

- Around the thirty-four minute mark, Chin calls McGarrett and informs him that the bug has been disabled. McGarrett angrily slams the receiver on to his desk and then throws it! Wow! Show the wave!

- There's a very odd scene at 38:06 where McGarrett takes another call from Chin. Unlike the scene four minutes earlier, McGarrett takes this call from a completely different office. In fact, it looks like his Territorial Building office from early in Season 9! Did Steve break his phone in the earlier scene and have to take this call from the Territorial Building?!? 

- At 46:27, Wow! Surfer just killed Kenny, I mean Kimo!

- Around the forty-seven minute mark, as I saw McGarrett prepare to leap from the helicopter, my reaction was "No Way!" And it's an odd edit from 47:15-47:16 when McGarrett jumps and lands on Surfer. On the plus side however, McGarrett gives Surfer "a nice Hawaiian Punch" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86IpU3g-S8Q.

- I can't make out the last word that McGarrett says at 48:29, "You did a great job _____." Lady? Baby? Amy?

In the final analysis I agree with ringfire211 who declared, "'Angel in Blue' is actually in my top 5 for the season (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246560760#246560760), rather than Mike Quigley who raised his rating from 0.5 to 1.5 stars.

It's no "Hookman", but I'd give "Angel in Blue" a respectable 2.5 stars. I actually would rate it fourth best of what I've seen so far.

Best Season 10 Episodes I've seen (#1 being the best)

1. Up the Rebels (3 stars)
2. The Cop on the Cover (3 stars)
3. The Friends of Joey Kalima (2.5 stars)
4. Angel in Blue (2.5 stars)

P.S. On his website Mike Quigley notes with incredulity, "The writer, Irv Pearlberg, gave us The Bells Toll At Noon!" (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log10.htm#232) I know, this was so much better than that! 


"When Does a War End?"
No. in season: 19
Directed by: Ernest Pintoff
Written by: Arthur Bernard Lewis
Original air date: March 16, 1978

This episode deals with one William Barker, Jr. who is targeting successful Japanese American businessman, Yuhio Muromoto, who has an dark secret in his past.

Some thoughts and observations:

- Around the two and a half minute mark we see the old exploding lunchbox trick! Interestingly, at first the Muromoto Imports Receiving Office appears to catch fire, but when we see it later there is only slight fire damage.

- At 3:53, Iolani, AKA Dolani, from "Deep Cover" is back.

- At 6:10, we meet Alicia Wade played by Anne Francis. Every year I attend a science fiction marathon that prides itself in showing movies of every decade. And so I recognize Anne Francis from the 1956 science fiction classic, "Forbidden Planet". In 1978 she was about 48 years old, and was still looking pretty good. I now see that the IMDb says she died in 2011 at the age of 80. RIP, Altaira.

- From 7:30-8:50 there's a long scene set on the Iolani Palace balcony. As I noted in my article on Season 9 Office Moves (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/season9/offices.htm) the reconstructed balcony set first appeared in "Practical Jokes Can Kill You". This is perhaps the best look we get at the balcony in the entire series. Given how large and detailed this set is, I'm surprised they didn't use it more frequently.

- At 12:23 we meet Japanese Consul Mr. Sakata, played by Five-O veteran Tom Fujiwara, who ultimately appeared in 24 episodes.

- At 39:12, we learn that Alicia Wade has been working with Barker. That was an effective twist and act break! I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that Wade (who has been working for Muromoto for twelve years) was in love with him, and furious that he chose to marry a younger woman instead of her. Why else mention an unseen fiancée in a May-December romance with Muromoto? And sure enough, I find out at 40:47 that I was right!

- At 39:58, Duke presents McGarrett with a vital clue, an autographed WWII book signed by Alicia Wade. But she only signed her first name, and yet Danno immediately says "Alicia Wade" like there's only one "Alicia" in the entire state of Hawaii!

- At 42:13, we see Chopper 2 has some very powerful binoculars. They can read Muromoto's license plate very clearly!

As for rating this episode, I once again agree more with ringfire211 than with Mike Quigley. Ringfire wrote that "When Does a War End?" was "not only watchable but actually good" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246560760#246560760), while Mr. Mike stated this was "an execrable show, one of the very worst (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log10.htm#233). Yes, there was some heavy-handed moralizing from McGarrett at the end, but it only lasted twenty seconds (48:38-48:58), so it wasn't that bad.

Furthermore, the twist to make Alicia Wade a villain was better thought out than the similar twist in "The Silk Trap" where Andrea King was part of the blackmail plot for no apparent reason.

Yes, as Mike Quigley notes, this episode recycles plot points from the Season 3 episode, "The Reunion". But after episodes like "The Waterfront Steal" and "Tread the King's Shadow", I thought it refreshing that the wealthy Mr. Muromoto had no objection to his daughter Nancy dating the white and poor cab driver William Barker, Jr.

In the final analysis, it's nothing great, but it's not the utter crap Mike Quigley makes it out to be either. I give "When Does a War End?" two stars out of four.


"Invitation to Murder"
No. in season: 20
Directed by: Harry Harris
Written by: Seeleg Lester
Original air date: March 23, 1978

This episode isn't available on the streaming site I'm using. I have to skip it for now. And that concludes Disc 5, only four more episodes to go!

This is my next post in the "Thoughts on Season 10" thread, and it does include *spoilers*.

You can read my comments on Disc 1 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299

You can read my comments on Disc 2 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=245814263#245814263

You can read my comments on Disc 3 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246026403#246026403

You can read my comments on Disc 4 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246392996#246392996

You can read my comments on Disc 5 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246901727#246901727


For the first time this season, the streaming site I'm using has a complete disc of episodes. As a result, I hit the IMDb's length limitation and I'm going to post this disc in two parts.


"Frozen Assets"
No. in season: 21
Directed by: Reza Badiyi
Written by: Seeleg Lester and Sam Neuman
Original air date: March 30, 1978

In this episode, famous mystery writer Millicent Shand investigates the alleged murder of her friend at the Cryogenic Foundation run by Dr. Kenneth Kirk.

Some thoughts and observations:

- At 3:24 Dr. Kirk explains, "Cryogenics is the study of low temperatures. And our branch deals with the suspension and immobilization of the human body, in temperatures as close to zero as possible." This of course immediately begs the question, zero degrees Fahrenheit? Celsius? Kelvin? I must assume he means zero degrees Kelvin, AKA absolute zero. This is confirmed much later in the episode, when Kirk's assistant Norman Pryce mentions at 29:16, "normalizing temperature from -272 degrees." According to Wikipedia, absolute zero is -273.15 degrees Celsius (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zero). But oddly, a technician played by Jimmy Borges then starts giving a patient's temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. Either the initial temperature is wrong (absolute zero is -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit) or they are mixing and matching temperature scales.

- Around the nine minute mark, McGarrett tells Dr. Kirk, "we'll see what the Attorney General has to say about (an autopsy)" and then at 9:15 we see McGarrett talking to Kwan Hi Lim who is credited as "Himself". Does that mean Kwan Hi Lim was the Attorney General in real life at the time?

- At 14:53, and again at 20:05, first Danno and then McGarrett mention a man named Malcolm Craigie who died in an "accident". However, that doesn't appear to be the character's original name. Initially both Danno and McGarrett say the name off-screen, and in both cases the audio sounds dubbed. But at 21:48 McGarrett speaks the name clearly and on camera. Perhaps the character's name was changed during production?

- At 30:14 there's a close-up of a medical device with a digital readout. However, this episode was made long before digital thermometers were commonplace. If you look closely, you can see that the "TEMP." label on the display was made with a punch type label maker! (http://heck-yeah-old-tech.tumblr.com/post/11858693164/dymo-punch-tape-label-maker-and-six-colors-of)

- Furthermore, the real labeling on the front of that medical device, which includes "bpm", "TRIGGER", "ALARM", and "QRS VOLUME", indicates that it is actually a defibrillator! (http://frankshospitalworkshop.com/equipment/documents/defibrillators/service_manuals/Zoll_R-Series_-_Configuration_guide.pdf)

- There's a very funny moment starting at 32:55 when Duke tells McGarrett that an apparently revived patient must have been smoking his last cigarette before he passed out. McGarrett incredulously responds, "What have you two been smoking?" 

Before I give my rating for this episode, I have to note that, according to one viewer:

("Hawaii Five-O") jumped when the producers, desperate for guest stars other than Don Stroud, hired aging, ex-Rat packer Peter Lawford to play a demented doctor. This was in the last couple of seasons, I think. http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/jumptheshark.htm

Today, Aloha Tower continues to serve as a welcoming landmark for kama'aina and visitors alike. Still a docking port of O'ahu's cruise ships, this historic site now includes the Aloha Tower Marketplace, a retail development that has been revitalized by Hawai'i Pacific University into a vibrant, mixed-use residential, educational, and commercial gathering space designed to serve HPU students, Hawai'i residents, and visitors from around the world.

http://www.alohatower.com/aloha-tower/

This is my next post in the "Thoughts on Season 10" thread, and it does include *spoilers*.

You can read my comments on Disc 1 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299

You can read my comments on Disc 2 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=245814263#245814263

You can read my comments on Disc 3 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246026403#246026403

You can read my comments on Disc 4 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246392996#246392996

You can read my comments on Disc 5 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=246901727#246901727

You can read my comments on the first two Disc 6 episodes here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/245765299?d=247353800#247353800


For the first time this season, the streaming site I'm using has a complete disc of episodes. As a result, I hit the IMDb's length limitation and I'm posting this disc in two parts.


"A Stranger in His Grave"
No. in season: 23
Directed by: Richard Benedict
Written by: Arthur Bernard Lewis
Original air date: April 27, 1978

This episode, like "Shake Hands With the Man on the Moon" and "The Big Aloha" from earlier this season, deals with murder and sleazy land development. It also has more than a few similarities to Season 8's "A Killer Grows Wings", right down to the character names. In "A Killer Grows Wings" the female ranch owner is named Kate and the bad guy is named Chadwick. In "A Stranger in His Grave" the female ranch owner is named Katie and the bad guy is named Chadway.

Some thoughts and observations:

- This episode opens with what is probably stock footage of a burning cane field. Then at 1:50 a hard hatted worker sees the body of Frank Kealoha and says, "Hey Moe", but his delivery is off. It should have sounded more like this: http://www.hark.com/clips/wqpzbxvqhn-hey-moe 

- At 7:55, we meet Alice (Barbara Bingham), Beaudine's (John Hillerman) secretary. She may be a "dumb broad" according to Beaudine, but she is very cute!

- There's an effective first act break. At 16:33, McGarrett says, "When that description of (missing Treasury Agent) Alan Sloan comes in, send it to the coroner. Maybe, just maybe, he's the stranger in Frank Kealoha's grave."

As you can probably tell from my relative lack of commentary, I found this episode unremarkable. Mike Quigley gives "A Stranger in His Grave" 1.5 stars out of 4 (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log10.htm#237). But, I honestly can not say this is markedly inferior to the large number of two star episodes I've rated so far this season. I give "A Stranger in His Grave" two stars as well.


"A Death in the Family"
No. in season: 24
Directed by: Don Weis
Written by: Robert Janes
Original air date: May 4, 1978

This is the seventh episode this season written by Robert Janes, who's work has run the gamut from Excellent ("Up the Rebels"), to Good ("The Friends of Joey Kalima"), to Fair (everything else). Director Don Weis also directed the two episodes I just mentioned, so I'm hoping this one will finish Season 10 on a high note.

Some thoughts and observations:

- This episode opens promisingly with a well edited split-screen montage where Five-O and HPD crack down on various crimes including prostitution and drugs.

- Starting at 2:45, there's a meeting between two organized crime figures, Cappy Pahoa and Jimmy Rego. At 3:40, Rego speculates that, "Maybe this cop McGarrett wants to be governor." Interestingly, this is the second time this season we've heard this; the first was from reporter Terri O'Brien in "The Cop on the Cover". Pahoa replies (accurately), "Not McGarrett. He's never wanted to be anything but a cop."

- Starting at 4:13, there's a counterpoint meeting between HPD and McGarrett. McGarrett explains that the U.S. Justice Department has warned him that if Five-O doesn't clean-up the local crime syndicate, the kumu, the feds are going to move in and do it for them. Around the five minute mark, McGarrett refers to a color coded map of Oahu. I checked, and this is the same exhibit used by S.N. Savage during the briefing in Season 7's "A Gun for McGarrett". The yellow area that McGarrett says is "where the shakedowns are really taking place" was labeled as Kim's territory in the earlier episode.

- Starting at 7:15, Chin Ho, in disguise and undercover, meets with Jimmy Rego. Chin's cover is blown and he fights with Rego and his men. This is an excellent scene with great direction and performances.

- At the nine minute mark, a speeding car dumps Chin's body outside the Iolani Palace. I guess a dummy was used, but the body rolls convincingly; it's a chilling scene.

- From 9:23-11:12 there's a scene where Danno and Duke enter McGarrett's office and the three discuss the operation that led to Chin's death. Everything about this scene is first-rate: the music, the lighting, the performances.

- At 12:56, Elissa Dulce, pre-eminent Five-O babe, appears in the role of Pahoa's daughter Kini. I notice that she was really wearing her hair long in this episode!

- At 13:43, McGarrett meets Chin's daughter Suzy (Jean Marie Hon) who has just flown in from San Francisco. It's a good dramatic scene, but I'm starting to suffer from "meeting fatigue". C'mon, let's see "Lord Jack" kick some ass!

- At the sixteen minute mark, McGarrett pays Pahoa a visit. McGarrett tells Pahoa to "cut the bull" and warns him that he also has "friends in high places." It wasn't the beating I was looking for, but I'll take it!

- At 23:18, two of Rego's men, posing as workers for "Hawaiian Restaurant Supply" deliver two innocent looking blue pails to the kitchen of Yong Sen's Chop Suey. Yong Sen was Chin's informant, who later agrees to help Danno and Duke. Of course, a pail explodes when Yong Sen opens it. I can't say I was completely surprised, but it was a very effective act break.

- At the twenty-six minute mark, a great exchange between McGarrett and Rego:

REGO: Listen cop. Don't make any threats, OK?

MCGARRETT: You listen. Don't you ever call me "cop". The name is "McGarrett" and the title is "Mister."

You're unfortunately missing one of the best pieces of dialogue from a furious Steve to the snotty-nosed punk Jimmy Rego (Reni Santoni) in the season 10 finale episode "A Death in the Family". Steve drills Rego in his office with the spine-tingling "Don't you ever call me 'cop'. The name is McGarrett and the title is MISTER." Oh yeah!! Rego was the punk who killed Chin Ho. It's an even better scene than the one with Sam Wailua in this episode. I suggest you check out that episode. It's great! Even in season 10 and beyond McGarrett still delivered when/where it counted.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/217656622?d=245576884#245576884

I am now dead set in my resolve not to purchase, or even rent, any more Five-O DVD sets. The decline in quality I was told to expect in Season 10 actually happened this season.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/217656622?d=222001627#222001627

Why did you leave Hawaii Five-O before it ceased production? Do you ever wish you'd stayed on for the final season?

Quite frankly, I grew bored. After Leonard Freeman died, the series began to stagnate. It had started out very fresh and 'cutting edge' with stories and villains relevant to the times, but this did not continue once he was gone. The stories became more bland and predictable and presented less and less challenge to me as an actor. I haven't seen much of the 12th season, but no, I don't have any regrets about leaving when I did.

http://www.jamesmacarthur.com/FAQ/FAQ.shtml

Hi guys,
Based on Alpha's so kindly providing me with the links to streaming Daily Motion vids of a handful of Season 10's best episodes I have begun watching them. I now feel that I can begin commenting on these episodes.

I previously have seen the Season finale "A Death in the Family" about 4 years ago. I have yet to watch it a second time. However I remember that this was the episode in which Chin Ho Kelly's character was murdered. The most babalicious, (borrowing Mike Quigley's term) H 5-0 actress Elissa Dulce made an appearance both as Chin Ho's eldest daughter's friend as well as the daughter of the character that 5-0, (incorrectly as it was proven) had something to do with Kelly's death. I will have to see it one more time to reacquaint myself with the episode before posting my thoughts.

Right now, I wanted to comment on two other episodes: The first of which is "Cop on the Cover". The episode really was Steve McGarrett, (Jack Lord) in a nutshell regarding his character. In a scene in the Governor's office, I had never seen McGarrett so disrespectful of his boss after being told that he must cooperate with a newspaper reporter who wanted to write up a feature on the 5-0 head.

McGarrett wanted no part of being the subject of a write up feature which would reveal his job duties as head of 5-0. Unfortunately for Steve it was not his choice as the Governor overruled all objections loudly stated by McGarrett.

How interesting it was that back in his office, McGarrett initially assumed that this reporter played by the noted actress Jean Simmons, ("The Robe", "Elmer Gantry", "Spartucus") was a male right before meeting her. When he found out that "Terri O'Brien" was a female the sexist McGarrett kicked into full gear. In several Season 8 and 9 episodes most notably with the recurring female cop character Officer Sandi Wells, (Amanda McBroom) McGarrett had little belief that a woman could do a police officer's job nearly as effectively as a man. McGarrett can be thankful that these episodes were filmed back in the mid-late 70's and not 2015. Today with his male chauvanist attitude Steve McGarrett probably would be brought up on harrassment charges regarding his disdain of females in the work force as well as his annoying use of the words "honey" and "missy" when in conversation with them. Any male repeating those words in today's corporate environment to a female co-worker would quickly find himself out of a job!

I had one major issue with the bus scene. How easy was it for the viewer to realize that after Henry Darrow's, "Stewart Longworth" character left the ransom money underneath his seat and immediately got off of the bus after one stop, that Josie Over's character was involved in the kidnapping? After Longworth got off of the bus, Josie's character seconds later moves from her seat in the back of the bus and sits down in the recently occupied seat. She then reaches underneath and takes the money. Couldn't the script writers have put at least some mystery into it by re-writing that entire scene? As example: Josie is on the bus, but you never actually see her make a move for the money? Therefore you don't find out immediately that she is in on the scheme and instead have the belief that Moe Keale the bus driver was a part of the kidnapping and ransom demand. Watching a "mystery" like that scene today in any network television show would guarantee at least this person to reach for the remote and change the channel - never to watch that particular show ever again.

This was Moe Keale's best performance in his many appearances on H 5-0. He did a great job portraying a character almost at wit's end, being blamed by law enforcement solely because of his criminal record of doing something that he had absolutely nothing to do with ( thanks to the brilliant script-writing in which viewers immediately knew that Josie Over was a part of the kidnapping and ransom demand). "Guilty until proven innocent" - a very flawed principle regarding justice and our basic civil rights in the U.S. and a prominent theme to this episode. This also occurred to an even greater extent in the second one "Friends of Joey Kalima" that I will discuss below.

Getting back to the Terri O'Brien character. She proved equal to the task of trying to do her job in getting to know McGarrett, despite his level of unwilling cooperation and sexist attitude towards her as a woman. Yet, Terri's character threw barbs being tossed tossed by the chauvanistic McGarrett right back on his lap. In the end however, attempting to be the "super-reporter" it almost got her killed when Josie Over's character and her co-conspirator in the crime caught Ms. O'Brien in the act of snooping around where she had no business being. McGarrett and Danny got there in the nick of time to not only capture the culprits but save Ms. O'Brien's skin as well.

2). "Friend of Joey Kalima" I did not like this episode as much as others have reviewed it. Mike Quigley states that the episode went downhill about midway through. To me it went downhill when, acting on a tip coming from Jimmy Borges' record shop character owner's "Marco", Joey Kalima, (John Rubenstein) was arrested at a Hawaiian lua party thrown by long-time friends. This was within the first 10 minutes of the episode. Hwan Hi Lim's "Keoki" character was placing illegal book-making bets in the same house in which this party was being held, completely unknown to Joey. And yet, acting on this tip Kalima was immediately arrested and soon to face severe disciplinary charges, (upgraded to murder charges when the "Teo Rodriguez" character was violently killed) led by an overly aggressive prosecutor "Bernie Fryer" played by Alan Oppenheir. I find it difficult in the real world involving police officer work today that a cop such as Kalima would almost be considered guilty before being proven innocent, (uttered by McGarrett acting in his defense) in a criminal investigation and hearing.

Kalima is later photographed by Fryer's lackeys innocently talking to his good friend and Keoki outside of his home. Holy smokes, something bad must have been exchanged in that verbal conversation, caught on film. Send Kalima to prison for 20 years and throw away the keys before he even gets his chance to prove himself.

It's funny that nowadays Seth Sakai's character, Jimmy Borges and that 3rd conspirator never would have had "an entire weekend" to take their time and clean that entire bank out. Banks back then closed up shop for the weekend on Friday at about 4 - 5 pm. Not the case today with many banks now open on Saturdays.

I also wanted to provided what almost was an interesting tidbit that I found out about the beautiful Elaine Giftos who portrayed Lily Kalima, Joey's wife. In doing research coming from her bio, Ms. Giftos was born in 1945 in Pittsfield Massachusetts. After my father graduated from Boston University in 1959, my parents, (along with then 2 year old me) moved to his very same town in Mass. living there until late spring of 1962.

Ms. Giftos had both a musical and dance, (ballet) background growing up. I do not know if she still lived in Pittsfield in 1959. However, I originally entertained the notion that my father who in his first job beginning in the fall of 1959 was a junior high school chorus music teacher might possibly have had a then 14 year old Elaine in one of his classes. I then thought about it, (with both of my parents now being deceased) and realized that this incredible coincidence did not actually occur all of those years ago. I remember being told at some point in my life that my father from the fall of 1959 - June of 1962 actually taught junior high school music in the neighboring town of Dalton, Massachusetts right next to Pittsfield.

I ended up liking "Up with Rebel" the best of the episodes from Season 10 that I have been watching this week. I want to re-watch it a second time before posting my thoughts on this excellent episode. So far, I'd give "Rebel" 3 and a half stars. It was better than "Cop on the Cover" - 3 stars in my book and "Friend of Kalima" only worth 2 stars as rated by me.