It’s obvious that CBS is trying to find the right formula with “Hawaii Five-O.”
There’s a sensitive balance between credibility — using local landmarks like Hickam Air Force Base and Haleiwa Joe’s and cultural icons like malassadas and iPhone 4s — with the stuff that makes today’s TV shows popular.
Humor and skin. But namely skin. And particular the brand of Grace Park and Alex O’Loughlin.
Never mind the plot.
Case in point: tonight’s episode.
The banter between O’Loughlin, who plays the uptight Det. Steve McGarrett, and Scott Caan, who’s still the best thing going for this show as the wise-cracking Danny “Danno” Williams, doesn’t seem as forced as the pilot. They seems to sincerely hate each other — which works. (They’re like an old married couple — and I dig it.)
But the plot isn’t the strongest — at least so far. I mean, who buys an ex-NSA cyber-terrorism expect getting abducted in broad daylight in the middle of Waikiki? Or, better yet, that he was actually working here.
But does it matter? Do we really care about plots anymore? Isn’t it all about cool graphics, bad-ass explosions, fight scenes, blood and Grace Park in a bikini?
What I liked:
• The tension — romantic, perhaps? — between O’Loughlin and Caan
• That Caan wears a tie and patent leather shoes and doesn’t care if he’s “too Mainland”
• That Caan ate a malassada. It was the fried dough’s primetime debut
• The hollow tiles in the driveway of the Kaaawa house. (But didn’t like that he was an uber-smart haole kid)
• The pakalolo reference
What I didn’t like:
• O’Loughlin made the mistake by saying Hawaii has 110-degree weather. Isn’t he supposed to be a local?
• Da Braddah’s Private Security
• There’s a bit too many iPhone 4 references. Enough with the product placement
• The half-baked guy in Kaaawa who said “aloha” and “mahalo” in a way that made my blood curdle
• That Park’s character, Kono Kalakaua, is always in trouble and needs to be bailed out. What gives?
• The girl-on-girl fight scene. It wasn’t believable to me.
• The son of the ex-NSA expert had a Justin Bieber haircut. Anyone else notice that?
• That a super-secret password is only four digits. Really?
What did you think?
Hawaii Five-0 Episode #2 — “Ohana”
Watch a short preview of this week’s Hawaii Five-0 followed by the full episode:
Note: Clicking on the comments tab above will restart the movie. Be sure to open a new window and comment or finish the episode before commenting. We don’t like it either and we’re looking for a fix.
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To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at [email protected].
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35 Comments
Catch a short preview then watch the entire episode and tell us what you think!
Didn’t like how the SUV was traveling by Aloha Tower, but the hijacking happens down in Waiks. Details, I guess.
I do like the Mokuleia = traveling North reference.
@NateGyotoku Next: mauka and makai.
@Tutu @NateGyotoku they should put in funny kine directions like “Ewa on Kapahulu” or “mauka on King Street”, which is what locals joked that the original series did. Would be a good callback/inside joke on this new show. 😉
“Braddahs”… The laughs keep coming.
If McGarrett is so uptight about Danno not looking like such a haole, why is McGarrett driving that CAR? I know Chevy’s sponsoring the show and all, but it’s like a Mustang on steroids.
Pakalolo was funny. Are you even allowed to say “weed” on network TV? (And I’m having a flash like I asked that question somewhere before…)
CAT,
I thought the story line was a bit forced. The idea that the Pacific command covers so much territory and is considered an uber security force is what the military community locally likes to tout. But guess where all the forces and defense money is going??? Middle East and Europe. Hawaii is not militarily as important as it was before WWII. With the high tech stuff and fast ships and planes, Hawaii is merely a destination. Military could leave tomorrow but they rather not give up the valuable land it has as another tour destination for military personnel. There is no oil in the Pacific, no rare mineral deposits, no uranium, no high tech base. But thanks to Uncle Dan we keep the military here. Our country does not look at the Asia-Pacific as being strategic, rather it has always been European in view. Sorry, I digress. The script is weak on this one…the scenery is fine. There is very little chemistry for Grace and Daniel within the group. It appears that only McGarrett and Williams have something going. Maybe later.
My favorite parts of Hawaii Five-0 Episode two:
– Jailbroken iPhone 4 for3G facetime or mobile wifi during car ride
– Clamshell phone foley when answering iPhone
– “Unicorn Style” hacking
– Bradda’s Private Security Firm
– OSX + Windows + Commodore 64 operating system GUI complete with cheesy “send e-mail” animated GIF >_<
I didn’t think episode two was as good as the first episode. Each segment felt a little lost and I thought they tried a little too hard to force some of the things that made episode one so great. I’m just glad (flame on) they didn’t make Grace take her clothes off again.
It almost follows the same format — Action opening, long driving dialogue scene, the chase, the climax then the bad Hawaiian at the end of the episode.
I’ll still watch but I was really looking forward to an AWESOME episode tonight. Will be tuning in next Monday.
@johngarcia Hahahaha! We are cut from the same cloth… I noticed the FaceTime over 3G too! Love my jailbroken iPhone 4 btw!
@johngarcia Let’s not forget the AutoCAD 3D-type stuff to make the hacking look so much more exciting! I shook my head at that big-ass envelope icon for e-mailing, it’s like let’s get out of the 90s please. What was missing in this episode was a flashy “ACCESS DENIED” message in a ultra huge font with animation, or some kind of bogus talk about firewalls. Gotta love Hollywood and tech stuff…
@808marv @johngarcia JG, you are SUCH a geek! And I dig it!
That fight scene with the knife between Grace Park and that other chick reminded me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1OepCa3SZw
* btw, didn’t the old Hawaii 5-O end with “Be there, Aloha” whereas this one ends with “Be here, Aloha”?
Didn’t like the way Grace pronounced “Haleiwa.” She pronounced the “a” in the first syllable as you would pronounce the “a” in “hat,” instead of “hah.”
Also… Grace needs to put on a few pounds. Sorry if that’s inappropriate, but I prefer healthy looks.
Kind of worked on the laptop throughout the episode. Will need to rewatch it again from DVR to see how it compared to the pilot.
@MaxMaxMax more than just a few pounds.
I enjoyed it despite some of the technology improbabilities… but a few things were just weird to me. In that part of Waikiki gunfire of that magnitude would have killed a few dozen innocent bystanders. And during a bad traffic period the bad guys would have taken an hour to get out of the place.
As for the lollypop sucking pakalolo toking computer nerd, should have been a young local kid. Although my first thought was a 14 year old Obama look alike, had more of a Kalaheo High spray painter in mind. Never in a million years would I buy the guy they used being remotely local.
Grace needs a dialog coach however I really dig her character. In the first episode if she’d smacked the tourist around like she did the Serbian chick I would have enjoyed the first episode more. Glad they didn’t resort to a lot of skin this time. And it is time for Grace to bail out the other guys… they are elbowing in on stereotypical use of a female character at the moment.
I think the chemistry will develop between all of the characters. That always takes a while. Once they do the show should settle in and be more fun.
On a personal note, the show is making me homesick… period.
@dbjack It was the malassada reference, wasn’t it?
@Cat Cat… I feel like I’ve been figured out 🙂 There is not a donut or any other pastry for that matter in the land of Krispy Kreme that can touch a good malassada… that’s right NC is where those super sweet donuts started out. Give me a good malassada any day. Can’t hide nothing from you sistah.
I really appreciate the anlaysis by Cat and all. This is a show I will probably never see. Actually, have never seen an episode of the original Five-O. Would much rather see your takes on what I am missing; it seems a lot more compelling.
Hello Cat!
I missed the show last night, just as the show started my son called and I had to pick him up. By the time I dropped off his friend and got home, the show was just about over.
Ditto on the 110 degree weather. When was it ever that in Honolulu? Maybe over by Kilauea. Writers have to be in L.A. (where it was 113 yesterday). But don’t they have fact-checkers?
Another cool thing, Daniel Dae Kim clearly riding that Harley himself (not a stunt double).
@Tutu DDK actually rides a bike in real life. He tweets about it once in a while.
I forgot it was on and saw part of it while channel surfing. It could better plots but a good recurring villan who is Mcgarrets equal could be good. I just remember Wo Fat from the original series.
Didn’t really care for the banter between McGarrett and Williams while they were in the car. As other’s noted, sounds like a married couple.
Da Bruddah’s Security, now that was something I laughed at when it was mentioned but it could exist. The Big Island has Peanut Bruddah Cookies, there’s Bruddah Iz, and there’s Bruddah’s in Gardena, CA. (fuud association again)
The Malasada scene was not normal. Williams took a Malasada out of a paper bag which means he probably only bought two Malasada’s, one for McGarrett and one for himself. Anybody else buys only two Malasada’s for themselves and another person?
I caught the 110 degree mention too. Maybe it was his time in the Gulf that brought back memories.
The cat fight scene was okay and as if on cue they landed in the water just before the big, bad guy shows up to kidnap the kid and Kono. Anyone else find it weird that Kono had the drawer open for about 30 seconds before the fight ensued? Kind long for opening the drawer, noticing the Cryllic characters and just standing there.
This second episode really wasn’t that bad. The hidden room scene was a little over the top but graphically it did a decent representation of what was supposed to be high tech equipment.
I’m still having fun with this new series. Even though some parts are just so “cheesy”
That old “trygiveaclueonthephonecallwhilehavingagunpointedtomyhead” scene made me snort :-0 🙂 hee hee
YES!!! the Bieber cut… I’m still not comfortable with Kono… I mean I love her, but she’s just NOT believable to me… I hope the writers develop her character in the coming weeks, because I think there’s some potential there… maybe SHE bails out her cuzzo… (DDK) Does anyone else like the fact that DDK is REALLY trying to pronounce the Hawaiian words? I mean he doesn’t always nail it, but the fact that he’s trying so hard makes it enjoyable. And, you KNEW, the chickfight was going to end up in the pool… I mean come on… it’s Grace Park, she’s hot… (the other chick notsomuch) and there’s water… (it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out)
I’m still liking the show, but I gotta say it was a less impressive second episode since it followed the formula of the pilot so closely. Big outrageous action scenes, faceless/who cares about ’em enemies, McGarrett-Dano banter, touchy-feely epilogue. I hope they start to have more interesting antagonists because that’s what made the original series so great. As with the old show they need to get a few big name actors to guest as bad guys. Sounds like they are gonna start bringing in the cameos in upcoming episodes with Masi Oka (Yattaaa!!), Kelly Hu, and D.L. Hughley. I think these appearances will change up things and start to take away the insular “four of us against the world” feel that H50 has right now.
Next week’s episode: “Malama Ka Aina” (from TV Guide listings)
A deadly gang war erupts during a high-school football game and Five-0 uncovers a link between the gang and a powerful mainland mob.
Could this the long awaited debut of Kukui High? Be there (here?), Aloha.
@808marv Yes, or at least a reference to Chin Ho’s football days? My @kukuihigh shirt should be here by then. 🙂
@strobie Can’t wait to see what the name of the other high school (or schools if it’s not @kukuihigh) is gonna be in this episode…maybe Furtado Memorial High? 😉 I see more opportunities for websites here. It would be great if the Fighting Nuts had a rival with *their* own yearbook!
Yeah, even my haole husband laughed at the 110 degree weather reference. I thought the introduction of some local foods (malasadas) was cool though it would have been better if they referenced someplace local. But I guess that would be too much product placement. I love the chemistry between McGarret and Williams. I’m still not feeling Kono and Chin Ho character. While I think DDK fits in a little more just ’cause he’s been in Hawaii a little longer, Grace as a local girl is still not flying with me. Also, there needs to be more chemistry between all 4 characters. At least, for me, they don’t force the talking pidgin. Would be nice to see a little bit more locals as well as people who actually can talk pidgin. In all, I am liking the show and since I am so far away from Hawaii, it’s been nice to see the scenery!
@islandgirlinnc I don’t think the 5-0 team has gelled yet. McGarrett hasn’t pulled them together to form a team. They show traits of individualism – Danno and his refusal to remove his tie, Chin Ho and his second thoughts about donning the badge again, and Kono and her recent graduation with little street experience but teaming up with experienced members.
I think if we give it time, McGarrett will pull the team together into a cohesive unit. I don’t know if the producers plan on making the present McGarrett the focal point of 5-0 like they did in the original series. SFAIK, they don’t even has a name yet, except that pop up which says Hawaii State Task Force (or something like that).
I love watching the show along with the tweeps. I still wish when they showed any scenery, they would actually *show* it.
@islandgirlnnc, were we tweeting together last night?
I gotta say, the show was MUCH more enjoyable while following the #H50 feed. 🙂
My wife was an extra in a brief scene in one of the original Hawaii Five-O shows. But those shows had plot and they used a very large number of local people. Don’t think the new show can replicate that.
I normall give a rundown on my likes and dis-likes but Cat pretty much nailed them all for me in her post. The Tech on the crypto scene really bothered me they showed a buch of audio processing gear and said it was a crypto computer ahhhhhh c’mon.
Also at first I was like Gracie she is cute but not sell a 13y/o kid a spank bank poster hot like the Farrah, Charlie’s Angles, Daisy Duke, Wonder Women poster of my days(every teenaged boy had one of these posters in his lil man cave). Now I think because she is not uber hot is the reason why so many people like her. She is safe in that the wifey won’t feel threatened kind of way, you know like when the ladies say the love Sean Connery.
I think thats her appeal
the trouble with knowing where stuff is, is that everybody is a continuity director. i don’t care if they put the big jumping rock from W.B. next to Walls or next to the bagel bakery on S.I. – just more babes, bikinis, bullets and butthole buddy banter, and i’m aok.