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Gimme action and one-liners

By Catherine Toth Fox • February 22, 2011 • Musings, The Daily Dish

Anyone catch last night’s “Hawaii Five-0” — and stay awake until the end?

OK, maybe I’m being a bit too harsh.

But you can’t deny that last night’s episode was, well, a little slower than usual. Sure, the opening scene was exciting with a woman plunging to her death from a zipline on Oahu. (There goes reservation books for ziplines around the state!) And who doesn’t love a car explosion?

But the show started to get confusing — and, let’s face it, a bit too EMO — with the secondary storyline that involved comedian Dane Cook, who guest-starred as Dan “Danno” Williams’ sketchy (and creepy) brother Matthew.

Most of us on Twitter (#H50) were trying to make a connection between Danno’s brother and the scheming murderer who was killing the children of anyone who contributed to his teenage son going to prison for three consecutive DUI convictions (in a week!); he died in jail.

We dug the plot. But there was little attention paid to the development of that story line — or just explosions! — and more to this relationship between Danno and his brother that it lost me. By the second half of the show, I was more engrossed in Twitter and e-mail than watching the show.

And the show wasn’t even funny!

I came to this conclusion: #H50 fans like the action and the one-liners — and not much else. We don’t need sentimental storylines or special guests. (Mogul Sean Combs will guest star in an upcoming episode as NYPD detective Reggie Williams — no relation — who, as the CBS site says, “hunts the streets of Honolulu for the men responsible for a crime against his family.” Good grief.)

The show wasn’t nominated for Favorite Drama in the 2011 Fan Favorite Awards, presented by TVGuide Magazine, because of the laundry list of special guests.

No, we love the bromance between McGarrett and Danno. We love how badly they all speak “bird.” We love seeing familiar — last night @EatGogi made a cameo and last week Liliha Bakery got a shout-out — or trying to figure out where scenes are filmed. And we love the fake companies and one-liners, so much so local designer Valentino Valdez (@valdezign) has compiled a list for T-shirt ideas including Koko Crater Triathlon, Katonk Jeep & Bike Rentals, Kaimuki Country Club and, my personal favorite, Triple Banana, Bitch.

So what did you think of last night’s episode? Digging the special guests? And what makes you tune in every week? Let’s dish!

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Catherine Toth Fox

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13 Comments

  • Reply miyashiro February 21, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    I agree that H50 doesn’t so many special guests. i disagree that H50 doesn’t need character development. You will need this if you want the show to last more than 1 or 2 seasons. This could be considered the “Danno” show much like their were “TC” or “Higgins” shows on Magnum. You didn’t like the Magnum PI reference last night? I thought it was nice for Danno & Rachel to be able to talk instead of argue. Danno’s brother will make a reappearance one day. it’s what makes H50 good. The stories don’t conveniently close each week. I think locals overly criticize the show. Just my opinion but likely the truth.

  • Reply islandgirlinnc February 22, 2011 at 12:06 am

    I agree that we can expect to see Dane Cook in another episode. I personally don’t care for the guest stars such as Cook last night, and Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minillo the week before. I rather see local actors on the show. But, then again, I think those of us who live in Hawaii or who were born and raised in Hawaii would rather see these locals or at least people who would be remotely connected to Hawaii. These guest stars I think are more for the mainland audience.

    • Reply Cat February 23, 2011 at 5:00 am

      @islandgirlinnc I did like Kelly Hu, Diane Ako and Masi Oka 🙂

  • Reply nkvball February 22, 2011 at 3:41 am

    Seems like the big name guest stars are always the “bad” guys, so that gives some of the suspense away. I agree that the multiple storylines were confusing and kinda boring. Did think the reference to Clarence Clemmons was funny if you know he was Bruce Sprinsteen’s sax player, but that was the only line that made me laugh.

  • Reply matti2d February 22, 2011 at 6:46 am

    Sean Combs as a NYPD detective following baddies to HI after they hurt his family? recycled plot from M-PI with Puffy in the Frank Sinatra role.

  • Reply turkfontaine February 22, 2011 at 7:44 am

    you had me at ‘triple banana bitch’

    • Reply Cat February 23, 2011 at 4:59 am

      @turkfontaine It’s the greatest line ever.

  • Reply H50undercover February 22, 2011 at 9:50 am

    Special guests…I think the show spreads itself a little too thin. Writers bring in a *lot* of special guests, probably anticipating that their respective fans will crossover and follow #H50, but their parts end up being small or inconsequencial (ie Jojo in “Wai E’e”).

    While not my favorite episode, I definitely liked it 🙂 I liked connecting with the characters on a personal level…as in the dinner scene. Believe it or not, I have quite a few of my blog followers who went for the kleenex box at the end. But hey, stuff still blew up, a woman fell hundreds of feet to her death, and a mad bomber straed down the barrel of a gun. It didn’t have the pace of “Ke Kinohi” or “E Malama” but it still had enough action.

    • Reply 808marv February 22, 2011 at 11:16 pm

      @H50undercover agreed about the special guests, before in the old series they would be the focal point with lots of dialogue/character development, but now in the new 5-0 it’s basically just cameos, show face and say a few lines here and there. That’s something to improve on for next season.

  • Reply CodyZamboni February 22, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    H50 the appeal is the show’s campiness. The more campy, the better. These serious episodes, sometimes they work, but last nite’s Dane Cook, embezzler drug money and Danno’s attempt to save his brother, left me cold. But like most shows it takes a season for the producers to iron out the bugs. Remember the first year of Seinfeld was called “The Seinfeld Chronicles”. ( 1989 ) And if you remember the first season of Star Trek : The Next Generation ( 1987 ) was horrid, awful, and incredibily cheesy.

    • Reply 808marv February 22, 2011 at 11:04 pm

      @CodyZamboni Yeah I think this new 5-0 is throwing a bunch of stuff out there and see if they can find a rhythm for next season. I’ll give the last episode a bit of a pass because at least it was a little different from the hostage situation endings that they had what, 4 or 5 times? Still it was pretty underwhelming other than the zipline kill and the car bombing.

    • Reply Cat February 23, 2011 at 4:59 am

      @808marv @CodyZamboni Yeah, I do like the campiness. I hate it when shows take themselves too seriously!

  • Reply Cat February 23, 2011 at 4:58 am

    Sorry! For some reason, I couldn’t comment yesterday! But I was reading! Promise!

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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