S10.E22: Aloha (Goodbye)

[BW Manilowe]

Danny is abducted and badly wounded by Wo Fat’s wife, who is after the cypher Steve’s mother left him. Also, Steve finally solves the case his father left for him 10 years ago, on the series finale of HAWAII FIVE-0, which concludes its successful 10-season run on Friday, April 3(9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Recurring cast members James Marsters (Victor Hesse), William Sadler (John McGarrett) and Mark Dacascos (Wo Fat) return.

HAWAII FIVE-0, the popular Friday night crime drama and a reimagining of Leonard Freeman’s classic series, “Hawaii Five-O,” premiered Monday, Sept. 20, 2010. Peter M. Lenkov, David Wolkove, Matt Wheeler, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are executive producers for CBS Television Studios.

Original Airdate: April 3, 2020

SOURCE: https://www.viacomcbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/hawaii-five-0/releases/view?id=54809

[Roselle]

Well, personally, this prospect pleases me - I do love hurt Danny and it sets up the premise of Danno & Steve both retiring for health reasons and heading off together to look after each other. 

[DKay]

4 hours ago, Roselle said:

Well, personally, this prospect pleases me - I do love hurt Danny and it sets up the premise of Danno & Steve both retiring for health reasons and heading off together to look after each other. 

Or....Danny dying???  I sooo hope not!!  So so sad the show is ending. Been a staple for me these years. 😪

[GustheCat]

Just a special thanks to Ms BW Manilowe for posting the synopses and behind the scenes insights over all these seasons. And, a thanks to all the regular posters who have made me laugh, think and enjoy your comments and observations. Having been to the islands many times over the last 33 years, it has been a special show to follow. However, given the crime rate, not sure I'll go back knowing 5-0 is not on the job anymore.

[SuzieQ]

Such a tease to mention Catherine if they're not going to ride off into the sunset together.....................Looks like he'll be riding off with Danny!

 

OOOPS!!  So glad to be wrong!

Edited April 4, 2020 by SuzieQ

[LizDC]

Ugh. Catherine again. 🤢  As far as I’m concerned, the show ended at the house and not on the plane.  

[Brian Cronin]

As soon as I heard about the show ending, I assumed it had to end with Steve and Catherine. This is not even due to me loving them together (although I do like them together), but the show has beaten us over the head over the years about how he'll always come back to her, with all of those various love interests never going anywhere. So if it was ever going to end, it just made sense, but with Borth's name not mentioned, I still thought, "I bet they're just trying to avoid spoiling it" and sure enough...

Anyhow, decent enough finale. I like it when shows don't kill off characters in the end (unless that's what the show is about - I won't mention examples because, well, duh, spoilers). I'm happy with that as the ending.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Brian Cronin
typo

[roamyn]

I actually thought the better ending would’ve been to kill off Danny.  I didn’t like that they left open what he’s gonna do.  Retire?  (I would, that’s two gunshots to the chest in two years), take on Lincoln as his partner?

Chi actually had me tearing up.

I did the the circling back to the docks, but I didn’t like Steve saying “Book her Cole”.

[BW Manilowe]

14 hours ago, Brian Cronin said:

As soon as I heard about the show ending, I assumed it had to end with Steve and Catherine. This is not even due to me loving them together (although I do like them together), but the show has beaten us over the head over the years about how he'll always come back to her, with all of those various love interests never going anywhere. So if it was ever going to end, it just made sense, but with Barth's name not mentioned, I still thought, "I bet they're just trying to avoid spoiling it" and sure enough...

Anyhow, decent enough finale. I like it when shows don't kill off characters in the end (unless that's what the show is about - I won't mention examples because, well, duh, spoilers). I'm happy with that as the ending.

Michelle’s last name is Borth, with an O, not Barth.

I think you can also look at that last scene as they just happened to end up, & end up sitting together, on that flight (OK, & maybe the rest of the itinerary they shared after that flight since they knew each other & traveling is always better with someone you know). I don’t see it necessarily being Steve’s gonna immediately forget all the crap Cath pulled on him recently & they’ll immediately go back to being boyfriend/girlfriend just ‘cause she happens to be sitting next to him. I think they have too much crap they should/need to work out between them before Steve should trust her like that again.

So, is Danny moving into Steve’s, or are he & Junior sharing it, if he’s not moving in with Tani?

Oh yeah... Almost forgot... What’s left of the NCISLA half of the “Touch of Death” crossover is on the ION channel right now.

Edited April 4, 2020 by BW Manilowe
To add comments and fix punctuation.

[Passepartout]

I think that Lou needs to run Five 0. He has a better temperament and is the real professional cop there. Despite some skirmishes there. But it would be an interim as he would had retire and then give it to Cole there. 

Wished that Steve would had allowed Danny to drive Steve's truck after Danny's Camaro was wiped off. But in a sense, giving Danny his house there for putting him through a lot, kind of makes up for driving his Camaro with him being passenger. Just my two cents. Poor Danny!

Think both Danny could be a mentor realizing that he could not leave his two children without a father, would retire after he nearly died and could be like a PD consultant and he and Lou would groom Cole there!

Other than that I give it a 9/10. Plus thanks B.W. Manilow  for putting up with us and taking your time when you could had done other things. But really thanks so much. Very appreciate you! Thank you Five 0 for ten seasons! A rarity in TV these days unless you are S.V.U. LOL!

Edited April 4, 2020 by Passepartout

[BW Manilowe]

Y’all are welcome. It’s not like I was board mod or anything. All I did was post the episode synopses—the Hawaiian titles were easy since iPhone (& presumably iPad) has a Hawaiian language keyboard; the synopses were pretty easy to figure out what was extraneous & retype the other stuff, but they were even easier when I figured out how to get the synopses to copy & paste & then I could get the extraneous stuff removed. And of course I also posted & answered when I had stuff to say. Hopefully this fall season will give us another show we can get as invested in as we did this 1.

[Frost]

Weird ending.  The show just left Danny sitting alone on the beach while Steve had a long tearful good-bye with the rest of the team?  I knew Catherine was going to show up on the plane due to her name being somewhat arbitrarily thrown into the middle of the episode.  I don't mind Steve's ending, since it would seem to be a positive step. 

I did like Danny being badass and climbing up the chain to pretty much rescue himself.  Where were Danny's kids though?  The show could at least have had Danny, Grace, and son whose name I forgot see Steve off at the airport.  That would have sent a positive message about Danny's future.  I really didn't like Steve's last 5-O scene to be everybody except Danny.  I considered their relationship to be the core of the show.  I think I would have liked it better if the team good-bye scene was first and the solo Danny good-bye was after that.

I also thought it was kind of pathetic that Doris' big secret in her fake tomb was just a pile of cash.  

I loved the first couple of seasons of this reboot.  I wish I had enjoyed the finale a little more.

[Chick2Chic]

 

[roamyn]

1 hour ago, Frost said:

Weird ending.  The show just left Danny sitting alone on the beach while Steve had a long tearful good-bye with the rest of the team?  I knew Catherine was going to show up on the plane due to her name being somewhat arbitrarily thrown into the middle of the episode.  I don't mind Steve's ending, since it would seem to be a positive step. 

Good point.  Then again, this show always treats Danny like shit.  Remember when he landed a plane and donated a piece of his liver, yet Steve got all the love?
 

Charlie is Danny’s son’s Name.

[Passepartout]

4 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Good point.  Then again, this show always treats Danny like shit.  Remember when he landed a plane and donated a piece of his liver, yet Steve got all the love?
 

Charlie is Danny’s son’s Name.

That is really when I started to dislike Steve a bit. As really the guy can be so foolish and really Danny tries not to ask for anything in return. Steve just drives Danny's car and that it made Steve out to be foolish. Really hate that Steve like you said got all the love but Danny is the one who does it all. 

Yes Danny complains and moans. But Steve puts him through a lot. Danny at least got the love of his Ohana back in the end. 

[Raja]

2 hours ago, Passepartout said:

I think that Lou needs to run Five 0. He has a better temperament and is the real professional cop there. Despite some skirmishes there. But it would be an interim as he would had retire and then give it to Cole there. 

Wished that Steve would had allowed Danny to drive Steve's truck after Danny's Camaro was wiped off. But in a sense, giving Danny his house there for putting him through a lot, kind of makes up for driving his Camaro with him being passenger. Just my two cents. Poor Danny!

Think both Danny could be a mentor realizing that he could not leave his two children without a father, would retire after he nearly died and could be like a PD consultant and he and Lou would groom Cole there!

Other than that I give it a 9/10. Plus thanks B.W. Manilow  for putting up with us and taking your time when you could had done other things. But really thanks so much. Very appreciate you! Thank you Five 0 for ten seasons! A rarity in TV these days unless you are S.V.U. LOL!

I don't think the take care of them to Gunny Cole meant he would lead 5-0 instead of Captain Grover but rather instead of Junior SEAL or she's just him Sergeant Liu taking over the crazy action guy role Cole would.

I really fear for Taylor Wiley's health as  Kamekono  the other original was not there for the goodbye to his family.

Money, she did that and had mooks fighting cops for a little money? As if that would serve to avenge a long dead husband. When except  for the decription that only two people in the world could do then Steve would never have known why or feel pain as Danny could have been murdered without the drama. The entire plot was sloppy just a chance to show the season 11 star in action again if they had went on another season without Alex O'Loughlin 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Raja

[Vermicious Knid]

So, that was absolutely not worth the wait.

*waves* I was still watching even though I wasn't posting on this forum anymore. This was such a lame ending, we get absolutely no closure on anything. And the big reveal of the cypher was a pile of money? It should have been information or intelligence of some kind, but their big explanation why Daiyu Mei wanted it so badly was as weregild. 

The last few seasons it was more of a chore than entertainment to watch. I let the whole season pile up on my DVR until they announced this was the end. Finally got around to watching it during the last week and a half to be ready for the finale. Did they cut out a scene where Lincoln was officially deputized or officially added to the task force? Because you really can't have a civilian running around with guns like that. That's actually an addition I wouldn't have minded. Especially if they got rid of Adam, which never worked. No one cared about him.

Are we supposed to assume Steve is on an indefinite leave of absence, to get his head on straight? We can only guess, because they didn't bother to give us even that much information.

 

[Brian Cronin]

1 hour ago, Chick2Chic said:

 

Yeah, that's it precisely. Whether it made sense or not, it was clear that Lenkov always saw them as ending up together, which is why he never gave Steve a major love interest besides Catherine. So I assumed the series would always end up with them together. 

[Brian Cronin]

So, let's recap. Doris went rogue and ultimately died in an attempt to create a nest egg for her children and her granddaughter. Meanwhile, she was just sitting on a ton of cash in her fake grave in Hawaii.

Sooooooooooo...........uhmmmmmmm..........huh?

[Just my 2 cents]

29 minutes ago, Brian Cronin said:

So, let's recap. Doris went rogue and ultimately died in an attempt to create a nest egg for her children and her granddaughter. Meanwhile, she was just sitting on a ton of cash in her fake grave in Hawaii.

Sooooooooooo...........uhmmmmmmm..........huh?

Okay!  So I'm not the only one that had this thought.  Thank you.

[Roselle]

Not quite the ending I wanted but I'm grateful for the many McDanno essentials I was needing - the fear, the love, the 'I love yous', the acknowledgement of the 'person you care about most in the world', the hand holding, the familiar scenes and the familiar snark, the love ...oh did I mention that already? Well, there was plenty and it pleased my McDanno worshipping heart. 

By my estimate there was only one scene where Scott Caan was even with the rest of the cast (loading him into the car, but even that could have actually been a double) which I found rather sad and symptomatic of how his character was sidelined over the course of the series. Of course we all know of SC's (preferred) reduced hours so that could have been a reason and maybe he and AO wanted it that way for most impact but it still left a bad taste for me.  The ending for Danno was really so sad but his badassery was just great! 

I was in tears at all the good byes but don't understand the necessity of introducing yet another character so late in the day to be given such a main role for such a crucial final episode. The writers knew it was ending and Cole was OK but just....why?

The mirroring of parts of the very first episodes was effective although the villain was less than impressive and, as others have mentioned, there were some hand-waved holes in the plotting (as ever!). 

Never was a fan of Catherine but I guess the ending was believable enough although I will be seeking solace in fan fiction that sees McGarrett enjoy a healing gap year before returning home to 'the one he cares about most in the whole world'.

Finally, BW Manilowe, my thanks too for all the effort you've put into this forum and to everyone here whose views here I've enjoyed reading over the years. Aloha!

[Brian Cronin]

24 minutes ago, Roselle said:

I was in tears at all the good byes but don't understand the necessity of introducing yet another character so late in the day to be given such a main role for such a crucial final episode. The writers knew it was ending and Cole was OK but just....why?

 

I think it's pretty clear that they DIDN'T know this was the end when they first cast Gross. Remember, they were still trying to convince O'Loughlin to return before they ultimately decided to end it when he decided he was done. So Cole was almost certainly just a new character for the team for next season before they instead had him join just as things were ending.

By the way, I agree with @Raja that Steve wasn't putting Cole in charge of the team. He followed up asking Cole to take care of things while he was gone by extending that same statement to the others, so presumably Grover or Danny would be in charge while Steve is gone.

Interestingly, we might actually get an answer as to who is in charge in the next season of Magnum P.I. if they mention Five-O at all (or if Quinn guest stars in Magnum and shares some gossip). If TV shows ever get back to filming, of course. 

[MDL]

Maybe in the minority here, but I liked the fact that the Steve/Danno "goodbye" scene had just the 2 men. It was, IMO, moving and sad, and had an impact that would have been diluted by having the rest of the cast there. Besides, I think that S/D would not have been as emotionally expressive (tough guy love??) if they had the rest of the team as an audience (tough guy image?).

Also: the rest of the main team each had their moment to say goodbye to Steve. I might have liked it more if the sequence of the scenes was reversed-Steve says goodbye to the team, then goes to the beach to say goodbye to Danny, then on to the airport.

[highway61]

8 hours ago, Raja said:

I really fear for Taylor Wiley's health as  Kamekono  the other original was not there for the goodbye to his family.

Agreed - Definitely noticed his absence. Heck, I was hoping for Max!

I'm pro-Catherine, and liked the ending overall. Sure seems like Grover's crew now, at least to me.

 

[shantown]

I have a weird habit of watching the series finale of shows I never actually watched any other episodes of. I'm always interested in seeing how shows wrap things up - life goes on, we all end together, flash forwards, big life change, etc. But also - are they able to write an ending that can get an emotional response from me when I have no prior emotional connection to the show?

I don't know much about this show besides "Book 'em, Danno" but to me it was really strange to have three totally separate endings. One of the main guy leaving the whole team and saying final goodbyes, one of the guy leaving his partner, and one of the guy actually leaving and running into his ex-wife? Long lost love? I don't know, but they had zero chemistry and maybe it was the fact that he left his team and his partner and his dog without so much as a single manly tear, but I was just like "well they're gonna get back together and be miserable." I would have liked to see the guy that got shot in the chest be with the rest of the team during the goodbye, or at least have suddenly showed up for a more private goodbye at the end? He just got left behind on a beach? Weird. I guess this was a "big life change" ending but it fell really flat, and didn't inspire me to go back and watch any episodes the way some finales do.

Hope regular watchers found something to enjoy, or at least didn't find anything that retroactively ruined the entire show (a la HIMYM).

[GustheCat]

From the synopsis:  Also, Steve finally solves the case his father left for him 10 years ago.

Am I the only one that is wondering exactly what this case is/was?

In the episode where Doris is killed, she tells Steve that she opened up accounts for Joanie and Mary in Switzerland, I think to the tune of $500K and $250K? Would have to re-watch that speech to get the exact amounts, but did not include any mention of money for Steve. Would not it have made sense to simply tell him at that time about the tomb and the money? And, where exactly did the money in the tomb come from, and how could anyone possibly deposit that much money (they never gave an amount) in a bank without being grilled by banking officials for days? I also remember the show with Victor Hesse when he meets Steve, having told him to bring the 10 million dollars (which fit into a duffel bag, even though Adam's 6 million dollars needed 3 duffel bags). The tomb money sure seemed like it would have filled up a lot more than 3 duffel bags. So, it is obvious that Doris preferred Steve to Mary. Personally, I don't blame her, Mary always seemed to be a whiner.

When Mrs. Fat is trying to get into Steve's head at the end about it being an "inheritance" and that Wo was Steve's brother, it seemed to be working. However, I remember an episode where Steve was able to get blood from Wo Fat and had it tested for DNA and told someone "it isn't a match", because at the time Steve had the same question on his mind. I don't remember that episode but it seems part of it took place in one of the big cargo planes when they were transporting Wo Fat? Consequently, why would her words have any effect on him? Maybe Wo told Mrs. Fat about it so she believed it to be true, but that doesn't explain Steve's reaction.

I was also wondering about the dockside shootout, let's say Lincoln accidentally clips a few civilians. "Oh, yeah, he's this guy who went AWOL from the Navy and we decided to give him an automatic weapon to help us with these criminals, sorry about that".

I missed the exclusion of Steve saying farewell to Kamekona and Flippa, not sure how they could have filmed that...maybe as just a phone call with a split screen? Or, when Steve is saying goodbye to the Team, they give him a shrimp basket to go, courtesy of Kamekona. "And, he even gave us at 10% Ohana discount". Guess they really weren't going for laughs at that point.

Will also have to assume that hacker Joey Lawrence spends the rest of his life in the prison, and that Mr. Pickles either ran away, or was adopted by the guy who was in the halfway house for 4 more months.

One last touch would have been for Steve to have the Champ toolbox as his carryon in the plane. It certainly looked like first class seats to me, so maybe Danny's comment sunk in and Steve upgraded when he got to the airport?

I'm hoping Magnum can go on for many seasons so I can get my dose of Hawaii without actually having to go there. Time will tell. Aloha.

 

[Chick2Chic]

This season was uneven. Actually, the last few seasons have been very uneven, but this series finale was fine.

I am glad Catherine showed up cause I did like Steve & Catherine together. Plus Lenkov's interview just confirmed to me what I always thought regarding why Steve didn't connect as strongly with his other love interests. Lenkov isn't subtle - e.g. Tani & Junior - so that Steve ended up with Catherine by his side as he leaves Hawaii wasn't a total surprise, IMO. As soon as I heard the series was ending this season, my first thought was them bringing Catherine back for Steve cause I figured that was always going to be how it was going to end.

While it would've been nice to see more folks pop up, I think they did what they could with those around on top of the few faces they brought back (although it was weird not to see Rachel, Grace, and Charlie considering Danny's major injuries).

I got most emotional with Steve's goodbyes to Eddie and to Lou (Chi is so damn good!). But it was good to see he has a moment with them all. I also liked his moment with Tani. Her rapport with Steve and with Lou were some of my favorite scenes over the last few seasons. 

Dunno if any of the characters / actors will go to Magnum I don't watch that show but would probably tune in if certain characters guest starred.

3 minutes ago, GustheCat said:

From the synopsis:  Also, Steve finally solves the case his father left for him 10 years ago.

Am I the only one that is wondering exactly what this case is/was?

Not at all.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Chick2Chic
fixed something.

[BW Manilowe]

25 minutes ago, shantown said:

I have a weird habit of watching the series finale of shows I never actually watched any other episodes of. I'm always interested in seeing how shows wrap things up - life goes on, we all end together, flash forwards, big life change, etc. But also - are they able to write an ending that can get an emotional response from me when I have no prior emotional connection to the show?

I don't know much about this show besides "Book 'em, Danno" but to me it was really strange to have three totally separate endings. One of the main guy leaving the whole team and saying final goodbyes, one of the guy leaving his partner, and one of the guy actually leaving and running into his ex-wife? Long lost love? I don't know, but they had zero chemistry and maybe it was the fact that he left his team and his partner and his dog without so much as a single manly tear, but I was just like "well they're gonna get back together and be miserable." I would have liked to see the guy that got shot in the chest be with the rest of the team during the goodbye, or at least have suddenly showed up for a more private goodbye at the end? He just got left behind on a beach? Weird. I guess this was a "big life change" ending but it fell really flat, and didn't inspire me to go back and watch any episodes the way some finales do.

Hope regular watchers found something to enjoy, or at least didn't find anything that retroactively ruined the entire show (a la HIMYM).

The girl in the plane was, at 1 time, the longtime lover of the guy she was sitting next to (main guy in the cast, or at least 1 of 2 main guys). They were in the Navy together. He was a SEAL & in Naval Intelligence (at different times during his tour of duty). She also was in Naval Intelligence, but it was never specified if that’s where they were supposed to have met, or if they were in different parts of the Navy when they met.

Anyway... He left the Navy/transferred to the Reserves before she did, so he could go run Five-0 & hopefully solve what was behind his father’s murder. When she finally resigned her commission, she had trouble finding a new place for herself in the world. She ended up working with him at Five-0 for awhile; then she moved on to a job as a PI working with another old love who’d served with her in the Navy. He ended up being shot to death on a case & she felt responsible for some reason, which really messed with her head awhile. Eventually, she ended up as a CIA operative, which she apparently found satisfying, but she hid that fact from him, along with some other things. Then she left him to go on a mission right when, as she didn’t know, he was going to propose to her. That pulled them farther apart than her joining the CIA & not telling him did. They’re still friends, but nothing else, apparently. What you saw last night appears to have been them working on going back to being more than friends.

[Princess Lucky]

I get that they probably had to scramble to make this into a series finale late-ish in the game, and that explains the glaring absences of many recurring characters, but it still didn't work, in my opinion. It was a fine season finale (a fairly typical one, with the series lead taking off but leaving a door open for his eventual return), but as a series finale, it failed to resonate.

Steve got his ending, and it was fine (it made sense for him, both to want to leave Hawaii for a bit, and to reunite with Catherine, as apparently she was his only viable love interest in 10 seasons).

But the others? Tani and Junior are together (I guess that's an ending?), Adam is... whatever, Quinn is just there, Lou is Lou, and Danny is all injured and alone? Like... maybe they could have worked some references in about their individual futures? Hell, even Steve's future was left not just open, more like a blank, but at least that made sense for him at this point in time (emotionally speaking).

I guess I still need closure. Apart from the ultimate closure (death, and I'm glad we didn't get that), when it comes to long-running procedurals, I've always been a fan of finales which end on a "life goes on" note (Elementary, Criminal Intent, etc) and I also love finales which give us a glimpse at the future (Third Watch did both of those things, by the way, and that's why that series finale montage is so iconic).

With H50, I feel like we didn't get either scenario. Hell, just a shot of the team at the precinct (with the new guy, even), getting a call for a new case would have worked for me. With, like, Danny rallying up the troups and exchanging a look with Lou to suggest that it's weird without Steve, but they'll manage. And Steve could have had the same exact ending. Just as a vibe, as a visual, I think I would have preferred that. The way the show actually ended felt lackluster. What's the final image we'll be left with, when it comes to the other (beloved?) characters? The team weeping for Steve? Danny alone on a beach? Eh.

That said, the show had a good run, it was fun for the most part, and it ended at pretty much the right time. I wish the cast better things in the future.

[illdoc]

1 hour ago, GustheCat said:

From the synopsis:  Also, Steve finally solves the case his father left for him 10 years ago.

Am I the only one that is wondering exactly what this case is/was?

According to the EP (I think. I posted a link to the article in another thread), the "case" was that Dad thought Mom had faked her death and was trying to prove it. Yeah, that makes no sense either, but that's what he's claiming.

Sorry, thought I posted it. Turns out I just read it. Here is the link https://tvline.com/2020/04/03/hawaii-five-0-recap-series-finale-mcgarrett-leaves-hawaii/

Also, this link: https://tvline.com/2020/04/03/hawaii-five-0-catherine-steve-reunion-series-finale/

Edited April 4, 2020 by illdoc

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Chick2Chic said:

 

Dunno if any of the characters / actors will go to Magnum I don't watch that show but would probably tune in if certain characters guest starred.

Not at all.

Kamekona, Flippa, Noelani and Duke are all reoccuring on Magnum PI. From the crossover, even with Rick making a second Hawaii 5-0 appearance there seems to be fan interest in shipping Rick and Sergeant Liu  

1 hour ago, GustheCat said:

Fro

I was also wondering about the dockside shootout, let's say Lincoln accidentally clips a few civilians. "Oh, yeah, he's this guy who went AWOL from the Navy and we decided to give him an automatic weapon to help us with these criminals, sorry about that".

 

Well Steve was given authority by Hawaii to deputize new 5-0 members on the spot. Far beyond the Special US Deputy Marshal power.  Of the misfits Steve made part of 5-0 from his second recruit a retired in disgrace Chin Ho, Tani was kicked out of the HPD academy. Captain Grover was forced to retire from HPD, Adam was a Yakuza prince Quinn Liu was an Army Staff Sergeant CID Agent who was not going to make Warrant Officer and on her way to being removed as she was put back on line MP duties.  Jerry was conspiracy guy in the chair support made a fully sworn  5-0 member. And last but not least the AWOL Marine with PTSD survivor's guilt.

On the other side. Kono was called from the acad my early for undercover work. Lori was Homeland Security Agent that the Governor forced on 5-0, Catherine was a Navy veteran who used to be a contact for 5-0. I'm not sure but she may have went beyond her authority to help and allowed to leave the Navy in a lessor version than the suspicion that forced Chin Ho to leave HPD. Junior was a homeless veteran who decided 5-0 or no other police force so Steve forced him to graduate the HPD academy first..

Edited April 4, 2020 by Raja
Staff Sergeant Quinn

[Twilight Man]

Not exactly an ending that I hate (Game of Thrones, RoseAnne, HIMYM)

not exactly an ending that I loved (Friends, Six Feet Under, M*A*S*H)

Let's just call it an ending.

Care to add your own

I liked it better than ___________ but disliked it more than _____________.

[Just my 2 cents]

1 minute ago, Twilight Man said:

I liked it better than ___________ but disliked it more than _____________.

Loved Criminal Minds hated Seinfeld.  HIMYM is indescribable.  I thought it was an okay ending.  It's just then end.  Maybe they'll get mentioned on Magnum PI.  I think it will be back next season?

[Just my 2 cents]

17 minutes ago, Raja said:

Well Steve was given authority by Hawaii to deputize new 5-0 members on the spot. Far beyond the Special US Deputy Marshal power.  Of the misfits Steve made part of 5-0 from his second recruit a retired in disgrace Chin Ho, Tani was kicked out of the HPD academy. Captain Grover was forced to retire from HPD, Adam was a Yakuza prince Quinn Liu was an Army Staff Sergeant CID Agent who was not going to make Warrant Officer and on her way to being removed as she was put back on line MP duties.  Jerry was conspiracy guy in the chair support made a fully sworn  5-0 member. And last but not least the AWOL Marine with PTSD survivor's guilt.

I know Hawaii feels safe especially now that Steve's gone and left them in such "capable" hands.  I'm guessing he won't be coming back, since I predict 5-0 will be disband and they will all go to prison.  Steve will never come back knowing that if he does he'll also be imprisoned for leaving that band of misfits alone and in charge of the state of Hawaii.

[Artsda]

So I'm guessing he'd have returned alone for next season. Ending felt very open.

It should have been Danny on the plane or should have ended the show at the house.

1 week after Danny almost dying and Steve takes off seems not right.

[Brian Cronin]

4 hours ago, Artsda said:

So I'm guessing he'd have returned alone for next season. Ending felt very open.

 

Thinking it over, I now realize that it HAD to have included Catherine originally (or else her deciphering the cipher would have made no sense, and the callback wouldn't have worked, either), so this really was filmed as a season finale that they knew could also work as a series finale if O'Loughlin was really done.

If he agreed to come back, Steve just comes back next season, refreshed (and probably sans Catherine), and if it is the ending, then Steve and Catherine get to walk into the sunset together.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Brian Cronin
Edited because I think I was incorrect initially.

[Vermicious Knid]

We never did find out what happened to the $20 million(?) stolen from Adam.

The only one Steve kissed goodbye was Eddie.

[DoctorAtomic]

'My girl'? What are you 1957?

[Lady Calypso]

So, I've watched the show on and off for years. I guess I would say that I first tuned in at some point during season 2? I wouldn't call myself a dedicated fan, but a casual fan (definitely kept up with the show to some extent but I don't think I've even seen half the episodes). But I decided to tune in for the last few episodes, especially this finale, to see how things wrapped up.

I think my issue is that, although it was actual a decent season finale, it didn't feel like a series finale. And yeah, I know that they weren't initially planning for this to be a series finale. And the finale definitely made that a bit clear for me that this was more of an open ended series finale. We got closure on Steve as a character, but they still left it open for him to have returned if the show had been renewed for an eleventh season. 

And maybe that's why it didn't quite work for me. It was a nice finale where Steve got his happy ending, which is great, but this wasn't giving me a true series finale vibe, so I felt a little empty after the episode ended. It definitely makes me feel like they could really, really do with a two hour movie to really wrap things up. They could try to bring back the characters that should have been there to say goodbye or conclude their own storylines. But I do know that the other issue is Alex O'Loughlin perhaps not wanting to come back, which is absolutely his choice. Again, I know of his circumstances and I'm glad he got the choice to do this as long as he has.

I think, had there been an eleventh season without Steve, it might not have been the best idea. Steve is truly the star of this show and I've seen so many cases where shows have tried to replace their leading man or leading woman and it's been a disaster, or it just doesn't feel the same. And I do think that Hawaii Five-0 would have probably been the same; maybe not outright terrible to have Cole as the replacement, as he was an interesting character, but he's still no Steve and it would have been obvious. The feeling of season 11 would have been different than the last ten seasons.

So, I think ending it with Alex's departure was the best outcome. I think what hindered the series finale was not having that knowledge ahead of time that the show would end now, so they could have written a more concrete ending for not just Steve, but EVERYONE involved. Because we got an ending for Steve, but not for everyone else, so I'm guessing a lot of their stories that they were building for other characters were never truly concluded. 

But really, in terms of how series finales go, this was on the better side. I've seen a lot of terrible series finales, including ones that have their shows cancelled so they end on cliffhangers. This show got lucky with how things panned out, for sure. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't think Steve is really the star of the show beyond the name if they don't want him to be or if he would rather not play the character anymore. There's been plenty of plot lines with the other characters that have been compelling.

I've said plenty of times that Chi McBride is a far far better actor and could lead the show as the head of Five-0 an a mentor to the younger characters, which they've done quite well, while maintaining the action vibe of the show. I think the additional of Law was an excellent choice because she can handle action sequences and her relationship with Tani is good too. 

I actually found this episode fairly pedestrian because everything with Steve is always so much DRAMA it's exhausting. 

I did like the return of Danny actually being competent. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by DoctorAtomic

[DoctorAtomic]

22 hours ago, roamyn said:

Chi actually had me tearing up.

Because dude can ACT. 

22 hours ago, roamyn said:

I actually thought the better ending would’ve been to kill off Danny.

I'm not a fan of killing off characters just to kill them off, but I tend to agree. Steve's recklessness never really had any consequences. This would have made narrative sense - the ridiculousness of all the Doris drama finally caught up. 

 

7 hours ago, Princess Lucky said:

Adam is... whatever

Nothing more to be said. 

[Passepartout]

Really wonder if the fans will get louder to have a spin off? Need to have people like that of Junior, Cole, Lou, Quinn teaming up as well as a younger generation while Tani's got a new CBS sitcom in the works.

[ByaNose]

Pretty good finale. The goodbyes were sad but I only got choked up with Grover since he’s been there the longest. There were too many newbies in that scene for my taste. It was nice that they had Danno & Steve connect at the end but I think that’s where it should’ve ended along with a sunset. 
 

Random question.....what ever happened to the young girl who played Danny’s daughter? She had really grown up when I last saw her but that was several season ago. Was she fired? Did she quit? I would have liked her to have been by Danno’s bedside in the hospital or just mentioned in passing. Aloha! 

[roamyn]

8 hours ago, Raja said:

Kamekona, Flippa, Noelani and Duke are all reoccuring on Magnum PI. From the crossover, even with Rick making a second Hawaii 5-0 appearance there seems to be fan interest in shipping Rick and Sergeant Liu  

Well Steve was given authority by Hawaii to deputize new 5-0 members on the spot. Far beyond the Special US Deputy Marshal power.  Of the misfits Steve made part of 5-0 from his second recruit a retired in disgrace Chin Ho, Tani was kicked out of the HPD academy. Captain Grover was forced to retire from HPD, Adam was a Yakuza prince Quinn Liu was an Army Staff Sergeant CID Agent who was not going to make Warrant Officer and on her way to being removed as she was put back on line MP duties.  Jerry was conspiracy guy in the chair support made a fully sworn  5-0 member. And last but not least the AWOL Marine with PTSD survivor's guilt.

On the other side. Kono was called from the acad my early for undercover work. Lori was Homeland Security Agent that the Governor forced on 5-0, Catherine was a Navy veteran who used to be a contact for 5-0. I'm not sure but she may have went beyond her authority to help and allowed to leave the Navy in a lessor version than the suspicion that forced Chin Ho to leave HPD. Junior was a homeless veteran who decided 5-0 or no other police force so Steve forced him to graduate the HPD academy first..

Um... Danny?
The competent cop, who just relocated from his beloved New Jersey.

[DrScottie]

Of all the characters, I'm gonna miss Eddie the most. What a great dog! 🙂

[Utpe]

I'm satisfied with the finale, even more so that they ended Five-0 after ten years instead of eight or nine due to Alex O'Loughlin's injuries.

Did they ever address what happened to the 1974 Mercury Marquis?  I remember seeing Steve and Danno push the vehicle in one episode, then it was never mentioned again as far as I remember.

Kinda curious as it was part of the original series.

[Sake614]

So I guess I'm in the minority but I always liked Steve and Catherine. So when he got on the plane I was thinking 'if Catherine doesn't show up I'm going to be royally pissed. '

That said, I didn't care much for the episode in general especially for a series finale. Like others I teared up when he said goodbye to Eddie and Lou. I'm surprised he didn't take Eddie with him. But then I guess there wouldn't be a seat for Catherine Lol!

 

[roamyn]

19 hours ago, Utpe said:

I'm satisfied with the finale, even more so that they ended Five-0 after ten years instead of eight or nine due to Alex O'Loughlin's injuries.

Did they ever address what happened to the 1974 Mercury Marquis?  I remember seeing Steve and Danno push the vehicle in one episode, then it was never mentioned again as far as I remember.

Kinda curious as it was part of the original series.

I know the owner of the car died in the middle of the series, so perhaps it was sold to a collector or went to a museum.

They still could’ve gotten a replica, I guess.

[DrScottie]

4 hours ago, Sake614 said:

So I guess I'm in the minority but I always liked Steve and Catherine. So when he got on the plane I was thinking 'if Catherine doesn't show up I'm going to be royally pissed. "

As soon as Lincoln Cole said his other contact for decrypting the cipher was Catherine, I knew she'd be in the episode at some point. Once he got on the plane with the empty seat, I said "Catherine's gonna show up!" I liked the two of them together also. 

[7kstar]

The Hawaii Five-0 Series Finale: What Cliffhangers for Season 11 Got Cut?

https://tvline.com/2020/04/04/hawaii-five-0-ended-over-season-11-spoilers-tani-junior/

I wouldn't read until after you have seen the finale.  But it is clear that plans were being made to continue with Alex's character being gone for a bit.  Hence him leaving  and saying goodbye.  So if you do read the article the ending that we saw was sections cut so that cliffhangers weren't running rampant since the show wasn't coming back.

On 4/4/2020 at 9:24 PM, ByaNose said:

Random question.....what ever happened to the young girl who played Danny’s daughter? She had really grown up when I last saw her but that was several season ago. Was she fired? Did she quit? I would have liked her to have been by Danno’s bedside in the hospital or just mentioned in passing. Aloha! 

Well the actress grew up literally playing the part.  It shows 2019 being her last time and I wouldn't be surprised if she was trying to do college or something else.  It would have been nice to see her but I think the time frame they had that this was the end didn't really allow for that.

On 4/4/2020 at 6:41 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I did like the return of Danny actually being competent. 

I used to watch this show live.  Then they started messing with Danny's character.  I didn't mind him complaining because at first they showed him to be the guy that helped the others deal with things.  But it seemed when Scott went to less ep that he wasn't really part of the group that much and I didn't like some of the things they did.  He would get some good eps showing his acting abilities but many times he didn't feel part of the team.  I did wonder if he got along with the cast and if that played a part of it.  Don 't know.

 

On 4/4/2020 at 8:00 AM, MDL said:

Maybe in the minority here, but I liked the fact that the Steve/Danno "goodbye" scene had just the 2 men. It was, IMO, moving and sad, and had an impact that would have been diluted by having the rest of the cast there. Besides, I think that S/D would not have been as emotionally expressive (tough guy love??) if they had the rest of the team as an audience (tough guy image?).

Also: the rest of the main team each had their moment to say goodbye to Steve. I might have liked it more if the sequence of the scenes was reversed-Steve says goodbye to the team, then goes to the beach to say goodbye to Danny, then on to the airport.

My biggest issue was Danny is obviously still hurt pretty bad and to be left alone didn't feel right.  I guess I'll just have to add that he told one of them to look after Danny for him.

The big deal with the money just didn't fit with how his mother had already died because she needed to make sure her kids were set. 

I think I would have rather it been more about payback and wanting Steve to feel the lose she felt from losing her husband and that the money was just an added bonus. 

So do I think they did it well, no.  But at least it wasn't as bad as some other's I can think of.  Ten years is a good run, but it felt more like okay, how can we make this seem like this is it than a plan that wrapped it up for the fans. 

I can handle Steve with Catherine but it just shows why I wasn't in love with this show like I once was.