S05.E18: Pono Kaulike (Justice For All)

[BW Manilowe]

McGarrett enlists Joe's help after Danny and Chin are arrested for deadly past transgressions.

Original Airdate: March 6, 2015

SOURCE: http://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/hawaii-five-0/releases/view?id=41965

[janeta]

Oooh Bob Knepper! :-)

Don't sign anything !!

Aw, i wanted to see them hit the refinery.

Oh poo, no more Bob. :(

Oh noooo, not Mom again--!

Overall a good ep, just trying to do too much in too little time.

[bmoore4026]

These "Arrest the hero-personal vendetta" stories irritate me.  Why not release the files even after the corrupt CIA agent resigned?

 

Also, Danno looked rather nice after being released, considering he had the living shit kicked out of him by everyone in the Columbian Prison.

[benteen]

Very good episode although I agree they packed a little too much in.

[BW Manilowe]

If you ask me, Danny was perhaps partly a CIA scapegoat here because he was a bit too "mouthy" for their tastes while dealing with them in S2, when the team had to investigate the murder of that other "CIA asset" at the same time as Steve was coming back from Japan with the newly-captured Wo Fat. They seem to have long memories about stuff like that. And I'm guessing Doris isn't supposed to be that fond of him either, for whatever reason, 'cause (in my opinion) if she was able to pull enough strings to get Steve off, she probably could've found a way to keep Danny from taking the fall too. Although I'm sure part of what Doris did was play the "Steve is my son; he's also a heavily decorated Navy SEAL & you're NOT touching him for this." card.

Edited March 7, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[dwmarch]

I have been hoping for a consequences episode for a long time now and this was not what I had in mind. Of course it turns out to be mwa-ha-ha-ing villains pretending to be good guys but in actual fact chasing three tons of coke. And why does the investigation against Danny go through a single person? What possible motivation could Steve's DA friend have for helping Danny get out from under a murder he's actually guilty of?

 

I am not prepared to do the math for this but it seems as though one would not be able to burn three tons of cocaine in a bonfire in less than a day. They didn't mention recruiting Charlie Sheen and/or Lindsay Lohan. If they had, I could believe it wouldn't take that long. As is, they should have been destroying it with a large explosive rather than throwing the bricks into a fire one at a time. Also, I did not notice any gas masks or similar sensible precautions one might take while standing next to a giant mountain of burning cocaine.

 

Eyes are the worst in Hollywood. Any trauma to them and you're dead. I am certain in real life people have had sharp objects driven into their eyes and have suffered no worse of an injury than loss of the eye. And speaking of missing eyes, weren't there supposed to be a whole bunch of cops around that IA safehouse? Did they not discuss how impossible it would be to break in? Would that not make it equally difficult to break out?

 

I feel as though the Colombian jail suffered from some stereotyping as well. It was basically a riot with bars but there was a squad of badasses with automatic rifles keeping the peace through bribery. For some reason the full-to-capacity jail does not simply overwhelm these guards, take their weapons and uniforms and create further havoc in an environment where it wouldn't even be noticed. I hope no Colombian correctional officers watched this.

 

Jimmy Buffett somehow got to Colombia ahead of Our Heroes, found and fixed a Sea King helicopter and was ready to fly into danger at a moment's notice? Shortcuts like this are jarring and there were far too many in this episode.

 

I had to laugh at Grace asking Danny if he had actually killed somebody. He's been gunning mooks down for five seasons! His kill list probably ranks alongside that of Jason Voorhees or Jack Bauer. But of course they were all bad men.

 

I'm glad they didn't draw out the mystery of who Joe's obvious source was but what an anti-climactic moment that was. You need to trust me. Okay, but who's your source. Your mom. Okay, that's cool.

 

It would be hard for any episode to be as good as last week's but this one was bad in so many ways.

[Artsda]

Everything wrapped up way too fast. Danny spent more time on the plane that in Columbia.They found the drugs and evidence in a blink and miss it.

[dcgirl13]

I enjoyed this episode if I didn't think about it. But even by H50 standards it just didn't hold up to logic. International relations doesn't work that way. Criminal justice doesn't work that way. Killing the IA officer wouldn't be enough to end a case because there are records.

Also, why was Grace not at Rachel's? She wouldn't be hanging out at Danny' s by herself.

Hopefully this plot line will be wrapped up.

I did love the Steve/Grace scenes.

[Roselle]

Apart form Gracie's classmate with the Redfoo hair - that was so much less than it could and should have been. Disappointed :(

[Trey]

 

Hopefully this plot line will be wrapped up.

 

I have a feeling that this episode was the writers' version of "wrapping up this plot line".

 

I liked the way Danny felt about killing Reyes - I thought it showed that he's a really good man, to have such guilt and feel that he did deserve to be punished.  But he still should have gotten a lawyer and not signed the waiver to be extradited to Colombia.  He barely survived being there.  I don't know why he kept telling Grace he'd be home soon since, in the ordinary course of events, he wouldn't have been home soon.

 

I knew the CIA guy was going to be crooked. 

 

I agree with everyone who thought they just put too much into this episode - it was too crowded and rushed and too many things just barely touched upon. 

 

I didn't like that Doris saved Steve but not Danny - of course I just don't like Doris. 

 

I suppose bringing in Chin's brother-in-law will be the focus of the next few episodes.

 

Complaints and nitpicks aside, I did enjoy the episode. 

[BW Manilowe]

I enjoyed this episode if I didn't think about it. But even by H50 standards it just didn't hold up to logic. International relations doesn't work that way. Criminal justice doesn't work that way. Killing the IA officer wouldn't be enough to end a case because there are records.

Also, why was Grace not at Rachel's? She wouldn't be hanging out at Danny' s by herself.

Hopefully this plot line will be wrapped up.

I did love the Steve/Grace scenes.

Someone on another board said Grover said Max *did* take Gracie to Rachel's after Danny was arrested, since he was also at Career Day & saw the whole thing (I couldn't make out what was said about where Gracie was, other than "Max took her to...", & I'd swear Steve said it instead of Grover). But her going to Rachel's doesn't make sense to me, unless we're gonna find out Rachel's separated/divorced from Stan & has moved back to Hawaii. And it, for whatever reason, makes even less sense to me if Lenkov wrote that, 'cause he started the whole "Rachel wants to move Gracie to Vegas, Danny fights for a custody modification of his own" storyline in the first place.

Mostly 'cause there have been periodic references to Gracie going to visit Rachel for Christmas in Vegas (& I know she did that, 'cause they made it a plot point in 1 of the last 2 Christmas eps--they even showed Danny talking to Gracie on the phone, reassuring her they'd do "their" Christmas/Christmas with the Hawaiian ohana when she got home, & I think Steve said Danny wasn't happy 'cause Grace was in Vegas for Christmas), despite the fact Gracie's not supposed to be able to leave Oahu (but probably can, with Danny's permission).

There've also been references to Rachel having to fly home after a visitation with Gracie in Honolulu (this was in the ep where the building fell on Steve & Danny, & why/how Gracie met Amber/Melissa--Gracie unexpectedly came home early 'cause Rachel had to leave visitation earlier, & she walked in on Amber/Melissa making coffee in 1 of Danny's shirts; she tried to tell Danny her plans changed, but the phone was going to voicemail 'cause Danny & Amber/Melissa were busy having sex).

So... Rachel should still be living in Vegas. And I have no idea who Gracie stayed with while Danno was gone. Other than I'm pretty sure Max didn't take her back to her & Danny's house.

[JessDVD]

I hated this plotline when they did it in NCIS a few seasons ago and I hated it here too. I would much, MUCH prefer to see a legitimate investigation on the leads about the things they've done that actually are illegal. We all know going into it that everyone's going to be cleared in the end, so let's spend some time with a competent, non-asshole investigator asking them legitimate questions and them giving legitimate answers. I think that would be interesting to watch. Steve's line about how they all could end up in a Colombian prison was just laughable. Duh, we KNOW that they're not going to get stuck there, we KNOW that they'll accomplish their mission within this episode or the next.

 

Of course CIA guy was crooked, like that wasn't telegraphed from a mile away.

 

Also, the "case" was super weak because the only reason anyone knew anything was because Doris told Joe told Steve.

 

I could happily have lived the rest of my life without seeing that guy's eye stabbed out.

 

Not their best, IMO.

[Trey]

Does anyone know who was singing near the end of the episode?

[ganesh]

Oh, this show. Actually, this would have made for a good two parter. Steve just threatens the federal agent and runs him off the road. That just says everything about what the show is. 

 

I love how Internal Affairs are the 'bad guys'. Even though 5-0 conspired and committed murder.

 

What a waste of Knepper. 

[BW Manilowe]

Does anyone know who was singing near the end of the episode?

Do you mean at the beginning of the scene where we're reintroduced to Jimmy Buffett's Frank Bama character & he's singing along in character?

If that's what you mean, it's an old classic, Let's Stay Together by (Reverend) Al Green (who I think is, sadly, no longer with us, as they say). The same song was Tina Turner's *huge* "comeback" hit in the '80s.

[Mittengirl]

I couldn't figure out, aside from speeding the storyline along, why Danny didn't fight extradition. If he really thought he was going to spend the rest of his life in a Columbian prison, wouldn't he want to see Grace one last time, and together with Rachel, explain what is going on with him. He also has parents (and sisters?), who have just lost a child. Yet he is just going to vanish from their lives?

Also, wouldn't the Columbian government want to keep him alive long enough to go to trial? And what would keep Steve and Danny's parents from going to the press with the story of the U.S. government throwing an American citizen to the wolves for killing a drug lord who had murdered another U.S. citizen? The whole thing made no sense to me.

The house that they showed Grace at, looked nothing like the house they showed on the Christmas episode when the cop was looking for evidence of the guys tree thieving. It had to have been Rachel's house. But again, why would Steve not enlist Grace's mother to help him explain what was going to happen to Danny, and help Grace cope.

I hope the whole corruption storyline with Chin is over. It feels like a rehash of a rehash, at this point.

The problem with doing "big" story-lines with the main characters is that we know that nothing bad is going to happen, especially mid-season. Of course the whole gang is not going to end up in a foreign jail or crashing in the jungle. And they aren't going to send half the cast to prison for ever. We knew they would both be back in a couple of episodes, at most.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Mittengirl

[Raja]

Do you mean at the beginning of the scene where we're reintroduced to Jimmy Buffett's Frank Bama character & he's singing along in character?

If that's what you mean, it's an old classic, Let's Stay Together by (Reverend) Al Green (who I think is, sadly, no longer with us, as they say). The same song was Tina Turner's *huge* "comeback" hit in the '80s.

Reverend Al Green is still very much with us. The Kennedy Center just honored him back in December With Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Earth Wind & Fire, and Marvis Stales singing his songs. He has a sister who has been missing for a year and a half  so that story has been updated upon the 18th month anniversary of her going missing with the questions of why Al Green doesn't put himself on the news for interviews so there will be more coverage since he is the celebrity.

[BW Manilowe]

Reverend Al Green is still very much with us. The Kennedy Center just honored him back in December With Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Earth Wind & Fire, and Marvis Stales singing his songs. He has a sister who has been missing for a year and a half so that story has been updated upon the 18th month anniversary of her going missing with the questions of why Al Green doesn't put himself on the news for interviews so there will be more coverage since he is the celebrity.

Forgive me... Gonna comment on your post & another in this same answer, as I'm still unsure if you can "double post" here (answer multiple posts in 1 thread separately), or if you can't (like on TWoP).

Anyway... Mittengirl, as near as anyone can figure Danny let himself be hauled off to the Colombian (not Columbian) prison because

1. He had felt guilty about killing Reyes since he did it, because (at least at that time) Reyes was, technically, an unarmed man--Reyes may have been "strapped", as they call it in the show, or he may have had a weapon hidden somewhere on his person, but he wasn't pointing it at Danny or Steve, or otherwise threatening their (or their ohana's) lives--when Danny killed him. Danny considers himself a "clean" (opposite of Rick Peterson), by the book cop. Those kinds of cops don't arbitrarily go around killing unarmed people/perps. And if they do, they need to be punished for it.

Danny felt he needed to be punished for killing Reyes, even though Reyes presented a direct threat to himself & Gracie (he knew enough about her to know what time she either got out of school or got back home, once school let out for the day--I forget which--& who knows what else that he could use to cause problems for Danny where Gracie was concerned). He also presented, probably, an indirect threat to more of Danny's loved ones/ohana--his parents, Clara & Eddie; his sisters; his nephew Eric (aka "E-Train"), perhaps Rachel, & the Five-0's & all those they associate with (Kamekona, Flippa, etc.). Danny saw those threats as justification enough to kill Reyes. But, since Reyes was unarmed & not an immediate threat when Danny killed him, Danny felt he needed to be punished for it.

2. Danny was trying to "protect" Steve from being prosecuted (probably as an accessory, since he was in the same room when Danny shot Reyes & did nothing to stop Danny--or save Reyes after he was shot, if that was possible), despite the fact Steve kept throwing himself at the corrupt CIA guy, & anyone else who'd listen, at every opportunity & insisting that if Danny was getting hauled off to the Colombian prison, he had to go too since he was in the room when Danny did it. Danny was trying to "protect" Steve because he needed Steve to be around for Gracie (since she really had no one else besides him, the team, & their associates, in Hawaii if something happened to Danny) because Rachel was (at least supposed to be) living in Vegas with her current husband, Stan, & their son, Charles. So, Danny "fell on his sword".

raja--Thank you SO much for your correction on Reverend Al Green. My apologies! I keep up with the Kennedy Center Honorees each year (still waiting for my most favorite entertainer to, hopefully, be named an Honoree), & I really don't know how I forgot that not only is Reverend Al Green still alive, but he was among the Honorees this past December.

That's sad about his sister & I don't think I'd heard she was missing before. I hope they have a "happy" outcome, but after this long it's probably not likely. Perhaps he chooses not to make himself available for interviews about her because it's too hard to talk about, he's a "private" person, or because they had some kind of a "falling out" before she disappeared, or who knows why. There could be other reasons I'm not thinking of, as well.

[Trey]

Do you mean at the beginning of the scene where we're reintroduced to Jimmy Buffett's Frank Bama character & he's singing along in character?

If that's what you mean, it's an old classic, Let's Stay Together by (Reverend) Al Green (who I think is, sadly, no longer with us, as they say). The same song was Tina Turner's *huge* "comeback" hit in the '80s.

Thanks for responding.

 

No, it's later in the show, right after Chin is released, about 37:50; they play only about a minute of the song while they show people surfing. I watched it online, hoping it would be in the credits but I didn't see it.

[betsyboo]

Does anyone know who Steve was playing catch with at the beginning? I rewound it twice to try to catch a name and no luck. And then I thought that I should know who he is because it was all so non-chalant. Vaguely I'm recalling - was there a boy whose father got arrested by 5-0 and Steve took him under his wing?

 

I don't pay too much attention to ongoing s/l simply because I like this show for sun and kamekona and silly cases of the week. Also Steve shirtless, if I can be honest.

 

I def heard Steve ask Grover "Where's Grace?" and Grover responded "Max took her to Rachel's." Maybe Rachel and Stan still have a house on the island and happened to be in town? Since Grace is in school in HI, maybe Rachel spends more time on the island.

Edited March 8, 2015 by betsyboo

[BW Manilowe]

Does anyone know who Steve was playing catch with at the beginning? I rewound it twice to try to catch a name and no luck. And then I thought that I should know who he is because it was all so non-chalant. Vaguely I'm recalling - was there a boy whose father got arrested by 5-0 and Steve took him under his wing?

I don't pay too much attention to ongoing s/l simply because I like this show for sun and kamekona and silly cases of the week. Also Steve shirtless, if I can be honest.

I def heard Steve ask Grover "Where's Grace?" and Grover responded "Max took her to Rachel's." Maybe Rachel and Stan still have a house on the island and happened to be in town? Since Grace is in school in HI, maybe Rachel spends more time on the island.

betsyboo:

The boy Steve was playing football with at the beginning of the show was a character named Nahele. He was introduced a few episodes ago, in the ep where Steve was helping Gracie practice, if you will, to take the test for the President's Physical Fitness Award (I'm not sure that's the exact name for it. Sorry!).

He stole Steve's Mercury Marquis (McGarrett' s car in the original show which Steve's Dad, & now Steve, has been restoring in the current show) in that episode & stripped the car/took it to a "chop shop" where it was stripped. We know all of this happened 'cause Nahele made the mistake of driving past where Steve & Gracie had been doing their running practice for the test & Gracie recognized the car as it drove past; then, later in the ep, Steve was directed to/found the place where the car's remains were (& was rightly pissed off when he saw it had been stripped because 1970s vintage car parts are almost impossible to find now).

Once Nahele was in custody & the car's remains were found, Steve filled out the criminal complaint against him, but only up to the part where he had to sign it. He had Nahele brought to his office, showed him the completed, but still unsigned, criminal complaint against him & he told him he was gonna keep his nose clean, as it were, stay in school (I think), get a job (which Kamekona provided, of course), & help Steve put the Marquis back together again; maybe some other stuff I've forgotten.

Anyway... Steve told Nahele that if he followed the conditions Steve set out above (& any others I may have forgotten), & (I think) he did it for a certain amount of time, the police complaint for the Marquis theft/stripping would remain unsigned in his desk drawer. If he messed up again, the complaint would be signed & Nahele would be in legal trouble for the car theft/stripping.

That's who Nahele is. A (budding?) Juvenile Delinquent Steve's taken under his wing, to try & straighten him out before he gets into major legal trouble that can't be "walked back" so easily & perhaps becomes a "career" criminal.

Thanks for responding.

No, it's later in the show, right after Chin is released, about 37:50; they play only about a minute of the song while they show people surfing. I watched it online, hoping it would be in the credits but I didn't see it.

Trey:

I Googled & found this website, http://www.tunefind.com, which apparently catalogues what songs are used in what episodes of (at least US) TV series. Besides Let's Stay Together, for this ep they list Violent Shiver by Benjamin Booker, which they say was played at the beginning of the ep, & The Game by Sean Rowe, which they describe as being played when Steve drives Danny back home.

Sorry if this isn't what you're looking for. It's all I've found so far. I'll try to keep looking & post if I find more.

Edited March 9, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[betsyboo]

betsyboo:

The boy Steve was playing football with at the beginning of the show was a character named Nahele. He was introduced a few episodes ago, in the ep where Steve was helping Gracie practice, if you will, to take the test for the President's Physical Fitness Award (I'm not sure that's the exact name for it. Sorry!).

He stole Steve's Mercury Marquis (McGarrett' s car in the original show which Steve's Dad, & now Steve, has been restoring in the current show) in that episode & stripped the car/took it to a "chop shop" where it was stripped. We know all of this happened 'cause Nahele made the mistake of driving past where Steve & Gracie had been doing their running practice for the test & Gracie recognized the car as it drove past; then, later in the ep, Steve was directed to/found the place where the car's remains were (& was rightly pissed off when he saw it had been stripped because 1970s vintage car parts are almost impossible to find now).

Once Nahele was in custody & the car's remains were found, Steve filled out the criminal complaint against him, but only up to the part where he had to sign it. He had Nahele brought to his office, showed him the completed, but still unsigned, criminal complaint against him & he told him he was gonna keep his nose clean, as it were, stay in school (I think), get a job (which Kamekona provided, of course), & help Steve put the Marquis back together again; maybe some other stuff I've forgotten.

Anyway... Steve told Nahele that if he followed the conditions Steve set out above (& any others I may have forgotten), & (I think) he did it for a certain amount of time, the police complaint for the Marquis theft/stripping would remain unsigned in his desk drawer. If he messed up again, the complaint would be signed & Nahele would be in legal trouble for the car theft/stripping.

That's who Nahele is. A (budding?) Juvenile Delinquent Steve's taken under his wing, to try & straighten him out before he gets into major legal trouble that can't be "walked back" so easily & perhaps becomes a "career" criminal.

Thank you so very much! I absolutely remember that episode, but clearly did not recognize the boy. Whoops. He was homeless? Has/had a sick parent? I clearly watched that ep and promptly forgot all about him! TY!

[ChelseaNH]

So Chin lends Danny more than $5 million dollars to ransom Danny's brother.  Turns out they don't need the ransom.  Did it not occur to them to REPAY CHIN THE $5 MILLION DOLLARS?

 

Assholes.

[Trey]

 

The Game by Sean Rowe, which they describe as being played when Steve drives Danny back home.

 

Yes, this is it.  Great song!  Thank you very much for finding it for me.

[HurricaneVal]

Wow.  That was a whooooooole lotta show.  I'm still struggling to unpack it all.

 

I do love the improbabilities with this show, and I am willing to forgive a lot, but there must be a whole lot of Star Trek technology in the back room at headquarters, like transporters, phasers, and super healing machines. 

 

How else do the members of the 5-0 team to travel all the way around the world in a blink of an eye--and this special technology even extends to tertiary (though beloved by me) characters like Frank Bama, who apparently gave up a whole post-war identity of Crazy Yankee Expat still living in South Korea to become 5-0's version of Howlin' Mad Murdoch, crazy/genius helo pilot, wizard mechanic, and clever restorer of classic military helicopters.

 

Now, I am willing to suspend my disbelief a long, long way for this show.  But...the team travels to Colombia (presumably) to find the missing cocaine in the abandoned oil refinery, immolates it with their phasers (how else does $5M worth of coke get destroyed that quickly, eh?) and conveniently finds all the bad-guys records just sitting there waiting for them, then flies back to Oahu to confront the dirty CIA guy?  Did they not think of simply breaking Danny out of jail while they were there?  That's much more McGarrett's style...  Or was the abandoned oil refinery actually on Oahu?  I'm so confused.

 

And as mentioned, Danny got the shit kicked out of him.  He should have broken ribs, bruised kidneys, a concussion, possible collapsed lung, and muscle damage, yet he effortlessly lifts Grace up for a hug.  I get it, Danny is willing to accept and hide a lot of physical pain due to his great love for his daughter, but after a beating like that (x2), he should have been pretty physically incapable of walking, let alone weight lifting. 

 

Very odd juxtaposition of A and B plots in this episode.  Also an odd conclusion to the Chin and his brother-in-law story line.  I am also totally confused with the whole "Grace went to Rachel's house" bit.  I thought Rachel and Stan and Charlie moved to Las Vegas?  And Danny successfully won custody of Grace, keeping her in Hawaii with him.  So...did the Edwards sell their McMansion, and buy a different house so Rachel and Charlie could have weekend visitations in Hawaii with Grace?  Did the Edwards move back to Oahu to that different house?  I was terribly confused, and for a while there was wondering if Grace was in foster care, or possibly staying with Grover's family. 

 

Things I did love about this episode was that you could just see the stress and worry just stack up in Steve's eyes and oh his shoulders as he just kept getting hit with all the news about his team.  Nicely done, Alex O'Loughlin.  Nicely done.  Also good callback to Steve's mentorship of the kid he took under his wing, as well as his days as Kukui High football star.  Steve's trying to relate to the kid on his level, so reverts himself to his high school persona, and teaches the kid to play football.  I can buy Danny not fighting extradition, because in his heart of hearts, he's guilty of killing that guy in cold blood.  Sure, the dude threatened his family, and sure, he had to die in order for Danny and his whole extended family to be safe, but the fact remains Danny shot an unarmed man point blank in the head.  We know that's been gnawing at him, as the two parts of his psyche--"protect the family at all costs" and "uphold and be better than the law"--warred with each other.  I could see him meekly taking what he considered his due punishment, and being so totally in his head with guilt that thoughts of never seeing Grace again just seemed like more punishment.  On some level, he probably also figured his Ohana would figure out a way to get him out, all he had to do was survive until then, and accept the punishment he felt he deserved.

 

I also liked Steve's guilt as he realized he was kept safe while Danny took the fall.  Especially since I believe that if Danny hadn't killed the guy, Steve would have in order to protect his ohana.  And Steve's guilt with his "no one person is more important than the other" decision to let Chin hang in the wind for a while in order to see to the more critical issue of getting Danny back.

 

Like I said before I got all long-winded, that was a whooooooole lotta show.  I'm still struggling to unpack it all.

[dwmarch]

So Chin lends Danny more than $5 million dollars to ransom Danny's brother.  Turns out they don't need the ransom.  Did it not occur to them to REPAY CHIN THE $5 MILLION DOLLARS?

 

Assholes.

 

What's even better is that they said they dropped the money off at an orphanage! I can fanwank that going through Bogota International with giant duffel bags full of American dollars is a bad idea but then again they got the money to Colombia so...

 

Since this was the consequences of no consequence episode, I'd like to see some real blowback. Dropping 19 million dollars into the laps of unprepared strangers is bound to ruin a few lives despite the good intentions.

[BW Manilowe]

Wow. That was a whooooooole lotta show. I'm still struggling to unpack it all.

I do love the improbabilities with this show, and I am willing to forgive a lot, but there must be a whole lot of Star Trek technology in the back room at headquarters, like transporters, phasers, and super healing machines.

How else do the members of the 5-0 team to travel all the way around the world in a blink of an eye--and this special technology even extends to tertiary (though beloved by me) characters like Frank Bama, who apparently gave up a whole post-war identity of Crazy Yankee Expat still living in South Korea to become 5-0's version of Howlin' Mad Murdoch, crazy/genius helo pilot, wizard mechanic, and clever restorer of classic military helicopters.

Now, I am willing to suspend my disbelief a long, long way for this show. But...the team travels to Colombia (presumably) to find the missing cocaine in the abandoned oil refinery, immolates it with their phasers (how else does $5M worth of coke get destroyed that quickly, eh?) and conveniently finds all the bad-guys records just sitting there waiting for them, then flies back to Oahu to confront the dirty CIA guy? Did they not think of simply breaking Danny out of jail while they were there? That's much more McGarrett's style... Or was the abandoned oil refinery actually on Oahu? I'm so confused.

And as mentioned, Danny got the shit kicked out of him. He should have broken ribs, bruised kidneys, a concussion, possible collapsed lung, and muscle damage, yet he effortlessly lifts Grace up for a hug. I get it, Danny is willing to accept and hide a lot of physical pain due to his great love for his daughter, but after a beating like that (x2), he should have been pretty physically incapable of walking, let alone weight lifting.

Very odd juxtaposition of A and B plots in this episode. Also an odd conclusion to the Chin and his brother-in-law story line. I am also totally confused with the whole "Grace went to Rachel's house" bit. I thought Rachel and Stan and Charlie moved to Las Vegas? And Danny successfully won custody of Grace, keeping her in Hawaii with him. So...did the Edwards sell their McMansion, and buy a different house so Rachel and Charlie could have weekend visitations in Hawaii with Grace? Did the Edwards move back to Oahu to that different house? I was terribly confused, and for a while there was wondering if Grace was in foster care, or possibly staying with Grover's family.

Things I did love about this episode was that you could just see the stress and worry just stack up in Steve's eyes and oh his shoulders as he just kept getting hit with all the news about his team. Nicely done, Alex O'Loughlin. Nicely done. Also good callback to Steve's mentorship of the kid he took under his wing, as well as his days as Kukui High football star. Steve's trying to relate to the kid on his level, so reverts himself to his high school persona, and teaches the kid to play football. I can buy Danny not fighting extradition, because in his heart of hearts, he's guilty of killing that guy in cold blood. Sure, the dude threatened his family, and sure, he had to die in order for Danny and his whole extended family to be safe, but the fact remains Danny shot an unarmed man point blank in the head. We know that's been gnawing at him, as the two parts of his psyche--"protect the family at all costs" and "uphold and be better than the law"--warred with each other. I could see him meekly taking what he considered his due punishment, and being so totally in his head with guilt that thoughts of never seeing Grace again just seemed like more punishment. On some level, he probably also figured his Ohana would figure out a way to get him out, all he had to do was survive until then, and accept the punishment he felt he deserved.

I also liked Steve's guilt as he realized he was kept safe while Danny took the fall. Especially since I believe that if Danny hadn't killed the guy, Steve would have in order to protect his ohana. And Steve's guilt with his "no one person is more important than the other" decision to let Chin hang in the wind for a while in order to see to the more critical issue of getting Danny back.

Like I said before I got all long-winded, that was a whooooooole lotta show. I'm still struggling to unpack it all.

I'm still confused about the "Max took her to Rachel's" explanation about Gracie too--as I think I've already mentioned in (at least) a couple of other posts.

Rachel, Stan & Baby (Toddler, Whatever) Charles *definitely* moved to Vegas, & Danny *definitely* went to court to counter Rachel's request for a custody modification (allowing her to take Gracie to Vegas when she, Stan & Charles were supposed to move to Vegas so Stan could build a new hotel--I think--there) with his own request for a custody modification (asking that Gracie be allowed to stay on Oahu, with him [of course], because, basically, she's [& Danny's, by extension] been in Hawaii long enough to have put down some sort of roots & she's [& Danny's by extension] getting too old to just arbitrarily be uprooted every time Stan develops a new real estate project in a different city because her custodial parent Rachel, as Stan's wife, has to move too [& Danny doesn't want to uproot his own life any longer, just to be close enough to maintain his visitation/relationship with Gracie; nor does he wanna risk losing that relationship by *not* following Gracie wherever she lives as a minor child]).

All of that definitely happened. Danny got served with Rachel's custody modification papers in the S2 Finale.

He went to court in S3, in the ep where Wo Fat kidnapped a sitting Congressman--who was believed to have murdered a call girl, actually murdered by Wo Fat, I think--& tried to "buy" & fix the upcoming election for his opponent (there was a "McDanno" moment in the ep when Danny fixed the tie in Steve's Dress Blues before court, & Steve did his best to "testify" on Danny's behalf, delaying taking a call from Governor Denning to do so). At the end of the ep, after the Governor showed up at Steve's to apologize for his behavior during the murder investigation into the actually kidnaped Congressman (a friend of his), Danny learned he won the custody modification suit--despite the fact the Judge didn't appreciate Steve "testifying" on Danny's behalf without being asked--& Grace would be allowed to live with Danny in Honolulu, & wouldn't be allowed to leave the island (presumably for custodial purposes only & presumably unless Danny gave his permission for her to), as Danny asked in his counter filing to Rachel's original request.

In S4 & 5, they mentioned/implied more than once that Rachel no longer lived in Hawaii.

Most notably in the Christmas ep for 1 of those seasons (I forget which): Steve tells somebody on the team (I think) Danny's not happy because Gracie's spending Christmas in Vegas with Rachel. Later in the same ep (maybe at the same time as Steve's explaining), we see Danny on the phone. It turns out he's talking to Gracie, reassuring her that the 2 of them would have "their" Christmas/Christmas with their ohana in Hawaii when she got back; she wasn't missing opening any presents by being with Rachel in Vegas & she'd still have her presents from Danny & his side of her family, & their Five-0/Hawaiian ohana, to open when she got home.

Then also in the ep where Steve & Danny are trapped, & Danny's injured, in the building collapse: Towards the beginning, Gracie comes home early from a visitation with Rachel to find Amber/Melissa--who she hasn't met yet--in the kitchen, making coffee while wearing 1 of Danny's shirts. When Danny finally comes out of the bedroom to find out what's going on, & finds Gracie there, he asks what she's doing home so early, 'cause she's still supposed to be with Rachel, & reminds her she's supposed to call him if she has a change of plans. Gracie tells Danny that she's home early 'cause Rachel had to take an earlier plane home (implying/stating she still wasn't living in Honolulu & shouldn't have even had a house there now, & that she was maybe flying in for at least some visitations 'cause Danny's custody decree says Gracie can't be taken off-island), & says she did try to call him when Rachel had to leave early, but Danny's phone went to voicemail when she did (because he was too busy having sex with Amber/Melissa when Gracie called to pick up the phone--though Gracie didn't know that until she came home & saw Amber/Melissa in the kitchen wearing Danny's shirt & perhaps figured things out from there).

I'm surprised Lenkov, who wrote/co-wrote the S2 Finale & started the whole change of custody storyline (presumably so Teilor could stay in the show 'cause lots of viewers liked Gracie/Danny as a Dad & they were dropping the Rachel storyline/character at least for the time being), & wrote/co-wrote this ep, would apparently retcon Rachel still having a house in Hawaii nobody seemed to know about until last Friday. Though I will admit it did make some sense she'd go to her Mother's if Danny wasn't around & no one on the team was available to stay with her (& they were all busy right then, trying to figure out how to get Chin & Danny outta their respective jails at the time, so...), but I don't know how eager any of the Five-0s would be to have Gracie by herself on a plane to Vegas right then.

[KMK]

I'm still confused about the "Max took her to Rachel's" explanation about Gracie too--as I think I've already mentioned in (at least) a couple of other posts.

Rachel, Stan & Baby (Toddler, Whatever) Charles *definitely* moved to Vegas, & Danny *definitely* went to court to counter Rachel's request for a custody modification (allowing her to take Gracie to Vegas when she, Stan & Charles were supposed to move to Vegas so Stan could build a new hotel--I think--there) with his own request for a custody modification (asking that Gracie be allowed to stay on Oahu, with him [of course], because, basically, she's [& Danny's, by extension] been in Hawaii long enough to have put down some sort of roots & she's [& Danny's by extension] getting too old to just arbitrarily be uprooted every time Stan develops a new real estate project in a different city because her custodial parent Rachel, as Stan's wife, has to move too [& Danny doesn't want to uproot his own life any longer, just to be close enough to maintain his visitation/relationship with Gracie; nor does he wanna risk losing that relationship by *not* following Gracie wherever she lives as a minor child]).

All of that definitely happened. Danny got served with Rachel's custody modification papers in the S2 Finale.

He went to court in S3, in the ep where Wo Fat kidnapped a sitting Congressman--who was believed to have murdered a call girl, actually murdered by Wo Fat, I think--& tried to "buy" & fix the upcoming election for his opponent (there was a "McDanno" moment in the ep when Danny fixed the tie in Steve's Dress Blues before court, & Steve did his best to "testify" on Danny's behalf, delaying taking a call from Governor Denning to do so). At the end of the ep, after the Governor showed up at Steve's to apologize for his behavior during the murder investigation into the actually kidnaped Congressman (a friend of his), Danny learned he won the custody modification suit--despite the fact the Judge didn't appreciate Steve "testifying" on Danny's behalf without being asked--& Grace would be allowed to live with Danny in Honolulu, & wouldn't be allowed to leave the island (presumably for custodial purposes only & presumably unless Danny gave his permission for her to), as Danny asked in his counter filing to Rachel's original request.

In S4 & 5, they mentioned/implied more than once that Rachel no longer lived in Hawaii.

Most notably in the Christmas ep for 1 of those seasons (I forget which): Steve tells somebody on the team (I think) Danny's not happy because Gracie's spending Christmas in Vegas with Rachel. Later in the same ep (maybe at the same time as Steve's explaining), we see Danny on the phone. It turns out he's talking to Gracie, reassuring her that the 2 of them would have "their" Christmas/Christmas with their ohana in Hawaii when she got back; she wasn't missing opening any presents by being with Rachel in Vegas & she'd still have her presents from Danny & his side of her family, & their Five-0/Hawaiian ohana, to open when she got home.

Then also in the ep where Steve & Danny are trapped, & Danny's injured, in the building collapse: Towards the beginning, Gracie comes home early from a visitation with Rachel to find Amber/Melissa--who she hasn't met yet--in the kitchen, making coffee while wearing 1 of Danny's shirts. When Danny finally comes out of the bedroom to find out what's going on, & finds Gracie there, he asks what she's doing home so early, 'cause she's still supposed to be with Rachel, & reminds her she's supposed to call him if she has a change of plans. Gracie tells Danny that she's home early 'cause Rachel had to take an earlier plane home (implying/stating she still wasn't living in Honolulu & shouldn't have even had a house there now, & that she was maybe flying in for at least some visitations 'cause Danny's custody decree says Gracie can't be taken off-island), & says she did try to call him when Rachel had to leave early, but Danny's phone went to voicemail when she did (because he was too busy having sex with Amber/Melissa when Gracie called to pick up the phone--though Gracie didn't know that until she came home & saw Amber/Melissa in the kitchen wearing Danny's shirt & perhaps figured things out from there).

I'm surprised Lenkov, who wrote/co-wrote the S2 Finale & started the whole change of custody storyline (presumably so Teilor could stay in the show 'cause lots of viewers liked Gracie/Danny as a Dad & they were dropping the Rachel storyline/character at least for the time being), & wrote/co-wrote this ep, would apparently retcon Rachel still having a house in Hawaii nobody seemed to know about until last Friday. Though I will admit it did make some sense she'd go to her Mother's if Danny wasn't around & no one on the team was available to stay with her (& they were all busy right then, trying to figure out how to get Chin & Danny outta their respective jails at the time, so...), but I don't know how eager any of the Five-0s would be to have Gracie by herself on a plane to Vegas right then.

I think there has always been confusion about the whole custody issue and it doesn't appear to be a retcon issue at all. Danny clearly stated that Grace couldn't leave the island, but he never said who had primary custody. People just assumed Danny did.

 

My interpretation was that they had joint custody and Rachel would split time between Las Vegas (where Stan is currently working) and the Island. When she was in Vegas, Danny had custody. So it doesn't surprise me at all to see that Rachel would still have a home there. 

[BW Manilowe]

I think there has always been confusion about the whole custody issue and it doesn't appear to be a retcon issue at all. Danny clearly stated that Grace couldn't leave the island, but he never said who had primary custody. People just assumed Danny did.

My interpretation was that they had joint custody and Rachel would split time between Las Vegas (where Stan is currently working) and the Island. When she was in Vegas, Danny had custody. So it doesn't surprise me at all to see that Rachel would still have a home there.

I don't think there's confusion about the custody issue. I at least don't feel I'm confused about it.

The way I interpreted the Judge's ruling from the episode in which it was made, is that the custody arrangements are now basically "flipped" from how they started & seemed to be in S1-2. Originally, I thought Rachel had "Primary Physical Custody" of Grace--Meaning Grace lives with her (& Stan) & Danny gets reasonable visitation; & *I think* Rachel & Danny had "Joint Legal Custody"--Meaning they both could make legal/adult-type decisions on her behalf.

Now, I think *Danny* has "Primary Physical Custody" (or at least now it's more "Joint" than it was, but it may be closer to "Primary" custody since Gracie can't leave the island)--Grace lives with Danny (we've seen she obviously does in numerous eps) & Rachel gets reasonable visitation... But Gracie also isn't allowed to leave Oahu under the new agreement, though she presumably can with Danny's permission. I think the issue of Gracie's "Legal" custody stayed the same after the S3 modification: it's still "Joint" custody, with both Danny & Rachel being allowed to make legal/adult-type decisions on her behalf.

Oh it surprises me the Edwardses may have a home on Oahu (but they apparently have the money to waste on it, so...). They apparently didn't even use the original home they'd been using in previous seasons, so the Edwardses have a whole new home there, apparently.

If Rachel/the Edwards family is still maintaining a home in Hawaii, in my not so humble opinion, they could've mentioned it *before this ep* (like, in the ep where Danny & Steve were trapped in the collapsed building, for example--seeing as Gracie'd need someone to stay with if/when Danny had to go to the hospital after being rescued; her mother would be a better choice than her father's girlfriend who she was actually left with).

Plus, there's the fact that, in the S1 Finale when Rachel & Grace are gonna move back to New Jersey with Danny, I think somewhere around where Rachel tells Danny--who she's been having an affair with--she's pregnant, Rachel tells Danny that Hawaii's *Stan's* home, *not hers*. So we're to believe Stan bought a new Hawaii home that might/would only rarely be used since their primary residence was now supposedly Vegas? Except for the fact Gracie's living there, Rachel has no real reason to buy a home in Hawaii since she previously stated she considered it Stan's home & not hers.

Instead, they continued to maintain that the Edwardses were living in Vegas, with a number of "name checks" of the city & statements Gracie was visiting her Mother there & similar things in different eps, or implications the Edwardses were still living there, like in the building collapse ep where Gracie said her visitation got cut short as Rachel had to fly home early, the implication being "home" was Vegas (or somewhere else besides Honolulu/Oahu).

So, yeah, for me it's still a retcon. But I'll agree to disagree.

Edited March 10, 2015 by BW Manilowe