S06.E08: Piko Pau ʻiole (The Artful Dodger)

[BW Manilowe]

Five-0 must work with charming con man Hank Weber (Kristoffer Polaha) to find a killer when his female partner is murdered on the job. Also, San Francisco Police Inspector Abby Dunn comes to Oʻahu and works with Chin to investigate the murders of five Chinese arms dealers. Julie Benz guest stars as Inspector Abby Dunn.

Original Airdate: November 13, 2015

SOURCE: http://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/hawaii-five-0/releases/view?id=43770

[janeta]

OK, i'm now officially tired of Jerry. And since when does Adam worry about killing people?

[BW Manilowe]

Did anyone else besides me catch Abby's reference to "Inspectors Stone & Keller" who, she said (when they were talking at Five-0 HQ after Steve swore her in as a temporary team member), were enjoying the immunity attached to being part of SFPD's version of Five-0?

That was a shout out to the detective partner characters played by the late Karl Malden (Stone) & Michael Douglas (Keller) in the ABC cop show The Streets of San Francisco, back in the 1970's (I think).

[SoapDoc]

 

And since when does Adam worry about killing people?

And why would he turn himself in without talking to Kono first?

 

I was not very worried about it because I don't believe that the Yakusa would leave the bodies out in the woods to be found. They don't want Adam arrested -- he knows too much. If they killed him, that would bring in Kono and the rest of 5-O. These bodies are gone -- I suspect that's how he manages not to get into trouble for murder.

[BW Manilowe]

And why would he turn himself in without talking to Kono first?

I was not very worried about it because I don't believe that the Yakusa would leave the bodies out in the woods to be found. They don't want Adam arrested -- he knows too much. If they killed him, that would bring in Kono and the rest of 5-O. These bodies are gone -- I suspect that's how he manages not to get into trouble for murder.

I figured Adam gave himself up to keep the attention--of the Yakuza, if not also Gabriel Waincroft & the HPD--off of Kono. Like during S4, when he decided to let them come after him, if that's what they wanted, during that car chase they filmed in Hong Kong, when Adam & Kono were on the run from his brother Michael's dirty Yakuza allies after Adam killed Michael in self-defense after Michael tried to kill Kono (if not Adam as well)--the storyline they created to cover for the about half-season of filming Grace Park needed to be offscreen as much as possible because she was pregnant with her first child in real life & not due to deliver until S4 had been airing on CBS for about 6-8 weeks, & they decided not to make Kono & Adam onscreen parents as well.

Edited November 14, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[preeya]

Julie Benz? Does this mean Dexter is not far behind?

What exactly was the purpose of Abby Dunn besides getting Jerry upset?

Enough already with Waincroft & the Yakuza.

Adam's getting on my nerves.

Edited November 14, 2015 by preeya

[BW Manilowe]

Julie Benz? Does this mean Dexter is not far behind?

What exactly was the purpose of Abby Dunn besides getting Jerry upset?

Enough already with Waincroft & the Yakuza.

Adam's getting on my nerves.

Abby Dunn is an Inspector with the San Francisco PD, as they said. She's also apparently in charge of a Five-0 type task force in/attached to that PD & she started out going to Hawaii to observe how Five-0 does things. Because Steve swore her in as a temporary member of the team for her visit, she's working with Chin on a case involving the deaths of 5 Chinese Arms Dealers.

The Abby Dunn character *might* also become a new love interest for Chin. Or so they say.

I'm sorry you're tired of Gabriel Waincroft & the Yakuza, & Adam's getting on your nerves. But I think they're all gonna be sticking around for awhile.

Ian Anthony Dale (Adam)'s *other* TV series, Murder in the First, which airs on TNT cable network, just got renewed for another season. So, at some point, Adam probably won't be around as often as it seems he is now because Ian will be busy filming that show instead of H50--at least depending on the expected season premiere date, etc., for his other show in combination with the remaining shooting schedule for this season of H50.

And Adam's not in the Recurring Cast list for next week's H50 ep either. Abby Dunn is though.

Edited November 14, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[dwmarch]

I would love it if Abby's friend in the FBI was named Eunice Bloom. Eunice was the FBI agent Julie Benz played in The Boondock Saints 2.
 
The conversation about the interrogation room and the drain was very strange. Here's where we beat the information out of suspects, an idea Steve brought us from the military. The drain in the floor is for blood or for when they puke/piss/shit themselves. The minimalist aesthetic makes it easy to hose down after a nasty interrogation. Abby: Cool! Me: What kind of cops are you?!?!

 

I'm rooting for Gabriel at this point. He's running circles around 5-0 and the Yakuza and he's made Adam turn himself in to the police for a double murder.

 

Speaking of murder, I'm holding 5-0 directly responsible for that suspect who got killed by the con man. If Steve and Danny knew how to keep someone in their car that dude would still be alive (unless of course 5-0 shot him). Seriously, what would happen to a cop in real life who let a wanted criminal run loose and commit a murder? Why did they bring him along in the first place? They knew who they were looking for already.

 

Why does Adam keep his go bag at home? If I were him, knowing the situation he's in, I'd have about a dozen go bags stashed all over the island. Also, why doesn't he have a code with Kono which sounds like "Let's order pizza tonight" but actually means "I'm in deep shit, come and get me!"

[Brian Cronin]

I'd love to someday watch an episode of Hawaii Five-O that didn't involve torture in some way. I mean, for crying out loud, they're bragging about it now!!

 

"It may be unconventional, but it gets immediate results." Yes, "unconventional," Chin. Lordy. 

[Humbugged]

Did anyone else besides me catch Abby's reference to "Inspectors Stone & Keller" who, she said (when they were talking at Five-0 HQ after Steve swore her in as a temporary team member), were enjoying the immunity attached to being part of SFPD's version of Five-0?

That was a shout out to the detective partner characters played by the late Karl Malden (Stone) & Michael Douglas (Keller) in the ABC cop show The Streets of San Francisco, back in the 1970's (I think).

 

There was also a mention of Alcatraz and escaped prisoners by Jerry - Jorge Garcia of  course was on that show

[BW Manilowe]

There was also a mention of Alcatraz and escaped prisoners by Jerry - Jorge Garcia of course was on that show

Executive Producer Peter Lenkov came up with the story for last night's ep; as he said in interviews during S1, he's old enough to remember--& have watched, as a new show--the original Hawaii Five-O. So I figure he's also old enough to remember & have watched, as a new show, The Streets of San Francisco since that was on during a few seasons when CBS was airing the original H5O. And I figure he was probably responsible for the shout out to the Streets of San Francisco characters.

And H50 Producer/Writers Bryan Wynbrandt & Steven Lillien wrote the actual working script for the ep based on Lenkov's idea, & they've been Supervising Producers/Co-Executive Producers of H50 for the last 2 calendar years. They both were also Executive Producers on Alcatraz, so I assume the Alcatraz shout out was likely their doing (though Lenkov could've also been involved in it too).

But I never watched Alcatraz, so I missed that reference. I saw it mentioned on Twitter though.

[mccartygirl]

I cannot stand Julie Benz! Ugh, where is John Lithgow when you need him? Hubby says, well, I guess Hawaii 5-0 is getting canceled then. Any idea how long she'll be on the show?

Edited November 14, 2015 by mccartygirl

[BW Manilowe]

I cannot stand Julie Benz! Ugh, where is John Lithgow when you need him? Hubby says, well, I guess Hawaii 5-0 is getting canceled then. Any idea how long she'll be on the show?

She's officially playing a recurring character. I don't know how many eps she's signed for, but she's listed among the recurring cast for next Friday's episode.

[janeta]

She's officially playing a recurring character. I don't know how many eps she's signed for, but she's listed among the recurring cast for next Friday's episode.

So what's up with Defiance, then? (I'm a season behind--i get it on disc.)

[BW Manilowe]

So what's up with Defiance, then? (I'm a season behind--i get it on disc.)

Before I say this (it's probably a spoiler for you), remember you asked.

It got canceled, after 3 seasons, by SyFy Network on October 16th this year. The last episode apparently aired on August 28th, per the show's Wikipedia page.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defiance_(TV_series)

That's what happened to Defiance.

[janeta]

Ah, thanks. I went to some of the Defiance panels at DC and i sort of assumed it was renewed.

I do think we were kind of hit over the head with Chin/Abby. I'm OK with Benz, but i think they've already added too many extraneous ppl.

[Mittengirl]

I don't buy Adam's feeling guilty over killing those two Yakuza any more than I bought Danny feeling guilty over killing Rios(?. The guy who killed his brother.).

And why in the world would Adam think the bodies are still where he left them, considering Gabriel and Mr. Yakuza Boss ( can't remember the character's name). Knew they were dead. My guess is they had already been fed to the sharks well before Adam "confessed".

Did anyone doubt for a single second that the male con man was the killer? And who was surprised by Gabriel confronting Chin and his partner/future gf?

Please make Gabriel and his whole storyline go away. And take Adam, too. My fear is that from here on out every plot will link back to Gabriel The Evil Genius.

[Vermicious Knid]

I was really hoping Adam would get killed and end this interminably boring plotline. And making Gabriel a supervillian is just not happening. I believe we have now seen Gabriel more times within one season than Wo Fat over his entire run.

 

The show hasn't jumped the shark, it's drowned the shark. Oh, for the days of unlocking doors with grenades. They have run out of stories to tell, and the ones they have left they can't  tell very well..

[Raja]

Wo Fat was a legacy character so they didn't have to sell him. In the end he was overused anyway. But killing him off was the height of stupidity. Did the actor get into a beef and the producers struck back? So now a new Wo Fat has to be created for the series finale

[BW Manilowe]

Wo Fat was a legacy character so they didn't have to sell him. In the end he was overused anyway. But killing him off was the height of stupidity. Did the actor get into a beef and the producers struck back? So now a new Wo Fat has to be created for the series finale

There was apparently NO beef between actor Mark Dacascos (Wo Fat) & Peter Lenkov (or anyone else involved with the show/CBS); in fact, Lenkov & Dacascos had done another show together before H50 & they worked well together there--Lenkov says he would work with Dacascos again in a second.

Wo Fat wasn't even dead in the outline Lenkov wrote for the 100th episode (which CBS is *finally* repeating on Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, by the way). Lenkov explains the whole thing in this episode post-mortem article, from TV Guide's website, which was posted there a few days after CBS aired H50's 100th episode, in which Wo Fat died.

http://www.tvguide.com/news/hawaii-five-0-wo-fat-death-peter-lenkov-1089100/

[ChelseaNH]

Yes, a major American city is going to look at the current political climate and think, "You know what would really be great?  Police officers with zero accountablity.  Let's do that!"

 

Gabriel apparently got his hands on some of those pills from Limitless.  And now that we've decided to turn the tables on him, it's time for the winky comedy episode!

[Brian Cronin]

Double post. Sorry about that.

Edited November 16, 2015 by Brian Cronin

[Brian Cronin]

Man, it was kind of irritating reading Lenkov's thoughts on the death of Wo Fat. Listen, TV showrunners, you really should not do something that hurts your show just for the sake of surprising people. I don't mind surprising people at all. Writing in twists, etc. That's cool. But they should always serve the overall show. When you hurt your own show just because you figure people won't expect it, that's like (to mangle a metaphor) cutting off your own nose to surprise your face. 

 

And Gabriel's supervillaindom is the disappointing result of the death of Wo Fat. Some low level scumbag is now suddenly a super criminal genius with a criminal empire? 

 

I don't know if anyone here watches the Comedy Central show Moonbeam City, but the opening gag in the series is that the policeman hero of the show fails to kill a guy who had just robbed an old lady in an alley. So the guy gets away with the purse and the cop says, "Oh well, what's the worst that can happen?" And we then learn that the crook used the $47 he got out of the old lady's purse to build a criminal empire within a week. The idea there is that it is funny because it is so absurd. And yet that's basically what this show has done with Gabiel, all because they killed off their ACTUAL criminal mastermind because they thought people wouldn't expect it. Just not a smart idea by Lenkov. 

[ChelseaNH]

you really should not do something that hurts your show just for the sake of surprising people

 

The show was always described as "event television" -- which translates to clickbait in dramatic form.

[Clanstarling]

I cannot stand Julie Benz! Ugh, where is John Lithgow when you need him? 

I actually like Julie Benz, but this made me laugh. 

 

I did find it disturbing that instead of handwaving all the illegal tactics the team uses, they are now bragging about it. And getting an enthusiastic response from another cop. It's like, hey, you know what would be good? Living in a police state. It's s a really troubling attitude. 

 

I spent most of the show wondering if we were supposed to like the con artist. But Steve and Danny letting him come along, without any sort of restraint or supervision, was so stupid. No cop (especially not the torture and stomp on civil rights kind), would ever do that. 

Edited November 17, 2015 by clanstarling

[Sake614]

Totally agree, Brian. You know how I know a lazy writer?

 

1. The let the plot dictate the story and forget about their characters, so they just act however the writer wants them to act.

2. They kill off characters when they don't know what to do with them anymore or don't know how to write themselves out of a situation they've gotten themselves into. Or they kill off a character to elicit a reaction from the reader/viewer, even if it's an awesome character, and replace them with an inferior character.  

 

Both of these are the laziest kind of writing there is. And Hawaii 5-0 seems to be immersed in both right now.

 

Yes, with the current climate, let's have cops beat up someone every episode who is completely helpless and asking for their basic human rights. 

 

Well at least it isn't only daytime writers who are guilty in this regard, but yeah I agree. I used to really enjoy watching this show. Now it's more background noise than anything else. :(

[blackwing]

So they introduce yet another new woman who this time appears to be some sort of love interest for Chin.  I completely don't get why she was there... she seemed to have little to do with the story.  Are they testing some kind of San Francisco 5-0 spinoff show?  I'd love to see a show set in San Francisco.

 

I thought the story of the con man killing his partner was interesting enough.  But I'm completely over Adam and especially Gabriel Wainwright.  Gabriel has played out his welcome.  He's not interesting enough to be a big bad.  I'm also confused as to exactly what happened.  Adam had money he was going to pay Gomo so he could leave the Yakuza world.  Gabriel stole it from him.  Then returned the money to Gomo along with some extra amount, so that he is now Gomo's #1 henchman?  And Gomo doesn't see anything wrong with that?  Makes little sense.  I keep waiting for Adam to die so we don't have to see him anymore.  So ridiculous that he turned himself in for two "murders" without even talking to Kono about it.  It's not like it was murder... those two men were going to kill him.  But whatever.  Maybe he goes away to prison for a while so his tired storyline can be dropped.

 

Jerry Garcia has also overstayed his welcome.  He was funny in a one or two episode role.  The quirky, weird guy with all the facts and knowledge.  But as a series regular, it's just not working.  Everything feels so forced, like the writers purposely have to come up with cool things for him to say and do.  His "I wish I was a real 5-0 member" schtick was old many episodes ago.

 

At this point, we need new life in this show, so I'm willing to give new blonde lady cop a chance.  But what I'd really love to see is a really shocking turn of events, like Wo Fat coming back from the dead.  Gabriel Wainwright really isn't cutting it in the villain category.

[Raja]

So they introduce yet another new woman who this time appears to be some sort of love interest for Chin. I completely don't get why she was there... she seemed to have little to do with the story. Are they testing some kind of San Francisco 5-0 spinoff show? I'd love to see a show set in SanFrancisco

With the mention of "Stone and Keller" could it be a The Streets of San Francisco reboot?. The theme song is just as good if not as immediately known. And it hasn't hit the slang dictionary like 5-0 did for police in New York.

[BW Manilowe]

With the mention of "Stone and Keller" could it be a The Streets of San Francisco reboot?. The theme song is just as good if not as immediately known. And it hasn't hit the slang dictionary like 5-0 did for police in New York.

I keep pretty tuned to the Social Media & Entertainment/General Media coverage of H50. So far, at least, there's been *nothing* said anywhere about the storyline involving San Francisco PD Inspector Abby Dunn & a Five-0 like task force attached to the San Francisco PD being, like, a "back door" Pilot for a spinoff series. I think the "Inspectors Stone & Keller" mention was just another "classic cop show" shout out--they also mentioned Starsky & Hutch (which I missed... & I loved that show in Jr. High & High School) & Jorge Garcia's previous Fox series, Alcatraz, which the Teleplay writers from this episode/Series Producers (Bryan Wynbrandt & Steven Lillien) were Executive Producers of.

It's just been said that the Abby Dunn character is a potential love interest for Chin. Whatever the case Julie Benz, who plays Abby, is listed among the recurring characters in this Friday's ep (where Danny goes undercover to investigate a College Professor's murder); so hopefully the Abby storyline (with & without Chin) will be fleshed out a bit more this week.

On another note actress Sarah Carter, who plays Steve's probable new love interest, Lynn Downey, Tweeted earlier she was on her way back to Honolulu today (presumably to film another H50 ep, but she didn't explicitly say so). Whatever ep she's going to film, at this point, probably won't air until the beginning of 2016. They're only airing, like, 3 more eps (including Friday's) before the "Fall Finale/December/New Year's Holidays" Break.

Another teeny thing: Gabriel's last name is Waincroft, not Wainwright.

And Jorge Garcia's character is Jerry Ortega.

Edited November 18, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[Raja]

Well that's good news. If Streets was against 5-0 on the competing oldies networks I would choose Karl Malden over Jack Lord nine episodes out of ten. I would hate for it to be re-imagined into this immunity of means violating federal civil rights with a badge

[jhlipton]

"It may be unconventional, but it gets immediate results." Yes, "unconventional," Chin. Lordy. 

 

And it doesn't get immediate results.  It gets highly dubious results, with the victim saying what he thinks his torturers want to hear.  Expect, of course, on TV. And in the minds of certain political sociopaths.

[Brian Cronin]

And it doesn't get immediate results.  It gets highly dubious results, with the victim saying what he thinks his torturers want to hear.  Expect, of course, on TV. And in the minds of certain political sociopaths.

 

I'll give them this much, the people who did the real life torturing for the United States tended to honestly believe that their methods were getting them results, so I can see how Five-O might believe it themselves, as really, what else are they going to tell themselves? "Oh yeah, we just tortured that guy for no good reason." But yes, that's always been one of the more egregious aspects of torture - it's messed up (as it is, you know, torture) and it doesn't even really WORK!

[Brian Cronin]

Another double post. Geez, I dunno what's up with my posting. 

Edited November 18, 2015 by Brian Cronin

[Vermicious Knid]

Was Sarah Carter Maggie on Falling Skies? Because she was pretty crappy on that.

[BW Manilowe]

Moving my response to Vermicious Knid to the thread for Ep 0607, which is the correct thread for the discussion.

Edited November 20, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[torqy]

@ BW Manilowe: Glad I'm not the only trivia freak who picked up on Stone and Keller, and Jerry's Alcatraz show as well.

Mrs. Torqy just groans and eyerolls when I pause the DVR and ask stuff like "Do you remember who Stone and Keller were?"

 

More trivia: Anyone recognize Niedermeyer from the late Backstrom show?

Edited November 20, 2015 by torqy