S06.E17: Waiwai (Assets)

[BW Manilowe]

McGarrett and Five-0 must track down a Russian spy who has stolen a flash drive containing classified NSA information that puts the life of a member of their ohana at risk. Also, McGarrett finally learns why Catherine left him, and Abby continues to conceal her actual mission from Chin and Five-0.

Original Airdate: March 11, 2016

SOURCE: http://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/hawaii-five-0/releases/view?id=44662

[grooveshinney]

For a minute there, I thought I was watching Jax talking to Brenda or Carly (or any other Sonny apologist) on General Hospital! Nice to see Ingo back on tv though.

[blackwing]

I really enjoyed this episode. Plot was tight and coherent, the team worked well together. Nothing too ridiculous, apart from the fact that I find it a bit hard to believe that one solo enemy spy could manage to gas the entire 5-0 headquarters so easily.

I'm also glad that Steve (and we) got some resolution about the Catherine situation.

This was a classic, old school, Hawaii 5-0 episode. More like this please.

Ingo Rademacher does a terrible American accent. For all that people have complained about his fellow Aussie Sullivan Stapleton on "Blindspot", Stapleton's Yankee accent is so much better than Ingo's.

[dwmarch]

Okay, where do we begin?

 

The investigation of 5-0 is stalled for lack of indictable material?! Are you fucking kidding me? Remember the time when Abby had a front-row seat as McGarrett dragged a guy around behind a jet ski until he talked? 5-0 regularly, regularly does stuff that would make the cops involved in the Rampart scandal say "hey guys, you might want to settle down there." In this episode 5-0 threatens to spread word that someone who isn't even a suspect is actually a snitch and they did something similar last week. McGarrett shoots a guy in a hospital bed! Is this somehow not enough?!?!? Abby says she hasn't seen anything. FBI guy might want to invest in an undercover agent who isn't blind!

 

I also call bullshit on McGarrett being mad that Cath lied to him. If anyone in this entire world is going to understand OpSec in its fullness, it is a Navy SEAL. SEALs do not talk about where they are, where they are going or where they have been. They do not share secrets with wives or girlfriends or family members or even their vaunted ohana. If they die while fighting terrorist guerrillas in some hotspot halfway around the world they officially die in a "training accident" and an appropriate amount of lead is placed in an empty coffin for the sake of the pallbearers. Cath was still Navy Intel and if she was sent on an official assignment that was too sensitive for Steve to know about, Steve's response when he hears about it should be nothing other than "Sir, yes sir!" I am also unconvinced that the NSA contractor would casually spill Cath's specific information to McGarrett just because he might have a way of getting ahold of her.

 

Kono was very sensibly dressed this episode. She did have a major cop fail though. Grover questions why someone would betray their country and she comes up with one quarter of the answer. Money is certainly a reason. So are Ideology, Conscience and Ego. MICE, the traitor's motivation, known to anyone who has ever read The Hunt For Red October.

 

A random HPD officer got killed because he had the courtesy to wait until he had stepped out of his car before drawing his weapon. I feel as though a real police officer would have approached this situation differently.

 

I did get an actual LOL out of Jerry being glad that he didn't wake up on an alien mothership but also being somewhat bummed out about it. But what bums me out is that the Palace has the same vulnerability as the FBI's supposed "black site" on The Blacklist: a ventilation system open to the bad guys. I am guessing these writers have never actually worked in security. When I was doing security dispatch for the local school district we had a specific code for "intruder on the roof" and there were a couple of schools that had roofs particularly vulnerable to idiots who liked to climb. Since they had no idea such a system was in place, said idiots had no idea that when they climbed down a security guard would be waiting for them. And we were only dealing with vandalism, not terrorism!

[preeya]

How is it possible one female can kill four adult humans (one being sedated) with a scalpel?

 

Sure was quite a bit of deception throughout this episode.

[LotusFlower]

I also call bullshit on McGarrett being mad that Cath lied to him. If anyone in this entire world is going to understand OpSec in its fullness, it is a Navy SEAL.

Yea, but then he said if he were in her shoes, he'd probably do the same thing, so he gets it.

Does this mean she's coming back?

And would Abby really tell Chin who she really is and what she's really doing? If so, I hope she resigns immediately afterwards, cuz that's not exactly in the undercover manual.

[BW Manilowe]

Okay, where do we begin?

The investigation of 5-0 is stalled for lack of indictable material?! Are you fucking kidding me? Remember the time when Abby had a front-row seat as McGarrett dragged a guy around behind a jet ski until he talked? 5-0 regularly, regularly does stuff that would make the cops involved in the Rampart scandal say "hey guys, you might want to settle down there." In this episode 5-0 threatens to spread word that someone who isn't even a suspect is actually a snitch and they did something similar last week. McGarrett shoots a guy in a hospital bed! Is this somehow not enough?!?!? Abby says she hasn't seen anything. FBI guy might want to invest in an undercover agent who isn't blind!

I also call bullshit on McGarrett being mad that Cath lied to him. If anyone in this entire world is going to understand OpSec in its fullness, it is a Navy SEAL. SEALs do not talk about where they are, where they are going or where they have been. They do not share secrets with wives or girlfriends or family members or even their vaunted ohana. If they die while fighting terrorist guerrillas in some hotspot halfway around the world they officially die in a "training accident" and an appropriate amount of lead is placed in an empty coffin for the sake of the pallbearers. Cath was still Navy Intel and if she was sent on an official assignment that was too sensitive for Steve to know about, Steve's response when he hears about it should be nothing other than "Sir, yes sir!" I am also unconvinced that the NSA contractor would casually spill Cath's specific information to McGarrett just because he might have a way of getting ahold of her.

Kono was very sensibly dressed this episode. She did have a major cop fail though. Grover questions why someone would betray their country and she comes up with one quarter of the answer. Money is certainly a reason. So are Ideology, Conscience and Ego. MICE, the traitor's motivation, known to anyone who has ever read The Hunt For Red October.

A random HPD officer got killed because he had the courtesy to wait until he had stepped out of his car before drawing his weapon. I feel as though a real police officer would have approached this situation differently.

I did get an actual LOL out of Jerry being glad that he didn't wake up on an alien mothership but also being somewhat bummed out about it. But what bums me out is that the Palace has the same vulnerability as the FBI's supposed "black site" on The Blacklist: a ventilation system open to the bad guys. I am guessing these writers have never actually worked in security. When I was doing security dispatch for the local school district we had a specific code for "intruder on the roof" and there were a couple of schools that had roofs particularly vulnerable to idiots who liked to climb. Since they had no idea such a system was in place, said idiots had no idea that when they climbed down a security guard would be waiting for them. And we were only dealing with vandalism, not terrorism!

Catherine resigned her commission in, what, S4 but she's still Naval Intel?

[BW Manilowe]

Article from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about Hawaiian singer/actor (& longtime friend of both versions of the show--he's had roles in different episodes of both versions, & I think he's also attended many, most, or all of the Sunset on the Beach season premiere parties) Jimmy Borges. He played the unscrupulous doctor in the Chinese medicine shop in this ep, in what will, sadly, be his last appearance in the show; he's dying from lung & liver cancer, & writer Mike Gordon talked to him about his role.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/promo/borges-pushes-himself-hard-for-final-five-0-appearance-2/

[Roselle]

I enjoyed the action but thought this episode was unusually and unnecessarily bloody too - the murders in the operating theatre were particularly "squelchy" and then the camera went and gave us close-ups of each and every one again.Then there was the delightful close-up of the surgery to put the flash drive into the body and the killer's hands cutting the wound open. Just thought it was all too much TBH.

 

Otherwise, though I liked the team working together and the credible references to Cath and her new role and Steve's acceptance of her motivation, I did smile at the dramatic build-up to the final take-down (SWAT helicopter, HPD, rocking music), then it was all over with just one shot - kinda anti-climactic...maybe they used up their ammo budget in the earlier street scene!

 

I'm a huge SC fan but I did think his collapse in the interrogation room was a just a bit...I dunno... gentle? I mean, he even arranged his head on his arm like he knew he was going to be laying there for a bit and just made himself comfy - Is that how that drug (forget its name but assume it's real) actually affects you? And yeah, the gassing the whole building was rather unbelievable (that woman was one hell of a hit-person) but it's a hand-wavey kind of show, so we have to let it go I guess. 

 

I'm also rather sad that Danno is no longer really blond - the guy needs to get out in the sun more. :)

Edited March 12, 2016 by Roselle

[UncleChuck]

At least we were spared six or seven minutes of Danno moaning/bitching/crying about his poor car!

 

[MissLucas]

The bad-ass montage over Aerosmith's 'Sweet Emotion' was the best part of this episode. Other than that the ridiculous was strong with this one - considering this show's fragile relationship with real life that's saying something.

 

Starting with the spy/killer carrying around an easily identifiable tattoo on her freaking hand. And where exactly does Abby disappear to every time she's not around to witness another round of H5-0 steamrolling over civil rights and police procedure? Isn't she specifically assigned to H50?

 

Wouldn't the loss of such highly sensible intel not immediately bring one or the other of those groups with fancy three letter acros into the game? They leave the fate of their assets in the hands of H5-0 because those dudes are so cool?

 

And when did Russian spy lady manage to get blueprints for the H5-0 headquarters? How could the gas spread so fast and evenly that not even the folks down in the entrance hall managed to open a door? And did no one enter the building for 40 minutes? The whole Palace pulled a Sleeping Beauty for 40 minutes and nobody outside noticed? (And last time fentanyl was used - that we know about - not everybody got up and felt just peachy afterwards.)

 

Yeah, I know - overthinking.

[Mittengirl]

I wondered about the gassing of the whole building, as well. No one had a window open in an office? No one tried to open the door she locked? And would the police station really have a lock like that on the front door, in these times especially? No other door with people going in and out constantly?

While spy girl may be amazing, she looked pretty tiny to me. I have my doubts that she could get computer genius out of the building in an unconscious state, by herself. That was a fair amount of dead weight for her to drag out of the basement. Unless she had an oxygen tank hidden somewhere on her person.

So are we to assume Abby confessed all to Chin?

[BW Manilowe]

I wondered about the gassing of the whole building, as well. No one had a window open in an office? No one tried to open the door she locked? And would the police station really have a lock like that on the front door, in these times especially? No other door with people going in and out constantly?

While spy girl may be amazing, she looked pretty tiny to me. I have my doubts that she could get computer genius out of the building in an unconscious state, by herself. That was a fair amount of dead weight for her to drag out of the basement. Unless she had an oxygen tank hidden somewhere on her person.

So are we to assume Abby confessed all to Chin?

I read something earlier today which said the Russian spy lady had a gas mask.

[Artsda]

Steve shoots a man for information and they still have nothing on 5-0's tactics?

[Mittengirl]

The Spy Lady had a gas mask, which explains why she could walk in and out, but that wouldn't help the computer whiz regain consciousness quick enough for him to walk out unaided. She would have had to drag/carry him out or (I think) give him oxygen to reverse the fentanyl.

Wasn't fentanyl what killed so many hostages in Russia at a ballet?

[ganesh]

This show is insane.

The investigation of 5-0 is stalled for lack of indictable material?!

 

Really. I was like take your pick. I can't imagine having to get through that line of dialogue with a straight face. 

 

I also like the spy woman shooting a semi auto one handed. So, the SF cop woman doesn't want to roll on Five-0 because lurve? Great job show. 

 

I don't get why they played "Sweet Emotion" either. Though I give the show some credit for having the guy smart enough to encrypt the data and not make himself expendable. 

 

Would Jerry have been gassed being all the way down in the basement? When he came into the room, I thought he was going to say that he was able to track the spy because the gas didn't get down there full strength. 

[MissLucas]

Would Jerry have been gassed being all the way down in the basement? When he came into the room, I thought he was going to say that he was able to track the spy because the gas didn't get down there full strength. 

Apparently yes. For one brief glorious moment when Russian spy lady did the villain walk through the Palace's corridors I was hoping for Jerry (who we all know is paranoid enough to have a gas mask stashed in his desk) rising from the shadows behind her and knocking her out cold with a folder on Area 51 - it was fun while it lasted.

[ganesh]

Well, I don't think he'd be that brave, but the gas instantly knocking out the entire building basically violates the Navier Stokes equations.

[blackwing]

If Russian Spy Lady was so badazz that she could gas the entire 5-0 building in two minutes... why didn't she take the time to shoot and kill the team that she knew was hunting her down? Or why not kill everyone in the building? She must have known how much time she would have before the gas wore off.

[betsyboo]

 

A random HPD officer got killed because he had the courtesy to wait until he had stepped out of his car before drawing his weapon. I feel as though a real police officer would have approached this situation differently.

 

I mean was this so pathetic or what? He got out, stood up fully, looked at her, unbuckled his holster and THEN tried to draw. omg. I laughed right out loud. (I *do think he survived.)

[betsyboo]

If Russian Spy Lady was so badazz that she could gas the entire 5-0 building in two minutes... why didn't she take the time to shoot and kill the team that she knew was hunting her down? Or why not kill everyone in the building? She must have known how much time she would have before the gas wore off.

especially since she clearly had no problem killing randoms. (I agree that the OR was particularly squelchy. tm Roselle).

[benteen]

Only caught a little of this episode but good lord, 5-0 hasn’t done anything to warrant them being shut down.  Are you kidding me?  An internal investigation would need to look at only ONE case to be able to shut down the task force.  This episode had McGarrett shooting a suspect in a hospital bed and the cops (or whoever it was guarding them) did absolutely nothing.  Again, are you kidding me?

[ganesh]

One case? They could indict the team in about one hour of observation. 

[ChelseaNH]

Nothing too ridiculous, apart from the fact that I find it a bit hard to believe that one solo enemy spy could manage to gas the entire 5-0 headquarters so easily.

 

Yeah, gas definitely doesn't work that way, certainly not with the whole building.  But even as I realized that, I was thinking this was pretty good plotting for this show.

[benteen]

One case? They could indict the team in about one hour of observation. 

 

I meant that IA would only have to pull out one case file out of many and whatever it contained would be enough to shut them down.  Pull out more than one and you practically have a RICO case against them!

[ganesh]

The way the justice system works on this show, they'd have a RICO case put together in one day and then the next we'd have Steve giving a Stirring Speech on the stand and not guilty by lunchtime. 

[Kel Varnsen]

Steve shoots a man for information and they still have nothing on 5-0's tactics?

Did he shoot the guy? I thought he set off a flash-bang in the room, which is why he told Danny to bring ear plugs.

I think my favourite ridiculous part was at the end when they killed the power to the safehouse and the laptop stopped working.

[benteen]

The way the justice system works on this show, they'd have a RICO case put together in one day and then the next we'd have Steve giving a Stirring Speech on the stand and not guilty by lunchtime. 

 

With Michael Imperoli's character as his lawyer.

[Raja]

 

A random HPD officer got killed because he had the courtesy to wait until he had stepped out of his car before drawing his weapon. I feel as though a real police officer would have approached this situation differently.

 

It would  have mattered what he did, at that point I was convinced that she was a Terminator

[Mars477]

Catherine resigned her commission in, what, S4 but she's still Naval Intel?

Well, it could be helpful if your black ops operators weren't Active Duty military.

[jhlipton]

H50 continues to be one of the most ridiculous shows on TV -- and I watch Lucifer and Second Chance!  So many dumb moments -- my favorite being, in the middle of a shoot-out with machine guns, a lone officer, without any backup, strolls up to the killer and says "Hey there, nice day, huh?" then wonders why he got shot. LOL

[Clanstarling]

I guess I blinked and missed Steve shooting the guy. I figured he was putting pressure (or worse) on one of the wounds.

 

So the FBI investigation is another personal vendetta, this time by the brother of the IA investigator with a personal vendetta. I don't know how the agencies work, but it seems to me that putting a word in the ear of HIS superior that he has a personal connection to the investigation might take care of the problem. My guess, though, is that he's off the books in any case.

 

Abby's little speech about how 5-0 was always within boundaries felt like the writers trying to tell us that's what we should believe. You know, in a "these aren't the droids you're looking for" sort of way.

 

I did, however, like the moment between Steve and Danno. Steve admitted to his feelings (and also that he understood Catherine's position), and actually thanked Danno. It was a solid friendship moment.

Edited March 20, 2016 by clanstarling

[jhlipton]

So the FBI investigation is another personal vendetta, My guess, though, is that he's off the books in any case.

All investigations are "personal vendettas" and "off the books" (Blindspot just finished a rather egregious one.  Only a traitor would point out that someone who knowingly and repeatedly violated federal law shouldn't work for the FBI!)  So of course this investigation would be invalid, just like Grover's cop-buddy's innocence.

[Jobiska]

I did, however, like the moment between Steve and Danno. Steve admitted to his feelings (and also that he understood Catherine's position), and actually thanked Danno. It was a solid friendship moment.

 

That and them murmuring each other's names as they slowly collapsed from the gas....