S07.E02: No ke aliʻi wahine a me ka ʻaina (For Queen and Country)

[BW Manilowe]

Five-0 must work with rogue MI-6 agent Harry Langford (guest star Chris Vance) to find a terrorist planning to cause nuclear reactors across Europe to meltdown. Also, McGarrett and Danny ask retired FBI profiler Alicia Brown (guest star Claire Forlani) to help them find their serial killer vigilante.

Original Airdate: September 30, 2016

SOURCE: http://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/hawaii-five-0/releases/view?id=46003

Edited September 23, 2016 by BW Manilowe
To add some things & to move something else.

[Roselle]

Awful, creepy CGI Jack Lord last week - cringe-making, back-of-the-head Queenie look-alike this week. Someone high up in the production team is making some really embarrassingly terrible judgements for this show.

Being generous, because I am a fan who has stuck with it thus far, having Steve & Danno together so much was great (although, writers, please stop writing Danny as the whining whiner who just whines all the time - it's just getting so, so old); their adventure and action scenes were well done; the whole team was featured  appropriately; the spy/undercover weapons dealer, complete with the glamorous Kono was a decent, albeit ridiculous and comically stereotypical, storyline (and Chris Vance did a nice job with it) up to a point.  

Of course I know it's all supposed to be gratuitous escapist stuff but I would rather it wasn't complete utter nonsense - the last 15 minutes had me LOLing in a way I don't think could possibly have been intended and the medal giving ceremony, while presumably supposed to be cute, just made me want to vom.

Judging by the lack of comments here - I don't think I'm alone in not knowing what to make of it. 

Edited October 1, 2016 by Roselle

[Trey]

Yes, the medal giving ceremony was just too much - the only thing more it needed was Queen inviting them for fish and chips. I didn't think agents even got awards like that, I thought that was just their job.

But Chris Vance can come back any time.

I did enjoy it though, ridiculous as it was. Much better than last week's episode which apparently we'll be revisiting next week.

[Princess Lucky]

My thoughts as I watched:

Wow, this episode is kinda fun.

Claire Forlani is stunning.

Ooh, cool fight sequence! I love it when McGarrett meets his match.

Chris Vance is fabulous!

Nice international case, interesting villain, cool sett... OK yeah there it is, trivializing torture again. I missed that in the premiere.

Chris Vance is fabulous!

Kono cannot danc... WAIT did they fly to Prague? On a jet? From Hawaii? And did McGarrett ask the guy to fly lower to save a couple of minutes? Wouldn't that flight take, like, 20 hours? And did Steve threaten to kill somebody on European soil? 

Nukes. Makes sense.

Oh yayyyy, more torture! America, fuck yeah! Not like those wimps from Europe, who have to uphold international treaties!

Chris Vance is fabulous!

Not gonna lie though, I did laugh when their solution to the literal ticking nuke was a) to remove the USB drive without ejecting it first and b) to shoot the computer.  And I laughed even harder when shooting the computer actually worked. Shades of Zoolander.

Wait, the episode isn't over? Oh boy.

Boring.

Boring.

ARE THEY AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE? Is Mrs. Doubtfire awarding them medals? What was going through Scott Caan's head when he filmed that scene?

All in all, I still enjoyed this hot mess. I think I'll keep watching until they resolve the serial killer storyline and go from there. And I second the request to bring back Chris Vance. He was fun. And, I gotta say, the Steve/Danny interactions were all solid. Funny stuff. Neither of them came off as a jerk, which is pretty rare. I'm kinda liking this season. I hadn't watched regularly in maybe 3 or 4 years, but I've been tuning in these past couple of weeks, and I'll tune in again next week.

[anna0852]

Once again, fun froth with no basis in reality. But I still love it. 

[Raja]

Kono undercover reminds me of the very first scene of the Maggie Q version of Nikita. The dude is surrounded by beautiful sex star  women and a skinny Asian woman walks up and the bad guy, who seems to be of the social/economic class that many are dropping at his feet drops all those admiring women to be with Kono/Nikita

[MissLucas]

I was kinda hoping this was  a backdoor pilot because I did enjoy Chris Vance immensely. Since plenty of ridiculous plot points with regards to computers, arms, jurisdiction, protocol for awarding agents etc. have already been covered let me just add some fashion observations:

Yes, Chin that was not a French braid but I still appreciate the effort and it was a cute scene.

Of course Kono managed to pull together that red carpet look in less than two hours!

What on earth was that thing around Steve's neck in the last scene? No Danny, that tie does not look okay because it looks he twisted a dishrag around his neck! Sadly, Langford (who really should have known better) was wearing the same sartorial atrocity - it was just less noticeable because it was in black. Is this some new way to knot a necktie? I've never seen that before.

And finally: How come the Detective from New Jersey is actually wearing what the dress code for official events in presence of the Queen requires: a morning suit whilst Her Majesty's own man shows up in a lounge suit (acceptable but not quite as posh). Did Scott McCaan actually own one because he likes to attend the Royal box at Ascot whilst the other two had to make do with what the wardrobe department managed to come up with once they had seen the bill for Kono's gown? Or are we to assume that Danny is secretly following blogs on royal fashion?

[Kel Varnsen]

That was pretty dumb even by this shows standards. I hate it when Steve becomes international man of mystery. Just show the 5-0 team doing cool stuff you know IN HAWAII with some nice scenery and cool action scenes. Steve being the police man for the whole world, because there is no one else, and then of course meeting the queen, was just too stupid.

I did enjoy Steve almost getting his ass kicked until Danny saved him though.

[BW Manilowe]

The George Cross is a real Civil Honor for British/Commonwealth citizens presented by Her Majesty, the Queen. Presumably Steve & Danny's were honorary & given because they helped Langford with the mission.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cross

Someone, somewhere else I was reading about the ep, pointed out that Steve wanted the plane to be lower in the air because he was actually having trouble being back in a plane, since the last time he was in 1 was when he was shot, almost died, & needed his liver transplant from Danny.

Edited October 2, 2016 by BW Manilowe
To try to clarify something.

[Vermicious Knid]

I watched this on DVR last night after going to the Pure Aloha festival, which was a helluva lot more authentic than anything in this episode. Tiny kids in hula outfits are adorable, btw.

And I thought they couldn't get more preposterous than invading North Korea. Prague! Pakistan! London! I'm not even going to bother looking up if Americans would be eligible for that award, but it would still take months for the ceremony. Also, I hate repeating myself over and over, but none of them can go undercover because their faces have been splashed across the news constantly. Steve busted out of jail and was public enemy number one, Kono and Chin were both branded dirty cops, thy all have been featured in various press conferences. Stop it already!

[Sake614]

I too was confused by the flight. Even if they flew to London and then hopped on langford's private jet, that's stil at least 19 hours in the air. And that's presuming they flew nonstop. I don't even know if there is a nonstop from Oahu to Heathrow. And then from London to Pakistan is I don't know how many hours, but it's a lot! So I guess they just stepped through the worm hole and ended up in Prague or wherever.

chris Vance is HOT. He can stay or come back any time he pleases. 

They probably got Kono's dress from Rent the Runway. :)

Chin looked outstanding in his tux! Very dashing.

[blackwing]

I greatly enjoyed the appearance of British Super Spy.  I would seriously watch a TV show featuring Steve McGarrett and British Super Spy.  This episode greatly highlighted how absolutely useless Scott Cahn and the character of Danny Williams has become.  His only purpose on the show is to whine whine whine.  And then whine some more.  Whines about Steve driving too fast when they are trying to chase down a murder suspect.  Whines about Steve making comments in the plane.  Whines about Steve asking if his tie looks good.

What it comes down to is that it seems to me that these two are not best friends.  Danny is annoyed by every single thing that Steve does.  And honestly, if we are in for an entire season of "I gave you my liver", then gahhhh I'm not sure how much I can take.  If he mentions it again then I am going to virtually reach into my TV and shave off all of Scott Cann's stoopid hair.

Can they please consider dumping Scott Cann, who doesn't want to be there anyways, and replace him with British Super Spy?

And forgive me for being dense, but I guess I lost track of the Chess Piece Killer.  5-O thought it was British Super Spy, because of his DNA under her fingernails.  But we know he planted that little statue with the diamonds in her coat.  Are we supposed to believe it was that Middle Eastern guy who is the killer, and he was trying to get his diamonds back?  Is this storyline concluded?  If so, it was very anticlimactic.

Jerry Garcia saves the day by putting a tracking device into British Super Spy's watch!  Once again, I applaud the show for a very judicious minimal use of Jerry Garcia.  He was integral to the plot, but not in our faces or asking for a badge.

The ending scene with the "Queen"... too stupid for words.  What was the purpose of that scene?  So Danny could whine about Steve again?  I did think that Danny was going to ask her for some fish and chips, or that she was going to invite them to join her in the Marlborough Drawing Room for some delicious fish and chips.  I saw no other purpose in that last scene.

[HurricaneVal]

I think Steve wanting to fly lower in altitude was less a matter of him feeling better about being in an airplane again after being shot the last time, I think it was a matter of him chomping at the bit at not being the pilot in control of the airplane, and trying to exert some control over the situation in order to feel better in general.  You know.   Because:  Steve.

[anna0852]

How Steve hasn't slapped Danny by now I do not know.

[Trey]

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

And forgive me for being dense, but I guess I lost track of the Chess Piece Killer.  5-O thought it was British Super Spy, because of his DNA under her fingernails.  But we know he planted that little statue with the diamonds in her coat.  Are we supposed to believe it was that Middle Eastern guy who is the killer, and he was trying to get his diamonds back?  Is this storyline concluded?  If so, it was very anticlimactic.

This episode wasn't about the Chess Piece Killer; it was in the previouslies and will be addressed again next episode with the retired profiler.

[Traveller519]

Just now, Trey said:

This episode wasn't about the Chess Piece Killer; it was in the previouslies and will be addressed again next episode with the retired profiler.

The retired profiler, who turns out to be the big bad... I'm assuming.

This whole episode had me laughing. Danny's banter with Steve about their favourite Bonds was good, but I agree that the bickering is tired. More banter, less bicker.

[Trey]

Just now, Traveller519 said:

Danny's banter with Steve about their favourite Bonds was good,

Especially since the MI-6 guy joined in.

[Princess Lucky]

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

Can they please consider dumping Scott Cann, who doesn't want to be there anyways, and replace him with British Super Spy?

I'm pretty sure the show is on its last legs, so maybe they don't want to have a huge cast character exit (Steve missing Danny etc etc, like that whole thing with Catherine) so close to the end. They probably just want to ride it out for this season and see what happens. Do they have the standard 7-season contracts? If so, if and when the show is renewed, Scott Caan will probably leave.

I actually think it's the co-lead billing that's problematic. I don't even think it's accurate anymore. Practically, Danny is the Wilson-on-House character. The one who isn't there all the time, isn't involved in the day-to-day cases, but still gets to have some side-plots of his own plus those emotional moments with the lead. He's even in fewer episodes. If they stopped selling the show as "Steve and Danny (incidentally, the only white dudes) plus everyone else" I wouldn't have a problem with Danny's presence.

[blackwing]

12 minutes ago, Trey said:

This episode wasn't about the Chess Piece Killer; it was in the previouslies and will be addressed again next episode with the retired profiler.

But wasn't the woman who British Super Spy slept with found dead with her eyes gouged out like the other Chess Piece Killer victims?  I thought her eyes were all bloodied but maybe I just wasn't paying attention.  That's why I thought that 5-O got involved, because it was another murder, and then they traced the DNA to match British Super Spy.

[Princess Lucky]

1 hour ago, SweetTooth said:

She used to have a kind of whispery voice and they tend to sex her up, both of which aren't happening here, so I may get through this. Which is weird, because this show is known for sexing up all of the women.

Which reminds me, why was Claire Forlani wearing that grandma dress in her first scene?  I guess to show she was "retired"? And they'll put her in something sexier when she's fully onboard?

[Clanstarling]

On 10/1/2016 at 6:22 AM, Trey said:

I didn't think agents even got awards like that, I thought that was just their job.

The award is certainly real, I'm just not sure MI-6 operatives are given them in public. I don't know if they're equivalent to the CIA, but when CIA operatives are given awards, they are given them in secret. So not to, you know, negatively impact their ability to go undercover.

On 10/1/2016 at 3:07 PM, MissLucas said:

What on earth was that thing around Steve's neck in the last scene? No Danny, that tie does not look okay because it looks he twisted a dishrag around his neck!

I was wondering the same thing, but thought maybe I just wasn't keeping up with fashion. Vance's tie was triple wound, but it carefully and attractively done. Then again, I think Danny's ensemble may also have been a bit over the top inappropriate. But what do I know - the only thing I know about Brits and suits was that in Downtown Abbey they once said that tuxedos were their dressed down look.

The actress who plays Chin's niece is so adorable. I want her to stay, just for quiet little scenes like that.

I'm meh about the retired woman. I don't think I've seen the actress before, as some of you have. So I have no particular interest in the character.

[MissLucas]

On 4.10.2016 at 3:35 PM, Clanstarling said:

I was wondering the same thing, but thought maybe I just wasn't keeping up with fashion. Vance's tie was triple wound, but it carefully and attractively done. Then again, I think Danny's ensemble may also have been a bit over the top inappropriate. But what do I know - the only thing I know about Brits and suits was that in Downtown Abbey they once said that tuxedos were their dressed down look.

This bugged me enough to dive into the (surprisingly crazy) world of tie-knots. Apparently what Vance is wearing is a Van Wijk knot and it looks as if Steve's an attempt at the same but the tie's much wider and so it did look crumply instead of crisp.

Danny's version of the morning dress is accurate (afaik) though you're probably more used to see the black and gray version than the fully gray one.

[Clanstarling]

16 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

Danny's version of the morning dress is accurate (afaik) though you're probably more used to see the black and gray version than the fully gray one.

It wasn't the color as much as the tails. But thanks to your link I know now that it was appropriate for the ceremony, thanks! The other two didn't wear jackets with tails did they? I may have missed them comparing the pretty vs the hideous knots.

[MissLucas]

No tails, they were wearing normal suits (also appropriate).

[torqy]

Chekhov's Significant Other:

The camera seemed to linger a long time on the photo of Forlani  and the other woman. My hunch is that the other woman is dead and that the death has something to do with Forlani being "retired," and the death was at the hand of the Chess Piece Killer.

[dwmarch]

I somehow missed this when it aired last week and only just caught up to it now... and my question is, what the fuck show did I just watch?!?!

It was like James Bond drops in to interrupt Criminal Minds followed up with some UFC action and then into Leverage for a heist followed by some 24 action that segues into Zero Dark Thirty and ends with some British comedy about those silly royals. This show has set the plot generator to random before but I think this is the first time they threw in a bunch of scripts from other shows. And the Queen of England! Because why not? If we can CGI in a scary-creepy undead Jack Lord, why not the monarch of the Commonwealth?

So much randomness in this episode. Even some of the casting. I suppose Farin Tahir must be glad he's not playing a terrorist even though he's still playing a bad guy. Anyone remember when he was captain of a starship?

I'm going to fanwank that 5-0 has pre-arranged their jurisdictional mandate to include anywhere in the world they might chase a suspect. That's why they can go to Prague and lead a SWAT team there. Pakistan didn't bother me as much because the US has been crapping on Pakistani jurisdiction for 15 years now. But of course one does not just call up a Navy SEAL team with five seconds notice for what was basically Operation Neptune's Spear (the one that got Bin Laden). Those SEALs practiced for months on mock-ups built to scale. It's not the kind of thing a military team would go in for unprepared. The SIS by way of SAS guy would know that and wouldn't even consider assaulting a fortress by himself.

The wardrobe department is playing around with Kono's outfits. She's still rocking those tight black almost-leather pants but now with a blouse over top. I guess Grace Park has had enough of tank tops. In any case, she looked great and always dolls up nicely when required to go undercover.

The Microsoft commercial was subtle this episode. Be as badass as a British super-spy courtesy of the intuitive interface of the Microsoft PixelSense!

[Clanstarling]

8 hours ago, dwmarch said:

It was like James Bond drops in to interrupt Criminal Minds followed up with some UFC action and then into Leverage for a heist followed by some 24 action that segues into Zero Dark Thirty and ends with some British comedy about those silly royals. This show has set the plot generator to random before but I think this is the first time they threw in a bunch of scripts from other shows. And the Queen of England! Because why not? If we can CGI in a scary-creepy undead Jack Lord, why not the monarch of the Commonwealth?

You nailed it! Brilliant summary.

[ganesh]

I like how the governor "empowered them to do what is necessary." Because Five-0 has been so constrained by civil rights protection in the past. 

This show is so ridiculous.

Quote

Of course I know it's all supposed to be gratuitous escapist stuff but I would rather it wasn't complete utter nonsense - the last 15 minutes had me LOLing in a way I don't think could possibly have been intended and the medal giving ceremony, while presumably supposed to be cute, just made me want to vom.

There's a distinction between fun B movie action adventure and the incredulity they put out with this show sometimes. I credit TPTBs for casting likeable actors who can actually do something with these characters (San Francisco Treat exception that proves the rule), but sometimes, it's like ooookaaay.

CF's voice sounds weird. 

I'm feeling like the characterization of Danny is downgraded. He's actually a good cop but he's been just complaining a lot. 

Good fight scenes though.

Edited October 16, 2016 by ganesh

[ganesh]

Just FYI everyone, you really can't weaponize a nuclear plant.