S07.E14: Ka laina ma ke one (Line in the Sand)

[BW Manilowe]

Five-0 must go up against an aggressive US Marshall, Lincoln (Lou Diamond Phillips), when a man wanted for murder escapes capture and seeks asylum in the sovereign land belonging to the Nation of Hawaii.

Original Airdate: January 20, 2017

SOURCE: https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/hawaii-five-0/releases/view?id=46791

[UncleChuck]

In what alternate universe would U.S. Marshalls come storming in to claim jurisdiction in a local murder case?

And even if the local Marshall in Charge is all gung-ho to attack, it would only take a phone call to the Department of Justice to get him to stand down. 

[Clanstarling]

In 5-0's universe where they can, for once, come off as the compassionate, considerate law enforcement guys who talk gently with their suspects. So far as I remember, the only laws they broke this time were traffic laws. 

I've never hated the Danny banter, unlike so many others here. But the DMV scene? I'm all in with the rest of you. That was more than just kvetching. Also, it bugged that Steve didn't have the sense to drive correctly during the test. It wouldn't have been funny, I know, but still. 

But hey, I am always happy to see Lou Diamond Phillips (though it was a bit thankless).

I sure thought the parole officer had an active role in the setup - since he was the familiar face. I know him mostly from Six Feet Under, but I see he's been in a number of other things, such as Sons of Anarchy.

[Princess Lucky]

Doesn't 5-0 routinely invade sovereign nations to pursue fugitives? Completely disregarding the domestic laws of those nations, as well as the fact they lack jurisdiction?

Oh well. It was nice of the show to (sort of) shine a spotlight on the issue of Hawaii's sovereignty.

This was a decent episode. I was excited to see Lou Diamond Phillips, but I agree, it was a pretty thankless role so I was disappointed. I was hoping for a character similar to the one he played on Numb3rs (remember that show?). A badass who'd give Steve a run for his money. At least he still looks great.

I actually thought the driving stuff with Steve and Danny was pretty funny, plus I thought their "cargument" was surprisingly civil and, like, not annoying. It seems the writers have remembered how to find the balance between banter and bickering.

Edited January 21, 2017 by Princess Lucky

[ganesh]

So one guy actually stands up to Five-0 and they actually observe the law. I guess there's a first time for everything. 

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, Princess Lucky said:

I was hoping for a character similar to the one he played on Numb3rs (remember that show?).

Yes! I remember the show and the character. I was hoping for the same thing.

[ganesh]

Oh, Grover, you don't want to use Five-0 resources to help Jerry with background checks? Ooookaaaaaay.

The guy in charge of the "nation" or whatever, was not a good actor. 

Is there anything more trite than "feds barge in and trample over local customs/don't get it/blah blah blah?"

[jhlipton]

Just now, ganesh said:

The guy in charge of the "nation" or whatever, was not a good actor.

Looks like that may have been the real guy in charge: That's exactly what advocate and head of state of the Nation of Hawaii, Bumpy Kanahele, is hoping for as well. (http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/34301004/nation-of-hawaii-struggles-featured-in-upcoming-episode-of-hawaii-five-0)

[ganesh]

That must have been why. Good for them. Too bad they didn't maybe center the story more on the nation then. 

[Vermicious Knid]

I did wonder if that was an actual guy involved with the sovereignty movement, but not enough to look it up. It's only taken them 7 years to get around to mentioning it but in usual Five-0 fashion, they were about as subtle as a brick. Chin walking down the street with everyone glaring daggers at The Outsider was ridiculous, as was LDP's Marshall. The specter of Waco hangs over all federal barricade situations. No way was he going to be charging in with women and children there.

The car business was funny but I was hoping they'd revisit it at the end. Steve still doesn't have a valid driver's license. Not sure where Danny was going with the prayer, that was the standard first half of many blessings. What he said was (this is the translation I grew up with): "Blessed art thou, oh Lord our God, King of the Universe..." and then state what's being blessed, but I don't think there's one for cars.

[dwmarch]

21 hours ago, UncleChuck said:

In what alternate universe would U.S. Marshalls come storming in to claim jurisdiction in a local murder case?

And even if the local Marshall in Charge is all gung-ho to attack, it would only take a phone call to the Department of Justice to get him to stand down. 

And coming in with military force too! Assault rifles and drones, soldier dudes in body armor... was Dog the Bounty Hunter too busy or something? Seriously, the show never even tried to justify why the US Marshals were so interested in this one dude, especially when there's still a dirty bomb out there somewhere.

13 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

In 5-0's universe where they can, for once, come off as the compassionate, considerate law enforcement guys who talk gently with their suspects. So far as I remember, the only laws they broke this time were traffic laws.

We also had Grover running background on Jerry's potential roommates. Grover even said "you want me to use 5-0 resources for this?" to which I don't blame Jerry for responding in the manner of well certainly, you do it all the time anyhow.

10 hours ago, Princess Lucky said:

Doesn't 5-0 routinely invade sovereign nations to pursue fugitives? Completely disregarding the domestic laws of those nations, as well as the fact they lack jurisdiction?

Oh well. It was nice of the show to (sort of) shine a spotlight on the issue of Hawaii's sovereignty.

I guess since they just invaded a sovereign country three weeks ago maybe they're over their quota?

Calling BS on the suspect's boss getting past all those cops and marshals and Nation of Hawaii guards whilst packing heat. I also think it was silly that they didn't have anyone sitting with the suspect. What was to stop him from wiggling out under the same fence he got in through? Fortunately, Chin (who previously had to surrender his weapon at the gate) was able to get there in time. I have been waiting for an episode like this for a while, one in which 5-0 is denied the ability to do an enhanced interrogation and has to do some actual police work to bring a suspect in.

[Clanstarling]

9 hours ago, dwmarch said:

I guess since they just invaded a sovereign country three weeks ago maybe they're over their quota?

I almost spit my coffee reading this.

I immediately visualized a project board with all their egregious actions, and someone saying "Already invaded sovereign nations 3 episodes ago, let's go with one we like and treat with respect. Fans won't expect that. Let's see what we have available. Endangerment/kidnapping of the team's children. Nope, done that twice already. But let's kind of endanger a whole group of children, and make the Feds the bad guys. Beat up non-complying witnesses in the basement torture chamber. Nah, been there done that. Danny kvetching - well that's endless fun. Let's put him up front. Let's see, Jerry's been a little too normal and useful, let's drag out some moon landing stuff and add in Elon Musk's statement about how we're all in the Matrix to make our paranoid conspiracy crap current."

Edited January 22, 2017 by Clanstarling

[Raja]

On Friday, January 20, 2017 at 11:49 PM, UncleChuck said:

In what alternate universe would U.S. Marshalls come storming in to claim jurisdiction in a local murder case?

And even if the local Marshall in Charge is all gung-ho to attack, it would only take a phone call to the Department of Justice to get him to stand down. 

Unstated but it had to be that the United States didn't want to give the Hawaiians the same status of the Native American tribes on the mainland. While HPD was willing to let them have autonomy the nation wanted to force a confrontation 

[betsyboo]

On 1/21/2017 at 10:19 AM, Clanstarling said:

 

I've never hated the Danny banter, unlike so many others here. But the DMV scene? I'm all in with the rest of you. That was more than just kvetching. Also, it bugged that Steve didn't have the sense to drive correctly during the test. It wouldn't have been funny, I know, but still. 

 

Agreed - but the ONLY thing he didn't complain about was that Steve was driving *his* car!

On 1/21/2017 at 1:18 PM, Princess Lucky said:

 

Oh well. It was nice of the show to (sort of) shine a spotlight on the issue of Hawaii's sovereignty.

I admit I immediately googled it and was pleasantly surprised to learn that Bumpy is the actual Nation leader.

[MissLucas]

Yeah, that was my one take-away from this episode as I had never heard of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. I learned something new watching H5-0, yay!

Also this episode made me miss Numb3rs :(

[highway61]

Quote

Also this episode made me miss Numb3rs :(

Actually, since it was Friday night CBS, it took me a long time to realize Lou wasn't his Numb3rs character!

Except then he wouldn't have been such a jerk, and he would have taken out a bad guy with a sniper shot that took into account the curvature of the Earth.

[Traveller519]

Bumpy was also featured in "Aloha." Bradley Cooper's character has to negotiate blessing from the Nation's Elders on the movement of a gate on a nearby military base.

It was to the point that I was wondering if he had actually been in a previous episode since I recognized the name and actor, and Danny made mention of doing past work with him. According to IMDB this was his first appearance on 5-0 though.

While I like that they have him there representing his cause (and in other media), I can't get on board with the fact that he was still protecting the suspect after he confessed to the robberies. He was acting like he had his own sliding scales for laws, which I'm willing to bet isn't the way he acts in real life.

[jhlipton]

On 1/21/2017 at 11:52 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

What he said was (this is the translation I grew up with): "Blessed art thou, oh Lord our God, King of the Universe..." and then state what's being blessed, but I don't think there's one for cars.

I made up one for Christmas trees (mostly as an add-on for the "flavors" of Judaism...) so why not? 
"Blessed art thou, oh Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, who commands us to travel at astonishing speeds in our metal chariots"

On 1/22/2017 at 0:21 AM, dwmarch said:

I have been waiting for an episode like this for a while, one in which 5-0 is denied the ability to do an enhanced interrogation and has to do some actual police work to bring a suspect in.

LOL -- I know!  Can't make a regular habit of it, though!

On 1/23/2017 at 3:39 PM, Traveller519 said:

He was acting like he had his own sliding scales for laws, which I'm willing to bet isn't the way he acts in real life.

That was kind of funny (to me).  "Yeah, he's a liar.. and a thief... but he's not a murderer so you can't have him!"

[Lillybee]

I was hoping that LDP character would be a bit like Henry Standing Bear on Longmire.

[spottedreptile]

4 minutes ago, Lillybee said:

I was hoping that LDP character would be a bit like Henry Standing Bear on Longmire.

The best character on that show by a mile. 

[blackwing]

I have mixed feelings about this episode.  I found the Nation of Hawaii interesting, and read up more on Wikipedia about it.  However, while there is certainly a place for social messages in mainstream media, I am not sure how I feel about it appearing on this show.  I watch this show for escapist entertainment, not to be hit on the head with the message of injustice and rights and what not.  I felt the exact same way some episodes ago when Danny and Steve had that debate about guns.  I don't think this is the place for it.

Plus, I wouldn't exactly say the cause of these people was advanced much when it was shown that the leader was perfectly willing to harbour an admitted criminal.  The guy admitted to robbing houses and the leader was all "well at least you didn't kill anyone, they said they wanted you for murder not robbery so feel free to hang out here as long as you'd like".

Based on the uttering of that prayer in Hebrew, is Danny supposed to be Jewish?  I think Scott Cahn is Jewish, but I wasn't sure if Danny was.  Wasn't he shown celebrating Christmas in some earlier seasons?

I'm so tired of Jerry Garcia.  When Max left the show they should have dumped Jerry Garcia as well.  I don't find anything about him funny.  And he was back with all his usual material.... about how low paid he is as a special consultant without a badge, about how little light there is in the basement dungeon, etc.  Doesn't it break some kind of protocol to have a stranger just walking into 5-0 headquarters?  I would think that there is a lot of sensitive information there.   And then the guy was just dismissed and left to wander around all over the building without an escort.  Naturally it was completely inappropriate for Jerry to be conducting an interview of a personal nature in his office, but his entire character is ridiculous, so whatever.  

[ganesh]

I don't mind the social messages on the show, but so far, they've been poorly constructed and just clunky. I didn't even know there was a nation of Hawaii, and this was just a bad story for them to build around. 

This isn't a show known for nuance though, so I don't know what I should expect. 

[bdel]

On 1/23/2017 at 3:39 PM, Traveller519 said:

Bumpy was also featured in "Aloha." Bradley Cooper's character has to negotiate blessing from the Nation's Elders on the movement of a gate on a nearby military base.

It was to the point that I was wondering if he had actually been in a previous episode since I recognized the name and actor, and Danny made mention of doing past work with him. According to IMDB this was his first appearance on 5-0 though.

While I like that they have him there representing his cause (and in other media), I can't get on board with the fact that he was still protecting the suspect after he confessed to the robberies. He was acting like he had his own sliding scales for laws, which I'm willing to bet isn't the way he acts in real life.

As soon as they drove up to the gates I thought the same thing, "Haven't we seen this episode already?" Then I realized it was because of "Aloha".

[Nashville]

My primary problem with this episode probably went right by the vast majority of the show's viewership - but its demonstrated lack of basic background research aggravated me to the point of distraction, on three occasions:

1. When the team is first reviewing the case file at 5-0 HQ on their Super Duper Magic Computer, they make two statements: (a) the victim was shot with a 9mm pistol, and (b) Forensics identified the murder weapon as a Glock 29.
2. When they enter the suspect's storage unit, McGarrett seizes upon one of the handguns in a glass display case and says, "Here's our murder weapon - a Glock 29."
3. Shortly afterward, Kono reports Ballistics identified the Glock 29 found in the storage unit as the murder weapon, complete with partial fingerprint of their primary suspect.

So - McGarrett needs to turn in his Tacti-Cool membership card, the entire Ballistics and Forensics teams need to be fired (and possibly charged with criminal negligence), and the writers need to be rounded up like a pack of lame mules and shot.

Why?

Because the Glock 29 is chambered solely in 10mm Auto - NOT 9mm.

Production could have gone with any number of Glock models - 17, 18, 19, 26, 34, or 43 - which are chambered in 9mm, and have been perfectly in accord with reality.  Unfortunately some fool somewhere was too lazy to even fire up Wikipedia for god's sake, pulled a number out of his/her ass, and nobody bothered to double-check.

Rant over.  We now return you to our regular program of news and dance music.

Edited February 4, 2017 by Nashville
Typo

[JessDVD]

I was expecting LDP to be appearing as Ian Edgerton (as alluded to, his character on Numb3rs) and was disappointed. And now I miss that show all over again.

As to the rest of the show, it was probably intended to be interesting but didn't really draw me in. And Jerry just makes me roll my eyes.

[Passepartout]

I thought LDP character was a waste. Do not think he was a jerk. He was a reasonable guy that worked with Five 0. Not against them.