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S07.E15: Ka pāʻāni nui (Big Game)


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One thing I really appreciate about the show is how much they show the stories of Hawaii, from the Nation of Hawaii movement to the leper colonies, the war and military history on the islands ... I just really like that they make a big effort to delve into their location and show people some unique and interesting history of the islands.

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I was significantly more interested in the leper colony story than the big game story. I loved how they utilized two awesome 70s era show actors (Bernie Kopell and Max Gail). I loved Bernie's monologue in the video footage--so well-acted and affecting. But I did think it was a little weird that they co-opted the very iconic tragic scenario from Sophie's Choice as the horrendous story he told. It took me out of the moment.

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What a busy episode. There was plot for at least 2.5 episodes crammed into this one. I hated the resolution of the Nazi plot because it left so many questions open. Did the daughter know about his past or did she just happen to walk in on an intruder holding her father at gunpoint and acted out of instinct? Did he tell her afterwards? (I guess so since she was covering their tracks.) What were her thoughts and feelings if she did not know before? And if she did know before how did she rationalize being an officer of the law and protecting a former Auschwitz guard?

I wish they had spent some time on that instead of the picket-line at the shrimp emporium or Grover and his amazing pancakes. Both fine as some comic relief but one would have sufficed since we also had Danny's nephew blundering his way through CSI work.

I would also have liked to know more about what it means that the shark is Kono's and Kamekona's family aumakua (god?). They were just tossing those terms around while the exposition faerie was doing overtime giving history lessons about the leper colony on Molokai, concentration camp tattoos and Nazi ratlines.

They could have had one episode dealing with the shark plot and one with the Nazi in hiding. This show does not have an overabundance of good plots to it's hard to understand why they crammed two good stories into one episode.

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Indeed, @MissLucas, this was a busy episode! A little much going on for my taste. The Nazi plot could have been a full episode. The shark finning could have been a full episode. There were lots of other odds and ends that felt out of place. I enjoyed the episode but the pacing was really strange this time around.

As usual, inter-agency cooperation is an immediate sign of the real villain. I knew that sheriff was too helpful. However, at the end of the episode we have Arizona State Police giving 5-0 the courtesy of leading the raid and allowing what appeared to be a squad of Mossad agents along. All the visitors get to pack serious heat. It is Arizona and all, so it wouldn't surprise me if liberal gun laws are not a bug but a feature. Still, that's some professional courtesy right there.

Oddly enough, from what I've read on Wiki, the Geneva Convention would actually give 5-0 the jurisdiction to hunt Nazis anywhere in the world. I know I'm over-simplifying it a lot but I'm more impressed that they actually hung a lampshade on jurisdiction this time around.

While we're on the subject, Steve and Danny try to weasel their way out of Kamekona's labor dispute by claiming it's not their jurisdiction. Sure it is! Anything is, so long as it is what 5-0 desires! They've helped criminals get away, used police resources for personal purposes, tortured suspects in various colorful ways, had shootouts with the CIA, dropped millions of dollars of gangster money off at an orphanage in Colombia, invaded North Korea, Mexico and Morocco, shot down dozens of suspects in cold blood, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The correct answer to Kamekona's trouble would have been the simplest answer: we don't care.

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Just now, MissLucas said:

What a busy episode. There was plot for at least 2.5 episodes crammed into this one.

Indeed.  And all had "meh" endings.  (I loved that McGarret and Chin , Hawaiian cops, arrested Tomas for war crimes in Arizona!!!! [even if they had jurisdiction -- which they've never cared about before -- it came across as funny to me)  2.5 plots, and useless filler, like Eric demonstrating how to lift prints.  Yawn.

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I agree with all that's been said here already - seems such a shame that the writers wasted two good stories by forcing them into one episode. @MissLucas, you're so right, the Nazi storyline particularly could have offered so much more - a real opportunity for some deep and credibly emotional scenes if it had only been expanded. If the show runners are looking to keep their cast happy, I would have thought they should look for such ways to allow them to show their skills more than they often have to. They should trust in that.

With regard to the shark-finning storyline, it reminds me of another bugbear of mine - For a show set in Hawaii, and with a preference/budget for big stunt scenes, it always amazes me how little our team get out to sea. This could have been a great story to get them out there, both on and under the water. Always seems very odd and short-sighted to me. 

On the plus side, I did appreciate how the whole H5-0 family was used although, personally, I can always do without Kamekona in anything more than very tiny doses. The different pairings were interesting and worked and were all given appropriate airtime. Grovers' 'hilarious' pancake stuff went on way too long  IMO and I really didn't see the point (not being a huge fan of comedian Lou and his down-home diatribes - and it does seem to be becoming a regular 'thing' - an alternative to Danno's, I fear), until Steve's speech on the nature of today's social media which made me think that the writers were looking for bookends to the episode - advantages/disadvantages kind of thing.

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20 hours ago, auntiemel said:

I was significantly more interested in the leper colony story than the big game story. I loved how they utilized two awesome 70s era show actors (Bernie Kopell and Max Gail). I loved Bernie's monologue in the video footage--so well-acted and affecting. But I did think it was a little weird that they co-opted the very iconic tragic scenario from Sophie's Choice as the horrendous story he told. It took me out of the moment.

I missed that it was Bernie Kopell, dang! But I agree, using the Sophie's Choice story was lazy. There are literally millions of horrible revenge worthy stories from the Holocaust, tell one that isn't so well known.

And while I loved the idea of the tattoo tribute, I was puzzled why she wouldn't have had it done in the same manner. That tat looked nothing like the ones they gave in the camps, except for having numbers.

I was just so happy Max Gail wasn't the Nazi. Though they had him basically tell us he wasn't old enough, I wasn't sure they weren't doing a bait and switch. I liked the little moment at the end with Danny's nephew (whose name I can never remember).

I also wondered about the daughter. It would have been nice to know if she'd always known. That story in and of itself had a lot of emotional/dramatic mileage they wasted.

Edited by Clanstarling
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Whenever I see Kamekona next to Steve or even Grover, I am amazed at what a large man he is.

But when he is sitting next to his "little cuz", Kamekona just shrinks.  Little Cuz looks like he ate TWO Kamekonas before breakfast!

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22 hours ago, auntiemel said:

I was significantly more interested in the leper colony story than the big game story. I loved how they utilized two awesome 70s era show actors (Bernie Kopell and Max Gail). I loved Bernie's monologue in the video footage--so well-acted and affecting. But I did think it was a little weird that they co-opted the very iconic tragic scenario from Sophie's Choice as the horrendous story he told. It took me out of the moment.

Yes! I came here to say same. Doc *and* Wojo!

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I thought the scene with Eric showing Jim(?) how the fingerprinting worked was sweet.  Eric obviously was taken aback by Jim's appearance when they met and, I think, was trying to make up for that by indulging the interest he showed in fingerprinting.  To be fair to Eric, they should have warned him what he might encounter.  At his age he most likely has no knowledge of Hansen's disease.  

One scene that bothered me, and has in the past, was when 5-O looks for, and discusses, evidence while in the presence of strangers.  For all they knew at they point, either the sheriff or Jim could have killed the victim of the week.  Shouldn't evidence they gather be kept somewhat secret?

Was the nazi guard the sheriff's father or grandfather?  Age wise, Grand would make more sense.  The sheriff looked to be forty, at most, and didn't they say the guard was 91?  

I agree with those who would have liked more time devoted to the nazi storyline.  I would assume that Dad was not in the habit of discussing his nazi past.  Did we hear if the survivor's granddaughter had made any prior contact with the guard?  Letters or phone calls or anything that may have forced the guard to confess his past to his daughter?

If they really filmed in Kaluapapa they didn't do it justice.  From what I have seen, it is stunningly beautiful.  

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When they said she started in Poland and ended in Argentina I knew exactly what the story would be. Liked they mentioned the Shoah Foundation, which probably 99% of the people watching had never heard of. But if I needed to research concentration camp brands the place to call is Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust museum of Israel. They could have also talked about the Simon Weisenthal Center, which is maybe the last organization to still employ full time Nazi hunters.

I did briefly think Max Gail's character was going to be the murderer, because a guy without fingers can't leave fingerprints. Which would have been a cool plot twist, but instead they went for too many half plots all jumbled together.

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Wow, for once in my life I'm a one percenter! Given that Steven Spielberg started the Shoah Foundation, inspired no doubt by his work on Schindler's list, I think maybe there are more than 1% of people watching who would have at least heard of it. I do agree Yad Vashem would be my first stop, especially in the internet age. I spent quite a bit of time on their website after watching this episode. It was too painful to keep it up for long.

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You know those episodes that have completely random, throw-away puff piece storylines that sound like they were written by overly obsessed fans?  Like Robocop?  The poor elephant that was packed into a shipping container and probably died on its three week journey across the ocean?  TPTB could have just scrapped the fan-suggested episodes and replaced it with a longer version of one of the storylines from this episode.  I fully agree with others that neither story had a satisfying conclusion.

On the plus side, Danny wasn't whiny, and Jerry Garcia wasn't too annoying.  I thought we were going to have Jerry Garcia whine that he's always wanted to visit Molokai, and if only he had a badge....

I did like seeing Eric again, that guy is a hoot.

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I like Max Gail. As loved him from the Barney Miller show. Grew up a bit in the 1970's so I am old LOL

But glad Steve is not being a control freak pushover. And Danny not that whiny!

IMHO, the producers failed to use a PSA over in the Shoah Foundation that was made by Steven Spielberg after Schindler's List!

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