S08.E11: Oni kalalea ke kū a ka lāʻau loa (A Tall Tree Stands Above the Others)

[BW Manilowe]

It's Christmas Eve and Danny tells Charlie a bedtime story about a recent Five-0 case involving bad Santas and a holiday miracle, Friday, December 15, at a special time (10:00-11:00PM, ET/PT). Real life military veterans Jason Redman, Steven Jackel, Kathryn Taylor-Smith and J. Eddie Martinez guest star as veterans who help McGarrett with the case.

Original Airdate: December 15, 2017

SOURCE: https://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/hawaii-five-0/releases/view?id=49075

[bmoore4026]

Well, the kid annoyed the tits off of me, but the scene at the end with Steve, Danno, and the cookies was delightful.

I'm guessing the real military guys are staying on?

[roamyn]

I doubt it.  But the Comm Specialist and the Mall guy, were pretty good actors.

Charlie was a typical 5-6 yr old.  Asking question after question.  My grandson's 5, so Charlie actually was calmer than most kids that age at Christmas.

I thought the idea behind the episode/story was cute. 

Oh, and Junior got his badge!  Probably for saving Steve in one episode and helping to keep Danny alive in the next.

[Mittengirl]

I liked the mall story line but hated the way they told it.  I wish it had just been a regular episode.

 

So Junior is a member of 5-0, but is still attending the Academy?  Did I hear Grover correctly, that Junior wasn’t going to get paid?  (Until he graduates, I presume.)

 

I wouldn’t mind seeing seeing the vets again, individually or as a group/pairs.  It could be like when Sheriff Andy Taylor would deputize Goober, Otis and Floyd.  Except the vets are actually competent.

 

I really don’t think prosthetic hands are that strong.  Pretty sure the finger joints would snap off.  At least anything I can afford would.  But the vet probably has better insurance coverage than I do.

Edited December 16, 2017 by Mittengirl

[threebluestars]

They looped all of the kid's lines, and it was really noticeable and distracting.

[Passepartout]

Think Junior really earned his worth there! And hope he did graduate just recently there

Hope that the vets come and they are real vets read on the internet as a couple of them are getting into acting. Maybe even do their own show perhaps hear that Peter L?!

Charlie is cute usually but got on my nerves when he interrupted Danny's "story!"  Yeah kids sometimes are smarter than the adults. Tisk Tisk.

Yeah as in the mall story really they did not catch onto the Santa in the line over in his ID but let him through as Grover told him to not put him on his naughty list.

Loved the party at the end and rewarding the vets in return.

Give it 9/10!

[bmoore4026]

One thing I didn't like was how this episode reinforced the voids that Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim left.  It's like they've never been on the show.  And that makes me sad.

[BW Manilowe]

5 hours ago, bmoore4026 said:

One thing I didn't like was how this episode reinforced the voids that Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim left.  It's like they've never been on the show.  And that makes me sad.

Me too. But I thought it was at least nice they included pics of DDK as Chin, with Chin's niece Sara, & of GP with Ian Anthony Dale as Kono & Adam Noshimuri, among the pictures that apparently were of Steve & Danny's ʻohāna hanging in the restaurant. I'm hoping that seeing them either means things are going OK between/among DDK, GP, the producers, & CBS now (following the money dispute), or that someone just said it doesn't matter how TPTB feel about the actors as people now, what matters is the characters of Steve & Danny haven't ended their relationships with Chin & Kono even though the actors have left the show & pics of DDK & GP deserve to be seen with the other characters considered Steve & Danny's ʻohāna. The thing that bugged, though, is that they couldn't find a way to put Julie Benz's character in the pic with Chin & Sara, since they're a family unit on the show.

[Roselle]

This was so fluffy cute!

It was brave to do an episode so centred on such a young character but I think it worked well although the over-dubbing of Charlie's voice was distracting. Perhaps it's inevitable though with such a young actor. Thought Scott Caan did a fantastic job in playing against him - I'd be genuinely fascinated to see how they do scenes like that because he really seemed to be engaging with the child and keeping his attention (I really don't think young Charlie is a good enough actor to be playing that - it really seemed genuine). I mean, do they do tiny parts of the scenes, bite-size bits if you like? Or do they do all of Scott's coverage and hope they can make Charlie's work? Or vica versa? I'm curious.

I can't say the veterans' inclusion did much for me.

The party scene at the end was sweet although I cannot bear that bounty hunter guy - I mean, why?? But the ending was just perfect!

[threebluestars]

I really loved the vets. They reminded me of a superhero team, but instead of each having a special power, they each have a different disability and military skill. I'd watch a show about disabled crime fighting vets!

[illdoc]

And notice once again, Grover's wife is not invited to the party. I mean, the ME, who I don't think we even saw in either episode airing tonight, manages to be at the party.

[HurricaneVal]

I loved this episode too.  Another homerun.  I'd like to see the veterans come back as drop-in characters, where appropriate, in the future.

I'm such a sucker for the Halloween and Christmas episodes!

[roamyn]

1 hour ago, threebluestars said:

I really loved the vets. They reminded me of a superhero team, but instead of each having a special power, they each have a different disability and military skill. I'd watch a show about disabled crime fighting vets!

The one thing that confused me abt this was the female vet saying she was a Marine medic.  The Marine's don't have medics.  They use Navy "docs", as they're called.  My Son in Law is one.  He had to sign an additional contract w/the Marine's and then went to the 'Stan, and LeJeune when he was done/his tour.  B4 that he was assigned to Bethesda. 

But he explained how it works, w/the Marine's & Navy.  And they don't call them medics, they call them "doc".  She should know all this, that's why I thought it was odd.

[LotusFlower]

4 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Me too. But I thought it was at least nice they included pics of DDK as Chin, with Chin's niece Sara, & of GP with Ian Anthony Dale as Kono & Adam Noshimuri, among the pictures that apparently were of Steve & Danny's ʻohāna hanging in the restaurant. I'm hoping that seeing them either means things are going OK between/among DDK, GP, the producers, & CBS now (following the money dispute), or that someone just said it doesn't matter how TPTB feel about the actors as people now, what matters is the characters of Steve & Danny haven't ended their relationships with Chin & Kono even though the actors have left the show & pics of DDK & GP deserve to be seen with the other characters considered Steve & Danny's ʻohāna. The thing that bugged, though, is that they couldn't find a way to put Julie Benz's character in the pic with Chin & Sara, since they're a family unit on the show.

I saw it as continued damage control from CBS (and the show's producers) - still trying to promote the concept of ohana even after the non-ohana-like firings.

[roamyn]

Just now, LotusFlower said:

I saw it as continued damage control from CBS (and the show's producers) - still trying to promote the concept of ohana even after the non-ohana-like firings.

Except they weren't fired.  And Grace still is close to the entire team working on the show.  DDK recently gave an interview where he a the stated that he was ready to move on.

[LotusFlower]

29 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Except they weren't fired.  And Grace still is close to the entire team working on the show.  DDK recently gave an interview where he a the stated that he was ready to move on.

I think firing and not renewing their contracts is just semantics.  And if the actors aren't bitter (and we don't really know the truth about this), that doesn't erase the public relations mess that the show created with the firings/non-renewals.

[notcreative enough]

1 hour ago, roamyn said:

Except they weren't fired.  And Grace still is close to the entire team working on the show.  DDK recently gave an interview where he a the stated that he was ready to move on.

Is it weird that I kinda feel like Grace was following DDK's lead. Like it was more so his idea for the pay equality and she would have just went with what they gave her. Maybe it's because he moved on from the show and she is kinda stangant now. 

Back to the show. I missed the first 5 minutes because I didn't know there were to episodes. Did Danny give a reason as to why he wasn't apart of the story? Is he on medical leave from what happened in the pervious episode? 

I get that the kids aren't regulars on the show but it's odd to have only Charlie and not Grace. Do they go halfsies on child custody. Mom gets Grace dad gets Charlie for Christmas Eve and switch for Christmas day. 

[Just my 2 cents]

36 minutes ago, notcreative enough said:

I get that the kids aren't regulars on the show but it's odd to have only Charlie and not Grace. Do they go halfsies on child custody. Mom gets Grace dad gets Charlie for Christmas Eve and switch for Christmas day. 

I think it pretty much comes down to actor availability.  Teilor Grubbs moved to L.A. last year to continue her acting career so I assume she wasn't available for this episode.  That's a big problem for this show.  Unless you're going to give the actors a full time contract or a large amount of pay per episodes it might not be worth it when you can find more opportunity and auditions on the mainland.  Also I suppose in some actors cases if they have a family living elsewhere they might not want to be in Hawaii for long periods of time.

[BW Manilowe]

3 hours ago, notcreative enough said:

Is it weird that I kinda feel like Grace was following DDK's lead. Like it was more so his idea for the pay equality and she would have just went with what they gave her. Maybe it's because he moved on from the show and she is kinda stangant now. 

Back to the show. I missed the first 5 minutes because I didn't know there were to episodes. Did Danny give a reason as to why he wasn't apart of the story? Is he on medical leave from what happened in the pervious episode? 

I get that the kids aren't regulars on the show but it's odd to have only Charlie and not Grace. Do they go halfsies on child custody. Mom gets Grace dad gets Charlie for Christmas Eve and switch for Christmas day. 

I don't know if Danny was on medical leave, specifically, but I heard him say something about still being sore, or something, in the area where he was shot in the first episode.

[roamyn]

3 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

I don't know if Danny was on medical leave, specifically, but I heard him say something about still being sore, or something, in the area where he was shot in the first episode.

Yeah, Adam asked why he wasn't resting in bed, they also showed a "previously on...", so his shooting was mentioned.

[BW Manilowe]

15 hours ago, notcreative enough said:

Is it weird that I kinda feel like Grace was following DDK's lead. Like it was more so his idea for the pay equality and she would have just went with what they gave her. Maybe it's because he moved on from the show and she is kinda stangant now. 

Back to the show. I missed the first 5 minutes because I didn't know there were to episodes. Did Danny give a reason as to why he wasn't apart of the story? Is he on medical leave from what happened in the pervious episode? 

I get that the kids aren't regulars on the show but it's odd to have only Charlie and not Grace. Do they go halfsies on child custody. Mom gets Grace dad gets Charlie for Christmas Eve and switch for Christmas day.

Back in earlier seasons when Gracie wasn't a teenager, in the Christmas/New Year's type episodes, Steve & Danny would usually discuss if Danny was getting to spend time with Gracie during the holidays or not (it was usually written that he was but, like, around S3 or 4 it was written that Danny was mad because Rachel had taken Gracie to Las Vegas--where Stan was supposedly building a new hotel--for the holidays, apparently not discussing it with Danny before the plans were made & couldn't be changed).

Back then, at least in the first season, Danny was said to be getting Gracie for 6 hours on Christmas, so it was implied they split custody either on the same specific holiday or Danny would get Gracie on 1 holiday & Rachel the next (like most divorced parents who shared custody of their kids did things). But usually the parent involved gets custody of all their children at the same time on a holiday, not 1 kid on Christmas Eve & the rest on Christmas Day; so that was weird in itself why Danny only seemed to have Charlie in the ep & not both kids--given that Gracie's 8 or 9 years older than Charlie in canon though, maybe she was supposed to be at Danny's with Charlie, as far as custody was concerned, but she then went to a party with friends or something (shrugs).

As of mid-S4, Danny's supposed to have equal custody of Gracie, as opposed to just seeming to have visitation, & Rachel can't take her off the island without getting Danny's permission. All this happened between the end of S2 & about mid-S4 when Rachel wanted to move Gracie to Las Vegas, long term, because Stan was going to be building a new hotel there & Danny got pissed that Rachel just picked up & moved Gracie whenever she felt like it, with no regard to either Gracie's or Danny's feelings on the matter. So he filed to get his custody modified to where he had a more equal say in what happened with Gracie, & she could live with him more often & stuff, & he won. Once Rachel told Danny that Charlie was his kid too, in S5, Danny presumably got the same, equal, custody arrangements for Charlie as he had for Gracie st the time.

[BW Manilowe]

15 hours ago, ally said:

I think it pretty much comes down to actor availability.  Teilor Grubbs moved to L.A. last year to continue her acting career so I assume she wasn't available for this episode.  That's a big problem for this show.  Unless you're going to give the actors a full time contract or a large amount of pay per episodes it might not be worth it when you can find more opportunity and auditions on the mainland.  Also I suppose in some actors cases if they have a family living elsewhere they might not want to be in Hawaii for long periods of time.

Which is apparently at least part of why they modified Scott's contract in S3 or S4 (whenever they did it). His dad, who he's close to (Scott was mostly raised by his dad when his parents split up, I think), & I think Scott's partner & their daughter, lives in LA, so he got more time off to be with them--for every 5 eps Alex does, Scott gets to miss an ep (but I don't necessarily think they work out which eps Scott misses in that exact way, they actually film 4 with Scott & 1 without).

[Just my 2 cents]

4 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Which is apparently at least part of why they modified Scott's contract in S3 or S4 (whenever they did it). His dad, who he's close to (Scott was mostly raised by his dad when his parents split up, I think), & I think Scott's partner & their daughter, lives in LA, so he got more time off to be with them--for every 5 eps Alex does, Scott gets to miss an ep (but I don't necessarily think they work out which eps Scott misses in that exact way, they actually film 4 with Scott & 1 without).

I also think his mother died in 2012.  I know that he spent the majority of his time with his father, but speaking from personal experience when one parent dies if you've had a decent relationship with both of them it just makes you want to spend more time with the living parent.  I notice during the summer when they are on hiatus although you see pictures of him with friends you always see him at this golfing event his father has every year.  I imagine he's aware he has to make a living, but he also wants to be with his family.  CBS doesn't seem to have a problem with it and if his contract is like most actors he gets paid per episode.  That's five less a year they have to pay him for which I'm sure makes Les Moonves happy.

[BW Manilowe]

1 minute ago, ally said:

I also think his mother died in 2012.  I know that he spent the majority of his time with his father, but speaking from personal experience when one parent dies if you've had a decent relationship with both of them it just makes you want to spend more time with the living parent.  I notice during the summer when they are on hiatus although you see pictures of him with friends you always see him at this golfing event his father has every year.  I imagine he's aware he has to make a living, but he also wants to be with his family.  CBS doesn't seem to have a problem with it and if his contract is like most actors he gets paid per episode.  That's five less a year they have to pay him for which I'm sure makes Les Moonves happy.

Yep. His Mom died in 2012. For some reason, I thought it was 2011, but whatever. I definitely remember Scott was said to be attending SOTB that season, but then he ended up missing it because his mom died right before & he ended up being on the Mainland because of that at the time. I totally agree with your post, by the way.

Something I keep forgetting is, after she split from Scott's dad & Elvis split from Linda Thompson (who eventually went on to marry the former Bruce Jenner & songwriter/music producer David Foster), Scott's mom was Elvis' girlfriend. I wonder if Scott ever got to meet/hang out with Elvis? He's never said.

[Just my 2 cents]

28 minutes ago, BW Manilowe said:

Scott's mom was Elvis' girlfriend. I wonder if Scott ever got to meet/hang out with Elvis? He's never said.

I forgot I read that somewhere.  I wonder too!  That would have been interesting.  I've seen some pictures of his mother and she was a very attractive woman.  I'm sure he's had an interesting life, but doesn't seem to make a big deal about it.  I think that the way he grew up is part of the reason why he has to be doing and experiencing so many different things.  He seems to be more content now than in the beginning when the show first started.

[kassygreene]

Scott was born in 1976, Jimmy & Sheila divorced in 1977, & Elvis died in 1977.  Elvis & Sheila were together before she married James Caan.

[Moxie Cat]

Loved the (albeit product placement) scene where Jerry is singing the girl's part to "Baby It's Cold Outside" and Grover gives him grief about it. I just read a lengthy article about blowback to that song and how some contemporary artists have found solace in gender-flipping it. I wish Jerry had done more to defend himself but it turned into a defense of singing with Cortana (naturally).

Didn't mind the Dog scene because it was all about Eddie. What I did mind was that that was supposed to be the night of the mall incident and Steve had all those decorations up and food ready? Nooooo..... I would buy if it happened at a later date! It did look beautiful.

I think Grover was just kidding about Junior not getting paid.

The heist storyline was fine and I loved the vet X-men (who seemed to be mostly/all real vets) but there were WAY too many/lengthy narration scenes with Danny and the kid. I did enjoy how Danny modified the story at different points.

One question: yes, I know the answe here is "super Steve" but how did he manage to shoot/kill the guy who had a gun on him immediately when he came out of the door on the roof?

Edited December 27, 2017 by Moxie Cat

[jhlipton]

I loved that the "book" was a description of either the previous shot or the next shot in the story.  That was cute.

[Rus-L]

On 12/16/2017 at 1:52 PM, roamyn said:

The one thing that confused me abt this was the female vet saying she was a Marine medic.  The Marine's don't have medics.  They use Navy "docs", as they're called.  My Son in Law is one.  He had to sign an additional contract w/the Marine's and then went to the 'Stan, and LeJeune when he was done/his tour.  B4 that he was assigned to Bethesda. 

But he explained how it works, w/the Marine's & Navy.  And they don't call them medics, they call them "doc".  She should know all this, that's why I thought it was odd.

Aren't they technically called "corpsmen"?  NCIS did an episode on them.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Rus-L

[roamyn]

7 hours ago, Rus-L said:

Aren't they technically called "corpsmen"?  NCIS did an episode on them.

It may depend on whether they serve in combat.  Stanley served on a Marine unit that was in Combat, and he said all the medics are given the honorific “doc”.  It may be u have to have a certain amount of medical training.  He’s a nurse/paramedic, but nothing beyond that - other than his Marine training (yes, they still have to do Marine training, but not boot camp again).

[Raja]

On 1/16/2018 at 3:08 PM, roamyn said:

It may depend on whether they serve in combat.  Stanley served on a Marine unit that was in Combat, and he said all the medics are given the honorific “doc”.  It may be u have to have a certain amount of medical training.  He’s a nurse/paramedic, but nothing beyond that - other than his Marine training (yes, they still have to do Marine training, but not boot camp again).

It is not a matter of serving in combat. Hospital Corpsman is the rating(job category) of US Navy sailors sent to the Fleet USMC Forces to serve as unit medics, the honorary "doc" in most US services. The honorific comes from the "doc" being the primary medical care giver most soldiers hope they ever need to see. After all going to the battalion aid center or worse a MASH to see a doctor, PA or nurse means you are either ill or hit. The reason the Marine Corp has such a high percentage of combatants compared to the Army is that in addition to medics many other roles that Army soldiers provide the Army are provided by US Navy sailors for their Fleet Marine Forces. Describing themselves as a "Marine Medic" is often done by Navy Corpsmen who served in the Marine Corps units as opposed to only on Navy ships and installations

Edited January 22, 2018 by Raja

[roamyn]

9 hours ago, Raja said:

It is not a matter of serving in combat. Hospital Corpsman is the rating(job category) of US Navy sailors sent to the Fleet USMC Forces to serve as unit medics, the honorary "doc" in most US services. The honorific comes from the "doc" being the primary medical care giver most soldiers hope they ever need to see. After all going to the battalion aid center or worse a MASH to see a doctor, PA or nurse means you are either ill or hit. The reason the Marine Corp has such a high percentage of combatants compared to the Army is that in addition to medics many other roles that Army soldiers provide the Army are provided by US Navy sailors for their Fleet Marine Forces. Describing themselves as a "Marine Medic" is often done by Navy Corpsmen who served in the Marine Corps units as opposed to only on Navy ships and installations

I know their title is Corpsman, but maybe it is only my SIL, but he never describes himself as a Marine Medic.  He’s very proud of his Naval career, and always says that he’s a medic assigned to the Marines.  Right now he works in hospital records, but that’s because his vehicle got hit by an IED, and he’s being disabled out soon.  He can no longer work as a nurse or paramedic, due to neck injuries from the attack.

Thanks for more detail on the styling.