Hawaii Five-O: Any Fans?

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Mother's Deadly Helper

Good episode. I liked it.

The desire to see justice (that turns to vigilantism) is an interesting topic.

Dang bleeding-heart judges.

I always love the letter/phone call stories. Writing to McGarrett seeking his approval.

The switcheroo at the funeral was good.

And always up for a good Magnum like chase down alleys.

Didn’t even recognize Casey Kasem… until I heard his voice.

Yep, another season 6 winner!! I also love stories about vigilantes taking the law into their own hands. Big fan of the Dirty Harry film MAGNUM FORCE where Callahan has to take on 4 motorcycle cops (David Soul, Robert Urich, Tim Matheson, Kip Niven) who've been executing criminals. Seems like every cop show had this type of episode. STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO had an excellent episode featuring Bill Bixby as a wannabe cop who begins to execute criminals and sends letters to Karl Malden. A very similar scenario to this episode where Anthony Zerbe is the "concerned citizen" who idolizes McGarrett and sends him letters, seeking his approval. Zerbe is just perfect in this type of role. He honestly believes that McGarrett is on his side, when any rational person would have no reason to think such a thing. After all, McGarrett having the reputation that he has (tough on crime but very by the book) is the last person you would expect to just ignore these killings or worse yet cheer this "mother's helper" on. But Zerbe is delusional enough to believe this. Which is why at the end when he realizes he's been "betrayed" he totally snaps and promises to zap McGarrett when he gets out. Zap! Zap!

The scenes with Casey Kasem interviewing McGarrett were good. Steve-O Five-O made excellent points! Frank Cady from GREEN ACRES played the judge kidnapped by Zerbe. Dang bleeding heart talk show hosts and judges!

One reviewer on IMDb wrote “No wonder Kam Fong was disgusted with the show's declining quality and wanted out!”.

WHAT??? Bizarre comment. I thought season 5 was excellent and so is season 6.

Yeah that's a really bizarre comment. Seasons 5 and 6 (and even 7) had the show at its peak in the ratings, and I've never heard anything about Kam Fong wanting out. Maybe by season 10 he did. But I never heard anything about him wanting out earlier. Season 5 featured a very Chin-centric episode (his best!) so why would he want out? And seriously, this episode was the indication of declining quality?? Really??? Hookman, Draw Me a Killer, Secret Witness, Nightmare in Blue, One Big Happy Family, Murder is a Taxing Affair, Death With Father, One Born Every Minute, etc. all showed a decline in quality too???

[Pahonu]

Mother's Deadly Helper

Good episode. I liked it.

The desire to see justice (that turns to vigilantism) is an interesting topic.

Dang bleeding-heart judges.

I always love the letter/phone call stories. Writing to McGarrett seeking his approval.

The switcheroo at the funeral was good.

And always up for a good Magnum like chase down alleys.

Didn’t even recognize Casey Kasem… until I heard his voice.

Yep, another season 6 winner!! I also love stories about vigilantes taking the law into their own hands. Big fan of the Dirty Harry film MAGNUM FORCE where Callahan has to take on 4 motorcycle cops (David Soul, Robert Urich, Tim Matheson, Kip Niven) who've been executing criminals. Seems like every cop show had this type of episode. STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO had an excellent episode featuring Bill Bixby as a wannabe cop who begins to execute criminals and sends letters to Karl Malden. A very similar scenario to this episode where Anthony Zerbe is the "concerned citizen" who idolizes McGarrett and sends him letters, seeking his approval. Zerbe is just perfect in this type of role. He honestly believes that McGarrett is on his side, when any rational person would have no reason to think such a thing. After all, McGarrett having the reputation that he has (tough on crime but very by the book) is the last person you would expect to just ignore these killings or worse yet cheer this "mother's helper" on. But Zerbe is delusional enough to believe this. Which is why at the end when he realizes he's been "betrayed" he totally snaps and promises to zap McGarrett when he gets out. Zap! Zap!

The scenes with Casey Kasem interviewing McGarrett were good. Steve-O Five-O made excellent points! Frank Cady from GREEN ACRES played the judge kidnapped by Zerbe. Dang bleeding heart talk show hosts and judges!

One reviewer on IMDb wrote “No wonder Kam Fong was disgusted with the show's declining quality and wanted out!”.

WHAT??? Bizarre comment. I thought season 5 was excellent and so is season 6.

Yeah that's a really bizarre comment. Seasons 5 and 6 (and even 7) had the show at its peak in the ratings, and I've never heard anything about Kam Fong wanting out. Maybe by season 10 he did. But I never heard anything about him wanting out earlier. Season 5 featured a very Chin-centric episode (his best!) so why would he want out? And seriously, this episode was the indication of declining quality?? Really??? Hookman, Draw Me a Killer, Secret Witness, Nightmare in Blue, One Big Happy Family, Murder is a Taxing Affair, Death With Father, One Born Every Minute, etc. all showed a decline in quality too???

I did read that Kam Fong wanted out near the end but not this early in the series.

Interestingly, Zerbe played similar types of roles in both a Cannon and Mannix episode.

[T.Q.]

Killer at Sea

Not too good.

Was nice having a change of pace. Being on a cruise ship. Just didn't find the story great.

Was fun busting the financial planner at the end.

Lotsa recognizable actors. William DeVane. Keene Curtis.

John Byner: Recognized him from a Canadian show called Bizarre. Strangely it's not in his credits and IMDb has no episode listings. Ran for 3 or 4 years I thought. Says only one. Weird... Or should I say bizarre.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Killer at Sea

Not too good.

Was nice having a change of pace. Being on a cruise ship. Just didn't find the story great.

Was fun busting the financial planner at the end.

Lotsa recognizable actors. William DeVane. Keene Curtis.

John Byner: Recognized him from a Canadian show called Bizarre. Strangely it's not in his credits and IMDb has no episode listings. Ran for 3 or 4 years I thought. Says only one. Weird... Or should I say bizarre.

Correct. Not a fan of this one. I used to have fonder memories of this one. I mean the title looks promising, right? But with the last few watches I found it a bit of a chore to get through. Just not enough suspense once they're on the cruise. We're mostly just following some red herrings around. Could it be him? Could it be her? Then some comic's life is threatened via some note? But it's unrelated to the plot. I don't even remember what happened there. John Byner did throw out some jokes which were okay I guess. Then some news reporter chick (who is liberated, lol) is flirting with McGarrett. I did like the beginning at the bank and the twist at the end with Keene Curtis and William Devane but the episode just meanders for the most part. Again, the episode title suggests something more suspenseful. The next one is MUCH better. A great capper to a great season!

[T.Q.]

30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key

Fun, fun, fun.

Shades of Lewis Avery Filer.

Too close? Maybe a bit but still very enjoyable.

Same music I think.

Teasing the boys in 5-0. What a hoot.

The escape from the room over the lanai... Then tapping into the phones and pulling the room scam. Good stuff.

And you can tell McGarrett admires Mr. Horus which I like.

A good light-hearted and fun ending to the season.

[Pahonu]

30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key

Fun, fun, fun.

Shades of Lewis Avery Filer.

Too close? Maybe a bit but still very enjoyable.

Same music I think.

Teasing the boys in 5-0. What a hoot.

The escape from the room over the lanai... Then tapping into the phones and pulling the room scam. Good stuff.

And you can tell McGarrett admires Mr. Horus which I like.

A good light-hearted and fun ending to the season.

I believe it is the same music. Davis Wayne was very entertaining as well.

[T.Q.]

30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key

Fun, fun, fun.

Shades of Lewis Avery Filer.

Too close? Maybe a bit but still very enjoyable.

Same music I think.

Teasing the boys in 5-0. What a hoot.

The escape from the room over the lanai... Then tapping into the phones and pulling the room scam. Good stuff.

And you can tell McGarrett admires Mr. Horus which I like.

A good light-hearted and fun ending to the season.

I believe it is the same music. Davis Wayne was very entertaining as well.

Yes he did a fine job. Entertaining episode.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key

Fun, fun, fun.

Shades of Lewis Avery Filer.

Too close? Maybe a bit but still very enjoyable.

Same music I think.

Teasing the boys in 5-0. What a hoot.

The escape from the room over the lanai... Then tapping into the phones and pulling the room scam. Good stuff.

And you can tell McGarrett admires Mr. Horus which I like.

A good light-hearted and fun ending to the season.

Indeed - fun, fun, fun! A nice and breezy way to end a pretty hard-hitting season.

Even though it's not as good as the classic "Over Fifty? Steal" (but then what is??) it's probably on par with the second Filer episode "Odd Man In". Or at the very least close to it. The interesting thing is that I saw this episode first - before either of the Filer episodes. I must have seen "30,000 Rooms" when I was in middle school (1994 maybe?) and instantly loved it. Of course it stood out for me because I knew Five-O as being a very serious show, so this one was definitely a departure. I loved the playful cat-and-mouse game between McGarrett and the witty crook. Then I saw "Over Fifty" when I was in high school (summer of 1997 for sure) and absolutely LOVED it! Of course in my mind I must have flashed back to "30,000 Rooms" because of the playful nature and the cat-and-mouse game and I then knew where they got the inspiration for the latter one. I didn't see "Odd Man In" until I was in college. All these I first saw in reruns, before the DVDs started coming out in 2007. I think close to 20 years passed until I saw "30,000 Rooms" again since my initial viewing in middle school. I didn't see it again until I got the season 6 DVD. I think that's the one I most looked forward to seeing on the DVD, in addition to "Nightmare in Blue" which I had never seen in reruns.

As for the music in this episode yes it's all stock music from previous episodes. You've got music from 3 different composers. The obvious one is the classic Morton Stevens piece from the Filer episodes ("Filer's theme"). But you also hear Don Ray's heist theme from "Ten Thousand Diamonds and a Heart" (http://www.fiveohomepage.com/music/marimba.mp3) as well as Bruce Broughton's forgery theme from "The Finishing Touch" (when Norman Cargill was forging the bonds while being under surveillance by Five-O): http://www.fiveohomepage.com/ST-2004/Track%2027.mp3

[T.Q.]

The Young Assassins

Good episode.

Opening scene was great. Larry Wilcox could run.

People's Attack Group VS "The Man" and Five-0.

McGarrett's feelings for Danno really came out. Yet willing to let him go in pretty powerful scene.

And the beatdown at the end was sweet. Was hoping to see a hug when he saw Danno. Not McGarrett's style I guess.

MPI: David Palmer and Wallace W. Landford (Fat Jack)

A Hawaiian Nightmare

Lesser of the two episodes I watched today but pretty good.

James Olson did a good job.

I liked the volcano footage (throwing in a promo for Hawai'i?).

Good flip at the end taking out Bernie and taking the money... But, the boys were ready.

MPI: Keep your hands off of Luther's Blanche (Sheree North)

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

So it looks like we're on season 7 now.

How would you rate season 6 overall, T.Q.? Here is my ranking:

1. Hookman
2. Nightmare in Blue
3. Draw Me a Killer
4. Secret Witness
5. Murder is a Taxing Affair
6. A Bullet for El Diablo
7. Mother's Deadly Helper
8. One Big Happy Family
9. One Born Every Minute
10. 30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key
11. Anybody Can Build a Bomb
12. The Sunday Torch
13. The $100,000 Nickel
14. Death With Father
15. The Banzai Pipeline
16. The Flip Side is Death
17. Flash of Color, Flash of Death
18. The Finishing Touch
19. Murder With a Golden Touch
20. Why Wait Until Uncle Kevin Dies?
21. Killer at Sea
22. Tricks are Not Treats
23. Try to Die on Time
24. Charter for Death

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

The Young Assassins

Good episode.

Opening scene was great. Larry Wilcox could run.

People's Attack Group VS "The Man" and Five-0.

McGarrett's feelings for Danno really came out. Yet willing to let him go in pretty powerful scene.

And the beatdown at the end was sweet. Was hoping to see a hug when he saw Danno. Not McGarrett's style I guess.

MPI: David Palmer and Wallace W. Landford (Fat Jack)

Remember this one from way back when and it's always been a big favorite of mine. It's my second favorite of the season! Probably saw it when I was in middle school. The beginning always creeped me out - a couple finally made it to Hawaii and just enjoying a perfect day in paradise on the beach in Waikiki when some punk (seemingly friendly) approaches them and blows the husband away. Then we find out it was just a part of some initiation. Totally senseless and random killing. I remember as a kid thinking that this "paradise" is pretty scary - nothing but psychos and gangsters and random killings and people falling out of high rises! But that was the allure of the show. That's what Leonard Freeman had in mind from the start. He wanted to juxtapose the ugliness of the criminal element against the backdrop of this tropical paradise. And it worked! I think Lenny even said that he wanted the criminals to be particularly nasty. I think that's what gave Five-O that edge at the time. Because it wasn't set in the grimy NYC (like KOJAK was) where you would expect this ugliness. But it was set in paradise and that made it unique. Anyway, yes I loved the beatdown that McGarrett gave Stanwood/Army at the end. Sweeeet!! But wait till you get to season 9. There's a beatdown that McG gives a perp that has to be seen to be believed! It's very personal. I won't divulge anymore. It's a great episode!

One other thing to note about this episode is the music. I believe it's all stock music from Morton Stevens but what's interesting is that it's pretty much all from season 1. By this point in the series you didn't hear any cues from the very early seasons (1 & 2). So whenever I watch it it really stands out to me. It's all very early Five-O music and it has a lot of that suspense element in it that I love. Not sure if you noticed. The drums when Larry Wilcox is running away at the beginning are from season 1. The attempted hit at the shopping mall parking lot and later following Vera is all season 1 suspense music. Love it!

A Hawaiian Nightmare

Lesser of the two episodes I watched today but pretty good.

James Olson did a good job.

I liked the volcano footage (throwing in a promo for Hawai'i?).

Good flip at the end taking out Bernie and taking the money... But, the boys were ready.

MPI: Keep your hands off of Luther's Blanche (Sheree North)

Yes, this one is a step down from the fantastic season opener, but it's still very good. Love all the wiring of the explosives at the Volcanoes National Park at the start, all to the tune of a very cool Morton Stevens cue! This is the second of James Olson's 5 appearances on the show. His relationship with his wife Sheree North is interesting. And again the top expert in the field that is working with Five-O on the case is the mastermind himself. For whatever reason I always thought the garage opener remote control at the end to stop the explosives was ridiculous, even as a kid. I guess it's not so much the garage opener that's ridiculous (I suppose it could operate on the same frequency as the bomb) but the fact that somehow McGarrett is able to mentally flashback to the garage opener and somehow figure out that that's the remote for the bomb. I mean why would that be a clue? Were garage openers not common back then? Was it something too unique and therefore was a tip-off? I don't get it. I know that McGarrett was running out of time and basically grasping at straws but the fact that he thought about the garage door opener and it actually WORKED seems far-fetched to me. Other than that it was a very good episode.

[T.Q.]

So it looks like we're on season 7 now.

How would you rate season 6 overall, T.Q.? Here is my ranking:

1. Hookman
2. Nightmare in Blue
3. Draw Me a Killer
4. Secret Witness
5. Murder is a Taxing Affair
6. A Bullet for El Diablo
7. Mother's Deadly Helper
8. One Big Happy Family
9. One Born Every Minute
10. 30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key
11. Anybody Can Build a Bomb
12. The Sunday Torch
13. The $100,000 Nickel
14. Death With Father
15. The Banzai Pipeline
16. The Flip Side is Death
17. Flash of Color, Flash of Death
18. The Finishing Touch
19. Murder With a Golden Touch
20. Why Wait Until Uncle Kevin Dies?
21. Killer at Sea
22. Tricks are Not Treats
23. Try to Die on Time
24. Charter for Death

Excellent list.

Thanks.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

So it looks like we're on season 7 now.

How would you rate season 6 overall, T.Q.? Here is my ranking:

1. Hookman
2. Nightmare in Blue
3. Draw Me a Killer
4. Secret Witness
5. Murder is a Taxing Affair
6. A Bullet for El Diablo
7. Mother's Deadly Helper
8. One Big Happy Family
9. One Born Every Minute
10. 30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key
11. Anybody Can Build a Bomb
12. The Sunday Torch
13. The $100,000 Nickel
14. Death With Father
15. The Banzai Pipeline
16. The Flip Side is Death
17. Flash of Color, Flash of Death
18. The Finishing Touch
19. Murder With a Golden Touch
20. Why Wait Until Uncle Kevin Dies?
21. Killer at Sea
22. Tricks are Not Treats
23. Try to Die on Time
24. Charter for Death

Excellent list.

Thanks.

I'm going to start badgering you for your list pretty soon!

[T.Q.]

I'm going to start badgering you for your list pretty soon!

Honestly, my memory is so bad and I'm watching so many episodes a month, they kinda get blurred together.

I read Flash of Color, Flash of Death for example and would need to backtrack and look up the synopsis to remember.

It would be a daunting task after a single watch of the series to compile my ranking lists.

Or I'm just too lazy.

I loved Season 6 (and 5 for that matter).

You're Top 10 look pretty bang on for me though.

1. Hookman
2. Nightmare in Blue
3. Draw Me a Killer
4. Mother's Deadly Helper
5. 30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key
6. Secret Witness
7. One Born Every Minute
8. Murder is a Taxing Affair
9. A Bullet for El Diablo
10. One Big Happy Family

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I'm going to start badgering you for your list pretty soon!

Honestly, my memory is so bad and I'm watching so many episodes a month, they kinda get blurred together.

I read Flash of Color, Flash of Death for example and would need to backtrack and look up the synopsis to remember.

It would be a daunting task after a single watch of the series to compile my ranking lists.

Or I'm just too lazy.

I loved Season 6 (and 5 for that matter).

You're Top 10 look pretty bang on for me though.

1. Hookman
2. Nightmare in Blue
3. Draw Me a Killer
4. Mother's Deadly Helper
5. 30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key
6. Secret Witness
7. One Born Every Minute
8. Murder is a Taxing Affair
9. A Bullet for El Diablo
10. One Big Happy Family

Ah, that's more like it! You basically just reordered my list a bit but I guess that's ok. Great episodes are great episodes.

If I can get at least a top 10 from you going forward that would be great. Or at the very least a top 5!