Hawaii Five-O: Any Fans?

[Pahonu]

For Old Times Sake

Not very good.

That's it. That's the review.

MPI: Bob Hoy, Ric Marlow, Yankee Chang, Bill Bigelow

LOL!

To be honest, and please don't tell Z-Ivan, I'm officially burned out after 12,645 minutes of Hawaii Five-0.

Finally hit a brick wall.

I understand. That’s a big time investment. You are almost there though. Season 12 was a little shorter than the rest, and while the final episode with Wo Fat isn’t brilliant, it features Pahonu more than any episode, I think.

[T.Q.]

I understand. That’s a big time investment. You are almost there though. Season 12 was a little shorter than the rest, and while the final episode with Wo Fat isn’t brilliant, it features Pahonu more than any episode, I think.

Not so much the time. I do my weights 3X/week watching something anyway.

I've loved the series. It's just plain a lot of dang episodes and I'm ready to move on.

Looking forward to the series finale.

[Pahonu]

I understand. That’s a big time investment. You are almost there though. Season 12 was a little shorter than the rest, and while the final episode with Wo Fat isn’t brilliant, it features Pahonu more than any episode, I think.

Not so much the time. I do my weights 3X/week watching something anyway.

I've loved the series. It's just plain a lot of dang episodes and I'm ready to move on.

Looking forward to the series finale.

It is a LOT! Now that I think of it, perhaps the reason that you seem to like some of the final season episodes more than most is because of the big changes? A largely new cast stirs things up a little at least.

[T.Q.]

It is a LOT! Now that I think of it, perhaps the reason that you seem to like some of the final season episodes more than most is because of the big changes? A largely new cast stirs things up a little at least.

Great point and I think you are correct, Sir.

I like Kimo and Truck (Lori is kinda invisible) quite a bit and, on reflection, that's probably a big reason why. Just a change.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

For Old Times Sake

Not very good.

That's it. That's the review.

MPI: Bob Hoy, Ric Marlow, Yankee Chang, Bill Bigelow

That's all you have to say about it? You're not burned out by any chance, are you?

Yeah, it's not a very good one. It's not terrible either. One thing of note here is a young Kelly Palzis! Who's Kelly Palzis, you may ask? KELLY PRESTON, Mrs. John Travolta (recently deceased). She was born in Hawaii and this must have been a very early acting gig for her. I think she was around 17 here. She's one of the shoplifting girls at the beginning, who make their getaway with the elderly thief Willie.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

T.Q. burned out?

I still think it has more to do with the decreasing quality of the episodes rather than the sheer number of them. Sure, 12 seasons is a lot. But if the last 3 seasons were of the high quality that we saw during seasons 5 or 6 I think T.Q. would have been more upbeat about them. Let's face it - even a die-hard fan like me can't get too excited about the 12th season (even with the nostalgia in mind). Even if T.Q. is more receptive towards many of these than the fanbase in general is, you still gotta admit that the steam is long gone from this show. The addition of Kimo and Truck just ain't gonna cut it. The music isn't the same, the level of acting, the writing, the cinematography is pretty flat by this point (no Dutch angles, that's for sure). Just ain't the same.

[T.Q.]

T.Q. burned out?

I still think it has more to do with the decreasing quality of the episodes rather than the sheer number of them. Sure, 12 seasons is a lot. But if the last 3 seasons were of the high quality that we saw during seasons 5 or 6 I think T.Q. would have been more upbeat about them. Let's face it - even a die-hard fan like me can't get too excited about the 12th season (even with the nostalgia in mind). Even if T.Q. is more receptive towards many of these than the fanbase in general is, you still gotta admit that the steam is long gone from this show. The addition of Kimo and Truck just ain't gonna cut it. The music isn't the same, the level of acting, the writing, the cinematography is pretty flat by this point (no Dutch angles, that's for sure). Just ain't the same.

Possibly.

I think of some great recent shows.

Something like Breaking Bad.

You were sad it was over but when would fatigue have set in?

It's definitely good to go out on top.

I watched the Blacklist with wifey as an example.

We enjoyed it. Last few seasons I just stopped watching. Not necessarily because the episodes are bad. It had just sort of run its course for me personally.

[Pahonu]

T.Q. burned out?

I still think it has more to do with the decreasing quality of the episodes rather than the sheer number of them. Sure, 12 seasons is a lot. But if the last 3 seasons were of the high quality that we saw during seasons 5 or 6 I think T.Q. would have been more upbeat about them. Let's face it - even a die-hard fan like me can't get too excited about the 12th season (even with the nostalgia in mind). Even if T.Q. is more receptive towards many of these than the fanbase in general is, you still gotta admit that the steam is long gone from this show. The addition of Kimo and Truck just ain't gonna cut it. The music isn't the same, the level of acting, the writing, the cinematography is pretty flat by this point (no Dutch angles, that's for sure). Just ain't the same.

Possibly.

I think of some great recent shows.

Something like Breaking Bad.

You were sad it was over but when would fatigue have set in?

It's definitely good to go out on top.

I watched the Blacklist with wifey as an example.

We enjoyed it. Last few seasons I just stopped watching. Not necessarily because the episodes are bad. It had just sort of run its course for me personally.

Selleck frequently talked about the fact that MPI was one of a small percentage of shows in that era to end before being cancelled, and he had actually wanted to end it at 7 seasons. He talked of being tired and the fact that it had run its course.

I very much recall the media comments on the final season being seven. For at least part of that season, we all thought we were watching the final episodes. A deal for a limited season eight was struck before the season finale, so we didn’t think that was the end, but it wasn’t much before it aired if I recall correctly.

[Pahonu]

Not trying to restart an argument, but for what it’s worth, METV, just showed Tricks Are Not Treats, so it’s still being shown, if not on H&I.

I DVR’d it and just started watching. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this one. Lots of good actors though, Glynn Turman, Seth Sakai, Gregory Sierra, and Pat Morita even showed up. It does seem to be capitalizing on the popularity of blaxploitation films at the time, which is a bit distracting. McGarrett says “trick city” He’s Super Fly! If not Super Fly TNT!

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Not trying to restart an argument, but for what it’s worth, METV, just showed Tricks Are Not Treats, so it’s still being shown, if not on H&I.

I DVR’d it and just started watching. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this one. Lots of good actors though, Glynn Turman, Seth Sakai, Gregory Sierra, and Pat Morita even showed up. It does seem to be capitalizing on the popularity of blaxploitation films at the time, which is a bit distracting. McGarrett says “trick city” He’s Super Fly! If not Super Fly TNT!

Don't forget Ron Glass as fellow pimp J. Paul, who gets offed within the first 5 minutes of the show, by some barefooted Chinese guy (if I recall correctly). Ron Glass and Gregory Sierra would star together in BARNEY MILLER the following year!

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

T.Q. burned out?

I still think it has more to do with the decreasing quality of the episodes rather than the sheer number of them. Sure, 12 seasons is a lot. But if the last 3 seasons were of the high quality that we saw during seasons 5 or 6 I think T.Q. would have been more upbeat about them. Let's face it - even a die-hard fan like me can't get too excited about the 12th season (even with the nostalgia in mind). Even if T.Q. is more receptive towards many of these than the fanbase in general is, you still gotta admit that the steam is long gone from this show. The addition of Kimo and Truck just ain't gonna cut it. The music isn't the same, the level of acting, the writing, the cinematography is pretty flat by this point (no Dutch angles, that's for sure). Just ain't the same.

Possibly.

I think of some great recent shows.

Something like Breaking Bad.

You were sad it was over but when would fatigue have set in?

It's definitely good to go out on top.

I watched the Blacklist with wifey as an example.

We enjoyed it. Last few seasons I just stopped watching. Not necessarily because the episodes are bad. It had just sort of run its course for me personally.

"24" was a show that I adored and thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread!!! The first 5 seasons for me were flawless, riveting television. MUST SEE TV! I was on pins and needles the whole time through those first 5 seasons. Then season 6 happened and for the first time I felt like I was watching it out of some kind of obligation. It was the first time that I found episodes lacking or meandering and when the season ended it was the first time that the show disappointed me after a brilliant 5-season run. Then luckily the show rebounded with season 7 which ended up being pretty great (the Washington DC location change helped) but then with season 8 I was back to that feeling where it started being a chore again - at least for the first half of the season. It rebounded in a major way in the second half when Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) made a surprise return to the series. Those who are familiar with the show know what a great character Logan was!

So yeah, a drop in quality will inevitably contribute to a feeling of being burnt out. Especially when you compare with what came before. In the case of "24" it was just a case of too much repetition of stuff we had seen earlier where it had been handled much better. Another mole in CTU, another shocking death, another shocking reveal, another doomsday ticking clock, etc. In the earlier seasons it was novel. Later it just became repetitive and tired. The show seemed to develop some kind of morbid fascination with death and no chance of happiness for anyone involved. Every shocking twist had to end badly for someone. I remember fans saying that if the writers actually decided to give someone a happy ending that would actually be a legitimately great twist that the audience wouldn't expect. Alas that never happened. Pity....

[T.Q.]

The Golden Noose

Thought this one was alright.

Murder, mayhem, guns, lasers, gold, heist... Okay stuff.

They robbed Joe Moore of a promising news anchor career!

Melting the gold was silly but cool still if you can suspend your disbelief.

MPI: Irene Yah-Ling Sun, Ed Lauter, Ed Fernandez, Bill Bigelow, Joe Moore, Harold J.K. Iseke, Harry Chang, John Stalker

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

The Golden Noose

Thought this one was alright.

Murder, mayhem, guns, lasers, gold, heist... Okay stuff.

They robbed Joe Moore of a promising news anchor career!

Melting the gold was silly but cool still if you can suspend your disbelief.

MPI: Irene Yah-Ling Sun, Ed Lauter, Ed Fernandez, Bill Bigelow, Joe Moore, Harold J.K. Iseke, Harry Chang, John Stalker

I used to think this one was alright too (maybe even pretty good). Gold melting heist and all that sounds pretty cool. Until my last watch of it where I realized how ludicrous and lazy the whole presentation is. Not only the gold bars melting scheme (they actually had something like this in an episode of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE more than a decade earlier with Pernell Roberts - "The Mercenaries", a very good episode and done more believably than here) but just in the cheap way it's presented with lousy laser effects and lots of logistical and common sense/timing issues with this ludicrous heist. On top of that there's this crazy scene where the trucks that are supposed to carry the stolen gold arrive to some kind of opening in the side of a cliff. You can clearly tell that the opening is maybe only high enough for a fairly short person to walk into without hunching over. Yet somehow these big trucks manage to drive inside???? It's like something from a really bad B-movie where they would use models that clearly look like models and don't scale to anything surrounding it. If I'm not mistaken they even have guys standing next to this opening where you can see just how small it is. Yet in the next scene they cut to trucks going down this tunnel and we're supposed to believe those trucks somehow entered through that opening?? Bull-crap!!

Oh and let's not forget the scene that's supposed to take place in the middle of the night but it's broad daylight outside. It's while the heist is going on and McG and Kimo (I think) are standing outside of this bank that's getting heisted. The outside clock is even showing that it's like 4am but you can see that it's pure daylight. Wow, talk about laziness. Couldn't film when it was a little bit dark? Or even use day for night if you have to. Anything would have been better than what we got. I certainly don't remember seeing anything like this in the earlier seasons. By this point they weren't even trying. Just being laaaaazy....

I dunno... I just remember being particularly pissed by this episode when I last watched it. Those things I mentioned above just really irked me. Felt like a high-school production to me.

[T.Q.]

You’re getting cynical in your old age.

“Get off my lawn!”

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

You’re getting cynical in your old age.

“Get off my lawn!”

Yeah I'm sorry but some things just don't pass my BS smell test. It's like, come on, you're a well-established show with 11 seasons behind you. Get your rear end over to the Diamond Head tunnel entrance (which you've used COUNTLESS times on the show!) and then just show me those trucks entering that tunnel. As you have done in the past. Voila, believable! Don't show me some fake looking model of a cliff opening and expect me to believe that a convoy of trucks can enter that thing! It's like someone got hit with a stupid stick and forgot how they did a scene like this previously. Save this kind of "movie-making" for your backyard with your hand-held camcorder. We as fans expect better, even during the 12th season. Don't insult us!

Rant over. See? I'm happy.