Hawaii Five-O (1968-80) — Season 1 Episode Reviews

Hawaii Five-O (1968-80) — Season 1 Episode Reviews

INCLUDING ODDITIES, GOOFS AND TRIVIA

Copyright �1994-2023 by Mike Quigley. No reproduction of any kind without permission.


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RETURN TO THE SITE'S MAIN PAGECOMPREHENSIVE INDEX


The 50th anniversary of Classic Five-O's original run (1968-1980) began in 2018, and as of that date I redid my reviews of shows, some of which had not been updated since the mid-1990s, when my web site first appeared. (Other early versions of the web site can be found at the Internet Archive: See Original URL (http://www.mjq.net/fiveo) and New URL (http://www.fiveohomepage.com).) My new "anal-ysis" is often many times larger than what appeared previously. In order to jump around on the page, there are links back to the Quick Index near the top of the page which will take you to specific episodes.


SEASON ONE (1968-1969) - QUICK INDEX

The numbering system below uses Season/Episode numbers, i.e., S01E01 = Season One, Episode One. It also includes the numbering system found in Karen Rhodes' Booking Hawaii Five-O. These are the numbers in (parentheses). The two-part pilot episode is an exception to the second numbering system.

S01E00 (0) - Pilot Episode ("Cocoon") (Nancy Kwan, Leslie Nielsen, Andrew Duggan, James Gregory, Khigh Dhiegh, Lew Ayres, Philip Ahn)
S01E01 (1) - Full Fathom Five (Kevin McCarthy, Louise Troy, Patricia Smith, Philip Pine)
S01E02 (2) - Strangers In Our Own Land (Simon Oakland, Milton Selzer, Hilo Hattie)
S01E03 (3) - Tiger By The Tail (Sal Mineo, Harold J. Stone, Sam Melville, Ion Berger)
S01E04 (4) - Samurai (Ricardo Montalban, Carolyn Barrett, Karen Norris)
S01E05 (5) - ....And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin (Gavin MacLeod, Charlotte Considine)
S01E06 (6) - Twenty-Four Karat Kill (Kaz Garas, Marj Dusay, Paul Richards)
S01E07 (7) - The Ways of Love (James Patterson, Don Knight)
S01E08 (8) - No Blue Skies (Tommy Sands, Bob Random, Sandra Smith)
S01E09 (9) - By The Numbers (Johnny Crawford, Ann Helm, Will Kuluva, Jonathan Lippe)
S01E10 (10) - Yesterday Died And Tomorrow Won't Be Born (John Larch, Vivi Janiss, Paul Picerni)
S01E11 (11) - Deathwatch (Nehemiah Persoff, James Shigeta, Maura McGiveney)
S01E12 (12) - Pray Love Remember, Pray Love Remember (Denny Miller, Ron Feinberg)
S01E13 (13) - King Of The Hill (Yaphet Kotto, Jeff Corey, L.Q. Jones, Richard Bull)
S01E14 (14) - Up Tight (Brenda Scott, Ed Flanders, John McLiam)
S01E15 (15) - Face Of The Dragon (David Opatoshu, Nancy Kovak, Herb Jeffries, Jackie Coogan, Victor Sen Yung, Soon-Tek Oh)
S01E16 (16) - The Box (Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Gavin MacLeod, Bob Doyle, R.G. Armstrong)
S01E17 (17) - One For The Money (Farley Granger, Jeanette Nolan, Paul Collins)
S01E18 (18) - Along Came Joey (Mark Richman, Jesse White, Frank de Kova, Jean Hale)
S01E19 & S01E20 (19 & 20) - Once Upon A Time, Parts I & II (Joanne Linville, Nancy Malone, David Sheiner, Beah Richards, John Carter, Bartlett Robinson, William Schallert, Bill Zuckert, Davis Roberts)
S01E21 (21) - Not That Much Different (Dennis Cooney, Stewart Moss, Jadeen Vaughn, Lee Paul, Anne Prentiss)
S01E22 (22) - Six Kilos (Antoinette Bower, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Than Wyenn)
S01E23 (23) - The Big Kahuna (Sally Kellerman, John Marley, Robert Colbert, Peter Leeds)
S01E24 & S01E25 - Cocoon (Pilot episode in two parts)

Previous (Pilot Episode) • Next Season (Two) • COMPREHENSIVE INDEXSeason IndexSite's Main Page


RATINGS:
★★★★ = One of the very best episodes, a must-see.
★★★ = Better than average, worthy of attention.
★★ = Average, perhaps with a few moments of interest.
= Below average, a show to avoid.


1. (S01E01) “Full Fathom Five” ★★★

Original air date: 9/26/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Richard Benedict; Producer: Joseph Gantman; Writer: Ken Kolb; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 4:31; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 8:06; Act Two: 12:23; Act Three: 11:33; Act Four: 12:45; End Credits: 0:54; Total Time: 51:09.
NOTE: For the DVD act timings like the above as well as timings in music suites, I've used two different Sony Blu-Ray players. The current model is BDP-S6700.

QUICK PLOT:

Recently widowed women who come to Hawaii for a holiday are preyed on and murdered by a serial killer.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

Victor Reese, also known as Rawlins (Kevin McCarthy), and Nora (Louise Troy), his wife, posing as his sister, have a "successful, proven operation" bilking well-off single women and widows out of large amounts of money, then killing them with aconite (a real poison) and dumping them in the ocean. A serial killer as well as a con artist, Reese is charming but deadly.

As the show and series begins, Reese toasts his next victim Anne Hayes (Jane Thorpe) with champagne on his yacht. Nora shows some cleavage, and the music by Morton Stevens is dissonant. Hayes is knocked off using Reese's M.O. and he tells Nora, "It took her long enough [to die]." Anne's body is put into a drum, the top is closed, and it is thrown into the water. Nora tells her husband, "Say our poem," and Reese recites lines similar to some from Shakespeare's The Tempest (see below) as the drum sinks below the surface, no doubt a ritual with all of their victims.

The scene switches to the Iolani Palace, Five-O headquarters, where Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) grabs his secretary May (Maggi Parker) on the way into his office. He addresses her as "love," and gets her to bring him coffee. She does not complain about any of this.

The appearance shortly after of lawyer Tyler Skaggs (Philip Pine) is a good excuse to introduce the members of the Five-O team: Danny ("Danno") Williams (James MacArthur, replacing Tim O'Kelly from the pilot), Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong) and Kono Kalakaua (Zulu). Skaggs is trying to locate his client Martha Finch (Arlene McQuade), who has seemingly disappeared, and he is annoyed about Five-O's lack of progress in tracking her down. McGarrett tells him bluntly, "When somebody vanishes as completely as this for this length of time, either Martha Finch wanted to disappear or she's dead."

Later, McGarrett wants to talk to the Governor (Richard Denning). He meets the Governor's receptionist Milly on the Iolani Palace steps (Peggy Ryan, who later becomes McGarrett's receptionist Jenny). Milly says the Governor is at "the place he goes when he usually doesn't wanna be disturbed." He is nearby sitting under a banyan tree eating his lunch, including some papaya — obviously there are no security issues. McGarrett tells the Governor that in searching for Martha Finch, they uncovered at least 10 other women who "disappeared." The Governor, concerned about the safety of the "two million guests" who pass through Hawaii a year, says this has "got to be stopped." There are some interesting camera angles during their conversation.

Five-O's search for Martha Finch is a red herring, since she has been living with a bunch of hippies on a Honolulu beach. McGarrett checks out this "subculture" with Skaggs, finding the lawyer's reaction to it amusing. Martha tells her lawyer, "This hippie scene may not be the answer, but it's taught me one thing: I can do what I want. And I dearly wanna be rid of you." So she fires him. As he leaves Skaggs, McGarrett tells him "Peace, brother."

Five-O determines that Reese, using the name Rawlins, is connected to the other missing women because he was "the one common link" in every case, having been on all the cruise ships which brought the women to Hawaii. McGarrett wants to use policewoman Joyce Weber (Patricia Smith) as bait for Reese's scheme which results in tension between him and Danno, who objects to this plan. Danno says, "I don't like it," but McGarrett tells him "Nobody asked you." He asks Danno to manufacture bogus ID and a complete cover history for Joyce. Danno sarcastically replies, "Forgery was my best subject." As Danno leaves the room, McGarrett gives him a dirty look.

Joyce and Danno fly to San Francisco where they take a cruise ship back to Hawaii. On board, Reese meets Joyce, and she pretends to fall into his trap. Unknown to Reese, Danno is acting as her protector and also snoops in Reese's stateroom to dig up evidence against him. After they arrive on Oahu, Reese romances Joyce, convincing her to lend him some money to complete a land purchase where they can build a "honeymoon house."

Joyce has a letter of credit and gets $30,000 transferred to a Honolulu bank. All of the women that Reese killed were able to obtain similar large amounts. In every case, there was a large money transfer from a mainland bank just before the woman disappeared. Ann Hayes, for example, used a letter of credit from her bank in Cincinnati. But why would someone who was just coming to Hawaii, presumably just for a vacation, have a letter of credit like this?

The scene before the finale on Reese's yacht jumps ahead — it's almost as if the writers realized they had to wrap up the episode quickly. Joyce drops the glass of poisoned champagne, part of Reese's "celebration," pretending to be nervous, and Reese tells her "We're getting ready to kill you � I was hoping you'd have the grace to die with a smile on your lips like the others have. But unfortunately, your clumsiness has ruined all that." All of this is captured on a tape recorder nearby being monitored by McGarrett via a transmitter bug planted on Joyce.

There are some continuity issues earlier when McGarrett is taking Joyce to the airport for her assignment with the cars behind them, and when Reese is shot and killed at the end of the show. As well, the "Aloha Baby" sign which covers up the real name of Reese's yacht, Grand Marlin, is seen floating in the water at the end near the place where Kono pronounces Reese dead. Considering it was just seen on Reese's yacht, it is not logical that it could detach itself and float some distance away in a few seconds.

Despite these goofs, this is a good show, with the plot integrated well into the Hawaiian setting. McCarthy, who will appear again in season nine's "The Last of the Great Paperhangers," is very oily as Reese, and Patricia Smith has the right amount of apprehension playing the decoy.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

It is taken from the first line of Arial's song from Shakespeare's The Tempest with the sex changed to "her" from "him." This is Shakespeare's original:

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them — Ding-dong, bell.

This is Victor's variation:

Full fathom five the widow lies,
And of her bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were her eyes.
Nothing of her now doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring her knell:
Hark! now I hear them — Ding-dong, bell.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 00:16, 00:00, First appearance of Reese and his yacht.
#2, 01:17, 04:12, 00:16, Ann is poisoned; her body is put in a barrel and dumped overboard; Reese recites from Shakespeare; main titles.
#3, 05:29, 00:26, 04:28, Introduction to the Five-O team in McGarrett's office; Tyler Skaggs.
#4, 10:51, 00:43, 04:54, McGarrett meets with the Governor.
#5, 13:25, 00:08, 05:37, Wave at end of Act One.
#6, 14:05, 03:54, 05:45, Guitar music played by Pepito at the hippie compound.
#7, 23:07, 00:26, 09:39, Joyce leaves for the airport in a cab after McGarrett has been prepping her.
#8, 25:20, 00:37, 10:05, Reese has his eyes on Joyce; Wave at end of Act Two.
#9, 25:58, 04:28, 10:42, Reese snoops in Joyce's room; Danno cautions Joyce; Reese becomes chummy with Joyce; Danno snoops in Reese's room.
#10, 31:31, 02:47, 15:10, A brass band plays as he cruise ship arrives in Honolulu; Joyce and Reese disembark; Danno meets McGarrett.
#11, 37:08, 00:20, 17:57, McGarrett leaves after meeting Joyce in her room; Wave at end of Act Three.
#12, 41:20, 00:58, 18:17, Reese makes plans with Joyce for a "honeymoon house."
#13, 44:23, 01:12, 19:15, An intense police search for Reese's yacht begins.
#14, 46:33, 00:27, 20:27, Danno and McGarrett ride in a helicopter during the search for the boat.
#15, 48:14, 02:17, 20:54, Reese and Nora try to kill Joyce; Reese is killed in a gun battle on the dock.

FURTHER MUSICAL ANAL-YSIS: (I don't intend to do this too often...)

The score to Full Fathom Five (FFF) is quite clever:

#1 - This brief cue is the first appearance of what we could call the FFF theme, or maybe Reese's theme.
#2 - There are brief references to the FFF theme (a 3-note melody going up) at 0:24, 0:36, 1:38 and 1:47. It returns in full as Reese recites the poem from Shakespeare.
#3 - The FFF theme appears again as Skaggs enters the Iolani Palace.
#4 - The H50 theme is heard.
#7 - The H50 theme is heard again, McGarrett looks like he is having regrets at using Joyce to catch Reese after she leaves.
#8 - As Reese walks by Joyce, we hear the FFF theme again; it is recognizable but dissonant, almost "bitter," suggesting what trouble Reese is going to make for her.
#9 - After an opening theme representing the ship, we hear the FFF theme at 0:09 played by woodwinds over pizzicato strings as Reese goes to Joyce's room. We see Danno is watching Reese from nearby (H50 theme at 0:38). Later, after some background cocktail-like music, we hear the H50 theme again played with woodwind interjections starting at 2:47 as Danno enters Reese's room.
#11 - FFF theme as McGarrett leaves Joyce's hotel room prior to the Wave, where there is a slight reference to the FFF theme.
#12 - The FFF theme is played by low piano (sounds very creepy and ominous!) as Reese talks about celebrating on a "sunset cruise" with Joyce.
#13 - FFF theme on flutes at 0:32 and muted horn at 0:54.
#15 - There are Jaws-like sounds in the basses at the beginning! Reese talks about killing Joyce (FFF theme at 0:16; it also appears during the shooting around 1:00 and continues in the cellos from around 1:21. The cue ends with great Stevens writing for lower brass in octaves!

GALLERY:

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2. (S01E02) “Strangers In Our Own Land” ★★�

Original air date: 10/3/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Herschel Daugherty; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writers: John Kneubuhl & Herman Groves (teleplay), John Kneubuhl (story); Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 1:40; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 12:18; Act Two: 15:48; Act Three: 10:22; Act Four: 9:09; End Credits: 0:57; Total Time: 51:11.

QUICK PLOT:

A land commissioner is assassinated in a bomb explosion because of his pro-development policies.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This episode is topical, dealing with the way native Hawaiians have been exploited in the name of progress.

The show begins with one of my favorite special effects of the whole series — the spectacular bomb blast in the taxi at the airport which wipes out Land Commissioner Nathan Manu (Lord Kaulili), who is returning to Oahu.

The prime suspect in Manu's killing is tracked down quickly, thanks to a woman named "Grace Willis" (Jeanne Bates) who was filming with a home movie camera at the airport, though the resulting film shows various things at random, including a shot of the suspect just before he slipped an attach� case which contained the bomb through Manu's cab window. But when we see him walking quickly through the terminal, he does not have the case. Grace tells Five-O, who soon arrive on the scene, that "I saw this young man hurry by with a small leather case. He put it in the taxi and then hurried away. He went right past me."

The film from this camera, a Kodak M20 Instamatic, is seemingly developed very quickly, because Five-O and other cop types are soon watching it in McGarrett's office.

Certain tropes which will appear in future episodes are seen in this and subsequent scenes: Chin Ho is in charge of audio-visual equipment, similar to Chin Ho in the Five-0 reboot (Daniel Dae Kim) and a freeze-frame is used with the movie projector, along with slow-motion, reversing the film and "sharpening" the images. A friend of mine who is knowledgeable about such things told me reversing the film is something easy to do, but if 8mm and 16mm projectors do a freeze frame, they have to "automatically place a heavy glass in front of the shutter to prevent burning the film; this also cuts down on the light emission and makes the picture quite dark."

Another trope is the ability to quickly track down the suspect, suggesting that Honolulu around the time of the show was "not such a big town." However, the population of Honolulu in 1968 was 425,000, not a small number. In 1959, the year Hawaii became a state, it was 324,000 and in 1980 when the show ended, it was 584,000.

McGarrett is summoned to the Governor's office where his boss describes Manu as "one of Hawaii's finest citizens" and also "a close, personal friend." The Governor had received a letter from Manu, who was returning to Hawaii from San Diego earlier than expected. This letter was placed on the Governor's desk by someone unknown. It said "Important I meet with you on urgent matter." No one other than the Governor knew about this letter. McGarrett, urged by the Governor to "pull out all the stops," visits Manu's widow Kiana (Ann Barton), who also didn't know her husband was returning early, though he had telephoned her. She declines to discuss his most recent call, saying that it was "private and personal."

While visiting Mrs. Manu, McGarrett meets her husband's "best friend" Benny Kalua (Simon Oakland) and Kalua's daughter Leilani (Mary Liana Petranek). Later, when Benny is alone with McGarrett, he comes forth with a disturbing comment that a medal should be pinned on Manu's killer. Kalua is emotionally torn over the death of his friend, remembering when he and Manu used to play in Waikiki which is now "hotels, beaches, shops, tourists, glamour � money." He says, "Nate loved the land until a few years ago, then he changed. All of a sudden, he was all for those high-rise buildings, and housing projects, condominiums, freeways. Never mind the Hawaiian and the land."

Shown a picture of the suspect, presumably taken from the home movie footage, Kalua doesn't know who he is. McGarrett is summoned back to the office, because Lester Willighby (Milton Selzer), a "little man" trying to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the bombing, says, as an "enforcer," he murdered Manu, that he was hired by the mainland mob to kill him because of gambling debts and now he wants "protection." I found this red herring to be a distraction, unlike the red herring in "Full Fathom Five." There the investigation ending with the discovery of the rich woman at the hippie compound led to the Five-O team uncovering almost a dozen women who had been murdered. Willighby is soon tripped up because his description of how he knocked off Manu doesn't jibe with what really happened.

No sooner is Willighby taken away, than a report comes in that Chin Ho has identified the suspect as Tommy Kapali from information at his high school. No idea how many high schools there were in Honolulu in 1968, the current (2023) number is 64.

McGarrett goes to Tommy's address from his school records; he is not there, but his mother is, played by the iconic Hilo Hattie. There is a touching scene where McGarrett interrogates her. She tells him that she hasn't seen her son for about a year, that Tommy is "sick in the head long time now. But he's better now, honest. He's better now." She is hesitant to give any other information, but McGarrett convinces her to tell him "He work on big construction job by Pearl City. Boss man name, Mr. Milner."

At the construction site for Milner's Hawaii Hou Village, McGarrett encounters the foreman, Saunders (Milton Hibdon), who gives him a bunch of mouth and directs him to their downtown office. At that location, McGarrett meets Milner (Paul Kent). Both Saunders and Milner say that Tommy was a "real troublemaker," "always shooting his mouth off." Milner further says that Tommy was telling the other workmen "we were destroying the land, not building it. He even claimed the land belonged to them. I've run into his kind before � You've gotta stop treating these Hawaiians like children. You've got to use the land, make it work for them. Provide them with jobs � I've never seen a race of people die out anywhere, when they had good jobs or money in the bank."

McGarrett goes to Tommy's current address which he gets from Milner. He finds Tommy dead, hanging as if he committed suicide. The medical examiner later says that Tommy died from a broken neck, and there were no signs of a struggle on his body. Further information is received that Tommy was connected with a bomb-disposal unit in Vietnam, but he was shipped home and discharged: "Section 8 � mentally disturbed." A grenade was used to trigger the bomb and when McGarrett returns to the construction site, three sticks of dynamite are found to be missing. He says that everything they have found so far is "too pat. All the pieces go together. You could put a ribbon around this one and mail it in."

The Five-O team look at the film from Grace again. Manu arrived on the plane at 7:30 that morning (they are still working hard the same day!) but clocks on the wall show that the time the film was shot was 4:15, either AM or PM. Tommy was lured to the airport where he was filmed and set up to be a patsy for Manu's assassination, especially considering his past experience with explosives and his temperament. McGarrett phones the police station, but Grace has already picked up her camera. Information she left leads to a phony name and phony address � a vacant lot. Kalua's daughter shows up at the office and tells McGarrett that Tommy — who was her boyfriend — "wouldn't hurt anybody."

McGarrett goes to Benny's office where he confronts him about the fact that he very likely knew that Tommy was his daughter's boyfriend. Kalua says that he didn't want to drag his daughter "into a thing like this. I was only trying to protect her, that's all." McGarret drops a bombshell on Benny as far as Manu is concerned — he had gone to San Diego for a medical checkup which determined that he had terminal cancer, so "whoever pulled that pin [from the grenade] on him killed a walking dead man."

A fingerprint from the the camera's paperwork from Grace Willis at the police station is determined to be that of a woman named Anne Wilson. Danno goes to her house which is located at 122 Kaalawai Place (a real address) to find an employee of Benny's (whom we have seen at Benny's night club previously) strangling her. Danno seriously wounds the guy as he tries to escape. McGarrett and Kono show up very quickly, even though it would probably take them at least 15 minutes to get to Wilson's location from Five-O headquarters.

Lying on the floor, Wilson keeps us in suspense, croaking to McGarrett: "He used us. He used us all � He didn't care about anybody. That poor kid. Tommy Kapali. He phoned Commissioner Manu. Learned when he was coming home. He used Tommy and then he killed him. He used me, and then he tried to have me killed. He told me he loved me. He's gonna kill Mr. Milner. He said he was gonna take him up there and bury him." She finally reveals who was behind the murder of Manu: "Benny, Benny. Benny Kalua."

McGarrett, Danno and Kono seemingly jump in their cars and rush to Pearl City, which would take them at least 25 minutes to get to! (Do they leave Grace on the floor?) Benny is about to murder Milner at the construction site, saying that he and others "are changing this island into a concrete jungle" Having knocked Milner out, Benny tries to bury him under dirt with a bulldozer, but McGarrett wounds Benny just as he is about to do this, and he drives instead towards the hut with the dynamite. When Benny runs into it, there is a huge explosion, which kills him.

There are a lot of questions about Benny's big plan. For example, why did he phone Manu? (Grace's comment that "he" phoned Manu is confusing, it sounds like it might be Tommy, which doesn't make any sense.) If "he" means Benny, as I think it does, this suggests that he was indeed pretty close friends with Manu, though why would Benny be phoning Manu at all? If Manu came home on the expected flight on the expected day at the expected time, would an attempt still have been made on his life? There is a record, aside from the four calls between Manu and his wife, that the other call (from Benny) was made to Manu from a "public telephone" in Honolulu. There is no investigation by Five-O to determine that this phone was located somewhere where either Tommy or Benny had close access to it.

Benny may have been a manipulative person (despite Simon Oakland's relatively laid-back performance compared to his others on Five-O), but there are further questions about his big scheme to knock off his "friend."

For example, did Benny have something against Tommy Kapali, who we find out was his daughter's boyfriend? Did Kalua know that Tommy had experience with explosives in Vietnam which just happened to fit into the plan to blow up Manu (or maybe became the basis for Benny's plan)?

Kamaki (Danny Kaleikine), Benny's employee who tried to knock off Wilson who was wounded as he tried to escape, admitted to Danno, who checked on him, to "planting the bomb at the airport." This is also confusing. The color of Tommy's shirt seen in Wilson's setup film is the same as that of the guy that we see slipping Manu the attach� case with the bomb, though we do not see this person's face.

At the end of the show, the bulldozer's blade is almost reaching Milner as Benny is going to bury him, but when Benny is shot by McGarrett, the bulldozer (a piece of very heavy equipment — how did Benny know how to operate it?) suddenly swerves away and Benny gets blown up — did he realize that the jig was up, and he committed suicide?

There are also questions about the message the Governor received from Manu, which was hand-delivered to the Governor's desk so that not even his secretary had seen it: "It was left on my desk, unopened." Did Benny write this message and somehow sneak into the Governor's office and leave it there? Would the Governor recognize the handwriting if it wasn't Manu's?

What makes me laugh is that Benny was a hypocrite because he totally hated Manu for betraying the people of Hawaii by siding with developers in destroying the land, yet Benny was running a nightclub which was aimed at the tourist trade, i.e., also corrupting the "purity" of Hawaii by encouraging people (who are like "foreigners in our land") to come there, with hotels to be built to accommodate them and so forth.

Wilson suggests she was very close to Benny, quite likely his mistress ("He told me he loved me"), but what was she going to get out of his scheme? Kamaki was at Benny's club when McGarrett visited the place earlier and gave McGarrett a peculiar look like "What the heck is he doing here?" As far as I am concerned, Wilson knew far too much about everything. I'm surprised she stayed alive as long as she did!

The one saving grace (no pun intended) about this show is its photography, with outstanding color throughout. The sequence on the DVDs where Danno drives to Grace's house is amazing for its sharpness and clarity and a process shot is not being used — the camera is in front of the car.

The score by Morton Stevens is also good. There is a simple theme featuring a recorder near the beginning of the show as Kalua tells McGarrett about when he and Manu were kids which might be described as a "childhood memories" theme. This theme appears briefly at the end of the show as well.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

When he first meets with McGarrett, Benny Kalua says, "There's an old Hawaiian saying, McGarrett: 'And one day, we shall be strangers in our own land'." At the end of the show, Kono repeats this expression: "One day, we'll be strangers in our own land." A Google search of this phrase turns up various instances of it relating to Hawaii (and other jurisdictions), but there is no clear indication of when and where the phrase originated.

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death (x2): Commissioner Manu and cab driver are killed in bomb explosion at the airport.
    Death: At Tommy Kapali's place, McGarrett finds Tommy's body hanging, as if he committed suicide. Grace Willis (real name: Anne Wilson) later says that Tommy was "killed" by Benny Kalua.
    Injury: Grace Willis is strangled by Benny's employee Kamaki to the point where she almost cannot talk.
    Injury: Outside Grace's place, Danno shoots Kamaki. Danno later tells McGarrett, "He's got a bullet in his chest, but he's breathing."
    Injury: Benny hits David Milner with a gun butt at construction site.
    Injury: McGarrett shoots Benny, diverting bulldozer from Milner, who is in its path.
    Death: Benny dies when bulldozer hits building containing dynamite.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • One of the late Zoulou's favorite shows.
  • This show begins and ends with an explosion. It is also the second show in a row with a major red herring (Willighby in this one, Martha Finch in the previous).
  • Danno is seen smoking in McGarrett's office near the beginning of the show, as is another guy, presumably from HPD, who is identified as "Lieutenant." Danno wears cool sunglasses during the investigation at the airport. Willighby is smoking a cigar when he is in the Five-O office.
  • Five-O stunt man Beau Van Den Ecker is the guy who rushes quickly with an HPD cop, both carrying fire extinguishers, to spray the inside of the taxi after the bomb blast. The cab is a Hawaii Cab, number 4189, with a phone number 923-8796 on the back. Manu's body is taken away in a City and County Ambulance.
  • The United Airlines plane seen on Grace's film near the beginning of the show is a Douglas DC-8-20. Its name was "Mainliner Oahu." Delivered on May 1960, it was sold in 1978 to Sun Land Airlines and in 1981 sold to Jet Way for use as a cargo plane. It was broken up in 1983.
  • The crowd which gathers immediately after the explosion has virtually the same people in the same places watching after Manu's body is taken away, presumably several minutes later.
  • McGarrett kisses his secretary May (Maggi Parker) on his way into the office. May seems to function as a den mother, producing coffee and food for the Five-O crew at a moment's notice. Later, McGarrett tells her, "Thanks, love, what would we do without you?" She points out that they have been there all night, and it is now Sunday morning.
  • A July 1968 date is seen on a calendar for Miyasaki Produce Ltd., a wholesale dealer in "Fresh Island Fruits and Vegetables," with a phone number of 561-081. They are located at 1020 Asahi Street in some "Market Center (Bldg. No. 5)," Honolulu 96807. Their PO Box is 1315 (thanks to Jeff for a screen shot)
  • Chin Ho mispronounces "La Jolla" to McGarrett's amusement. This is also the episode where Chin swipes a hard-boiled egg off McGarrett's desk which May gave her boss for "brunch."
  • The final shot taken by Grace Willis at the airport which shows Tommy Kapali does not make sense, because it is a frontal shot, and by the time McGarrett tells Chin to freeze the projector Tommy would be out of the frame on the right. Tommy is also shown having passed under time clocks above him, but when the picture is freeze-framed, it is as if he has gone back in time, because the clocks are now visible above him again.
  • A property report for her camera which Grace Willis turned over to HPD says her bogus address is 614 Nakua Avenue (later discovered to be "an empty lot"), and the officers who took it from her were Lt. Phillip Howell and Lt. A. Bavero. This form says that Grace is 35 years old. She has a phone number which is 6 digits, in the format XXX-XXX. The date on this form seems to be June 28, 1968. The items which the police took from her are 1 Roll Exposed Movie Film, 1 8MM Movie Camera and 1 Camera Case. The value of all this stuff is $225.00.
  • When Danno goes to see Grace, he turns at the corner of 3810 Diamond Head Road and 122 Kaalawai Place, a real street corner
  • When Kalua gets on the bulldozer at the end and drives towards the developer Milner to run him over, the distance between the two of them is much further than in the previous shot where Kalua knocked Milner senseless, producing a bloody gash on his forehead.
  • At the end, watch Kono's hair as he utters the title while gazing over Milner's housing development — it's blowing in the wind one second, slicked back in the next shot, and then blowing in the wind again.
  • When McGarrett is on his way to Tommy Kapali's mother's house, he passes a street sign saying Kanoa St.
  • A copy of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin is seen with a front-page article about Tommy Kapali's death: "Suspect Slays Self." The other two headlines on the page are "House approves diluted gun bill," and "GOP has stand-bys for..."

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 01:22, 00:00, A huge blast kills Land Commissioner Nathan Manu in his taxi at the airport; includes main titles.
#2, 02:39, 00:23, 01:22, Manu's body is taken away in an ambulance; McGarrett shows up.
#3, 08:19, 00:14, 01:45, McGarrett goes to visit Manu's wife.
#4, 10:26, 02:46, 01:59, Benny remembers life with Manu, his childhood friend.
#5, 14:33, 00:21, 04:45, McGarrett returns to the office after hearing Willighby confessed to Manu's murder; Wave at end of Act One.
#6, 20:55, 01:24, 05:06, Willighby is taken away from the office, saying "For once in my life, "I wanted people to notice me."
#7, 25:11, 01:14, 06:31, McGarrett talks to Tommy's mother, trying to find out where her son is.
#8, 30:44, 01:08, 07:45, Radio music heard playing as McGarrett finds Tommy hanging, seemingly having committed suicide ("Operation Smash" from soundtrack LP); Wave at end of Act Two.
#9, 38:07, 01:20, 08:53, Hawaiian music is heard during a floor show at Benny's club.
#10, 40:32, 00:33, 10:13, McGarrett tells Benny that Manu was suffering from terminal cancer; Wave at end of Act Three.
#11, 42:50, 02:33, 10:46, Danno goes to Grace Willis's place to find some guy trying to kill her; a shoot-out follows.
#12, 46:38, 01:23, 13:20, Benny attempts to run over Milner with a bulldozer after knocking him out.
#13, 49:52, 00:23, 14:43, Kono says the title as he looks out over the condominium development.

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3. (S01E03) “Tiger By The Tail” ★★★

Original air date: 10/10/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Richard Benedict; Producer: Joseph Gantman; Writer: Sy Salkowitz; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 2:18; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 6:47; Act Two: 15:17; Act Three: 11:01; Act Four: 13:57; End Credits: 0:56; Total Time: 51:13.

QUICK PLOT:

A young singer arranges his own kidnapping as a publicity stunt, but it backfires when his father offers a huge reward and the kidnappers get greedy.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This is a good show, with excellent performances by Sal Mineo as Bobby George, a young singer who arranges to be kidnapped as a publicity stunt, Harold J. Stone as D.J. Georgiade, Bobby's estranged father and the two kidnappers, Jerry Parks (Sam Melville) and Allen Brent (Ion Berger).

Melville's character is an interesting mixture of edginess and sadism. He hoped to be Bobby's manager after the kidnapping stunt blew over and they figured offers would pour in. However, this was before Parks thought seriously about the ransom money.

The show also has some great scenes of the no-nonsense McGarrett in a "don't tell me how to do my job" frame of mind telling Bobby's moneybags father that his approach to solving the kidnapping is all wrong. Even Peter Taylor (Richard Gossett), the head of Georgiades' own security forces, tells his boss after McGarrett's prompting: "They usually kill the victim when they get the money."

There is speculation that the plot of this show was inspired by the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Junior. A New York Times review of the first season Five-O DVD box set in 2010 said the show is "plainly riffing on [that] 1963 kidnapping." This comment, incredulously, became a reference in the Wikipedia entry for the son of "Ol' Blue Eyes," and specifically refers to this Five-O episode!

Somewhat more believably, the FBI's own web page on this case tells us that at the trial for the kidnappers, "the defense tried to argue that Sinatra Junior had engineered the kidnapping as a publicity stunt, [though] the FBI had strong evidence to the contrary." Other web pages tell us that Sinatra Senior offered his son's kidnappers a million dollars, whereas they only were after $240,000. (In this Five-O show, the amount is $500,000.)

Five-O's problem-solving again employs "geeky" methods like the use of home movies in the previous episode. In this show we are dealing with reel-to-reel tapes which were very popular among hi-fi enthusiasts for years prior to 1971, when quality audio cassettes were introduced. When McGarrett and Danno are in Bobby's apartment near the beginning of the show, McGarrett picks up some boxes of these tapes to examine them. This kind of tape is used to communicate between the kidnappers and Five-O.

The way the reel-to-reel tapes are identified in the show is far-fetched. The first tape is tracked down by its "serial number." I own many such tapes dating back to the 1950s which do have numbers like serial numbers on their boxes, but I don't think there is a unique number for each tape; it's just a product identification number.

Considerable time is spent analyzing these tapes received by Five-O at TV station KGMB. Someone at IMDb reported a goof: "Instead of playing the actual voice signal from the recorded tape, they simply displayed a rounded off square wave across an oscilloscope so that even though the voice is changing, the display never moves. The audio engineer claims to see a high frequency signal when none is clearly there. Even so, it would have been better to use a spectrum analyzer instead of an oscilloscope."

McGarrett is clever, a bit too much, when he and Danno have a brainstorm after being confronted with the evidence that the same machine was used to record tapes found at Bobby's place and the first kidnap tape, thanks to certain frequencies detected on the tapes at KGMB. Danno suggests that Bobby never went back to his place after he was grabbed, and that the first message was recorded before the kidnapping. In an "AHA!" moment, McGarrett says this means the whole kidnapping is "one big fat hoax" as the camera closes in on his face with each word. But I don't think so. After all, the tape recorder is obviously at the kidnappers' hideout later, why couldn't it have been there from the beginning?

The tapes also are used to track down the kidnappers' hideout because they contain the faint sounds of Hawaiian music on a radio and the noise of a plane flying overhead in the background behind the spoken kidnap threats. The sources of these sounds are used in conjunction with triangulation on McGarrett's transparent map board. The ease with which this is accomplished, though the area for the hideout is still very large, is again using the trope that "Honolulu and Oahu was really not such a 'big' place in the late 1960s." This can also be sensed when McGarrett talks to the two women "swingers" on the beach who just happen to know both Parks and Brent.

The photography throughout, with lots of closeups and some hand-held work and shots in mirrors (director of photography is Frank Phillips), is very good as is the script, despite a large quota of overly-quoteable lines.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

According to The Free Dictionary: "Tiger by the tail: to have become associated with something powerful and potentially dangerous; to have a very difficult problem to solve."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Injury: Bobby George is beaten by his "kidnappers".
    Injury: Later, Jerry Parks slaps Bobby around after trying to force him to eat sleeping pills.
    Injury: At the end of the show, McGarrett shoots Jerry Parks. Danno later tells McGarrett, "He's still breathing."

MORE TRIVIA:

  • Journalist Dave ("David L.") Donnelly (1937-2004), who wrote on happenings in Hawaii for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for years, plays the sound technician Charlie who analyzes the ransom tapes. His scenes were filmed in the KGMB-TV studios, the CBS outlet, in Honolulu. Donnelly e-mailed me in 1997: "Since I was playing Checkers in the KGMB kiddies show, Checkers and Pogo, both stars were in that episode because Morgan White, who played the Attorney General, was Pogo on the show." In this episode, KGMB is identified as being channel nine.
  • The show is full of hip lingo. After McGarrett interviews the two women on the beach who are friends of Bobby's, calling one of them "honey," they comment, "Dig?" and "Groovy," eyeing him as he leaves. The expressions "blowing your mind" and "blew my mind" are heard. Parks calls Brent and Bobby "baby" 14 times.
  • A real government public service announcement for anti-littering with the motto "Keep America Beautiful" is seen on TV. It says: "Litter isn't carried by insects, it doesn't fall from the atmosphere. Every litter bit hurts you. Carry a litter bag in your car or boat. Save your trash for the nearest litter basket. Keep your home beautiful. Keep America beautiful."
  • "Operation Smash" from the soundtrack album is heard coming out of a radio when McGarrett is interviewing the two women on the beach. The song Bobby is singing before he is kidnapped is "Ain't No Big Thing" by Kui Lee. Later, when Chin Ho tells Kono, "Gonna be a long night, brother," Kono replies, "Ain't no big thing." Another perhaps unintentional song reference is when Parks and Brent are talking about killing Bobby and Parks says "You can't have one without the other," as in the song "Love and Marriage," introduced by Frank Sinatra in the 1950s and later popularized by him.
  • One of the two babes on the beach who McGarrett questions is Karol — later Carole — Kai, more recently an entertainer in Hawaii, who appeared in another five episodes of the show.
  • At the beginning of the show when Bobby returns to the stage at the club to acknowledge the applause, he trips on the step. This looks like a mistake which was left in. After the kidnapping, Harmon (Robert Luck), the manager of the club, says that Bobby was "a flop," which does not jibe with the announcer on KGMB describing Bobby as a "popular young singer." As well, the audience at Bobby's show is not exactly sparse.
  • As Bobby is being spirited away at the beginning of the show, a sign on a restaurant behind the car advertises "pig feet soup."
  • The DVD subtitles say Charlie's last name is Greg, rather than Grey. As well, Makapuʻu Point is spelled "Mokapu" Point. The tape store, presumably "Beatty's," is "Beaty's."
  • There is a question as to whether Jasper, a cop seen in McGarrett's office, is HPD or FBI. He tells McGarrett at one point it doesn't matter if the kidnapping is a publicity stunt, "it's still a kidnap in our books," which is a very FBI-like line. But when McGarrett tells Kono to "Alert the FBI," Jasper is sitting right in the room, and Kono leaves!
  • The fares on a bus which Brent takes are 25 cents for adults and 10 cents for students. How the cops who bust Brent on the bus can contact McGarrett so quickly is a good question.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 00:53, 00:00, Ain't No Big Thing (Kui Lee), sung by Bobby as the show begins.
#2, 01:12, 02:03, 00:53, Background music from the house band heard during Bobby's kidnapping.
#3, 05:17, 00:21, 02:56, McGarrett and Danno go to Bobby's apartment.
#4, 09:37, 00:23, 03:17, End of Act 1 including "Wave." Bobby's kidnapping is revealed as a publicity stunt.
#5, 13:18, 00:26, 03:40, McGarrett leaves Attorney General's office; A-G tells Giorgiade McGarrett is "the best"; the first kidnap tape is played at the Five-O office.
#6, 14:57, 00:25, 04:06, Parks jokingly threatens Bobby with a knife to his throat.
#7, 23:08, 02:12, 04:31, End of Act 2 including "Wave." Parks and Brent realize how much money can be made; Bobby tries to escape; he is pursued and captured.
#8, 25:56, 00:14, 06:43, Charlie at KGMB compares two tapes, one of which has Bobby singing Ain't No Big Thing.
#9, 27:52, 00:34, 06:56, McGarrett won't call off the investigation; Brent mails the second tape.
#10, 31:20, 01:38, 07:30, McGarrett and Chin have "a date with a couple of swingers" on the beach. ("Operation Smash" from the soundtrack album.)
#11, 35:00, 01:19, 09:08, End of Act 3 including "Wave." Parks tells Brent that Bobby must be killed.
#12, 36:33, 01:10, 10:27, A "Hawaiian standard" song is heard on the tape.
#13, 40:51, 00:35, 11:37, Five-O's investigation expands.
#14, 44:22, 02:13, 12:12, Brent makes another tape with Bobby; McGarrett and Danno wait with the father; Brent goes to mail the remade tape.
#15, 48:14, 00:54, 14:25, Parks tries to make Bobby swallow pills; McGarrett and Danno show up; Parks is shot and seriously wounded.
#16, 49:41, 00:36, 15:18, Bobby reconciles with his father.

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4. (S01E04) “Samurai” ★★

Original air date: 10/17/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Alvin Ganzer; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writers: Jerome Coopersmith and Mel Goldberg (teleplay), Jerome Coopersmith (story); Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 3:24; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 16:51; Act Two: 7:01; Act Three: 9:36; Act Four: 12:25; End Credits: 0:56; Total Time: 51:10.

QUICK PLOT:

Five-O must protect a racket boss on trial for his underworld activities who is threatened by a secret Japanese society.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This was the first Five-O show produced, but not the first one shown. This no doubt accounts for the word "Hawaii" superimposed during the beginning of the teaser where the Aloha Tower is seen.

In this episode, Ricardo Montalban, who played a Japanese kabuki actor named Nakamura in the 1957 film Sayonara, gives a bizarre performance as Leonard Tokura, a crime kingpin who typically claims that he is just a legitimate businessman. The character's repartee with McGarrett is entertaining, but the actor's "yellowface" makeup and peculiar accent both work against this. The makeup is silly and his mannerisms become annoying, including the way he smokes a cigarette like Arte Johnson's Laugh-In character. (According to Montalban's autobiography, he actually went to Japan in advance of acting in Sayonara and did some research as to how someone like his character in that film would comport themselves.)

Tokura's mannerisms should actually give McGarrett a big clue that something is not right. Tokura has this sort-of-Japanese accent, which some people say instead reveals Montalban's Mexican origins. This accent is likely due to the fact that Tokura really is Japanese. He is "S. Yamashito" who abandoned the midget submarine he was piloting around the Hawaiian Islands during World War II and hid in a cave on Molokai. Tokura assumed the identity of the real Tokura, a Japanese Hawaiian who was also hiding in the caves to escape those who wanted to intern him after the Pearl Harbor attack. Presumably Montalban Tokura killed the real Tokura, though, as McGarrett says to his daughter Deedee (Carolyn Barrett), "What happened to him [the real Tokura] is anybody's guess." McGarrett then tells her "After the war, your father came back to Honolulu." It seems very likely if he mingled in the same circles as the real Tokura, someone might have realized that he was not the same person — but, of course, no one did. According to Montalban Tokura's back story, he was born in San Francisco ("on Fillmore Street") and came to the islands in 1939. Even if he had Japanese parents, one would suspect that he did not affect Japanese mannerisms and have a Japanese accent.

What is even more annoying than Montalban as a Japanese, though, is the continued misuse of the word "bushido," which the dictionary defines as "a feudal-military Japanese code of chivalry valuing honor above life." McGarrett refers correctly to the "code of bushido" once, but then shows Tokura a knife, commenting "it makes it easier for a bushido to gut himself when he fails on a mission." McGarrett and others keep using the word "bushido" referring to a person or persons. Other misapplied remarks include "Another Bushido comes, and another and another, till the mission's accomplished," "I'm about to order a medal for the next bushido who comes to chop you down," "I have never known a Bushido" (said by Tokura), "Why does the bushido want you dead?", "the Bushido picked it [the story of the discovered submarine] up," "The bushido put him on their death list � why?," and "What about them?" During a crucial plot twist in the show, when Tokura's enemies grab him at his house prior to blowing off "his" face with a shotgun, he screams "Bushido!" to McGarrett, who is close by, trying unsuccessfully to protect him, meaning "that's who these men are!"

McGarrett quickly figures out that it was not Tokura who got his face blown off, because as the body is being removed, a ring slips off Tokura's finger that could not even have been twisted off before. This whole business with a double for Tokura getting shot in the face is far too contrived. McGarrett is there as a witness, which was likely part of the whole scheme to make Tokura "disappear" as he suggests later, but how could the "bushido" assassins (obviously Tokura's own men) know that McGarrett would just happen to be far enough away from the scene where the double-in-everything-except-the-face got shot in the face and McGarrett couldn't see the real (well, sort of) Tokura being spirited away?

After the unsuccessful separate attempts to kill Tokura earlier by the two assassins seen earlier on in the show with a gun and a grenade, you have to wonder why they suddenly decided to show up and knock him off. Maybe the two assassins are connected with the yakuza (the Japanese organized crime syndicate), who we often see as default villains on the "new" Hawaii Five-O, though I don't know if the term "yakuza" was that well known in 1968. There is no suggestion that Tokura's crime activities in Hawaii were any threat to the yakuza or any other criminals in Japan.

A more plausible explanation is the assassins are connected with the Japanese military, thus the "samurai" connection, which is not developed properly in favor of "bushido," and were ordered to carry out their mission because of the "dishonour" committed when Yamashito abandoned his post during the war. When McGarrett talks to a friend of his from the navy, they remember that the submarine that Tokura/Yamashito was piloting during the war was "played up big" by wire services and magazines when it was discovered off Molokai a couple of years before. I am skeptical that modern-day (21st century) samurai or military right-wing types in Japan would get so worked up over a "dishonorable" situation like this, but we should remember that 1968 was only 23 years after the war ended.

There is a tense scene between McGarrett and Danno at the beginning of the show, when Danno is taken to task in a major way by McGarrett for failing to prevent Tokura from knocking off Mary Travers, a witness at a hearing regarding Tokura's criminal activities. Travers, who drops dead during the hearing, was a bookkeeper for Tokura's "legitimate" company who knew lots of dirt on him. She is killed by some poison which was slipped into her lipstick.

But McGarrett is kind of dumb himself later. Why doesn't he do a more thorough investigation on the fingerprints from the supposedly dead Tokura which he sends to Japan? There are actually three sets of fingerprints involved here: the ones from Tokura which they have on file from his local criminal record, since Tokura says that he has been charged several times for "everything from double-parking to fixed cockfights" (these prints are presumably the ones that were sent to Japan, since they reveal Tokura's real identity); the ones from the dead "Tokura" with the face blown off (possibly one of the mobster's loyal henchmen who would sacrifice his own life for his boss — which could have been used to compare to the ones from Tokura on file before sending anything to Japan); and the ones from the real Tokura (the internment escapee, who may have been fingerprinted before or after Pearl Harbor).

As part of the trap to catch Tokura after he disappears, McGarrett convinces his daughter Deedee to give a million dollars to the local university, a generous gesture her father would not approve of. She later meets with her father in a Japanese movie theatre on Mauna Kea which has a poster for Revenge of the Pearl Divers outside. The movie shown in the theatre is unbelievably simplistic, with no dialogue at all and banal music. The screen dimensions, in fact, suggest a 16mm film. When Tokura is talking to Deedee in the theatre, you would expect that people would keep shushing them, because they are speaking very loudly, but no one says anything. And how did Tokura contact his daughter to meet him at this place? Wouldn't he have been suspicious that her phone was tapped, for example?

On the positive side, the episode has an excellent score by Morton Stevens, including the first instance of the "bonging bell" sound to be heard in many more episodes. The color photography is also a plus, as is the set decoration, especially at Tokura's palatial mansion, which was the estate of Henry J. Kaiser, the shipbuilding and aluminum magnate, a fact that gets a mention in the end credits.

One of my favorite parts of this show is at the beginning, where the second assassin from Japan, the guy with the moustache, looks at the scene where his pal screwed up his attempt on Tokura, and he bares his teeth just as Morton Stevens does this little "zing" in the music — too cool! Bob Sevey's interview with Tokura during this scene seems pretty awkward, on the other hand, which is weird, because he was a real newsman in Honolulu for many years.

Incidentally (though this is pretty obvious or well-known to most fans of the show), this is the first episode where a non-Asian plays an Asian part (others are listed on a page that I have on my site).

Many years ago, James MacArthur, the original Danno, visited Vancouver where he was making a movie. Me and this other guy met him for lunch, and I brought up the whole business about whiteys playing Asian guys. MacArthur's response was not what I expected, he said "Oh, no, not that fucking political correctness again!" (Yes, Danno actually used the word "fucking.")

MacArthur's feelings arose from his opinion that these people were just actors who were acting, and that they should be able to play any role they wanted. I did not want to make an issue about political correctness, though. I was more of the opinion that white guys usually just played Asian actors badly, not that they had played them at all. In other words, if you were a white guy playing an Asian (like Mark Lenard in "To Hell With Babe Ruth," Will Kuluva in "By the Numbers," David Opatoshu in "A Matter of Mutual Concern" and other examples mentioned in the link above), then you would look like an idiot, just like if you covered your face with burnt cork and tried to play someone in blackface like Al Jolson.

Alas, I never expressed what I thought to MacArthur because I was kind of rattled by his response. I don't think he was that mad, though, because he paid for my lunch.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

From Wikipedia: The�samurai�were Japanese�warriors. They were members of the important�military�class�before Japanese society changed in 1868. From m-w.com: a military retainer of a Japanese daimyo [one of the great lords who were vassals of the shogun ] practicing the code of conduct of Bushido; the warrior aristocracy of Japan.

The word "samurai" is heard in the film only four times. During his first visit to Tokura's place and after Tokura's men kill two local hoods, McGarrett shows him the knife which the first assassin had. McGarrett says "Those two gambling goons your boys knocked off, they didn't write the contract on you outside the hearing room. This was responsible [shows him the knife]. Samurai, ancient order of Japanese knighthood, fanatic principles of honor. The code of Bushido." (Yes, it is a code!) Later, Tokura later tells McGarrett "[I]f you have paid more than $2.95 for that poor imitation samurai knife, you were shamelessly cheated." "Samurai" is used twice more, once when Chin Ho says he doesn't understand "this samurai jazz" and at the end, when McG gives Tokura a wrapped-up parting gift which he says "might even be a samurai knife."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Assassin is shot three times in courthouse after failed attempt to kill Tokura.
    Death: Mary Travers collapses and dies from poisoning. McGarrett says, "She's dead."
    Death (x2): Assassin and Tokura's bodyguard are killed in grenade explosion.
    Death: Tokura's double has his face shot off.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • McGarrett defines Five-O in this episode: "We're state police. Five-O operates with the local police on all seven islands." According to Wikipedia, there are actually eight main Hawaiian islands: Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi.
  • The Governor tells McGarrett: "Steve, you and Five-O have done a superb job for this state. And I'm on record. One of the smartest moves I've made during my tenure as governor is to select you as head of our state police unit."
  • During the opening courtroom scene, the Attorney General refers to Tokura as "Tokuru" a couple of times, then continues with the correct pronunciation. This scene is supposedly taking place in the Aliiolani Hale (home to the Hawaii State Supreme Court), across from the Iolani Palace. During the hearing, aside from the time frame Mary Travers worked for Tokura (January to July 1967), there is a reference to specific dates: April 3 and 7, 1967.
  • McGarrett's receptionist, May (Maggi Parker), addresses him as "Mr. McGarrett" and "boss."
  • The second assassin with the grenade attempts to kill Tokura at the entrance to the Hilton Lagoon Apartments.
  • McGarrett wonders if the poison in Travers' lipstick which killed her is "tridectine." The doctor at the M.E.'s office says no, it is a "procnine derivative." Danno says that they got the lipstick "in her desk in Tokura's office," but this doesn't make sense because Mary hasn't worked there for several months.
  • When McGarrett is travelling to visit Tokura, his car is seen from above and there are no trees on the driver's side of the car. When the car is seen in closeup, there is plenty of foliage on the driver's side. As McGarrett pulls up to the driveway of Tokura's estate (which is presumably the last house on the cul-de-sac since there are no other driveways between McGarrett's moving car and the end of the road), there are also trees on the driver's side, whereas there are no trees there when the last house and its driveway are seen from above. But the Kaiser house is actually not at the end of the road. You can see the property's swimming pool in the shot taken from above. So when McGarrett is seen driving, he has actually passed this house. If you look carefully, you can see that when McGarrett goes into Tokura's driveway, he is actually going into the driveway of the house at the beginning of the long shot of him driving. (Thanks to Rick for pointing this out.)
  • Tokura's reaction to McGarrett giving his daughter "the eye" is priceless, as if he could kill McGarrett right then and there. Later, Tokura tells his daughter, "Why don't you get some sun, you've been looking rather pale these days." This is a pretty funny line, considering Montalban's makeup.
  • McGarrett meets up with his old Navy buddy (Ed Sheehan) near the USS Blueback, the last non-nuclear submarine to join the United States Navy.
  • In McGarrett's office during the investigation, Kono incongruously discusses trying to teach a woman the hula — presumably for some local color. McGarrett later fingers his guitar which is on his desk. After McGarrett and Danno have their screaming match, McGarrett apologizes and pats Danno on the shoulder. As the camera moves, there is a shadow on Danno, like a microphone boom.
  • The first assassin uses an 8mm Nambu, a semi-automatic pistol used by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy during the First and Second World Wars. This helps bolster the idea that the assasination attempt may have been because of Tokura/Yamashito's besmirched military record.
  • When McGarrett goes to see DeeDee after he father has been "murdered," she is wearing the same green dress with doily-like collar and cuffs as Anne Hayes, the woman murdered by Victor Reese at the beginning of Full Fathom Five (thanks to Inglewolf).
  • As Deedee and McGarrett watch a news report of her giving the million dollars to the university on TV, Deedee has some kind of remote control device in her hand.
  • When Tokura's goons drive away quickly after killing the enforcers at the beginning of the show, you can see the marquee of a porno movie theatre. The two films playing in this "ADULTS ONLY" theater begin with the words PASSION and NAKED.
  • In Act Four, McGarrett answers the phone in his office. When he picks it up, it is still ringing.
  • At the end, McGarrett tells Tokura "Aloha, baby," an expression used in the season opener "Full Fathom Five." In trying to give Tokura a good reason to stick around, McGarrett correctly tells him that there is no capital punishment in Hawaii.
  • The ship that they are trying to put Tokura on at the end is flying the flag of Taiwan.
  • The woman who plays Deedee, Carolyn Barrett, had a relatively short acting career in only four productions from 1968 to 1971, and later became Marlon Brando's personal assistant from 1976 to 2001. Her daughter Petra, who she had with author screenwriter and director James Clavell, was adopted by Brando. But when Brando died in 2004, he disinherited Petra and left her nothing in his will.
  • After Montalban passed away in 2009, someone posted this at IMDb (I have not confirmed this): [His] eye makeup [in "Samurai"] is so binding Montalban cannot blink. As a result the continuous shots of Montalban are always short. The effect is a little jarring. Most people blink when they move their head to readjust their eyes. Montalban never does when moving his head on camera, giving the character a sort of drugged or Zombie appearance."

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 01:55, 00:00, Scenes in Japan and Hawaii (Aloha Tower); Tokura arrives at the court building.
#2, 03:05, 01:18, 01:55, plus main titles, Tokura is still alive; the second assassin is not happy.
#3, 04:25, 00:18, 03:12, Tokura in court; he swears to tell the truth.
#4, 11:55, 01:25, 03:30, Tokura's men murder some local gangsters; McGarrett goes to see the Governor.
#5, 15:05, 01:35, 04:55, McGarrett goes to Tokura's place.
#6, 20:55, 00:19, 06:30, Tokura tells McGarrett to get lost after he gives Deedee "the eye"; Wave at end of Act One.
#7, 22:01, 01:05, 06:49, Seond assassin tries to kill Tokura with a grenade; he blows himself up with a bodyguard.
#8, 26:24, 01:56, 07:54, Guy with rifle takes shot at Tokura; Tokura is seemingly killed; Wave at end of Act Two.
#9, 28:17, 01:54, 09:50, Tokura's body is taken away; the investigation continues.
#10, 32:14, 01:01, 11:44, McGarrett goes to Navy base to run some questions by an old friend.
#11, 37:34, 00:18, 12:45, Deedee agrees to make a bet with McGarrett that her father is still alive.
#12, 37:53, 00:18, 13:03, Deedee donates a million dollars to the university in memory of her father.
#13, 38:56, 01:01, 13:21, McGarrett and Chin Ho discuss the case.
#14, 41:18, 05:05, 14:22, Deedee meets her father in a movie theater; they talk; he is arrested.
#15, 47:44, 02:33, 19:27, Tokura resists leaving Hawaii; he confesses to killing Mary Travers and is taken away.

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5. (S01E05) “....And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin” ★★★�

Original air date: 11/7/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: John Peyser; Producer: Joseph Gantman; Writer: John D.F. Black; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 2:36; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 7:07; Act Two: 13:37; Act Three: 10:10; Act Four: 15:47; End Credits: 0:55; Total Time: 51:10.

QUICK PLOT:

Danny Williams is indicted for first-degree murder after he shoots an apparently unarmed boy.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

With this episode, the show finally gets its groove on despite a couple of minor complaints, something we will occasionally experience with other episodes as the series goes on which, if we are in a bend-over-backwards mood, can be blamed on "growing pains."

While off-duty, Danno chases down a young runaway named Thad Vaughn (James Lloyd Land) who was trying to break into a car. Danno is shocked when he accidentally kills the boy. Danno is indicted for first-degree murder when investigators can't locate a gun the kid used while escaping, because Ann (Charlotte Considine), his junkie girl friend, sneaked it out of their apartment while the stunned Danno was not looking.

Ann asks for help from her pusher Big Chicken, who was selling items that Thad stole, in exchange for which Chicken would keep her supplied with drugs. McGarrett has to convince Ann to co-operate to clear Danno and also to end the career of the two-time loser Chicken.

In the previous four episodes for this season, there have been villains ranging from very good (Victor Reese in "Full Fathom Five" and Sam Meville in "Tiger By The Tail") to laid-back (Simon Oakland in "Strangers In Our Own Land") to one with some good points but verging on ridiculous (Ricardo Montalban in "Samurai").

The highlight of this show is Gavin MacLeod's sweaty dope dealer Big Chicken, a bad guy destined for the Five-O Villain Hall of Fame who we will meet again soon in the prison drama "The Box." Chicken is totally oily as he tells McGarrett "I believe in the law" and "the law is cool." Another highlight is plenty of iconic scenes involving the Five-O team and particularly McGarrett.

Jack Lord shines as the "cop who cares," not only for criminals' victims like the heroin-addicted Ann, who McGarrett just happens to need information from, but for his own men like Danno, tormented by his first "kill" as a cop. Kono and Chin Ho exceed themselves in helping to track down information.

McGarrett manages to calm down Nat Schneider (Jeff Kennedy) who, as someone seemingly from HPD Internal Affairs, is trying to make sure all the loose ends are tied up with regard to the investigation of Danno's shooting Thad. On the other hand, McGarrett has a screaming match with the by-the-book and common-sense Attorney General, who manages to calm McGarrett down.

What is so cool about this show is that we know that McGarrett will triumph in the end. There are two particularly memorable scenes.

The first is where the low-level criminal Tommy Tommy (Alan Naluai) gets the kick-ass treatment when McGarrett and Kono exercise some martial arts-like moves on him and his gang. Some of the dialogue from McGarrett to Tommy Tommy like "I'm gonna tell you something, punk, and I'm just gonna say it once" makes you wonder if Five-O had an influence on Clint Eastwood's character Dirty Harry.

The second is in the hippie pad where McGarrett is searching for Ann, the only witness to Thad's shooting who can clear Danno. Sitar music is playing in the background and the owner of the place, Maggie, has a peace sign on her chest. The way McGarrett deals with two dopers, one of whom has this devillish look like Charles Manson and makes a crazy rant, then retreats into the background, and the other who threatens McGarrett with a chain, is hilarious. McGarrett tells this second guy, "Unless you wanna swallow that chain, you'd better sit down. Dig?" The guy complies, saying, "Fuzz really bug me."

McGarrett will let no stone be unturned in bringing the slimy Chicken, who he totally hates, to justice. At the end Chicken lets loose with a scream like some wounded animal when he tries to escape after McGarrett tells him that "It's enough to close that iron door on you forever when you've been down three times before."

I especially like the final scene where McGarrett and Danno "come into the light" as Morton Stevens' music swells in the background.

There are a couple of minor complaints about the show, though.

After Danno fires his gun through the lock which fatally wounds Thad at the beginning of the show, and Thad is lying on the floor after this, we can see the wound on Thad's lower left back and the bullet seems to have gone through him and emerged in his stomach area (or vice versa). But a big question is: where was Thad standing when the bullet hit him? Was he crouching behind the door listening for Danno outside?

There is also confusion about the chain of evidence with the gun. Ann sold it to Tommy Tommy for $3, who then "gave" it to a guy named Al Drucker. When the gun is being test-fired, McGarrett asks Chin if he "picked it up on" Drucker. Chin says Drucker "thought he'd try one armed robbery, a liquor store." But then Chin says "Nat [meaning Schneider] got the gun from a big Hawaiian kid named Tommy Tommy." As well, the gun which is test-fired is silver, but when Ann picked it up from the floor, it was black.

But aside from these quibbles, everything about this episode — not just the script and the acting, but the direction, the photography, the music, the minor characters and the "filmed entirely on location in Hawaii" ambience — is great.

Interestingly, critic Cleveland Amory, in the December 7, 1968 TV Guide wrote that the show so far had failed to meet expectations because of the plots: "The first episode, for example, gave us two people who earned their livelihood by picking out rich widows on cruise ships, floating a loan from them and then drowning them. McGarrett and his boys handled this one by enlisting, as an ersatz widow, a policewoman. And it was all very exciting too — right up to the very end, when it all became so ridiculous you couldn't believe you'd ever believed it. [Obviously I do not agree with this.] Another show was one in which a man blew up a land commissioner. This one went down the drain when he protested that all he wanted to do was to hold the commissioner in his arms and say, "Nate, Nate, my friend." [Note he does not mention Samurai.] More recently there was an episode in which Danny himself got arrested and in which there were not only fine performances by Danny and McGarrett but also a truly extraordinary one by a dope peddler (Gavin MacLeod). This kind of episode gives you hope for the rest of the season...."

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

Long-time Five-O fan Inglewolf e-mails the following: "I swear once upon a time I read somewhere on the Internet that the title of this episode came from an unused line in the original script. From what I recall Thad Vaughn's father had been contacted on the mainland. His reply to the news of his son's death was "You can paint daisies on his coffin and drop it in the ocean for all I care." Unfortunately when I recorded that in my own Hawaii Five-O notes I neglected to put down that exact source. I know the source wasn't somebody's entry on the Yahoo Hawaii Five-O group (like the one which claimed that King of the Hill originally was shown with a scene showing Yaphet Kotto's character getting struck by the bat the little leaguer lost his grip on). Anyway that's my memory of the source of the title.

Jeanine says, "I agree that it speaks of the hippie scene that is part of the show. Daisies are a symbol of innocence and purity. While Thad certainly was not innocent since he had been stealing car parts, he was pure in the sense that he was clean of all drugs and not polluting his body. And even though it is Thad who is dead (thus needing a coffin), this episode deals with Danno losing a big piece of his 'innocence' as he (a young cop) deals with his first kill."

Ringfire suggests "I always just assumed this title had something to do with flower power and the hippies in the show."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Thad Vaughn dies after being shot through door by Danno.
    Injury: McGarrett hits Big Chicken in the mouth, drawing blood.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • At the beginning, where Danno and Thad are running down the streets, you can see the shadows behind them from lighting used by the camera crew.
  • Danno smokes after the shooting.
  • This is the first episode starring character actor and Five-O stock company player Danny Kamekona. He is Sergeant Ishi, seen at the beginning of the show.
  • Big Chicken is sweating like hell when he visits McGarrett's office. McGarrett, on the other hand, is as cool as a cucmber.
  • According to Karen Rhodes' Booking Five-O, Fred Vox, who makes a commentary about Danno on the TV news, actually had a show on KIKU in Honolulu called "Gripe Box."
  • At the massage parlor, there is a sign: "WANTED � No Experience Necessary! We will teach you all you need to know. See Frieda between 8:00 AM and 2;00 PM."
  • As Chin is talking to Wang (Arthur Hee) in a pool hall (in Chinese), you can see the marquee of a movie theatre in the background, which is showing Free Love and The Beast That Kills Women. According to one WWW site, the latter film, from 1965, is described thus: "Panic and fear strike the hearts of the terrorised sun-kissed nudist girls of a once peaceful nudist resort in sun-bleached Miami, when a mysterious, yet menacing intruder [a guy dressed in a gorilla suit] manages to find his way in the�camp."
  • The Club Hubba Hubba was an actual strip club at 25 N. Hotel Street from the late 1940s until 1997, when it was closed.
  • Tommy Tommy is trying to peddle a stolen car stereo to Randall Kim (uncredited), who will appear in three later episodes. According to Denise Maraschin and Ilene Baxley, quoting a casting sheet for the episode, the pre-Harry Endo Che Fong in this show is played by the uncredited Edward Tom.
  • When he's interviewing the 17-year-old Ann in the hospital, McGarrett confirms that she's been "apprised of [her] constitutional rights" — but after he has already been questioning her!
  • At the end, Chicken is bleeding from the left side of his mouth after tussling with McGarrett, something which will also happen in "The Box."

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 01:48, 00:00, Danno chases Thad through downtown Honolulu streets.
#2, 02:39, 01:33, 01:48, plus main titles, Thad is killed by Danno's shot through the door of his room; Ann takes the gun and sneaks away.
#3, 10:21, 00:19, 03:21, The cops cannot find Danno's gun; Wave at end of Act One.
#4, 10:42, 00:07, 03:40, Beginning of Act Two.
#5, 13:40, 01:23, 03:47, Ann threatens some guy with the gun; a bullet from the gun is found; Ann visits Big Chicken.
#6, 19:02, 01:59, 05:09, Danno tells McGarrett he has a "stinking job"; Kono visits Frieda.
#7, 22:24, 01:54, 07:08, Danno is indicted by the grand jury for first-degree murder.
#8, 24:19, 00:04, 09:01, Beginning of Act Three.
#9, 27:29, 01:36, 09:05, McGarrett talks to Bonita, one of the peelers at the Club Hubba Hubba who knows Big Chicken.
#10, 31:06, 01:16, 10:41, McGarrett and Kono tackle some punks on the beach including Tommy Tommy.
#11, 34:03, 00:26, 11:57, Big Chicken comes to McGarrett's office; Wave at end of Act Three.
#12, 34:30, 00:08, 12:23, Beginning of Act Four.
#13, 38:42, 03:08, 12:31, McGarrett searches for Ann in a hippie pad.
#14, 43:22, 01:13, 15:38, McGarrett interrogates Ann in the hospital.
#15, 49:24, 01:06, 16:51, Big Chicken is busted; Danno is freed from jail.

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6. (S01E06) “Twenty-Four Karat Kill” ★★�  BOOK THEM, DANNO 

Original air date: 11/14/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Alvin Ganzer; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writer: David P. Harmon; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 2:35; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 8:47; Act Two: 9:43; Act Three: 13:16; Act Four: 14:51; End Credits: 0:56; Total Time: 51:05.

QUICK PLOT:

Five-O and U.S. Treasury employ an undercover woman agent to nab a fishing boat operator smuggling gold bars into the islands.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This show has a major continuity error: Richard Denning, who played the Governor in three of the first five episodes of this season, appears as U.S. Treasury agent Philip Grey!

There is no logical explanation for this. I assume that some other actor was supposed to play this part and was unavailable at the very last minute. During Grey's opening scenes, McGarrett keeps repeating his name — as if he is trying to convince us that it really isn't the Governor. As well, Denning is wearing sunglasses when we first see him, as if the producers don't want us to recognize him easily. Or (this is my idea) maybe the show's producers thought that Five-O wasn't going to be successful, and they didn't care who played this part? After all, there are numerous other examples of actors and not just local stock characters playing multiple parts in seasons of Five-O, sometimes even in one show after another where they appeared.

Aside from this major blunder, it's an OK show.

When Lorna Ho (Mei-Ling Wan) buys the fish, a kind of tuna called bonito, at the beginning of the show, and considering she is very picky, why doesn't she realize how heavy the fish is, considering it contains a gold bar which mistakenly ended up in the fish at the market? I like the parallels when she gets knocked off — her knife, the killer's knife; her screaming, her baby screaming.

After some investigating, McGarrett goes to the docks to see Johnny Fargo (Kaz Garas), who had employed Kim-Tung Chang, determined to be the man who killed Lorna. Fargo is described by Chin Ho: "Ex-GI, dishonorable discharge, crooked gambling. Spent three years in Tokyo, black-market operations. Big man with the ladies." Fargo is behind smuggling the gold bars which are picked up from locations offshore and then placed inside of fish. These bars are later extracted from the fish at a cannery co-owned by slimy lawyer Paul Dennison (Paul Richards), who "defends pushers, prostitutes, [a] bagman for the number boys," and his principal client, local crime boss Wing Tou (Richard Loo). You have to wonder why the bars are put in the fish at all. It doesn't seem like there is any threat to Fargo being stopped by authorities on his way back to port and his cargo being examined.

When McGarrett first comes to the dock, the pavement behind him is all wet, like it has been raining. But McGarrett talks to Fargo, and a few seconds later, the dock is totally dry. After he leaves, Dennison shows up. The dock is still dry, but later, when the lawyer leaves, there are signs of moisture all over the place.

Dennison tells Fargo "My people are worried about you," because Fargo arranged for Chang to track down and kill Lorna, and Fargo's gambling habits could cause problems with the cops. Fargo tells Dennison, "You go back to your people, remind them of their small mistake and who had to bail them out when they sent that knucklehead Chang to get their bar of gold back. If it wasn't for me, McGarrett or the Feds would have them out of their plush houses and into small cells. Now, you tell them that." Dennison replies, "That temper of yours. That could get you into trouble, Johnny."

Grey has a plan to get Fargo by using undercover agent Andre Claire Dupr� (Marj Dusay), whose last name is spelled "Dupraix" in the subtitles. Grey says she is "made-to-order for a lover boy like Fargo."

McGarrett says "no dames, please" when Grey suggests using Dupr� in the sting, however, perhaps because he remembers what almost happened with policewoman Joyce Weber in the season's opener "Full Fathom Five." Grey says if the million dollars they are going to use in this operation gets lost, they'll take it out of McGarrett's salary. McGarrett replies: "What's a couple of hundred years of peanut butter sandwiches?"

The way that Fargo hooks up with Dupr� is very contrived. Some character Fargo is gambling with gives him her business card. This would require a complicated setup with someone from Treasury. And why would this person give Fargo the card in the first place? It's not like Fargo would tell this guy "I have some hot gold to get rid of, can you recommend someone?" (And Dupr� just happens to have arrived in town the morning that Fargo meets her.) Fargo tries to get fresh with the sexy Dupr�, saying "Perfect, baby, perfect." She replies, "Act your age."

At the end of the show during the tailing of Dupr�'s and Dennison's cars, the same scene with the cops in HPD police car nine is used twice, and the same scene with their car twelve is used four times! Car twelve has a really obvious antenna on top of it, which might tip off the bad guys that it is a cop car. (As well, there is a switch on the handle of Dupr�'s case with the money for the tracking device which might arouse Fargo's suspicions as well.) When Fargo and Dupr� go into a parking garage, which looks like it is under construction, how do Dennison and Wong Tou know that is where they have gone? It's not like these two bad guys are within sighting distance of Fargo and Dupr�'s car in front of them at that point. They are about 20 seconds behind them and have to turn a corner to see the entrance to the garage which the other two have already gone into.

At the end, Fargo, who locks Dupr�e in the hold of his boat as he attempts to escape, ends up shot and in the drink, similar to Kevin McCarthy's character in "Full Fathom Five."

There is a classic scene when McGarrett comes to Dennison's office after he finds out that Chin Ho was beaten within an inch of his life when he was caught tailing Dennison after the lawyer left the docks following his conversation with Fargo. McGarrett busts into Dennison's office, telling his secretary, "Stay out of this, honey." McGarrett then lays it on the line: "One of my men is on the critical list and you put him there. If he doesn't come out of this a whole man ... a whole man, you understand? Nothing will save you. He was on your tail and somebody beat him over the back of the head and fractured his skull." McGarrett grabs a pen from Dennison's desk and scrawls Chin's full name on the desk blotter, and turns it around so Dennison can see it, saying, "You'd better know that name."

Doug Mossman plays Lieutenant Howard Kealoha, who deals with McGarrett in a blunt, no-nonsense way, a role he will repeat in two more episodes, though in the next one he has a slightly different name, Leoloha.

This is the first show of the regular series in which McGarrett utters the immortal expression "bookem" when he and Williams overtake Dennison and Wong Tou inside the parking garage. The clip connected to this link clearly has McGarrett saying "book 'em," though the subtitles for this scene say "Book them." This expression is used a lot less in the series than you might think!

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

This refers to the murder of the woman at the beginning of the show over the gold bar. When Fargo meets with Dupr�, he says his gold is "24-karat, mint pure."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Kim-Tung Chang stabs Lorna Ho to death at her house while retrieving the gold bar.
    Death: Kim-Tung Chang is pulled from harbor. Medical examiner (ME) later says Chang "died of a broken back, three crushed ribs, one through the left lung. He was dead before he hit the water."
    Injury: Chin Ho is bashed over the head after following Dennison, resulting in a hairline fracture of the skull.
    Death: McGarrett shoots Johnny Fargo, who falls into the water.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • McGarrett directs his receptionist May's attention to the coffee machine when he enters the office. She hands the coffee to Kono who is the next person going in there. When Danno phones the office from the hospital to relay the good news about Chin's recovery, he seems very chummy with May, telling her "You're beautiful."
  • This show has another iconic sequence of McGarrett driving away from the Iolani Palace and through Honolulu which contains footage taken from the pilot episode with accompanying score by Stevens. When we first see McGarrett before he gets in his car, he is wearing a blue suit and the car is 2-door. In the next shot, his suit is black and in subsequent shots it might be blue — it could be the lighting in the car. From that point on, he is driving a 4-door car. In the medical examiner's office, McGarrett is wearing a grey suit, but when he goes to the docks, it is the blue suit again.
  • Listen to the sound at the beginning of this show on the DVDs. It is really cranked up. When McGarrett and Grey are talking, they are almost drowned out by the sound of the wind rustling through the foliage in the background. It stays at this level until Kono appears in McGarrett's office. Then the sound drops down, but problems persist beyond that.
  • Look carefully at the guy who jumps from Johnny Fargo's boat to dive and get the gold under the buoy — it's stunt man Beau Van Der Ecker.
  • When Fargo forces Andrea into the hold of the boat near the end, a gust of wind blows up her very short skirt.
  • Why can't anyone drive in this episode without squealing tires?
  • Check McGarrett's artsy-fartsy reflection in the mirror when he is talking to the medical examiner.
  • McGarrett visits Chin in the hospital and addresses him as "Fatso." McGarrett's reaction to Chin getting injured becomes kind of extreme.
  • Fargo's boat is named Alika, which is the name of the gangster played by Ross Martin in the show's final two seasons.
  • The Oahu Market is located (still in 2018) at the corner of Kekaulike Street and North King Street. Two of the merchants seen in the show are Ishimoto Fish Market in stall 14 and the Naka Meat Market in stall 43, phone number 587240.
  • One of the men at the gambling den is Walter P. Young (uncredited). Edward Tom, who played Che Fong uncredited in the previous show, in this episode is "Tom," a lab technician seen at the murder scene at the beginning of the episode (also uncredited).
  • When McGarrett goes into Al's bar, he asks for water to drink. Al says "You don't care if my wife and three kids starve, do you?" But Al is single, according to McGarrett.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 0:00, 01:21, 00:00, Mei-Ling Wan buys a fish at the Oahu Market and takes it home. Leads into main titles (not included because of distortion).
#2, 1:48, 00:47, 01:21, Mei-Ling is stabbed to death by Kim-Tung Chang as her baby screams in the background.
#3, 3:34, 00:17, 02:08, Philip Grey arrives at the murder scene.
#4, 6:34, 00:21, 02:26, The cops raid a gambling den where Johnny Fargo is playing, but he disappears.
#5, 7:52, 01:07, 02:47, McGarrett drives to the docks where Chang's body has been found in the harbor.
#6, 9:19, 02:01, 03:54, McGarrett talks to Al, the owner of a dockside bar about Chang
#7, 12:06, 00:11, 05:55, End of Act One.
#8, 16:29, 01:19, 06:06, The gold is inserted inside fish and then removed when it reaches the processing plant.
#9, 19:56, 00:22, 07:25, McGarrett goes to see the lawyer Dennison.
#10, 21:42, 00:19, 07:47, After warning Dennison what will happen if Chin Ho does not recover, he leaves the lawyer's office.
#11, 22:03, 00:20, 08:06, Kono brings McGarrett up to date on information he has uncovered about Dennison.
#12, 34:30, 00:48, 08:26, Fargo picks up a shipment of gold which is tied up below a buoy.
#13, 35:19, 00:16, 09:14, McGarrett and Danno arrive at the hospital, waiting for news about Chin Ho.
#14, 39:18, 02:48, 09:30, Fargo and Dupre are pursued by Dennison and Wong Tou as well as McGarrett and the cops.
#15, 45:28, 01:35, 12:18, Fleeing with Dupre and the money, Johnny tells her they have to learn to trust each other.
#16, 48:08, 01:28, 13:53, McGarrett shoots Fargo dead and rescues Dupre.
#17, 49:49, 00:21, 15:21, The million dollars that Dupre was paying to Fargo, all phony money, blows into the harbor as the show ends.

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7. (S01E07) “The Ways of Love” ★★�

Original air date: 11/21/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Charles Dubin; Producer: Robert Joseph Gantman; Writer: Laurence Heath; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 3:38; Main Titles: 0:56; Act One: 6:54; Act Two: 16:11; Act Three: 11:51; Act Four: 10:32; End Credits: 0:59; Total Time: 51:01.

QUICK PLOT:

McGarrett poses as a convict in a California prison to engineer the escape of a man and return with him to Hawaii to help solve a jewel robbery.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This show has a slam-bang beginning with a high-speed police chase in the middle of nowhere on a narrow one-lane paved road. Dan (named "Steve" in the credits) Larsen (Don Knight, in his first Five-O appearance) has kidnapped Celeste Caro (Josie Over). She leaps from the car as it is travelling at 100 miles an hour (160.934 kmph for metric types) and is seriously injured. Larsen escapes.

Soon enough McGarrett shows up, but so does the mysterious Consul General (Ed Fernandez), because Celeste is wearing an earring which was part of his country's crown jewels which were stolen eight days ago from an exhibition. When McGarrett asks the expiring Celeste where she got this earring, she whispers "The ways of love�" It is a good question why the Consul General suddenly showed up at the scene. Would either the cops or Five-O have alerted him to the possibility of a connection to the jewel robbery at this point in the story?

This opening sequence contains my favorite Five-O boo-boo, by the way. You can see the shadow of the crew filming as the cars rush between two low hills!

Five-O and the cops go to Celeste's place, where the landlady, Mrs. Davis, describes her as "a very nice girl." Celeste was an artistic type. A letter to "Dave" is found, saying "The ways of love are strange. The vows of love," along with an envelope addressed to Dave Barca, Box 2469, Solario County, California. There is also some unexposed Monopak industrial X-ray film at Celeste's place.

Back at his office, McGarrett has to endure the Attorney General freaking out because of "diplomatic pressures" from Washington over the stolen jewelry. He tells the AG to calm down, that "it takes time." Danno reports that Barca's P.O. Box in California is for a county jail where he is being held. Barca was busted in Honolulu two days after the jewel robbery because of a California warrant for parole violation.

Because Barca acted like a typical "I know my rights" crook when he was arrested locally, it is decided that McGarrett will go to California to try and get information out of him, and/or get him to return to Hawaii to help solve the case.

This produces my favorite "underground" performance by McGarrett, who ends up as Barca's cellmate, "Steve Crowley," charged with armed robbery. Jack Lord is convincing as the chatty Crowley, wearing cool sunglasses and spouting phrases like "What a burn,", "Baroom," and "Groovy!" Barca is not particularly interested in making conversation with his new pal sharing his cell, saying "I don't wanna talk. I don't wanna listen. So just shut up."

McGarrett contrives an elaborate setup in conjunction with the prison authorities to get Barca out of jail which is kind of geeky, not to mention unrealistic.

First, he manages to get a "crime file" about Celeste broadcast on the transistor radio in his and Barca's cell. This would require overriding the frequencies for a particular station if not creating a bogus new station. You can see the "broadcast" being played on a reel-to-reel tape recorder in the warden's office. And what is the chance that such a transmission would feature a crime file about something that happened in Hawaii?

This news item has exact details about Celeste's involvement with the robbery, saying that recently she was "brutally beaten and abducted from her Oahu apartment � by an unknown assailant. He's described as six feet tall, fair-haired, and about 30 years old" (thus giving Barca a big clue that this was Larsen). The announcer continues: "He eluded police in a hundred-mile-an-hour chase. The girl fell or was pushed out onto the road. Police found she was wearing a diamond earring that was part of a huge jewelry haul from a foreign consulate."

Even though this doesn't mention Celeste's death, Barca is of course very interested, especially when Crowley says he wants to bust out of jail. Barca is only too glad to offer his help. Soon after this, when they are on their way to court, the two of them overpower their guard and escape after dodging bullets from guards which intentionally miss them.

Crowley and Barca then go to Crowley's girlfriend's place, a continuation of the "setup." She has left a key which they use to get in. After Crowley, who is in the Air Force, tells Barca how they can take free flights as servicemen, they break into a printing company where Crowley mimeographs "leave orders" which will get them passage back to Hawaii. This is more geekiness, which would involve McGarrett retyping an entire page or more of text using a stencil to reproduce the orders he had when the cops busted him. Having printed with a Gestetner duplicating machine which used stencils back in the 1960s at my high school and also my university residence, I know that this is not a particularly easy task, especially for someone who probably has no experience using a duplicating machine.

Back in Hawaii, the car used by Larsen when he abducted Celeste is found by a couple of scuba divers. It is hauled out of the ocean with a crane. (It seems to me that it would have been difficult for Larsen to have dumped it there without difficulty.) In the trunk of the car is X-ray equipment, which at the Five-O offices is determined with the help of an X-ray technician (Robert Costa) that it can be used to see what is inside a safe, like the one the jewels were stolen from. A test is performed so that Danno can see the tumblers inside a safe, but how does he then know the order of these numbers when you turn the safe's dial? Even with three numbers, there are 120 possibilities.

A body is found on a Honolulu beach, belonging to Jack Wade who ran an industrial X-ray service, but also was convicted on a medical bunco rap. There is no explanation of why this is suddenly introduced into the story — was he murdered because of his connection to the plot, for example?

Wade had a partner in crime, who turns out to be Dan Larsen from the beginning of the show, whose name is found in a book recovered from the car in the ocean. Larsen was in the British navy for 12 years and discharged two years ago for "the convenience of the government" (a fancy way of saying "the military would prefer you get out�of the service but doesn't have a basis to require your separation under any other separation program"). His military specialty was "X-ray technician." Five-O finds out where Larsen lives, but they decide to hold off dealing with him until McGarrett returns.

Crowley and Barca make it back to Hawaii, where they are tailed by Danno and Kono. Barca gets into a boat called Scuba Belle at a marina (where did he get the key for the boat's lock?) to find out something is missing from under the floorboards. Barca says "It's gotta be Larsen. Only three of us were in on it. Celeste, me and Larsen. He killed her, took the jewelry." Barca offers Crowley $25,000 if he tracks down Larsen. He gives Crowley a gun. Crowley says, "It's groovy."

McGarrett goes to Larsen's place with the help of Danno and Chin. At first pretending to be drunk to get Crowley's attention, he forces Larsen at gunpoint to come with him back to the Scuba Belle. There Barca tortures Larsen, who says that Celeste was the one who took the jewels from the boat, calling her "conniving little drab," drab meaning "a whore." Barca says that Celeste would never double-cross him. Larsen says the jewels must be hidden at Celeste's place, so the three of them head in that direction.

For some reason, Celeste's letter to Barca is still there. He reads it and realizes where the jewels have been hidden. He crushes up the paper and throws it on the floor, then he shoots Larsen (not fatally), saying "She didn't double-cross me."

McGarrett and Barca go to a temple where the priest gives Barca the jewels which Celeste left there when the two of them were there before. When McGarrett announces he is a cop, Barca draws his gun, and McGarrett shoots him. As Barca expires, he says "You see, the shrine, the vows of love... She did love me."

I find a lot of the "geeky" stuff in this show hard to take. Still, the show is worth watching for McGarrett's overenthusiastic performance as Crowley, even if you suspect that Barca would probably see through this, that Crowley is a plant.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

Virginia says: "The phrase was used in the letter that Celeste Caro wrote to Dave Barca shortly before she was killed. When Barca read the phrase at Caro's place later, he instantly knew where the jewels were hidden. It was at the temple where Celeste and Dave had taken 'vows of love'."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Celeste Caro jumps from speeding car, dies from her injuries after telling McGarrett, "The ways of love."
    Injury: Prison guard knocked out and handcuffed by "Crowley" (McGarrett) and Dave Barca.
    Death: Jack Wade is found washed up on a beach.
    Injury: Dan Larsen is shot by Barca. After, Chin Ho states, "Larsen's alive."
    Death: Dave Barca shot by McGarrett, survives long enough to have final words.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • Fred Helfing reports the road at the beginning of the show is a utility road above Hanauma Bay and below Route 72, commonly known as Kalaniana‘ole Highway, which goes to Hanauma Bay. It is called the Hanauma Bay Ridge Hike in this view. It appears in other episodes as well. You can see a birds-eye view of it here. The filming was done in both directions on this road, because sometimes the ocean is behind the driver's side of the car, sometimes behind the passenger's side. Just before the car is approaching the "boo-boo" scene mentioned above, driving from left to right, Celeste is attacking Larsen, but when it passes the camera crew, Celeste is sitting normally in the front seat.
  • About 10 seconds into the show, looking through the back window of the car after Larsen turns around, you can see some guy on the right of the road who moves further off to the right of the picture (thanks again to Fred).
  • The sequence when the car Larsen used at the beginning of the show is pulled out of the drink will be seen again in the episodes�"Which Way Did They Go" and "Bait Once, Bait Twice." The car's license number is D8-5382.
  • The speedometer on the car goes up to 180 miles an hour (289.682 kmph). The odometer has 3,396 miles on it.
  • The way hair has blown on Josie Over's face at the beginning of the show does not match between closeups.
  • This is the first show featuring Ed Fernandez, who played the Consul General. At the 1999 Five-O reunion, Ed told me he originally worked for the phone company (he had some kind of military connection in this regard) in 1968 and one of his friends told him about the casting call for Five-O. When he phoned them up, the person asked him, "Are you a haole?" (maybe because of Ed's name) ... they were trying to hire local people. While he delivered one of his lines in this show, a car sped away, showering him with gravel from its tires which caused him to lose his place. Jack Lord came over, grabbed Ed by the shoulder and said, "Concentration ... that's what it's all about ... concentration!" Ed said this was pretty scary, since he had never acted before, but later he and Lord became good friends.
  • When Celeste jumps out of the car at the beginning of the show, the camera looks sped up.
  • Crowley's prison number on his shirt — 18790 — is the same as Barca's.
  • In 2010, Les Holt e-mailed me as follows: "They repeatedly refer to 'Solario' County in California, but the correct name is 'Solano' county. Someone couldn't read their handwriting and mistook the 'n' for an 'r+i.' They correctly refer to Vallejo and Travis Air Force Base, both of which are actually in Solano County."
  • Larsen suggests he, Barca and Crowley should use his girl friend's car to go to Celeste's place. Presumably they used that to go to the marina where the Scuba Belle is docked. The license number for this car is 6C-7527.
  • McGarrett says "Easy..." once at the end after he shoots Barca.
  • An HPD cop at the beginning of the show is named Kimo, but the subtitles again spell it "Kemo."
  • A good McGarrett quote: "Some of our best work is luck."
  • The "o" in the main title's "of" is in lower case.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 0:00, 01:47, 00:00, Larsen flees from the police in the middle of nowhere; Celeste jumps out of the car and lands on the side of the road.
#2, 3:27, 01:07, 01:47, Celeste expires after saying "the ways of love", leads into main titles.
#3, 4.36, 00:22, 02:54, The Consul expresses concern about Five-O's inability to locate the missing jewels.
#4, 7:49, 01:00, 03:16, Five-O and HPD look around Celeste's place trying to find clues.
#5, 10:41, 00:46, 04:16, McGarrett as "Steve Crowley" meets Dave Barca in jail.
#6, 16:32, 00:32, 05:02, McGarrett listens to rock music on his transistor radio (edited from three excerpts).
#7, 19:13, 00:53, 05:34, Crowley returns from his trip to the "dentist."
#8, 23:12, 02:22, 06:27, Crowley and Barca overpower the guard and make their way to the roof of the prison.
#9, 25:35, 02:03, 08:49, Crowley and Barca escape by climbing down from the roof; guards shoot at them, intentionally missing.
#10, 27:39, 00:13, 10:52, Crowley and Barca arrive at Crowley's girl friend's apartment; she is not there.
#11, 29:20, 01:01, 11:05, Danno arrives at the scene where a murdered X-ray technician's body has been found.
#12, 31:38, 01:32, 12:06, Crowley has planted a bug in Barca's ear about escaping to Hawaii.
#13, 33:55, 02:12, 13:38, Crowley and Barca break into a printing company and manufacture bogus orders; in Hawaii, Chin Ho watches Larsen's house.
#14, 36:22, 02:09, 15:50, After arriving in Hawaii, Crowley and Larsen go to a marina where they find that jewelry from the robbery hidden in a boat has disappeared.
#15, 39:22, 00:07, 17:59, Wave at end of Act 3.
#16, 39:31, 01:48, 18:06, With the help Danno and Chin, McGarrett goes to Larsen's place where he forces Larsen at gunpoint to come with him to meet Barca.
#17, 43:23, 04:00, 19:54, At Celeste's place, Barca shoots Larsen; he and Crowley go to a temple where the jewels have been stored.
#18, 49:10, 00:55, 23:54, McGarrett shoots Barca, who expires thinking of Celeste.

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8. (S01E08) “No Blue Skies” ★★★

Original air date: 12/5/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Herschel Daughtery; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writer: Herman Groves; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 3:41; Main Titles: 0:56; Act One: 13:42; Act Two: 7:07; Act Three: 6:36; Act Four: 18:02; End Credits: 0:52; Total Time: 50:56.

QUICK PLOT:

When a lounge singer finds that his career doesn't pay well enough to settle a huge gambling debt, he turns to cat burglary, robbing hotel customers.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

In this show, Tommy Sands — like Sal Mineo, another teen idol who was also singing in a club in an episode earlier this season — plays Joey Rand, a lounge singer and compulsive gambler with a shady past. He owes over $200,000 to a gambling syndicate on the mainland. Rand is hoping to get a lucrative record contract, but to try and pay off his debt, he resorts to cat burglary, dropping down from the top of hotels and entering guests' rooms via their balconies. He gets tips about who to rob from his girl friend, travel agent Valerie Michaels (Sandra Smith).

The opening sequence by Morton Stevens with a plucked bass is very reminiscent of "Fallout" by Henry Mancini which began many episodes of Peter Gunn.

Since Valerie is away with tourists on Maui, her roommate Sarah Turner is supposed to take Rand's stolen jewellery to a local "distributor" who will ship it to the mainland, but Sarah, after seeing the jewels, decides to flee to the mainland herself with the goods. She meets a nasty end at the hand of sinister thug Nimo Linkoa (Clayton Naluai) in a stairwell at the Honolulu airport.

An old Chinese man named Mr. Lu (Saigun Wong) who witnessed Sarah's murder is hesitant to identify Linkoa in a police lineup, even with Chin Ho's encouragement. McGarrett tells Chin to let the old man go, saying "Maybe he'll develop a public conscience." Valerie is also not helpful in identifying Linkoa in a lineup.

McGarrett puts the heat on Valerie to co-operate, but she keeps avoiding getting involved until the end of the show when Rand's dresser Paul Oliwa (Bob Random), commiting a burglary to give an alibi to Rand, who is onstage performing his act, is shot by a hotel guest and manages to make his way to Valerie's place where he expires. (Assuming this guest is a tourist, is it normal for him to have a gun?)

There is almost a gay subtext with the way that Rand's dresser Oliwa takes care of him and sacrifices his own life, but maybe I reading too much into this.

Rand sings five songs in the show. The first is in the teaser, the second in the first act, and the other three in the fourth act:

  • It Only Takes a Moment (Jerry Herman, from the musical Hello Dolly) 1:14
  • This Land is Your Land (Woodie Guthrie) 1:03
  • Goin' Out of My Head (Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein) 1:29
  • Ain't No Big Thing (Kuiokalani Lee) 0:20 & 0:13
  • I'll Remember You (Kui Lee) 0:47 & 1:23

These songs represent about 13% (12.7% exactly) of the show's total time.

Generally speaking, the show is OK. Despite all the vocalizing by Tommy Sands, there is still a reasonable amount of story. I totally like the way McGarrett and Kono tackle Linkoa and some other punks in a bar.

Sands does a good job playing the superficial character of Joey, who is a jerk the way he brushes off the murder of Valerie's roommate and is always looking out for himself and trying to find another angle to advance his career and pay off his huge gambling debt.

It does seem kind of a crap shoot (no pun intended) the way that Joey steals stuff from specific people staying in a hotel with his cat burglar routine. Although Valerie tipped Joey off to certain customers of hers, how would she know that these people had a lot of expensive items in their rooms like jewelry, and that they did not put this stuff in the hotel safe?

Long-time Five-O fan Inglewolf sent me an e-mail with some additional thoughts on the show:

  • I find it amusing how at the end of the teaser Joey switches "jobs" from cat burglar to lounge singer simply by putting on a white jacket to go with his "burglar clothes" before going on stage.
  • "It Only Takes a Moment" and "Out of My Head" have big brass moments in them, yet Joey's band has no brass instruments in it.
  • There's a white guy in background of Joey's band who's singing some backup and playing some unseen instrument with his hands. Another keyboard? It also seems like the Morton Stevens look-alike in the band is handling both piano and organ.
  • "This Land is Your Land" is the only one of five songs where Joey plays his guitar ... if he even is really playing.
  • I like how the Chinese Gentleman playing poker with Rand tells Joey "I don't tell you how to play your hand" after beating Joey with three deuces. This miffs Joey because the Gentlemen drew an eight and raised Joey on the last card where he didn't raise before (Joey: "But you drew an eight. That means you had your deuces all along! Why didn't you raise before?")
  • I also like how when Joey thinks he's in the clear because he got his girlfriend to not ID the goon who killed her roommate. He excitedly heads to "where the action is" and tosses his dice before leaving ... failing to see he rolled snake eyes.

Inglewolf continues:

"I guess the thing about this episode that gets me the most is the ending.

"Val sees Joey's gun in the drawer in what could be called his 'make-up table,' after he drops his syrupy 'wedding bells in the background' shellac. He quickly shuts the drawer. The next time the gun is spotted is when McGarrett has him at gunpoint in his convertible and with McGarrett not noticing he takes it out of his waistband. So ... did Joey have the gun on him the whole time he was doing his last stage act? He went from the stage to Val's arms to fleeing like a chicken to his car. He told Val he got the gun to protect himself from some of the debt collectors who might come after him. Did he expect to be confronted while he was onstage?

"During the final confrontation, McGarrett allows Joey to reach down and open his car door from the inside whereas he should've told Joey to reach over the outside to open the door. Of course Joey has his gun and fires and misses McGarrett who naturally does not miss with his shot.

"Rand's last words are about dying in the basement of a hotel being the story of his life. The music at the end I think doesn't fit the Rand character: Rand was an egomaniac who used everybody close to him, not some kind of tragic hero like the music implies.

"Too bad McGarrett didn't have a line like he did at the end of season five's 'Engaged to be Buried' to give proper testimony to the character that was Rand — like 'No Blue Skies, Joey; instead, you're gonna fade to black'."

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

Early in the show, when Valerie is freaking out because of the all the pressure McGarrett is putting on her and Joey is giving her a line about how his luck is changing, she tells him, "Don't blue-sky me, Joey ... No more blue skies, Joey. No more snow jobs." At the end of the show, as Joey is dying, he says: "A few days and there would have been nothing but blue skies, baby. A blue sky." The expression "blue skies" has a lot of musical connections, including being the name of a song composed in 1926 by Irving Berlin which was recorded in 1946 by Frank Sinatra, as well as many other singers over the years. (Coincidentally, Tommy Sands was married to Sinatra's daughter Nancy from 1960 to 1966.)

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Sarah Turner is strangled by Nimo Linkoa as she tries to escape to the mainland with some of Joey's loot.
    Death: Linkoa, on roof, is shot by McGarrett. After he falls to the ground, Danno declares him dead.
    Death: Paul Oliwa is shot by tourist during robbery. After fleeing to Valerie's apartment, he collapses and dies.
    Death: Joey Rand is shot by McGarrett as he tries to escape in hotel parking lot.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • The inclusion of "This Land is Your Land" in Joey's set list seems odd, considering this is something you would expect to be sung by The Kingston Trio or some other folk group, rather than a lounge singer. It was composed by legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, who wrote a lot of left-wing "social justice" songs.
  • Joey refers to Valerie as a "dumb broad" and uses the expression "baby" 18 times.
  • At HPD, Mr. Lu constructs an Identi-Kit picture of Linkoa, and McGarrett and Kono almost immediately know who this is and where they can find him.
  • As Danno and Kono tail Linkoa and turn a corner, you can see the shadow of the camera on the front of the car. After Linkoa is shot dead by McGarrett, his body is taken away in a City and County Ambulance. As the ambulance leaves, it has its siren on, which doesn't make sense, because Linkoa is dead. During this sequence, the Five-O theme is heard on plucked bass.
  • Walter P. Young, who was seen gambling in "Twenty-Four Karat Kill," is at the poker game (uncredited) where Joey loses his shirt. I think there are a couple of other gambling guys from the earlier show with him as well. Young also appears as the General at the beginning of "Not That Much Different" later this season.
  • After Paul dies, Valerie calls Five-O and wants to speak to McGarrett, despite the fact that is after 12:30 a.m. The Five-O boss, Chin and Kono all show up very quickly at the nightclub where Joey is singing, all dressed as if they never went home yet.
  • Valerie smokes after McGarrett tells her that Sarah was murdered. Sarah was seen smoking at the airport before she was killed. Guys at the poker game are also smoking.
  • A sign is seen for KDI's Hula Room, which offers "Family Dinner."
  • In Sarah's room, there is a box for Perhams apples. There was a company by this name in Yakima, Washington; whether it was still in business at the time of the show is questionable.
  • Tommy Sands and Sal Mineo, both lounge singers in this first season, will appear together in the season seven episode "Hit Gun For Sale" as junior mobsters.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 01:42, 00:00, Cat burglar rappels down front of hotel, robs tourist room of jewelry.
#2, 02:25, 02:13, 01:42, Joey sings "It Only Takes A Moment," leads to main titles.
#3, 04:40, 00:20, 03:55, Exterior shots of hotel, McGarrett arrives to investigate robbery.
#4, 05:58, 01:06, 04:15, Joey sings "This Land Is Your Land."
#5, 07:24, 01:17, 05:20, Background music in Joey's dressing room, Joey talks to Paul, Joey calls Linkoa to say jewelry is at Valerie's place.
#6, 10:02, 00:58, 06:37, Linkoa tracks Sarah Turner, Valerie's roommate to airport where she is escaping with jewelry, he kills her.
#7, 17:25, 00:53, 07:35, Joey and Valerie discuss their future, leads to "Wave."
#8, 18:20, 00:19, 08:28, McGarrett arrives at HPD where Mr. Lu is being grilled by Chin and cops.
#9, 19:12, 01:46, 08:47, McGarrett tracks down Linkoa, leads to a fight, Linkoa is busted.
#10, 25:04, 00:20, 10:33, Joey takes part in a poker game, he has no luck, another player says someone has a contract out on him, leads to "Wave."
#11, 27:21, 04:42, 10:53, Linkoa leaves HPD, tailed by Danno and Kono, he almost kills Danno, Linkoa is shot dead by McGarrett, leads to "Wave."
#12, 33:56, 00:33, 15:35, Backround music at Ilikai as McGarrett talks to Valerie, he knows she is involved.
#13, 36:11, 00:24, 16:08, McGarrett concludes his conversation with Valerie, she goes and talks to Joey, freaking out.
#14, 40:27, 01:32, 16:33, Joey sings "Goin' Out Of My Head" as Paul, now a cat burglar, robs tourist room; tourist shoots him.
#15, 42:55, 00:34, 18:05, Joey Sings "Ain't No Big Thing," the wounded Paul is at Valerie's (section in middle cut out, no music).
#16, 44:59, 00:47, 18:38, Joey sings "I'll Remember You" as Valerie is in the audience, but so is McGarrett.
#17, 45:59, 01:27, 19:26, After Joey introduces Valerie in audience, he continues with the song.
#18, 48:15, 01:51, 20:53, Valerie tells Joey that Paul is dead, he runs to the garage where he is shot dead in confrontation with McGarrett.

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9. (S01E09) “By The Numbers” ★★★�  BOOK HIM, DANNO 

Original air date: 12/12/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Seymour Robbie; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writer: Mark Rodgers; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 4:33; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 15:18; Act Two: 10:29; Act Three: 9:20; Act Four: 9:30; End Credits: 0:55; Total Time: 51:02.

QUICK PLOT:

An army corporal finds himself caught in the middle of a power struggle between local gangsters.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

Private Jerry Franklin (Johnny Crawford) is on R&R (rest and recuperation) in Honolulu from the Vietnam conflict with his buddy Private Joe Crewes (John Goddard). When Crewes says he has a winning numbers ticket, he tries to convince Franklin to celebrate with him, but Franklin has been waiting for his wife to show up from Wisconsin and doesn't want to leave the bus drop-off area.

In the Hotel Street area, Crewes finds John Lo (Randall Kim), who sold him the winning ticket. Lo tells him to get lost, suggesting that he bought it from someone else: "I hear a lot of G.I.s talking ... they say one gook [pronounced to rhyme with "look," not "duke"] looks like another. Must be the same with you, huh? I look like 'some other gook'."

A fight ensues, with Lo fatally stabbing Crewes. When the Governor finds about this, he tells McGarrett he must "do something about Hotel Street," to which McGarrett replies: "The merchants retailing drugs, sex and gambling might march on the palace."

When questioned, Franklin recalls that Crewes' numbers ticket was green, the color that runners from local racketeer Philip Lo's (Will Kuluva) organization uses. At the Five-O office, McGarrett talks to Philip, who is the brother of John. Philip tells McGarrett that he runs a legitimate business which McGarrett takes with a grain of salt. Philip leaves Five-O, but when he gets back to the bar that he operates, he berates John, accusing him of skimming money to finance his drug habit.

Coincidentally, at the same time, Franklin is drowning his sorrows at Philip's bar and Irene Park (Ann Helm) is listening to his story. She tells him the fact that he is wearing a wedding ring doesn't bother her. Irene works for Philip, but is also pals with the company bookkeeper George Barker (Jonathan Lippe), who wants a bigger share of the local action. Irene calls Barker, telling him she found "a setup."

Later, while he is barely able to walk, Irene takes Franklin to her place, a beachfront property which Philip bought for her. Barker arranges for a torpedo named Tato (James Gosa) to go there and knock off Philip when he returns home that evening. We don't actually see what happens, but there is the sound of a gunshot and a woman screaming.

The next day, though we don't know who discovered Philip's body, the cops and Five-O are on the case. A man's ID bracelet like a MedicAlert with Franklin's name on it was found at the scene, as if it was torn off during a struggle. Where this bracelet came from is a good question, because it wasn't on Franklin's wrist either at the beginning of the show or before he and Irene went in to the house the night before. McGarrett isn't buying the idea that Franklin is a murderer.

Ditching his uniform, Franklin takes a room in some dumpy hotel in the low-rent part of town. Irene meets with Barker, who tells her that McGarrett has been snooping around Philip's place and someone, likely Franklin, has been phoning the bar asking to speak to her. The fact that Franklin is suspected of killing Philip is in all the local papers.

Tato, who is tracking down Franklin, is picked up by Five-O, who quickly determine that a bullet from Tato's gun was the one that killed Philip. Tato clams up.

At Philip's funeral, Barker talks to John, saying that if he wants to make a good impression among the local organizations, to be seen as "the man who fills his brother's shoes," rather than "an errand boy for his brother, and a junkie on top of it," he should go after Franklin and knock him off. John goes to Franklin's hotel at 1153 Maunakea Street, but Danno is there (no reason is given for this, other than McGarrett having basically figured out everything that is going on in a prior scene) and is busted.

Franklin finally gets through to Irene at the bar, and she says she will meet him that evening at the Shell in Kapiolani Park. Shortly after this, Irene is picked up by Danno for suspicion in the death of Philip. At the Five-O offices, McGarrett wants to know where Franklin is. He tells Irene, "You're an attractive woman, Irene. Do you know what you'll look like when you get out of prison in 20 to 30 years?"

Obviously Irene talks, because when Franklin goes to the Shell, Barker is there, but so is McGarrett, who arrests Barker for murder. The next day, Franklin's wife finally shows up, and McGarrett and Danno are there to see that he is at the drop-off point to greet her.

This episode is very good, especially for the performance of Crawford, who is more associated with "wholesome" roles — like �Mark McCain, the son on The Rifleman (1958-1963) and his stint as an original Disney Mousketeer in the mid-1950's. He is hardly "unwholesome" in this show, but there are some cracks in his veneer. At the beginning of the show, waiting for his wife, he tells Crewes "We've got enough problems with our marriage." When he and Crewes were in Saigon and were celebrating, they "didn't get back for two days." And, though totally plastered, he is not discouraged from going home with Irene.

Unfortunately, Crawford's performance is counterbalanced in a bad way by that of the white Will Kuluva playing "big brother" Philip Lo in this episode. His makeup is hideous, and looks like the Asian equivalent of "blackface." Randall Kim was born in 1943, so he was around 25 in 1968. Kuluva was born in 1917, making him 51! And these two guys are brothers? Kuluva will also appear � as a Japanese � in the second season turkey "To Hell With Babe Ruth."

Jonathan Lippe (later Jonathan Goldsmith, the Dos Equis "most interesting man in the world") is nasty as Barker, and Ann Helm, who does a very good job playing the bar girl and Barker's girlfriend, is a hot looker in a bikini, though her scenes as such are brief.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

According to wiktionary.org, "The origin of this phrase goes back to the American Revolutionary War where a book containing numbered positions for rifle and bayonet practice was used to train soldiers. In the book, each diagram was numbered." It also can mean "to do something exactly, precisely, or in a formulaic way."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Sgt. Crewes is stabbed by John Lo after gaining upper hand in fistfight.
    Death: Philip Lo is killed in his own house as part of frame against Pvt. Jerry Franklin.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • Herman Wedemeyer (later Duke Lukela) appears as Lt. George Balta at the Philip Lo murder scene.
  • Franklin buys a copy of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin from a newspaper box. It has a September 1968 date. The large headline at the top is "G.I. Sought in Beach House Murder." Other headlines on the page include "Isle GOP prepares for Agnew campaign visit," "Soviet craft circles moon, now heading toward earth," "Viet Cong kill Isle sergeant," and "career was a laughing matter." (This last headline looks like the top of it is cut off.)
  • Irene must make a good living, because she drives a nice red Ford Mustang.
  • Sol the Bartender is played by Richard Benedict, who directed 11 episodes of the show: A Stranger in His Grave, The Banzai Pipeline, The Listener, Thanks for the Honeymoon, All the King's Horses, Sweet Terror, Along Came Joey, Face of the Dragon, Pray Love Remember, Pray Love Remember, Tiger by the Tail, and Full Fathom Five.
  • When Tato is following Franklin, he is seen reading a copy of a humor magazine called Laugh Parade. He is still reading this magazine when he is busted by Chin Ho and Kono in front of an adult theater.
  • There are several quotable quotes in the show. When Chin tells McGarrett, "There must be a thousand places a guy could hide out," McGarrett replies, "You've got a thousand relatives ... use them!" When they are talking about how Barker rose from "a two-bit torpedo to number-two man in one of the biggest gambling establishments in the islands, McGarrett tells Danno: "When you're number two, you try a little harder." And when Danno hassles Irene at the bar, she says, "You know, with this line of yours, you could really make me dislike you," he replies, "Wait a few hours, then you can really hate me."
  • Irene smokes a cigarette while she is hustling Franklin; later, Barker smokes a cigar in the pool hall where he hangs out.
  • Pete Ackles reports a goof: "Crawford wears a PFC [private first class] stripe and is referred to as such during the show. However, in the credits at the end his character is listed as a corporal (2 stripes)."
  • Robert McDonald, who lived in Hawaii during the period of the series, writes: "The flea-bag hotel [in this episode] was actually on Maunakea Street, which is just off of Hotel Street in the red light district. At the beginning of the show, the R&R bus appears to be traveling from the airport to Ft DeRussy in Waikiki (heading east), while the background footage looks like the bus is actually traveling west, either on Kalakaua Ave near Kapiolani park, or west along Ala Moana Blvd near Ala Moana Beach park."
  • When Jerry goes up the stairs to his hotel, the street number — 1153 — is on the wall beside the stairs. To the right of this is what looks like aluminum siding, and to the left is an expandable security gate. When Tato comes to the front of the building a few seconds later, the street number is no longer seen. When Jerry comes down the stairs soon after this and later when John Lo arrives to "take care" of Jerry, the number is visible again. Jerry is staying in room 410.
  • Irene tells Barker he is "a pig": "You've got more dough rolling in from numbers, pushers and prosties than you know what to do with it."

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 00:53, 00:00, Jerry Franklin, in Honolulu for R&R from Vietnam, waits for his wife, who is to arrive from the mainland; she doesn't show up.
#2, 02:35, 00:41, 00:53, Franklin's pal Joe Crewes goes to redeem a numbers ticket worth $175 in the Hotel Street area.
#3, 03:54, 01:37, 01:34, When John Lo, who sold Crewes the ticket, rips it up, a fight ensues, with Crewes stabbed to death.
#4, 05:32, 00:09, 03:10, Tourist bus in front of Iolani Palace with Yankee Chang as guide, similar to the pilot episode.
#5, 07:38, 00:19, 03:19, After crucifix is found at Crewes' murder scene, McGarrett talks to army chaplain about Crewes and Franklin.
#6, 12:21, 00:46, 03:38, Franklin dances with bar girl Irene Park.
#7, 13:23, 03:14, 04:25, Alternate conversations between Franklin and Irene with those of John Lo and his racketeer brother Philip.
#8, 18:20, 00:28, 07:39, Irene talks to Barker, Philip Lo's number two man, about setting up Franklin as a patsy; Irene drives Franklin to her place.
#9, 18:48, 01:25, 08:06, Franklin drunkenly singing.
#10, 20:40, 00:08, 09:31, Wave ending Act 1.
#11, 20:49, 01:49, 09:39, Philip Lo arrives at Irene's, he is shot dead by Barker's stooge Tato (we only hear this).
#12, 26:14, 00:16, 11:28, Barker and Irene talk on the beach.
#13, 27:43, 01:36, 11:44, Distraught Franklin has moved to a low-budget hotel; his name is in the papers.
#14, 29:33, 01:04, 13:20, Franklin drinks in his hotel room, realizing what a mess his life is.
#15, 31:09, 00:08, 14:24, Wave ending Act 2.
#16, 31:18, 00:09, 14:32, Danno arrives at the bar where Irene works to grill her.
#17, 33:12, 00:16, 14:40, Danno leaves the bar after getting a hostile reception from Irene.
#18, 39:04, 01:33, 14:57, At Philip Lo's funeral, Barker tells John Lo to knock off Franklin. John goes to Franklin's hotel room to kill him, but Danno is there; Lo is busted. "Wave," end of Act 3.
#19, 40:38, 00:08, 16:29, Beginning of Act 4 — It is confirmed that a bullet from Tato's gun killed Philip Lo.
#20, 44:44, 00:44, 16:38, Irene is arrested; Franklin goes to Waikiki Shell to meet her; she is grilled in the H50 office.
#21, 46:28, 00:27, 17:22, Franklin is confronted by Barker at the Shell.
#22, 47:18, 01:05, 17:48, Franklin tries to escape from Barker and his men, throwing punches.
#23, 48:49, 00:31, 18:53, H50 and cops show up in the nick of time and Barker is arrested; McGarrett helps Franklin; later, he and Danno escort Franklin to bus drop-off area.
#24, 49:30, 00:35, 19:24, Franklin's wife finally shows up as McGarrett and Danno watch.

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10. (S01E10) “Yesterday Died And Tomorrow Won't Be Born” ★★★★

Original air date: 12/19/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Herschel Daugherty; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writer: John D.F. Black; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 3:58; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 8:20; Act Two: 7:30 ; Act Three: 12:06; Act Four: 17:15; End Credits: 0:54; Total Time: 51:01.

QUICK PLOT:

After serving a 15-year jail sentence, a man returns to Hawaii to kill the men responsible for putting him in prison, including Steve McGarrett and the state's attorney-general.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This is a near-perfect show and the best one of the first season.

This opinion is pretty funny, however, considering McGarrett, the show's main character and leading man is hardly in the episode, because he gets near-fatally shot in the first few minutes and spends much of his time in a comatose state until the very end.

Danny Williams is no longer the rookie we saw in ....And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin. In this show, he totally takes charge within moments of arriving at the scene where McGarrett is being taken to the hospital after the main credits. No longer is Danno someone who is freaking out over killing someone with his gun. At the end of this show he drills the villain without blinking an eye.

The opening of the show is fascinating, with the point-of-view camera shots of Joseph Trinian, a man who considers himself jerked around by McGarrett and others during his service in the Navy and, having been released from jail after 15 years, is back for revenge. The way the camera moves around, even inside Trinian's car as he leaves the scene, makes you wonder "how did they do that?"

We don't see Trinian's face until 20:33 into the show, and then it is a chilling moment. This is a man on a mission with no soul, no feeling and no purpose in life other than murdering the people who were responsible for his incarceration. There is a creepy touch when Trinian goes to visit his wife. He takes his gun with him, as if he would kill her too if things don't turn out the way he expects.

There is a sub-plot here to do with the narcotics smuggler Charlie Mangan, but that ties in with a case that McGarrett was working on which Danno assumes. It gives Danno a chance to flex his muscles. The case is resolved with the help of Chin Ho, who hassles some young hoodlums. Their leader M.K. calls Chin "a veritable pain in the ancestor." Chin's attempts to rough up M.K. are laughable.

The finale of the show is cleverly structured, a race-against-time with Danno and Trinian's wife Emma figuring out her husband's intended last victim and then the two of them rushing downtown intercut with scenes of her husband, dressed in a purchased Navy uniform, on his way to the Iolani Palace where this victim, Attorney General Walter Stewart, is viewing the Kamehameha Day parade with the Governor.

The show has exceptional acting by James MacArthur, who is no longer the "yes, boss/no boss" subordinate, but someone who can give and take with the best of them, like in the scenes where he probes Trinian's wife's memory, trying to get her to recall who is the final person her husband is going to assassinate.

It should be pointed out that another show in the fourth season, "Rest In Peace, Somebody," is similarly structured with another aggrieved individual (in that case, a cop rejected for HPD) seeking to make McGarrett and Five-O look incompetent by assassinating the Governor. The climax of this show also takes place during a Kamehameha Day parade. Both shows were written by John D.F. Black.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

Local Boy suggests: The past is the past and tomorrow won't occur. (Trinian's conviction and time served in the past and no tomorrow due to Trinian's death.)

CASUALTY LIST:

    Injury: McGarrett is shot three times on the beach.
    Death: "Carl Swenson" (real name: Ben Rudkers) is shot twice as he leaves his work area.
    Death: As he aims for the Attorney General Walter Stewart, Joseph Trinian is shot twice by Danno.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • I was skeptical that Trinian could go to a "Army/Navy Tailor" shop like in the show and purchase a military uniform as a disguise to use near its end. But Karen Rhodes, who has Coast Guard connections, e-mailed me as follows: "One pretty much can buy the uniforms and items (medals, ribbons, collar devices, etc.) from stores called 'Army-Navy surplus.' You can buy such items on Ebay these days! You cannot do this on base, however. In order to buy uniform items on base, you have to have a valid military ID for the service for which you wish to buy uniforms and the items that go with them. Trinian would probably not have a valid ID, considering that he was tried, convicted, and incarcerated. He would most likely have received a dishonorable discharge, inasmuch as he was convicted of a felony under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That would result in revocation of all privileges and any pension rights he may have had. But he could have gone to any civilian-run store that carried uniforms and so forth, and bought them with no problem. And the shadier the dealer, the easier the purchase."
  • When this show was filmed John Larch and Vivi Janiss, who play husband and wife in the show, were married to each other.
  • The kid in the surf that McGarrett rescues must run to the waves pretty quickly, since he is not seen in the opening shots taken of McGarrett jogging from far away.
  • Doug Mossman plays HPD Lieutenant George Leoloha; in Twenty-Four Karat Kill, he was Howard Kealoha. In this show, he wonders if "a kid hopped up to the gills with speed" was the one who tried to knock off McGarrett.
  • Al Eben (later "Doc") is here with a moustache as Dr. Cohen.
  • There is a sign attached to the outside of the glove compartment in Trinian's car: "FASTEN SEAT BELT."
  • McGarrett is taken to the hospital by a City and County Ambulance.
  • Danno, talking to the Governor, says that "Chief Tan of H.P.D. is giving us full cooperation." The subtitles say "Tan," but they really mean "Dan," referring to Police Chief Dan Liu, who had been chief of police in Honolulu for almost 20 years in 1968.
  • The name "Trinian" is very close to "Tinian," the South Pacific island which was the departure point for the planes which dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. It is the same as "St. Trinian's," a British comedy film series spanning over 50 years based on works of cartoonist Ronald Searle set in the fictional St. Trinian's School.
  • I love the scene where Danno is driving and gets a call from May at the office that Emma Trinian phoned, saying her husband is going to kill again. Danno does a U-turn in the middle of the street to return to her house. The camera is inside the car as this happens.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 01:12, 00:00, McGarrett is jogging on the beach; Trinian drives up to where McGarrett's car is parked and watches him from behind bushes.
#2, 03:07, 01:49, 01:12, Trinian shoots McGarrett three times, then drives away, followed by main titles.
#3, 10:11, 00:23, 03:01, Danno and Kono go to a yacht harbor where they confront Charlie Mangan, who they suspect of ordering the hit on McGarrett.
#4, 11:58, 01:17, 03:24, Trinian shoots and kills Rudkers, who testified against him during his trial 15 years before.
#5, 13:17, 00:07, 04:41, Beginning of Act Two
#6, 17:29, 00:52, 04:48, Dr. Cohen orders McGarrett to be taken back into surgery for an emergency operation.
#7, 19:03, 01:44, 05:40, Trinian comes to the house where his wife Emma lives in Honolulu.
#8, 20:48, 00:09, 07:23, Beginning of Act Three.
#9, 23:38, 01:00, 07:32, Danno has to deal with McGarrett's responsibilities at work.
#10, 25:40, 00:11, 08:32, Chin Ho goes to ask some punks if they know anything about who was behind the shooting of McGarrett
#11, 29:23, 00:09, 08:43, The Kamehameha Day parade is heard warming up outside the Five-O offices.
#12, 31:40, 01:10, 08:51, Trinian leaves Emma's place to "take care of some business."
#13, 35:14, 00:51, 10:01, Danno goes to Emma's to try and find out where her husband is, but she is not co-operative.
#14, 39:06, 00:43, 10:53, Danno leaves Emma's place; he orders HPD to start surveillance on the house.
#15, 42:00, 00:25, 11:36, Emma pleads with her husband to stop killing after he phones her, but he has already hung up.
#16, 42:48, 01:30, 12:01, Three musical excerpts from the Kamehameha Day parade.
#17, 46:20, 02:45, 13:31, Trinian goes to the Iolani Palace to kill Attorney General Walter Stewart, who is watching the parade. Danno and Emma show up; Danno shoots Trinian dead.
#18, 49:30, 00:36, 16:16, Danno goes to visit McGarrett, who is recovering in the hospital; McGarrett tells him "well done."

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11. (S01E11) “Deathwatch” ★★★★

Original air date: 12/25/68 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Herschel Daugherty; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writer: Shirl Hendryx; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 1:36; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 13:25; Act Two: 7:15; Act Three: 17:06; Act Four: 9:47; End Credits: 0:56; Total Time: 51:02.

QUICK PLOT:

Five-O has to protect a "number two man" that spilled the beans on his racketeer boss who had a prosecutor murdered and evidence against him stolen.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

As the show begins, assistant prosecutor Charlie Cadison (Robert Turnbull) goes to his office on a Sunday to pick up some paperwork. He is shot dead by a safecracker who was stealing a gun, the most critical piece of evidence that Cadison was going to use to convict local racketeer Joe Matsukino (James Shigeta) in a trial the following Tuesday.

McGarrett has two things to preoccupy him: find out who killed Cadison and also make sure that Cadison's very pregnant wife Helen (Maura McGiveney) is not going to have a miscarriage. When Helen starts to have contractions in her late husband's office, McGarrett tells Chin Ho to call an ambulance immediately. Then he orders Danno to pick up Matsukino.

Danno and Kono find Matsukino at a pool side laughing about Cadison's murder with his bookkeeper and number one man for the last 10 years, Harry Cardonus (Nehemiah Persoff), who gives Danno some mouth: "Spill the charges, fuzz, or knock off." The two of them are escorted to McGarrett's office where they continue with their attitude, giving McGarrett "name, rank [and] serial number."

McGarrett tells Matsukino: "You're gonna walk into that courtroom Tuesday and you're never coming back out. We're gonna nail you for killing that bookie, with or without the gun. That's murder number one. But if that doesn't work, I'll spend every resource of this office to convict you for the brutal murder of my friend, Charlie Cadison. That much I promise you. If it's the last thing I do at this desk, I'll see you in Oahu State Prison for life. Now get out."

With a smug look, Matsukino tells him, "Oh, man, you sure got a burn," and leaves. McGarrett tells Cardonus he is not finished, and tells him to stick around.

McGarrett starts to play Cardonus off his boss, who he says is "scared." Among other things, he tells Cardonus, "You're a threat to him. You're the only man alive who knows as much about him as he does himself." He keeps Cardonus stewing in his office until someone arrives with a writ to get him out.

Back at the poolside, Matsukino looks nervous. Cardonus assures him, "I just sat there. No questions, no nothing." But Cardonus looks nervous after Matsukino tells him, "Ain't that something. McGarrett trying to use my pal Harry to pin me to the wall. Nobody's gonna pin nobody while you and me are swinging, Harry." Matsukino leaves, giving Cardonus a peculiar look.

Only a few minutes later, Cardonus' 18-year-old girl friend Holly Flick (Ruth Blacker) starts his car to go home and pick up her two-piece bathing suit. The car explodes, killing her. Now Cardonus is very nervous. He takes a powder, but later shows up to talk to Matsukino, who he accuses of trying to kill him. Matsukino tells Cardonus that he has really "flipped out." Cardonus tells Matsukino that he is going to blow the whistle on him, which Matsukino says is "a mistake." As Cardonus leaves, Matsukino looks very pissed.

Cardonus is quick to get to Five-O where he says he will "wrap up that organization in a bag." But McGarrett wants him to testify at the trial the next day. Cardonus tells him, "I'm gonna be dead long before the trial" � which is the next day. McGarrett makes Cardonus a bet that they can keep him alive under protective custody, and Cardonus says, "You're on!"

They go to the Kahala Hilton. The place is crawling with HPD cops, and there are cameras covering every entrance and exit, which Cardonus describes as "Boy Scout stuff." A guy rappels down from the roof through the balcony of the room where Cardonus will be staying, and as they enter the room, shots are fired, which hits a cop. Cardonus knows the shooter, Jerry Apu, who is on Matsukino's payroll. Despite this, McGarrett tells Cardonus, "You're gonna live, you're gonna be at that trial tomorrow. Now, whether you talk or not is up to you, but you're gonna be there."

Danno and Kono go to the beach where they talk to Oscar (Randall Kim), a local boxman (safe cracker), who they catch picking someone's pocket. Faced with getting busted, Oscar tells them "I did hear something" about the hired help from the mainland who broke into Cadison's safe and killed him. Oscar then shows them some dump where this guy is shacked up! When Danno and Kono bust into the place, they find nothing other than evidence of heroin use. Danno tells Kono they have to look for the pusher who is supplying the wanted man.

Back at the hotel, McGarrett is checking on Helen Cadison, whose condition is not improving. He is not happy when Cardonus tells him that he was the one who hired the boxman from the mainland, and now McGarrett has to keep Cardonus alive. When Cardonus says he finds all this "funny," McGarrett screams at him to shut up. McGarrett does get a description of the man, named Murphy, which he passes along to Danno via HPD. McGarrett already knows that Murphy is a junkie.

Danno and Kono locate Murphy (Daniel Leegant) in the local "Doper's Alley." They pursue him, but a couple of Matsukino's hoods are also after the guy, and they knock him off first. Murphy says that he dumped the evidence gun in the harbor and has some information that could be used to connect Cardonus and Matsukino to the murder, but he expires, so what he tells Danno is useless in court.

After a cop guarding Cardonus dies from drinking water which was poisoned with cyanide, Cardonus says to McGarrett, "We ain't getting out of this joint alive." Soon after this, Cardonus has a severe allergy attack from something unknown and is rushed to hospital. We see him in the emergency department, where they are trying to resuscitate him and it looks like he may not survive.

The story has kind of a predictable twist ending, after we find out that Helen Cadison had a baby boy. The Honolulu Advertiser has a huge headline, "Trial Witness Dies," and Matsukino shows up at court and gloats over this when he sees it in a newspaper box. But then Cardonus arrives in an ambulance to testify, having not died. After he passes Matsukino on a stretcher, McGarrett reiterates what he said earlier: "I promised you, Matsukino. Oahu State Prison, life."

The show has excellent acting from the two guest stars. Shigeta as Matsukino is very oily, and Persoff, who will appear in another four roles on the show connected to organized crime, is full of mainland Mafia-like bluster. It is a shame that Shigeta didn't play Tokura in "Samurai," despite the fact that the actor was about 10 years younger than Ricardo Montalban.

The script is pretty logical, except when you think hard about Matsukino being some kind of all-powerful criminal mastermind who can figure out things like where Cardonus is under protective custody and how Murphy can be located quickly and silenced. How Oscar is familiar with Murphy even to the point of knowing where the guy lives is also a head-scratcher, making you wonder if Honolulu was really not that big of a crime town back in the late 1960s.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

Five-O assumes responsibility to "watch" protected witness Harry Cardonus, who tells McGarrett that he is a "dead man."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Charlie Cadison is shot twice by box man breaking into safe.
    Death: Holly Flick, 18, dies when she tries to start Cardonus' car and it explodes.
    Death: Thug laying in wait to kill Cardonus is shot by McGarrett.
    Death: Murphy is shot three times by Matsukino's thugs, dies as he talks to Danno.
    Death: Police Officer is poisoned after getting water for Cardonus.
    Injury: Cardonus has difficulty breathing after he eats poisoned food.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • Cadison's name is spelled "Cadison" on the door to his office, but both his and his wife's last names are spelled "Kadison" in the end credits.
  • Matsukino smokes cigarettes, Cardonus smokes a cigar. When McGarrett is suspicious of a cigar that someone brought up to the room for Cardonus, he takes it away from him and pulls a package of chewing gun out of his pocket to give to Cardonus instead.
  • When Danno and Kono are chasing Murphy, Danno tells Kono "See if you can get around behind him" in a very loud voice.
  • A City and County Ambulance is used to transport Cadison's body at the beginning of the show and also Cardonus to the court at the show's end. When Cardonus is driven to the hospital in another of this company's ambulances, it is raining, passing by the Holiday Isle Hotel near Kalakaua Street.
  • McGarrett says "Easy ... easy" twice to Helen when he comforts her after her husband is shot and also twice to Cardonus after his allergy attack.
  • When the hitman shoots as the cop opens the door to the supposedly secure hotel room where Cardonus is going to be housed, he is wearing the same aloha shirt as Cardonus. After this, when we see the hitman lying on the floor, his aloha shirt is a different color. (Thanks to Mike.)
  • The headline in The Honolulu Advertiser at the end — Trial Witness Dies — has no relation to any of the stories in the paper. The subhead on the same article is "Senate Nixes Registration." Other stories include "FBI Chief Sides with Chicago Police," "Aloha Air Asks [For?] Subsidies" and "Liu Orders Investigation: Beaten by Police, Youth Says." "Liu" refers to Police Chief Dan Liu. He is also referred to in this show when McGarrett tells Chin "If you need more men, Chief Dan will supply them." The paper seems to be the one from Thursday, September 19, 1968 — but the trial is happening on Tuesday.
  • The word "honey" or "hon" is heard five times during the show. McGarrett uses the expression twice when talking to a nurse at the hospital. McGarrett also calls the receptionist May "love."
  • When Danno is going through the garbage can in Murphy's room, he doesn't use gloves, thus contaminating evidence like the drug paraphernalia and a styrofoam cup that he finds. After this, Danno says, "I'll get the lab boys," but what is the point?
  • A poster seen on the wall in the Kahala Hilton says "Share in Freedom ... where you work or bank."

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 02:32, 00:00, Prosecutor Charlie Cadison is murdered in his office; followed by main titles.
#2, 02:35, 01:05, 02:32, Five-O is at Cadison's office investigating.
#3, 04:34, 00:44, 03:38, McGarrett comforts Helen, Cadison's distraught wife.
#4, 06:53, 01:36, 04:21, Danno and Kono visit Matsukino and Cardonus, telling them McGarrett wants to talk to them.
#5, 12:13, 02:46, 05:57, After Cardonus is detained by McGarrett, he returns to hang out with Matsukino, who is edgy.
#6, 15:25, 00:33, 08:43, Cardonus' 18-year-old girl friend is blown up in his car.
#7, 16:01, 00:09, 09:16, Beginning of Act Two.
#8, 18:27, 00:34, 09:25, Cardonus tells Matsukino he intends to spill the beans on their operation.
#9, 19:59, 00:11, 09:59, Cardonus tells McGarrett he will give him "the whole works" about Matsukino.
#10, 21:38, 00:51, 10:09, Cardonus takes the bet that McGarrett can keep him safe.
#11, 22:52, 00:21, 11:01, One of Matsukino's men tries to assassinate Cardonus as he enters his "protected" hotel room.
#12, 23:15, 00:27, 11:22, Chin investigates how this killer managed to get into Cardonus's room.
#13, 26:45, 03:03, 11:49, Oscar shows Danno and Kono where boxman Murphy lives; they look around his pad, finding signs of drug use.
#14, 34:23, 02:10, 14:52, Kono and Danno pursue Murphy outside on the streets.
#15, 37:26, 00:22, 17:02, Shot by Matsukino's men, Murphy dies after giving Danno evidence which he cannot use.
#16, 38:39, 00:57, 17:25, A cop protecting Cardonus dies of cyanide poisoning.
#17, 40:11, 00:08, 18:22, End of Act Three.
#18, 41:22, 00:38, 18:29, Cardonus suffers an allergy attack.
#19, 46:37, 00:41, 19:07, Matsukino shows up at the courthouse for his trial and acts smug towards McGarrett.
#20, 49:39, 00:29, 19:48, Cardonus, McGarrett's "star witness," is taken into the courthouse on a stretcher.

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12. (S01E12) “Pray Love Remember, Pray Love Remember” ★★★�

Original air date: 1/1/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Herschel Daugherty; Producer: Sidney Marshall; Writers: John D.F. Black (teleplay) & Leonard Freeman (story); Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 4:34; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 17:05; Act Two: 7:29; Act Three: 6:27; Act Four: 13:33; End Credits: 0:57; Total Time: 51:03.

QUICK PLOT:

When a young female student is found murdered, suspicion falls on her boyfriend, but it turns out something "fishy" actually happened.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

The acting in this fan-favorite episode — particularly by the two guest stars — is very good. It does seem slow and talky, though, and there are other issues.

After a young woman student is found dead at the beginning of the show at the Pacific Cultural Institute, McGarrett comes down hard on John Hayes (Denny Miller), her boyfriend and number one suspect, probably because the Governor is annoyed about the bad publicity the place is going to get as a result of the killing since the Institute's creation was a pet project of his.

Under other circumstances, you might expect McGarrett to be a bit more skeptical about what had happened, sort of like he was when Danno swore that Thad Vaughn was using a gun (despite its disappearance) in "....And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin," even if you consider that we were dealing with cops in that episode, who will often leave no stone unturned in order to exonerate themselves. It isn't until McGarrett gets intrigued by the story of some fish missing from a pond near where the murdered girl's body was found that there is finally a crack in his thinking.

I find McGarrett's way of dealing with Miyoshi (Marla Kyo), the girl he meets who knows about the missing fish (called koi) and drew pictures of them, peculiar. I don't think there were a lot of young kids appearing on hard-boiled cop shows back then. McGarrett calls the girl "little one" and "honey" and strokes her hair in way which these days seems creepy. This girl looks to be about 12 years old. Considering the other "young people" in the show seen at the Institute are of university or post-graduate age, I have to wonder what is this young kid doing there in the first place?

This could lead to an interesting discussion of whether there were young kids on cop shows of the era and how they were portrayed and/or treated. I recall that on Streets of San Francisco in those few shows which included kids who were not criminals, Karl Malden's character would talk to them like they were adults.

The whole business with the "developmentally challenged" Benny Apa (Ron Feinberg), who is the one really responsible for the student's murder, is fairly well handled, though everyone seems to be walking on eggshells when he is being interrogated. The way Benny is treated really anticipates today's "political correctness."

I remember during a discussion at the 1996 Five-O convention in Burbank, someone asked Feinberg in a very loud voice a question like "Didn't you play the RETARDED guy?" Even 20 plus years ago, there was this huge intake of breath by the people in the room and an overall feeling of embarrassment at the fact that such an un-PC term was being used.

Overall, McGarrett and the boys from Five-O, who are seen following their boss around in this show like a mother duck's babies, are much more tolerant of Benny's explanation of what happened than John's.

At the convention, Ron Feinberg had quite a bit to say about his portrayal of Benny. He spoke at length of his audition for this show. He said he read for the part and then he and the casting director just stared at each other. Then he was asked to see Leonard Freeman personally, who said he "didn't want Lenny from Mice and Men." Later, after auditioning for Freeman, Feinberg was hired immediately. He told Freeman, "It's not that you didn't want Lenny ... you didn't want Lon Chaney Junior." Feinberg was on his way out of the building after the audition when suddenly Freeman came running after him and said, "Don't let anyone fool with this performance. You do what you want to do."

Feinberg regarded his performance as Benny Apa as a major stepping stone in his career (see the report of Mahalo Con). Later he received letters of thanks from people with children who had developmental problems and others would come up to him on the street and say, "You're the man with the chicken!"

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Mira is strangled by Benny Apa at Pacific Cultural Institute.
    Injury: Benny throws McGarrett into ditch in cane field prior to arrest; later McGarrett says his ribs feel "bent."

MORE TRIVIA:

  • While working on the case, Danno is bossy, telling Kono "Don't look at me ... get him [McGarrett] a bucket." At one point, Danno tells McGarrett "Peace and joy, strong brother," and the two make the peace sign at each other. When Danno compliments McGarrett who is "always one step ahead" because of his brainstorm with the fish and the bucket, McGarrett tells him "That's why I got the big office."
  • Kono says he weighs "about 245" and has "teeny little feet, size 13."
  • Doug Mossman plays Lt. George Lealoha again.
  • The SPCA would not approve of this show, which features a cock fight, though the two birds are not actually seen pecking at each other.
  • An autopsy determines that Mira was "not criminally assaulted."
  • The little boy who dumps sand on Hays' face at the beach is Geoffrey Thorpe, son of location casting director Ted Thorpe (1918�1970). Geoffrey later became founder and guitarist of the power metal band Vicious Rumours.
  • According to Robert McDonald, Jim Demarest, who plays Babbitt, the man who bought the fish from Benny, replaced Dave Donnelly as Mr. Checkers on the locally-produced-in-Honolulu Checkers and Pogo show.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 0:00, 01:02, 00:00, McGarrett and the Governor arrive at the Pacific Cultural Institute, where a murder has taken place.
#2, 4:28, 01:04, 01:02, Pre-title wave, leads into the main credits.
#3, 8:53, 01:37, 02:06, Rock music heard on the beach.
#4, 20:27, 02:10, 03:42, McGarrett details the evidence against John Hayes.
#5, 22:37, 00:32, 05:53, McGarrett meets Miyoshi, a young girl who tracks the carp in the pool.
#6, 27:45, 00:15, 06:25, Babbitt is the man who bought the two carp from Benny.
#7, 29:46, 00:19, 06:40, End of Act Two.
#8, 30:06, 01:30, 06:59, McGarrett chases Benny and fights with him; then Benny runs into a cane field.
#9, 31:49, 00:41, 08:29, Five-O prepares to burn the cane field.
#10, 34:40, 01:52, 09:09, The cane field is on fire; Benny emerges from it and is arrested.
#11, 48:26, 01:42, 11:02, John is conflicted as to whether he should return home or go to Indonesia.

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13. (S01E13) “King Of The Hill” ★★★

Original air date: 1/8/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Jack Shea; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writers: John D.F. Black (teleplay), Leonard Freeman (story); Music: Harry Geller
Timings: Teaser: 3:48; Main Titles: 0:59; Act One: 9:05; Act Two: 11:19; Act Three: 10:03; Act Four: 14:52; End Credits: 0:55; Total Time: 51:01.

QUICK PLOT:

A Marine who suffered an accidental head wound during a kids' baseball game is taken to the hospital where he starts reliving his Vietnam experiences.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This is another current-events-related episode like "By The Numbers" with a major link (no pun intended) to the Vietnam War.

Medal-winning U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal John T. Auston (Yaphet Kotto) is hit on the head by a bat that slipped out the hands of a kid during a practice by the Five-O-sponsored baseball team. We see an ambulance rushing Auston to Castle Memorial Hospital with a police escort, but the roads they are travelling on aren't in downtown Honolulu. Instead they seem to be in some mountainous area. It seems odd that Auston would just have happened to be at this practice if it is out in the sticks, so to speak. Fred Helfing comments: "[The road] looks to be the Pali Highway. The highway divider in the scene is exactly the same as you can see today as well as the periodic three indentations at the base of the dividers."

When Auston arrives at the hospital, he is examined by the hospital's acting chief of staff Dr. William Hanson (Jeff Corey) who gets him moved to "Emergency Treatment" on the third floor. I don't understand why would this room be so far away from the hospital's main entrance, when time is of the essence for dealing with seriously ill or injured patients. As well, this room is in the middle of an intensive care area! The only reason I can see that Auston ends up on the third floor is so the show can have the big staged finale where McGarrett drops down to the window of this room from a helicopter. Let's face it, if Auston was just on the main floor, that would be pretty boring!

In this third floor room, Auston becomes conscious, thinking he is back in Vietnam and that Peter Miller (Seth Riggs), an HPD cop accompanying him, is a Vietnamese talking to Danno who is his "Sarge." Danno is talking to Miller, and Auston grabs Miller's gun, just like one the Vietnamese has in the hallucination. Danno attempts to get the gun, knocking Miller out of the way, but Auston fires twice, hitting Danno in the abdomen (once I think), wounding him badly. When Miller gets up and also tries to get the gun, Auston shoots him as well, in the leg. In the next scene we see Danno and Auston together on the floor. Dr. Cutter (Lawrence Templar) later says he dragged Miller out of the room.

McGarrett soon shows up at the hospital and starts yelling at Lieutenant George Kealoha from HPD (Doug Mossman), asking why he hasn't gone down the hall to get Danno. Kealoha calmly tells him that "would just be a suicide." McGarrett then tries to go down the hall himself with a metal shield. When Auston shoots at him, he withdraws, and as Kealoha pulls him back, McGarrett pushes him away, angrily yelling, "Leave me alone!"

The way McGarrett is carrying on is really irrational. No doubt this is to continue the trope that McGarrett cares for the people who work for him, just like Danno in "....And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin," but in that show McGarrett attempted for the most part to work out things logically, not by screaming. After talking to several people — Cutter, Chin Ho, who tells McGarrett "It won't help Danny any blowing your cool," Dr. Shirmer (Richard Bull), head of the hospital's psychiatric service, and Hanson, who warns McGarrett shooting in the intensive care ward may kill patients because of shock — McGarrett calms down ... a bit. But he suddenly wants to use tear gas to deal with the situation, which Hanson dismisses as a very bad idea.

In the room, barricaded behind a hospital gurney, Auston resists all attempts by Danno to talk him out of thinking that he is back in Vietnam with his Sarge, fighting off the Viet Cong. At one point, Danno pulls out a gun from his back pants pocket and points it at Auston to convince him to give up, but Danno struggles to avoid passing out. This is a small silver gun. I don't know if it is Danno's "personal gun." It is certainly not the same as the one he used in "....And He Painted Daisies On His Coffin" to shoot through the door. This silver gun looks like a "girly gun."

During the commotion when Danno was shot, Auston took Miller's gun belt in addition to his gun, all of which Auston says contain "40 rounds." Miller himself tells McGarrett his gun belt contained "thirty-eight to forty" rounds. I am very skeptical about this. Auston takes Danno's silver gun, saying "Fifty rounds. With this 50 rounds I could defend the city of Saigon against half of the Viet Cong army." But surely Danno's tiny gun does not hold 50 rounds which would be added to the 40 which Auston supposedly already has. I think he means that it contains 10 rounds, so now he has 50 in total. But would it contain 10 rounds?

Things take a turn for the worse when Mary Karabinos (Gina Villines), a woman visiting in one of the nearby rooms, comes out into the hallway and starts screaming that her father is dying. This results in more gunfire from Auston. McGarrett rushes over and pulls Mary back into the room as Danno luckily manages to distract Auston for a few seconds. McGarrett's extremely angry outburst to Mary is not only irrational, but unprofessional. Grabbing on to her and shaking, he looks like he is going to slap her, and yells at her to get help by calling the hospital's desk, pushing her towards the phone in the room. He channels some of his anger by starting chest massage on her father, whose condition is deteriorating.

A crane like those used by electrical and telephone companies is quickly obtained and used to evacuate some of the more seriously ill patients along the hallway via the windows in their rooms. One of these people is placed in a stretcher and removed on top of one of the crane's buckets, which looks very perilous.

Colonel Lew Cardell (L.Q. Jones) shows up and helps Five-O cut through some Marine bureaucracy, while emphasizing that Auston can't be killed, because he was on his way to Washington to receive a medal, described by Chin Ho as a "big one," likely along the lines of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

McGarrett envisions going down the hallway surrounded by six HPD cops, who are not even dressed in SWAT team outfits, but will just be behind shields. Fortunately before they do this, a call is received from Rosen, another man from Auston's outfit who was with him in Hawaii, who fills McGarrett in on some details about what happened to Auston in Vietnam: "Big John's squad was all wiped out ... John was the only one who made it. He was stuck up on that hill for 11 hours with his platoon sergeant. Sarge died on the way to the field hospital."

When McGarrett finds out that Auston and the Sarge were rescued by a helicopter, he has a brainstorm and orders a helicopter from HPD and a corpsman's uniform for himself. Both these things are produced very quickly. McGarrett boards the helicopter with a hypodermic needle full of medicine which will knock Auston out. As the copter flies above the hospital, McGarrett drops via a ladder into the room where Danno is fading fast. When Auston resists the shot, McGarrett tells him Danno is dead.

At this point, there are some racial overtones which are not developed very well. Before he passes out from the shot McGarrett gives him, Auston is upset when McGarrett, the "corpsman," tells him that the Sarge has died, saying, "He didn't even give me the chance to hear him say 'John' or call me 'nigger'."

This ties in with what Auston told Danno, his "Sarge," earlier in the hospital room, possibly relating back to when the two of them were stuck on the hill in Vietnam and Auston was struggling with feelings of inferiority because of what the Sarge had told him prior to this: "You're still bucking on the long shot, aren't you, sarge? You're hoping to crawl out of here and go back to the old man and tell him that I ran out on my assignment and had the VCs walk right in. Is that your bag, is it? ... I'm gonna see that you live. And how are you gonna live with that? How are you gonna live with the fact that your life was saved by a Corporal John T. Auston? It's gonna drive you straight up the wall. And I hope it turns you around. One way or another, I'll settle for either one."

This is a very focused episode, the point of which is to subdue Auston and rescue Danno. There are a lot of things that don't make sense in Auston's hallucinations, like why does Auston throw a chair through the hospital window (so at some level, he knows that he is in a room) and why does he tell Cutter, thinking the doctor is with his outfit, to "get a chopper" before he drags Miller out of the room (in other words, there were other people with Auston and the Sarge during the skirmish). But Auston is delirious, so basically anything goes in the script. It's like Shirmer, the hospital's shrink, says: "There's no logic. It's like a short circuit in a computer."

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

Auston is determined to keep control of the hill where he is imagining himself to be with his Sarge at any cost, especially to prove that he is a better man than the Sarge. Thus, he is "king of the hill."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Injury: Marine Corporal John Auston has a "possible skull fracture," hit in the head accidentally with a bat at baseball practice.
    Injury: Danno is shot in abdomen by Auston.
    Injury: Officer Peter Miller is shot in the leg by Auston.
    Injury: Patient in Room 306 goes into cardiac arrest; McGarrett performs CPR on him before patient is evacuated out the window with crane.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • Yaphet Kotto is really sweating like hell during the show. I don't know if the perspiration is consistent from shot to shot; I don't really want to know!
  • We learn some information about Danny from Jack Francis (Jack McCoy), a newsman from TV station KGMB outside the hospital, who are covering the events live: "He's a local boy. He was born here and educated here. He attended the University of Hawaii for one year and then transferred to the University of California at Berkeley. He was a psychology major and then he switched to police science major when he moved to the mainland."
  • A shot with Hanson coming into the hospital hallway past some cops is repeated twice.
  • McGarrett says "Easy" three times to Auston at the end.
  • When Auston is finished shooting through the window, it has jagged pieces of glass on all four sides, especially the bottom. But when McGarrett drops through the window later, there is no glass impeding his entry.
  • This is the first of the two times the word "nigger" is heard during the series.
  • The music is by Harry Geller, the first score not done by Stevens. It includes a rattlesnake-like sound during some of Auston's hallucinations.
  • Auston's Marine serial number is 52-311-712.
  • The helicopter's number is N8544F, which is bogus.
  • Bad DVD subtitles: Kailua becomes Kawailoa.
  • Good quote from KGMB reporter Jack Francis: "Now, there are reporters here on Oahu who in the past have taken stands against Steve McGarrett, head of Five-O, our state police unit. But those voices are silent this afternoon."
  • At the end, as the camera backs down the hallway, there are moving shadows on doorways to the left.

MUSIC:

Score by Harry Geller.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 01:26, 00:00, John Auston is transported to hospital by ambulance, he arrives and is taken inside, Doctor Hanson examines him.
#2, 02:01, 00:24, 01:26, Auston is taken to emergency treatment room, he starts to wake up as they remove him from gurney.
#3, 03:00, 01:46, 01:50, Auston starts freaking out, thinking he is in Vietnam, he grabs cop's gun and shoots cop and Danno, segues into main title.
#4, 04:48, 01:14, 03:36, McGarrett runs down Iolani Palace steps, heads out in car, arrives at hospital and is hassled by reporter, Lt. Kealoha is there, they go to third floor.
#5, 06:46, 00:19, 04:50, Auston thinks he is in Vietnam, he tells Sarge (Danno) to be quiet, McGarrett is getting concerned.
#6, 07:26, 00:10, 05:09, McGarrett tries to go down hallway with shield, he is shot at.
#7, 13:00, 00:41, 05:18, Danno has a gun, he points it at Auston, but passes out; Wave at end of Act One.
#8, 15:55, 01:05, 06:00, Auston thinks he and Danno are in Vietnam, cut to reporter outside.
#9, 24:09, 01:01, 07:05, Woman in nearby room is screaming in hallway, Auston shoots at her because he thinks she is Vietnamese, McGarrett pulls her into the room, her father is sick, McGarrett tries chest compression; Wave at end of Act Two.
#10, 28:51, 01:11, 08:06, Doctor comes through window with help of cherry picker, the old man is OK, they remove another patient with the cherry picker, Auston is getting antsy.
#11, 36:06, 00:08, 09:17, Wave at end of Act Three.
#12, 44:11, 00:34, 09:25, Chin Ho distracts Auston as McGarrett is outside being lowered via helicopter, pretending to be a medic.
#13, 45:41, 04:25, 09:59, McGarrett is in the room, he gives Auston a shot after some argument, convinces Auston he is hit as well as Danno, who he says is "dead." McGarrett takes Auston's gun away. Five-O team and doctor rush in, doctor says Danno will "make it."

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14. (S01E14) “Up Tight” ★★★

Original air date: 1/15/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Seymour Robbie; Producer: Joseph Gantman; Writers: Mel Goldberg (teleplay), David Harmon (story); Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 3:44; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 11:13; Act Two: 14:53; Act Three: 10:41; Act Four: 8:39; End Credits: 0:55; Total Time: 51:02.

QUICK PLOT:

The death of a young woman under the influence of drugs leads Five-O to track down her supplier, a disgraced university professor-turned-guru.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This drug-saturated episode had me cringing before I started watching it, probably because "it would remind me of the late '60s," but it was actually pretty good, with the usual one glaring exception.

It starts with an 18-year-old girl named Eadie Hastings (Susan O'Connell) high on top of a cliff above the ocean, having a heavy duty trip. No idea how she got there! Did she walk from somewhere, did someone drop her off, did she hitchhike or take the bus, or what? There is a cop nearby, he was called by a tourist who noticed her. (There are actually two cops.) Suddenly Danno shows up. I can't understand why he is there, either. Maybe he was just driving by? Someone attempting suicide would be a job for cops or firemen to deal with, I think. One of the cops tells Danno "Police Rescue's sending one [a net] right out."

Danno tries to talk Eadie out of jumping. At this point, I started yelling at the TV, "But Danno is soooo square!!" If she is a flower child whacked out of her mind on something, surely she would be just as freaked out by the clean-cut Danno as she would be with the cop(s). Eadie tells him, "You don't understand. You've gotta love everybody." She hears dopey music and sees dopey visions of stars. Danno looks perplexed, but, trying to be a nice guy, has kind of a dopey smile himself. Eadie walks off the cliff to her death.

The scene switches to the Five-O office where Danno is sad about what happened. Chin Ho wonders why Five-O is getting involved in this, and McGarrett says this is not the first instance of someone young in Hawaii doing something stupid under the influence of drugs: "Three high school kids on Molokai beat a harmless derelict to death because they thought he was the devil. Another kid on Maui killed a cop because he thought he was looking at him funny. All on speed. These islands are beginning to bust at the seams with this stuff. And for every tripper turned in, there's a dozen still roaming the streets or driving cars or motorcycles." This still doesn't answer Chin's question, which suggested that the HPD Narcotics squad should deal with the problem.

McGarrett goes to visit Eadie's parents. Her father is super pissed, telling McGarrett he is not doing his job. The father Ralph (John McLiam) and mother Sarah (Doreen Lang) are both kind of tragic figures, because they look old. The actors playing them were around 51 and 54 respectively, suggesting that Eadie, who appears to be an only child, was also a "late child."

From Eadie's notebook among her pitiful possessions, they find the name of her best friend, Donna Wales (Brenda Scott). McGarrett goes to visit her. She lives in a very nice beachfront house where her parents are nowhere to be seen, not just now, but for the entire show. She tells McGarrett, who says that she is not so badly off, "This is where my family lives. It's their scene, not mine." Donna has major attitude problems, calling McGarrett "a rock in this rotten establishment" and referring to police brutality and harassment. She is a harsh bitch, but also a harsh babe. When she comes out of her swimming pool, her bikini top almost slips off. As he leaves, McGarrett tells her she is full of it: "Your best friend is dead and you can help us find out why and how, but you couldn't care less. That's pretty cool, baby, pretty cool."

Donna jumps on her motorcycle, tailed by Chin Ho, and goes to see David Stone (Ed Flanders), a Timothy Leary-like disgraced university professor from the mainland who lives in the backwoods of Oahu. Five-O's investigation soon after this reveals that Stone was allowed to resign from his job for "conduct unbecoming a teacher" after he was caught "handing out experimental drugs like they were bubble gum."

McGarrett goes to see Stone (get it — "stone"?), but this is largely a waste of time, because Stone meets everything McGarrett throws at him with a lot of mumbo-jumbo, talking about "turning on and tuning out" and being very careful not to get entrapped by McGarrett's accusations. Stone tries to weasel out of his involvement in Eadie's death by saying "The stinking, rotten society ... your establishment killed her." He tells McGarrett to get lost and "next time, bring a warrant."

To infiltrate the drug scene, Danno goes undercover as a beach bum. I guess it would have been possible for someone like James MacArthur in his early 30's to be living in a beat-up truck, surfing and cooking meals on the beach, the same beach where Donna hangs out and he meets her, but when the short-haired Danno uses hip lingo to Donna like "Sure, baby. Let's let it happen," I just have to laugh. Danno is relatively restrained when Donna tells him that she is into "the sacred weed, marvellous mushroom," and he just says, "Everybody's entitled to their own choice."

While this may be hard to take, however, it is not as ridiculous as Danno's undercover efforts in the fourth season episode "To Kill or Be Killed" (S03E17). MacArthur was 33 when he pretended to be a draft dodger in that show, which has the same director — Paul Stanley — as an October, 1974 Streets of San Francisco episode also about draft-dodging (S03E05, I Ain't Marchin' Anymore). In that episode, Michael Douglas was 29; whether Douglas looked too old for the part is debatable. Danno's other big Five-O undercover stint is in S02E01, "A Thousand Pardons — You're Dead!" where he plays a G.I., perhaps the most successful of his three clandestine roles.

Danno and Donna become pals, but his undercover persona doesn't hold up long, because at Donna's house, Donna's pal Zero (Gray Gleason) who has invited her to "a ball tonight at the prof's pad" immediately recognizes Danno as one of the cops who was going around grilling Eadie's friends after her death, a big DUH!

Using Danno in this manner, considering Five-O is kind of a high-profile "in the news" organization, was kind of a dumb move, sort of like McGarrett assuming another persona in "Six Kilos" (S01E22) later this season. Most of his time as "Steve Crowley" in "The Ways of Love" (S01E07) was spent in California, though there is a good possibility that someone might have recognized him when he and Dave Barca returned to Hawaii ... sort of like how McGarrett's cover is blown by a hotel security guy in "Six Kilos," and could have gotten him killed.

Danno and Donna go to see Stone, but he is not home. When Donna returns to her place, Stone is there and he slaps her in the face because she brought "the fuzz" to his house. (Zero tipped him off about Danno.) For this, she must be punished. Stone forces her to take some pills and contrary to his normal procedure, makes her experience her trip all alone.

Donna has a very bad experience, riding her motorbike through busy streets. She ends up on a beach where the bike gets stuck in the sand and she is thrown to the ground. From there she is taken to the bug ward of a local hospital where she uneasily tries to act cool, but is eventually brought to her senses by McGarrett and Danno. She is not happy to see the traitorous Danno, who tells her "Speed usually ends you up something like this. And it's my job to try to stop this from happening." The other women in the hospital ward — "acid heads [and] speed trippers" — illustrate to her the danger of drugs, but none more so than Rachel, who Donna knows and has turned into a vegetable.

Donna is released from the hospital. When Stone phones her, she tells him that she has learned her lesson. She makes an appointment to see him that evening and tips off Five-O. But before McGarrett and Danno can take care of this, Eadie's father beats them to the professor's pad. Hastings has a gun and, accusing Stone of turning his daughter into an "animal," forces him to read a chapter from his Eadie's diary where it sounds like the two of them had sex: "Another glorious trip with my beloved David Stone. Time stops while I learn the meaning of love and we become one."

The father tells Stone to get some of the drugs that Eadie used. Thinking that the old man wants to "learn to love rather than kill one another," Stone is only to glad to oblige, but Hastings forces Stone at gunpoint to gobble several of the pills. Stone knocks Hastings down and runs away, taking the gun, but the drugs start to work on his mind very quickly, and Stone has a very bad trip of his own.

Stone ends up at Donna's, still seeing visions, and the two of them run away to the cliff that Eadie jumped from. Once again Danno shows up, but he arrives with McGarrett, who does the honors in dealing with the jumper. With Danno's help, McGarrett is successful in grabbing on to Stone, despite the fact that Stone still has Eadie's father's gun. Stone is busted, and McGarrett looks very iconic on top of the cliff.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

At the beginning of the show, Danno is upset because he failed to save Eadie Hastings from jumping off the cliff. McGarrett tells him, "You're up pretty tight, Danno." Eadie's father is also "up tight" when he meets with McGarrett because of what happened to his daughter.

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Eadie Hastings jumps off cliff during speed trip.
    Injury: Donna crashes her motorcycle on the beach as she trips on speed.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • One place on Oahu where you can see Molokai (as Danno tells Eadie at the beginning of the show) is the Lanai Lookout.
  • The music covers a wide range of moods. It is by Stevens according to the end credits, but film music critic Jon Burlingame, in the liner notes to the Film Score Monthly reissue of the Five-O soundtrack, says that three members of The Ventures (who had a top ten cover version of the main theme) perform the "psychedelic" music (especially in the cut "Beach Trip"). In total, all or part of five cuts on the soundtrack are from this show.
  • Some of the visual hallucinations in this show seem like they were generated by the same team that produced those suffered by Yaphet Kotto in the previous episode.
  • Donna wears three different bikinis in the show: brown, white and yellow.
  • Kono is not seen in this episode.
  • Just before Donna returns from Stone's and finds him at her place, there is a brief shot of surf coming right at the camera, which appears in the first part of the two-part version of Cocoon before the scene with Hennessey's body on the beach.
  • Both at the beginning and end when Danno and, latterly, Danno and McGarrett drive up to the cliff area, they are driving on the left side of the highway. Some of the sequence with McGarrett is repeated in the season finale, "The Big Kahuna."
  • Danno is seen smoking and offers Donna a cigarette when she is in the psychiatric hospital ward (!).
  • McGarrett says the methamphetamine pills are "methetamine"
  • When Donna leaves her house at the end of the show with Stone, she is barefoot, but later when she talks to McGarrett at the cliff where Eadie died, she is wearing sandals.
  • Why doesn't McGarrett take off his gun when he is trying to persuade Stone not to jump at the end of the show?

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 01:50, 02:53, 00:00, Danno tries to unsuccessfully discourage Eadie Hastings, under the influence of speed, from jumping off a high cliff into the ocean; leads to main titles.
#2, 06:35, 00:42, 02:53, McGarrett goes to visit Eadie's parents.
#3, 11.07, 00:48, 03:35, After McGarrett visits Eadie's best friend Donna Wales, Donna goes to see David Stone.
#4, 04:23, 00:12, 04:23, McGarrett visits David Stone, leads to Wave at end of Act One.
#5, 15:42, 00:39, 04:35, Upset at the lack of progress with the case, Eadie's father comes to the Five-O office.
#6, 19:23, 02:32, 05:13, Crappy rock music is heard from a portable radio as Danno goes undercover as a beach bum.
#7, 23:21, 01:17, 07:45, Danno, having become Donna's pal, goes with her to Stone's house, but the professor is not there.
#8, 25:42, 04:06, 09:02, Multi-part cue: Angry because Donna brought the "fuzz" to his place, Stone gives Donna a pill (tinkling sound) and leaves her without a "guide"; she later drives dangerously on her motorcycle and ends up in the hospital.
#9, 30:17, 00:32, 13:08, Donna freaks out in the hospital; she is tied to the bed; leads to Wave at end of Act Two.
#10, 30:49, 00:21, 13:40, Donna wakes up in hospital, McGarrett and Danno are there with the doctor.
#11, 35:42, 00:30, 14:01, After her bad trip, Stone wants to see Donna; she calls Five-O; but Eadie's father is at Stone's with a gun.
#12, 41:13, 00:19, 14:31, Eadie's father forces Stone at gunpoint to gobble pills; Stone knocks him down, grabs the gun, and runs away; leads to Wave at end of Act Three.
#13, 41:30, 04:44, 14:49, Multi-part cue: Stone has a bad trip of his own, wandering through a Japanese neighborhood and a cemetery; he arrives at Donna's where he confuses her with Eadie; they run away together.
#14, 49:15, 00:53, 19:34, At the same cliff where Eadie killed herself, McGarrett and Danno prevent Stone from jumping.

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15. (S01E15) “Face Of The Dragon” ★★

Original air date: 1/22/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Richard Benedict; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writer: Robert C. Dennis; Music: Richard Shores
Timings: Teaser: 2:28; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 13:55; Act Two: 11:47; Act Three: 11:56; Act Four: 9:06; End Credits: 1:00; Total Time: 51:10.

QUICK PLOT:

A Red Chinese agent infected with bubonic plague comes to Hawaii to steal a top-secret device developed for use by the U.S. Army in Vietnam.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

The execution of the basic premise of this show — that someone assumes the identity of another person that he killed in order to perform something illegal — is dumb, because you have to preface just about every plot thread with "it just so happens that..." Although Communist Chinese people in Five-O are assumed to be evil, conniving and so forth, there is a limit as to how complicated the scenario that starts the whole series of events in the show can be, as well as what happens later. Let's review some of the back story first.

Soon-Teck Oh plays a Red Chinese agent, whose real name we do not know, but who later takes the name of "Lewis Shen." He boards a junk in China which is carrying Amy Soo (Hai Luen Corragio), who was bound for Hawaii together with her fianc� Shen Lu. Soo's family had paid $25,000 to the American entrepreneur and people-smuggler Horace Sibley (Jackie Coogan) for passage for herself and Shen Lu on the junk as well as a subsequent freighter, the Cap Soledado. Their destination was the house in Honolulu of Shen Yu-Lan, Shen Lu's uncle (David Opatoshu).

Shen Lu and Amy were kept isolated from each other on the freighter and as the ship approached Hawaii, Shen Lu was murdered, or so it is speculated. When he arrives in Hawaii, Lewis Shen approaches the uncle, who has not seen Shen Lu (note the reversal of the names) for many years, and would not realize that Lewis Shen is actually not his nephew.

While he was on the junk, Lewis Shen contracted bubonic plague, as did Amy and Shen Lu. While one of the people living at the uncle's house is a doctor also related to the uncle who managed to supply Lewis Shen with medicine to cure him, other people Lewis Shen has come in contact with in Hawaii have contracted the disease, including Harvey Fong, a photographer, and a Mr. Chew, who works as a janitor at the Hawaii Institute of Technology. Following the death of Chew, Five-O is alerted to his connection with "Canebrake," a night-sight detector under development by the military for use in Vietnam, a major breakthrough in infrared sensory perception, which was presumably created at the university where Chew worked. Lewis Shen has come to Hawaii to steal this device.

Did Lewis Shen, perhaps acting on orders from higher up, board the junk in China with the knowledge that there would be someone else on the boat who he could take advantage of in order to infiltrate his way into Hawaii? How did he know the people on the boat would end up in Hawaii in the first place? Presumably Shen contracted the plague on this boat which he then passed along to Amy Soo and her fianc�, or maybe they just all contracted it on their own, because the junk was described as "rat infested."

Horace Shipley was the one who was being paid $25,000 from Soo's "Hui," which is defined in the dictionary as "a partnership or syndicate" (in the show it is defined as "family organization"). This money was to smuggle her and Shen Lu into the States. Did Shipley have secret dealings with the Chinese Communist government? McGarrett suggests that some of the knickknacks that the entrepreneurial Shipley imported may have been manufactured illegally in China with "with phony Hong Kong labels." Maybe the Commies had something on Shipley, so they persuaded him to co-operate in this complicated scheme?

It is just too convenient that when Amy and her husband-to-be get on the Cap Soledado they are put into individual "cargo cases" so the fianc� can be separated from her without her knowing anything about his departure later (McGarrett suggests he was "murdered at sea").

You also have to wonder about what is the involvement of the other two people Lewis Shen was dealing with in Hawaii that we meet in the show — Harvey Fong, the photographer, and Mr. Chew, the janitor. Fong's connection to Shen's espionage is never really defined. Both of them seem like kind of small fry.

At the beginning of the show, why is Fong at Hanauma Bay? He seems very ill, so much so that he probably couldn't even have driven there. Did he ask to meet Lewis Shen there or vice versa? It seems strange that Lewis Shen takes Fong's wallet, presumably to make it more difficult for the authorities to figure out who he is, because Fong's car, which the cops easily trace through its registration, is located very close by, duh! I guess Lewis Shen didn't study hard at the espionage school in Peking on how to cover up things.

Chew's involvement is even more peculiar. A piece of paper for Lewis Shen is hidden in a gate post at the university, which Five-O only finds out about by accident. Where did this paper, which reveals the word "Canebrake," the name of the top secret night-sight gizmo under development, come from? When McGarrett meets Colonel Tyler (Ed Sheehan) to discuss this device, there are a couple of "perfesser" types with him, so maybe this scene takes place at the technology institute. Still, you wonder how someone Chew worked with arranged for him to get this paper, which is a schematic of some sort from the brief glimpse we get of it. It is not said how McGarrett determines the paper with the information about Canebrake had some kind of military significance.

There are other questions like why does Lewis Shen have a room at Arthur Hee's house? Isn't the palatial house of his "uncle" sufficient, because, according to Dr. Kuh (Victor Sen Yung), the "family doctor" who provided Shen with drugs, it accommodates 14 people! (There is no suggestion that Lewis Shen ever actually stayed at Hee's house, though.) And what's with the excuse that Kuh gives to McGarrett and Danno about how he prescribed the anti-plague drugs to a cook in the house because of "carbuncles," whereas these drugs were really destined to end up in the hands of Lewis (I guess)? Was Kuh really complicit in what was happening? This is suggested near the end of the show, when McGarrett tells him "Unless you help us [after Shen Yu-Lan, the old man of the family, is killed by Lewis] you'll know a far greater grief. The imposter Lewis Shen murdered your uncle. He brought a plague to these islands that you concealed. As a doctor, the responsibility for that lies on your doorstep. Now it's up to you."

The ending where the helicopter ferrying Canebrake to a test site crashes is ridiculous. In order to cause this crash, assuming he is not using a missile or something, which would be difficult, because how would he know the exact flight pattern of the copter, Lewis Shen would have to sneak into the military base or airfield where the helicopter is kept and somehow tinker with it or plant something in it like a bomb before it leaves. And then he would have to follow the helicopter to the site where it crashes (and how would he know exactly where that is) and then steal the Canebrake device out of it ... which assumes that it would not be damaged during the crash!

The only thing keeping my interest in this show was a few good laughs during the inoculation scene with the three guys from Five-O and the score by Richard Shores, his first of the series, which uses some weird-sounding instrument like a synthesizer.

David Opatoshu's yellowface portrayal of the Asian patriarch, which brings to mind some of the performances of Alec Guinness, is passable — definitely not as bad as his performance in #83, "A Matter of Mutual Concern."

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

"Dragon" has Chinese connotations; also can mean "a violent, combative, or very strict person." "Face" presumably refers to Lewis Shen as a spokesman.

CASUALTY LIST:

    Injury: Harvey Fong collapses in front of tourists at Hanauma Bay.
    Death: Fong dies at hospital of bubonic plague. ME says, "He's dead."
    Death: Mr. Chew found in his house (not seen by us); he has "been dead a couple of days," according to Chin Ho.
    Death: Artist is shot by "Lewis Shen" who pushes motorcycle over cliff; the artist later dies.
    Injury: Amy Soo, also infected with bubonic plague, collapses after she mails a letter. Dr. Kemp later tells McGarrett, "I think she'll make it."
    Death: Shen Yu-Lan is shot by his nephew "Lewis Shen"; body is found by McGarrett and Danno after they hear the shot.
    Injury: Chin Ho is shot by "Lewis Shen" in upper arm.
    Injury: "Lewis Shen" is shot by Danno in shoulder.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • When McGarrett and Danno talk to Dr. Kuh outside a hospital, he says that Shen Yu-Lan is his grandfather. But later, when McGarrett reads Kuh the riot act regarding his responsibility in all that has happened, he says "The imposter Lewis Shen murdered your uncle."
  • This show has a classic McGarrett quote when Kemp asks him, "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" He replies, "Only when I shave, and I do that running."
  • The car Fong the photographer is a 1968 Mercury, four-door station wagon, light blue, license number BSO 496. At the end of the show, Lewis Shen, who has been using a motorcycle during the show, is driving a Mercury Cougar GT-E with a 427 engine, currently worth about $125,000 (thanks to Michael Timothy).
  • An artist named Tompkins is painting at what looks like the top of a cliff near the ocean. Lewis Shen shoots him when he witnesses Shen getting rid of his motorcycle. The way Tompkins flies off the cliff after being shot is kind of weird. According to Danno, Tompkins manages to pull himself back up to the top of the cliff later where he dies and his body is found. Danno also says that Tomkins was "shot and dumped into a canyon off Kalanianaole Highway"; there is no mention of a cliff or the ocean. The closeup of the painting Tompkins was doing doesn't look much like the ocean view in the background.
  • When Lewis Shen phones Fong's place while Danno and Chin are there dressed in silver hazmat uniforms, it sounds like Soon-Teck Oh's voice has been dubbed.
  • At the beginning of the episode, the pavement of the road at Hanauma Bay looks like it has been raining. When McGarrett returns later to check on Fong's car, he is wearing a raincoat. Yankee Chang, who appeared in "Cocoon," the pilot episode, as a tour bus operator, is seen in another bus with a bunch of tourists at the beginning of the show at this location.
  • The photographer Fong is admitted to the Hawaiian Community Hospital. He lived in Kaimuki, which in the subtitles, is spelled "Kamakee." Jardine and his son are taken to Queen's Hospital. One of the policemen investigating Chew's house is named Kimo, which is spelled "Kemo" in the subtitles.
  • At the end, one of the ships, perhaps the one Lewis Shen will escape on, is named "Alika," same name as the yacht used by Victor Reese in "Full Fathom Five" and Tony Alika, a major character in the last two seasons of the show.
  • Ed Sheehan played a naval chief petty officer in "Samurai"; here he is an army bird colonel (thanks to Karen).
  • There is no such place as the Hawaii Institute of Technology where the message is found in the gate post. If you look closely, and you can see the sign is a prop on the building (thanks to Robert McDonald).
  • Some of the weird synthesizer-like music in this show is taken from the score by Richard Shores to the November 1, 1968 episode of The Wild Wild West called "The Night Of The Kraken."

MUSIC:

Score by Richard Shores, with some tracks by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:51, 02:36, 00:00, Fong approaches tourists and collapses; his wallet is robbed; he collapses again. Leads into main titles.
#2, 03:27, 00:54, 02:36, Five-O is trying to identify Fong.
#3, 08:27, 00:57, 03:31, Danno and Chin Ho search through Fong's place looking for clues.
#4, 15:26, 01:57, 04:28, Jardine checks on his neighbor Chew and is almost run over by the motorcycle guy.
#5, 17:23, 00:26, 06:24, McGarrett interviews Jardine and his son.
#6, 20:07, 01:23, 06:50, McGarrett and Jardine's son Kim go to a parking lot where there is a message for Chew.
#7, 22:53, 00:54, 08:13, McGarrett goes to the docks where the Cap Solidado is under quarantine.
#8, 28:40, 00:28, 09:07, Tompkins, an artist, is shot by Lewis Shen, who pushes his motorbike off a cliff.
#9, 29:09, 00:06, 09:35, Beginning of Act 3.
#10, 32:55, 01:10, 09:41, Plague victim Amy Soo passes out after she mails a couple of letters.
#11, 40:41, 00:23, 10:51, Lewis Shen shoots his uncle Shen Yu-Lan, killing him.
#12, 41:06, 00:17, 11:14, Colonel Tyler talks to McGarrett, who just arrived at the Five-O offices.
#13, 42:50, 00:27, 11:31, McGarrett goes to the scene of the crash of the helicopter carrying the secret Canebrake device.
#14, 47:00, 03:08, 11:58, Lewis Shen shows up on the docks, expecting to escape; Chin Ho is wounded; Lewis tries to escape, is shot by Danno and boxed in by McGarrett.

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16. (S01E16) “The Box” ★★★★

Original air date: 1/29/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Seymour Robbie; Producer: Sidney Marshall; Writers: John D.F. Black (teleplay), Leonard Freeman & John D.F. Black (story); Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 5:04; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 8:49; Act Two: 10:08; Act Three: 13:01; Act Four: 12:07; End Credits: 0:55; Total Time: 51:02.

QUICK PLOT:

During a prison revolt, McGarrett offers himself as hostage, with the result he has to avoid being murdered by convicts he has helped put there.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

The show begins with touristy stock footage of Hawaii presumably to contrast with overhead shots of the prison which follow. (The brief sequence with a catamaran and a rainbow is taken from the 1961 Elvis Presley film Blue Hawaii.)

One of the first people we see in the prison is Big Chicken (Gavin MacLeod), who we met in S01E05, "....And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin." Serving a lengthy sentence as a three-time loser, he is showering and singing the ubiquitous "Ain't No Big Thing."

Three of the other prisoners — Frank (David Leegant), Tommy (Bob Doyle) and Toshi (Al Harrington, later Ben, a member of the the Five-O team) — have picked up two pistols and a zip gun out of a barrel in the prison yard with the intention of using them to teach their fellow inmate Charlie Swanson (Gerald O'Loughlin) a lesson.

Why Charlie deserves this is hard to discern without paying close attention. According to the repugnantly naked (as far as 1969 TV will allow) Chicken, now a big shot in the inmate hierarchy, Charlie has "bucked the system." He tells Swanson, "You gotta wait on our table. You serve us the best steaks out of that lousy kitchen. You need to respect, boy. You got to be taught that."

Swanson grabs Frank's gun and shoots him, then takes the guns from Tommy and Toshi. A guard has come to investigate, and, in addition to him, other guards are rounded up as hostages. The stern warden Captain Wade, well played by tough-looking character actor R.G. Armstrong, prepares for the worst. McGarrett shows up, and using a bullhorn, tries to convince Swanson to give up, but Swanson threatens to start executing the hostages in 15 minutes.

McGarrett makes Swanson an offer to trade himself for the hostages, but ends up in the showers with a room full of men who are not his biggest fans, especially Big Chicken, who says "I hate his livin' insides." But the guards are not allowed out, nor is the prison doctor who is another hostage, attending to the wounded Frank.

A talky operatic drama commences, with Swanson getting more desperate to get out of jail (but you have to wonder where to — he is on an island, after all) and the scenery-chewing Chicken getting more and more agitated, ranting about killing McGarrett.

McGarrett reasons with Swanson, who doesn't totally ignore what he has to say. This is weird, because in "Six Kilos" (an episode ahead of this one in production order, see below), Swanson and McGarrett had a cats-and-dogs relationship. The sweaty Chicken is foaming at the mouth, telling McGarrett that they will get out of the jail, even "if we gotta walk on corpses all the way to that gate." McGarrett calls him a "slimy dope pusher," an "animal," and "a vulture."

Swanson tells Chicken to shut McGarrett up. Chicken punches McGarrett several times, but then Swanson changes his mind because McGarrett is no good to them dead. McGarrett then tells Swanson, who has been winged by a sharpshooter outside the room and is fading fast, that he should try and "change the system" by making a list of demands that Danno, who is co-ordinating things with the warden, can pass along to the Governor, who has been apprised of the situation.

When Chicken asks Charlie, "What do you get if they build a new prison?", Charlie tells him, "It's a chance to see you in a new box. One you don't own. You and Frank and all his boys."

McGarrett writes down Charlie's demands:

  • Making the kitchen crew live far away from the hospital ward where they are currently, to avoid "an epidemic"
  • Have a hobby shop (the old one burned down and was never rebuilt)
  • Put the psychos somewhere else than guys who are just "sick"
  • Keep the homosexuals away from "kids that are just coming in for their first stretch"

These requests are passed along to journalists who have flocked to the prison, and within a very short space of time, a special edition of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser is delivered to the prison, where Danno gets it to McGarrett, who shows it to Charlie. It has a large headline: "NEW PRISON A MUST! PRISONERS LIST DEMANDS."

When Chicken thinks that all this negotiating will come to naught, because as soon as Frank is put back together, they will come after Swanson, McGarrett tells him, "You're a loser, Chicken. Charlie's gonna walk out of this box someday. You never will."

Soon after this, the standoff is finally over, the prisoners surrender and Swanson and McGarrett walk out together.

This episode contains yet another one of those first season goofs that we are supposed to ignore because of "cutting the series some slack," like Richard Denning playing treasury agent Philip Grey in "Twenty-Four Karat Kill" (S01E06).

"Six Kilos," now the 22nd show, was originally 18th in production order, before this one, which was 21st, now 16th, and before "Six Kilos."

One of the four major characters in "Six Kilos" is Carl Swanson, played by O'Loughlin, an "expert electrician," part of a safecracking team. At the end of "Six Kilos," Swanson is shot by that episode's villain Margi (Antoinette Bower). The episode wraps up and we are not told of his fate, but in "The Box" we find him, having survived, again a major character, now in Oahu State Prison under the name of Charlie Swanson. There is a reference by McGarrett in this show referencing what happened to him after the "previous" episode: "Danno, you remember Swanson from the trial?"

In other words, Swanson is in jail in this episode before he is busted and sent to jail in "Six Kilos," which is now later in broadcast order.

In an interview with the Archive of American Television (available on YouTube, Gavin MacLeod says because his previous appearance as Big Chicken in S01E05 was such a smash success, the producers told him, "We want to write another one for you at the end of the season [emphasis mine]." So it was really intended that Swanson should be in jail because of "Six Kilos," and "The Box" would have appeared after that show.

See also the discussion for S01E21, "Not That Much Different" and S01E22, "Six Kilos," below.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

There are numerous instances of the expression referring to the prison as a "box" throughout the show:

  • Frank: We gotta live by the system in this box. Or we die by it.
  • Charlie: You listen to me, McGarrett. I got you in a box.
  • McGarrett in the warden's office: Well, he called it. He's got us in a box.
  • Danno to the reporters: This place is like a sieve. It's like a box with an open lid.
  • McGarrett: You could get protection, Charlie. Charlie: In this box? Never, no way.
  • Charlie to Chicken, telling him the advantage of a new prison being built: I tell you one thing I get. It's a chance to see you in a new box.
  • McGarrett to Chicken: Charlie's gonna walk out of this box someday. You never will.

CASUALTY LIST:

    Injury: Toshi is thrown into wall head first during fistfight with Charlie. Charlie also punches Toshi.
    Injury: Tommy and Toshi bend Charlie's arms behind his back. Tommy gets in a kidney punch. Toshi gut punches Charlie before knocking him down.
    Injury: Charlie grabs Frank's gun and shoots Frank in abdomen.
    Injury: Chicken beats up McGarrett after Charlie tells him, "Shut him up, Chicken!"
    Injury: Charlie is shot by prison guard with rifle.
    Injury: McGarrett beats up Chicken after Chicken aims his gun at Charlie and McGarrett knocks it up toward ceiling.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • Near the beginning of the show, when Swanson refuses to surrender, he says, "I gotta bust out of here. I've been waiting for this a long time." I don't know about the expression "long time" if we are only talking about a potential four episodes in production order!
  • There are appearances by real life journalists playing the reporters who come to the prison in search of a story: Honolulu columnist, actor, director and radio and TV personality Dave Donnelly as Dave, who harangues Danno about freedom of the press; Eddie Sherman, who wrote a column for the Honolulu Advertiser, as Sherm; Wes Young, who was the police reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and who went on to become the longtime spokesman for HPD after leaving the paper; and Bert Darr who, according to the late Donnelly, "was the guy who singlehandedly put out the TV Week section of the Sunday paper." On the blackboard at the back of the reporters' room, it says "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
  • The name of the paper is the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which is interesting, because the daily paper in Honolulu did not take on that name until 2010 when The Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Star-Advertiser merged.The subhead under the large headline in the paper is "PRISONERS LIST DEMANDS." Other headlines include "Volunteer Committee Is Selected To Help Social Service Group," "Restricted Load Ban Modified on Main Roads," "State Backs Tax Resale in Creek County," and "Annual Earnings Gain Shows in Industrial Report."
  • The warden has a transparent board in his office showing the layout of the prison.
  • Ted Nobriga appears unbilled as one of the guards. Nephi Hanneman plays Gus.
  • When Kono goes to get Danno at McGarrett's request, it is raining.
  • In the prison room where they are waiting, some of the reporters are smoking. Swanson is also seen smoking.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 02:39, 00:00, Touristy shots, overhead view of Oahu State Prison, 3 guys get guns from garbage can, Big Chicken sings in shower, Charlie is roughed up.
#2, 05:01, 01:00, 02:39, Main titles.
#3, 06:03, 00:21, 03:39, Opening credits, Frank has been shot.
#4, 08:03, 00:52, 04:00, More guards are rounded up as hostages; the doctor wants to look at Frank.
#5, 09:57, 01:23, 04:52, McGarrett runs down Iolani Palace steps, drives to the prison.
#6, 14:43, 00:08, 06:14, Wave ends Act One.
#7, 15:48, 01:17, 06:22, McGarrett, the Five-O team and the warden discuss strategy.
#8, 21:14, 00:54, 07:39, McGarrett goes in to the shower room, Chicken welcomes him.
#9, 24:32, 00:29, 08:33, Chicken wants to kill McGarrett, Charlie agrees. Wave ends Act Two.
#10, 29:18, 00:24, 09:02, Danno goes to a room where he meets with reporters.
#11, 30:56, 00:31, 09:26, Danno leaves room after telling reporters McGarrett is with the convicts; they all phone their offices.
#12, 37:23, 00:38, 09:56, After Charlie is wounded by a sharpshooter, he threatens to kill McGarrett; leads to Wave at end of Act Three.
#13, 44:19, 00:26, 10:34, Danno walks to shower room to get prisoners' demands which Charlie dictated to McGarrett.
#14, 45:12, 01:11, 11:00, Danno runs to press room to hand over demands; Chicken gives McGarrett mouth; after Charlie asks Chicken for his gun, McGarrett punches Chicken out.
#15, 47:07, 00:35, 12:11, Newspaper with demands on its front page is delivered to the prison by a cop car; Danno lets McGarrett know he has it.
#16, 48:14, 01:55, 12:46, Hostage taking is over; McGarrett and Charlie leave together (2 cues).

GALLERY:

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17. (S01E17) “One For The Money” ★★�

Original air date: 2/5/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Paul Stanley; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writers: Palmer Thompson (teleplay), Robert Stambler (story); Music: Morton Stevens (Supervision)
Timings: Teaser:2:45; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 4:36; Act Two: 10:21; Act Three: 11:11; Act Four: 20:17; End Credits: 0:55; Total Time: 51:03.

QUICK PLOT:

One of two cousins who jointly manage the company owned by their aunt executes an elaborate plan involving murder to take over the place.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

This episode is the story of two cousins: a "good cousin," Arnold Martin, played by Farley Granger, and a "bad cousin," Charlie Gordlow, played by Paul Collins. They co-manage Hawaiian Amalgamated Industries. Arnold is the executive vice-president, Charlie is in charge of personnel. The company is owned by Martha Gordlow, their aunt, an old biddy type, played by Jeanette Nolan. They have to answer to her when making any decisions.

Charlie is not happy with his lot in life. He has always been upset because on Arnold's 21st birthday, Aunt Martha gave Arnold a typewriter, whereas on Charlie's 21st and similar birthdays, she gave him "practical" gifts like "pajamas, socks, underwear and handkerchiefs." He has other complaints as well.

Figuring that he will get at the very least half of his rich aunt's will, Charlie sets up an elaborate scheme where he stabs to death two women from the company. Then he kills his aunt in a similar fashion, after giving her a big rant: "I've become impatient. And tired. I'm tired of you. I'm sick of living on your charity, being treated like a child. 'Don't do this, don't do that, do this, do that.' I'm a man, Aunt Martha. A man. And you'd never let me be one. You never let me do anything by myself. I could never enjoy life doing what you told me, living on what you paid me. But I can on half of what you're gonna leave. And I'll be free of you."

Charlie then stabs himself after studying an anatomy textbook which shows the part of his torso where he can stick the knife in and not get seriously injured. In keeping with the "killer's" practice of leaving numbers on his victims, Charlie is number 3, whereas Aunt Martha is number 4, presumably with the intention of further confusing the cops.

However, Charlie gets a surprise when he is recovering from his self-inflicted wound in hospital. Arnold shows up with a tape recorder that contains Aunt Martha's "living will," in a manner of speaking. Describing Arnold as "the sensible one, the levelheaded one," she leaves him the controlling stock and management of the company. Admitting that Charlie "always did devil me," Martha, saying she loves him too much to let him squander his birthright, leaves him "an income from a trust � enough to live very well, but not too wildly." So Charlie is no further ahead!

Charlie then decides to murder Arnold, whose portable typewriter he borrowed and used to send letters to Five-O. He knocks Arnold out using some liquid like chloroform, and then puts him in the garage of his house in his Lincoln Continental with the engine running, as if Arnold was the one who murdered the three women and wanted to commit suicide because he felt guilty. Charlie claimed the voice of whoever stabbed him was "familiar," though this hardly seems a way to describe someone who he has been working with for years.

Five-O gets involved in this case when Charlie sends them a typed letter at the beginning of the show containing a variation on the poem "One for the money" (see below) which throws in a twist suggesting the letter's author is a serial killer who might murder up to one hundred people. This provokes some unusually stupid dialogue from Danno, who looks at the accompanying photo of the first murdered woman, Aimee Cross (Minda Gold), who has a big red "X" on her face, saying "Hey, nice-looking gal." When McGarrett phones HPD's Lieutenant Pelak (Bob Basso) on a hunch, wondering if someone answering Cross's description has been killed recently, he describes her as "Female, late 20s, probably mestizo, Filipino," mispronouncing the word mestizo "mestishio."

Charlie is pretty dumb, because the three women he killed all worked for his company: Cross, who was a 33-year-old single secretary, Ruth Warden, an employee for 20 years, and Aunt Martha. This would tend to focus Five-O's investigation on the company, and McGarrett wants to examine their personnel records and question all the employees as well as check out all all the typewriters, though the latter were replaced six months before, aside from one which was given to Arnold that Charlie borrowed. Surely this would lead to suspicion falling on Charlie, because Aimee and Aunt Martha were both killed by someone they knew because there is no indication that Charlie made it look like the killer broke into either of the places where these women were murdered.

Charlie puts Arnold's body in the garage after 6:00 in the morning with the car running. According to one Internet WWW page, it could take as little as 45 minutes for someone to die from the exhaust fumes in this kind of situation, depending on the concentration of carbon monoxide and other factors. McGarrett, Danno and Kono are all seemingly working at this time of the morning when McGarrett decides to visit Arnold, who he suspects being behind the murders and Charlie's stabbing. When he and Danno arrive at Arnold's (Kono is just left sitting in the office), they find the garage door closed with the car running inside. Instead of just breaking into the house and then into the garage, assuming there was such an entrance, or just using the normal garage door that Charlie left through earlier, McGarrett arranges for police dispatch to generate a high-frequency signal which matches that of the automatic garage door opener, which I find very far-fetched. More geekiness!

The way McGarrett solves the case is peculiar. Even though it looks open and shut thanks to, as Danno points out, the discovery of "the typewriter, rubber gloves [and] a knife in the glove box" at Arnold's house after Arnold is revived, McGarrett is skeptical, saying it "doesn't wash" that Arnold was the killer. Instead, the murders of the three women "were vicious and brutal. The murderer had to be someone without conscience or feeling of guilt." But the attempted murders of Charlie and Arnold were not particularly nice either!

This leads McGarrett and Danno back to Charlie's apartment where they determine that there is something fishy because there are bloodstains on the carpet, but none near the door where Charlie was supposedly stabbed. We don't actually see their final "steps in deduction," but they go to Hawaiian Amalgamated where Charlie is practising golf strokes outside the building, despite the seriousness of his recent injury. They plant a bug in his ear that Arnold survived the gassing and they are waiting for him to talk.

Soon enough, Charlie arrives at the hospital where Arnold is recovering. There aren't even any cops guarding the room, as a sexy nurse (Elithe Aguiar) tells him. But it isn't Arnold in the hospital bed but Danno, in a technique similar to one used in the season nine show "Blood Money Is Hard To Wash." Charlie freaks out, thinking Aunt Martha is lying in the bed. When McGarrett rushes into the room and yells at Charlie to give up the knife he is holding, Charlie still thinks he is talking to his aunt, asking "her" if he is crazy. The answer is "Yes."

There are several continuity issues in this show with McGarrett's suits. In the opening scene during the teaser in his office, McGarrett is wearing a dark blue, almost black suit, but when he comes out of the building with Danno to go to the crime scene, the color has changed to light blue. At the beginning of act one, the color is back to dark blue, though not as dark as before. Towards the end, before McGarrett and Danno head to Charlie's apartment to examine blood stains on the carpet, McGarrett is wearing a light blue suit. When they arrive at the apartment, his suit is grey! And at the end, during the final confrontation in the hospital, the suit is back to light blue.

There is a goof with the picture of Aimee Cross received by Five-O at the beginning of the show. This is later suggested to be cropped out of a photo taken of a luau for the home-office staff at Hawaiian Amalgamated Industries, but if you look carefully at the original picture seen at Aimee's place using a DVD freeze frame (an option not available to people back in 1969), you will not see her in the picture at all.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

A letter is sent to the Five-O office with a poem typed on the flap of an small envelope contained within a larger one:

One for the money
Two for the show
Three to make ready
And four to go
Might even make it a hundred or so

The first four lines are based on what various web pages suggest was a children's nursery rhyme in 19th century England. These were later used as lyrics in the rock song "Blue Suede Shoes" which was written and sung by Carl Lee Perkins in 1955 and later recorded by Elvis Presley in 1956.

Ironically speaking, it also refers to the fact that after Charlie knocks off Arnold, he will be "one for the money," the only heir from Aunt Martha's will.

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Aimee Cross is stabbed by Charlie Gordlow in her apartment. Paper with "1" is left on her body.
    Death: Ruth Warden is stabbed by Charlie in her garage. Paper with "2" is left on her body.
    Death: Martha Gordlow is stabbed by Charlie at her home. Paper with "4" is left on her body.
    Injury: Self-inflicted stabbing of Charlie.
    Injury: Arnold Martin is drugged by cousin Charlie, then nearly asphyxiated from carbon monoxide in garage; he is found by McGarrett and Danno and taken to hospital.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • Good quote from McGarrett: "All killers are psychotic."
  • When Charlie mails the envelope to Five-O at the beginning of the show, he is not wearing his rubber gloves. It is addressed to Steve McGarrett, Five-O Division, Capitol Building, Honolulu, Hawaii 9681[something].
  • At the first crime scene, when Lt. Pelak says the killer is "ambitious," referencing his line about "a hundred or so," Danno says, "No more so than Jack the Ripper. He had 18 or 20 before he stopped [he had only 5]. The Cleveland Torso Murders, about the same number [12 known victims]. Not to mention the Boston Strangler [13 victims]." (Thanks to Teresa.)
  • Charlie makes a mark on his stomach with a felt pen before stabbing himself. But why isn't this mark noticed at the hospital when they are sewing him up? Also, when Charlie pulls the knife out of his pants through his shirt prior to going to stab "Arnold" in the hospital bed at the end of the show, why don't we see any bandages or scars in this area?
  • When Charlie murders Ruth Warden, stabbing her in her garage as she gets out of her car, Warden turns off the ignition and, as she gets out of the car, it looks like her hand pulls the turn signal down. We see the light from the left turn signal "clicking" as it is reflected on the front wall of the garage, but according to one of my sources, if the ignition was off, the signal would not work. This car is a red Mercury Cougar, likely the same one driven by Soon-Tek Oh in "Face of the Dragon." Warden's house is at 112 Hanapepe Loop.
  • Morton Stevens is credited with "Music Supervision" for this episode. The score at the beginning as Charlie commits his first stabbing is weird, again using music composed by Richard Shores for The Wild, Wild West. Later it uses a harpsichord. The score doesn't particularly sound like Stevens.
  • The sequence of a City and County ambulance with a police escort speeding to Arnold's place at 322 Kahala Avenue is taken from "King of the Hill."
  • Why is McGarrett's car hood full of junk from nearby trees after Arnold is rescued? It wasn't when he moved the car forward only a few minutes before to open the door with the high-frequency signal.
  • A very long final act in this show — over 20 minutes.
  • McGarrett snaps his fingers three times at the beginning of Act Four.
  • Charlie's apartment is number 7 in the Huntington Towers.
  • Aunt Martha's pocket watch is a Waltham.
  • The typewriter used for the poems sent to Five-O is a Star-Gaymont, manufactured in 1948.
  • The building in front of which Charlie is practising golf, supposedly Hawaiian Amalgamated, is currently the Shriner's Hospital for Children at 1310 Punahou Street. There are distinctive beams above the entrance. This location is also used in S04E09, "The Burning Ice," where it doubles as a clinic and a hospital. The building behind Charlie with a curved front is an apartment complex called Arcadia. There has been a lot of redevelopment in this area since the episode was originally filmed. Thanks to Fred Helfing for tracking these locations and the Warden house down and Bobbi Baker for noticing the duplicate setting.
  • When Charlie is bringing Arnold's body to the garage, there is a cop car coming up the driveway. (There is no explanation for why the cop car goes into the driveway — are they still doing surveillance for Amalgamated employees as ordered by McGarrett earlier?) Charlie looks out the garage door, but the cop car is not seen, but he takes Arnold's body back in the house anyway. Maybe he just doesn't like the idea of the garage door being open. When the cop car comes up the driveway, it looks like it has been raining, but when Charlie looks outside, the driveway is dry.
  • First appearance of character actor John Stalker, who plays Dr. Fuller, who accompanies the ambulance to Charlie's apartment and later takes charge of Charlie's case in the hospital. Also the first appearance of Michael Leong, who plays an attendant with the ambulance coming to Arnold's rescue.
  • Is Farley Granger's moustache for real?

MUSIC:

Morton Stevens, Music Supervision.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:20, 00:40, 00:00, Aimee Cross is murdered, the killer sends a letter to McGarrett.
#2, 01:16, 00:04, 00:40, Creepy chord as Aimee Cross's picture is seen with an "X" on it.
#3, 02:23, 01:21, 00:44, McGarrett and Danno run down steps, get into car and hit the road, leads to main titles.
#4, 03:44, 00:29, 02:05, McGarrett and Danno arrive at Aimee Cross crime scene.
#5, 05:58, 00:39, 02:34, Ruth Warden is murdered in her garage.
#6, 07:50, 00:29, 03:13, Warden's picture is received by McGarrett, Wave at end of Act One.
#7, 08:21, 00:22, 03:42, McGarrett, Danno and Lt. Pelak go to Warden's house.
#8, 09:13, 00:36, 04:04, They find Warden dead in her garage; McGarrett goes to Hawaiian Amalgamated Industries and talks to Charlie Gordlow.
#9, 12:35, 00:40, 04:41, Aunt Martha, owner of company, wants to see Charlie that evening.
#10, 13:45, 00:19, 05:20, Charlie is at Aunt Martha's.
#11, 16:12, 02:28, 05:40, Charle murders Martha and arranges evidence, Wave at end of Act Two.
#12, 18:41, 02:12, 08:08, Charlie stabs himself to make it look like the killer attacked him.
#13, 21:10, 00:21, 10:20, Bleeding, Charlie calls for an ambulance.
#14, 24:04, 00:38, 10:40, McGarrett goes to Martha's place, later he goes to see Charlie in the hospital.
#15, 29:01, 00:50, 11:19, Arnold Martin, Martha's other nephew, plays a recording where Martha gives Charlie income from a trust; she gives Arnold controlling stock and management of the company, Wave at end of Act Three.
#16, 29:53, 00:08, 12:08, McGarrett and Danno discuss the case in the Five-O office.
#17, 31:31, 00:42, 12:16, Charlie goes for a drive, he is pissed about what his aunt left him; he returns typewriter to Arnold which he borrowed.
#18, 34:52, 02:37, 12:58, Charlie knocks out Arnold with chloroform, puts his body in car in garage and turns ignition on.
#19, 38:02, 00:16, 15:35, McGarrett and Danno go to Arnold's place.
#20, 44:29, 00:29, 15:50, Charlie is upset while practising golf that Arnold is alive, he goes to the hospital to kill him.
#21, 47:30, 01:22, 16:19, Charlie hallucinates that "Arnold" in the hospital bed (actually Danno) is Aunt Martha.
#22, 49:23, 00:45, 17:41, Charlie freaks out more, McGarrett disarms him and leads him away.

GALLERY:

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18. (S01E18) “Along Came Joey” ★★★  BOOK THEM, DANNO   BOOK HIM, CHIN 

Original air date: 2/12/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Richard Benedict; Producer: Sidney Marshall; Writers: Jerry Ludwig & Mel Goldberg (teleplay), Jerry Ludwig (story); Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 4:31; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 8:06; Act Two: 12:23; Act Three: 11:33; Act Four: 12:45; End Credits: 0:54; Total Time: 51:09.

Thanks to Bobbi Baker for the Plot and help with other sections...

QUICK PLOT:

The policeman father of a murdered boxer from Maui attempts to track down his son's killers, interfering with Five-O's investigation.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

The show opens at a boxing match where Joey Kalama, known as "The Maui Kid," is fighting a guy named Torilino. Joey gets knocked down, and things don't look good, but he gets up again and knocks out Torilino at 2 minutes and 13 seconds of the first round. Joey's father, Phil (Frank de Kova), a cop from Maui, who is ringside with Danno and Joey's girl friend Lois Walker (Jean Hale), is very pleased.

On his way to celebrate, Joey leaves the arena with Lois later. He is set upon by two thugs and brutally beaten. He dies from his injuries.

Danno, who had to go back to the office, returns to the scene and McGarrett is quick to show up. Danno says there is "no reason" for what happened, but McGarrett tells him, "Always a reason, Danno."

McGarrett talks to Nat Keller, Joey's manager (Jesse White). Keller describes Joey as "Best fighter I ever handled, 15 straight wins and ten by knockout. Crowds loved him, guys in the gym, even the guys he beat liked him." When McGarrett wonders if there was a lot of money on the fight, Keller is not too talkative. He says "I'm a fight manager, not a gambler."

Phil, who is also at the scene, presses Lois to remember what happened. She was blinded by the lights of the thugs' idling car and was pushed out of the way during the fight. Lois tells Phil that Joey died a winner: "That should make you happy." Phil calls her a "cheap little tramp."

Kalama wants to talk to both Keller and Luther (Charles Lantkin), Joey's trainer, but McGarrett says he will take care of this, saying "this is not Maui. It's not in your jurisdiction." Danno drives Phil and Lois home, surprising considering the outburst each of them just had regarding the other. Lois lives in an apartment at the Ambassador Hotel; presumably Phil is staying in another hotel somewhere.

McGarrett talks to Luther, who says that Joey had only eight more fights until he was a contender. He had "all the moves and more. Something you can't teach a kid. Class, moxie, he had it all." When McGarrett tells Luther about Keller's closed-mouth reaction, Luther says he should ask Keller about money he owes to Nick Morgan (Mark Richman), a big-time gambler.

McGarrett and Danno go to see Morgan, who says that Joey's death was "a great loss to boxing." Based on things they have heard, McGarrett wonders why Morgan "dropped a bundle" on Torilino who was known to be a "a cream-puff puncher." Morgan's reaction is "I win a little and I lose a little."

Phil suddenly shows up and tells Morgan, "I figured you wouldn't mind if I heard what you could tell us about last night." When questioned by McGarrett about whether Keller owes him money, Morgan says managers doing this is "not in the rule book." Following this, Morgan makes some flippant remark, which causes Kalama to go ballistic and attack him. He is hustled out of the room by Danno. As McGarrett leaves, Morgan tells him to keep Kalama off his back.

Outside, McGarrett is furious with Phil. He tells him he can't use his badge to blow off steam, that he is going to throw away 23 years of hard work as a cop on Maui. If Kalama doesn't let McGarrett handle the investigation, he will bring him up on charges. Kalama reluctantly says McGarrett is right and says he will take himself off the case.

Back at the Five-O office, Danno reports that Keller has split town and someone was looking for him before he left. Joey's funeral is held on Oahu, which seems odd, considering he is from Maui. His father is philosophical about him, and, at McGarrett's suggestion, says he will take a couple of days off.

Kalama can't sit still, though. He tracks down Lois to a fashion shoot where she is in charge. When he tells Lois he missed her at the funeral, she says, "I couldn't make that scene." She accuses him of using his son, that he wouldn't have given Joey the right time if he hadn't been a contender. Kalama wants to know where Keller is, because Lois was once his girl, suggesting that Keller never forgave Lois for leaving him for Joey. After more prodding from Phil, Lois gives Kalama the key to her place, where Keller is holed up. She tells him, "Bust the truth out of him. But let me tell you something, you're not gonna like what you learn. Go ahead and find out why your son was really killed. And then get your gun and blow your brains out."

Kalama goes to see Keller, accusing him of being "in Morgan's bag." When Keller says "Why would Joey wanna take a dive?", Kalama knows Keller was involved. Keller tells Phil that Joey's murder was all Morgan's doing, then runs out of the room. The two of them struggle on the fire escape, and Keller plunges 10 stories to his death.

Word of Kalama's meddling in the investigation has reached the Attorney General, who accuses Phil of being "a rogue cop" using his badge and gun "to work out his own personal problems." The AG says it is better that Kalama be destroyed "than the public trust in every man that wears a badge." McGarrett gets another 24 hours to deal with the situation.

Lois goes to see Morgan on his yacht. He tells her "You're attractive, desirable. I could make life very easy for you." Her presence there is witnessed by Kono, who is doing surveillance on Morgan. Kalama is also watching the two of them from nearby, as well as Kono. Meanwhile, Five-O spreads word through the grapevine that Keller is still at Lois's place. The two thugs who killed Joey, Sugar (Wayne Want) and Elroy (Hal Baylor), who work for Morgan, show up and are busted.

Back in the Five-O office, McGarrett and Danno use the "good cop/bad cop" routine, playing these two against each other. When Lois is brought to view these two in a lineup at the cop shop, she tells McGarrett that she is scared of both Morgan and Kalama because she was the one who killed Joey. Joey was supposed to take a dive against Torilino, and his payoff was to be a wedding present for the two of them. Lois says that Keller set up everything. Later, Lois helps to get Elroy to crack, by pretending to recognize him in McGarrett's office.

From his location near Morgan's yacht, Phil calls in a bogus riot call from "Car 65" to HPD via a radio in the car that he is driving. He does this to get Kono, still surveilling nearby, to leave the scene to answer the call because Phil wants to knock off Morgan. But this doesn't make any sense. Why would Kalama's car have a radio in it? He is a visiting cop from Maui and he is not dealing with any police business while in Oahu which would require him to borrow a car from HPD which had such a radio, especially after McGarrett read him the riot act.

Kono leaves in a hurry, and Morgan is walking from the yacht to his car when Kalama approaches him, saying he heard things from Keller that he wants to talk about, adding that Keller is now dead. Morgan takes off on foot, pursued by Phil.

McGarrett and Chin Ho pull up nearby about a minute and a half later, McGarrett telling Chin that it took "half a minute to determine [the riot call] was a phony." There has been no indication that they were on their way to this location previously, and highly unlikely that they got there so quickly from the Five-O offices downtown. If Kono radioed them to tell them that the call was a hoax, we do not see this.

Kalama chasing Morgan leads into the area nearby, with Morgan finally being cornered. McGarrett sees Phil, pleading with him not to ruin his career by killing Morgan. Kalama finally relents and lets McGarrett and Chin take Morgan into custody. But Phil still thinks that Joey was a winner and could have been a contender. McGarrett brings him back to earth, saying "He made a crooked deal, then he wouldn't go through with it, and you know it. Now, that's the truth you gotta face up to. That's the truth."

One other bothersome thing about this episode has to do with Lois, Joey's girl friend, being the former squeeze of Nat Keller, played by Jesse White. White is probably best known for his appearance in commercials as the "loneliest guy in town" Maytag repairman who perpetually had nothing to do because this company's products never required any service. He is not exactly some super stud like you would expect to date Lois, who is a relatively hot babe.

But, on the other hand, Lois tells McGarrett, "You know, when I came here ten years ago, I was flat broke. So I used the assets I had � and all the men I met along the way. It wasn't easy, believe me, it wasn't easy." She says that after she had "a little talk with Nick Morgan � he showed me what I was, what I'd really become."

Despite its flaws, the show is worth watching for Frank de Kova's intense performance as Kalama and the interesting twists that the script takes towards the end where it reveals that Joey, despite his pampered upbringing which made him strive for the best, lost his life because of his connection to the shady underworld of boxing.


Pursuant to revising my review for the show in 2018, I found the following posting by Kerry Lynch made in 1998, from a mailing list called HAWAIIFIVE0-L@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM


The final draft for "Along Came Joey" was titled "Golden Boy With Black Trunks." A few of the differences between the script and the actual show:

The Kalama family is supposed to be more obviously Hawaiian. Frank de Kova, who played Phil Kalama, the cop father of the dead boxer, certainly didn't look Hawaiian, so this angle was lost. And the script has references to "our people" and to "big kahuna" legend that were dropped from the show. The father is also a more sympathetic character in the script, a likable man who becomes driven by grief. As de Kova played him, he was pretty unemotional and rather pig-headed. There's a scene — maybe Fam Chan cut it or maybe it just wasn't filmed — where he stands at his son's new grave and McGarrett comforts him.

Lois, Joey's girlfriend, was nicer in the script, not the ambiguous, cool character we saw. As written, there was no doubt she cared for Joey, and when she left Morgan's boat she was supposed to tell him she'd like to see him again so she could "spit in his face." And when she tells McGarrett "I killed Joey", she was supposed to bury her face in her hands and sob. When she tells McGarrett that she and Joey were planning to get married and she says "That rock you a little, McGarrett?", his classic, waveable comeback — "Nothing rocks me anymore, honey" — is not in the script.

When Kalama has his fatal encounter with Keller on the staircase outside the apartment building, we saw Keller fall over a railing and plunge to his death. The script simply called for him to fall down a long flight of stairs.

The script called for the final scene to take place in a half-built warehouse-type building rather than outdoors. When McGarrett is trying to talk Kalama out of shooting Morgan, Kalama was to have said to McGarrett "The devils are riding the world again and no big kahuna can pray this one away." McG replies "You pull that trigger again and those devils will dance on your grave and Joey's forever." A bit later McG tells him that if he pulls the trigger again he'll blow the image of law and order for all cops and "there will be nothing but devils dancing on the souls of all of us."

The last line in the show we saw was spoken by McGarrett, when he tells Kalama that his son made a crooked deal and he has to learn to deal with it. This line came earlier in the script, when McG was still trying to talk him out of pulling the trigger. In the script, Kalama gets the last word. They are walking out of the building "into the light" and, incredibly, he says "A contender...he could have been a contender." The author must have been a fan of "On The Waterfront"!

Finally, the script had MAY!! A number of early-season scripts have more May scenes than we ever saw. I think she was originally envisioned as a much more integral part of the Five-O team than she turned out to be. In this script, after the boat scene with Lois and Morgan but before the next scene showing a guy who has broken into Lois's apartment and is fiddling with her shower (??), there was supposed to be a scene of McGarrett in his office in the middle of the night, with his jacket off, his collar open, his tie askew. He's obviously tired from working so late on the case. May is also working late, and she comes in and they talk a bit, and he calls her "luv" a couple times. They take turns staring out the window into the night — her first, then him. Later on, in the scene where Elroy is being questioned in McGarrett's office and he eventually admits to killing Joey, May was supposed come in to read back the other bad guy's statement, and she was also supposed to take Elroy's statement. In the filmed version, Danno did all this. McG also called her "luv" again in this scene.

My theory: the actress was so overwhelmed every time Gorgeous Jack called her "luv" she couldn't remember her lines and they had to let her go.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

A quote from Lois in Act Four: "Then along came Joey, and I could see my jackpot."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Joey Kalama is severely beaten by Nick Morgan's employees Sugar and Elroy.
    Death: Nat Keller falls 10 stories off the fire escape while being chased by Phil Kalama.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • As McGarrett arrives near the beginning of the show, you can see the windshield wipers on his car are on, even though it is not obviously raining.
  • When we first meet Nick Morgan at his apartment, he is playing the two-player action game Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots (known as Raving Bonkers in the UK) with some guy who works for him.
  • Danno gives McGarrett his ideas about why Keller split town, to which McGarrett says, "Interesting theory. You'll make a good cop one of these days, Danno."
  • When Elroy, one of the two guys accused of knocking off Joey, is in McGarrett's office and thinks he is being tricked into confessing, he says "What's with all this bull?"
  • City and County Ambulances remove both Joey's and Keller's bodies during the show.
  • There are interesting camera angles in this show, many looking up at the characters.
  • Jean Hale as Lois Walker wears a visually stunning pink outfit at one point.
  • The musical cue when Kalama storms into Morgan's place looking for him is unusually dissonant.
  • Frank Kalama and Nick Morgan are both seen smoking.
  • Kono's car really burns rubber when he blasts off to respond to Kalama's false alarm. The riot call is for Waimanu and Piikoi Streets (a real intersection), but the subtitles on the DVD say "Waimano and Vikoy Streets."
  • On the DVD of this episode, there is some minor print damage in the opening scenes in Joey's dressing room.
  • In this show, both Danno and Chin get to "book 'em," Danno the two thugs in McGarrett's office and Chin does Morgan at the end of the show.
  • After Kalama's outburst at Morgan's place, he is seen sitting under the sign for the Ambassador Hotel as McGarrett reprimands him. This is the same place where Lois has an apartment. Is the suggestion that this is also where Morgan lives? If so, that is interesting, because Keller was holed up in Lois's place in the same building.
  • In 1998, someone e-mailed me to say that a friend of his had found this episode referenced in a TV Guide of the day under the title "Golden Boy in Black Trunks."

MUSIC:

Music by Morton Stevens (much of it is stock tracks).

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 03:18, 01:45, 00:00, After winning a boxing match, Joey Kalama is beaten and killed by two thugs outside the arena; leads into Main Titles.
#2, 05:05, 00:32, 01:45, McGarrett and Danno are at the scene of Joey's murder.
#3, 07:50, 00:34, 02:17, Danno leaves with Joey's girl friend Lois and father Phil; MCGarrett goes to talk to Luther, Joey's trainer.
#4, 15:58, 00:24, 02:51, Later, McGarrett leaves Phil after telling him to let Five-O deal with the investigation.
#5, 17:08, 00:44, 03:15, At the arena, Phil flashes back to Joey's victory; we see he has a gun; leads to Wave at end of Act One.
#6, 17:53, 00:18, 03:59, Phil talks to McGarrett at the cemetery where Joey is being buried.
#7, 20:16, 00:25, 04:17, McGarrett tells Phil to "take a couple of days off."
#8, 25:30, 00:47, 04:42, Lois tells Phil to go to her apartment where Nat, Joey's manager, is hiding out and be prepared for a surprise at what he might say.
#9, 27:49, 00:40, 05:29, At Lois's, Phil encounters Nat; when Nat tries to flee, Phil chases him; Nate plunges over a railing to his death; leads to Wave at end of Act Two.
#10, 28:31, 00:24, 06:09, Nat's body is taken away in an ambulance; McGarrett and Chin are investigating.
#11, 31:28, 00:29, 06:33, Phil breaks into Nick Morgan's place, searching for him; Lois is meeting with Morgan on his yacht.
#12, 33:29, 01:46, 07:02, Kono is keeping an eye on Morgan and Lois at the harbor, but doesn't realize Phil is also nearby watching them as well; Morgan's two goons, Sugar and Elroy are lured to Lois's apartment under the pretext that Nat is alive and there; instead, they are busted by Danno and Chin and brought to the Five-O office where they are grilled.
#13, 36:29, 00:37, 08:48, Lois can't ID Sugar and Elroy, Joey's killers, from a lineup.
#14, 37:33, 00:32, 09:24, At the Five-O office, Lois tells McGarrett she is scared of Phil because "I killed his son." Leads to Wave at end of Act Three.
#15, 38:05, 00:07, 09:57, McGarrett wants Lois to explain what she meant by previous shocker comment.
#16, 40:18, 00:20, 10:04, There is a party on Morgan's yacht, both Kono and Phil are watching this.
#17, 43:04, 00:57, 10:24, Morgan's stooge Elroy confesses to beating Joey; back at Morgan's yacht, Phil puts in a riot call which Kono responds to by leaving the scene.
#18, 45:06, 01:41, 11:21, Morgan leaves his boat and Phil pursues him; McGarrett and Chin show up; shots are heard, Phil corners Morgan and is about to kill him.
#19, 48:24, 01:43, 13:02, Morgan is busted after McGarrett convinces Phil not to shoot him; McGarrett tells Phil that Joey was involved in crooked dealings, almost throwing the fight, and that his father knows this.

GALLERY:

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19. & 20. (S01E19 & S01E20) “Once Upon A Time, Parts I and II” ★★★�

PART ONE:
Original air date: 2/19/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Michael Caffey; Producer: Leonard Freeman; Writer: Leonard Freeman; Music: Harry Geller
Timings: Teaser: 9.26; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 10:34; Act Two: 10:08; Act Three: 10:36; Act Four: 8:28; End Credits: 0:55; Total Time: 51:04.

PART TWO:
Original air date: 2/26/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Directors: Michael Caffey & Abner Biberman; Producer: Leonard Freeman; Writer: Leonard Freeman; Music: Harry Geller
Timings: Teaser: 3:37; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 13:20; Act Two: 13:14; Act Three: 9:34; Act Four: 9:24; End Credits: 0:56; Total Time: 51:03.

Thanks to Bobbi Baker for the Plot and help with other sections...

QUICK PLOT:

McGarrett journeys to Los Angeles where he takes on a quack doctor who unsuccessfuly treated his cancer-stricken nephew Tommy.

Click here to read Full Plot or here for just Part Two.

REVIEW:

Written by Leonard Freeman, this two-parter, the first one since "Cocoon," is a very good "contemporary issues" show which also shows the human side of McGarrett. Interestingly, not much of it takes place in Hawaii — the "Filmed entirely in location in Hawaii" is missing from the end credits. There are several courtroom scenes. The exterior of the court is in Van Nuys, California; whether the interior scenes were also filmed in California is not known. Overall, with one possible exception, this is an excellent show.

At the beginning of the episode, McGarrett gets an urgent request to fly to Los Angeles where his sister Mary Ann Whalen (Nancy Malone) lives. He drops everything, leaving the team to take care of business. After he arrives in L.A., he finds out that his 12-month-old nephew Tommy, who is suffering from incurable cancer, is going to live because he is being treated by Dr. C.L. Fremont (Joanne Linville). For almost 20 years, Fremont has "cured" a lot of people with cancer similar diseases, and has a cult-like following. To do this, she uses an "instrument" with electrodes and flashing lights which "reads and duplicates [a unique] wavelength [and] sends the strength, the natural healing strength God put into all of us coursing back into the body."

Mary Ann's husband Tom (John Carter), who we later find out was the one who requested McGarrett's presence, takes him aside and says that he considers Fremont to be a quack. He says Mary Ann takes Tommy to Fremont every day for "magic treatments" which are not only expensive, but "bloodsucking." The only reason Tom tolerates this is because it keeps Mary Ann from having a nervous breakdown.

McGarrett purchases a gizmo with a lot of flashing lights which is used as part of Fremont's treatment, sort of the home version of the machine she uses at her clinic. He takes it to the local office of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where he meets District Director Albert Woodson (Bartlett Robinson) and the resident lawyer, Frank Zipser (David Sheiner). McGarrett tells them he wants Fremont, who is described as "infamous in this area" to be put out of business with her equipment seized and her put in jail.

McGarrett is told that the FDA cannot lay charges against someone peddling "phony electronic devices" unless they are "involved in some form of inter-state commerce." McGarrett tells them that he purchased the machine with seven hundred dollars in cash, to be delivered by him to his address at 404 Piikoi in Honolulu. He says, "That, gentlemen, is interstate commerce." But is it? I would have thought this only applied if McGarrett ordered the device and had it delivered by Fremont to Hawaii.

When he returns back to his sister's place, McGarrett tries to persuade her to abandon Tommy's treatment. Mary Ann describes Fremont as "a saint," but McGarrett says "She's a quack; she couldn't cure a ham." Even after he describes Fremont's "instrument" as "a worthless conglomeration of bent tubing, colored lights, switches, wires and meaningless electronic gadgets," likely from a description by the FDA, Mary Ann is unrelenting. McGarrett tells his sister that "Seizure papers and [a] warrant for [Fremont's] arrest are being drawn up right now" which just upsets Mary Ann.

McGarrett goes to Fremont's office where she attempts to throw everything at him, first refunding the $700 paid for the machine, and then her body, telling him "I like you. You're rare. A man, irresistible ... It's also true that I found you attractive [when I sold you the machine] which is a rarity for me. Even now, I feel something for you. You feel it too. Come on, admit it." McGarrett is full of sarcasm: "I'd rather take up housekeeping with a cobra."

She offers McGarrett a drink, which he declines, and then rambles on about how she married a faith healer at 14 and when he died, took over his mission. She eventually came to the big city, "Educated myself, learned how to talk ... how to dress. It wasn't easy." She goes on, "I'm not looking for an ally, just a truce. I'm rich. I'm generous. And suddenly I need a man in my life again." McGarrett is not stupid, he sees what she is getting at: "And without my direct testimony, there's no case against you. I'll see you in court, doctor."

Fremont's parting words are disturbing: "When somebody hurts me, I hurt back. Before this case comes up in court, that child is going to be dead. With or without my treatment that child is going to die. Your sister will not forgive you for as long as she lives. I'll see to it, McGarrett. I will. I'll see to it."

We don't see the two of them in court, which follows immediately after this confrontation. We cut to Hawaii three months later, a week before the trial is to be held in Los Angeles.

Another message is received at the Five-O offices and this time the news is worse: Tommy has died after going into a coma. Mary Ann told McGarrett over the phone that Fremont promised she would heal Tommy if her brother stopped persecuting her.

McGarrett is shattered to the point of breaking down in tears. He tells Danno, "I have had it! I have had it right up to here. Who the hell made me big daddy to the world? What do I care if the great, snowed American public wanna blow a billion dollars a year on phony quacks and cures? What do I care? And what's the big deal? Why should we get so steamed about? All I can prosecute on is one lousy count. Interstate sale of mislabeled or misrepresented merchandise. One count! Maximum penalty, one thousand dollar fine or one year in jail or both. With this one it ought to be murder. Murder. On a hundred counts."

At the trial the following week, the courtroom is a zoo, thanks to Fremont's nutty followers. The stern Judge H. Adamson (well-known character actor Bill Zuckert) is hard-pressed to keep order. Part one of this two-parter ends here with Zipser not too optimistic that they will win the case.

As part two opens after a "Previously On" teaser, McGarrett is still steaming at the small sentence Fremont will get if they win. He wants the charge to be first-degree murder, but Zipser tells him this would only work if Fremont's name is on any of the death certificates of her patients who died and it has to be an "airtight and foolproof" case, complete with exhumation of the body to demonstrate that the patient died from something other than a bogus reason from Fremont.

With only 24 hours to dig up evidence, Zipser recommends McGarrett head to the nearby Bureau of Records and see if he can find such a certificate. While he is there, McGarrett has help from a blonde babe nicknamed "Chickie-Baby" (Victoria Hale) by one of the denizens of the building. He manages to find a few certificates with Fremont's name on them. The first is for a house which is all boarded up. A "for sale or trade" sign has the phone number TH8-9944. The second is for the husband of a woman named Kinney (Lynn Wood). She has been seen among the spectators in the courtroom; in other words, one of Fremont's believers.

The third certificate leads to the house of Chester Grant (Davis Roberts) who lives there with his mother. Chester's brother Walter passed away, but Chester doesn't want to talk about him, because talking will not bring his brother back. His mother (Beah Richards), on the other hand, reveals that Walter stopped taking his diabetes medication while under Fremont's treatment because he hated the insulin shots, "the whole regime," but especially "not being able to take a drink." The fact that Walter was a diabetic was documented by their own doctor, yet the death certificate signed by Fremont said that he died "of vitamin deficiency and malnutrition caused by alcoholism." Fremont said Walter "could throw away his needles, the insulin, his diets ... that she would cure him, make him well with her machines," one of which Mrs. Grant purchased. Mrs. Grant also knows that Fremont is a quack.

Despite her not wanting to help, McGarrett is able to convince the mother otherwise. Walter's body is exhumed that evening, and Jerome Pastor, the county coroner, is contacted to perform an autopsy. Unfortunately, the M.E. tells them "I cannot confirm the cause of death."

We are kept in suspense as court resumes the next day. Fremont's super-computer is on display and her oily lawyer Herbert (another well-known character actor, William Schallert, employing a Southern accent) lets loose with a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo over Fremont's credentials, the validity of her "instruments" and so forth. When Fremont wants to demonstrate how the computer works, she asks for a volunteer to donate a sample of blood. McGarrett offers, and it is accepted, over Herbert's objections. After she places the paper with the blood on it in the machine, Fremont tells McGarrett "Your health outlook is excellent. Except for an inherited predisposition toward tumor. I've sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth. Chances are you will die of cancer before the age of 50. Unless you are constantly on guard, and receive proper enlightened treatment."

Zipser then pulls a Perry Mason on Fremont, telling the court that the sample was not blood, but vegetable dye. When McGarrett showed the paper with his blood on it to the jury, he dropped the paper on the floor, and Zipser substituted another with the dye on it when he picked it up. The courtroom erupts, but the case against Fremont is assured. McGarrett reconciles with his sister outside the courtroom as the show ends.

The music for this show is by Harry Geller. In the first part, as Fremont tries to seduce McGarrett, there are creepy violins over organ music as she talks about her past with the faith healer who she married. Some of the cues in the second part of the show seem to be by Morton Stevens from previous episodes, though.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

This line is used predominantly as a clich�d opening to fairy tales or stories for young children.

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: McGarrett's nephew Tommy dies in Los Angeles (not seen by us).

LOCATIONS:

Fred Helfing investigated some locations from this episode:

  • On McGarrett's way to the FDA office, a Bob's Big Boy restaurant is seen on Van Nuys Blvd., on the southwest corner of Clark Street. This is currently a Keyes Honda dealership.
  • We also see McGarrett driving past an Ontra Cafeteria, which was right across the street from the Big Boy at 5344 Van Nuys Boulevard. These days it is a Keyes Keyes European car dealership.
  • The FDA office has the same front door as the Van Nuys courthouse which is located at 6230 Sylmar Avenue.
  • When McGarrett turns to get to the FDA office, he drives in front of this mall-like building with a a very distinctive roof which is a parking structure. In the final shot of the show, as the camera pulls back as McGarrett is embracing his sister, you will see the building with the distinctive roof in the background.
  • As they show the entrance to the FDA office, you can see the words "building" (actually just "ilding") and "court" on the left. Near the beginning of part two of the show as McGarrett and Zipser leave the building when it is raining, if you look to the left of them, you will see the same words which are also seen with a bunch of other writing as McGarrett heads to the parking lot at the end.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • When McGarrett tells Chin Ho he is going to make a speech, the subject will be on "law and order." Chin says, "For or against?"
  • McGarrett's badge serial number is 22082.
  • He flies to Los Angeles on United and takes a City Cab from the airport. He tells his sister that he left Honolulu at 10:45 p.m., and arrived at L.A. International at 6:45 a.m. (this makes sense!).
  • When McGarrett goes to turn left to get to the FDA office from Van Nuys Boulevard, he signals by putting his arm straight out the window.
  • There is a Los Angeles Times newspaper box outside the FDA office. The paper has a large headline "Newton Guilty." Assuming this refers to Huey Newton, this would place the date of the filming around September 8, 1968.
  • At one point, Fremont is described as a Doctor of Naturopathy, but in court she is a Doctor of Naturology. She defines a naturologist as "one who heals by helping nature."
  • The death certificates that McGarrett and "Chickie-Baby" examine are supposedly only for the last six months, but on some of them the dates seem to be 1963. One of them is for Harold Warcheck at 11904 Chandler, North Hollywood, who died on December 3, 1968. Andrew Kinney's address was 4312 Colfax, North Hollywood (died December 10, 1968). Walter Grant's address is 11131 Weddington St., North Hollywood. Another certificate is for J.T. Dewberry.
  • When talking to Mrs. Grant, McGarrett says his nephew was 6 months old, not 12 months as stated in Part 1.
  • Walter Grant's tombstone reads "Beloved Son & Brother Walter L. Grant 1933-1968"
  • The word "autopsy" is pronounced wrong three times in the show, with the accent again on the second syllable.
  • The license number of Zipser's car, which McGarrett borrows, is WVX 345.
  • There is a reference to "Chief Dan" of HPD twice.
  • When Fremont's machines run, particularly in Part 1, the sound effects are from Star Trek. An entry at IMDb suggests "The equipment racks in Dr. Freemont's office are the same ones used in 'The Time Tunnel' series. Some of these components are also seen in 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' and 'Lost in Space'."

MUSIC:

Score by Harry Geller.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

PART ONE

#1, 05:12, 02:16, 00:00, Dr. Fremont shows McGarrett's sister Mary Ann a book of positive testimonials from people she has "healed," then takes her to see the "treatment instrument."
#2, 09:10, 01:15, 02:16, Mary Ann's son Tommy is holding contacts with the machine, leads to main title.
#3, 10:25, 00:25, 03:30, A cablegram from Los Angeles is delivered to the Five-O office in the Iolani Palace.
#4, 13:03, 01:18, 03:55, McGarrett takes a flight to Los Angeles and then a cab to his sister's house.
#5, 19:35, 01:24, 05:13, McGarrett borrows his brother-in-law's car; he purchases one of Fremont's machines and takes it to the FDA office.
#6, 30:10, 00:57, 06:37, After McGarrett tries unsuccessfully to convince his sister that Fremont is a quack and he will take the woman to court, his sister phones Fremont to warn her.
#7, 31:07, 00:48, 07:34, Fremont awaits McGarrett at her office.
#8, 35:15, 02:49, 08:21, Fremont tells McGarrett her life story, then acts seductively; McGarrett is not budging.
#9, 41:18, 00:28, 11:11, Fremont threatens McGarrett, saying Tommy is going to die, and if he takes her to court, his sister will never forgive him.
#10, 42:24, 00:38, 11:38, Later, back in Hawaii, McGarrett learns that his nephew has died of cancer.
#11, 45:03, 01:04, 12:16, McGarrett cries, recalling the conversation he had with his sister; he tells Danno that he is fed up.
#12, 49:23, 00:50, 13:21, In Los Angeles, the courtroom for Fremont's trial is a circus; the judge says he will not tolerate any more nonsense; Fremont gives McGarrett a dirty look as the show ends.

PART TWO

#1, 00:07, 02:33, 00:00, "Previously on" � from Part One.
#2, 03:25, 01:11, 02:33, Fremont gives McGarrett the "look," from end of Part One, leads into main titles.
#3, 08:57, 00:47, 03:44, McGarrett's sister and her husband go home from the trial, leads to revelation that Tom was the one who called McGarrett to come to L.A.
#4, 13:10, 02:20, 04:30, McGarrett searches through medical records.
#5, 16:55, 00:59, 06:50, McGarrett is tracking down people from the records; no one is living at the first of these; includes Five-O theme; Wave leads to end of Act One.
#6, 17:56, 00:47, 07:48, He moves on to the next person, who turns out to be a woman named Kinney, a Fremont supporter who was at the trial.
#7, 19:31, 00:49, 08:35, When Mrs. Kinney says she will call Fremont, McGarrett tells her to go ahead, "I wanted her to know I was here."
#8, 27:28, 01:07, 09:24, McGarrett gets a more sympathetic reception at the next house from the mother and brother of Walter E. Grant, who was treated by Fremont for diabetes.
#9, 29:14, 00:40, 10:31, Walter Grant's body is exhumed; McGarrett waits for the autopsy results with Zipser.
#10, 30:32, 00:37, 11:11, The medical examiner tells McGarrett he can't determine the cause of death because the body has deteriorated; Wave leads to end of Act Two.
#11, 40:33, 00:09, 11:49, McGarrett gives a blood sample for Fremont to test; Wave leads to end of Act Three.
#12, 49:30, 00:40, 11:58, After trial is thrown into chaos by the results from the "blood sample," which was vegetable dye, McGarrett and his sister are reconciled in the parking lot outside the court.

VARIATIONS:

In September 2023, I found some old VHS tapes which had 2-part episodes which had been combined into 2-hour shows and shown on TBS Superstation, probably in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Research in the CBS "Bible" for the show suggests that two-hour versions of the two-part shows prepared by CBS themselves were available to TV stations.

There are some differences when these two-hour versions are compared to the original broadcasts.

BROADCAST VERSION (FROM PARAMOUNT DVDS):

Part One of the Broadcast Version has a lengthy teaser where we see the quack doctor C.L. Fremont convincing McGarrett's sister Mary that Tommy, her son and McGarrett's nephew, has to undergo treatment for cancer at Fremont's clinic. The main titles including the Wave are from 9:26 to 10:23. The credits start at 10:28, but are relatively short. After the episode title, there are only two credits: #1, "Written and Produced by Leonard Freeman" at 10:32 and #2, "Directed by Michael Caffey" at 10:35.

Part One ends in a courtroom where Fremont's supporters turn the first day's proceedings into a gong show. After the trial is adjourned to the next day by the judge, Fremont leaves and pauses to give McGarrett "a look" at 50:04, followed by Leonard Freeman's executive producer credit.

Part Two of the Broadcast Version has a previously-on teaser mostly based on material from Part One. This teaser includes the following, up to 3:37:

  • Tommy is crying, a sample of his blood is taken.
  • The sample is put into a computer, the diagnosis by Fremont is "cancer." She tells Mary, "Let me help you, let me save your child."
  • Tommy holds wires connected to an electronic device.
  • McGarrett's plane lands in Los Angeles, his sister welcomes him at her house.
  • McGarrett sees Tommy in his crib, Mary tells him, "My baby's going to live."
  • McGarrett tells Mary's husband Tom, "Tell her the truth, and tell her now." Tom can't do this.
  • McGarrett goes to the Food snd Drug Administration (FDA), he tells them "I want her stopped, I want her equipment seized and I want her in jail. When told there are thousands of similar "practitioners," McGarrett says "This one is treating my sister's baby."
  • McGarrett goes to Fremont's office to serve her with papers. She starts arguing with him; he says, "Tell it to the judge."
  • McGarrett confronts his sister. She says she can't believe him; McGarrett says the court will believe him because "I'm a cop."
  • The courtroom is disrupted by Fremont's followers. The judge is disgusted and proceedings are adjourned to the next day.
  • As Fremont leaves the courtroom, she gives McGarrett "a look."

The main titles follow from 3:37 to 4:33 and the credits start at 4:39, ending around 6:16 as McGarrett and Zipser leave the court building.

TWO-HOUR VERSION ("TBS")

(Times are approximate based on VHS tape from which commercials were removed and was converted to an MP4 file. This show is also time-compressed.)

The TBS two-hour version starts with a 2:26 teaser:

  • Mary holds up Tommy, telling McGarrett, "My baby's going to live." McGarrett says, "I hope so."
  • McGarrett comes to Fremont's office to serve her papers, she says "I'm returning..." the words "your money" (which McGarrett paid for her device) is dropped. McGarrett gives her the papers, saying, "Tell it to the judge."
  • McGarrett has a stern talk with his sister about Fremont: "She accepts patients with curable cancer and uses that phony contraption on them until the case becomes incurable. [Some of Mary's response is edited out.]
  • Fremont tells McGarrett, "Before this case comes up in court, that child is going to be dead. With or without my treatment that child is going to die. Your sister will not forgive you for as long as she lives. I'll see to it, McGarrett."
  • After news is received in Hawaii that Tommy went into a deep coma and died, McGarrett breaks down in his office.

Up to 1:35, this teaser has used material from Part I, it continues with material from Part II up until 2:26:

  • Tom talks to Mary, saying that Fremont is a quack. Mary says she will never believe this. Tom says she will believe after McGarrett "finishes with her in court."
  • In the courtroom, Fremont describes the procedure she uses to diagnose patients. She gets a sample of blood from McGarrett, and after putting it in her machine, says he will likely die of cancer before the age of 50.

To avoid seeing the credits at the end of the now-combined original part 1 and beginning of original part 2, they are edited out in the 2-hour version, as you can see here. The main title of the show for the combined parts one and two was also replaced.

Removing the credits for Part Two in this manner may have caused problems, because Part Two of the show had two directors, Michael Caffey and Abner Biberman and now only Caffey is credited for the entire episode based on what was seen near the beginning of the broadcast show.

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21. (S01E21) “Not That Much Different” ★★

Original air date: 3/5/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Abner Biberman; Producer: Sidney Marshall; Writer: Mark Rodgers; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 4:11; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 7:37; Act Two: 9:17 ; Act Three: 9:04; Act Four: 19:01; End Credits: 0:57; Total Time: 51:05.

QUICK PLOT:

What looks like an assassination attempt on a military general is a cover-up for the murder of a young worker at a radical publication who has serious relationship issues.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

Staff members from the radical Peace Magazine are front and center during an anti-war demonstration when an army general (Walter P. Young) lays a wreath opposite the War Memorial Natatorium in Honolulu. When the general, over McGarrett's objections, speaks to the protesters, Julian Scott (Sperry�MacNaughton) attempts to hand him a copy of the magazine and is shot dead.

Trying to figure out if this was an assassination attempt on the general, McGarrett gets several people connected with the magazine to come to his office to give him some help trying to figure out who was the shooter from photo blow-ups of the scene. During this meeting, you can cut the tension with a knife. One of the magazine staff members tells McGarrett his asking them to come to his office makes them sick. Others suggest that McGarrett is no better than whoever killed Julian because he is part of a culture of guns and killing.

McGarrett explains why he does what he does, which doesn't seem to have any great effect. Carole Matthews (Jadeen�Vaughn), who was standing beside Julian when he was killed, apologizes to McGarrett after the others have left, which prompts McGarrett to continue his speech-making, explaining why he is a "peace officer":

"I abhor violence in any form. I think that violence breeds violence on any level. Every war, every riot, started with one individual act of violence. I'm a peace officer. Euphemism? Maybe. But I want peace more than anything else in the world. I hope you'll understand that, Carole. Try to. And try to help us."

Five-O's subsequent investigation reveals that Julian was involved with a woman named Lannie Devereaux (Anne Prentiss) a few years before. Back then, the two of them were found nearly asphyxiated from gas at Lannie's place, and the cops found a .38 revolver in her kitchen, the same kind of gun that killed Julian. McGarrett also gets an anonymous phone tip regarding the shooting, saying "Things aren't always what they seem," though we can see that the tipster is Paul Brechtman (Lee Paul), who works for the magazine.

When McGarrett goes to the magazine's print shop the next day, he is not exactly welcome. He asks about Devereaux. Manning West (Dennis Cooney) remembers Lannie and says she was a "cheap little thing, certainly not one of us." This very sexist remark would not go unnoticed in a typical underground publication office of the day.

McGarrett wonders about the .38 revolver that Devereaux owned, suggesting that it was used to kill Julian, but Ned Horvath (Stuart Moss) counters that "Everyone loved Julian." McGarrett's response is "Lesson One — nobody is loved by everybody."

Devereaux is tracked down. She is living with some gangster from the mainland, who is shot dead during a confrontation with Danno and Kono. Later, McGarrett grills Lannie. She tells him that Julian took the gun away from her, and she has seen Julian recently. He came to say goodbye, that he loved someone else. McGarrett later says to Danno his "cop instinct" tells him that Lannie didn't kill Julian.

Meanwhile, back at the print shop, West is looking through Julian's old desk. When Horvath wants to know why he is doing this, West says he was looking for evidence that might help them in the internal investigation which the magazine's staff were conducting regarding Julian's death. West accuses Horvath of not wanting to find the killer.

Horvath pulls out a letter that West wrote to Julian which he found previously while looking through the desk. West says, "This isn't evidence of much except my ... affection for him." Horvath says the letter shows that West challenged Julian's leadership. West spits out, "You hated Julian. I loved him," to which Horvath replies, "But he didn't love you," saying that West fought constantly with Julian.

Later, when Horvath is not in the office, West gets the muscular Brechtman to break into Horvath's locker with a crowbar. They find a .38 caliber revolver in the pocket of Horvath's jacket. West's explanation for why he thought the gun was there doesn't make any sense, that he previously "caught a glimpse of metal when the locker was open." But how could he get a glimpse of metal if the gun was in the jacket?

Armed with the gun, the staff go to a theater where Horvath is preparing a production. They put him "on trial" for the murder of Julian with Manning acting as prosecutor. This trial is basically a kangaroo court, and Carole finds the proceedings "shameful." She reminds West that he said if any evidence regarding Julian's killing was discovered, they would turn it over to McGarrett. The "trial" ends.

The next day, Manning comes to the magazine's office and forces Horvath at gunpoint to come away with him to some out-of-the-way location on high cliffs above the ocean. Around this time, Brechtman comes to the Five-O office and says he made the phone tip earlier. He also says that when Julian was shot, he saw Manning across the street "pointing" towards the general. McGarrett and Danno leave immediately for Manning's place, but he is not there. An APB is put out for Manning's car.

At the cliffs, Manning admits to Horvath that he was the one who killed Julian. He orders Horvath to jump to his death, so his "suicide" will look like he was the one responsible for Julian's murder. McGarrett and Danno show up, and Manning flees in an exciting — and very dangerous-looking as far as the stunt men are concerned — chase across some lava beds until he is wounded by McGarrett. As he lies bleeding on the rocks, Manning says that he "found Lannie's gun where Julian had hidden it. I went ... to kill the general. And suddenly I saw Julian. Everything I wanted to be. Handsome ... respected by everyone ... a shining leader ... with Carole standing beside him." However, West doesn't offer any explanation as to how the gun ended up in Horvath's locker, considering it was likely locked. After all, Brechtman had to force the door open to get inside. McGarrett tells Manning that he will end up in "an iron box."

The people in this show who publish Peace Magazine, ostensibly student types, are more palatable than most Five-O radicals, though some of them are kind of preppy. Most of the actors playing them were around 30 years old when the episode was filmed, and it shows. They do manage to project a real sense of "cringing" when McGarrett lectures them in his office and when he shows up at their print shop the next day. Linda Ansai as Jackie Ito in particular seems like she is constantly on the verge of telling McGarrett to shove it.

By the end of the show, West comes across as one confused guy, not helped by the script which gets more confusing as it goes on with an insufferable amount of yap-yap-yap, particularly during Horvath's "trial" and at the very end. After he is wounded by McGarrett, West throws out the obscure term "magnicide" (spelled "magnacide" in the subtitles) to try and justify what he has done. According to a WWW definition, magnicide is "when a government or a government entity has someone they believe to be a threat assassinated in order to eliminate the perceived threat." McGarrett defines it as "the killing of a great person."

West was also likely jealous of the fact that Julian was hanging out with the attractive Carole — so maybe he felt betrayed sexually as well. Perhaps Julian was bisexual, but this is analyzing to an extreme extent. There is also the suggestion mentioned above that West tried to kill Julian three years before — when Julian was involved with Lannie. During the "trial," Horvath reveals a kind of embarrassing moment, that he'd "worked six weeks to get a date with a girl, take her to a party and in an hour Julian had taken her away from me," suggesting Julian was kind of a stud.

There are hints of homosexuality between West and Julian when Horvath confronts West with the letter the latter wrote to Julian. West refers to his "affection" for Julian, adding later "I loved him," holding the letter up to his face as if he is kissing or smelling it.

I suspect that the homosexual relationship in this show was originally played up more, and the bigwigs at CBS told the production team to dial it back. In the episode "The Box" earlier this season there is a reference to "homosexuals" in prison which was probably pretty rank enough for the era when Five-O was broadcast. Perhaps this stuff was edited out at the last minute and the script revised, which is why it is such a mess.

It is also possible that this gay angle was responsible for changing the order of episodes close to the end of the season (this is my theory).

Consider the following. In production order, "The Box" and "Not That Much Different" were separated by only one show. Both had "homosexual" references.

In broadcast order, "The Box" and "Not That Much Different" were separated by four episodes. Not a lot, but perhaps the best that could be done by the time the broadcast order was determined. Moving "The Box" around in this manner actually screwed things up, because in "Six Kilos" there is a character named Swanson who is shot and wounded, and he later appears in "The Box." In production order, these two episodes were in correct sequence. But after "The Box" was moved to episode 16, Swanson, who was shot at the end of "Six Kilos" is first in prison in "The Box" where he would likely be staying for a long time.

PRODUCTION ORDER:

Six Kilos #18
The Big Kahuna #19
One for the Money #20
The Box #21
Face of the Dragon #22
Not That Much Different (last produced episode) #23

BROADCAST ORDER:

The Box #16
One For The Money #17
Along Came Joey #18
Once Upon A Time, Parts I & II #19 & #20
Not That Much Different #21
Six Kilos #22
The Big Kahuna #23

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

Honu suggests "I always thought that this referenced McGarrett trying to convince the protesters that, like them, he also wanted peace more than anything, so he and they were 'not that much different'."

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: Julian Scott is shot by Manning West during a protest against a visiting army general.
    Death: Victor Collins is shot by Danno and Kono when they break into the house he shared with Lannie Devereaux.
    Injury: Manning slaps Ned, knocking him out, as McGarrett and Danno show up at the cliffs.
    Injury: McGarrett shoots Manning on cliffs as he tries to escape.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • Fred Helfing tracked down the print shop for Peace Magazine, which is located on Kaminaka Drive at the corner of St. Louis Drive. This is not a residential building, yet it's in the hills next to residential houses. It is quite likely a real print shop which is part of Chaminade University, assuming what we see "inside" during this episode is actually on the inside of the building. This location is also seen in S06E11, "The Finishing Touch."
  • It's amazing how quickly the cops can find West's car after the APB is put out, not to mention how quickly McGarrett and Danno can get to the area near the cliffs.
  • The security for the general at the beginning of the show leaves a lot to be desired. There are several cops present at the demonstration, along with some suit who looks like he works for the State Department, but they don't seem to be taking their jobs particularly seriously. After Julian is shot, the only one who is really freaking out is McGarrett.
  • The protest signs at the beginning of the show include WAR IS SIN, LOVE NOT HATE, MAKE LOVE NOT WAR, BRING THEM HOME, PEACE MAGAZINE, BROTHERHOOD, BAN THE BOMB, and GOD IS LOVE. In the print shop, there is a sign which says WAR IS NO BODY'S BAG.
  • Some of the editing after the shootout at Lannie Devereaux' place is peculiar. Danno and Kono are crouching down, then are suddenly standing up, and Chin Ho then appears out of nowhere with Lannie. The editing reminds me of an Ed Wood movie!
  • Is there a mistake regarding Devereaux? As mentioned above, she and Julian, her boyfriend in 1966, were almost killed when someone turned on the gas in her place. She goes on to explain to McGarrett that Julian argued with someone on the phone, someone working for the magazine, presumably back in 1966. But then she later says that she has seen Julian recently and Danno later tells Horvath that he heard Ned had an argument with Julian the night before he was shot. Has the script mixed up these two events?
  • According to Carl Walter, the red sports car owned by West in this episode is a Toyota 2000GT. "Less than 60 ever made it to the USA, and they cost big bucks when new. Today they sell in the $150,000-$300,000 range and are highly collectible. [These prices date back many years; Wikipedia says one has sold for $1.2 million.] By far the rarest and most valuable car that ever appeared in the series." Considering this car originally cost about $6,800 in the USA, it is hard to believe that West, whose job is working on some radical peacenik publication, can afford it. The car's license plate number is D8-5382.
  • IMDB has mixed up two Five-O character actors, Walter Yong and Walter P. Young. The first actor, Walter Yong, appeared in The Child Stealers (Boat Owner), McGarrett is Missing (Storekeeper) and Anatomy of a Bribe (Joe Kimura). The second actor, Walter P. Young, Senior appeared in this episode (General) and The Late John Louisiana (the title character) as well as a couple of other episodes where he is uncredited. You can see pictures of both these actors here in the order mentioned in the previous two sentences. IMDB has combined these two actors into one listing: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2045865/.
  • Two of the close shots of West shooting at McGarrett on the lava beds are the same.
  • At the end of the show, West, who thinks he is dying, tells McGarrett, "Better to command in Hell than to serve in Heaven," a variant on a line from John Milton's Paradise Lost: "Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven."
  • During his pursuit of Horvath and West near the end of the show, McGarrett grabs for his car door to close it and misses.
  • Daniel Kamekona is listed in the end credits as Che Fong, but does not appear in the show. The 6 foot 6 inch tall Lee Paul, who plays Paul Brechtman, is "Skinhead" in episode #90.
  • If you look quickly at the back cover of Peace Magazine which McGarrett picks up during his first visit to the print shop, you will see what looks like a typical Coca-Cola Christmas ad featuring Santa Claus. The magazine which West shows McGarrett in his office at the beginning of the show has a picture of Jim Morrison from The Doors on its front cover with a headline "Rock Idol Revolt!"
  • In the print shop, some worker is using what looks like a linotype machine.
  • Lannie is tracked down with the help of one of Chin Ho's cousins, Makaha Kelly. The subtitles spell this person's first name as "McCay."
  • Manning's house where McGarrett and Danno go near the end of the show is located at 99-25 Nalopaka Place, Aiea, HI 96701 (thanks to Fred for tracking this down). It looks very similar to what is there today! When Danno and McGarrett are there they get a call from police dispatch as to Manning's real location, and there is a theme heard which is the "Full Fathom Five" theme from the season's first episode. The subtitles in this section are confusing. Dispatch radios a report on Manning's car saying it is "heading towards Kuipo [??] Point." McGarrett replies, "10-4, Kam Highway and Alapaka." The subtitles say, "heading toward Kahena Point," and McGarrett replies, "10-4. Kem Highway and Naupaka."
  • During the chase at the end of the show, West shoots 8 times at McGarrett who is pursuing him, despite the fact that his gun only holds 6 bullets. After he is taken down by McGarrett, West tries to justify what he has done, saying words to the effect that he wanted to knock off Julian because he was jealous of his power in the group, that Julian had "used all of us," and that by shooting Julian, West would become greater than Julian.
  • The scene with the general and the protest at the beginning of the show was filmed December 24, 1968.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 00:58, 00:00, Drumming as General lays a wreath.
#2, 03:36, 01:33, 00:58, Julian Scott is shot dead, leads to opening titles.
#3, 05:11, 00:26, 02:30, McGarrett meets with student protestors in his office.
#4, 10:50, 00:15, 02:57, McGarrett plays his guitar.
#5, 12:35, 00:10, 03:12, After Paul Brechtman phones McGarrett there is "Wave," end of Act One.
#6, 12:47, 00:21, 03:23, McGarrett goes to Peace Magazine print shop.
#7, 15:55, 00:30, 03:44, Duke, Chin and Kono are tracking down Lannie Devereaux.
#8, 17:22, 00:45, 04:13, The Five-O threesome are outside Lannie's; they prepare to break into the place.
#9, 18:22, 00:31, 04:59, Collins, Lannie's boyfriend, is dead; Danno says call McGarrett; Manning snoops in Julian's drawer at the office.
#10, 21:41, 00:23, 05:30, Manning smells a letter from Julian, leads to "Wave."
#11, 22:04, 00:16, 05:52, McGarrett prepares to grill Lannie.
#12, 25:25, 00:34, 06:08, Danno and Chin go to theater where Horvath works to talk to him.
#13, 29:10, 00:38, 06:42, People from Peace arrive at theater to put Horvath "on trial."
#14, 30:51, 00:16, 07:19, Horvath is confronted, leads to "Wave."
#15, 31:09, 00:47, 07:35, Horvath suffers accusations with Manning acting like prosecutor.
#16, 37:21, 01:51, 08:22, People from Peace find the trial to be heavy-handed, it is stopped; the next day, Manning forces Horvath at gunpoint to drive him out to the sticks.
#17, 40:54, 01:20, 10:13, Manning and Horvath arrive in the middle of nowhere; after an APB is put out, McGarrett and Danno arrive at Manning's; a radio call says that Manning has been spotted; Manning makes Horvat go where there are high cliffs.
#18, 44:42, 02:43, 11:33, Manning tries to escape, running across lava beds; he is shot by McGarrett.
#19, 49:58, 00:10, 14:16, Finale, after McGarrett makes a brief speech to Danno, suggesting that the protestors really aren't so bad after all (not heard by us).

GALLERY:

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22. (S01E22) “Six Kilos” ★★  BOOK HIM (KONO)   BOOK HER (CHIN) 

Original air date: 3/12/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Seymour Robbie; Producer: Robert Stambler; Writer: Meyer Dolinsky; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 2:20; Main Titles: 0:58; Act One: 14:46; Act Two: 11:28; Act Three: 5:40; Act Four: 14:54; End Credits: 0:57; Total Time: 51:03.

QUICK PLOT:

McGarrett assumes the identity of a dead safecracker and explosives expert to take part in a caper involving the theft of heroin.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

For some inexplicable reason, this show was like a "lost episode" when Five-O was shown in the 1990s. It was almost as legendary as "Bored She Hung Herself," the infamous banned episode from the second season. Information about "Six Kilos" was so hard to come by, Karen Rhodes' Booking Five-O doesn't even have a complete cast list for the show.

I recall that "Six Kilos" was not available in the major syndication package for the show. When Five-O was broadcast on KVOS-TV in Bellingham, WA (the station where I watched most of the episodes) it was skipped during the first showing of the first season that I saw. After the series finished (it did not go to the final two seasons), they started broadcasting again from the beginning. The series was about to be terminated at the end of the first season of this second go-around, and at the very end, "Six Kilos" was unexpectedly shown, and luckily I had my VCR running. I also got a dub of the show later which originated with KICU San Jose, which was shown around the same time.

In a 1996 Usenet posting in the group alt.fan.hawaii-five-o, Karen Rhodes wrote that Six Kilos "has, until very recently, not been shown in US syndication, though it has been shown overseas for quite some time (my own copy of it is in German). I think there was some kind of contractual dispute associated with it that precluded its being shown in the US. Apparently that has been cleared up now, or maybe there was a time limit on it. Don't know for sure. But apparently 'Six Kilos' isn't 'lost' anymore."

The quality of the print of "Six Kilos" in the DVD box set is different than the other shows, as if it it wasn't remastered to the same extent, or maybe an original print of this show did not exist. Overall, it has a washed-out quality to it. The direction by Seymour Robbie is also kind of different compared to other episodes, even those which he did in the first season: "The Box," "Up Tight" and "By the Numbers."

Overall, this is kind of a "meh" episode, which is full of mistakes (see trivia section below). It is really never explained why Five-O should be concerned with the case at hand in the first place, though obviously it is a big deal considering the Governor and some "Fed" are involved.

McGarrett, for the second time this season, goes undercover, rehashing a smart-alecky, over-gregarious personality which we saw in "The Ways Of Love." He becomes Harry Brown (real name John Warnesh, also known as John Zecky and George Black), "expert safecracker, top nitro man, not only an expert, one of the best in the world [who] never made a hit under a half-million dollars." Brown, on his way to an assignment, was shot by Danno at the Honolulu airport when he pulled a gun on Chin Ho. (Why Danno and Chin are after Brown there is yet another unknown.) Whether McGarrett pretending to be someone else is a good idea is debatable. He is not exactly an unknown character in the islands, as we see when his cover is almost blown later in the show by some hotel security guard who recognizes him as McGarrett attempts to buy some nitrogylcerin from a sleazy guy!

McGarrett travels to the Big Island and checks in to the Maunaloa Hotel, where Brown had a room booked as per a package he found in a locker at the airport before he was shot. In character, as one who "makes a hobby of collecting women," McGarrett as Brown leers at a woman in a bikini in the hotel lobby. (Prior to this, there is a major babe who comes out of the hotel's swimming pool who he does not see.)

Only moments after getting settled in his room, Carl Swanson (Gerald S. O'Loughlin), one of the people McGarrett will be working with, shows up with a gun in hand. McGarrett quickly takes the gun away from him, which just annoys Swanson even more than the fact that Brown is a day late for the job. Swanson also doesn't like his co-worker's mouthy attitude.

After they settle down a bit, the two of them take a cab to a beachfront house where McGarrett meets the other two members of the team: Andre Maurac (Than Wyenn), "the man for the torch, X-ray and saw," and the mysterious Margi Carstairs (Antoinette Bower). Margi is "attached to the entourage of a diplomatic emissary by the name of Quan Ling" who owns a yacht where a safe containing six kilos of heroin worth $40 million, the object of the quartet's mission, is stored. Swanson is "an expert electrician, period." McGarrett starts to act like he has hot pants for Margi, but, annoyed by his tardiness, she tells him to lay off: "I'm paying for a box man, not a lover. For the next week, I own you. If you should step out of line again, you're a dead man."

There is still plenty of friction between Swanson and McGarrett, who calls his partner "genius," "stupid," "big mouth," "pretty boy," and "baby." Despite this, the caper goes off as planned, even though Swanson's synchronized watch gets damaged during a fight on the yacht, causing him to cut the power too early. Back on land, Swanson and "Frenchy" Maurac get a big surprise when they go to collect their $250,000 each (a million split four ways). The mysterious Margi is revealed to be the equally mysterious "Man" who has been giving them orders via reel-to-reel tapes. She shoots both of these guys and is about to plug McGarrett when he points out Danno, Kono and some other cop on the roofs nearby with their guns aimed in her direction. She is duly booked. Margi wanted to escape from her "nice little girl" life to the world of Cannes, Portofino and St. Tropez, which unfortunately did not work out.

Some of the music from the show (by Stevens) is rehashed from earlier episodes, but there are a couple of interesting new cues, including one with a weird jittery echo-like effect.

Here is a copy of the "final draft" script from the show, much different than the finished product:
TeaserAct OneAct TwoAct ThreeAct Four

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

A team of crooks, including McGarrett pretending to be one of them who was knocked off early in the show, has to steal six kilos of heroin from a safe on a yacht.

CASUALTY LIST:

    Death: "Harry Brown" is shot at airport by Danno after he pulls a gun on Chin Ho.
    Injury (x2): Two guards at the back of the boat are knocked out by McGarrett and Andre Maurac.
    Injury (x2): Two guards are knocked out by McGarrett and Maurac as the group escapes after the robbery.
    Injury: Margi shoots Maurac.
    Injury: Margi shoots Swanson.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • At the beginning of the show in the background at the airport is a counter for "Air Hawaii." According to Wikipedia, there was a company with this name, but it only existed for one year in the mid-1980s. I suspect that this "Air Hawaii" sign is covering up the real name of some company, sort of the way that you cannot show Coca-Cola or Marlboro cigarettes on a TV show, you have to "cover this up" with bogus products. Also notice that the United Airlines counter in this show also has only one woman working at it, and the sign behind her which says "United Airlines" looks like it is made out of plastic and stuck on the wall.
  • After Warnash/Brown is shot dead at the beginning of the show, Danno looks at the things he took out of the locker. There is a registration card from the Maunaloa Hotel, which is filled out with Brown's address: 12 Sunview Terrace, Kansas City, Missouri. But why would this card be there, especially since it includes his signature? This is the card you would normally fill out when signing in to the hotel. There are actually two cards used during this sequence, but you have to look fast. The first one has a number of 0559, the second one has a number of 0623 and is seen just before the main title's "wave." This second card has writing on it in a totally different style from the first. Later, when McGarrett registers at the hotel, the number on his card seems to be 517.
  • At the airport, Brown is requested to go to the "passenger information center" to pick up the envelope containing the locker key, but he just goes to the United Airlines desk. There is a sign there which says to call 5-211 for United Airlines info. Some of Brown's dialog in this opening scene sounds looped.
  • When McGarrett and Swanson go to the beachfront house, they take a Tradewind Taxi, phone number 941-5055.
  • The Man knows what McGarrett said to Swanson in his hotel room at the beginning of the show, but the Governor later tells Danno that he also overheard this conversation, suggesting that Five-O or some other government agency must have also had their own bug in the room.
  • There are several scenes in this show, like the view of the beachfront houses from offshore, the park where McGarrett meets Danno at the tennis match and the dock where Danno takes the boat he uses while photographing which look very much like they are on Oahu. Virginia confirms a couple of these: "The tennis court was not in Hilo, but Honolulu. That's the Diamond Head tennis court," and "The boat harbor where Danno boards the boat is not on Big Island, but O'ahu. Tripler Army Hospital is clearly visible in the distance." (This is the same dock as seen in two other episodes: "McGarrett is Missing" and "Elegy in a Rain Forest"; another clue here is the oil storage tanks in the background. - MQ) Virginia adds: "The hotel lobby where McGarrett as Brown boards the elevator bears a strong resemblance to an elevator lobby in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, possibly The Ali'i Hotel," and points out another "mislocated" scene: "Danno drives up to the boat harbor in his black Galaxie, yet he is supposed to be on the Big Island. After he takes pictures, he picks up his car at the boat harbor, then flies back to O'ahu." (I checked the license plate of this car, it is the same as the one seen in O'ahu episodes: 4C-5456. — MQ)
  • Danno takes pictures of McGarrett and his pals at their beachfront house from a boat offshore, presumably piloted by someone from the local cops, using a camera with a high-powered lens. When he takes these pictures, the angle is ridiculous — there is no way he can get the resulting close-up photos of their faces when they are facing away from the water!
  • Danno says that Swanson's prints were "radiophotoed" to Washington. Swanson is one of the major characters of the "The Box" (S01E16), the tense prison hostage drama earlier this season, where his name is changed to "Charlie," though presumably he is the same character and he recovered from his gunshot wounds. "Six Kilos" was actually filmed first.
  • When the reel-to-reel tape recorder with instructions from The Man is being used, the message is usually somewhere in the middle of the tape. The tape during the final scenes with this machine is in pretty bad shape. Not only that, the recorder keeps changing its position from horizontal to vertical in just about every succeeding shot! When McGarrett changes the pitch of the machine, it looks as if it this isn't accomplished by the simple flipping of a switch which would make the speed go from the default 3� to 7� inches per second. He seems to twirl the two knobs on the control panel, suggesting that this is some kind of variable-pitch machine, which in my experience with these machines would be very unusual (especially considering this recorder looks kind of on the cheap side). When McGarrett rewinds the tape at the end of the show to demonstrate that the voice is that of Margi, he seems to rewind it quite a long way back.
  • I did some monkeying around with the audio of The Man's tapes myself. This is the original file with the distorted voice. This is when McGarrett speeds up the tape, revealing the voice as that of Margi. And this is what the results were when I took the original file and raised the pitch up 20%. It sounds like a woman, but where is Margi's English accent?
  • During the heist, everyone synchronizes their watches, but the revolving second hands on all of the watches are in almost the same position at the same time and cannot be separately adjusted.
  • Good McGarrett quote (as Brown) to Margi: "I only believe in what I can hold in my hands, baby."
  • A taped message from The Man with instructions about the foursome's mission says, "You have exactly eight minutes to get those cylinders [containing the heroin] out of the box," but later when they are in the room with the safe, Margi tells them "It is 11:00. We have exactly ten minutes." Maurac spends a lot of time (almost a minute and a half!) cutting a hole in the wall to expose the front of the safe, which leads to a question: If it is in such a "safe" location, how could Quan Ling have gotten access to it?
  • When the delivery man who had the nitro is grabbed, McGarrett tells Kono to "book him."
  • One of the taped instructions from The Man begins "This noon, precisely at two o'clock..."
  • In the opening scene in the Five-O office, McGarrett snaps his fingers four times, and then once more.

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 03:16, 00:00, Harry Brown arrives at Honolulu airport; he pulls a gun on Chin Ho and is shot dead by Danno; leads into main titles.
#2, 03:20, 00:27, 03:16, McGarrett arrives at the Iolani Palace.
#3, 05:13, 01:08, 03:43, Background music at the Maunaloa Hotel on the Big Island.
#4, 10:07, 00:33, 04:51, McGarrett and Swanson take a taxi ride to the oceanfront house.
#5, 10:39, 00:17, 05:23, McGarrett arrives at the oceanfront house.
#6, 12:54, 03:30, 05:40, Danno takes pictures under the guise of a fishing trip.
#7, 17:50, 00:14, 09:10, End of Act One.
#8, 18:26, 00:30, 09:24, Danno returns to Oahu to update the Governor.
#9, 23:32, 00:26, 09:54, The foursome, having received instructions, go to check out the Atiya.
#10, 24:37, 01:45, 10:20, McGarrett gives Margi a lei, then he gets Kono to drive him to a tennis match, where he talks to Danno.
#11, 27:45, 01:47, 12:05, McGarrett leaves the tennis game and goes to the hotel to pick up the nitro; he is ID'd by a security guard.
#12, 29:33, 00:07, 13:52, The delivery man says McGarrett "suckered" him.
#13, 30:11, 01:06, 14:00, Kono trips the delivery man, who tries to escape; he is busted; McGarrett returns to the waterfront house.
#14, 35:02, 00:10, 15:05, McGarrett figures out they are after 6 kilos of uncut heroin; end of Act Three.
#15, 35:13, 01:39, 15:15, A party is taking place on the yacht; the three men make their way to it.
#16, 37:02, 01:11, 16:54, Excerpts from music at the yacht party, different lengths.
#17, 39:21, 01:35, 18:05, The safe is located and the panel in front of it is removed.
#18, 42:37, 02:35, 19:40, McGarrett drills into the safe and inserts the nitro; Swanson puts the lights out ahead of time.
#19, 46:53, 00:17, 22:15, The foursome escape. (Music is practically inaudible.)
#20, 49:20, 00:47, 22:32, The jig is up for Margi; McGarrett tells Chin to book her.

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23. (S01E23) “The Big Kahuna” ★★

Original air date: 3/19/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Herschel Daugherty; Producer: Sidney Marshall; Writers: Gil Ralston and Norman Hudis (teleplay), Leonard Freeman (story); Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 2:39; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 12:08; Act Two: 13:27; Act Three: 8:35; Act Four: 12:19; End Credits: 0:56; Total Time: 51:01.

QUICK PLOT:

Relatives of a man with a strong connection to Hawaiian history are trying to drive him crazy so they can gain control of his valuable estate and sell it.

Click here to read Full Plot.

REVIEW:

Sam Kalakua (John Marley) is a descendant of Hawaiian royalty, so high up in the genealogical hierarchy that he is known as "the anointed one." He is also a close personal friend of the Governor and a distant uncle of Kono, who Danno says is "nine-tenths Hawaiian, one-tenth cop."

Sam's nephew George (Robert Colbert) and George's very white wife Eleanor (Sally Kellerman) are trying to make it look like Sam is losing his mind so they can have him committed and sell his highly-valued 10-acre property to sleazy real estate mogul Barney Glazer (Peter Leeds). They enlist the help of doped-up movie auteur Alistair Kemp (Jerry Cox) to create images of the Hawaiian goddess of fire Pele which are projected on a screen in Sam's front yard to freak the old man out.

This "special effect" is totally unrealistic and illogical. This goes beyond the usual geekiness that the show can get away with, like McGarrett manufacturing a stencil in The Ways of Love (S01E07) or the business with the reel-to-reel tape recorders in Tiger by the Tail (S01E03).

This "effect" employs some kind of screen that uses rear-projection. But how is this image projected on this screen and how is the projector that shows the movie powered, considering that Sam's property is a "haunted house in the middle of a jungle" where Sam is seen wandering around at night with a kerosene lantern — in other words, he doesn't even have electricity. (Well, I guess they could use a gasoline-powered generator or something.) After Sam fires with a shotgun at the image of Pele played by Eleanor on the screen there is nothing left of it. What happened to all the pieces like the one which Kono finds during the subsequent investigation? Did the effects crew have time to clean it all up?

During the second appearance of Pele, we don't see an image, but just sound. Sam throws a kerosene lamp in its direction; the lamp has been filled with explosives and blows up. According to Chin Ho later, it was loaded with "Chinese New Year's stuff" and might have seriously injured Sam if he hadn't thrown it outside when he did (when he first lights it, it starts sparkling like a firecracker). Considering Sam seems like a hermit who rarely goes out of his house, how did George and Eleanor get into the place to plant this lamp, and how did they know that Sam would throw exactly that lamp?

The third instance involving Pele results from hallucinogenic drugs slipped into something Sam is drinking to further confuse him, but in this case, Pele really is in Sam's mind.

As a result of his crazy behavior, Sam is said to be a threat to his neighbors — but they don't live anywhere close to him.

Filmmaker Kemp, whose production company is called "Theater of Madness," is stereotypically nutty, as are the merry band of hippies helping him make some ultra-artsy movie. When Danno grills Kemp, he asks him: "What are you on, Kemp? Pills? Acid?" and talks about "psychedelic effects." Kemp just laughs at him. When Kemp is about to crack, Danno says there "might be some sweat forming inside that acid head." Later, in his production office, Kemp finds Danno snooping in his film cans and asks, "What are you, some kind of klepto?" At least Danno has a warrant.

McGarrett examines the film using the freeze-frame technique similar to that in Strangers In Our Own Land (S01E02), and Banzai Pipeline (s06E16). I don't know how McGarrett can recognize Eleanor as Pele in Kemp's film, considering she is heavily disguised and made up — I sure couldn't!

At the end, Sam, who has become suicidal, heads to The Pali. Of course, McGarrett and Danno know exactly which high cliff Sam is going to jump off there, and so does Eleanor, who appears in her Pele getup. The ending is dumb — Eleanor steps a few feet behind Sam, who is about to walk face-forward off the cliff edge. But when McGarrett and Danno appear, she is seemingly between Sam and the edge, and suddenly falls over in spectacular fashion, plummeting to her death below.

The show has an interesting perspective on "old" versus "new" Hawaii, not only the people, represented by Sam and his royal lineage, but also the way the place is being taken over and developed, similar to Strangers In Our Own Land (S01E02).

John Marley gives a very good performance as Sam. He later has another "Hawaiian" role in the execrable tenth season episode Tread the King's Shadow (S10E12) and plays a doctor who is an exile from the Greek junta's military rule in The Second Shot (S03E03). Sally Kellerman also does a good job, playing Sam's niece-in-law Eleanor as a major league bitch.

WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?

McGarrett and Kono see Sam's kahuna (a Hawaiian wise man or shaman) leaving Sam's place when they first arrive there and identify him as such. McGarrett uses the actual expression "big kahuna" when he talks to George and Eleanor, Sam's nephew and his wife: "I can understand his calling on the big kahuna for comfort but how do you account for a visitation from the goddess Pele?" At the end of the show, Sam seeks his kahuna on The Pali; he has been tricked to go there by George. He uses the expression "Mighty kahuna" appealing for him to appear. I don't understand the use of the word "big" in the title — surely this is not meant in the slang-like manner "big kahuna" meaning an important person, which could apply to Sam?

CASUALTY LIST:

    Injury: Sam Kalakua suffers "deep shock" and is taken to hospital; hallucinogenic drugs are found in his system.
    Death: Eleanor Kalakua falls off cliff after trying to make Sam commit suicide.

MORE TRIVIA:

  • While Sam and Kono are related, their last names are different: Kalakua and Kalakaua respectively.
  • There are a couple of goofs in the subtitles. When Sam is taken to the hospital and McGarrett shows up, Chin tells him "no business allowed," but he actually says "no visitors allowed." Near the end, the subtitles keep using Na Pali for The Pali. Na Pali Coast State Park also has very steep cliffs, but it lies in the northwest of Kauai, not on Oahu.
  • The shot of Danno and McGarrett coming out of the Iolani Palace is the same as in "One For The Money."
  • When he is attending the psychiatric hearing for Sam and helps to get him off, McGarrett uses the expression "no big thing."
  • In this show, McGarrett is seen wearing his mysterious shoulder holster which has no visible means of support.
  • Music in this episode suggesting the supernatural elements of Pele using synthesizer noises is the same as those in Face of the Dragon. That show's score is by Richard Shores, originally composed for The Wild Wild West prior to Five-O. Other cues, presumably by the credited Morton Stevens, include numerous uses of the bonging bell sound and gamelan-like noises. When McGarrett and Kono see the kahuna leaving Sam's house we briefly hear the "Asian-sounding" flute or recorder theme which is from the beginning of "Samurai."
  • During their very fast drive to The Pali, McGarrett is driving on the wrong side of the road; this shot is repeated from the end of "Up Tight." There is a stock shot of McGarrett's car careening around a corner on their way there at Atkinson Drive and Ala Moana Boulevard in Honolulu (thanks to Fred Helfing for the link).

MUSIC:

Score by Morton Stevens.

The two times at the beginning of each line in the list below are when the cue appears in the show and the length of the cue. Click the arrow in the player to hear a suite containing these cues. To finish before the end, click the stop (‖‖) button. The number in red is the approximate time you will hear the cue in the suite.

#1, 00:00, 03:35, 00:00, Sam Kalakua sees an apparition of Pele, goddess of fire, outside his house. He shoots at it. Leads into main titles.
#2, 03:37, 00:26, 03:35, The Governor asks McGarrett for a favor in dealing with Sam.
#3, 06:16, 01:52, 04:01, McGarrett and Kono go to visit Sam.
#4, 12:22, 00:44, 05:53, After talking to Sam, McGarrett and Kono leave; they run into Sam's nephew George and George's wife Eleanor.
#5, 14:30, 01:13, 06:37, Sam throws a lamp at another apparition of Pele.
#6, 19:30, 00:22, 07:51, Chin Ho and Kono are patrolling outside Sam's house.
#7, 24:05, 00:59, 08:13, McGarrett goes to visit Eleanor.
#8, 27:10, 01:53, 09:12, Sam seems apparitions inside his house and freaks out.
#9, 35:31, 00:18, 11:06, Sleazy real estate mogul Barney Glazer tells George and Eleanor that Five-O has been getting involved in Sam's case.
#10, 37:32, 00:19, 11:24, Eleanor tells George they have to kill his uncle.
#11, 37:48, 00:16, 11:43, Sam has escaped from the hospital.
#12, 40:39, 02:05, 11:59, Danno finds film that Kemp has made of the apparitions.
#13, 43:09, 00:17, 14:05, Kemp calls on his friends for help.
#14, 44:50, 01:43, 14:22, McGarrett and Danno pursue Sam to The Pali where he has gone to meet with his kahuna.
#15, 47:19, 01:41, 16:06, Sam confronts Pele on The Pali; it is Eleanor, who plunges to her death over the cliff.
#16, 49:15, 00:52, 17:47, McGarrett and Sam watch construction turning Sam's property into the Honolulu Children's Hospital.

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24 & 25. (S01E24 & S01E25) “Cocoon” ★★★�

PART ONE:
Original air date: 6/4/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Paul Wendkos; Producer: Leonard Freeman; Writer: Leonard Freeman; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser: 3:35; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 8:26; Act Two: 18:18; Commercial Bumper: 0:05; Act Three: 9:27; Act Four: 9:09; End Credits: 0:48; Total Time: 50:45.

PART TWO:
Original air date: 6/11/69 — Opening CreditsEnd Credits
Director: Paul Wendkos; Producer: Leonard Freeman; Writer: Leonard Freeman; Music: Morton Stevens
Timings: Teaser - "Previously On": 5:57; Main Titles: 0:57; Act One: 16:35; Act Two: 8:07; Commercial Bumper: 0:05; Act Three: 6:37; Act Four: 11:46; End Credits: 0:48; Total Time: 50:52.

This consists of the original pilot edited into two one-hour episodes which were shown almost three months after the end of season one. Please see separate review of Cocoon for a detailed comparison between the two versions.

The numbers 24 and 25 for these episodes have been arbitrarily assigned by me, because the next episode, the first in season two, is 24 as per the system in Karen Rhodes' Booking Five-O.

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