Directing and editing: Excellent use of the scenery of Hawaii and the particularly bright intense tropical light in the 50th state. Shots are well-composed and at times elegant. In this first episode, it was particularly striking to see the 55-gallon drum containing the victim's body sink beneath the waves, then cut to The Wave, a trademark of Hawaii Five-O, going into the opening credits. *
Story: Moves well, presenting a pretty problem for Five-O to solve. There is a highly amusing interlude with stuffy lawyer Tyler Skaggs being put down by wealthy Martha Finch while McGarrett looks on with a smirk. We are treated to a fine strong scene with McGarrett and Dan Williams. The logic can't be faulted, and the only negative element is a standard cop-show shoot-em-up ending. *
Acting: Enjoyable, with Kevin McCarthy as a smooth, cold-hearted killer and Patricia Smith as a competent and capable lady cop. We get fine performances from James MacArthur and Jack Lord in their confrontation scene. *
Music: Smooth and appropriately placed, setting the mood well. 1/2 *
Directing and editing: Solid overall, with some lyrical moments such as Benny Kalua's impassioned speech to McGarrett, giving our eye the landscape overlooking Waikiki. The shot where McGarrett finds the hanged Tommy Kapali is effectively staged. *
Story: the first of many with the theme of the displacement and exploitation of the Hawaiian people by haole developers and others. Benny's speech is a cry against the destruction of paradise. The tale hangs together and progresses in a logical fashion. *
Acting: Even though he's a haole playing a Hawaiian, Simon Oakland gives a good solid performance. Hilo Hattie as a distraught mother is a highlight. Milton Selzer gives an effective and affecting performance, and provides a red herring, as a mentally disturbed man who confesses to murder. Zulu, as Kono, gives us a moving plea at the end, reciting what Benny Kalua earlier told McGarrett is an old Hawaiian saying -- "One day we will be strangers in our own land" -- and realizing that "one day" is today. *
Music: accents the mood of the tale with evocative passages. 1/2*
Special elements: As the first episode giving the message of the displacement and exploitation of Hawaiians, it gave Mainland viewers a look at another side of Hawaii, beyond both the tourist glitz and the natural beauty we usually associate with the 50th State. The consciousness of the country had already been raised with Native Americans writing such books as Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Custer Died For Your Sins. This episode gave Mainland haole fans something to think about. 1/2*
Directing and editing: workmanlike and solid. 1/2*
Story: original enough, with an interesting falling-out among friends as greed takes over. The logic of the tale is maintained. The end gives McGarrett a chance to moralize, as he does so often and so well, to Bobby George on his responsibilities as a son. *
Acting: Sal Mineo is intense and energetic. Though Sam Melville spends most of the hour being too stiff, he redeems his performance at the end with a hot anger which works well. The downside is Heidi Vaughn, as Sal Mineo's girlfriend. She delivers her lines ploddingly, causing the scene with her and McGarrett to drag, triggering the Cohn Effect. 1/2*
Music: Well-selected and appropriate, including Sal Mineo's vocals. *
Directing and editing: Lush scenery, and the opulent Henry J. Kaiser estate, appear to best advantage. There are fine scenes throughout with well-composed shots. Pacing islively. *
Story: An interesting use of a bit of history involving the Japanese mini-subs which penetrated Hawaiian waters during World War II and a case of mysterious identity. The clue of the ring that does not fit is well-placed and provides a good hook. *
Acting: Casting Ricardo Montalban, with his upper-class Mexican accent, as a Japanese has its drawbacks but Montalban attacks his role with energy, actually making a badly miscast role seem believable. Local actor Ed Sheehan does a fine job as a Navy Chief Petty Officer, and he looks the part! 1/2*
Music: Most of it sounds bland, especially the music during the scene in the movie theater. That cut became standard background music for such scenes during the series. I don't like it. (no star)
And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin *** 1/2
Directing and editing: Gives a hot, sweaty look to the episode. We get an energetically choreographed beach fight scene as McGarrett and Kono take on a bunch of beach bums. Four excellent confrontation scenes -- Dan and Steve, Steve and the Attorney General, Steve and the two young weirdos, and Steve and Big Chicken -- grace the hour and make it exciting. *
Story: Dan Williams undergoes personal agony when he accidentally shoots a teenager. While Danno deals with the personal pain of what he has done, McGarrett deals with a knotty puzzle involving a missing witness and a missing gun. There is fine interaction between self-doubting Williams and steadfast McGarrett. *
Acting: James MacArthur is particularly effective, especially when toe-to-toe with McGarrett. Gavin MacLeod is wonderfully sleazy as drug-pushing Big Chicken. *
Music: Jazzy and tense, maintaining the atmosphere of the tale. 1/2 *
Directing and editing: Stands out with the well-wrought scene of the murder, shots of the smugglers' boat at sea, use of the scenery. *
Story: Mostly a standard cop-show plot, but elements are intriguing such as smuggling the gold bars in the tuna fish. We see some of the family feeling of the Five-O team in McGarrett's & Williams's concern for the injured Chin Ho Kelly. McGarrett's sexism shows through when the Treasury agent suggests using afemale undercover agent. This episode contains a favorite McGarrett quote. He asks the Treasury man for a million bucks for a sting operarion. Reminded that he'd be personally responsible for the money, he says, "What's a couple hundred years of peanut-butter sandwiches?"*
Acting: Not outstanding, but competent. One aspect of Hawaii Five-O created a special problem. The series continually recycled actors in different roles across the years. In this tale, Richard Denning, who played the Governor of Hawaii from the first episode to the last season, here plays a U.S. Treasury agent named Philip Grey. Some chroniclers have adopted this name as the name of the governor. However, in "The Ninety-Second War," there is a scene in the secret Diamond Head installation where Jonathan Kaye has McGarrett, the governor, and various military brass in a conference. Each attendee has a nameplate, and the governor's clearly says Paul Jameson. That's the name he's also known by in "A Capitol Crime." 1/2*
Music: Jazzy and upbeat. Particularly good when the chugging boat engine is incorporated into the beat in one scene. Themes used in this episode appear again and again throughout the run of the series. *
Directing and editing: Good use of the natural lighting of Hawaii to add intensity. Well-cut and fast-moving. However, that is marred by the opening chase scene: Both cars pass by a bluff on which can clearly be seen the shadows of the camera crew and director! 1/2 *
Story: An interesting enough tale of betrayal and love, made particularly enjoyable for its look at a very different side of Steve McGarrett. 1/2 *
Acting: It's wonderful to see Jack Lord cut loose with all his energy as he comes across as manic and unrepressed in his undercover persona. Here McGarrett gives us glimpses of that part of his character on which he usually keeps a tight rein. He doesn't suppress it totally, for it is this darker, wilder side that gives him the toughness he needs to survive. James Patterson gives us a loser of a thief whose grief is his undoing. *
Music: Good overall, but it gets sappy in places. 1/2 *
Directing and editing: Gives us hot, gritty scenes. Good fight scene as McGarrett gets blindsided and he and Kono end up in a brawl. *
Story: Rather pedestrian plot overall, but the two friends ending up dead because they tried to lend a hand (though one got greedy) provide an atmosphere of Greek tragedy. It does have a sappy ending, bringing on The Cohn Effect. 1/2*
Acting: Sandra Smith does well enough, but Tommy Sands is a little hard to take. 1/2*
Music: There are sappy strains at the end, but Tommy Sands does sing better than he acts. For his contribution in this element: *
Directing and editing: Fast-paced and gritty. Many fine scenes, from dirty alleys to dark bars to posh beach houses. Tight and uncluttered. *
Story: Affecting tale of a lonely, frightened young soldier who doesn't know where to turn. This story has a feel for people and the jams they can get themselves into. *
Acting: Ann Helm takes top honors as a sultry bar girl. Johnny Crawford does a good job, and James McEachin is his solid, dependable self as an Army chaplain. *
Music: Appropriate in tone and placement. 1/2 *
Directing and editing: Fine use of hand-held technique with an interesting point of view at times which puts us behind the killer's gun. Good scenic shots, and a nice interior 'tour' of Iolani Palace. *
Story: Good tale of a threat from McGarrett's past. It gives Dan Williams a chance to lead. The putting together of the clues by the Five-O team members works well. *
Acting: John Larch chills us as the stony, single-minded killer. James MacArthur deserves praise again for showing us a Dan Williams who is at times hot-headed but always tough. *
Music: Haunting themes follow John Larch's demented murderer around. Motifs from this episode become standards in the series. We get a nice sound track during the parade, too. *
Directing and editing: Standard. 1/2*
Story: There's a time lock and McGarrett's great game of divide and conquer, but there are too many elements of the story which are not properly set up, and the ending is a bit of a "tomato surprise". 1/2*
Acting: Nehemiah Persoff carries the tale almost single-handedly past its rough spots, combining the right amounts of sleaze and self-interested cowardice. James Shigeta does well as a mobster. *
Directing and editing: Fine, with many pleasing images. Especially effective at the beginning with the giantly tall Denny Miller and the little boy. *
Story: Pleasing puzzle with intriguing questions to be answered. The circumstantial evidence builds up against an innocent man, each scene putting another bar on the cage he finds himself in.The engaging scene of the little girl and her "missing fish" report provides a good hook. We get some great teamwork and friendship scenes with the Five-O team.*
Acting: Denny Miller is engaging as the miserable young man accused of murdering his lady love. He keeps us with him as he sinks deeper into despair. Jorie Remus is delightful as a bourgeois wife. Ron Feinberg also engages our sympathy as a big, dumb, unfortunate schlimazel. When McGarrett's ribs get cracked in a fight, Jack Lord convinces us for the rest of the hour that McGarrett is still in pain. *
Music: Moves the story along well without being obtrusive. 1/2*
Directing and editing: Gives us gut-level realism as a routine day goes to horror. Good use of the tight interior confines of the hospital. Also good are the 'dream' scenes from the injured Auston's point of view, placing us back in 'Nam with him. *
Story: Tight, gripping tale with a wounded Dan Williams and a ballistic McGarrett. There's no crime, really, though Danno and another cop end up wounded. *
Acting: Yaphet Kotto is strong as a deluded, head-banged Marine. Jeff Corey takes command as the doctor who has to talk sense into a hot-headed McGarrett. Doug Mossman comes across cool and calm as HPD Lieutenant Kealoha, a semi-regular character at this point in the series. Jack Lord is hot and impulsive as the worried McGarrett, and James MacArthur stands out as Dan Williams, bleeding on the floor and trying to stay alive, remaining tough and self-possessed throughout. *
Music: Spare and unobtrusive, in keeping with the 'lean and mean' telling of the tale. 1/2*
Special Elements: This episode shows us an out-of-control McGarrett. He came to value self-control, but he had to learn it first. The tale subtly injects the issue of racism during the course of the hour. It's not resolved, thus avoiding a sugar-coated ending. *
Directing and editing: Solid throughout, but weirdball in places. That fits in with the theme and mood of the tale, creating an effective whole, but nothing really spectacular. The techniques used garnered an Emmy nomination at the time, but they do not wear well and in syndication they come across as quite dated. 1/2*
Story: The trappings place the tale squarely in the 1960s, but if we look beyond the external aspects of the story, we find a highly contemporary message of individual responsibility and of the destructiveness of drugs. An irony resides in the guru's assertion he has reached the "higher experience" without drugs, yet he pushes them to young people. *
Acting: Ed Flanders, who later went on to be a multiple Emmy winner, does a fine job as the arrogant but cowardly guru. Supporting cast is a little weak, but competent. *
Music: Very strange, in keeping with some scenes in the story. However, it does not wear well. (no star)
Directing and editing: The tale begins with beautiful scenery at Hanauma Bay and continues excellently from there. Dark night scenes are well done. Smooth and effortless. *
Story: An espionage tale with a standard plot, but some engaging elements. Questions posed at the beginning are all answered during the hour. Offbeat clues help make the tale entertaining. 1/2*
Acting: David Opatoshu as Shen Yu-Lan is dignified and patrician. Even though this is another case of miscasting -- a Yiddish actor playing an Asian -- it comes off well enough. Maybe casting directors think the name Opatoshu is Japanese! Veteran actor Jackie Coogan gives us a smuggler who smirks until McGarrett wises him up. Soon-Taik Oh has few lines as the bad guy, but can kill with a look. *
Music: Strong and effective. Well-placed to help move the action. 1/2 *
Directing and editing: Tight and controlled, making good use of space in cramped interiors. Maintains a sweaty immediacy and gives us reality by showing the blood. *
Story: The prison hostage situation and the hero offering himself in exchange for others are standard plot devices in cop shows. However, this story rises above the average with the tension between McGarrett and the two principal prisoners, Gerald S. O'Loughlin and Gavin MacLeod. *
Acting: Big Chicken returns from "And They Painted Daisies on His Coffin" and is sleazy and gross in a wonderful performance by Gavin MacLeod. Gerald S. O'Loughlin is tough but amenable to reason. R. G. Armstrong, who played a lot of prison wardens, is believable. *
Music: Well done and tense without being heavy-handed. 1/2*
Special Elements: It is rare in TV cop-show fiction to have a previous baddie return, especially after he's been sentenced, but having Big Chicken back is a treat. There is an excellent scene where he beats McGarrett; then later, McGarrett gets his own back. The Five-O boss knows what he can get away with, and here we see a good measure of his toughness and calculation. This episode focuses on some real issues of prison life without asking for 'mollycoddling' of prisoners. It is, rather, a case for basic decency. The downbeat ending is the right note for this episode -- there's hope for improvement but also the underlying threat that the brutality and corruption will overwhelm any drive for improvement. *
Directing and editing: Workmanlike enough. The story moves well. 1/2*
Story: While it has interesting elements in the self-inflicted knife wound and the irony of the old aunt's hidden love expressed in a posthumous tape, this is a plodding tale. The ending is too hokey to be believed, especially as an episode of Hawaii Five-O. The story does tie up all the threads, so it progresses logically, but there are too many places where it triggers The Cohn Effect. 1/2*
Acting: Only Jeannette Nolan stands out as the flinty old aunt. Paul Collins and Farley Granger are too stiff. 1/2*
Directing and editing: Gives us the seamy macho world of boxing, letting us feel the heat and the sweat. There is good use of scenic exteriors and dark interiors. *
Story: Fine tale of a father's failed love turned into revenge. It uses the standard cop-show devices of a fix in the boxing ring and the cop turned rogue, but combines them into a complex tale dependent upon relationships. It ends with a McGarrett lecture on responsibility, which in the context of the tale and the characters, rings true. *
Acting: Competent; nothing spectacular. There's one fine scene at Joey's graveside with Jack Lord and Frank DeKova. 1/2*
Music: Carries the mood; smooth and understated. 1/2 *
Directing and editing: Solid, tight. Maintains a tense emotional tone. A darkly-lit scene in McGarrett's office is highly effective emotionally. *
Story: An excellent tale delving into McGarrett's private life and his feelings. Also a fine critique of medical quackery. This is a tense story with a terrific antagonist, and with excellent obstacles for the protagonist. Written by Leonard Freeman, the creator of the series. *
Acting: Joanne Linville excels as the conniving quack, C. L. Fremont. Here is a woman as intense as Jack Lord, and the sparks fly. Nancy Malone does well as McGarrett's sister; she has the power to share highly-charged scenes with Jack Lord. David Sheiner, as a laid-back federal attorney, provides a fine counterpoint to Jack Lord's intense and driven McGarrett. Lord's emotional scene where he plays McGarrett in grief over his dying nephew is a gut-wrencher, and a favorite of the actor's fans. *
Music: Well placed and appropriate. Jazzy where it should be and somber where it needs to be. Builds the mood well. Consists in part of stock tracks (such as one motif from "Twenty-Four Karat Kill"). 1/2*
Special elements: Here is a glimpse into the closely guarded private life of Steve McGarrett as he goes on a personal crusade to protect and avenge what is left of his family. The added message regarding medical quackery makes a powerful tale which proceeds without physical violence. *
Directing and editing: Had the difficult task of maintaining tension in an episode which consists more of talk thanofaction. It succeeds admirablywith good lighting and appropriate compositions and transitions. We're rewarded for our patience with a fine scenic chase over fascinating rock formations at the end. *
Story: A complex, verbal episode dealing with the issue of violence -- not just what's 'out there' on the street, but also the violence within even the most pacifistic of us all. The episode requires effort and thought on the viewer's part, and such effort is rewarded. *
Acting: No fireworks here; some of the youngsters are rather plodding. Dennis Cooney and Stewart Moss do well enough. 1/2*
Music: Appropriate and effective. 1/2 *
Special elements: Compelling social message about violence, giving a rationale for a firm stand which at times requires force. In a way, it's a justification for the violence portrayed in the series; McGarrett gives a good rationale for why he does what he does. *
Directing and editing: Moves well, though without any particular flashes of brilliance. Some nice scenery, but the shots with Danno in the motorboat taking surveillance pictures show us some impossible angles.1/2*
Story: A standard cop-undercover tale. It does point up, even this early in the series, the folly of the highly visible McGarrett trying an undercover gig on his own turf, though he was able to pull it off in California ("The Ways of Love"). Here, he goes undercover to the Big Island (Hawaii), and is almost immediately recognized, a move which nearly costs him his life. One device of this plot -- the identity of the moving force behind the criminals -- is too transparent and predictable. The viewer is able to figure out well ahead of time what this crucial clue is all about, and that deflates the tension of the story. 1/2*
Acting: Gerald S. O'Loughlin does a competent job, and there is nothing spectacular from the rest of the guest cast. 1/2*
Directing and editing: Standard workmanlike job with some good scenes, especially when Danny visits the weirdo filmmaker and his crew. 1/2*
Story: Standard plot of potential heirs trying to have their benefactor-to-be committed so they can grab his loot or land. (no star)
Acting: The guest actors are competent. The best part is Sally Kellerman verbally sparring with McGarrett. Zulu and Kam Fong both got a chance to do a couple good scenes, and James MacArthur has fun with the weirdo filmmaker. 1/2*
Music: Well-placed and appropriate. 1/2*
Special Elements: This episode is notable for its insights into the character of Kono, touching on his feelings about ancient Hawaiian beliefs. It is also a solid teamwork episode, giving all the Five-O guys substantial tasks. And I love Chin Ho's remark: "Are you ready for a goddess with an oil leak?" *
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