‘Five-0’ Preview: ‘Ma Ke Kahakai’

Photo Copyright CBS/Mario Perez

After a week off, ‘Five-0’ returns with a whirlwind tour. Monday’s new episode takes us back into the jungle and down a cliff, to a famous Waikiki restaurant (to meet a famed chef), and finally to a sunset concert with an award-winning Hawaiian band.

Detectives Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Danny Williams (Scott Caan) are hoping for some much-needed R&R, heading into the wilderness to check out some famous Hawaiian petroglyphs. Instead, they find a crime scene, and McGarrett could become a part of it.

Meanwhile, an ailing aunt brings Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) and Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park) home, delving deep into the backstory of Kelly’s dishonorable discharge from the Honolulu Police Department.

Familiar Faces

Titled “Ma Ke Kahakai,” or “On The Beach” (CBS translates the phrase as simply “Shore”). the episode features the adorable Teilor Grubbs as young Grace Williams, and Taylor Wily reprises his role as shave ice baron Kamekona.

The ‘Five-0’ crew will also spend some quality time with celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto, a.k.a. “Iron Chef Japanese,” and his restaurant Morimoto Waikiki. While known for his food, Morimoto will show off his singing chops.

Appearing as fisherman Jack Leung is local actor Joji Yoshida. Yoshida, the long-time author of the ‘HawaiiWood‘ column for MidWeek, has been on a roll lately, with parts in two upcoming, prominent filmed-in-Hawaii films, “The Descendants” starring George Clooney, and “Battleship,” starring Liam Neeson.

A number of notable Asian American actors will appear, including James Kyson Lee (Heroes) playing Sean Leung, and Elizabeth Sung (Flashforward) playing Aunt Mele. Also keep an eye out for veteran actor and animation voice artist Sab Shimono (The Simpsons, Avatar: The Last Airbender).

Paul Mitre, associate professor with the UH Department of Theatre and Dance, gets a television credit, as do local theater actresses Tiffany Au and Margaret Jones and Miss Hawaii USA 2010 Renee Nobriga.

Keep an eye out for hardworking film and TV actors Evan Jones (The Book of Eli, October Road) and Wayne Duvall (Law & Order, The District).

Closing Number

Credited simply as ‘The Band,’ the episode will feature Hawaiian music legend Hapa. It’s the first time an island act will be playing itself on the show. The duo (Barry Flanagan and partner Ron Kuala’au) will close out the episode with a performance of ‘Olinda Road,’ one of its signature pieces, for a scene filmed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

“It’s pretty historic, since the show (the original, with Jack Lord) really made me want to live in Hawaii when I was a kid,” Flanagan said in a statement.

According to the band, the song touched a nerve with Kim, who said it “will always represent Hawaii to me, since I listened to NPR every morning after moving to Hawaii.”

‘Olinda Road’ has been the theme song for Hawaii Public Radio’s morning broadcast since 1994.

Hapa will be introduced by Cha Thompson, co-owner of Tihati Productions, one of Hawaii’s largest live entertainment companies. She reportedly rewrote her  lines to be in Hawaiian, rather than English.

In Other News

• Chef Morimoto is hosting a ‘Five-0’ screening party at his restaurant during the Hawaii broadcast from 9 to 10 p.m. After watching his CBS debut, there will be late-night karaoke with the chef himself, For reservations, call (808) 943-5900.
• Daniel Dae Kim will be posting live commentary for the episode as it airs on the East Coast. He posted to his @danieldaekim account: “”Yes folks, I will be tweeting live on Monday, 4/11, from 10-11PM ET as part of #CBSTweetWeek. Get ur questions ready!” That will be 4 p.m. in Hawaii, so… spoiler alert!
• Filming for the last episodes of the season is wrapping up. Executive producer Peter Lenkov has been teasing the season finale on Twitter, posting photos and even an explosive video clip from the set. The show held its Season One Wrap Party on Sunday in Waikiki, and Lenkov posted a photo from the sunset event.
• A chance encounter with a ‘Five-0’ regular last weekend netted a small tidbit: the season finale will end with a “big cliffhanger,” and the future of at least one member of the main cast will be left in doubt. That future, it must be said, had already seemed shaky, given real estate and business news items that surfaced earlier this year.

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