‘Hawaii Five-O’ Recap: ‘I Helu Pu’

You have to love when a show takes a chance and succeeds. That’s exactly what “Hawaii Five-0” did with “I Helu Pu,” an episode with a non-linear storyline a la “Pulp Fiction,” which resulted in one of the most original and thrilling episodes yet. Perhaps the producers felt the show was in a rut and needed to shake things up. Whatever the reason, I loved the result. This latest episode featured everything fans love about the show — great action scenes, slick writing, solid acting, beautiful scenery and even a little humor.

“I Helu Pu” instantly goes down as one of my favorite episodes of the series.

Here’s this week’s look at The Good, The Bad and The Weird.

The Good

• Throwing viewers right in the middle of the action and making us play catch up. The story should always be one step ahead of viewers, not vice versa.
• The non-linear storytelling really worked and was extremely effective in keeping us guessing.
• The University of Hawaii Warrior football team getting a lot of exposure, as both McGarrett and Danno fight over season tickets. It was also nice to see the team’s logo prominently displayed at the beginning of the show. Norm Chow’s going to have an even larger audience paying attention now.
• Grace Park in a slinky evening gown. Nuff said.
• Perp flying out of the window to escape 5-0 was simply awesome.
• Chin Ho going all Jason Bourne on the Russian diplomats. Very nice moves!

The Bad

• McGarrett’s date at the charity function looked a lot like Megan Mullally from “Will and Grace.” I had to double check to confirm that it wasn’t her.
• It’s Wailana Coffee House, Max, not Wailana Diner. And yes, they do have great pancakes, although I wouldn’t necessarily call anything before 10 p.m. “late night.” I guess Max isn’t much of a night owl.
• Speaking of Max, I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I find his line delivery very annoying. Why does he always INSIST on emphasizing every fifth WORD?
• It appears to be the end for Lauren German as Officer Lori Weston. While I never did see the need to add her to the team at the beginning of Season 2, I must admit that that she acclimated herself very well and did not hurt the chemistry of the 5-0 team.

The Weird

• It was great to see Kimo Kahoano with a speaking part as part of the Governor’s security. Even greater that he actually appeared in the original “Hawaii Five-0” series. But for some reason, whenever I see Kahoano, I’m always reminded of his appearance on the reality show “Making the Band,” a show about the formation of the boy band O-Town in which his son Ikaika made the finals. Papa Kahoano came on to the show after his son made the finals and basically told him to leave the show if he didn’t want to be a part of the band. It was more than a decade ago, and I can’t remember the details, but I just remember the whole situation and how he handled it in very bad taste. I know, it’s a very random memory.
• Back to the show….Danno speaks Russian?