‘Hawaii Five-O’ Recap: ‘Olelo Pa`a’

Fans of everyone’s favorite locally shot TV police drama were finally given another episode of the “Alex O’Loughlin Show,” oops, I mean “Hawaii Five-0,” after a break of several weeks. Seriously, Danno, Chin Ho and Kono were given literally 10 seconds of screen time this week so that Commando Couple McGarrett and Catherine could have a little adventure in North Korea. So does more McG mean a more quality episode? Let’s take a look at the Good, Bad and the Weird to find out.

The Good

• Terry O’Quinn returns as Joe White. Must be nice to know that you can always return to paradise if your other show on ABC gets the axe. But I wonder how he felt about being on a beach in Hawaii again. I was kind of waiting for Hurley to walk up to him, point and say “dude.”
• Veteran Hollywood director Joe Dante returns to helm this episode and appropriately so as the story ties into the show’s pilot episode that he also directed. He executed some very nice action sequences.
• Nice shout out for Side Street Inn, but their chicken wings? Why not mention their famous pork chops or kim chee fried rice instead? I don’t believe I’ve ever tried their wings. Any good?
• Makgolli and snake blood – a new kind of poktanju. Poktanju is literally translated from Korean as “bomb” and refers to a mixed alcoholic drink, typically consisting of soju and beer. Go down to your neighborhood Korean bar and ask for a poktanju today!

The Bad

• Ah, the North Koreans, this generation’s bad boys of choice. How fitting that Dennis Rodman of the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys went to make a visit there.
• Speaking of North Koreans, this is the third time actor Rick Yune has played a North Korean villain in his career (“Die Another Day,” “Olympus Has Fallen”). I hear he’s the favorite to play the lead in “The Kim Jung Un Story – Still So Ronery.”
• In a flashback scene when he’s still a Navy SEAL, McG’s commanding officers tell him that if his mission fails or if he dies in combat, the US Government will erase his records and not acknowledge his existence. But I guess none of that applies to the partner he picks to go along with him because apparently the US is willing to negotiate three years for his return, exchange military prisoners in order to do so, and then throw him an official funeral ceremony. What gives?
• And speaking of the exchange with the North Koreans, would the US government really send along an ex-Navy SEAL who’s now just a glorified policeman in Hawaii and his girlfriend to go get the body?

The Weird

• Look, it’s Joe White as the Marlboro Man!
• In the course of two scenes, McG and his SEAL buddy Freddie call each other “hoss,” “bro,” “bubba” and “daddy-O.” Where did they learn to speak English? From old cowboy movies? I was yelling at my TV screen, hoping they’d call each other “cat” or “homie.” Alas, I was disappointed, a common reaction when watching Season 3.
• Did anyone else think that when McG woke up to see his buddy gone during SEAL training that he’d be in the bathroom with a shotgun pointed to his head?