By Stu Robinson,

In their effort to honor America’s veterans, the producers of CBS’s new Hawaii Five-O didn’t take any chances with network schedulers. More than a week before Veterans Day, Episode 7 lands on the deck of the USS Missouri, where an ex-Navy SEAL takes a group of tourists hostage.

Most of the episode takes place in Pearl Harbor, where World War II is bookended by the USS Arizona Memorial, marking the attack that brought America into the conflict, and the “Mighty Mo,” the battleship that hosted the Japanese surrender.

This week’s case, however, also draws attention to the nation’s newest group of veterans. The former SEAL, who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, grabs hostages and demands that police find out who killed his wife. The problem: Before he fled to the Missouri, police had spotted the suspect standing over his wife’s body, holding a bloody knife. Not only that, but his shrink says he’s been suffering blackouts – so, theoretically, he could have killed his wife and not know it.

“I don’t suppose telling him he did it would suffice, huh?” Danno asks.

Of course, McGarrett’s own SEAL instincts tell him something doesn’t smell right, and he is reluctant to serve up the vet to the waiting SWAT team.

“If this guy didn’t kill his wife, he deserves at least a conversation before we go in guns blazing,” he says.

Danno isn’t buying it – “In my experience, when you only have one suspect, he’s usually the one you put in jail” – but he and the rest of the team head off to investigate. Danno and Chin Ho check out the crime scene while Kono sets out to interview the couple’s little girl, who may have witnessed the slaying.

• Kono: “I’ll go see the kid and see if she knows anything because … you know, I’m the woman on the team and you’ll probably ask me to do it anyway.”
• Danno: “Oh no, it’s not because you’re a woman; it’s because you’re a rookie, which is way worse.”

Meanwhile, McGarrett stealthily boards the battleship to confront the hostage taker. But not before a brief exchange of innuendo:

• McGarrett: “I’m going to have my phone on me. But don’t call me; I’ll call you, okay?”
• Kono: “Bet you’ve used that line before.”
• McGarrett: “I’ll initiate contact once I’m in a secure location.”
• Chin Ho: “That one too.”

After climbing aboard the Missouri, McGarrett encounters the ghost of veterans past: Botswain’s Mate 1st Class (retired) Ed McKay, the tour guide who has evacuated most of his tourists but returned for the hostages. Okay, he’s not really a ghost, just actor Robert Loggia with enough eye makeup to make him look like a raccoon. He just knew a ghost: Grandpa McGarrett.

Yes, McKay had enlisted in the Navy at age 16 and served briefly on the USS Arizona with McGarrett’s grandfather (and namesake), who went down with the ship on Dec. 7, 1941. “Tough son of a gun,” he tells McGarrett. McKay explains that officers discovered he was underage and reassigned him to be courier on shore, which was what he was doing when the Japanese attacked. He then launches into a long (by TV standards) soliloquy:

“I could see those explosions. Those men I admired so greatly, they gave their lives for all of us. And I couldn’t do a damn thing for them. I walk past that Arizona Memorial every day, and I am reminded of their sacrifice. The man that you are named after is a real hero. You should be very proud.”

McKay, who admonishes McGarrett that “I know things about this ship that aren’t on your map,” remains in the background the rest of the episode, acting as sort of a guardian angel for our hero.

Well, you don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that ex-SEAL didn’t actually kill his wife, which Danno concedes as the evidence mounts. Of course, he still ends up under arrest for taking the hostages, but there is no “book ’em” as he’s swarmed by members of the SWAT team. Then, as if to underscore the idea that he’s not really a “bad guy,” just a veteran wounded in service to our country, McGarrett tells the SWAT guys to remove the guy’s handcuffs so he can have a moment with his little girl to explain that he’s sick and will need to go away for a while. The episode ends up with the man holding his daughter on the dock, surrounded by American flags.

Daddy Issues

This was the second consecutive episode to emphasize that McGarrett’s grandfather died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Further, I believe the character of Ed McKay is meant to be an avatar for all of our fathers and grandfathers.

Also, without giving up a spoiler, let’s just say a daddy issue is central to the resolution of the episode’s plot.

Secondary Characters

Episode 7 was an adrenaline-pumping thrill ride that didn’t have time for secondary characters other than the week’s guest stars.

Even though Kono and Chin Ho make cracks (see above) about McGarrett’s sex life, his naval (navel?) intelligence girlfriend does not appear.  She’s only referenced by Danno as arranging for a fast translation of a Russian-language diary the team discovers. How many times does she have to help the Five-O team solve a crime? And doesn’t she have some actual Navy work to do?

The usually sultry actress Kelly Hu pops up in this episode, seemingly miscast as Laura Hills, the governor’s public-safety liaison. The character, a boxy-suited bureaucrat, appears simply to heighten the story tension by standing impatiently on the dock, itching to unleash her SWAT team.

But at least the governor sent a stand-in. We’ve now gone a couple of episodes without seeing McGarrett’s sister, Mary Ann – we still don’t know why she’s there – or the wacky medical examiner played by the guy from Heroes.

However, the big Hawaiian shave-ice vendor does make his third appearance.

Product Placement

With Danno at the wheel, McGarrett’s muscular Chevy Camaro manages to chase down and head off a taxiing jet.

A lengthy commercial during the show conveniently reminded views that HBO’s miniseries The Pacific was being released on DVD and Blu-ray the very day Episode 7 aired.

On a personal note, I’m getting really sick of that woman in the Hawaiian Airlines commercial. Make another ad, guys!

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Stu Robinson, a college friend of the TV Tyrant, is a writer, editor, media-relations practitioner and social-media guy based in Phoenix.