By Stu Robinson,
Episode 6 of CBS’ new Hawaii Five-0 begins with Steve McGarrett climbing into a mixed martial arts ring to face off against Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell.
Flash back 48 hours to see a body, tied to a chair, being chucked into a swimming pool. There ensues a procedural episode dealing with the murder of a wealthy restaurateur. The investigative focus moves from a home-invasion gang made up of parking valets, to the victim’s sister, to a young MMA fighter the victim had taken under his wing – before finally settling on the killer.
The series’ daddy issues resurface: The victim has a teenage son who returns home to discover crime scene tape at his house before Danno can take him aside.
And the McGarret back story provides the secondary plot for the episode. Only a week after trying to dissuade Steve from pursuing the case, Joe White is working the silent video again – this time bringing in a lip reader to try and determine what Papa McGarrett, the late governor and Wo Fat are discussing in the video. The expert identifies Steve’s father saying: “I want to know about Shelburne.”
Wo Fat (Mark Dacascos) lands a kick during a knock-down, drag-out fight with Joe White (Terry O'Quinn).
Later, Joe returns to his apartment and an ambush by Wo Fat:
Wo Fat: “I want to know why you are asking questions about men who are no longer with us.”
Joe: “I’ll stop asking those questions when you tell me about Shelburne.”
[Momentary staredown]
Joe: “What does it mean?”Wo Fat: “You’ve done more work than I could’ve imagined, old man. Will you do me one favor?”
Joe: “What’s that?”
Wo Fat: “Tell John Mc Garrett that his son will be along soon enough.”
At that point, Wo Fat pulls gun, starting a long fight scene. Eventually, Wo Fat escapes while Joe goes for the gun on floor.
Back to the mixed martial arts ring. It’s a charity bout, and McGarrett is taking the place of the young MMA fighter whose shoulder he separated during an arrest earlier in the show. The person prepping McGarrett beforehand is … Lori, and the two exchange smoldering glances before he steps into the ring. Following the bout, McGarrett is joking around with the Five-0 squad when he receives a call from Joe.
Arriving at the home of the old man who hired Papa McGarrett to investigate Wo Fat, he learns from Joe that the man has been tortured and killed. Joe goes all squishy again:
Joe: “We did this. Our questions got Mokoto killed.”
McGarrett: “No, Joe. Wo Fat started this. And I plan to finish it.”
Joe: “If you continue to go down this road, son, you’re going to have to ask yourself: ‘How many more lives is that going to cost?”
Guest Stars
We see Liddell climbing into the MMA ring to fight McGarret. He has no lines – which is probably for the best.
In a bit of pointless network cross promotion, the lip reader Joe imports from the mainland is Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) from NCIS: Los Angeles. Her appearance is limited to one awakard scene with McGarrett and Joe.
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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.