Who’d have figured a hurricane on the Eastern Seaboard would prevent people in Arizona from watching a TV show set in Hawaii? But that’s what happened last week, when CBS pre-empted Hawaii Five-0 for its news coverage of Hurricane Sandy. As a result, the series’ Halloween episode aired a week later, on Nov. 5.
Season 3, Episode 5 didn’t address any of the series’ ongoing story lines. It was one of those self-contained episodes that took viewers along for the ride but didn’t offer any clues to figure out the mystery. Instead, we watched the team race to identify and capture a psycho who stages a car accident in order to kidnap a couple following a Halloween party. The remains of the woman, who had been wearing a sexy nurse costume, turned up in a dumpster minus a few internal organs.
They’re supposedly dealing with a satanic killer, but the only links to the occult are some cliché symbols such as a pentagram and a goat’s head. There is never any explanation for his beliefs or motivation. There is, however, a creepy grandmother.
After identifying the suspect, the Five-0 team races to stop him from killing the male member of the kidnapped couple. Predictably, McGarrett shoots the suspect dead as he is about to plunge his ritual knife into the chest of his second “sacrifice.”
Holiday Fun
Kamekona, wearing a Navy SEAL costume for Halloween, interrupts movie night for Catherine and Steve.
The satanic caper is bookended by comedy set-piece scenes in which Steve and Catherine sit on his couch and watch a scary movie … and try to make out.
At the beginning, they are interrupted when Kamekona (Taylor Wily) enters the room in a Navy SEAL costume that Steve apparently has helped him assemble. The big guy spots the movie – and the popcorn – and plops down on the sofa until Steve “reminds” him of the costume party he has plans to attend.
The final scene, which is supposed to be the following evening, again has Steve and Catherine on the couch. This time the doorbell rings, and it’s Grace (Teilor Grubbs, in her first appearance this season) trick-or-treating with Danno. She is making up for the fact that she blew him off the night before to go candy hunting with her friends. Since it’s not Halloween anymore, there is no candy left in the McGarrett household, so Catherine invites them to stay for the movie. But to spare Grace from the scary film – which appears to be from the Child’s Play/Chucky compendium – Catherine suggests they watch The Notebook, which leaves Grace thrilled, Steve bummed and Danno befuddled.
These scenes would have been funnier if CBS hadn’t already used both in trailers for the episode.
Notes
Upcoming guest stars: According to IMDB.com, the cast of next episode includes rapper T.I. and Kardashian step-sibling Kendall Jenner. And CBS tweeted that Taryn Manning will return as Mary Ann McGarrett on Nov. 19.
Reiko Aylesworth – who played Chin Ho’s late wife, Malia – had a substantial guest role on last night’s Elementary. She played a National Transportation Safety Board official investigating a plane crash on CBS’ Sherlock Holmes drama.
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Stuart J. Robinson, a college friend of the TV Tyrant, is a writer, editor, media-relations practitioner and social-media guy based in Phoenix.