Cary
-
Hiroyuki Tagawa (right, with Scott Caan/"Danno") is Hiro Noshimuri, top Hawaii business investor and top dog of the local yakuza, playing at the "Kaimuki" Golf Course (doesn't exist). Based on the position of the Koolau mountains, it is likely the Luana Hills Country Club. Neil Jacobs/CBS.
Big drama and an especially menacing performance by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (don't mess with Shang Tsung) as we return from a series hiatus. Let's fly:
We start with a lovely rainbow within the valley at
Kualoa Ranch, followed by the nighttime skyline of our favorite
big city, before flying into the thick of things: Men breaking into McGarrett's (Alex O'Loughlin) home and making off with his father's toolbox, which contained the evidence of his mother's murder case. Sister Mary (Taryn Manning) is missing.
McDanno goes looking for her at her rental home — inexplicably taglined "Kaimuki," which is a neighborhood in Honolulu. Where they actually were was a coastal home near Kualoa Ranch and
Chinaman's Hat, right off Kamehameha Highway.
McGarrett and Danno catch up with Al Harrington, who played Ben Kokua on the original series. The scene is at Queens Beach in Waikiki. Neil Jacobs/CBS.Following her trail brings them to a beach boys stand (not real) positioned at Queen's Beach near the pier and the
Sunset on the Beach movie screen (where the new "Hawaii Five-0" had its
world premiere and worked by none other than Al Harrington from the original "Five-0"). They're driving along the Ka Iwi coastline when Mary calls from the trunk of a car, kidnapped. After signal triangulation indicates her kidnappers are taking her up the Pali Highway, McGarrett spins around (now they're magically next to the Ohana East hotel in Waikiki) and drives to the airport to pick up a helicopter from Augie T.
Pursuing the perps by air, they fly over the
Pali Lookout and Kaneohe, pin the perps' car up the slope of the Koolau and free Mary.
Next they're cracking yakuza skulls at
Pipeline Cafe in Kakaako (great place for live music) and find one of Mary's kidnappers, whose cell phone leads them to Hiro Noshimuri.
McGarrett makes a stink in front of the governor. Neil Jacobs/CBS. They track him downtown to a building taglined Pauahi Tower, which doesn't have that restaurant, pictured above. Not sure where that was filmed. Anyone?
The beef between McGarrett and Noshimuri causes heartburn for Gov. Jameson (Jean Smart), who storms
Aliiolani Hale (Five-0 HQ) and accuses McGarrett of jeopardizing development in Hawaii, but McGarrett smooths it over with a Fire Rock Ale (enjoy a fresh one at the Kona Brewing Company pubs in
Kona or
Hawaii Kai). He and Danno return to Queens Beach where they are shot at by the guys who stole the toolbox. (Perhaps the long pants and fedora on the beach wasn't the best of outfits for sneaking up on a SEAL, but McGarrett was slow on the draw nonetheless. Even funnier, in the background for the guy who got away by diving into the car were three REAL Honolulu police department vehicles.)
McGarrett discovers Noshimuri sent the hit, and goes to collect him at the "Kaimuki" Country Club. Really, Kaimuki is a great neighborhood, but it doesn't have enough open space for a championship golf course. From the position of the Koolau mountains in the background, it looks to be the
Luana Hills Country Club on the Windward side.
We wrap with Hiro arrested, his hitman brother Koji mysteriously dead, and Wo Fat making another ominous appearance. Should be an interesting second half of Season One! See you next week.
The Quotable Danno
- "Hoboken. Halloween. It's a long story, I don't want to talk about it." — on why he experienced being "tased."
- "I have the number of a therapist I want to give you. Walk up stairs like a human." — on McGarrett driving a motorcycle up the stairs of Pipeline Cafe.
- "And then there's the Williams' family favorite..." — rattling off a list of techniques to get a perp to open his mouth.
- "Go back to your SPAM salad." — to Noshimuri's security detail.
- "Should I pack now for Jersey?" — after McGarrett's fight with the governor.
