Well it seems much longer than two weeks without a new episode of our favorite show but thankfully the drought ended last night with a bang (or lack of one in this case which was a good thing). Susan is back with the detailed recap and things feel right with the Five 0 world again.
As our episode begins we take a shopping trip in a store with a man who is buying some regular stuff and some not so regular stuff. After he pays for his purchases, he puts them in the trunk of his car, right along with a young woman he has also tied up previously. The wave rolls.
Next we are taken to Leeward Academy where Charlie attends. Danny is waiting there to pick Charlie up when he sees Rachel drive up. Since he believes it is his day to pick up Charlie, he goes over to see if he has the days wrong somehow. It seems that it is Rachel who has her pickup date confused. Danny, seeing that Rachel is upset, asks if she’s ok. She says yes and when Danny says he doesn’t believe her she admits that she and Stan are getting a divorce. She tells him that therapy has not worked and it’s over and it has been for some time. Danny seems bothered by the news and concerned.
Back at HQ, Lou walks into Steve’s office to tell him his days of planning for his boat and sailing trips are over and gone. His daughter Samantha has been accepted into North Western University and the upwards cost of that is one hundred and fifty grand so his boat dreams are laying at the bottom of the ocean. Lou’s delivery of that was pretty comical and delivered well. He and Steve have some great comedic timing together so you got to love Lou!
During the conversation Steve gets a call notifying him of a security problem downstairs in the building. When Steve and Lou get there, HPD have a man face down on the floor. The man had set off the metal detectors entering the building and they discovered he had a gun but they also tell Steve the man says he knows him. When the man looks up, we all see its Steve’s old pal Harry Brown. (Harry was last seen in episode 5.10)
Transitioning back to upstairs in Steve’s office Harry is getting his head patched up by Noelani who reminds Steve she doesn’t make house calls on a regular basis and wants to know if this is a common thing she needs to be prepared for (she patched up Sang Min in the last episode). Steve tells her that this will be the last one.
Harry proceeds to tell Steve and Lou that he got the head injuries while working a case. He was hired to follow Celine the wife of Tommy Stratham, who is a very wealthy man to see if she was having an affair. According to Harry she wasn’t and had a very routine schedule every day. Coming out of the coffee shop which she visits regularly, Celine was abducted. When Harry tried to stop it he was hit on the back of the head.
Now at the Stratham residence Steve, Lou, and Harry are trying to convince Tommy to let them help him get his wife back. Once convinced, Tommy tells them he was told to get a million dollars and wait for instructions. As Kono and Tommy leave the room, Danny comes in and is happy to see Harry. Harry’s first words are, “how you been hairdo?” Harry mentions he is well and still working because retirement is not for him so Danny thinks this is a ploy of Steve’s to get retirement out of Danny’s head (another reference to a past episode, this one being 7.18). Harry denies knowing what he is talking about and they get back to the case at hand.
At this point Steve introduces a theory that Celine’s kidnapping may not have been a coincidence and that maybe someone was watching her at the same time Harry was. Harry tells Steve that a few days ago Celine and another woman had met and the conversation got heated. He didn’t think much of it at the time so he didn’t check out the woman, but he did have a picture of them. Steve was happy to hear that until Harry handed him a roll of film. Steve asked Harry what that was and Harry said old school. (Harry’s dry wit is a great addition and he is teddy bear lovable).
Next we see Harry at Jerry’s who is developing the pictures. Jerry is very impressed with Harry’s old school ways. We all know Jerry is very into anything not on the grid and they discuss his odd behavior with many license plate photos around and his encouragement of not using anything digital. Harry provides a few burns to Jerry regarding this in a very off handed way.
Back at Tommy’s place Steve, Danny and Harry show the picture to Tommy and Tommy tells them her name is Natasha Baron who is an old friend of Celine’s. He did not think they were in touch any longer due to a falling out but doesn’t know what it was about. He asks them if she could have something to do with his wife’s disappearance.
Back at HQ, Chin has Natasha’s info pulled up. She’s a freelancer graphic designer who runs her business out of her home and lives alone. Chin runs her address and gives it to Steve, Danny, and Harry who are in the car and head over there.
In the car Steve notices Danny and his lack of concentration and wants to know what’s wrong and why he is pouting. Danny says nothing and Steve persists so Danny reluctantly tells Steve the whole story on Rachel. Danny did not think Harry needed to hear it all too and he was in the back seat. Steve suggests therapy and that it worked for them which Harry perks up to this info about Steve and Danny going to counseling. It is rather comical and is in some ways a three way cargument. Danny proceeds to tell Steve that Rachel and Stan tried that but it didn’t work so Steve suggests Danny call Stan and talk to him. Harry in the back seat listening to all this is pretty confused and amused at the same time. He also quips in some advice here and there, even though he has been divorced three times and is not currently married.
Next we are taken into the home of Natasha Baron. The doorbell rings while she is the shower and after a miracle time of getting dressed and fully made up ready, she goes to answer the door. We see her about to answer the door when masked men bust through, put a hood over her head, take her out to the car, and put her in the trunk.
The next scene shows us Duke and HPD at the house along with Steve, Danny, and Harry. Duke tells them a neighbor heard screams and saw a car speeding away. Now, everyone is wondering why Natasha was kidnapped as well and it must be related to Celine’s kidnapping.
Back at Tommy’s house, Kono gets off the phone with Steve and tells Tommy Natasha’s been kidnapped also. Tommy’s phone rings and he tells Kono its work calling. However, she has his phone cloned and can see it’s a picture of Natasha tied up in the trunk along with a message saying “will you pay now?” Kono shows Tommy the picture and asks why? When Tommy doesn’t answer, she confronts him saying he was having an affair with Natasha. Tommy admits he was.
At that time Steve, Danny, and Harry arrive. Kono shows Steve the photo calling it the proof of life. Steve is furious and he tells Tommy he knows the kidnappers called before and gave him a when and where too pay and that he didn’t. Tommy’s silence confirms it. Seeing this Harry delivers a really good and deserved right cross to Tommy’s face. It seems Steve and Harry have figured it out. Tommy hired Harry to catch Celine in an affair so he doesn’t have to pay her any money in a divorce, so when Harry finds nothing and she’s kidnapped, he doesn’t pay so he can just be with his girlfriend. The shock now is they kidnapped his girlfriend too. Steve tells Tommy with disgust that if they don’t get both women back safe he will be an accessory to murder.
We then are shown where the women are being held as Natasha is brought in and tied up in a back adjoining chair in a basement. Celine tells Natasha that Tommy wouldn’t pay her ransom and they were going to kill her so she told them about her to save her life. Celine tells Natasha that she hopes that they were having an affair and that Tommy cares more for Natasha then he does her or they both are dead.
Back at HQ, Chin and Harry are looking at the table when Steve walks in. Chin has the photo of Natasha in the trunk and can see some of the items purchased at the store. Harry has an affectionate name for Chin too which is the “man with two first names”. They are discussing the type of beer that was bought which Harry is sure is a Kona beer and has a good eye. They tell Steve that this was able to help them narrow down the time frame of the kidnapping so they pulled footage of the surrounding stores. While at the table, Danny motions for Steve to come into his office.
Danny tells Steve that he ended up calling Stan even though he is not sure why he was taking his advice to do so. He says it didn’t go well and Stan said he’s leaving and on a plane tomorrow. Steve thinks it might have been in the delivery of the message as it was his good idea to call after all. Danny proceeds to tell Steve that there is one more thing; Stan thinks Rachel is still in love with Danny. At that moment Harry comes in and says he called it. When Charlie’s name comes up Harry wants to know who Charlie is and Steve tells Harry everything. Danny is protesting the whole time and Harry asks if they’re getting back together, Danny says he has a girlfriend he likes very much and Harry says he didn’t hear the word love. (once again this three way banter resembled a cargument just not in a car).
At this point, Chin comes in with a lead. Danny says thank God! Out at the table Chin pulls up the info and footage on the shopper. His name is Gary Fallon and he has priors of aggravated assault and robbery. The footage shows Natasha in the trunk and the license plate so they get an address off the plate.
At the address HPD, Swat and the team pull up. Thermal imaging shows all four people inside with them and movement towards the front door so Steve alerts everyone to get ready. They are, but not for what they see. Celine walks out terrified and she is wired up with explosives. She tells Steve that if they don’t let the two men go with Natasha they will detonate the bomb and kill her. The men come out and put Natasha in the trunk and Steve orders everyone back making a way for the men to leave. Still standing on the lawn terrified, Steve tells Celine to take his hand and breath, the bomb squad is coming and is going to get the vest off, and she will be ok.
They carefully get the vest off and Steve asks Celine if she heard any of their plans. She tells the team that they wore masks the whole time and she was supposed to drive to an abandoned factory and wait for the police to show up. She admits that she told the kidnappers about Natasha and she feels terrible about it. Steve tells her not to blame herself because she did what she had to do. Lou also informs Steve that they lost visual on the kidnappers.
Back at Tommy’s, Celine tells Tommy to do the right thing and pay the ransom. Tommy’s phone rings and the kidnappers tell Tommy where to bring the money. Steve and Kono listen to the call. They tell him to get into a cab that will be there shortly and the driver has been given instructions on where to go.
Next we see Steve and Kono in a helicopter and Chin is following the cab with Tommy inside on his motorcycle. The cab drops Tommy off at an apartment building and they see Tommy going to the roof. Steve and Kono hover a distance away watching. Tommy gets a call telling him to look over the side of the building with binoculars that were left there for him. He sees across to the other building, two floors lower where the kidnappers are holding Natasha on a balcony. There is a wire connected to the two buildings. Tommy is told to hook the briefcase of money on the wire and slide it over. He does this and they get the money.
Steve informs Danny and Lou they have the money and to move in across the street. In the room it looks as if they are going to kill Natasha so Kono takes aim with her rifle. Steve gets closer for a better shot and the kidnappers shoot at them. Kono takes aim and with precision hits the mark. (I probably could have stopped at Kono took aim.) One down, one to go but the second guy gets out of the room and makes a run for it. As he is making his way down, Danny, Lou, and HPD are making their way up. Chin on the elevator sees the guy just as the doors open. They exchange gunfire and Chin closes the doors and tells Danny the guy is headed towards him for the stairwell. Danny comes out just in time to get a shot off hitting the guy in the shoulder but loses him in the hallway. Danny gets to the laundry room and discovers he went down the laundry shoot and as reluctant as he is because of his claustrophobia, Danny gets in and goes down the shoot after him. He lands in a pile of sheets and laundry but before he can get up the guy hits him on the back of the head and Danny’s out cold. (OUCH)
Back at HQ, it seems like we are back to the beginning, Noelani is now patching up Danny’s head as Steve and Lou watch. Steve offers to be the one to staple Danny’s head but he does not need staples to Steve’s disappointment. So much for that last house call being the last time as Steve stated. Harry is outside the office pacing and thinking. Chin comes in with information on the kidnapper that got away and his name is Collin Hanson who also has a record for robbery.
Meanwhile back at Tommy’s, Celine is packing as the doorbell rings. When she answers, a hood is thrown over her head and she is swooped away and shoved into a trunk of a car.
We next see the hood yanked off of Celine’s head. She finds herself in the rendition room at HQ with Steve and Harry. She demands to know why she is there. Harry tells her he wanted her to know what it felt like to really be kidnapped and that something just did not add up about her kidnapping. Natasha put up a fight like most people would as they are being put in a trunk while she was just pushed in a backseat where she got in like a good little girl. Natasha had bruises and cuts from being tied up and she didn’t because the kidnappers didn’t tie hers tight. Celine tells Harry he sounds crazy and Steve says he had a hard time believing it at first until the report came back on the vest with the bomb. It seems as one of the wires on the vest wasn’t even connected to the battery so there was no way it was going to go off. Celine, still denies everything until Harry tells her that she made sure he saw the kidnapping and not the boyfriend. She asks what boyfriend and Steve says Collin Hanson. They found texts, voice mails and pictures of the two of them all over their phones and that they picked him up an hour ago at the airport, waiting for her. She gets the money, gets away from the cheating husband, and has the boyfriend…perfect plan until it wasn’t.
With the case solved, Harry and Steve are off to a poker game with Harry’s friends who all knew Steve’s dad and have some stories.
Next we see Danny at Rachel’s where he has come to check on her and the kids. Danny asks Rachel if she has told them yet and she said she was about too. He told him she knew he called Stan but that it was just too late to be fixed. Danny says he remembers how hard it was when they told Grace they were divorcing and he didn’t want her to go through that alone with Grace and Charlie. He says he not only would he like to be there he wanted to be there for her. In slow motion it shows Rachel and Danny holding each other’s hands which clearly left that story line open. The closing scene was of Rachel sitting with Grace and Charlie talking to them while Danny was standing in the doorway.
For me this one was an 8 on the rating. I liked that there was only one storyline to focus on. There was some comedy and good overall moments but there was some things missing from this one compared to the many before it this season. They also clearly left the option for Rachel and Danny reconnecting as maybe close friends at first, and more later. Only time will tell.
That is the recap for that one and another one is in the books. There was a preview for next week which looks to be back on track of the caliber of the season. In case you have not seen it yet, here you go. The recap will be back next week to share how they get out of this new mess they will find themselves in (not a spoiler as we all know they will).
#H50 Looking good for next week and glad to have the real previews/promos back. Thanks @CBS #AlexOLoughlin #ScottCaan pic.twitter.com/a1od0a0gI4
— Alex O’Loughlin Fan (@AOLO) April 1, 2017
