It was a great night of Hawaii Five 0 last night with a double shot of episodes to bade good bye to 2017. The two episodes brought about probably about every emotion you can think of and both were done quite well in their own right. Each of them had an entirely different feel, with the first one being the most dramatic giving the actors a chance to shine, especially Alex. Here’s the recap for that one below as we will do the recap for 8.11 in a separate post at the beginning of the week.
As we first tune in, we see that Steve and Danny’s restaurant is up and running and doing quite well. As Steve put it, the place is jumping, as it is packed to capacity. There are numerous framed photos on the wall of the people in their life, past and present. Steve is working the front while Danny is running the kitchen, both like well-oiled machines. Steve has even learned some Italian to go along with the overall theme of the restaurant.
After making arrangements with the waitress and schmoozing the patrons, he walks in to the kitchen where Danny is preparing a new dish with the chefs. Danny gives him a taste and meeting with his approval, Steve tells him to “serve em Danno”. (how clever) Shortly, Danny and Steve are watching the TV in the kitchen where the news is on headlining a dead officer (Danny to be exact) who was shot and killed inside Kings Medical Center. The restaurant fades out and the wave rolls.
After the credits, we are back in the quarantine unit at Kings Medical Center where we get to see Steve in the bathroom shaving his hair. Everyone else is playing cards and assuming Steve has gone stir crazy because he is doing this. Steve tries to get Danny to let him cut his hair and is met with a look to kill, Meanwhile, Tani and Junior are having such a good time talking about Junior’s potential hair look of an afro that they are surprised to see Steve and Danny staring at them. It seems that Steve and Danny are on to this budding romance.
As they continue the game, someone enters the room who they think is the doctor. It turns out it wasn’t though and this stranger pulls out a gun. He orders the team to hand over their phones, hands them tie restraints, tells them to put them on, and to get on their knees. The team complies with all the stranger asks, as he next destroys the phones and disables the intercom system. Steve tries to reason with the stranger but it seems his only interest is in Danny. He asks Danny if he remembers him, Danny doesn’t to which the stranger replies, “pity”, and then shoots Danny in the upper right chest. He also turns the gun inward and shoots himself in the head killing him instantly.
Next we see Steve and the team trying to save Danny. Steve makes an assessment that Danny was hit in the lung. As they work on saving him, we see Danny drifting into a vision imagining his life in the future. His first look is that of Grace on her wedding day. He and Grace are having a father-daughter moment about her decision on her marriage. Danny calms her nerves and goes downstairs to a nervous Lou who is worried Grace has cold feet. We learn that Grace and Will made it as a couple and that is who Grace is marrying. Danny and Lou pat each other on the back and exchange some niceties as they walk out of the kitchen blurring back to reality.
Back in reality, Tani discovers that the stranger has put an explosive on the door preventing anyone from entering or leaving. Steve scans the room looking for a way out but he won’t leave Danny’s side for long. Therefore he puts Tani in charge of finding a way to get someone up to them. Tani is visibly shaken and not thinking well on her feet. When she seems at a standstill, Steve yells at her like we’ve never seen him do at one of his own and tells her to figure it out. It is clear that he will not accept failure in this moment. This apparently works because it seems she snaps out of it and is back at trying to find a resolution.
After unsuccessfully trying to smash in the door with a fire extinguisher, Tani decides to flood the bathroom causing leaking to the floors below. She says if they see the flooding someone will come up and see what was up.
Meanwhile, Steve and Junior have been working on Danny all this time. They seal a hole over the chest wound and use an oxygen tank the dead stranger had on him in order to get more air into his lungs.
Soon, Tani’s plan works and a nurse downstairs has noticed the leaking ceiling. She goes up to the quarantine unit where she is about to open the door with the bomb attached. Steve stops her and tells her to get a doctor, the bomb squad, and HPD there immediately explaining that there is a bomb on the door and if she opens it, it will blow killing everyone.
Shortly, Lou and Duke arrive with HPD. Duke works on evacuation of the building and Lou rushes upstairs. Back in the quarantine unit, a doctor is walking Steve through a procedure on Danny while Tani is holding a mirror on the door for the bomb specialist to view the bomb to get an idea of how to disarm it. Lou tells the team that they will get them all out safely.
Back at HQ, Jerry goes to the crime lab where Eric is to tell him about Danny.
Back at the hospital, the bomb specialist is telling Lou that the bomb is unique and has mercury in it which is highly unstable. The bomb does not have a timer on it which is good but it will take a lot of time to disarm it which is bad based on the situation inside the room. In a serious but comical moment (it is possible) Lou tells him Steve is even more unstable when it comes to Danny and he will come up with his own worse plan to get them out if they do not figure something out instead. The bomb specialist says he may have a way.
Back with Danny, he is now stabilized and talking about Charlie to Steve. The doctor says this is good and to keep him talking. At this time we see Danny’s view of the future for Charlie. Everyone is at Charlie’s graduation form HPD. Duke is delivering the commencement speech and Steve, Danny, Tani and Junior, along with Kamekona and Flippa are in the front row. We get to see that Tani and Junior are a couple with Junior sporting longer afro hair (looking good) and Steve and Danny are looking a little older. Steve is taking pictures and everyone is in celebration mode when Tani’s futuristic phone rings. In this vision, Tani is in charge of Five 0 and a Captain as Steve and Danny are retired and running the restaurant. Before leaving, Tani tells Charlie that she would like to see him eventually join the team at Five 0.
Panning back to reality, Danny is crashing and they really have to get him out of there and into surgery. The doctor decides that Steve has to do another makeshift procedure. While Danny drifts back to his visions of the future he sees Adam looking at his new baby girl he has had with Kono. He tells Adam he’s going to be a great father. During this vision, Steve, the team, and the doctor continue to work on Danny in a very graphic manner. For those fans around long enough to remember Dr. Andy, we have our own momentary vision but it is a flashback not a precursor. We digress.
Back on the show, Lou and the bomb squad work on a plan to blow out a wall on the other side of the room to get them out. Lou hates the idea because as he puts it, it sounds like something McGarrett would do. However, he agrees knowing they do not have another option based on the time crunch.
Lou comes to the door and tells Steve that what he is about to say is not up for discussion and they need to do what he tells them. He then tells everyone to move to the far side of the quarters as they are going to blow the other wall out to get in. They get Danny on a bed and cover themselves and him with mattresses as they wait for the explosion.
The bomb squad blows the wall successfully without causing the other bomb to go off. However, it only made a small opening. Lou clearly unhappy and tired of waiting gets a sledgehammer and tears down the wall himself. They are free.
Steve is stopped at the door as he is about to follow Danny out with the emergency team. He is told that he cannot get out of the room until they have been cleared from the virus. He looks helpless as Danny is raced away into surgery. Once there, it doesn’t look good and he codes on the table.
Next we see the rest of the Ohana in the waiting area. Adam is consoling Eric who is clearly upset and scared for his Uncle D. Adam talks him through it and tells him Danny is strong and will pull through. Steve, Tani, and Junior walk in after being cleared and free of the virus. Eric was so happy to see Steve who also reassures him that Danny will make it as he is tough.
Steve pulls Lou aside and they discuss the stranger and his possible identity. Lou says they have bigger things to worry about right now and since he blew his brains out, it does not seem to be an immediate threat. Steve agrees and they head back in to the waiting room.
Back in the OR, Danny is coding and he sees his final vision of his future. He and Steve are sitting in the backyard of Steve’s home and they are very old. They are too funny and Steve even has to wake Danny up from snoring to tell him that his granddaughter had called. Danny tells Steve that she is joining the police academy which makes three generations of law officers in his family. True to form they are still bickering with one another and Steve even tells him to blow it out his ass. (some things are just not meant to change.)
Back in the waiting area, everyone is waiting on any news on Danny, To pass time, the conversation turns to Steve’s self-inflicted haircut. The only one that approves is Jerry. As Steve is being razzed by Kame who is telling him he does not have the head shape for a buzz cut, the doctor walks in. He shares the news that although it was touch and go for a while; it looks like Danny will be okay. Everyone is relieved.
Next we get to see the crew visiting Danny in his room and enjoying hearing how Steve saved his life. Of course, Steve was very modest taking no credit. (yea sure) Steve is interrupted by a call from Jerry with info on the stranger who shot Danny. It seems he had signed in under the name of Joshua Hollister. Jerry tells Steve after running that name through several databases that he doesn’t exist but someone used that same name and checked in to a motel two days ago.
In the final scene, we see Steve, Tani, and Lou kicking down the motel door. The room is empty but they find a picture of Danny on the table. Written on the picture is “He deserved to Die.” This leaves them and us with a mystery yet to be solved in the new year.
This episode was really good. It rates up there with some of the best ones Five-0 has done. Based on the drama of the situation, it allowed Alex some acting meat to work with, and with tears in his eyes, he brought the audience into the hospital fearing right alongside him for Danny’s life. The vision concept allowed for moments of emotion and comedy placed appropriately to break up the intensity. Junior and Tani worked well along with Steve on the inside while Lou shined on the outside. Chi also shared another stellar performance along with Scott for the times he was not unconscious. It was well done, well written, and with good direction by Peter Weller. Although we could rave about it some more, we will just say the first part of the double header delivered strong, and we rate it a 9.5.
