As we move forward in the week in anticipation of celebrating the 150th episode on Friday night, lets look at a few more reviews from last week’s episode. Linda mentions below that she does not read any other reviews before she writes hers, and that seems to be a running theme among those who do reviews. We do not either and other reviewers have all said the same thing at one time or another. Therefore, It is interesting to see where the similarities and even the differences lie from review to review.
Here are this week’s reviews from Linda and Manu.
Linda Stein
Halloween on Hawaii Five-0 is always a fun adventure. We’ve had a copycat killer recreating a horror movie and a guy trying to recreate his lost love ala Bride of Frankenstein. There was that satanic serial killer and his equally creepy grandmother and that Halloween when a zombie crashed the Rocky Horror Picture Show party on Queens Beach.
Halloween episodes are not designed to add to a story arc, nor are they there for any kind of character development. They’re not the kinds of episodes anyone will call “all-time favorites” because they’re really only filler episodes that take advantage of the holiday and give the cast a chance to have a bit of fun.
For me, as far as Halloween episodes go this will be a favorite. Why? Honestly because this is the first one that wasn’t full of guts and gore and spraying, spurting blood. Not that all that isn’t wonderfully gory fun for Halloween but it was nice to have a good old fashioned haunted house story to scare the bejeebers out of everyone.
Well, let’s get to it then. As usual, just my random ramblings in no specific order:
Max: I know I’m not the only one who was absolutely thrilled to see Max again. I was a bit taken back by his new look, beard and long hair, until… duh… of course… it’s Halloween and Max is once again dressed as a favorite Keanu Reeves character. This time “John Wick”. The biggest and most wonderful surprise, the wedding ring he’s wearing is not just part of his “John Wick” costume. Max and Sabrina got married!
How wonderful is that? Well, it would have been more wonderful if we could have actually seen it happen but still, I couldn’t be happier for the both of them. Peter Lenkov did say we were going to have a surprise wedding this season. My guesses were either Max and Sabrina or Mary McGarrett. After all, Mary has already shown up an old man she was caring for and with a baby. Why not show up with a husband? Steve would lose his mind! But, I am very happy it turned out to be Max and Sabrina who I’ve always thought are adorable together.
Jerry and the kids: Who better to baby sit the Williams kids on Halloween than the biggest kid of them all? Add to that, Halloween also happens to be Jorge Garcia’s favorite holiday so I’m sure he had a blast with this episode too. I was a bit surprised Danny wasn’t more put out about not being able to be with his kids, especially Charlie, on Halloween but he chose the perfect person to stand in. But I’m sure Jerry didn’t realize the land mine he was walking into.
Charlie was easy, well, after he got over his initial fright at Jerry’s costume but Grace was another story. As a mother, I fully remember what a 14-year-old girl is like. There were days back then when I was sure I was eventually going to be on the 6 o’clock news. Whether it was going to be a murder, suicide or both was debatable. Grace’s attitude brought back those memories very clearly.
But, damn, Danny is one tough cookie. Grace is grounded because of what she did last Halloween. It reminded me of something my mother used to do. She’d bide her time, make me think I got off easy for whatever I’d done, then, out of the blue, whammo, my punishment would land at the most inopportune time. Sucks when you’re the kid. But a great tool for a parent. I learned my lesson every time it happened to me and I’m sure this is one punishment Grace isn’t going to soon forget either.
I’m thrilled the writers are finally writing Grace appropriately for her age. She’s 14 and she’s acting like she’s 14. Unlike in the past when Grace seemed to be perpetually stuck on 10 years old no matter the situation, this is refreshing and long overdue. Grace has been through a lot in her young life. Not only with the things that have happened to her but also watching the drama between all her parents as well as being the daughter of a cop. Pile on some adolescent hormones and the fact that she is a Williams, snarky petulance isn’t a big surprise.
But no matter what, Danny, Rachel and Stan have been good parents. Grace may be testing her limits and acting out a bit but she is still a kid with an honest and good heart. A small nudge from Jerry, a gentle reminder that, yeah, she can spend her Halloween being angry and miserable or she could spend the time with Charlie. There will always be Halloweens and parties but this is time she’ll never get back with Charlie once it’s gone.
Of course, Danny has a few more years of adolescent hormones and “bipolar” behavior to deal with before Grace passes through this turbulent period in her life. But for now, it was wonderful to see Grace show up, in her costume, to help Charlie find the houses with the best candy after all.
COTW: As far as Halloween stories go, I really enjoyed this one a lot. Like I said before, I liked that this one was not based on blood and gore, but a good old fashioned haunted house story.
I’m not up on Hawaiian lore. I’m sure my friend Wendie of the Five-0 Redux knows whether the ghost story we saw in the flashback to 1940 was a documented HPD case or whether this is pure fiction for the show because I have no idea one way or the other. (FYI… I don’t read any other reviews until after my review posts. Any similarities between my review and others is a combination of coincidence and great minds thinking alike.)
Regardless, whether it’s real or fiction for the show, I loved how Steve was recounting the story to Danny as they approached the very same house. It reminded me of the Halloween episode with the satanic serial killer and his creepy grandmother. That episode also had a house Steve and Danny needed to investigate and Steve tried to scare Danny into believing it was haunted too.
The story of Marjorie Webb was a good one. Having her literally scared to death was a nice touch. Nice not to have a “conventional” murder. I kind of figured her assistant was somehow involved the moment she collaborated Marjorie’s belief that the house was haunted but, of course, I had no idea how she was involved or what her motive would be.
But, damn, what a motive it was. What kind of a horrible human being lies to grieving families about the whereabouts of their missing children? Lies to parents about the life or death of their child, giving them hope or forever crushing their lives for a bit of fame and money?
To me, that was the true horror of this episode. That someone could be so…. yes…. evil, to do such horrendous things. Add to that the suicide of the assistant’s father after he was told his very much alive daughter was dead, only intensifies the horror of what Marjorie was doing. Perhaps none of the other families she duped had someone resort to such drastic measures but I think it’s safe to say she destroyed more than a few lives and there will be very few out there who will be sorry to see what became of her.
Danny and Eric: I know there will be those out there that will vehemently disagree with me but I just can never get enough of the Family Williams. First, Grace and Charlie with Jerry and then Danny and Eric at the “haunted” house.
I loved the story Eric told about Danny scaring the pee out of him when he was ten years old. I can totally see Danny doing something like that. I was the youngest in my family and I had an older cousin who just loved to sit me down and tell me all kinds of scary stories that had me huddled in my bed at night too scared to let my hand dangle off the side. To this day, 40 years later, he still loves to tell the tale of how he used to scare me.
It was also fun watching Eric cautiously move about the house afraid of what was around every corner. I guess Eric doesn’t watch this show or he’d know nothing good ever comes from basements in Hawaii, especially on Halloween. But he was able to figure out that the house has been rigged to “gaslight” Marjorie. I know there are those who have no patience for Eric but here is a guy who was on the path to being pretty useless and turned it all around. Not only did he find a calling, he’s damn good at it. He’s never failed our team yet.
I’m pretty sure, at the beginning, Danny didn’t believe the story Steve told him about the house, figuring it was just Steve trying to scare him again. I’m positive, once he found out from Eric that the “haunted” house had, in fact, been rigged, Danny was sure Steve was only trying to scare him. My favorite scene of this episode was when Danny tried to turn the tables on Steve. I’m not sure what was funnier. The looks on Steve, Chin and Lou’s faces as the “paranormal activity” began to swirl around them, Lou’s “Oh hell no!” or the moment Steve recognized Danny’s dopey laugh. All in all, those few moments were simply golden.
Kono and Adam: To be perfectly honest, I could have very easily done without this part of the episode. Yeah, it added a bit of a Halloween scare but, all in all, it wasn’t necessary. I would have been perfectly content to just have more of the ghost story or even more of Jerry and the kids. Hell, they could have even taken a few minutes and let Max show the guys his wedding pictures on his phone or something.
First off, can we please let these two have a week go by without something horrible happening to them? Please? Why couldn’t they have just gone to Turtle Bay and happily disappeared in a pile of rumpled bedsheets and warm bubble baths? If we can have an episode without Danny and only hear “he went to Jersey” as the reason, why couldn’t Kono just have gotten the week off with a “Kono picked a good time to go to Turtle Bay” line from one of the guys? If it was absolutely crucial Kono and Adam be in the episode, I could have totally gotten into spying on one of those bubble baths again. But I suppose the writers thought we needed at least a little bit of blood for this to be a true Halloween episode.
Ok, it was kind of cool to see Kono and Adam get themselves out of that sticky situation. I would have been totally freaking out if I was Kono. The last time she saw one of those masks up close she lost a few teeth.
I did enjoy the look on the other woman’s face as she watched these two take down their attackers. I got a kick out of the little nod they both gave to the fact that, yes, they can’t seem to go anywhere without trouble following them. But, all in all, while I really love Kono and Adam and love seeing them, yeah, I could have done without this part and not missed it in the least.
Promo for 7.07: Well, we finally got to see the promo for H50’s big 150th episode. Up until Friday, this was the first time in six plus years that I was not enthusiastic about a new episode, especially one of such significance. But after seeing the promo photos and especially after seeing this preview I’m more encouraged. The teases of the promo are “It’s one “mother” of a mission” and “Christine Lahti Returns”. We already knew #150 was going to center around Doris and Steve and hopefully Steve finally, after all these years, getting the answers he’s been desperate for before that story is concluded.
The best part of the 20 second promo is that Catherine only appears for about four seconds. It’s crystal clear she is strictly only intended to be a plot devise but also she’s not to be any kind of draw for this episode. That could not please me more! Hopefully, the loose ends of both these women will be tied together and ended once and for all so Steve and the rest of us can finally move on.
So, have a wonderful week my friends. Rest up and recharge. I have a feeling next weekend is gonna be a doozy!
Aloha. Malama Pono.
Emanuela (Manu) Pari
Hello my Five 0 fellow fans and Happy Halloween weekend
Hubby and I always enjoy this season of the year, being both fans of thriller and horror movies so I’m always looking forward to my Halloween episode treat. And it definitely didn’t trick us, but delivered some good suspense, fun and once again a sprinkle of heart warming moments.
Last year I really enjoyed Matt Wheeler’s Halloween episode, I thought it had a lot of creepy moments typical of the genre I love and this year he was joined by fellow writer David Wolkove, who added humor and fun to the ensemble, creating a very enjoyable episode.
The first scene, set in 1940 Honolulu, puts us immediately in the right creeped out mood, starting with the scary moving eyes of the doll in the porch, to the terrified woman that tries to prevent the officers from entering the haunted house, to a very realistic Poltergeist scene where the cop gets attacked by a malevolent entity.
Of course it soon turns out that it was a story Steve was telling Danno, talking about the “haunted” house where a medium, Marjorie Weeb, was found dead, in mysterious circumstances. Danno has already his sceptic head on (even though we shouldn’t forget that he is the only member of our team that has actually met a ghost in Season 2) and seems to be the only one that doesn’t believe the Phantom Manor rumors.
Before they enter the house Steve and Danno welcome Max back from his Doctors Without Borders experience (the single greatest of his lifetime according to our favourite M.E.). I am always more than happy to see Masi in the episodes, I missed him so far, and I’m always curious to see which Keanu Reeves character Max will represent at every different Halloween. This time is the turn of John Wick, and I was very pleased with it as I thought Masi really suits the scruff and the longer hair. Max seems a bit more grounded and “grown up” than usual in 7.06, and we find out that the wedding ring he is wearing is not only to more accurately identify with John Wick but also because he actually tied the knot with Sabrina.
As glad as I am for the happy couple, I was a bit upset that we didn’t once again get to see a Five 0 wedding, it would have been lovely.
Of course I can’t forget to mention that after this scene we see the credits, with a special appearance from Danny The Pumpkin Williams, especially carved by our Jerry.
Max informs the team that Marjorie has basically been scared literally to death and died of a sudden and catastrophic cardiac arrest. Her personal assistant confirms that the medium was recently scared of being alone in the house and that herself has heard footsteps when nobody else was present and that strange phenomena were happening in the house.
The arrival of Eric Pee-Pee Russo provides the first funny moment of the episode, when he explains that he was scarred for life when at ten years old he was terrorised by Danno and his friends when dressed up as the pink Ninja Turtle at Halloween. His fears disappear when later on he finds out, together with his uncle that the house isn’t really haunted but has been in fact rigged to look so. That gave me my second giggle when Danno mentions “a stab in the dark” after trying to scare Steve, Chin and Lou and Steve threatens that that’s exactly what he is going to get if he doesn’t come out. It’s nice to see the guys having fun.
With the proceeding of the story we find out that Marjorie wasn’t a real medium (do they really exist? I guess that’s a discussion for another time) but a fraud that not only took advantage of vulnerable people but also added tragedy to their already sad lives.
The first family affected by her incompetence are the parents of Eli Jones, dead way before she assured them that he was still alive, inducing the family to spend a lot of money to try to find him. They are exonerated as suspect based on the fact that they moved to Canada.
The second suspect, The great magician Triblaine, also turns out to be innocent, only guilty of the “crime” of trying to expose the fake medium.
Fingerprints and D.N.A. found at the house finally expose the real guilty parties, Ian Miller, deceased right after Marjorie and Julie Hillman, who turns out to be nobody else than the personal assistant we briefly saw at the beginning. In 2010 she run away from home and was believed dead by her parents after they consulted Marjorie. Unable to cope with the situation her dad committed suicide and Julie had been plotting her revenge since. As Steve points out she blamed Marjorie for causing a tragedy that she could have easily prevented herself just going back home to her parents.
Lots of good twists and turns in the first storyline of the episode.
At the same time we had the side story of Jerry babysitting a sulky Gracie and an enthusiastic Charlie. I thought that grounding his daughter a year after the event of last Halloween’s party was a bit harsh of Danno so Grace’s disappointment was understandable. I loved Jerry’s costume, really cool headless version of himself and his attempts to involve Grace in the Halloween fun.
Also cute was Danno calling to make sure that everything was OK and ending up being more worried than before about the possibility of his Gracie having a boyfriend and his little boy brandishing a big rubber knife. Teilor did a good job portraying a typically moody and cell phone glued teenager but it was heart warming that eventually she changed her mind and didn’t miss the chance of going trick or treating with Jerry and her little brother. I liked this secondary storyline and Jerry’s Halloween music mix that was used also for the final credits.
The third storyline was probably my least favourite but I will forgive how far fetched it was because it is a Halloween episode and “anything can happen”.
But definitely every single member of the Five 0 task force should give up doing anything that any normal people do for fun, it never really works out. They meet criminals on their first dates, they bump into terrorists when they take their kids out for a family weekend, they get kidnapped by murderous strangers when they go fishing or into the woods with the girl scouts….A never ending list of “holidays” from hell.
So why should it be any different for Kono and her newly free Adam when she tries to surprise him with a trip to Turtle Bay? On Halloween? She should know better. But love makes us do silly things and of course they run into a death cult, get kidnapped, free themselves from chains in the most unbelievable ways, keep the cultists at bay using their own guns and boiling water (maybe it’s the start of a crossover with MacGyver?) and get finally rescued by H.P.D.
Good thing I like these two so I actually enjoyed the ride through madness and even had some fun when they “accused” each other of being trouble magnets.
All together a very enjoyable episode.
But even though the Halloween one should be the scariest episode of all the one that I have been dreading since the beginning of the season is coming up next week.
The 150th episode is a great achievement for everyone involved in the show and I’m hoping it will be a very good one, despite the return of two of my least favourite characters in the show. I have to say though that I am looking forward to see Lynn again with Steve, hopefully celebrating their first year together with a romantic dinner.
Until then, have a wonderfully scary Halloween weekend my friends and an even spookier week ahead.
