Here is the recap from last night’s Hawaii Five O episode, the Right of Passage thanks to Susan Schoppe. After last week being all about Steve, this one seemed to be all about Danny, so let’s see what happened.
As our episode opens tonight we see Grace and her classmates laying on the floor, taken hostage while at their Winter Formal. Ok how did this happen?
To find out, we flashback to four hours earlier where we are at the Grover house watching Lou’s son Will shaving for the big night. Lou can’t resist giving Will shaving tips and reminiscing about how he has grown up and now seems interested in girls. This leads Lou to the big talk. Will is mortified.
Meanwhile at McGarrett’s house Danny arrives with a big box of very special sandwiches for the big poker game that Steve is having there that night. He tells Steve he can’t make the game, and that Rachael can’t chaperone Grace’s dance so he’s filling in for her. However, he takes his commitment to bring the sandwiches seriously and for Steve not to take credit for them. Danny also tells Steve it’s a good opportunity to see who Grace’s boyfriend is. Steve seems surprised to hear about a boyfriend but suggests that Danny can earn brownie points with Grace by being the cool dad. Well we all know that suggestion was a waste of time.
Over at HQ we see Chin taking a virtual tour with Sara of her new home and room. Chin seems so happy to see and talk to Sara. While she shows him around the house she goes into her aunt and uncle’s room and Chin asks her about the picture on their dresser and asks if that’s a picture of her with them. She moves closer to the photo and says no that’s some of their friends. Chin snaps a picture of the photo, tells her she was an excellent tour guide, and that it’s time for bed. As he shuts off the computer, Kono makes her presence known and asks Chin if he just used his niece as a spy? (loved this) His answer was “No, Maybe, Yes’ which was quite cute. Kono totally understands and thinks Chin is a goner for this child. (as do I)
On the way to the dance Grace and Danny have a very short conversation about him not spying on her there. Once they arrive, Grace is out of the car like a shot. Once inside Danny sees Will and asks him if he will tell him who Grace is seeing. Will finally fesses up and admits it’s him, he is Grace’s boyfriend. Danny is stunned at this news.
Back at Steve’s house with the game in full swing, Steve is taking surveys on the sandwiches and taking full credit for them even though Danny asked him not to. hey sure know each other so well. Lou’s phone rings and it’s Danny. He tells Lou that their kids are dating and Lou’s seems quite surprised about this, too. As Lou and Danny discuss this everyone at the table is all ears. When Lou hangs up the guys have a good laugh at the thought of Danny being reasonable about this, except for Lou of course, who seems to think there is no reason for Danny to over react.
Danny wants to have a talk with Grace and Will but Grace walks off and Danny ushers Will off to talk in the bathroom. While there, gunfire is heard so Danny tells Will to stay in the bathroom and he goes to check it out. On his way down the hall Danny tries to call for help but the terrorists have jammed the cell phone service .Danny sees there are men there holding the dance hostage. It turns out that they are looking for the son of a diplomat that they want in exchange for a man that the diplomat’s country has imprisoned, however we do not know that yet. They just seem to be looking for a kid that is not in the room.
As Danny is assessing the situation, Will comes down the hallway. Danny’s not happy with Will for this, but there is no time to discuss that as both have to hide when some of the men are coming around the corner. Danny and Will duck into an empty room and see a digital sign that faces the street. They decide that this sign could be changed asking for help. They decide to find the control room to do this.
After looking at the building plans they make a plan. They use a crawl space to get to the control room and avoid the hallways. (If you recall tight spaces are not Danny’s favorite places due to claustrophobia). Half way through Danny almost loses it but keeps it together. They find the control room, change the sign to “Hostages inside call 911” which seems to work when a jogger sees it and alerts the man out front. Unfortunately the man turns out to be helping the terrorists and he tells her it’s probably a prank by the kids inside. He goes inside and alerts the inside crew what has occurred so they cut the power to the sign. During this time the terrorist have still not found the boy they have been looking for.
Back in the control room Danny goes to check and see if the sign is working and sees it is off and a SUV full of more men are pulling up.
Back at Steve’s place, the poker game is going well and everyone is having a good time. Steve even tries to get away with a bluff unsuccessfully. Lou decides after five calls to Will that he have not been answered, enough is enough and he goes to check on Will.
In the meantime while the terrorist are combing the halls of the building for the diplomat’s son, Danny subdues one of the men and takes his gun. Two more come in and Danny shoots them. Another rounds the corner and fires at Danny who then runs out of ammunition. Just as he is about to be cornered, Will hits the guy with fire extinguisher. Danny is saved. Danny gives him a hard time about not following orders but eventually thanks him for saving him. While tying up the guys they hear the terrorist talking over their radios. Will suddenly thinks he knows who the kid that they want is and where he might be.
Outside Lou pulls up wanting to talk to his son and gets double talk from the man at the door. Lou’s not buying any of it. Danny and Will find the boy who is a little impaired with having had some weed. They get him to his feet just before the terrorist come through the doors. Danny is able to shoot them and hearing the gun shots, Lou turns around in time to see the man at the door about to shoot him. Lou fires first and hits the guy in the shoulder. The shootout is still going on with Danny and more men come out for Lou who dives for cover. While on the ground Lou calls Steve and tells him to get down there right now.
We next see HPD and Five O at the building. Lou wants answers from the guy at the door so he has a private talk “McGarrett style” and gets his answers. It seems the guy was the body guard for the boy of the diplomat and the terrorist paid him to help get the boy for the exchange of the prisoner they wanted.
As things are starting to look up for Danny and the hostages, one of the terrorist finds Danny’s name tag, checks the list and discovers that he is not there and that Grace is his daughter. The terrorist gets on the radio and tells Danny to bring the boy to the ball room or he will start shooting with Grace being first. Danny comes in with the boy and is glad to be with Grace. The terrorist call Steve and make their demands for the prisoner and give them one hour or they will start killing hostages.
Outside the diplomat tells Steve and Lou that they can’t make the exchange because the prisoner has already been executed.
While the team works on a plan, the terrorist calls and asks if they have made the arrangements, Steve says yes but he wants two kids in exchange and they argue as the terrorists do not seem to want to budge. Danny tells the terrorist he can get Steve to cooperate so he gives him the phone. While talking to Steve every other word out of Danny’s mouth is Will. The team knows it is a clue but it is Lou who gets that Danny is telling them to call Will who is still hiding.
Lou calls Will and when he answers Lou is very relieved. Lou asks Will if he can safely get eyes on the hostages. Will says he can do better than that. Will makes his way to the ballroom doors and starts a live feed of the terrorist and the hostages so now Five O can see what’s going on. The terrorists are getting anxious and starting to leave the area. Steve makes the decision to go in and rush the room. They blow the doors open, shoot the terrorist and everyone is OK. Steve finds Grace after frantically looking for her and they share a sweet embrace. The diplomat also finds his son and Lou finds Will.
Steve and Danny also share a little bromance time and settle on a hug to show how happy Danny is to see Steve realizing they were now safe.
Our final scene is of Grace and Will in a diner dancing to a juke box of old songs. While sitting in the truck outside Danny and Lou are watching through the windows. Danny tells Lou that Will is a good kid and that he saved him more than once. They have now both come to terms with Will and Grace dating one another. Of course Danny finds out from Lou that Steve took credit for his sandwiches as Grover shares a leftover one with him. Priceless.
I would rate this episode an 8 because it focused mainly on just Danny and the majority of the team was not seen often. With that being said, however, Danny and Will had some great onscreen chemistry together and it was fun to watch the different characters interact at the poker game, too. They provided a welcome lighter side from lasts week’s intensity.
This is the perfect way to break down this inoarmotifn.