Well, our favorite night is here once again and although we are always excited for a new episode this one added more fun as it was also the Valentine’s Day episode. These episodes have provided a variety of different situations in the past and this one was no exception. As usual Susan provided you a detailed recap of the night’s events.
The show opens in the Vortex night club in Waikiki with a man who is out looking for a quick pick-up in the and seems to find one. He buys her drinks and they dance the night away and he seems as if he is flaunting his confidence in order to impress. They leave together and are shown in the back alley getting down to business. Cutting away from that, the next morning he is found dead in the dumpster by waste management.
Meanwhile at the Hilton Hawaiian Village we see Steve and Lynn walking into a luxurious suite for a romantic Valentine’s Day stay-cation. Steve is clearly impressed with the accommodations and seems ready to get the romance going. However, he is blocked by Lynn and told to get a beer instead.
He walks out on to the balcony checking the view with his beer in hand as he turns around he sees Danny standing on the balcony right next to his. Danny’s response is simply “why?” The looks on their faces are priceless. After figuring this was no accident they both call to the girls and find that they planned a couple’s Valentine’s “Surprise” for the four of them since Danny had been saying in the past they should all spend some time together. It seems as if the girls took that literally.
As the girls go to change for the beach we get to see our first balc-ument. Steve accuses Danny of telling the girls they should all hang out. Danny admits he did say this, but he did not mean it and it was something to just say so he did not seem antisocial. He had no idea they planned this and also did not seem pleased. Danny accuses Steve of cramping his romantic potential and his style since he is always judging him and is concerned this will be the same during the weekend stay. They, therefore, come up with a safe word for Danny to use when he wants Steve to leave. The word that Steve comes up with is “chicken salad” which is clearly not the easiest to insert into a conversation!
During the discussion, Steve gets a call from Chin telling him they just got a homicide and by the way knew about the surprise. Those remaining team members left at HQ all have a bet on who checks out first. Both Steve and Danny offer to go help in order to flee the situation but are told they are not needed.
At HQ, Kono informs Chin and Lou that the body found in the dumpster is 32 year old Jeremy Holden who was shot. His watch and his wallet were taken and there is lipstick on his face so Lou thinks it could belong to the killer. They also find a seminar badge with the name, The Method on it. The Method is a course on how to pick up women which we soon find out.
Over at the seminar Blake Stone is in the middle of his course when Kono and Chin walk in to question him about Jeremy Holden. Blake explains Jeremy did great at the club with the woman and left with her but he does not know her or her name. Chin tells Blake he may have just introduced Jeremy to his killer.
Back at the beach with Steve, Danny and the girls, everyone is having a good time playing volleyball. It is clear that Steve and Lynn are losing and that Danny is enjoying it a little too much. Steve jokes that they should switch up the teams…apparently he would like to win too. While playing, Melissa gets hit with a frisbee. A young boy who is probably around twelve comes to get his frisbee and he is very obnoxious or otherwise known as a smart ass. Danny who is not pleased that his girlfriend was just hit in the backside by a frisbee decides to defend her honor. After trying to get the kid to apologize to no avail Danny throws the frisbee out into the ocean to show the kid a lesson.
We next see Lou at the club that Jeremy was found outside of asking the bartender about who he left with. The bartender tells Lou that Jeremy left with the hottest girl in the place. He tells Lou Jeremy was flashing a wad of cash which she seemed very interested in and to him she looked professional. The bartender felt that she was a prostitute.
Back at HQ, Lou tells Kono and Chin that based on the description from the bartender, he has narrowed down a list of known working girls and the bartender was able to ID the girl that left with Jeremy. Her name is Vanessa Lancey and she had been in a prostitution sting by HPD a few months back. They found that a Cordelia Martin posted her bail and runs a high end escort service. It seems when Lou was with SWAT they raided her place several times so he offers to check with her to see what he can find out about Vanessa.
Back at the beach, Steve and Danny having just taken a nice dip in the ocean, are drying off and jabbing at one another about the volleyball game. It is time to go meet the girls at the spa but Danny discovers his sunglasses are gone. He looks over to see the same obnoxious kid from before wearing his sunglasses. Of course he goes straight to the kid (Steve protests) and asks for his glasses back. The kid tells him they are his and not Danny’s. Danny insists they are his son glasses and the kid makes a loud scene and Steve has to walk Danny away! Steve offers to buy Danny a new set if he is still bothered by it after the relaxing spa visit the girls have planned for them. It is doubtful he will be letting that go, but you have to give Steve an A for effort as he has temporarily deferred the situation.
Now back with Lou, he’s at Cordelia’s place trying to get information about Vanessa Lancey. After getting nowhere at first, Cordelia admits that Vanessa was her best girl but that she left her about a month before. She said Vanessa told her she could make more money with someone else so she left. Lou asked Cordelia if she had any idea who she may have gone into business with and that is right you guessed it…
We next see Blake Stone giving more advice out at the pool to one of his clients. Blake points out a girl sitting on the edge of the pool and tells the client that he can get the girl. Kono and Chin arrive and arrest Blake for paying escorts to hook up with his clients. Blake asks if that is a crime and he is notified it’s solicitation. Like he didn’t know.
Meanwhile back at the Hilton, Steve, Danny, and the girls are getting facials complete with cucumbers on the eyes. This scene is pretty funny. The guys, in particular Steve, cannot stop talking and asking questions and are ruining the relaxation. Lynn tells Steve to zip it while Danny’s cucumber falls off his eye and he literally just eats it. Danny says he can’t take it and abruptly leaves.
We soon see Danny talking to the bratty kid from before. He is out by the pool trying to reason with him about the glasses to which the kid and his friends are even more obnoxious and walk off. It is clear that Danny has had it with this kid and it is bugging him even more.
Down in the rendition room at HQ, Kono and Chin are questioning Blake about his connection to Vanessa and the scam he’s running on the men taking his courses. Blake tries to scam Kono and Chin by telling them he’s helping these men to which no one is buying. The one thing Blake is sincere about is that Vanessa is not a thief or murderer. Kono wants to know where Vanessa is and Blake says he can’t get in touch with her as she isn’t answering her phone. He does know where she lives however, and Blake agrees to take them there.
Returning to the Hilton, Steve and the girls are doing yoga and to our surprise Steve’s having a hard time doing it. (I don’t think our hero is very bendable and it is good to see the humanness in that) After falling over, Steve decides to go check on Danny and leaves the girls.
We are switched back to inside the car with Kono, Chin, and Blake who are on their way over to Vanessa’s home. Blake actually is hitting on Kono using his con game approach. Chin is finding it quite amusing as Kono shuts him down. When they arrive at Vanessa’s home, Chin and Kono talk to her roommate and find out she didn’t come home the night before and although that is not unusual, she still isn’t there. She tells them that Vanessa has had trouble with a man that has been obsessed with her for a while now and she is worried. she never mentioned his name so she does not know who he is.
We next see Vanessa being held against her will in the home of the man that’s obsessed with her by the name of Neil. It seems Neil is the one who killed Jeremy when he saw Vanessa with Jeremy. Neil is becoming more upset and Vanessa is trying to reason with Neil to let her leave. The more she talks the more upset Neil becomes until he starts to destroy the room because of his ire.
Back at the Hilton Steve finds Danny watching the obnoxious kid and his friends. Steve tells Danny he has completely gone over the edge with this kid and the sunglasses and he has to stop. When the kids get up to leave their table, Danny goes over and looks at the room number on the bill. Steve is almost losing it with Danny and tells him to let it go. Danny gets the room number and says he’s going with or without Steve. Steve says without but seconds later is following Danny into the hotel.
Bake at HQ, the crew pull up the info on Vanessa’s kidnapper whose full name is Neil Ware. He’s forty three from Dayton Ohio and flew in a few weeks ago and apparently is still on the island. Lou asks Blake if he recognizes Neil and he does. He tells Lou that Neil came to him a few months back and had just been dumped by his fiancé and he was a real mess over it. His ex-fiancé filed a restraining order against him. Blake had set Neil up with Vanessa. Kono then pulls up a credit card charge and finds the address of the home Neil is staying at.
Next we see Vanessa telling Neil the truth about the scam she and Blake had run on him. This enrages Neil further and before he could shoot her Vanessa stabs Neil in the leg with a piece of glass, runs to the bedroom, and barricades inside. Just as Neil is about to break into the room Chin, Kono, and Lou arrive at the home with sirens blaring. They go in and find Vanessa in the bedroom but Neil is gone. Vanessa tells the team that she told Neil everything and he said he would make them both pay. They conclude that Neil is on his way to kill Blake.
Back at the seminar course Blake is holding, Neil bursts into the room with a gun. He is about to pull the trigger when our team comes in and Kono shoots Neil just in time. Chin arrests Neil.
Switching back to the Hilton hot on the trail of Danny’s sunglasses, Danny and Steve see housekeeping. Danny tells the woman that they are cops and need to get into the room and of course they do. This is actually funny because we have never seen Steve so nervous and upset about breaking laws and rules before. Once in, Danny finds the glasses and discovers they aren’t his. At that same moment the kid and his parents come in. Steve says hello, introduces himself and Danny, tells them they are cops, and the good news is that Danny is buying them all dinner so they came by to let them know.
The next scene, Kono and Chin are leaving the seminar area and Blake stops Kono to thank her for saving his life. Just when you think he might be genuine, he tries to convince her to leave with him to travel the world and have kids. Kono points out she is wearing a wedding ring and even if she were free the answer would still be no. This does not seem to bother Blake but Kono smiles and leaves.
Going back to the Hilton where the real action is happening, Danny is apologizing to Melissa for running out of the spa treatment. She accepts his apology and tells him she knew what she was signing up for. While she’s changing for dinner Danny sits down and discovers his sunglasses that he just broke.
The final scene is really beautiful. The couples are at a dinner table on the beach at sunset with champagne being served while being serenaded with a ukulele. Steve, Danny, and the girls are enjoying the moment. We notice the seating arrangement is different as Steve and Danny are on one side of the table and Lynn and Melissa are on the other. The girls tell them that dinner on the beach was a very nice gesture to make up for their disappearance during the day.
Steve gives Danny all the credit for it and after watching Danny stumble over his words, Steve tells them how much they appreciate them. He also says they should all do this again. At this point Steve puts his arm around Danny’s shoulder and says next time they will make the arrangements all the while holding Danny’s shoulder. This is when Danny begins to repeat over and over “CHICKEN SALAD, CHICKEN SALAD” but Steve never removes his arm. So much for that safe word… the credits roll.
I really liked this one as their roles were reversed and I enjoyed seeing that. I think that the guys had a great time being with each other more than being with the girls. Overall, it was really funny, had some beautiful scenery, and was fun to see the guys relaxing and not being involved with the crime of the week. Speaking of that, it seemed it was only there out of necessity. Although there were a few good moments, it was rather predictable. I rate this one an 8.5.
Note: once again there was no promo for next week but based on what has been described Steve will be happy he had a relaxing stay-cation as there is none of that in store for next. Here is some more info to remind you of what will be happening then. Looks like they will be back on track with the serial killer again.
